there is a wild velociraptor on the loose, which is tranquilised by a dinosaur huunter. an ambulance rushes to the stunned velociraptor and a medic tries to help it, but it wakes up and runs away. however, the dino hunter is on its trail again and the poor thing goes down again with a tranquiliser dart. the medic rushes to its rescue but the raptor wakes up. the raptor is not happy. it sees the dino hunter and chases after him. luckily, the medic grabs the tranquiliser dart and takes the raptor down. then the ambulance people come and take the raptor away…. to where? nobody knows.
even though we’re working in namibia we still get australian public holidays because technically we’re just here temporarily. so thanks to the queen we had monday off – a rare opportunity to do some serious exploring before the shooting begins. it was tough to decide on where to go, given the vast array of options namibia offers, but in the end we decided to head north to an area called damaraland. originally it was just going to be the three of us but we recruited most of the vfx crew and it ended up being seven of us spread over two 4x4s!
animal sightings were few and far between – we saw some springbok, some ostriches and lots of goats, but that was about it. the road signs are just as good though!
we stayed both nights at camp xaragu. despite its very remote location it was one of the nicest campgrounds i have ever stayed in. the sites were roomy and comfortable, the toilets were sparkly clean, and every morning they would heat water for hot showers. they even had a pool!
on sunday we checked out twyfelfontein, which was listed as a world heritage site in 2007. the region is famous for its very old rock paintings which are estimated to be 2,000-6,000 years old! they are remarkably well preserved and the drawings are simple but very expressive. some of the paintings were used as maps to mark locations where water could be found. our ancestors even had a system of marking permanent vs. seasonal water sources!
it was a really hot day and poor nayou was exhausted after a late night around the campfire and all the excitement. lucky his bff bodie was around to help him out!
the visitor center was built out of flat rocks and rusty drumcans.
our next stop was to the organ pipe rocks. they are located in a small valley about 6km from twyfelfontein. the rocks were formed when magma was pushed up in columns and cooled in place. to be honest i found them to be a bit underwhelming, but the riverbed on which they are located was pretty. plus it gave dmo a chance to fly his quadcopter around 🙂
the last stop we made was at the living museum. this is a small area where some of the native damara people have set up a traditional village where you can see how the people live (or lived). i asked the our guide whether they lived there but she replied they live in a “modern village” about 2kms away. we’re all wondering whether they change into their western clothes to commute back and forth? anyway, we got to learn how to make fire, jewellery and the healing benefits of elephant dung. this was probably the highlight of our trip for me!
as we approached our campsite that evening we saw huge amounts of smoke covering the horizon. it turns out there was a bush fire in the region! we weren’t in danger which was lucky. instead we were treated to a gorgeous sunset.
looks like mordor:
on monday we wound our way home along the skeleton coast. this stretch of coast gets its name because it is really barren. just miles and miles of sand and rock as far as the eye can see.
the route took us through welwitschia valley, a small part of the already small region in which the welwitschia plant grows. these plants are a wonder of nature, living up to 1,000 years old (yes, one thousand)!
the plants are an ecosystem unto themselves:
we had the obligatory flat tire with accompanying shows of manliness:
and a nice stop at the beach for some afternoon tea (with obligatory getting-the-car-stuck-in-the-sand event):
all in all it was a great weekend. we got back dusty and tired but in the best way possible!
dmo shot some great footage with his gopro (mounted on the car) as well as with his quadcopter. i put all of our footage into a highlight reel if you’re interested!
we went on our first african road trip this weekend, up to the omaruru game lodge. brenda and i had been hunting around for places to check out that are relatively close by, and this place was recommended to us by the lady who runs our favourite cafe. the lodge is located about 2.5 hours drive north east of swakopmund.
it was good to be back on the road again! the landscape became greener as we headed inland, although its still very dry by non-namibian standards. we spotted a couple of wild ostrich and springbok along the way which whetted our appetites for the promise of more to come.
