Trips
Wednesday, 31. December 2008
Happy new year 2009!31-12-2008 16:46 /82493E67A786C36AC125753000563DCF/$File/sydney_nye_2008.jpg)
Godt nytår fra Sydney! Vi tog med Manly-færgen ind til Operahuset, hvor vi sammen med 6.000 andre ventede i 10 timer på det store fyrværkeri ved midnat. Fem tons krudt til en pris at 40.000 kr i sekundet skulle fyres af. Det var helt fantastisk, men 12 minutters himmelsk inferno stod nok ikke helt mål til den lange vente tid i 30 graders varme.
Vores tid i Sydney er ved at være forbi. Malene flyver hjem om en uges tid og jeg flyver en uge senere - den 14. januar. Det bliver noget af en omvæltning at vende tilbage til det mørke nord.
(0)Friday, 12. December 2008
Surf's up!12-12-2008 04:23 Hvem kan sige om dette billede er rigtigt?
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(2)Friday, 28. November 2008
Juletræet er af plastik!28-11-2008 00:54 /71AF99992D474C01C125750E00826CAC/$File/XMas2008_13.JPG)
Så er julen kommen med solskin på lommen. Georg Jensen julestjernen er sat på plads og juletræet står fint pynet ude på balkonnen. Nougaten ligger i køleskabet for ikke at smelte og strandgæsterne kan ikke forstå hvor duften af afbrændt svinekød kommer fra. Stegen er i ovnen!
Juletræet er af plastik! I et forsøgt på at være "grønne" og redde træerne og planeten Jorden, har vi købt et genbrugsjuletræ af plastik. Visse astronomer mener, at Jorden er unik, så derfor sætter vi alt ind på at redde den inden årets udgang. Jeg ville helt have haft et "goth" juletræ i sort, men Malene fik mig overtalt til at gå efter den mere klassiske grønne farve. Der var også mulighed for et hvidt eller et magenta-farvet. En af de mange fordele ved plastik er, at man kan forme grenene, som man vil, og desuden kan man købe flere modeller og have forskellige farver i forskellige højder, fx. sort i bunden, magenta i toppen og gul midt i. Der er uendelig mange muligheder for at sætte farve på julen.
(3)Monday, 1. September 2008
Vi bor ved stillehavet01-09-2008 03:32 Ups, der er gaaet lang tid siden sidste blog-historie. Tja, det har vaeret en lang vinter med mange rejser: I juni var jeg til nogle konferencer i Aarhus, Roskilde og Wroclaw. I juli var vi paa tur i Western Australia. Det var herligt med tre ugers ferie: Vi koerte i campervan nordpaa til Kalbarri, Shark Bay og Exmouth. Godt nok har Australien de 10 farligste dyr i de fleste klasser, men det var hverken den frygtede taipan slangen eller hvidhajer, der gjorde turen farlig. Det var de hundredevis af kaenguruer, der sprang omkring paa vejen omkring solnedgang. Der skete nu ikke noget, men det var taet paa et par gange.
Nu er vi vel tilbage i Sydney. Vi er flyttet fra forstaden Camperdown til Queenscliff. Vi bor i en lille lejlighed, som ligger ud til stranden ved Manly. I gaar var der finaler i den aarlige surf-konkurrence og verdensmesteren Mick Fanning lavede opvisning. Der er masser af aktiviteter paa stranden: ultimate frisbee, beach volley og solbadning. Det er lidt mere spaendende, end hvor vi boede foer!
(0)Tuesday, 13. May 2008
En dykkertur ved Watson's Bay13-05-2008 14:29 
Vi tog en tur ud til Watsons Bay i sidste weekend. Den ligger ved South Head ved udmundingen til Stillehavet, men stadig inde i byen. Vi havde vores våddragter på, for vandet er begyndt at blive ret koldt (21 grader C tror jeg). Vi så en masse flotte fisk og en kæmpe blæksprutte - armene var så tykke som mit håndled! Der kom også en enorm rokke svømmende forbi, lige inden vi var på vej op af vandet. Den var vel tre meter i længden. Da vi kom op, var der ellers gang den på nudiststranden. Af en eller anden grund var det mest mænd, der nød at stå og snakke og klø sig et vist sted. Ret skummelt. Vi snakkede i stedet med et lille firben, der vist ikke var ude på noget (se billedet). (3)Monday, 28. April 2008
Dykkertur ved "De ensomme Øer"28-04-2008 13:02 
Denne weekend var ANZAC weekend, hvor det militære samarbejde mellem Australien og New Zealand bliver mindet. Nu 90 år efter første verdenskrig er slut betyder det i praksis, at man har fri om fredagen. Vi tog en tur nordpå langs kysten til Bellingen, der er NSW´s paradis for "det alternative" og et mekka for hippier. De små byer ude på landet minder nu mest om noget fra en cowboyfilm. Det stod ned i stænger, og det tog os over otte timer at køere de knap 600 km. Dagen efter var vejret strålende, og vi gik en lang bushwalk i den subtropiske regnskov ved Dorrigo. Vi så en masse mærkelige fugle i skoven, hidsige planter med pigge overalt, et nysgerrigt firben og nogle flotte vandfald.
