Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Fighting chief of the mountains

One day, 28Th of November, three housemates decided to see sunrise, and not just sunrise but sunrise up in Mount Warning. Mount Warning is a mountain located inland from Tweed Heads in
Northern NSW and it is the first place on mainland Australia to receive the sun's rays each day.




Aboriginal people call it Wollumbin, a name meaning fighting chief of the mountains. They believed that thunder and lighting seen on the mountain were fighting warriors, the wounds of these fights being represented by the landslides that occurred. The mountain remains a place of cultural and traditional significance to the Bundjalung people and is the site of particular ceremonies and initiation rites. The Bundjalung observe cultural and traditional restrictions forbidding the uninitiated from climbing the mountain.


But if u do climb it takes approximately 1.5 to 3,5 hours (one way) and requires a good level of fitness. The total journey is 8,8 km. Mt Warning is part of the United Nations World Heritage listed Gondawa Rainforest's of Australia.



Spent night in car, started climbing at 3 am in complete darkness


The name, Mt Warning, was given by Captain Cook in May, 1770 during his trip up the east cost of Australia. Mt Warning is the central volcanic remain an ancient shield volcano, the Tweed Volcano, which would have been about 1,900 m above sea level or just under twice the height of the current mountain. This volcano erupted around 23 million years ago.


Sunrise


Knowing that we are the first ones to see sun in whole Australia on that day makes u feel real happy and more alive then ever before. Climbing up was definitely worth it.


what could be more beautiful then this


Its hard too explain the feeling when u finally make it up there and see this amazing view, its hard to but in words how proud we were with ourselves.





sunrise in my hand




going down while it bright gave us opportunity to see where we were walking earlier




last 200 meters we needed to use this hand rope




half way down but still higher then clouds




rainforest


same place 8 hours later



Saturday, December 11, 2010

another day in paradise


surfing in bikini - one dream game true


Surfing is very much like making love. It always feels good, no matter how many times you've done it. And its always worth it even if u get only one single wave, its always makes u happy and pleased. Even if the wave is small and easy to catch makes me happy. One day i paddled out although it seemed so flat, but i still went. Made promise to myself to go out every day even if its just for paddle. And on that day i got every single wave i tried, they were small, slow, easy....but that was all i needed to be happy. Same day i was surfing out there with sharks, i didn't see it but beach was closed and surf patrol gave us warning that big shark cruising around Byron. Shark is not the only creature I've been surfing with. Seen dolphins so close that could touch them but was too scared, been surfing with them on the same wave many times and been bitten by jellyfish. All this makes me respect ocean more and more. How much it can give and how much it can take.



another day in paradise



sunset surf sessions


Its hard to imagine that Christmas coming, its hard to imagine that its winter back home, hard to imagine snow, hard to imagine to be could. Its warm here, really warm. Some days i refuse to wear more clothes then bikini, some days i have to spend all day in water, some days i drink 4 litres water....its paradise its true but even here its raining, and its raining a lot...this year is worst year like they say. never rained before that much on this time of year....it means i still haven't seen proper Australian summer






we call it backyard



Byron is perfect place to stop for few minutes and think....Its perfect place to do nothing. Doing nothing is the most tiresome job in the world because u can not quit and rest. I need power naps during the day, i need long sleeps during the night and I'm still tired. But like Oscar Wilde says do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and most intellectual. So i have right to be tired, i have good excuse for that, I'm just being intellectual.



Most of my time I'm doing nothing and being intellectual but i do have a job as well. I was hunting job for two weeks without any results but then my landlord Andy came and gave me his friend's number. Since then I'm professional dish washing specialist in fancy restaurant. I do not work full time and my weekends are always off, chefs in kitchen are so chill, vibe is perfect i even don't feel I'm working. Boys in kitchen like to say I'm the most well treated kitchen hand in the world, i get feed of these fancy food every day and i can chill around if its not busy. Easy life!


little frog at work