Category: general

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climbing general

tonsai and the tsunami

Some photos of the tsunami taken in and around Tonsai Beach, Thailand. My flatmate was rockclimbing there – she was actually up on the cliffs by the beach when it hit. This area was lucky, and there was relatively little damage, and very little loss of life – I think none on Tonsai Beach itself. Things didn’t go so well for Phi Phi (which is actually where climbing first kicked off in Thailand). For anyone who is interested in more information about the people from those climbing areas you loved (or how to donate to those affected areas) look here, here, and here.

tonsai bay

This photo is from a series that was taken up on Thaiwand Wall. It was actually printed in a few different newspapers.

freedom bar

The wave hitting the Freedom Bar on Tonsai Beach.

Continue reading “tonsai and the tsunami”
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general

rock

rock

Rock at Bundaleer, Grampians.

No climbing this weekend. Sitting and waiting for phone calls about plane tickets. And vicious rain and humidity that makes my skin crawl. And testing out the new fish and chip shop down the round (conclusion, a bit too pricy).

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general

the saga continues

So now I have the visa. And am attempting to organise tickets so I can now actually get to the US. But apparently that also, is not straightforward. The US university that is paying for the tickets wanted a faxed copy of my visa, so they could see that the expiry date was indeed May 19, not July sometime, which they seemed to assume it should be for some reason, and wouldn’t believe that the actual expiry was in May without a photocopy to prove it. So they have that now, and I’m waiting for further updates.

In slightly geekier news, I’ve been playing round with a slightly different layout. And becoming frustrated when the css is making things behave in a seemingly inexplicable fashion, that yet seems to sort of make sense, but still leave me with no idea how to fix it. And yes, my category links still aren’t working. As I have nothing else to do other than wait for a phone call about my plane tickets, I will probably be working on this for the rest of the day.

UPDATE – And I’ve just realised that the site is now very not working in IE. Is ok in Firefox though, comparatively. Agh.

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general

Austraya, Austraya, Austraya, Austraya, we love you amen!

wattle

G’day, Bruce!

Oh, Hello Bruce!

How are you Bruce?

A bit crook, Bruce.

Where’s Bruce?

He’s not ‘ere, Bruce.

Blimey, it’s hot in here, Bruce.

…….

Is your name not Bruce?

No, it’s Michael.

That’s going to cause a little confusion.

Mind if we call you “Bruce” to keep it clear?

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general

gecko

fat gecko

A fat and exotic looking gecko I spotted pathside while climbing in the Grampians. He sat long enough for a photo, then something in my precariously balanced pack fell to the ground, and he ran away. Not to be disloyal to my geckoes, but he did look very pretty.

Washington DC update – Still no word on plane tickets, so not sure when I’m going.
Weather update – Hot. My weather pixie has actually stripped down to a singlet. Jumping in a pool tonight.
Woody update – Construction hasn’t started yet.
Weird behaviour update – Saw a lady walking down Rathdown St in Carlton, wearing black one-piece swimmers and a bright pink towel. This was not an area where you’d usually see people walking around in bathing attire. It was not a particularly hot day. It was odd.