(0)Friday, 14. March 2008
Søheste og edderkopper13-03-2008 23:59 
Vi har besøg fra Danmark for tiden: Sara, Per og Marie har været hos os i nogle dage og har fået set lidt på byen. På billedet klapper Malene, Sara og Marie en søvndrukken koala i Featherdale parken. De tre danskere er nu taget nordpå efter at have har været en tur omkring Uluru (Ayer´s rock). De har besøgt Fraser og Lady Elliott Island og skal snart køre tilbage til Sydney fra Brisbane - en smuttur på 1.000 km.
I weekenden var vi en tur på Shelly Beach med Dennis, Kristine og Nina. Shelly er et freddet naturområde tæt ved Manly, kun en halv time med færgen fra centrum. Vi fik lavet en ordentlig BarBeQue med hotdogs: pølser og bløde løg. Vi fik også snorklet og set nogle sjove fisk, blæksprutter og søheste. Se billederne herunder...
(1)Friday, 14. December 2007
Kangaroo Car14-12-2007 00:34 We got a new car! The photo is from a trip Rasmus and I did in October. We went down to North Durras where there are plenty of roos, so we had to drive slowly at dusk when they come out to play. For those who care, the car is a Ford Falcon AUII from 2003 with six cylinders and a four litre engine. Why settle for less?/09B6778FB4BCF360C12573B00080FD97/$File/Kangaroo Car Oct 2007 BLOG.jpg)
Roo? What's a roo? A bit of education for you guys are not familiar with the Aussie language: Australians are not Australians, they are Aussies. A cockroach is a cockie, a cold beer is a coldie. How about this one: Christmas is not Christmas, it's Chrissie.
(1)Wednesday, 14. November 2007
Visitors to Sydney14-11-2007 10:03 
My father is visiting from Denmark. The past week we have had a look at some of the sights in Sydney. Here we are at Utzon's famous Opera house at Circular Quay. On Monday we went to see the ballet performance, "Destiny", which was quite spectatular, the dancers expressing the shortcomings of human life in an doomy outer-worldly atmosphere. This weekend we plan to take a trip along the coast to Jervis Bay.
(0)Saturday, 10. November 2007
Baptized in blood10-11-2007 01:54 /304987B2059BC36FC125738F00048480/$File/bib.jpg)
Happy days at the Roskilde festival in July 2007. Daniel sent me this picture today called "baptized in blood". Apparently, it is the name of a song by the death metal band "Death". The image was taken during the filming of the movie "Uhyret fra den brune lagune". It is coming out in December and the link to the trailer is available on this blog. Happy days!
(1)Wednesday, 3. October 2007
Spelunking in Yarrangobilly03-10-2007 10:51 
We just returned from a trip around the South Coast of New South Wales. We drove our Falcon west through Canberra and further south to Cooma. This is the main town in the Kosciuszko National Park in the Snowy Mountains. Apparently the ski season was not quite over and we had a bit of a taste of the apres-ski atmosphere (Aussie style). The following day we went into the Park and did some hardcore spelunking in the Yarrangobilly caves.
(1)Saturday, 15. September 2007
Kangaroos in Murramarang National Park15-09-2007 
Rasmus Skat and I went down to Murramarang National Park this week. We spent two days at the Durras Lake North Holiday Park. There were lots of kangaroos in the garden right outside our cottage. Many of the females had small joeys in their pouches (see 'roo on the left). I counted 45 kangaroos in the lawn yesterday. We spent our days walking in the forests and along the Durras Beach to Depot Beach. At night we BBQ'ed some lamb and watched the stars, the Milkyway and the Magellanic clouds.
