Tracey Tomtene

Not Goodbye Mama, Just Farewell!

2011-12-20T20:19:00.000-08:00

A Photo Tribute..click thru to Vimeo site to read more about her life.

It is with a heavy heart, that I announce the passing of my Mom, 'Mama', 'Mommala', 'Mommy', 'Barbie', the one and only, Barbara Lee (East) Tower on Friday, December 2nd at approximately 6:30 PM. My brother and I were honoured to be able to be there for her last breath.

She was brought into Palliative Care 5 days prior to that after suffering a stroke. Her speech was impaired and she couldn't feel her right arm and leg. It was not hard to see that the cancer in her lungs was starting to take its toll. The following days and nights were completely sleepless, restless and...breathless. It didn't make sense for me to see her like this...such a vivacious, energetic spirit. She found temporary comfort with nebulizers and morphine but it never lasted long enough for her to get more than 15 minutes of solid rest. She kept telling me to go to sleep. My Mom...the most low maintenance person in the world. I knew it must have been frustrating to have me care for her because she never made anything about her. She was always taking care of everyone else.

She communicated mainly through facial expressions, hand gestures and the odd time she could throw out a short phrase quite easily. But when she couldn't, she got really good at saying the word 'shit' in all her frustration. So funny coming from a woman whose harshest phrases were 'Uff Da' or 'Piffle'!

On Thursday, when nothing was working anymore, I told her that sedation was an option. Before I even finished the sentence she said, "YES"! This was a mortifying moment. I knew that this meant the beginning of the end but was also grateful that she wouldn't have to suffer through trying to catch her breath anymore. That evening was particularly tough as the sedation set in much slower than any of us could have imagined. There were a lot of tears, goodbyes and I love yous.

When she did finally sleep, I snuggled in with her. I thought, 'well this is no fun.' As hard as it was to go through the previous nights the way she was, I was sad that she was not going to be awake with me. Although it was a serious time, we still managed to get the giggles...like when I would trip on my way over to the sink and ram my hip into a table (what a surprise!). Or my eyes would be closed and I'd open them to find her staring right at me...we'd both jump and then burst into laughter! When I kissed her on the cheek, I could feel her face light up as she squinted her eyes and smiled brightly.

I had received an email from my friend David in Australia, wishing me comfort in what he called, 'a strangely special' time. I thought it was the perfect description of what we were going through.

I am a child of earth and the starry skies, but my race is of heaven alone.

- Greek Proverb

Hand Twinsies!

Ever since Tronn and I were kids, in quiet times, she would squeeze our hands three times to say, 'I-Love-You'. Needless to say this little gesture came in very handy in her final days. When the chaplain came in the next day, I was lying with my head on her shoulder holding her hand. Of all the songs he could have sung, he chose to sing Christmas carols. UGH. It was both terribly sad and beautiful at the same time. Not what I had hoped 'Christmas' would be for us this year but just kept squeezing her hand and savouring each moment.

I studied every part of her face...and her hands. We have exactly the same hands (photo left is of our thumbs side by side). When I would look in the mirror of the hospital bathroom, I could already see her so easily looking back at me. It comforted me knowing that she would live on in my brother and I. That night, Tronn announced that he might head back to his motel when suddenly she skipped a breath. And then another. We smothered her in kisses and hugs and loving and comforting words until she took her last breath only seconds later. I didn't want to leave her. She was so warm. I kissed her forehead, breathed in deeply and said, "I'll see you soon."

The last book that my Mom read (and loved) was that of my friend Tash's, The Story of Q. It is a novel based on the elusive Q-document (what the original writings of the Bible were drawn from) told through the fictional stories of four characters. Riveting and controversial, it will change the way you view humanity, God, the universe and yourself.

I was feeling particularly lonely for Mama the other night and decided to pick the book back up to read knowing the words contained within were some of the last she had read. I noticed that I had dog-eared some of the pages so went back to them curiously to see what I had noted:

"In ancient times," Master Lael said, "the descent of the soul into the human body was described as a type of 'death' through which the soul lives. Sunset symbolized the start of human life for this reason--because in setting, the sun sinking below the horizon imaged a containment of divine light, the soul immersed in earthly matter. Sunrise, on the other hand, was the freeing of the soul from matter."

What a lovely way to view oneself..divine light contained in earthly matter. And to consider death not as an end but rather a rebirth...a rising sun. These words obviously resonated with me much more reading them this time around.

Hypermone means 'tough endurance'..it means to 'stay with or under heavy task or demanding situation', to apply oneself with courage, steadiness, and fortitude to the tasks ahead'....For while life and our choices inevitably bring us to facing difficult emotional and psychological times, the reality of these times is that they are impermanent, temporary, always changing toward something better. Hypermone is the time from which we will always emerge in glory.

Despite everything that has gone on the last few months, I have come to know a certain comfort in my heart. Just after Mom's pulmonary embolism at the end of August, we were cozied up in her hospital bed...I looked at her and wondered if she was to leave, how could I possibly go on without her? I could barely consider the thought when this phrase echoed loudly in my head, 'but we will still be together.'

Vita mutatur, non tollitur: Life is changed, not taken away.

Challenging times are referred to as 'spiritual teachers' in 'The Story of Q'. It's all a part of the soul's journey...gleaning knowledge and strength through tribulations to find triumph waiting just around the corner. Hypermone. I got to have the greatest Mom imaginable for 36 years. Who can scoff at that? Not I! I know she is with me. That she still wraps love around me. That she is OK now. I will miss speaking 'whale' with her on the phone. Dancing. Brainstorming. Photo expeditions. Being crafty together. Her strength, support and guidance. My biggest cheerleader. Goofiness. Giggles. Her wit and sarcasm...and of course her HUGS (that could make your day). She threw them out like candy and didn't discriminate. I intend to continue with that legacy.

