'the'>roaming>roblyn>

Six Degrees Below the Horizon

2009-12-10T10:17:00.002+11:00

Not sure if anyone bothers looking at this blog anymore but just wanted to share this link to my new photography website

www.sixdegreesbelow.com

Ros and I will be heading off again in the NY so if we can be bothered the news will be here

caio

rob.

Some More Photos! Mexico, Guatamala and Belize

2008-06-11T03:23:00.012+10:00

So finally heres a few more pictures from our trip, we have hundreds more but uploading them at the moment is still a bit of hassel as we havent streamlined the process... hopefully with the aquisition of a new computer we can hurry and upload our photos especially of the states as there is some really nice ones! (appologies for some of the image quality!)

This is a beautiful old church in the town of Taxco, about 3hrs busride south of Mexico. The town produces the largest quantity of silver jewelry in the world.

This is the view from the San Sebastian Hostel in taxco. We met a retired Doctor couple who live in and run the hostel (the family home). Many nights of margaritas and singing followed.

These caves are about 30mins outside in taxco and boast a huge 82m high cave!

Siging with our hosts at SanSebastian Hostel after I taught them to make spaghetti bolognese. One of their workers tried it after spending 15mins looking for his tortillas to pile the spaghetti in!

Beautiful Puerto Escondito on the Pacific Ocean of Mexico. We spent 2 weeks here, surfing, swimming, taking long walks on the beach and of course enjoying the sunsets.

The boys... Rob enjoyed his 2 weeks surfing with the 2 English lads and our Aussie host at Aqua Luna Hotel.

Sunsets on Puerto Escondito.

Enjoying the sunset from our hotel.

Rob being creative with the many Sol beers we enjoyed.

Yet another sunset in Puerto Escondito.

Typical door detail in the city of Oaxaca.

Oaxaca city street.
Church in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Angel Falls, Mexico.

Crocodile Hunting in Oaxaca south.

Agua Azul on the road to Palenque. We swam in the cool cristal blue waters. The photos and the recent rains fo not do this river justice!

Agua Azul.
Paleque ruins Mexico

Sunrise over Tikal ruins, Guatamala

Our drinking hole in Caye Caulker, Belize. As we were enjoying our carribbean rum and cke, this strapping lad decided to take a nude jump off the diving board.

Sunset in Caye Caulker... good days!

Another gorgeous sunset.

Sunrise, super early at Tulum, on the Carribbean coast of Mexico.

A seahorse that our tour guide captured in a jug in Caye Caulker, Belize.

Tulum, an ancient Mayan City on the coast of the Carribbean in Mexico. White sandy beaches and crystal clear waters.
Sunrise in Tulum.

The ruins at Tulum, Mexico.

The view from the ruins at Tulum to the water.

Sunrise at Tulum. We stayed in a hut on top of the beach so the early mornings were easier!

Final sunrise picture of Tulum. And this is the final picture of this upload. Thanks Doctor Obvious.

Rob Surfing Puerto

2008-04-18T01:15:00.003+10:00

a couple of shots from a medium sized day in puerto... enjoy!

Its Been a Long Time Between Drinks

2008-04-11T07:51:00.003+10:00

But weve finally uploaded some more photos! - apologies in advance for the poor quality (colour and resolution) of some of the images due to crappy compressinon programs and all round total lack of facilities. Anyway here they are, enjoy!

Teoxasomething

2008-04-11T07:44:00.002+10:00

Made it to Mexico

2008-04-11T07:41:00.002+10:00

Escape to the Bocas Islands

2008-04-11T07:26:00.007+10:00

Downtown Panama Time

2008-04-11T07:20:00.002+10:00

Driving Round Lima Day

2008-04-11T07:15:00.002+10:00

The (WET) Inca Trail

2008-04-11T07:06:00.003+10:00

Cuzco - Nice

2008-04-11T07:00:00.004+10:00

Arequipa - Peru

2008-04-11T06:57:00.001+10:00

Lake Titty-Car-Car

2008-04-11T06:46:00.005+10:00

Fun in La Paz

2008-04-11T06:42:00.001+10:00

Massive Picture Upload

2008-02-29T08:42:00.002+11:00

Massive picture upload Text will follow shortly! - some images may appear darker on some screens sorry! if they appear too dark boost the contrast and brighness on your screen

The Salt Flats and Surrounds.... Awesome

2008-02-29T08:19:00.016+11:00

Ok our Blolivian salt flats journey starts here... in the salt falts. Words are pretty hard to find to describe the lanscape so we will try and rely on photos..... Ros and i ended up travelling with an New Zealand Couple for the 3 days of our journey, we paid a little more than the normal but it was worth it to get a car to ourselves.....