(0)Saturday, 8. September 2007
Visitors from abroad: Rikke + Rasmus08-09-2007 23:00 
I am now back in Sydney after a couple of weeks travelling to conferences in Europe and Canada. This week Malene's sister Rikke and our friend Rasmus have been visiting us. The picture is from the ferry crossing Sydney Harbour on the way to Manly. We also went on a trip to Featherdale Wildlife Park to see some of the most funny (wombat, tawny frog mouth) and most poisonous creatures (Sydney funnel web and the Taipan snake) on the continent. In fact we learned that Australia has 17 of the 20 most poisonous snakes in the world.
(0)Monday, 23. July 2007
Roskilde 2007 - creature from the brown lagoon23-07-2007 01:27 /4A67DAB236B1DF85C1257320007FE9EF/$File/2007 Roskilde Regn.jpg)
Roskilde 2007 was quite an experience. It rained for 18 hours on Thursday. This meant that we had to walk through trenches of mud for the next three days and only on Sunday did the sun dry up the mud. There was a number of nice surprises in terms of music. I think the best concerts were Cult of Luna, Boris, Pelican (all three are sinister doomy metal bands) and Björk (100% pop). The life in the camp was fantastic and with 32 tents and about 50 people someone was always keen to talk, sing or dance. Despite the crappy weather people were quite cheerful most of the time. Ole and Jakob had a 25 year reception with pickeled herring and schnaps for everyone. On Saturday Stoney and Pedersen held another receptio: Pedersen was at Roskilde for the 15th time in a row. We also shot a new horror flick, "The Creature from the Brown Lagoon", which will be released later this year through Foking Films.
(0)Sunday, 1. July 2007
Roskilde festival 200701-07-2007 15:04 We were only four people who left Copenhagen at 4.45 on Sunday morning to set up the entire camp: Pedersen, Lina, Bie and myself. Actually, it went quite smoothly, although we had to stand in line for two hours from 5.45 to 7.45. We had brought 32 tents with us this yea: that's a new record! We are located at grid point C90 very close to the West Exit. To be more specific we are around the letter "C" in "C90". The weather was really nice for doing the hard work. I even got a bit of a sunburn! Hopefully the weather will not be too wet from Thursday on when the festival starts. We plan to arrive on Wednesday night around 9 pm with the crazy fokkers from Aarhus.
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(1)Saturday, 16. June 2007
The eye of the tiger16-06-2007 05:02 
200 kg of muscles, bones, teeth and claws plunging trough the water. This is the god of power. The Norse god Odin has taken the form of a Bengalese tiger. (1)Monday, 11. June 2007
Whale Watching at South Head11-06-2007 01:48 
Last weekend we went out on a boat to watch for whales. They travel north in the autumn but are two weeks early this year. One of Sacha's friends has a boat and we sailed through Sydney harbour to South Head. The waters were really calm but some of us got a little seasick. Anyway, we spotted around three or four whales but quite far from our boat. Apparently it was some playful Minki whales.
(1)Wednesday, 2. May 2007
A new pair of glasses02-05-2007 14:54 
Yes, sir, I have bought new glasses. After eight years looking like a business representative from Horsens I decided it was time to upgrade. The model is from Morrisey and is slightly more "wide-screen" than the previous Horsens model (actually it was Sand, but it's the same, really). I'm not sure if it goes with my aussie hat, but hey, no one's perfect.
(1)Sunday, 29. April 2007
Diving with turtles on the great barrier reef29-04-2007 04:52 
Lars A, Malene and myself boarded a small aircraft in Hervey Bay last week. Our destination was Lady Elliot Island, which is one of the few islands on the great barrier reef with a resort. We have been snorkelling every day for the whole week and we also took courses in scuba diving. Malene and I are now PADI advanced open water divers! We got very close to the inhabitants of the coral reef including turtles, octopi and some nosy reef sharks.
(0)Monday, 16. April 2007
Vacation: Lady Elliot Island16-04-2007 04:36 Lars A has been visiting us for the past week. Over the Easter weekend we went down south to hike the rain forest near Kiama and later we had a piece of the wonderful Choc Rock at the Park View Cafe. We spent the next day at Murray beach by
Jervis Bay. The sand on the beautiful white beach was so fine that it gave a very high pitched sound when we walked on it with our bare feet. Malene saw a two meter long sting ray just off the beach, but it escaped before I got in the water.