you don’t see signs like this very often!
we had booked online on friday night and headed up there without getting a confirmation or anything. a bit risky, but that’s how we roll. the ladies at reception were very german and none too pleased that we had showed up all willy-nilly. they huffed and puffed a little but eventually gave us the keys to our place. we had asked for a “self-catering bungalow” which is just a small hut with a kitchenette. the hut sits in a cluster of five others, all of which are built around a small swimming pool.
once we were settled in, the three of us went to sit by the pool and hang out. there were three other families already there and it didn’t take long before they invited us over. actually i think the first words they said to us was “would you like something to drink?”. foolishly we accepted and then our weekend away took on an unexpected twist. from those fateful words the group took it upon themselves to make sure we always had a drink in our hands, right up to the time we left the next day. they also were very generous with their food, even though we had to refuse most of it (it was all meat!).
it turns out that one of the guys is the son of the lady who runs the lodge, and we had the good fortune of going on a free game drive with them. brenda and my first drunken safari! it was a really fun drive, and we saw tons of animals. many of the animals have been raised on the lodge grounds and are very comfortable around humans. the elephants came so close you could reach out and touch them!
check out this huge termite mound. our guide told us it was about twenty years old.
our animal sightings continued into the night. the more expensive rooms at the lodge are built around a waterhole, and at dusk they put our grass for the animals to eat. the coolest part of the evening was seeing the rhinos. they are pretty spectacular beasts!
for the rest of the evening we hung out with our new friends and then passed out cold. thanks to nayou we were up early enough the next morning to go see the cheetah and leopards being fed. the guide didn’t have very kind words to say about the cheetah but i thought he was really cute. the leopard was awesome too. i’m glad there was a tall fence between us – his teeth are bad ass! both animals got to feast on some tasty giraffe meat for breakfast. mmm.
after the feedings it was time to pack up, hang out and head on home. we arrived back in swakopmund tired and happy. which is just about the best way to feel on a sunday evening!
here is a video tour of our apartment in swakopmund. i’m not sure if its because most of the housing here is built with the vacation in mind, but every place has tons of bedrooms and bathrooms. ours is no exception with no less than four bedrooms and three bathrooms. not that i’m complaining – we converted one of the rooms to a dedicated yoga space and its awesome! what a luxury. it still puts a grin on my face every time i get on my mat 🙂
we’re located in the eastern side of the building opposite the georg ludwig kindergarten. its the dark blue building that looks like an upside down C. the production offices where i work are located on the corner of hendrik witbooi and daniel tjongarero streets, just one block down. and if you zoom about a bit you can see we’re really close to the beach!
sydney continues to deliver impeccable weather and today was no exception. we finally had a good reason to get out of the sun and sand with a visit to the hockeys (known by nayou as “aunty yanny’s house”) for some hot cross buns. the usual suspects were all there with sean + mary to make things even more merrier. its always amazing to me how time seems to fly by when we’re over there. we booked our car share from 11am-5pm and we barely made it back in time. actually we tried to extend it but the car was already booked!
the buns were delicious and i had a good time getting some info on my australian family tree. i knew my great grandmother immigrated from india to australia, but i had no idea they were planning on going to new zealand instead. apparently she and her husband met a minister on the ship to new zealand and he convinced them to try their luck in australia! i was also surprised that our ties to india go back quite a way. quite weird to think that in the not-so-distant future perhaps we will pop up as a blip in some relative’s investigations!
uncle colin recorded a special video for nayou who went missing for a good hour while he watched it! aunty yanny even made him some snacks which he thoroughly enjoyed, julius caesar style:
the day was too gorgeous to resist visiting the beach in the evening. i’m finding it hard to go without seeing the ocean at least once a day! the moon was stunning tonight.
