Sunshine in the pot... (Brisbane Day 3)

I wonder if any photograph can express some of the wonderful scenes that I have seen across the North of Brisbane. We've trekked our way up to the sunshine coast today and i've had a wonderful day but let me not get ahead of myself. I'll be happy to give everyone a step by step walk through my seriously packed day around northern Brisbane.

We started the day with the drive up past Australia Zoo; this is the zoo set up by Steve Irwing, the Crocodile Man. However, we were not going to do a zoo today. My amazing hosts wanted to give me yet another surprise. Yes, If only you could guess; they brought Africa back in front of me.

We went to this wonderful restaurant called the Key's restaurant. The chef a Ghanian lady who has a story of her own. You can find details of this place online. The taste was phenomenal. I have to say with the limited spices and other limitations of being in another country, I was sent back to my lunch breaks in high school back in Botswana. I think, this is where I should make each one of you salivate with the pictures that I have to show you.

Now that your salivating; i'm going to tell you that this was as authentic as you can get to African cuisine.

The view from the restaurant was not as breath taking however, we did move to another place that made the view from any other place insignificant. To top it off, there was a painter sitting and painting the lovely scene and doing a darn good job at it too.

Imagine this picture in vivid oil colours in the hands of a skilled painter. That was what I saw. I should have taken a picture of that but I did not do that. :( I'm sad I did not. I think that was probably the picture that I never took that i'll regret on this trip. Nevertheless, right behind this scene was a natural tropical forest that we took a friendly trek into. 

Yes they are...

Enable GPS Systems...

A true MCCian at heart

What befell me in the forest was a sight that I could not have imagined. From the very dry and semi arid place that Australia looked to be like, I was astounded to see a tropical rainforest with all the fauna and flora right there in the midst of all this chaos. It was unbelievable.

As true to our heritage, we had to be MCCians and enjoy nature as much as muck about as much as possible and enjoy ourselves too. This mixed with the laid back Aussie nature is something to reckon with.

The nature lover that I am, I decided to walk on and continue to observe the undergrowth and after a moment of silence, you see the beautiful animals come to life and go about their daily business. These tiny birds even dared to come close to us as we walked the forest path that was laid out. I caught out on camera though as I peaked into the undergrowth of the dense bush. 

We left the forest reserve and went off to take a look out at the lookout.

This was the sight that befell us. From there, it was a quick drive to the Beach. Just to see what Australian beaches were all about but not to really get on the beach. That was for the next day. 

At the beach, I just fell in love with the amazing artwork made out of coloured tiles that was made. What it was is still something of a mystery to me but I was awestruck at it.

I could not really get my head around it.

After about another hour of driving from the beach, I was taken to a spectacular sight. This was Noosa, a secluded area where all the money comes to for any kind of holiday this side of the country. Even more amazing was the scenery. In the evening sun, it was picturesque and All I could do was look in amazement as to probably why the settlers first came here and made the place so secluded. We walked into a reserve where they have protected the environment and this made some of the places a little difficult to reach but still, i was good. Just take a look.

Looking out into the ocean with the sky decorated with clouds

The Heber Boys Boiling Pot (No pun intended)

The Man

The fantastic duo

Boiling Pot 1

Boiling Pot 2 (overflow)

We waited for the day to come to an end and we were rewarded with this awesome image of the evening sun setting over the main land across the bay. These are the colours that I call, beautiful. Gold. Wonder what HE was thinking when he made all this.

Sunset over Noosa

The Parade on a Prado (Brisbane Day 2)

Overnight, I really could not sleep and what the reason was, baffled me completely. I had no clue whatsoever. This made me wake up completely tired and very dull. Breakfast served, it was time to get out of the house and travel around.

Our mode of travel today was a beast. Unusually one that I've never really had a chance to get a ride on for all these year. It was waiting for this particular moment to show itself to me, I guess.

Prado all the way

I was going to enjoy this trip. I did not care what was to come in my way. I was determined to enjoy. The heat was picking up and touching 33 degrees Celsius. Yes, the dry air was not very pleasing either, still, with the car on the move and the a/c on full, who would know the difference between 33 and 20. Really. It made no difference whatsoever. This monster pulled away and simply rolled off into the country. This was tropical whether. Dry and Hot. I expected a little more umph! from the climate and I did not have to wait too long. It started to rain.

