MovinOnToFlorida

Fingers crossed, this is a view of the canal from my new house in Hudson, Florida on the Gulf of Mexico. The big structure is one of my 2 davits for lifting a boat out of the water. Now I just need a boat! Closing is scheduled for Sept 27 and Kitty and I will start the drive from Santa Fe on Sept 23 and, hopefully, get there in time for closing and furniture arrival. It will be wonderful being back on the east coast with good friends! I am hoping the two storms heading toward my new home decide to veer off and go back out to sea!

The Ultimate Travel Destination

This is a travel blog after all, and there can be no greater travel adventure than going into outer space. If you haven't been watching the live coverage on the NASA TV channel on your computer, you have been missing an awe inspiring adventure. It is like actually being there. The site also has videos of all the things you have missed (including lift off) and a schedule of live events to come. Today was the hook up of Atlantis with the International Space Station and I was there live as the door to the space station opened and the Atlantis crew floated in through the doorway for the last time. Throughout all of the filming - I saw the earth in the background, as I have never seen it before.

To log on to the NASA TV site - cut and paste the link at the end of this blog entry and travel along with this last historic flight. This is an quote from the NASA TV site:
__________________________________________________________________________________

Earth Image of the Day
Atlantis Rides Into History →
On July 8, 2011, the Space Shuttle Atlantis lit its rockets and roared into space for the 135th and last flight of the U.S. space transportation system.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Enjoy the ride! from RamblinMe

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Timor Mornings

 
There is a rhythm that I fall into almost immediately after arriving in Timor.

First, we were incredibly lucky to have discovered the Arbiru Hotel on the seashore on the western side of Dili. It has become home and the people there treat us as family. This photo is taken from our balcony at the hotel.

Every morning at exactly 6:15 am the first outrageously loud rooster crows and sets up the beginning of an all morning competition with the 1000s of other roosters in the city. I can almost tell the time, just by listening to the number of roosters crowing.

Sitting out on the balconey having morning coffee, there is an "Apocolypse Now" phase when you see passenger jets clearing our roof to land at the Dili airport nearby. At the same time a huge cargo helicopter flies directly overhead, taking workers out to the oil platforms. Sometimes charity and military groups join in the air traffic.

As the roosters begin to quiet, the goats and pigs take their turn. All of these sounds were a bit startling during the first week of the first trip. After three trips, they are part of the rhythm of life for me in Timor - and I miss them.

Oops - Please Forgive

 
As usual, I learn everything the hard way - so the animal photos to follow are both individual and combined in a photo collage. The lesson I learned is that you MUST empty your tray of photos before publishing your collage. Lesson learned.

The photo above is the cement wall along the beach highway in Dili. The little kid is looking out across the Timor Sea to a freighter that probably holds the tonic water that we couldn't find in our entire month in Timor. Because of all the red tape, the stores are continually out of something and that something is usually sitting on a freighter within sight of the harbor, like some sort of cosmic tease.

Stay tuned for future blog entries. The entries below are about the Timor Independence day Celebration held during our third visit to the island. The next sets will be about our trip to the eastern part of the island and also the crowning glory of our volunteer work - the opening celebration for the school library that we (mostly Doug) built. Before and after photos are dazzling - so stay tuned!

And Happy USA 4th of July! (and Miss Sandy's Birthday, Sandy and Adrian's Anniversary, Pat and Roy's Anniversay, Shammy and UBend's Wedding, and Lynn and Wayne's move to Los Angeles) from Ramblin Me

IntraSpeciesCelebrants

 
 
 
 
 
Along with locals and Malay, there were quite a few other species that seemed to enjoy the Timor Independence Day celebration.

YesWeAreMalay

 
This tiny little girl became excited when she saw Doug and me and started pointing and shouting "Malay,Malay." Malay means "foreigner" and we Malay are still quite the oddity. Out of 1000s of people at the Indepence Day Celebration I may have seen less than 10 Malay - and blonde hair makes me stand out even more. I keep joking about having a T shirt printed with "malay" on it, but I am not sure how the locals would take it.

