i got one!

Meet The Esteemed Monsieur Brightsworth. He's a baby lorikeet (you can tell by his dark beak) that seriously needs some flying lessons. I'm taking donations--because really, I'm quite concerned about him. It can't be good.

Flying or not though, I love him. Thank you to whoever sent him, because now I surely will be finishing my dissertation on time.

::ahem::

distractions!

How am I supposed to submit a dissertation in December when I have to deal with this awesomeness on a regular basis. It's asking a bit much I think.

Vincent's convinced I spend half my day feeding lorikeets and praying a black cockatoo will come perch on our balcony.

He's only half right.

I mostly see galahs (the birds in the photo!) at uni, walking around eating grass and being super cool in the most laid-back way possible. They are the epitomy of suave if you ask me.

And now they are chillaxin' right outside my flat eating gum balls!

::sigh of contentment:: Dissertations can wait--who wants to get me a parrot?!

have you ever faced death and lived to tell about it?

I did this afternoon, when I came face to face with the fiercest most unforgiving animal on the planet. The saltwater crocodile. Even typing the name gives me shivers of fear.

See. Behind it is Mary holding my beer. She isn't afraid because she's hardcore, and NOT because it was a baby and only like a foot long. It was also NOT because the zoo-dude had a good hold on it and had assured us a few times that it couldn't actually kill us at that size. While I wanted to believe him I knew better, so after patting his belly (the croc's not the zoo-dude's), we made our way to visit the friendlier and super adorable echidna!

Oh yeah-- THEN, we got to eat some good food and listen to the amazing and absolutely inspiring Jane Goodall speak about the environment and chimpanzees and Tchimpounga Sanctuary in the the Republic of Congo!!

A big thanks goes out to Mary for the gorgeous afternoon!

spelunking is underrated.

Since I was a little girl and my family visited some caves in Colorado, I always had a part of me believe that I was destined to be a famous and legendary spelunker. Many years have passed--but yesterday Vincent and I headed up (with Agnes, Jae and Steve) to visit a very, VERY large cave system in New South Wales--Jenolan Caves.

And it is here that Steve, Vincent and I had our very first adventure caving experience. It was...AWESOME. In only a few hours, we abseiled into a sink hole and managed to squeeze, slide, crawl and pull our way through ::dramatic music:: "The Plughole." The name is fitting--several times, our eccentric but enthusiastic guides convinced us to go blindly feet or head first into very very small dark holes...promising that we'd be fine and that it was mostly un-probable that we'd get stuck or fall into a crevice. But they assured us even if we did they had a landline in "The Chapel", and so they could always call someone for help if needed.




See what I mean?

Luckily, we didn't get stuck...or fall into a crevice. And apart from some bruises--we all arrived home able to enjoy :ahem:: a couple jugs of White Rabbit.

So maybe my legendary spelunking career is just beginning--I guess the next test will be an all-day trip into the belly of Mammoth Cave... where explorers still haven't found the bottom. ::even more dramatic music::

happy 2nd anniversary to us!

Picture taken at Edith Falls, Nitmiluk National Park, NT.

This year we went to the Northern Territory for our second anniversary. It was spectacular. And since we lived through it--Vincent has to put up with me for another year! BOOYAH!