Bush walking was what was planned for the day today. I wished it would not rain but this was the first set of rains in the area. I was not going to complain about it. My rainforest treks would come to good use. After all, this was just water. Nothing more right? And on the forest floor, what else would be better; the canopy protects the ground below anyway. This was great.

Our first destination was Binna Burra.



Here, we planned to go for the caves circuit walk but was sadly unable because of the rain. We did stop at the lodge that was there and decided to have a lovely lunch.

 I thought i'd share some of the pictures that I took of the lodge itself. From the entrance, this is what one sees.

Beautiful trees that surround the lodge bring out the beauty of the landscape with the contrasting views.

This beautiful restaurant gave us a sense of hanging over the edge of the mountain. In a sense; I was astounded by the similarity that the place had with Nandi hills (minus the people of course). Even the way it was made was absolutely amazing. with the wooden buildings and old rustic feel.

The clouds rolled over the hills as one could see rain falling in the distance as well. We decided after lunch that it was time to make a move. One has only so much patience and we wanted to go and see other sites.

On our way, it was as though we ended up in a place just like in the Lord of the Rings. One has to see it to believe it. Was really awestruck to see the sight. I have to say that the picture looks better than the real thing because I could zoom in.



We worked our way down the hills again and ended up near a dam. Circumventing the dam, we arrived at a place called the natural bridge. This was truly exciting. here was a bridge that was formed which was natural in every way you could think of. There was even a hole in the roof of the cave that I had seen. The place supposedly even had glow worms. Yeah... Glow worms. Did not see a single one though. :(

This was really good jungle. Set deep in Queensland country. But I was told, this is really not the only way in which Queensland appears. There are various avatars too.

After all the journey, we ended up in a nice cute little township on top of a hill I cannot remember the name of and had a small cup of Roiboos tea. Yes, South African Bush tea in the middle of Australia. What an amalgamation of culture this really is.

By the end of the day, I was truly tired. I just wanted to see the bed. We came home calculated, how much we traveled the whole trip. Yes, we did 350 kilometres. Now that is a lot of distance to do in a day with all the sight seeing which was hindered completely with the rain.

Tomorrow is a new day, and i'm looking forward to a sunny and bright day. At least that is what the whether forecast says. We'll see what happens.

Ferry him in; said he...(Brisbane Day 1)

I woke up this morning at 7am, thinking, oh no, i'm going to be late. This is not what I need. I should have been ready by this time. I was really excited to get going but my body was tired. The late night of packing and getting ready really did not ensure I was off the line faster this morning.

Finally waking up and getting ready, Kaye kindly dropped me off at the airport and I ensured that I got onto the right flight. My friend, with whom I was staying told me to make sure that I don't get onto the wrong flight and end up in Indonesia or something. How can you get it wrong. Impossible. But you never know in this automated world we live in what just might happen. This man, an MCCian in every way, decided to get me going. I needed to meet a few people and I tried my best to do so. It really did not work out. So, we got on with the existing plans that he had made.

Like raw materials in the hands of a skilled worker, I have been given no impression as to what is to happen here in Brisbane. All I know is that I am in good hands. What more do I need to know. We pick up a pass and start off walking to the riverside along which this lovely city has been made.

The Work Place

En route, we stopped to take photos of the various highlights of the city. The CBD (Central Business District) as it is affectionately called.





We ended up at a ferry stop. And a catamaran styled boat called the city cat pulled up as we entered for an amazing and beautiful ride up stream. This has got to be something to recon with.

Ferry Ride "City Cat"

As we travelled upstream, the sights that befell my eyes were true to what I could never see anywhere else. I could see the various inputs of the world right in front of my very eyes. Singapore, Hong Kong, it all looked similar, even bits and pieces of San Francisco. Amazed and awed, It was one heck of a trip. Almost 2 hours later, we rocked up back to the place we started. To top off everything, we had some of the best whether Brisbane has had in quite a while is what I was told.