AncientShade

 
These massive cyprus trees follow the route of the harbor edge and provide much needed shade for the revelers.

HarborCelebration

 
The major area for the Independence Day celebration in Timor is across the street from the Governor's Palace at the famous Harbor. This is the area where 100s of Timorese and journalists were forced to stand on the edge of the harbor to be gunned down by the Indonesians. As each person was shot and the body fell in the ocean, another person was forced to take his place. This celebration had a fair-like atmosphere but there also was a sense of history and remembrance here. In the photo Doug is heading off to another part of the celebration to take in the gambling and cock fighting. I managed to tear a ligament in my knee even before landing in Timor, so I spent the month hobbling around. Doug thankfully did all the exploring for both of us.

ProtectionAtTheGovernor'sPalace

 
...and yes, I did ask their permission first. It is a good idea to always ask permission before taking pictures of anything dealing with the local Police or Military and any border crossing.

TheCutenessAdvantage

 
The third band to play at the Indpendence Day Celebration at the Governor's Palace was an amazing group of 4-6 year olds who won hands down in the adorableness category. The stunner was that their drum playing was at the level of the high schoolers

OurCompetition

 
This group came from another high school and their one big competetive advantage over St, Michael's was the furry crocodiles that some of their band members wore on their heads, despite the 110 degree heat!

UnexpectedEntertainment

 
For every male at the Independence day Celebration, the highlight of the show was probably the gorgeous 6 foot tall drum majorette standing on top of the drums being played, and performing a remarkable shimmy in time to the music. Sorry I don't have a video for you, since it was quite remarkable.

ImpressingTheCrowd

 
I was amazed at how big and complex the St, Michael's band is. It includes about a dozen bass drums, an entire squad of kids playing xylophones, a cheerleading type group that build 3 people towers, an entire squad of female snare drum players, a huge contingent of marching teachers, managers, and parents, and last but not least, their very own pair of photographers (Doug and I.) There are about 2,000 kids attending St. Michael's and I am guessing that the school was empty during this performance.

OurKidsAtTheGovernorsPalace

 
One of the highlights of the Timor Independence Day celebration was that the marching band from "our school"( St. Michael's) was invited to play at the Governor's Palace. After almost 2 weeks of practicing, in lieu of classes, the band put on an amazing show.

HappyIndependenceDay

The celebrations actually started yesterday here in Timor-Leste to celebrate 13 years of Indepence from the controlling Indonesian Army. Huge open air trucks were filled with screaming citizens waving flags, blowing horns, and creating traffic jams on the main Komora road. This is a major celebration for the locals and the expats have adopted a seige mentality. Expats are staying on the west side of Dili trying to avoid the enormous traffic jams, parking problems and revelry that has been going on since noon yesterday. For many, this is a 4 day holiday and everyone seems to be taking advantage of it. Doug and I have been asked by St Michael's College to take photos of their band in action today at a ceremony to be held at the Governor's Palace, (in the thick of the most conjested area). Hopefully we will have some interesting photos to share on the blog. It is a perfect day here - just the right kind of day for a massive Independence Day celebration!

HomeInTheAir

When you travel over 12 hours on any one flight, I highly recommend using your frequent flyer miles to upgrade to business class. The seat goes all the way down to make a bed and you have your own little cubby hole to snooze away. On May 7 I will be taking my ninth Los Angeles to Sydney flight, and the fold down bed makes the trip a pleasure. Unfortunately they couln't do anything about the circles under my eyes from lack of sleep and sadness that the adventure is over, at least for now. I will be heading off again in 6 days; this time to visit good friends scattered throughout the east coast of America. I then come home to Santa Fe with a week to pack and get ready for the next month long trip to Timor. I invite you to join me for my continuing travels. Happy Trails from Ramblin Me

JacquiAndMoi

Almost a decade ago I met Jacqui on a flight from Los Angeles to Sydney. She is a film producer who lives in Sydney. I am still awed by the fact that, after we met on the plane, she took a day off to show me my first tour of Sydney. My perception of Sydney will forever be colored by the wonderful hospitality she showed a perfect stranger on my first trip to her city. On this trip, Doug and I met with Jacqui in Sydney's China Town for Dim Sum. I'm still trying to figure out how she keeps getting younger looking.

