Just a quick note for anyone who has read about today´s sad incident in the Dutch city of Apeldoorn in which a driver plowed through a parade on Queen´s Day. The driver apparently was attempting to hit the Royal family, who were traveling in an open air bus on the parade route. Instead, he hit several policemen and marching band members, 4 (now 7) of whom died. The driver is a white Dutchman, so they are not considering this a terrorist act at this time. For more info, check out this article in the New York Times (if you don´t speak Dutch): http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/04/30/world/AP-EU-Netherlands-Parade-Crash.html
We were nowhere near Apeldoorn today. Luckily, we aren´t real fans of parades, crowds or Queen´s Day.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sun and sand in the South Pacific
We moved on quickly from New Zealand to Tonga, an island kingdom in the South Pacific. Tonga is not a location I would have normally thought to visit, but the flights from NZ were so cheap that we couldn´t pass up the opportunity to thaw out. Additionally, Michiel had never experienced a South Pacific island and since we weren´t sure that we´d return to New Zealand any time in the near future, we decided to go for it.
Tonga is number 19 on this South Pacific map:
It was a lovely two weeks, especially the week we spent with our friend, Tracy, from the ice. We spent the first week on the island group of Vava´u, which is a 50 minute flight from the main island group, Tongatapu. Perhaps another map would be helpful here:
All international flights land on Tongatapu, which doesn´t have much to recommend it. Sadly, the cost of flights from this island to the much more beautiful and less Dengue-fever infected island groups of Vava´u and Ha´apai are about the same as what you pay to get to Tonga from Australia or New Zealand. No matter...we were totally prepared for this as we got plenty of travel advice from ice people who had been there the year prior.
Flights to the outer island groups are made in small propeller planes which are surprisingly comfortable and punctual (unless they aren´t running at all due to maintenance issues). This, by the way, is an excellent way to see Tonga. From above, you get a great sense of how the islands have been formed and a real desire to explore each and every one of these bit of tropical paradise. (You can´t see the mosquitos or the rats from up high, so EVERYTHING looks idyllic.)
Vava´u is known as a yachter´s playground, but as we were there in the cyclone season, we weren´t bothered by the rich and famous. We rented 2 different places for 3 nights each and both provided us with fantastic hosts, good snorkelling, free kayaks and comfortable accommodation in peaceful and beautiful surroundings.
One place was an entire island owned by a Spanish couple who created two little bungalows and a famous paella restaurant. Here we are getting excited about our tapas or was it the red wine after a day of swimming and snorkelling that made us look so radiantly happy?
Tracy was an incredible travel companion and I think she enjoyed the fact that I made all the arrangements and Michiel did all the cooking (when we weren´t dining out). Together, we discovered that geckos are quite fond of tropical drinks and become pretty bold after diving into a glass of rum, pineapple juice, lime, Sprite, and soursop. After a stare-down, this guy attacked a completely startled Tracy.
Tonga is number 19 on this South Pacific map:
It was a lovely two weeks, especially the week we spent with our friend, Tracy, from the ice. We spent the first week on the island group of Vava´u, which is a 50 minute flight from the main island group, Tongatapu. Perhaps another map would be helpful here:
All international flights land on Tongatapu, which doesn´t have much to recommend it. Sadly, the cost of flights from this island to the much more beautiful and less Dengue-fever infected island groups of Vava´u and Ha´apai are about the same as what you pay to get to Tonga from Australia or New Zealand. No matter...we were totally prepared for this as we got plenty of travel advice from ice people who had been there the year prior.
Flights to the outer island groups are made in small propeller planes which are surprisingly comfortable and punctual (unless they aren´t running at all due to maintenance issues). This, by the way, is an excellent way to see Tonga. From above, you get a great sense of how the islands have been formed and a real desire to explore each and every one of these bit of tropical paradise. (You can´t see the mosquitos or the rats from up high, so EVERYTHING looks idyllic.)
Vava´u is known as a yachter´s playground, but as we were there in the cyclone season, we weren´t bothered by the rich and famous. We rented 2 different places for 3 nights each and both provided us with fantastic hosts, good snorkelling, free kayaks and comfortable accommodation in peaceful and beautiful surroundings.
One place was an entire island owned by a Spanish couple who created two little bungalows and a famous paella restaurant. Here we are getting excited about our tapas or was it the red wine after a day of swimming and snorkelling that made us look so radiantly happy?
Tracy was an incredible travel companion and I think she enjoyed the fact that I made all the arrangements and Michiel did all the cooking (when we weren´t dining out). Together, we discovered that geckos are quite fond of tropical drinks and become pretty bold after diving into a glass of rum, pineapple juice, lime, Sprite, and soursop. After a stare-down, this guy attacked a completely startled Tracy.
Treated like royalty
As usual, we´ve waited a long time to update the blog and now we´re so far behind that it feels like a big task to cover all of the things we´ve done since the last posting. But here goes...
We left the ice on February 20th in a luxurious manner...in a normal passenger Airbus with real seats, flight attendants, beverage service and windows! The Airbus, nicknamed Skippy, is generally used by the Australian Antarctic Programme but we received some free charter flights (and paid for the rest) in return for the use of our planes and personnel in a medevac operation from one of the Australian bases.
The 4 and a half hours flew by, especially since we were continually offered coffee and soft drinks by the flight staff who miraculously changed from their cold weather gear into neatly coiffed flight attendants (complete with cravats, perfume and makeup) somewhere in the middle of the flight. The highlight was an up close view of Mt. Erebus, the active volcano that forms a major part of our local landscape.
Notice that the "luxurious" flight didn´t keep anyone awake.
We left the ice on February 20th in a luxurious manner...in a normal passenger Airbus with real seats, flight attendants, beverage service and windows! The Airbus, nicknamed Skippy, is generally used by the Australian Antarctic Programme but we received some free charter flights (and paid for the rest) in return for the use of our planes and personnel in a medevac operation from one of the Australian bases.
The 4 and a half hours flew by, especially since we were continually offered coffee and soft drinks by the flight staff who miraculously changed from their cold weather gear into neatly coiffed flight attendants (complete with cravats, perfume and makeup) somewhere in the middle of the flight. The highlight was an up close view of Mt. Erebus, the active volcano that forms a major part of our local landscape.
Notice that the "luxurious" flight didn´t keep anyone awake.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Happy Holidays from the whole Peaches family
One of my bandmates had some extra time on his hands :)
Sunday, December 07, 2008
My new look....
This past Saturday, my band, Porn Spill, performed at a private party. Although, we didn't publicly advertise the party, word of mouth got out to enough people that the place was packed! It was a wonderful night of funk music, dancing, sweating and high energy. The music sounded great (I must admit) and the band played better than we've ever played. The other smash hit of the party was a photo booth in which people could be really silly. Here are some photos......
Boom Boom
Tasty Crumbles
Mashed Potato
Curtis E. Flush
Jimmy Large
My alter ego....Peaches Delite
Getting mauled by my biggest fan
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