Typical Queensland House

Singapore Style...

Hong Kong Style buildings

We finally started on the 25-55 minute travel home. The time varies depending on the traffic. We got stuck in peak hour traffic. Just the sight of traffic and the sheer number of people I saw in the main central mall was a sight for sore eyes to me. I was dreading going back to the mayhem of chennai.


How I will appreciate the tranquility of MCC campus vs the chaos of Chennai city. This is a shock even for those who live in Adelaide and come to places like this. One cannot really understand the difficulties of it at times. Its just weird. I even got the a notion that Adelaide is just a lovely village/country city. Nothing more. No hustling and bustling of anything or any sort. I wish the world was such an uneventful life. I guess going via Brisbane before touching Sydney is good because I don't want to have an unnatural shock.

By the waterside

Under a tree. LOL

This was just half day. We finally reached home. And what a splendid place it was. Chechi made some authentic Indian cuisine and I am tasting Indian food for just the second time after getting to Australia. I indulged into the food. I cannot wait to see what Day 2 here has to offer. It is going to be a treat. I just know it.

In all this, I sit back and recall the mercy and favour of God in all that I am experiencing. I truly do. Six years I have waited to see this country and HE is making it a treat for me to see. I'm really tired and really want to sleep now. I look forward to waking up in the morning.

To the Ranges and back (Day 1)

This post is quite late but I simply did not have the time to do any sort of typing; I really had to finish all the work. At least now,  I'm back and I can type and have the time to update my blog. 

Day 1: To the Pound and Back...

My out back experience started with us going to the Wilpena pound, up north from Wilmington. We started our journey up to the lovely town of Quorn (pronounced like Corn). We were heading up North from there too, up towards Hawker before finally reaching the Ranges. This range of hills is part of what is known as the Flinders Ranges. We did not want to do the really big walks as we were in danger of getting really late, however, we did want to go up to the old hilltop house where the original farmers of the land had put up a house to live in. The journey up to the park took us about 2 hours. From there, we started trekking up along existing trails. I'd have much more liked it if it was just a half hazard walk in the bush, but no chance out there. It would really be quite far. Since Michael and Anne have been to this area before, I thought it best if I took up the chance to simply enjoy the lovely scenery. Smith had the camera and I knew he'll take every pic he could think of. I was just happy to enjoy the scenery. Walking along the creek bed, we could see where the flooding caused havoc to where there was lush greenery because of the little amount of water that has collected. These were some of the wonderful scenery that we met with along this beautiful journey.

Our first stop was an extremely old farm station that still has building standing from the early 19th century. This was a sheep farm with places for the shearers to live as well as the family homestead. This whole place was made from the very soil on which we walked and it was easy to tell because of the colour of the walls. It resembled in every way, the surrounding soil. This was amazing. walking into the ruins was like taking a walk down history more than 100 years back. Who knew, I might just have walked up to the bank of the creek that ran along the homestead just like its first inhabitants; or looked back out from the creek to the plains that extended to the region. This was an area plagued with drought and good rainfall with the passing of seasons. This was the out backs of Australia. This was the legacy that the white settlers from Europe made here in Australia.

Our next stop would be a lovely lunch break under a tree with a sitting area just to have lunch. This place offered a wonderful view of the area around us with the hills standing up against the horizon and then another set of hills further than the first. Our trip started to show us more and more of the wild Kangaroo. This was the edge of what we later came to know as the entrance to Wilpenna Pound. 

[to be cont...]