Tomorrow Lars A and I will fly up north to Hervey Bay. We'll take a few days to explore
Fraser Island, which is the largest
sand island in the world (55% the size of the third largest island in Denmark:
Funen). Malene will join us on Saturday when we fly out to
Lady Elliot Island. The island grew above the water from the the great barrier reef only 2000 years ago. Today it is a paradise island just 80 km off the coast of Queensland. We will be doing snorkelling mostly, but Malene and I both have an open water diving license, so we'll probably go for one or two scuba dives as well. There's a colony of about 40 manta rays around the island -- with average an "wingspan" of about five meters. I would love to watch those giants glide through the water.
(0)Friday, 23. March 2007
A foggy morning in Sydney23-03-2007 
This morning it was quite foggy - this is very rare in Sydney. The picture was taken from our balcony towards the CBD in the east and the Anzac Bridge to the north. (0)[Replication or Save Conflict]
Friday, 22. December 2006
Christmas in Sydney 221-12-2006 23:10 Glædelig jul!
Man kan sagtens holde jul i 30 graders varme! De sidste par dage har vi haft travlt med at pynte juletræet. I dag er Malene er i gang i køkkenet med at forberede forskellige specialiteter fra Danmark: Ris a la mande, frikadeller og rødkål. Jeg står for flæskestegen, der er mit speciale: Tyve års erfaring og praktisk talt ingen dårlige anmeldelser!
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I eftermiddag kommer forskellige venner og arbejdskolleger forbi lejligheden for at smage på vores dejlige julemad! Det bliver nok lidt specielt at tygge sig gennem en fed steg og brune kartofler, når det er varmt udenfor! Men vi må lukke øjnene og drømme om kulde og mørkt vejr.
Det har været nogle spændende måneder, siden vi flyttede til Sydney i oktober. Vi har fået en dejlig lejlighed med en fantastisk udsigt, og vi bor nu tæt ved universitetet og byen. Det ser ud til, at Malene kan begynde at arbejde fra slutningen af januar eller februar. Det bliver på universitetshospitalet "Royal Prince Albert" (RPA). Hun har allerede charmeret sig ind på afdelingen, så i denne weekend var vi en tur med dermatologerne fra RPA i "Hunter Valley" nord for Sydney. Det er et af de største vindistrikter i Australien; vi fik smagt på hen ved tredive vine og er nu (næsten) conissieurs udi druerne semillion og shiraz, der klarer sig bedst med Australien specielle vejr og den vulkanske og sandede jordbund.
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Vi blev i Hunter Valley i fire dage. Vi var ude at ride i et par timer. Malene er jo temmelig hestevant og er vokset op i en stald, mens jeg stadig anser dem som "glubske rovdyr" - et udtryk Leif Panduro brugte i "Fejltagelsen". Jeg har først nu fundet ud af, at de fleste
hesteracer ikke er kødæddende. Det er faktisk meget sjovt at sidde på ryggen af et 600 kg dyr, der mest består af toptrænede muskler, der bliver drevet fremad af 80%
hestosteron og 20% adrenalin fuldblods. Heller ikke da en wallaby pludselig kom hoppende ned langs markvejen. Wallabies er noget mindre en de røde kænguruer; de bliver henholdvis 1.5 og 2.0 meter høje.
På vej hjem kørte vi forbi Port Stevens, der ligger ude ved fjoden nord for
Newcastle (to timer i bil fra Sydney). Vi tog med et lille skib ud på fjorden for at se delfiner. Og minsandten om ikke de lejesyge delfiner sprang op af vandet lige foran båden. Der skulle også være
pingviner, havskildpadder og
nurse sharks i fjorden, men de er vist meget fredelige. Måske vi skal have snorkeludstyrret med næste gang.
Vi holder nytår i Coonabarabran, hvor
Siding Spring observatoriet ligger. Vi skal observere stjernen
Procyon i to uger. Fem andre observatorier rundt omkring i verden vil samtidig observere Procyon, så når vi går i seng tager nogle andre over i USA og derefter Europa. Jeg skriver "vi", for Malene skal med som min personlige assistent.
Godt nytår!
