Audun's traveling

Heathrow and home

2009-02-04T07:32:00.001+01:00

After 32 hours we finally left Heathrow. The snow made all the English
confused, and there were thousands of people in line to reebook their
flights. I hope British Airways will stand for trial in Haag for
letting people in a queue for 11 hours!

Besides that, our trip home went well, and there is no place like home
- though The Great Barrier Reef gets close :)

Jetlag works fine, I started work 06:00 today...

Great Barrier Reef

2009-01-30T10:44:00.004+01:00

Diving and snorkeling on the reef was absolutely awesome! Saw a lot of fish and some sharks, plus heaps of corals :)

Magnetic

2009-01-30T10:42:00.001+01:00

Marianne is very happy after seeing koala bears in the wild, hence the medium beer.
Luckily we had a grey day and not the frying sun while walking the tracks on the island, but humidity could have been less...
A quiet place with lots of animals; parrots, possums, wallabies, flying foxes, koalas and all imaginable creeping creatures.
And now we drive to Cairns, the final destination.

Magnetic Island

2009-01-25T17:24:00.000+01:00

A few hours drive north to Townsville, then the ferry to this beautiful and quiet island.

Fraser & Whitsunday Islands

2009-01-22T13:32:00.000+01:00

We've been to the largest sand island in the world with a 4 wheel drive and tent for 3 days, and have sand more than between our toes! It was really nice, fun people on our car (11 all together) and some good kodak moments. Unfortunately no pictures right now but will try to get them sent over. Found out that Internet on my phone was really not a smart move - big bill!

Tomorrow morning we'll go on a 3 days sailing in the Whitsunday Islands, close to the Great Barrier Reef, where snorkelling and relaxing will be the main tasks :) We stay on a sail boat with 13 people, eat, drink and sleep - all on deck I guess since it's around 30 degrees all the time.

Bye Bye Newcastle

2009-01-13T20:20:00.000+01:00

It was nice, fun and surreal to be back in Newcastle after 6.5 years, the city had changed but my friends there were still the same good company. Club Damo had been upgraded, and is the best place to stay! Thanks Damien!
We got through a few of all the fun things to do in Newy; dolphin watching, stepping on sand dunes, kangaroo eating, vinyards, beach, bar, beer & bbq.
Lisa and Wade were our excellent guides to Hunter Valley and the vinyards, thank you so much!
Today we started the serious driving towards Cairns that most Australians think is too long a drive, but it's only about 2500km.
Marianne is very happy after the first sight of kangaroos and can't wait for the koalas!
Tomorrow we'll head for Byron Bay :)

Sydney

2009-01-09T15:05:00.000+01:00

Two days in Sydney, and we've done the Opera, aquarium, Darling Harbour, the Rocks, Manly and a lot of shops. We arrived in the morning, 32 hours since Oslo, and started off meeting some Norwegian friends. Hege made us feel really pale... The first night we fought to stay awake, nearly fell over at the restaurant in China town.
Picked up a car today, and drove through the Blue Mountains before heading for good old Newcastle!

London - Hong Kong

2009-01-05T22:03:00.000+01:00

11.5 hours, or perhaps 4 movies and a couple of TV-shows, is all that's between us and Hong Kong.

Australia

2009-01-05T17:10:00.000+01:00

Going down under for four weeks!
Trip starts on Monday January 5th 2009.
Flights:
Oslo, London, Hong Kong, Sydney (31 hours...)

It's begun!

2009-01-05T16:11:00.001+01:00

The last journey

2008-04-13T19:04:00.001+02:00

Fried, sweat, sad and happy, a mix of relations and opposites. The people I have stayed with are so nice, and patient with my Portuguese... After a while away from home it seems possible to get used to it. Nevertheless, I look forward to come home to meet all the fantastic people! It takes about 23 hours to get home, just around the block :)

Last day at the beach

2008-04-11T18:54:00.001+02:00

Holidays are coming to an end. The beach will probably try to come home with me in my pockets, bags and everywhere, appearing as small reminders now and then for a while. But I do look forward to come home and meet all the people!

Holidays

2008-04-10T05:06:00.001+02:00

Cabo Frio is a really nice place to spend my holidays. I realized that there are so many activities to join, especially since my friends that I stay with are involved in Gateway College, a Norwegian school. I've been surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, playing capoeira and lot's of fun. This week is going too fast!

Argentina, ultimo dia

2008-04-05T19:20:00.001+02:00

Last day in Argentina, where restaurants don't open before 21, the president must have a past as an actress, they speak Spanish too fast, people are very friendly and shopping mall guards wear guns. Don't say you're English on April 2nd when they have a public holiday to remember the fallen soldiers at the Falklands only 26 years ago.

Argentina has a good reason to be proud of the food and wine. Try to order a menu of any part of cow, pork and goat been put on a piece of wood to share instead of your own plate. They will keep serving until you either stop them or fall off your chair.

Now it's finally time for a week of holidays in Brazil!

No stress...

2008-04-01T05:35:00.001+02:00

After seven hours we ended our supposedly two-hours trip and could start the work in the hut you see in the photo. This cable-tv head end is placed in a village with 1000 people, is receiving satellite signals and redistributes the tv signal using our system to protect the content from piracy. The operation is for some more than only this village though...

