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Moreton Island Moreton Island (the third largest sand island in the world) is located a few miles from Brisbane north of Stradbroke Island (the second largest sand island in the world after Fraser Island). The wilderness and the rich fauna of this island attract thousands of tourists and locals every year. On the island there are no roads but only sand tracks for 4x4. Moreton Island is famous for the Tangalooma Wrecks where you can snorkel. Inland there are huge sand dunes on which you can make sand boarding. Moreton Island has also hosted the last whaling station before this activity was suspended about 40 years ago. The island is famous for the dolphins, which always have a special relationship with Aboriginal people who are nicknamed dolphin man. In fact, the dolphins help the natives to direct fish schools into nets and then get a part as a reward. |
Nimbin Easter 2009 Here for you a little taste of the alternative capital of Australia. A unique, bizarre and controversial place: Nimbin. Nick, a good friend of us, invited Ravi and me to spend Easter with his family in his hometown, Nimbin. Now to understand exactly why Nimbin is the way it is today would be good to see what has happened here during the past 35 years The town of Nimbin, nestled in the sub-tropical foothills of the eastern edge of an extinct volcano in the rainbow region of Northern NSW, is known as the 'Alternative Capital of Australia'. Nimbin was a sleepy dairy town until 1973, when the Aquarius Festival, a large gathering of university students, practitioners of alternative lifestyles, 'hippies' and party people, was held in the town. After the festival many participants and festival goers remained to form communes and other multiple occupancy communities. Since the Aquarius Festival, the region has attracted many writers, artists, musicians, actors, environmentalists and permaculture enthusiasts... Nimbin is a strange place indeed!
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Australia Day 09 After going back to Italy for Christmas and have spent wonderful holidays with my family and all my friends, whom I thank for the beautiful moments spent together, I have come back down under. Waiting for me around the corner the Australia Day (Jan 26), which commemorates the discovery of Australia in the not too distant 1788. Of course the whole country takes Monday off (it’s a sort of Australian tradition, even when the holidays fall on Saturday or Sunday, the Australians decide Monday is off anyway, isn’t this clever?). Most of the Australian Aborigines call Australia Day “Invasion Day” in reference to the decimation of their ancestors, land confiscations and destruction of their culture followed the arrival of the English. That is why the Australian Government, in accordance with public opinion, is considering whether to move the festival to a more suitable date for everyone. For Australia day there is a list of things that you can’t miss, that includes a BBQ, cold beer, tongs, fireworks, beach and all sorts of decoration with the colors of Australia (blue, red and white or as an alternative yellow and green).
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Sydney In this album you could see some photos of my last visit to Sydney in late October 2008. The beauty of Sydney lies in being a great cosmopolitan city that is very liveable made by countless gardens and breathtaking variety of perspectives. In particular in this album the beautiful Suburb called ”The Rocks”, clinging to one end of the Harbor Bridge, Manly beach and some streets of downtown.
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Halloween Party The famous university Norwegian group, known as “NORSK club” struck again organizing a wonderful celebration for Halloween in a unique iconic location. As many of you know, Australia has a very recent history, here and the Middle Ages as we understand it in Europe, has never existed, but a local extravagant couple has decided to reconstruct something similar to a Eastern European castle in which then the party was held. Well, have a look at the pictures and you will get an idea ...
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Fiji Welcome to one of the most beautiful natural paradises of the planet where “I had to go” in order to ask for a second visa to return to Australia because the student one expired. These islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean once famous for pirates, rum and cannibals are now more a dream destination among tourists from around the world; check the photos and you easily understand why. These islands have a unique history in the Pacific and present an interesting mix of features from Malaysia, Polynesia, Micronesia, India, China and Europe. For almost fifty years, until the military coup of 1987, the indigenous people of Fiji have formed an ethnic minority in their own homeland. The archipelago was the centre of the South Pacific trade throughout the nineteenth century and the British claimed as its colony in 1874. The smile and joy of Fijians is contagious and the music of banjo marks the passing of days in this tropical paradise where it is said that the time go backwards. A beautiful vacation where I had the opportunity to experience various aspects of local life including climbing a coconut palm, open a coconut, fishing with spears and cuddle reef sharks. |
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Watarrka - Kings Kanyon National Park This national park is one of the most spectacular places central Australia. The kings Canyon with its walls of red rock reaching 100 metres is truly impressive. The entrance of the park is 435 km south of Alice Spring. Leading us until the canyon and providing a shelter for the cold night our loyal Wicked Camper. We decided to go for the Kings Canyon Rim Walk, the trail that makes a complete round tour on the top of the canyon with breathtaking views. The trail reaches the top of the canyon between a myriad of rock domes originally shaped. Among the various attractions along the trail there are the Garden of Eden and a wonderful billabong right at the end of the canyon.
