sonny photos

Ginger & Smart SS2011/12 Fashion Show Backstage Sydney

Carla Zampatti SS11-12 Fashion Show

Let the Fashion Week begin, for me it starts with Carla's show a few days outside of the official schedule Interntional model, Flo, from Argentian is in town

Rutt Meister







So this is what you get when you are an established label in Austrailia for over 40 years and you get the talented Michelle Jank to style your collection. Great job, was not expecting this

End of the holiday

and we are back on the plane, and I can't believe my eyes when I look out the window . . .  it's the same guy again, cleaning the tarmac with a simple broom and dustpan click here to see this guy doing the same over a year ago, does this mean he is out here everyday ?
from the plane ( still at airport terminal ) I can see the foothills of where we went for the mudbath and we're off. on the bottom there, that's the take off spot when we rent the boat to go to Tavarua and Namotu and you can just make it out on the horizon can't wait to go there again that's Tavarua closest to us, the Namotu ( they are both islands ) and then that long strecth is just reef ( as in under water all the time ) and where I surfed Wilkes passage
and now Cloudbreak comes into frame damn it, it's looking good today too bye bye Fiji Sydney bound Was hoping to get some more of those incredible clouds photos I got when we flew over, but clearly, it is all about angles :-)

change in colour, must be close to Sydney sydney south national park port hacking cronulla the long strip of beach down from Cronulla Botany Bay and home

Sabeto Valley Mud Pool and Thermal spring, Fiji

After all that salt water, time to wash it off, so we head inland to visit a mudpool I just read about in the paper, a little bit of the beaten track bit of difference in colour water but jeez, it looks like fun doesn't it kids playground and that's the spot right there, you put your feet down there and it is 50 degrees Oh, I want to have a go
:-)

and this is the hot spring, it bubbles up and is about 70 degrees. They chanel this to a bigger pool they dug out and that's where we sat after the mud bath, very nice and relaxing and woauw, I was wondering what these ladies were all sitting around for, fijian massage for 10 Fiji$, so the kids got their first ever massage
I get one too of course, but as Jacqui said more like a coconut oil rub than a massage :-) another look at the source of hot water before we leave next trip I think we willneed to do a full exploratory trip inland

Sandbar in the Pacific Ocean

After that little surf session our Captain, Maika, told us about this sandbar that will be exposed at low tide, so off we go lovely Evan plays beached whale while India and Jacqui go explore while Belle, being the good girl that she is, puts on more sunblock awesome, print please Evan, goes to join the girls

and to think at high tide it will be gone
hehehe, gif time, sorry couldn't help myself, too cute :-) hot looker stranded on the beach ok, time's up so the kids take turn in sailing the boat Cool Captain Evan

Sonny's surf time

my turn for some fun, ready to jump of the boat, as the captain sails right up to the back of the peak and off I go back in a bit :-) the line up seen from the boat after they sail back down the line up
time for a gif animation of me surfing :-) give it time to load view of the back of the wave just snagged the leg rope on my last wave on the reef, so not risking losing my board as well, so I come back in Even though my surf session is cut short, I'm still smiling

Let's go surfing cloudbreak !!