Most tours didnt end up crossing the salt falts due to the wet season but ours did so we spent a couple of hous crossing between water and salt until we arrived at the crazy cactus island.....

The crazy catus island was covered in Giant cactuses and we were the only ones there,, it was so surreal... Giant cactuses on an island in the middle of a sea of salt,,,,,,

Afternnon soon came and we shacked up in a salt hotel made of you guessed it salt!

The next morning we began our journey out to the valcanos and desert, passing through a few small villages on the way...

The landscape is soooooooo surreal .. crazy to think you are above 4000m in the air!

The tree rock,,, one of the crazy shaped monoliths strewn in the middle of the desert...

Lago Colorado... a giant red lake 4200, in the sky and to make it eaven wierder its full of around 500,000 pink flamingos

We got up early the next day to visit the hot water gyesers and sprinds for an early morning swim...

The Dali Desert, this shot doesnt realy do it justice but it was fantastic... Huge sculptural bolders tossed throughout the desert with a crazy sky to boot......

Fianly the train junkyard.....

Wow... highly reccomended mind blowing trip, these are only a few of the photos! i know i said crazy alot but it really was!

Heading to and from POTOssi

2008-02-29T08:13:00.003+11:00

Potossi - Bolivia, was the richest cities in south america for hundreds of years due to the massive silver depostits, unfortunately they are now all dried up but there was some fantastic baroque architecture left over and some stormy scenery on the way there!

Silly in Sucre

2008-02-29T08:08:00.002+11:00

Sucre - Boliva, A world heritage UNESCO site was where we spent a few days resting and aclimitising to the altitude. On this day we manged to get ourselves into a monestary in the centre of town and stuff around for most of the afternoon.

Brasilia

2008-02-29T07:40:00.003+11:00

Brasillia - Brazil, What wierd and wonderful place,, ended up staying much longer here than planned due to the fact there was no way for us to leave as everything was booked out but we nonetheless had an awesome time... its alot simmilar to Canberra but dodgy and south american and with much cooler oscar neimier architecture.... nuts to think that most of it was built in 3 years......

The TV tower in the centre of town

Memorial to the guy who paid for everything (forgotten his name) the whole city is really a memorial to him

This bridge was awesome and only just recently completed - based apon what a stones path would look like if it bounced accross the river.

Brasillia at night

The Dom Bosco Church, not one of oscar neimiers but amazing inside ......

A few internal shots of some of the other buildings we visited, ver cool 60s interiors.....

Oscar Neimiers Church in the center if town---

And probably the most famous building in Brasillia....

Three powers squre home of the millitay and others...

The modern Art galler on a stormy afternoon... we seem to be getting storms everywhere----

Finally one of my favorite buildings the Brazillian Library... so stark and modernist!, looks awesome against the stormy sky....

The Beach in Rio

2008-02-29T07:35:00.001+11:00

Stormy rio SOCCER Match

2008-02-29T07:30:00.003+11:00

Southern Brazillian Paradise

2008-02-29T07:26:00.002+11:00

Rio

2008-02-29T07:17:00.004+11:00

Sau Paulo Massive

2008-02-29T07:10:00.003+11:00

Our Deserted Beach

2008-02-29T07:07:00.003+11:00

More Old Skool

2008-02-29T07:02:00.002+11:00

Uruguay

2008-02-18T08:51:00.003+11:00

Punta Del Diablo in the northern coast of Uruguay with its quaint fishing village feel set against a stunning beach peninsular. We spent 2 nights here camping at the back of a hostel as everywhere was booked!
Rob´s new Argentinian friend Sebastian. They are making and "L" sign with their hands which Argentinians use to say they are having the best time.

Although the buildings are dating back to the 50s through to the 70s, they are in absolute prisitne condition.

One of the many new houses along ritzy Punta Del Este, these mansions sit on a slight hill across the road from the beaches.
The view from our afteroon tea come dinner at Punta Del Este. We shared an antipasto platter with some fine bottles of Uruguayian Sauvignon Blanc and moved on to ravioli with smoked salmon and caviar. A very posh afternoon in our bathers for a measly $50 AUD.

Sunset from the bar.

Midday at the beach in Punta Del Este. Rob and I enjoying the afternoon sun after a few vino blancos (as if you could not tell!).

The stunning view of the peninsular of Punta Del Diablo. We spent the day here doing as the locals - building a small hut made from grasses and leaves for some much needed shade!

A Day at the Cemetery

2008-02-18T08:48:00.004+11:00

Recoleta Cemetery is situated in a beautiful area of Buenos Aires and houses some famous and influential Argentinians such as Evita. We spent a hot afternoon here admiring the detailed family tombs.