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Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park Uluru together with the Opera House in Sydney is the most famous symbols of Australia. This impressive rock measure 3.6 km in length and is 348meters high, if this is not enough to impress you, think that the 9 / 10 of the rock are underneath the sand, and if this is still not enough, this old sandstone rock 600 million years hold! This geological wonder is famous for the infinite shades of red that takes when the light changes from the sunrise to the sunset and in between. For the Anangu people believe the trail that rises on the side of the rock is part of the path their ancestors, the Mala men, followed in the past when first arrived here. The climb of Uluru is not very welcome by Aborigines but if done with respect for holy places is an incredible experience ... unless you suffer from dizzy, in fact the only safety feature to climb on top of the monolith is a metal chain that accompanies you for the first steep 400 meters. From the top is a breathtaking 360 ° view of the desert and the nearby Olgas. |
Olgas - Kata Tjuta Kata Tjuta, or the Olgas, is a group of monoliths sandstone and granite sands that rises to about 40km from Uluru. The name Kata Tjuta means “Many Heads” in Aboriginal. This set of rocks is composed of huge rock domes that create an incredible maze, including the famous Valley of Wind, so named because in the early hours of morning when the wind blows in a certain direction, the rocks produce a kind of melody. The largest dome is Mount Olgas that reaches a considerable 550meters high. This place, as Uluru, is a sacred place for Aborigines that is why the eastern side is not accessible to tourists and even Aboriginal women.
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Kakadu National Park The never-ending Kakadu covers 200km from the coast to south and 100 km from east to west, the entrance to the park is 153km south of Darwin. The park is a World Heritage Site because of its cultural and natural importance. This land belongs to aborigines and is entrusted to the government for the sole purpose of making it a national park. The park hosts an impressive variety of plants, animals and minerals. The park consists of enormous floodplains called wetlands that are not accesible during the rain season and represent the natural habitat of an infinite variety of animals. In these endless plains appear on the horizon impressive high mountain ranges from 30 to 400 metres. Several rivers cross the Kakadu and I advise you not to take a dive since they are all infested by angry saltwater crocodiles (a version considerably larger and more fierce of caiman). The park is home to some of the best examples of rock art dating from the dreamtime that corresponds to the time in which everything was created for Aborigines. The distances are enormous and we, therefore, granted three days to visit the main attractions. This has included an emergency camp when the night has surprised us along a trail. Not able to find more traces of the trail and being lost in the high bush grass high we decided to improvise a torch burning my shirt which has not helped us much to find the way home. We then spent a sleepless night on a rock with bonfire, continuously making noise with a stick against the rocks to avoid not welcome visits by all the animals in the park including snakes, dingo and several species of poisonous spiders. The sunrise then had shown us the way home. PS. If you visit the Kakadu don’t get lost, is recommended by every guide! |
Litchfield National Park This park is the neighbour and younger brother of Kakadu. Nevertheless the two parks are very different from each other. The Litchfield is a vast plateau surrounded by sandstone cliffs. The vegetation changes significantly, here you can see a rich rainforest. The park is famous for its waterfalls and for its crystalline billabongs, in which, unlike the Kakadu, not live crocodiles and is therefore possible to take a bath. Another attraction are the fascinating termite mounds of magnetic termites, so called because they direct the mounds according to magnetic fields. The arrangement recalls that of a cemetery and the size of these structures is impressive when you consider how small is the animal that creates them. The park for many, as for us, represents a moment of relaxation after the demanding Kakadu. It is time for us to return to Darwin, leave our loyal Wicked Camper at his depot and take a flight to Alice Springs ....