Christmas Pageant & Diwali Extravaganza

Cooking may not be my forte, however, I can cook enough to get a decent meal on the table. I won't disagree, this time I had a very helpful helping hand. His name is none other than my good friend, Mr Smithson Sunny. We decided to take over the kitchen and make chappathi's and chicken curry for more than just a few people. More like 20 of them. Yey. And I have to agree it succeeded. But my day did not just start there. It started early in the morning.
I was going to get ready to go for the Christmas Pageant in Adelaide. This is supposed to be the show where everyone gathers into the city for a morning of fun as a large group of people welcome the christmas spirit into the city. Many of the things here, I disagreed with very strongly but none the less, I did make my way to this huge event. The main street in Adelaide was shut down for this programme and everyone that you could think of was there. Now for my Indian friends reading this blog, you'll find my explanation of the number of people that I saw quite ridiculous. Why? one might ask. Well, its simple; the number of people that lined the streets along the streets of Adelaide was supposed to be a large crowd. Now, i'm sure when I say there is a crowd, one should try to see T-Nagar during Diwali shopping season. That is what I call a crowd. This was more like T-Nagar at 9:00am in the morning. As the shops start to get opened on a low sale day. That is what you would feast your eyes to. However, there were many things that did appeal to my eyes. I was wondering how organised and orderly the crowd was. I have seen in many places the use of barricades to keep people off the road when such kind of event's take place. This was unique because, everyone simply lined up along the streets but stayed off the actual road. No one was pushing and shoving so as to get to the front, rather, everyone was simply trying to catch a higher spot. I saw people climbing trees and it reminded me of Zacchaeus who climbed the sycamore tree to spot Jesus on the road as he travelled down. The only difference was this time every one wanted to see the various floats as it passed down the road but more so, the santa clause that came up the end.
The Pageant consisted of about 90 plus floats that travelled along the city's main streets and various different expressions of christmas and festivities were portrayed in it. Each float had something significant to itself. From the police band, army band, to celtic bagpipes playing to the tune of Christmas; this was an extravaganza that the whole city turned up to see. I enjoyed every moment of it, however, My sights were more focused on what to do once the whole parade had finished and both Smith and myself had to get cooking. That was something I was not really anticipating. I have to understand that one cannot really prepare for the worst.
We decided that for the party, about 20 people would be present, and we thought chappati and chicken curry would be easiest option. And so we made a good 50 chappathi's I think. Once we were done, we packed and got ready to spend a good night full of food, music and lights. Yes, the diya's were all lit and a beautifully arranged. (I hope i can get the pictures to upload)
Exhausted and totally inept to do anything, I went home just as the clock struck 11pm and crashed for a wonderful night's sleep. I really needed it. I had to start with my portfolio and that was not something that was very pleasant for me; especially since I could not do a thing.
(Just so that everyone knows; I stopped writing anything in my blog because of this for the last 4 weeks. I'm really glad to be done with the portfolio)
x

SAYCO 2012

SAYCO; I'm going to guess the expansion here; South Australian Youth Christian Organisation.

I was supposed to attend this meeting which was the original plan which was made for me even before I came to Adelaide. The Uniting Church here has always had students from MCC go for SAYCO and so it was planned for me to go for SAYCO this year and attend as a Youth Leader/ Volunteer. Now unknown to me, at that time was that I needed a police clearance to work with children. Child protection and care are such a high priority here in Australia that if you want to work with children, it is really important that you have a police clearance. This I had not done in advance and so I thought I could not go. Gods ways are never our ways. I am extremely happy to have made it to SAYCO and with police clearance done as well. Its amazing even when we think things are impossible, it is not with God. I remember telling my host that I would be at SAYCO if that is where i'm supposed to be.

Well, this is where God wanted me to be and so I ended up at SAYCO.

What did we do in SAYCO. Well, I did from good old fashioned lifting and moving of essentials to actually being a leader to look after the young kids who were participating. I was really privileged to have the Congress kids among us. Congress is associated with the Aboriginal youth associated with the uniting church of australia. For all the Indian's reading this, the Uniting church of Australia is similar to the CSI and CNI there.

I was glad to have met some amazing people, like Sue, who helped out with all the cooking in our camp. I must say that this did definitely bring about a lot my old camping memories from the trips I made from Flamingo Primary School to the Chobe National Park and other places as well. These memories really struck home when I was with the kids playing football (for all americans and australians; its called soccer) and when I stood at the side watching people play volleyball as well.

