Kung fu fighting...

I love this photo with my sister Amelia - it was taken just before I left for Thailand. I just found it again randomly...

A morning in the butterfly park...

I'd like to say that our time in Kuala Lumpur was a crazed affair consisting of massive nights on the cans and strategically reducing our excess luggage costs by losing our pants during huge booze fests. However, Muslim values filter through to the government's alcohol taxation policies (colloquially known as the 'sin tax'), so even though the general purchasing power of Malaysian Ringget is about a third of the Aussie Dollar, the beers are strangely more expensive.

Even more shocking is that the schmiddy also seems to have formed some roots amongst the draft beer-drinking patronage of Malaysia. Sweet holy baby Jesus, prophet of Allah...what is the world coming to??

However, I digress...

Our time in KL would be better described as more of a hippy earth-loving/cultural affair, more likely to be suited to a retired couple from Northern NSW.

Our second installment of 'KL by nature' was at the local butterfly park...some of these creatures were simply amazing. With pangs of Joseph Banks, I felt like I was discovering a lost world of butterflies and amazing natural beauty (bar the 30MYR entry fee).

OK, so you my be getting over the pictures of the flora and fauna of Kuala Lumpur and surrounds, but its tropical environment has simply developed so many amazing lines of evolutionary success that one can't help but marvel at it's delicious beauty. Here's a few of our favourite snaps...

One of Clare and my favourites...we called it the 'Dalmatian butterfly'. It was about 12cm across and really stood out amongst all of the garden's colour.

This one matched Clare's outfit...

Clare receives a few 'butterfly kisses'...

Name this fish

Some dude caught this fish off the jetty in Chowder Bay. A trip to Uzbekistan for anyone who can tell me what it is...

Away to Byron Bay

Back in February, I bought Clare and myself a couple of tickets to Byron to spend a long weekend away - after a massive few months at work, the break was well appreciated and gave me the chance to have a bit of a think about where things are at.

I have had a lot of trouble in writing this post, as I've found it hard not to post a squillion photos of the beauty that is the North Coast. Here's a few of my favourites from Byron Bay:

Some shweetie I met on the lookout above The Pass near Watego's.

It's hard not to be mesmerised by the rhythm of the many surfers in and around Byron Bay. What a lifestyle! In the background is the sharp peak Mount Warning - Clare and I climbed it on our last visit to the area...it's the first place on the Australian mainland that sees the sunrise!!

More surfers, framed by some of the gorgeous flora found in the area.

Sunrise at The Pass.

A morning walk on the beach.

Its calm and quietness numbed me into a sense of tranquility - my toes felt very much the same walking through the icy morning sand.

This one's for Angus. Note the texture.

Transformers vs Pasha Bulker

Here's two major events that are happening in Australia at the moment:

1. The Transformers movie will be launched this Thursday. Yeah! I'm thinking of going perhaps later this weekend or early next week - will give you a full report after.

2. There has been a bloody great big oil tanker - The 'Pasher Bulker' - stranded off Nobby's Beach (just north of Newcastle) now for around three weeks. There are reports that, with a rise in the tides, they will be able to move it tonight. See here for a bit of extra detail from news.com.au's recent media coverage.

How are these two related? Well, I just saw a solution to the problem as outlined in point #2, utilising the ingenuity of point #1. See below:



(Thanks to my old man and Mr Wirris who drew my attention to this video)