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Darwin Darwin is the last outpost of northern Australia and the capital of Northern Territory. The Japanese first bombed the town during the Second World War and then the city has been victim of cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve of 1972 when the city was completely destroyed. For some years it was thought that the city could become the new Singapore because it represents the first landing place for those coming from Asia, in reality that has never happen because of the unstable climate and unforeseen high tides. Try to imagine a list of marine animals able to kill you... done? Well they are all in the waters of Darwin, where you can not swim. The list includes: box jellyfish, sharks and fierce and enormous saltwater crocodiles. These lands have always been inhabited by Aborigines and yet the majority of them live in NT. The city is pleasant and very relaxed, but missing the atmosphere I found in other Australian cities. People who live here have an average age of 30 years, five less than national, and holds the world record of the largest beer consumption For many Darwin is the starting point for exploring the never ending Kakadù National Park, its neighbour Lichfield National Park and the Katrine Gorge. |
Graduation Ceremony Many things have happened in the past three weeks, one of which was my graduation ceremony. Indeed, on 14 August 2008, I officially completed my Master in Strategic Advertising at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia. Being a big university, the graduation ceremonies continue for a whole week to cover all faculties and courses. The context is the beautiful QPAC, the Queensland Performing Art Centre. It has been an Anglo-Saxon-style ceremony with full academic dress and the classic headgear, a very special day! The basic colour is black and colour and decoration of the shoulder cover/hood varies according to faculty and degree’s type. Thanks to all the friends who participated in the ceremony and who will look at the photos from home.
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Brothers in OZ After few months far from each other my big brother came here to Australia to spend some wicked time together. First stop obviously Brisbane, but we haven’t missed the opportunity to visit the gorgeous Noosa on the Sunshine Coast and surfing in the magic Byron Bay’s waters. After driving him and Carlotta to rainbow Beach, the village on the main land where people leave to go to Fraser Island, I came back to Brissie but I’ll meet them again in Darwin after they travelled the beautiful east coast. The target this time will be the enormous Kakadù National Park with its crocs and forests. Later on Ayers Rock (Uluru) and the Kings Canyon.
Soon all the pictures from this incredible adventure...
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Indian food at Nina’s Last week Nina has decided that was the right time to delight us with a proper Indian dinner and so she went to the local supermarket to buy all the right ingredients. Thanks also to Ravi who has helped Nina with shopping and cooking. Menu of the night: Dahal: A thick creamy East Indian stew made with lentils or other legumes, onions, and various spices Everything was simply delicious !!!
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Colombian Arepas This week another culinary appointment, this time with a traditional dish from Colombia, proudly cooked by Lorena and Marta: the famous AREPAS. White corn flour, cheese, milk and a bit of salt are the ingredients of this food so simple and so delicious. The famous Spanish chorizos were also part of the dinner.
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Job Hunting Here we are, at the point in which you are not a student anymore (again) and is the time to find a job Now, all this might sounds easy, but first of all here down under they have different and strict rules on curriculum and cover letters writing, but this is not a big deal because the University here is much better than the faculty of business in Modena and organizes workshops about these topics and also about how to find a job easily and other useful stuff. The biggest issue is about visas and identify which one is the right one and what limitations and advantages are implied. But going back to me in this moment I’m looking for two different jobs, one casual or part time just to save a bit of money, and a serious one that will be my job to start in September. I would love to work for one of the numerous advertising agencies here in Brisbane. That is why I’m sending my curriculum, or resume as they call it here, to a list of selected agencies I would like to work with. Let see how it goes, kepp your fingers crossed for me ! |
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Noosa Noosa is located two hours north of Brisbane and is characterized by luxuriant vegetation. Noosa is famous to be a rich posh location. There are no skyscrapers over here and the city is developed along a nice creeks and bridges system that makes it really beautiful especially if you own one of the numerous millionaires’ villas. Noosa is also renown for its long riding waves really appealing to long-boards riders, thus is another paradise in Queensland.