To play a game and to exhaust oneself with physical activities is one thing that the youth of today are missing out on quite often. This is because people don't understand the value of nature and what the majesty of Gods creation has to offer. Children of today are stuck with their video games and ipod and phones. This is a phenomenon that I see not just in Australia but even in India where sport is now a profession and not played for the fun of it. Makes me wonder why this is the case. Is it because life as we know it has changed so drastically that we have no ideas as to why we exist anymore. Why is it that children who have every opportunity that one can think of generally don't know what to do. Is it to do with the multiple opportunities that we are giving them? Is it not amazing that children who have much lesser options are more inclined to grab at opportunities? I was brought to light about a lot of things that Compassion does in the various countries in this meeting. The uncouth truth about the unfair distribution of food and that really every night about 20,000 kids die of hunger in poor nations because they don't have food while people in rich 1st world countries throw food away and have special programmes to keep their weight under control because its important to be lean.

I wonder where our priorities lie. The speaker for the programme was a man who works with real poor kids around the world. It definitely was an eye opener for many of the kids who saw the light of what the real world out there had to offer. It was interesting statistics.

But the serious stuff aside, I saw kids being kids; where cell phones got thrown away because they were running around on a field playing soccer or simply chasing each other down. Children carry an uncanny sense of innocence that really inspires the human spirit. The spirit that when down will simply lift up above anything else. Care free and utterly free soaring about the clouds where the sky literally is the limit.

I think i've been ranting off and saying things that come to my mind but I think it is important because that is what life is about. Living. Not just being.

Well, I stop this post with these thoughts because more than the fact that I attended SAYCO, I have to say I left SAYCO with these thoughts in my mind that have lingered for a good few days now. I only wish that people would stop looking at their immediate self and see that there are others who are out there and who really need help.

Many may come and say, how self righteous I have become. That is their own opinion. I have only seen more and more of the true world many people continue to close behind a door they wish not to open to see the mess behind.


3 Days on non stop action for 12-17 year olds.

One week and its a farewell

I'm sure you all remember the lovely wine tour I went for. Well, it came back greet me again but this time it was for quite a different reason. Emma, an amazing person with a fabulous personality, decided that even those that she's come to know 1 week ago is a good enough friend to say bye to as she left Australia. This is the story of how I found myself in a house full of strangers!!! :)

After all the confusion of where the farewell will be held, it was finally decided that it will be at her family home out in the hills. I had seen the famous hills from afar many times, but never got the chance to go up there. It looks beautiful from the distance so I was sure I was in for a treat when I got there. Anyway, getting back to the trip; I had to train ride it for almost 40 mins before I could reach the venue.

So my first adventure for the week started on a train. I remember vaguely what my brother told me about railway line in his travel. "Its the same anywhere in the world. No difference at all, well the stations may look more or less fancy but overall, the construct and structure have such and eerie feel of similarity". I was hoping to make him eat his words but to my sad revelation, he was so right. I walked down into Adelaide Railway station only to find myself in a modern style rail system. Nothing that I was not expecting anyway. To find my train that I needed to get on was not going to be such an easy task as the platform that the information screen said had my train had a completely different train. Profoundly confused, I almost made up my mind to go back and ask the information counter or an official for help, however, before that, an instinct kicked in that I never thought i'd use here in Australia. Follow the crowd. The very few ( I could count them on my fingers) people that walked onto that platform continued walking down the platform. So I decided to walk along and find out where they were going. Sure enough, my train was on the same platform parked behind/ahead (depends on how you look at it) the first train I saw. Well, this was interesting. I decided not to make much of it and simply continue to take a seat somewhere in the first rain car. I did not want to be on the wrong train. :)

As the clock lit up with our departure time, the train slowly pulled out. Now, if I compare these rail cars with those in Chennai (Madras), i'm probably going to get shot down by a few chennai residents who read this blog, however, i'm still going to take the risk. I'm going to list each with my comments in brackets

All the seats were cushioned (Like the a/c volvo buses of MTC)
The whole rail car was Airconditioned (That's no surprise to me because everyplace in A/c here)
The door's closed. (Yes they are electronic and you need to push a button to open them. Oh and no hanging out the door like we can, to have the air hit our faces)
The view outside the window (If I did not know I was in Australia, I could have sworn I was in India; Absolutely no difference)

These are the ones I remember and it has been quite a while. I have been too busy to even write a blog. Good I say. :)

Nevertheless; I made it to my destination. I called up my host for the evening, Emma, and I was picked up just as she promised. I was given the grand tour up to the hill home (as I will call it) by Emma's sister, Rachel. The sight of the city from atop the hills was a grand splendeur that I could not have fathomed such a view. In the dusk light of the evening when the streets were just getting lit up with the golden glow of the sun in the background, I could have not asked for a better time to have a camera to capture that moment and save it for the world to see.