Belle on the boat, we are on our way to Cloudbreak, rented a boat for half the day, we went out a few days ago as well, but there was a little hick up, and the one of the boats the operator runs , its engine blew up, so we went out with a few other blokes who wanted to trawl for fish, so I got dumped at Wilkes passage and Jacqui and the kids got dumped on the beach at Namotu, not this time, this time we got the boat all to ourselves, so Cloudbreak here I come on the left is the famous judges platform for when they have the pro surf comp on at Cloudbreak, as cloudbreak is a reef miles of the mainland , an exposed reef out in the ocean, only accessible by boat, so here we are, i'm amped,...but ..... it;s onshore and messy, even though the forecast was for offshore winds, a cyclone out at new Caledonia has pushed winds this direction turning cloudbreak into mush, what a let down, so bummed, was keen to pick up a few screaming left handers so what to do , why snorkel in the crystal clear pacific of course. From Cloudbreak it's about a 10 min ride to Namotu ( also on shore and messy ) then another 5 min to Wilkes passage, but there were about 30 surfers out there ( last time I surfed it was with one other guy ) Obviously crowded as the other places were too messy to surf. So I opted to take everyone snorkeling instead, banking on the fact that in about 2 hours that crowd out the surf will get hungry and jump on the boat back so just around the corner form Wilkes we found ourselves a nice secluded spot, with low tide coming in, a little sand bar about to be exposed in the middle of nowhere just about awesome can you still spot them I swam out there and joined them for a snorkel, and it was flippin amazing, all these miniature coral formations with the most amazing fish swimming around them, colours just so pretty ( and yeah, fuming my water camera is already broken- not even 2 months old :-( just look at the colour of the sea !! aqua paradise

that's my girl. Ok, let's go check the crowd out at Wilkes passage

Jetty of Queens Road

nice quite spot on the water, this jetty was not here last year, and looks brand new, and already has become a spot for the locals to just sit and relax another day done and dusted

Back to Biasevu waterfall, which turned into a flash flood, plus world's cutest cat & dog photo !

Today we head back to Korolevu, to turn left , inland to Biasevu and take the kids to the waterfall. On the way ( and we noticed this yesterday, but was too dark to take a photo )  we noticed all this washing, hanging in the rain, over the water, but must have been high tide when we saw it yesterday, as it now hangs over sand
loving this tree covered in what looks like mini staghorns
start of the track to the waterfall some of the locals heading out that way as well on horseback off we go we cross 7 times a creek oh so clear
each time, venturing on deeper into the forest/jungle I stopped taking photos half way through our trek , as it started with this trpical downpour, raindrops the size of big ripe juiced up cherries, so in no time we were soaked, and I wrapped my camera up in a towel and then tied it up in a plastic bag. Jacqui standing on a footbridge, which wasn't here last time, in front of the waterfall The waterfall, which is usually a fun, tranquil place, was just that when we arrived, but moments later, due to the downpour, it turned into a raging wild cascading waterfall as a result of flash flood, and the water quickly turned into a muddy brown orange colour, so after all this trekkign we did not even get to jump off the watefall as it would have been a bit dicey, but the most curious thing, that can't be seen in the photo, is the wind the waterfall has generated, all around is calm, but if you stand at the edge of the water, it is like being in a wind tunnel, amazing , nature heading back, and even our local guide is awestruck by the increase in volume of water coming down so windy standing here to take this shot, and within seconds my lens is covered in a fine mist of water, click here to see how it looked last time we were here, not only does it look calmer, but the water was so clear, where as now, it is looking like sludge from all that rain still all those awesome red ginger flowers everywhere frog trapped on a rock by the flash flood frogmaster India to the rescue natural sculpture rain has turned the track back into a creek oh yeah, mud fest coming up In hindsight, probably would have been quicker to go in the creek bed and that clear water on the way over has turned brown nearly there frogs galore around here frog or toad ? loving this place as a location for a shoot ( Lizzie ?? ) cute this week's worlds cutest cat and dog photo !!
nice pattern it wanted to come with us but I think the creek was too much of a river now
aaaw, all together now, so cute
back in the village, and no rain

Natandola Beach Fiji

I loved coming to this beach last time I was here, so had to come back, plus there was a tamarind tree I wanted to revisted and eat some more tamarind, but no fruit on the tree, not the right time of year. So the local kids offered to get us some fresh coconuts instead, and up they climbed
pluck, crack, eat how the locals get around, did not notice any horses when I visited last, but this time, I seen nothing but horses, on the beach alone there was about 30 horses
later , back at the resort for sunset drinks at Bilo bar
the boats that would not take me surfing