Christmas Day Patagonia

2008-02-18T08:40:00.006+11:00

Christmas Day in Patagonia revealed blue skies, warm sun and picturesque snow capped mountains. Alberto, the hostel operator, created a delectable Christmas lunch and dinner in our honour.

On Christmas Day the local Argentinians dress in traditional gaucho attire and walk the streets proclaiming ¨Feliz Navidad¨ (Happy Christmas) to all passers-by. As you can see we are all particularly cheery.

Alberto watching us enjoy the lunch he prepared of Argentinian meat, baked vegetables and soft white bread in the hostel dining and bar area. The vino tinto was not too bad either!

Alberto and me after stuffing ourselves at lunch. Poor Alberto left his wife and two young daughters in Buenos Aires to seek work in Patagonia. We were his adopted family.

Alberto and his sidekick Raul proudly showing off their empanada culinary skills. Empanadas are delicious Argentine sauvory pastries filled with meat chicken or fish.

Rob and I stuffing the empanadas and practicing the various folding techniques to ahieve the perfect shape!

ok so we´re not dead

2008-02-16T11:39:00.004+11:00

just having trouble finding a place to get piccies of the camera, and now were heading into boliva so im sure it wont get any easier. So sit tight, as soon as we get the chance, we´ll update soon .......

New Years Eve Buenos Aires

2008-01-21T00:47:00.001+11:00

OK so for NYE we went to DJ Paul Van Dyk with a crowd of about 10 000+ Argentinians - heres a few piccies. The party started at typical Argentinian time... 2am for New Year!

Rob and I enjoying the festivities with our very popular ~Vamos Argentina~ hat.

The aftermath at about 8am in the morning.

The crazy Irish boys and one Dutchman we spent New Year with - doing as boys do - climbing a tree in the park adjacent to the party at about 9am!

Kalahari Dreaming

2008-01-14T02:11:00.000+11:00

Some old Kalahari pictures,,,, Sorry again not the best quality -(

a roslyn near our campsite with a storm fast approaching.

The endless sea of hot blue and red

The tail end of a huge heard of Springbok passing the road in front of us

These giant millipedes were everywhere after it rained this was a small one!

The friendly neighborhood mongoose.

Crap another storm, lucky this one missed us but we were starting to get a little worred, this one looked big....

Another lion (boring) this one walked next to the car for a while before crossing the road infront of us.....

Cape Town Dreaming

2008-01-14T01:55:00.000+11:00

Time to finally upload some pictures of Cape Town! - sorry for the poor quality! with any luck better quality images soon... its not as easy as i thought it was going to be!

view from the top of table mountain..... you can see part of the city below...

This was cool and one for the mums, a Puff Adder and a Cape Cobra fighting each other on the path where we were walking coming back down from table mountain... both are ridiculously deadly but they had more interest in killing each other rather than us... thankfully.

A view back towards capetown and table mountatin on a slightly cloudy day

Part of (some say the better) Roblyn on the Paal Monument.

Patagonia: Some Nature Shots

2008-01-04T00:41:00.000+11:00

Here are a few little piccies to change the scenery:

Patagonia: Our plane flight from Buenos Aires was absolutely spectacular (and much better than the one home where Roslyn managed to fill every vomit bag in her area). We flew over Bariloche which is a mountainous town about 1.5hrs flight from El Calafate.

Upon arrival at El Calafate, we were taken to our hostel where we stayed up, with an Israeli group we met, playing cards till 1am. The sun, meanwhile, did not go down till 11pm so it did not seem too late.

At 6am we woke for our trip to the Puerto Moreno Glacier. This is the worlds most advancing Glacier, and it was pretty cool (excuse the pun). Massive chunks of ice fell thunderously into the still waters below creating glistening icebergs; a small contrast to the Kalahari Desert.

Pashing in front of Puerto Moreno Glacier: the Israeli boys made us do it

The 4hr bus trip to El Chalten and Mt Fitzroy again was picturesque. We panicked upon arrival as Mt Fitzroy was in view and we thought this would be our only chance at getting a shot of its peak, so we snapped away hoping for the best. Meanwhile these photos have now been deleted as we were lucky enough in our 7 days to see the peak every day - extremely rare considering it is obscured 350 days of the year!

We set off for the mountains and camped for the next 3 days. The pictures tell our story. Although, while the nights were absolutely freezing, the days were suitable for t-shirts and shorts... next to the snow and glaciers!

Picturesque Mt Fitzroy

A small waterfall we found while exploring at camp Agostini Mt Fitzroy

Mt Fitzroy obscured from view (this is how it normally looks 350 days a year!)