The main reason for delays here is the ongoing strike. The government put a high tax on incom from soybeans and oil, so the farmers are blocking the roads. Now there is no potatoes or salad for dinner, and we drank the last bottle of beer in the restaurant tonight. But, the people here seems to not stress about things, so I guess it's all gonna be a nice week!

Buenos Aires, Argentina

2008-03-30T18:51:00.002+02:00

After two days of meetings with customer not far from Buenos Aires we have time for some sightseeing in the weekend. Next to B.A. there is a large delta with rivers as the only way of transportation. In this area some people have a summer house, others stay permanently and there are schools for their kids. Very different...

My colleague Carlos have a friend in B.A. that showed us around, telling about politics, history and everyday life that we can not read about in any tourist guide, nor the nice restaurant he took us to in the evening. As a citizen of B.A., lawyer and professor in law at the university he more than qualified for this!

Today, Sunday, we had a large breakfast in the downtown. Only relaxing before flying to Cordoba tonight. According to the customer we are going to a medium size city with only 1.5 million people. Then, on Monday we drive two hours to Villa Maria and start our work that we expect to last for that week.

Chile

2008-03-26T21:41:00.001+01:00

One day in Santiago, we had a dinner with, of course, a nice red wine, a meeting with a customer and some hours in the airport.

Though this seems like a brief visit I feel I did an important notice; suitcases are used to build towers in well suitable places in airports! So that's why they don't always come home with their owners... The only difference here is that it's on exhibition as in the photo.

Next destination today is Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Rio de Janeiro

2008-03-23T14:52:00.001+01:00

Corcovado, or just Cristo, is not only a spectaculous view but also a trip through the largest in-town rainforest reserve. We hired a taxi through the hotel, but they were wrong about the opening hours. So the taxi driver used his skills and took us on a rainforest rally race!

Earlier that day we played in the waves of Copacabana. Marianne discovered that her Norwegian style bikini was the largest on the beach... The fashion here is close to what I'd call 'mooning'. There really is no place where the sun doesn't shine..

After dinner we strolled along the beach enjoying a caipirinha while a South American danceband was playing, with pan flutes and all that comes with it...

Paradise

2008-03-20T18:01:00.001+01:00

Really a place everyone should visit! Easter weekend is peak season, heaps of people coming with the boats today. Satisfied that we planned this so well and went to Ilha Grande before the peak. Now it's time for Rio de Janeiro!

Danskebåten at Ilha Grande

2008-03-18T20:54:00.004+01:00

Woke up to a sunny day and went on a boat trip to Lagoa Azul (Blue Lagoon). Discovered that we were on the Danskebåt as there was served beer and spoken Danish, at least by 23 of the other visitors! In the Blue Lagoon you do nothing but snorkel and swim. Lunch was served at the beach. Life is good!

Ilha Grande

2008-03-17T18:54:00.001+01:00

Finally some real holidays! 3 hours by bus, then 1.5 hours by boat SW of Rio, that's where our paradise will be for the next days. If the sun doesn't show up all day, we'll anyways have options like snorkeling, scuba diving and jungle trekking!

Santos = coffee

2008-03-16T01:09:00.001+01:00

When the sidewalks are decorated as coffee beans, you're in the heart of Brazil's coffee history. Santos is the closest port to Sao Paulo and worth a visit for a good cup of coffee!

Easter holidays are here, and I'm going to Rio tomorrow, hopefully to see some sun. I'll consider it as a bonus if Marianne shows up, but I hope the next possible flight will include her on the passenger list.

Bacalhau (Tørrfæsk)

2008-03-12T00:17:00.001+01:00

Gringo has not yet been used against me, but the dried fish that Norway fills this country with is often a subject with the taxi drivers. Credit to the marketing guys that make this look nice and attractive!

Working days

2008-03-09T22:18:00.004+01:00

After some nice days in Rio/Niteroi visiting Maria, the beach and the project I'm helping a bit, http://www.noc-norge.com/ , it's time to head for Sao Paulo. For the next five days I'll be in Conax's office for my 'every day work', though I'm very happy that it has not the same meaning as boring!

Beach

2008-03-09T01:55:00.000+01:00

Beach at day, beach at night. That's all for today, but it's been a good one!

Fredagspils...

2008-03-07T20:50:00.001+01:00

..sounds better than Friday beer, Australians don't they have that as they drink beer every now and then, right Damien? Well, nothing's like a beer while having sand between toes and teeth!

Exhibit A

2008-03-07T17:36:00.001+01:00

Finally a proof of that I'm not bloging from home. Here I am at Maria's house. She speaks Norwegian and I know she won't run away with my camera :)

Bus rally

2008-03-07T16:26:00.001+01:00

If bus rally was a sport, Brazil would probably be represented. I bet the busdrivers have a picture of Petter Solberg in their wallet!
Finally got to Rio and the heat, exiting how I will handle the change from Oslo's snow storms.. I see something that's white as snow! It's the beach!

Leaving Norway

2008-03-06T18:56:00.001+01:00

At the end of this visit to Norway I had the chance to ski in this beautiful terrain, quite something to give up for some weeks in S-A!

Bought 1,5 kg of Melkesjokolade for the Brazilians at the taxfree, so it's all set. I better be welcome now.

Até mais tarde!

Starting soon

2008-03-03T23:23:00.001+01:00

This adventure will start on 6th of March from Oslo, arriving Rio de Janeiro the next day.