We drove down to the house which was situated on the side a lovely hill. What a house. This was Emma's parents house. One that they had so cordially allowed to be used for her farewell. So I finally made it to another place where I was about to meet 40 strangers. Lovely people but all strangers. I'm loving this. I realised that my skill to meet up with new people was being challenged again. I had not had such a feeling since my childhood where I used to have to go join new schools ever now and again.

The house was simply amazing, but the one thing that caught my eyes was the fire that started off slow at first but definitely in place. This brought back a bunch of memories for me. memories that I had from so long ago under the African sky's where I had gone camping and sat under the beautiful stars and in front of a lovely camp fire. These memories flowed in as people gathered around the flames started to share stories. Random stories of each person, but stories that were from the heart of interests and events past; it really did not matter what we spoke. I just enjoyed the moment. It was not too long after that I heard the sound of a guitar on the other side of the house.

Yes, music, the only element that was missing in my mind. Everyone had a go with their guitar. I can't even remember who was playing now but yes, it was a time that everyone started to sing and enjoy each other's company. As the music was playing we were all gathered around a canvas that was out to be painted by every person that came out to the farewell. It was a canvas that Emma said she wanted to take with her to England. Well, is that not something that would be great. Oh yeah!!!

Well, the party wound down into the night with many people leaving but the music and the singing kept on going. It seemed like and never ending scene of songs. We all had to call it quits into the night but this was definitely an experience that took me back many years to the streets and families I knew in Sowa Town and the many memories that still remain with me till this day about that place and its inhabitants.

Well, I better get back to my studies. I think this was a well deserved break that I took to write this down. :)

Party

Call 000, There's been a car accident...

When you read this post, and if you feel i've left out details, its because I have. I cannot tell some things because I cannot identify the people involved. However, the story is something that I can involve myself in.

Most people are used to hearing 911, but here in australia, one must be attune to another set of numbers.

Its '000'. This is the only set of numbers that make any sense here. Police, Ambulance and Fire, they all respond to this one number.

I walk in on this particular friday morning, thinking to myself that this is going to be a boring field day. There is nothing to do. Ah, so let me start off with the list of things I did yesterday so that I can do some of the paperwork that needs to be finished. I hope I get to do all that is my only thought.

I wind my way upstairs to meet my supervisor, at least then I will know what needs to be done for the day. Not surprising, but she's not in her office. I stroll back down the road only to find that there is a lot of commotion outside. The corner of compound is a junction where 2 roads meet. Unfortunately, there was an accident. I asked the reception what happened. The only reply I get is, "There's been an accident." I see my supervisor out there and so I run all the way out. Its a 5 second run and I reach the scene only to be sent back to get a blanket. One of our boys have been hit by a car. I saw the receptionist on the phone. But by the time I got to the scene, I can see paramedics coming down the road. That was less than 2 minutes response time. Eek. That is fast. I quickly thought to myself, if this was India, I wonder how long it would have taken, forget the traffic; even if the roads were clear. I'm sure no one would respond so fast anyway. Its not something that I see everyday. I talk about it as though its something good when it is not actually good. Once the paramedics get there, police and ambulances arrive in less than 5 minutes flat. Those that need to be taken to hospital are taken and everything slowly gets back to normal.

A few things that I saw in the whole thing is something that just won't leave my mind. Here was a person who was really in need of help, yet, many people were standing aside completely unsure what to do. Is it because they have never seen an accident, or is it because they are scared to do anything with all the procedures and other things in place. Are people even afraid to help others because they could be sued? Well maybe. I don't know. I sure felt that there was a lot more that others could do but just did not do. However, I have to say that those that did do the work; they were really good at it too. They got down and even covered up the wounds real good. They came around and did everything that was needed until the ambulance and paramedics arrived. It definitely looked like they were old hands at this. They've seen their fair share of accidents.