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Pizza at Matteo's Obviously when you are Italian all your friends expect you’ll organize an iconic pizza dinner one day... so why not. With pizza you can't be wrong, everyone loves it and cooking it is a lot of fun. The process starts with a phone call back in Italy to ask Mum the recipe. The next step is a challenging grocery shopping at the local supermarket, trying to find typical toppings. A special kitchen hand from Vietnam helps you, than just few hours waiting the dough to rise. You can see the result here on the right
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Australia Vs Iraq - worldcup qualifications We couldn’t loose the opportunity to see the more and more famous Australian soccer national team, the Socceroos, playing against the Iraqi national team. The game took place at the Suncorp Stadium, the famous NFL play ground, that is also used for soccer and it’s located really close to the CBD. Final result: Australia 1 – Iraq O The stadium was obviously full of Aussie supporters wearing in yellow and green. If you are wonder why the national teams’ colours are yellow and green and not the Union Jack colours, I explain it to you: it comes from an Australian iconic plant, the Wattle (acacia) which has vivid green leaves and bright yellow flowers. And now all together: Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...Ohi ! Ohi ! Ohi!
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Vietnamese dinner After 9 long months my vietnamese flatmate Khahn has finally obtained his Australian permanet residence, what a good opportunity to celebrate with a tipicam vietnamese dinner at home.
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Good Guys Vs Bad Guys Party Apparently the "dress-up" trend doesn't want to stop. This time the theme was bad guys versus good guys and so al the typical characters appear: pirates, pimps, whitesnow, the wolf, zorro, cops and robbers and many others.
Click on the image to see the photogallery. |
Surfaris - Byron Bay to Sydney Finally I did something I really wanted to do since the moment I arrived in Australia. The occasion was the Easter’s mid semester break. I have decided with two friends of mine, Christian and Sven, to apply for the famous Surfaris trip. It’s a 6 days course. The company is based in Kempsey, which is half way between Byron Bay and Sydney, about 8 hours driving south from Brisbane. The dimension of the group varies during the week from 10 to 25 people. It works this way: They provide everything food, transportation, equipment and accommodation. There are expert instructors with you all day and they teach you step by step how to surf on a green face (the wave before breaking in white water). You’ll see in the pictures how good the instructors were. Every morning checking the weather forecast you go to a different beach where the good waves are. They were telling us how to recognize a good place from the local geography, the rock, the sand and the wind. All the beaches we have been to are iside a national park and that is why they are so savege and beautiful. The experience of surfing with dolphins is worthless. But you can judge by your own. The image at the bottom is the breath taking beach of Port plumer... |
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Surfaris the video Unfortunatelly I had to cut some part of the movie to reduce the lenght to 10 minutes, which is the limit on Youtube. So what you will see here is an extract of the sequences where I am in. I would have loved to pubblish it all because the grop was so really good, the complete movie it's a memory that we will always share. |
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Birthday Celebrations So, yes, I’m a quarter of century old. That happened the 15th of March and was obviously a good occasion to celebrate hard. So we have decided to have a BBQ at home with all the housemates and a couple of friends. From there we moved to a place close to the city called “Valley” where many pubs, cocktail bars and discos are. Then there was another party organized by some friends of mine in the suburb where I live, Highgate Hill. So ended the night swimming in their pool. But we couldn’t stop, so we have organized a big BBQ in Kangaroo Point on Sunday. A friend of mine birthday is the same day as mine. Marius and me put together almost 40 people. Late evening Jack Johnson, one of my favourite artists, was playing on the other side of the river, and thanks to the wind we could hear he concert from the river bank in Kangaroo Point. Such a great day! |
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Bad Taste Party Come dress in the clothes at the bottom of your wardrobe, that outfit that you would not be seen wearing again. Go to the local charity store and bargin shop for the dodgiest junk they offer. If you look good, you havent dressed right for the occassion.
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We are getting there A short clip of my surf performances. I thought would have been easier to learn how to surf, expecially after many years of snowboard, but, trust me, is really hard. Enjoy anyway
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Stradbroke Island Locals friendly call Stradbroke island “Straddie” and is one of the most famous destinations for a relaxed week end around Brisbane. Straddie is located south of Brisbane, to get there is possible to drive south for about an hour and than take a ferry to the island (about 45 minutes). Straddie is mainly made of sand but it’s covered in rainforest. The island is famous for the waves and for the famous vine type port produced there. We have been to Straddie because there was the QUT orientation camp, which is a weekend organized by the university for all the students participating in a study abroad program or exchange program. As an international student I wasn’t supposed to be there but it was an opportunity that couldn’t be missed to meet new comers and party on the beach. So we have organized a couple of cars with some friend from last semester and we have been there.
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