AnotherSuccessfulFlight

SydneyFlightSimulation

I am betting that Doug's favorite experience in Sydney was spending an hour in a flight simulator. You can pick out the airports, weather conditions and other added bits of excitement as an instructor guides you through the take off and landing of a passenger jet in the Flight Experience at a shopping center in Sydney's Darling Harbour.

GettingAroundInDarlingHarbour

MakeAWish

A lovely little statue in a secluded nook in Sydney's Botanical Gardens.

MillionDollarView

From the Botanical Gardens you have this spectacular view of the Sydney Opera House and bridge, where Australia's world famous New Year's Eve celebration is held each year.

ExoticPlantAtBontanicalGardens

Didn't I see this in a science fiction movie?

DougHidingBehindElephantEar

IdeasForTreeDecorating

From a distance the flying foxes hanging in the trees at the Botanical Gardens look like Christmas decorations. Once you notice them, you see that they are EVERYWHERE throughout the park.

TheyAreFoxesNotBats

I know, I know, they look like bats, but they are actually flying foxes and they are hanging everywhere throughout the Botanical Gardens. They sometimes get restless and spread thir wings to move to another branch. During most of our visit they seemed happy to hang upside down in the trees. I wish that I could say that this is a photo of live foxes (that I actually moved close enough), but these are stuffed foxes at the ranger station.

SydneysBotanicalGardens

This was the biggest surprise of the trip to Sydney. The Botanical Gardens are on the harbor overlooking both the Opera House and the Sydney bridge. It consists of acres of beautiful exotic plants, trees, and birds, as well as perfectly maintained lawns for family picnics overlooking the harbor.

AmericanMeatPieEndorsement

The outside of the meat pie stand in the next photo is covered in photos of famous people eating said pies. This one of Colonel Sanders chowing down caught my eye.

WhereToFindMeatPiesInSydney

CondosInSydneyHarborArea

You can imagine how expensive these harborside condos are, especially with a view of the city skyline. The entire first floor consists of back to back gourmet restaurants. The condo on the very end belongs to Mel Gibson.

TouchingWarMemorialAtTheHarborArea

AustralianBirds

One of the striking differences about being in Australia was that the most exotic birds can be seen almost everywhere. The cockatiels and parrots that we see only in cages in America, are actually considered pests in the city because of their large numbers and constant loud bickering with each other. Sitting in an open air cafe in Adelaide I was stunned by the noise and the beautiful colors of the red,green, and blue parrots fighting in the tree beside me. In Sydney, this Ibis was casually wandering around an open air market.

SydneyAndTheBigBus

After visiting Adelaide and the beach town of Rogue's Point, we headed to Sydney, probably the best known city in Australia. My favorite way of visiting a new city is a "Big Bus" tour. It is usually a British double decker bus with an open top. Your all day ticket allows you to get on and off at the various tourist attractions. It is a perfect way to get a quick overview of a city on your first day there, and Sydney was no exception.

YabbieInMemorium

MyFirstYabbie

It is not as rique as it sounds!!A yabbie is a freshwater crustacean that is a bit bigger than a crayfish but smaller than a lobster. They are yummy! They cannot be sold in Australia but thank goodness Doug's best friend knows someone who knows someone. He surprised us with a bag of yabbies and an exquisite bottle of local wine to welcome me to Adelaide.I couldn't have asked for a better welcome.

AdelaideWineCountryTour

The city is surrounded by some of the best wine growing regions in Australia. Doug took me on a tour of some of the gorgeous wine growing areas. We discovered this lovely Hotel called Thorngrove. It is one of a world wide network of "small luxury hotels;" all of which provide maximum pampering at a price of many thousands of dollars a night. This is as close as we got to the actual hotel!