This day was one where I really have no pictures to show because I was really running about doing what was needed. Also, I saw the effectiveness of a good emergency system that was working and really did its job.

16 Strangers, 1 Bus, 30 Wines... Makes a difference!!!

Food!!! Yes, that is what we'd always start with. Is it not. Its what gives us a really good push in life. One that can never be ignored. Its a beautiful aspect of life that many have no clue about. We never want to explore what other dishes and cuisines have. The taste and smells of these wonderful or even weird looking food. Why is it such a difficulty to understand?

I have made one definite decision on this trip to Australia. No INDIAN FOOD. I get enough and more of it when i'm there in India. With the spices and curries and the what nots... I'm in for BREAD and pasta and delicacies that are unknown to my pallet.

Unfortunately, i'm yet to taste something that is going to make my mouth water with delight more than a hot chicken curry. I hear you have subtle tastes and hard spicy tastes too.

But lets put all the eating out of the way, we have more delightful and more interesting business to get to.

The bus ride, Yay.. This is a ride where I really thought to myself, what in the world am I doing. I'm in a bus going to this destination and I know 1 person. yes, exactly one person. No one else. AAAAHHH... I remember thinking to myself. Have I lost it.

My mamma told me not to talk to strangers... Where did all that go?

Jokes apart, Yes, I did feel like the out of place creep sitting in the bus. It was a remarkable experience. Well, Antonella was the first to break the silence, because I was really really unsure of how to kickstart a conversation. Yes, I really was. It was like a mental block just occurred. Where did all those years of meeting new people and talking and  breaking the silence go? Well, I guess, it was somewhere there in the background because after Antonella, It was Cassandra, Emma, Michael, Sophie, Rowan, Jo, Kate etc etc. I cannot even keep track of the names after a point of time. Everyone just warmed up and we all had a great time chatting with each other on this trip.

The bunch of strangers

It sure was a rainy day. We made the best of it though!

McLaren Vale, Here we come... This was the beginning of the trip.

First stop; Paxton winery. :) Yes, it was definitely a wine tasting trip.

Description of what we're having being given

Look at this... Fruits to take away!!!

Give me one good reason its called a Kaffir Lime. Really "Kaffir" ???

After dowsing about 10 different types of wines' both red and white, I realised mixing them was not a good idea. I was drinking a LOT of water and it did help I guess. I was just praying I don't pass out or something. I'm just not the drinker... (just listen to me whine).

Next Stop: Tapestry; Yes, it was gorgeous to step outside. It was one of the few places that having a glass of wine and standing in the sun felt brilliant!

The the second round begin!

Awaiting round 2!!! ;)

This is what the outside was beginning to look like. Its got to have been the best view out.

Any way, All we did was drink more and more. But the last place was a place that had a surprise that was unlike any I had had. Olives. Lovely tasty Olives. It was the Lloyds.

Waiting to be filled just to get emptied.

Line em up people...

Probably the most gorgeous fireplace i've seen

The olives are gone... Loved em

The conversations just kept on pouring

After about 2 drinks in Lloyd and all the extra food, I realised that I was feeling really down and outright bored so I decided to stop the alcohol intake and start with the camera. I tried to take pictures as well as a camera phone would allow of the area around the winery.

The Lake

Patterns by the edge

Olive Trees

Another view

I think that is grass. Not sure though

Steps into the water

Simply gorgeous

Loved the water

Ironically, I got Jo's D90 and started shooting as much as I could. Sadly, I don't have any of those pictures. I wish I did though. I took some really interesting shots.

To give you a summary of the kind of diversity that we are talking about, the various countries that we used to come from are as follows, in no particular order:
1. Australia

2. Italy

3. Germany

4. Korea

5. China

6. Indonesia

7. India

Not bad considering we were 17 of us in the bus. Probably one of the most diverse crowds i've got around to. I have to mention my special thanks to Rachel for inviting me along for this trip and Jemma for being the best tour guide/operator/organiser you can imagine.

All in all, I had a brilliant time.