Mt Fitzroy in Full View (AGAIN)

Cerro Torre: another peak behind Mt Fitzroy in the afternoon sun

Cerro Torre: another peak behind Mt Fitzroy in the morning sun

Christmas day we found ourselves at a brand new hostel as the only guests, so our host, Alberto, decided to make us a traditional Argentinian Christmas dinner. We dined on the most succulent cut of meat from just under the rib of the cow, and it was something else! Later Alberto taught us how to make Argentinian empanadas (pasties filled with meat or tuna, or anything you like). The Argentinians are obsessed with them and have them as a starter to most of their meals.... yummy!

Now we are back in Buenos Aires, but are leaving in a few hours for Uruguay and some much needed beach. The weather is HOT, and yesterday the city was out of water for a few hours, so we want to get out and swim in the ocean (and I think Rob is in need of some much needed surf). More images will be posted soon.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Love Roblyn.x.

and we´re back! - some desert piccies

2007-12-14T21:50:00.000+11:00

Ok we´re back online finally! things have been a little hectic lately just running around trying to see stuff but its chilled out a bit now and Ive finally worked out how to get some shots off our little camera (I'm still working on the big camera!) all these images are completely un-edited and you can see how close some of the animals got to us! comments by Ros..

Ostriches: These guys have to be the most stupid of all the Kalahari animals. They stand in the scorching 40+ degree heat at midday pretending to be trees. When you approach them in your car they get scared and instead of running away from you they freak out and run in front around or behind the car. Oh and not to mention their backward knees and frilly orange tails, so pretty.

Gemsbok: Millions of these and we had to get the arty shot of them in front of the windmill, typical!

Lions!: Need I say more, although I will. To stress the fact that these were all taken on the little digital camera with no zoom, they were so close to the car that we had one had constantly on the electric window while taking these shots!

Vulture: These massive monsters of the sky are just fascinating to watch while they devour poor little jackals (like a fox). Their wing spans can be absolutely mammoth and quite freaky close up, very cool though.

Storm: As we were approaching the Wet Season in the Kalahari we were guest to spectacular Electrical Storms every night. We would watch the storm encroach every evening and the electrical display was nothing but electrifying. Rob became quite the storm chaser until the last night when we were chasing a leopard and we got caught in a raging hail and lightning. Subsequently the next morning roads were flooded and alot of them closed, luckily we had a big car. We were not too helpful either to the poor people who were bogged, we just drove on past. Every man for himself!
Hyena: We came across this pack of five hyenas whilst in the Northern end of the South African side of the park. They had just made a kills of a juicy springbok and we watched them drool over their dinner. Again, we were so close to them that we could hear them licking their chops!

Giraffe: These amazingly camouflage beasts (and seriously they are huge) have been introduced to the Northern region on the South African side of the park (conservation reasons). It was extra fascinating to watch them wrap their tongues around the spiky trees which managed to puncture one of our tires in 2 places! We were treated to driving alongside one of these lanky giraffes as it was trying to "get away from us"; again a little stupid like the ostrich, its getaway plan was to run beside the car along the road, I could of patted him he was so close!

So this is a selction of some of the animals we saw (trust me we have heaps more). When Rob gets his act together, we will post again.

Miss you all.x.

Off to the Desert

2007-12-03T01:01:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone,

we're in Cape Town! but not for long off to the desert tomorrow.... Cape Town is awesome and cant wait to get back next week. The flight over was pretty long but the Malaysian air hostesses wre beautiful and the best!

We are buggered so we will write later - jet lag is making us have trouble with the linguistics.

Roblyn.xx.

Sitting

2007-11-05T17:19:00.000+11:00

The Seat Guru

this website is pretty cool for anyone going on a long flight, gives you a graphic rundown of all the best/worst seats in every plane for every airline (well not 'every' but pretty close).....

http://www.seatguru.com/

1st Port of Call :

2007-11-01T13:28:00.000+11:00

Cape Town>

fingers crossed the weather will be this good!

..............................................

"Set against the Indian Ocean and the spectacular Tabletop Mountain, Capetwon has long been spruiked as Africa’s most beautiful and happening city. Generally people don’t look to the African continent for a city experience but this is slowly changing. After a post-apartheid economic boost, Cape Town is steadily acquiring the cool tickets needed to impress the world’s cashed up young and restless. Beautiful beaches, world class restaurants, fancy bars, down-at-heel hip hop clubs - Cape Town even has its own Fashion Week. All this in a vibrant multi-cultural city close to South Africa’s many outdoor delights. The more adventurous can dive with sharks, wrestle lion cubs or join a walking tour of Cape Flats. The view from Tabletop Mountain and the drive to the Cape of Good Hope are worth the flight alone."
..............................................

Initial Travel Plan

2007-10-26T10:38:00.000+10:00

the plan ......

click to enlarge>

Countdown

2007-10-25T09:17:00.001+10:00

the countdown has begun......