Hans & Malene
(5)Thursday, 14. December 2006
Malene's picture album14-12-2006 03:21 Wow! Malene has made a
nice album with pictures from our first three months here in Sydney. There are also a few pictures of friends and family from Denmark.
Saturday, 9. December 2006
Christmas in Sydney08-12-2006 23:08 Despite the balming 30 degrees outside we have insisted on having a christmas tree. We just dragged this poor tree up the elevator and into our flat. Malene got quite a shock when suddenly a grasshopper jumped out at her from within the tree. I guess that would not have happened back in Denmark. I'm not even sure there are any grasshoppers in summer up north anymore? Malene's friends have sent us some nice decorations that we have used to make the tree look nice. Wow, there's even a genuine Georg Jensen star at the top, which I've inherited from my mother! Now we just need a few presents to put underneath, a big fat pork roast, and some pickelled herring and we can have a merry Christmas.
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(1)Wednesday, 22. November 2006
Thursday, 9. November 2006
City Quarter in Sydney09-11-2006 01:37 We have moved into our new apartment in Sydney. It is found in the "ultra stylish", "ultra modern", "chic" City Quarter and features "European Appliances", "Magnificent Views" etc etc. That's at least what it said in the advertisement. Actually, after living there for about three weeks we really like it. We live on the sixth level in the Aquilon building and the view is really stunning.
(1) Wednesday, 25. October 2006
We're Leaving Denmark25-10-2006 The picture below is from Kastrup Airport and was taken on October 5th 2006. Helle, Rikke and Rikke were there to say goodbye.
(0) Monday, 16. October 2006
Random walk in Sydney16-10-2006 10:35 During the weekend we went to the Sydney Aquarium. A fantastic display of all the fish and sharks that are found in the sea round Australia and therefore also in Jackson's bay which is another name for the Sydney Harbour. We leaned that all sharks are flesh-eaters! They are shaped like atom-bombs and have three rows of razor-sharp teeth. The small brain is their only weakness which contains only two thoughts: the eternal lust for blood and meat.
In search for peace we went for a strool through the Botanical Gardens. We saw the flying dogs, the Ibis birds and Cuckatoos. These animals are probably not man-eating but potentially dangerous animals.
A final thought: the Australian spiders are poisonous and cunning killing machines. Don't be fooled by their small size. They can get through small openings and will put up their impenetrable web in your shoe or across the toilet seat. Be careful.
Sydney is a dangerous place to live.
(0)Friday, 13. October 2006
Looking for a place to stay in Sydney13-10-2006 10:05 G'day!
Malene and I have arrived in Sydney. We are now looking for a place to stay near the University of Sydney. The suburbs we are looking at are Camperdown, Glebe, Newtown, Erskineville and Alexandria. During the past week we've found good places in the Sydney Village Park (but public transport is poor) and the City Quarter (new, stylish but expensive apartments). We have now applied for a 1 bedroom apartment in the C.Q. and we hope to be able to move in later this week.
(3)Thursday, 28. September 2006
Visit at the photographer27-09-2006 17:27 On Monday night Malene, Rikke and I went to the photographer on Østerbro. Individual mug shots, group photos of Malene and her sister, and Malene and myself together were taken. The results were not as good as we had hoped for. Or perhaps the camera and the photographer are just being too objective? Anyway, we've spent a lot of time discussing which photos are the best ones. Two of the ones we could not agree on are shown below.
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Hans & Malene in September 2006
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Hans' trucker look from September 2006
(1)Sunday, 3. September 2006
Vacation in Crete 03-09-2006 14:14 I've spent the last week in Crete. Malene, Hans and six other friends stayed at a wonderful house north of Chania owned by the Damborg family. What an amazing view of the bay of Kalathas! We spent our days relaxing by the pool, playing tennis, snorkelling, drinking
caipirinha and enjoying the wonderful Greek food. I ate so many octopuses that I think I have started to grow an extra arm. Each of us had arranged some form of entertainment. We shot a slasher movie, competed in
synchronized swimming and had a drawing competition. It was nice to have a week away from "it all".
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/2B55767C1AB84928C125722D00837CBD/$File/Dennis Kristine Dennis Nov 2006.JPG)
Dennis, Kristine & Malene /C918AAF694FF16EFC125722D00838A43/$File/Malene by the Sea Nov 2006.JPG)
Malene /F0E261117B11F726C125722D00839C61/$File/Hans by the Sea Nov 2006.JPG)
Hans