happy easter everyone! i hope you are spending it with your loved ones, physically or virtually. thanks to aunty yanny and uncle colin for hosting yet another super fun gathering 🙂
p.s. in case you haven’t had your fill of nayou today:
its been nice being back in our old neighbourhood again. we bump into familiar faces daily, and i’ve enjoyed seeing how much each kings cross kid has grown in the three months we have been gone.
our new friend this time around is sugar, the cat we are taking care of. in fact, sugar is the whole reason why we are house sitting for hugh and lissa in the first place. sugar was a bit shy for the first few days but now he loves to hang out with us. he is by far the fluffiest cat i have ever seen.
today it was rainy so i took nayou and his friend ollie to the australian museum. ollie is a super mellow, funny kid and nayou gets along tremendously with him. it was so funny watching them interact. being able to communicate in-depth allowed nayou to role play and organise/compromise/discuss a lot (as opposed to bali where verbal communication doesn’t work as well). i basically followed them around with a camera all day filming their antics.
so here we are, back in sydney again after an amazing three months in bali. we bid farewell to our ubud family on wednesday night and took a very stress free flight back to australia. there was some last minute drama in ubud over this gorgeous piece of land that we were trying to get a 30 year lease on. buying or leasing land in bali can be tricky and potentially disastrous, but we had an excellent broker and things were going very smoothly. we had our contract in hand and were pretty much ready to go, but decided to get a lawyer to do due diligence before taking the plunge. unfortunately something happened when the lawyer went to visit the land owner and he ended up calling off the deal. apparently lawyers only ever visit you when there are serious problems and i guess the owner got scared… or something like that. we got two different stories from our broker and our lawyer so who knows? in any case the deal is off, although i am still holding out hope that once the dust settles the owner will change his mind. we shall see. in the meantime, here is a video of us checking out the land… its in the middle of ubud, but it feels like you’re in the middle of the jungle. and its huge – 32,000 square meters (345,000 square feet)!
we arrived back to the cold and rain that has apparently defined summer in sydney this year. we lucked out with accommodations because we are house sitting for some friends right in the heart of kings cross while they are in thailand. so in some ways its like we never left! its been nice to reconnect with old friends and go to our favourite hang out spots.
we have also been catching up on sleep…. in any place that seems comfortable.
the day after we arrived we hit up bondi junction to get some new shoes and clothes for nayou. we left his flip flops in a taxi in bali so he made the entire trip over here in a pair of socks! ghetto fabulous. he is making up for it all with a new pair of styley converse taxi shoes.
we got him some spiffy new pajamas as well. lord knows he needed them – his only surviving pair of pants were really threadbare!
we are in our friends’ house until the 24th. after that we have another month before we leave for africa. because the shoot got pushed by six weeks, the production company is frantically trying to save money by pushing crew start dates and asking people to take time off. i am still slated to start work on the 12th, but it looks like i may have to take not one but two weeks off in april. which is more or less as much as i can take because this family needs some cashflow and being unemplyed in sydney is expen$ive! lets hope they can work things out with their budget!
having a swimming pool in our front yard has been a lot of fun. especially for nayou. he’s in there almost every day and his confidence in the water has increased dramatically. usually he’s in there with his floaties, but recently he’s been going in with just one floatie, or testing the waters (pun intended) with no swimming aids. on wednesday we went for a swim at a pool up the road and nayou decided to start swimming all by himself! it was truly amazing to watch him do this start to go further and further as he became more confident.
for me its been interesting as a parent to learn to trust nayou and let him implement changes when he wants to. the urge to “coach” him with swimming was quite strong but i purposely held back and he did it all by himself. likewise with the breastfeeding – in the last month he has completely weaned himself without any prompting from brenda or myself. these days with all this talk of percentiles and milestones and blah blah blah its easy to get caught up in comparisons with other kids, but this was another reminder to trust nayou and trust the process to unfold as it will. the lesson for me though is not to shower him with praise when he does things like this, lest he start to do certain things for the praise rather than for the love of it. but, its hard not to get excited when you see your son take his first strokes 🙂