We used to end each of our correspondences with 'I love you more than all the...' and some crazy amount of something, i.e.: all the fur on cats, all the traffic in L.A., all the stitches that have been knitted, all the waves that have crossed the ocean, all the loops in carpets, all the hairs that have turned gray etc. etc. (always trying to one up the other!).

This was one of her last to me...'I love you more than all the light that has shone on earth'.

Like any other challenge my Mom endured in life (and there were many!), she accepted her illness with courage, dignity and grace. She was not the type to dwell or feel bad for herself. She accepted the circumstances, made the most of them and kept on going...with a sparkly grin, twinkly eyes and a springy step!

Mama...I love you more than all the starlight, sunlight, butterfly wings, sea things, moon rocks and tick tocks in all the universe to INFINITY...and BEYOND!

xo,
Tootsie

My Mom...A Beauty in Ugly Days

2011-11-13T15:49:00.000-08:00

It's up to you to find beauty in the ugliest days.

Well hello there. It's been quite awhile...again! The last few months have been rather uncertain and unruly; hence, why I have not been blogging about too much.

I came back to Edmonton mid-August to shoot a wedding and do some visiting with family and friends. My mom was up in the Yukon on her annual canoe trip with her husband and I was going to be seeing her when she got back around the 31st.

Long story short, she had a pulmonary embolism when she was there. She survived thank goodness but when they did a CT scan they found spots on her lungs. She got to go home with blood thinners and oxygen after being in hospital for a week. We then had to wait another SIX WEEKS to get a bronchoscopy to find out whether the spots were malignant or benign. A week later we learned that she indeed had lung cancer. She saw an Oncologist at the Cross Cancer Institute soon after where they told her that the cancer was in Stage 4 and incurable.

She has now had a week of radiation on her neck as the cancer had travelled there and it was hard for her to turn her head to the right. We saw the doc again this past Wednesday and the cancer, as he put it, is 'spreading like wildfire'.

There have been many phases of emotions the last few months: shock, anger, sadness, optimism, denial, hope. Throughout it all, the rock has been who else but, my Mom. Many of you who know her will not be surprised by this. She has taken this all with so much grace. I passed a semi-truck on the highway on my way to see her in the hospital (after first learning of her pulmonary embolism) that had the word 'Grace' written on the side and back of it. It made me think of her Mom (Grandma) my Aunt Grace and the many other relatives who fell ill before her but managed to still be so jovial, strong and even tranquil despite feeling so awful physically. Whether inherited or emulated, my Mom is no exception to these admired family traits.

I have temporarily moved to Sherwood Park, Alberta. It is close to both Camrose (where Mom lives) and the Cross Cancer Institute (where she has her appointments). She stayed with me the past week and we had a lovely time...she was her usual goofball self, despite having just had 5 hits of radiation in a row! She is my best friend, closest confidante, inspiration, partner in crime and sister I never had. She doesn't have a tonne of energy but is in great spirits and that twinkle in her eye has never been brighter. She is in fact, a beauty in ugly days.

I have been reading a lot lately about angels and prayer and positive thinking. It's been proven time and time again that all the aforementioned have helped to heal especially when done in great numbers. I know one must be realistic but I also believe in miracles. So I was just wondering if you could include her in your prayers, your meditation and/or your thoughts:)

5 Reasons to Love Australia...and Photography

2011-06-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

The only time I've spent in Australia was in the Sydney airport (once illegally, but that's a 'nutha story!). Yet, I've still been lucky enough to have been exposed to some mega Australian talent since attending David Alan Harvey's 'At Home' Workshop in '09. I was overwhelmed by the images churned out from the photographers I met there and most recently have especially been impacted by the wonder from down under.

Natalie Grono, Simon Lewis and Pete Longworth were students with me in the '09 DAH Workshop, Kerry Payne was there as alumni and I saw David Smith's work at the '10 DAH Workshop when Dominik Dunsch and I returned for the slide show par-tay!

Kerry and Simon currently live in NY and Natalie and Pete keep Australia as their home base. David is actually a fellow Canuck but has transplanted himself to Oz. ALL of them consistently produce work that mere adjectives can't describe...stirring, striking, soulful, significant. The intense passion they have for their craft is unequivocal and inspires me in my work.

If you don't have time to view all the work at once, I encourage you to keep this email/bookmark this post (however you receive it) and come back to view all the links when you can...a visual, arresting photography feast!

“We do not take pictures with our cameras, but with our hearts and minds.”
-Arnold Newman

Natalie Grono

Based on the central coast of NSW Australia, Natalie has won numerous awards shooting for the Newcastle Herald, most recently winning a Walkely Award for her portrait of a war veteran.

Her latest images are captured in b & w in an exhibition called 'Sea Dreaming.' An enchanting, whimsical body of work looking at the poignant connection children have with the ocean. Along with her personal projects, she also works on assignment and as a portrait and wedding photographer.

The above image of George Clinton was taken at the Byron Bay Blues Festival.

Website Facebook Flickr

natalie@nataliegrono.com

Recent Project: Sea Dreaming

Simon Lewis

Photo: Monica Loz

Simon Lewis is an Australian photographer based in New York City. Working in both Fine Art and Editorial photography, his work is an expression of the human condition, the fluidity of life and the beauty of the collective experience. He has just completed the Photo Global program at the School of Visual Arts and is working towards several exhibitions planned for 2011.

Andy Warhol and Marie Antoinette served as inspiration for the above self portrait called, 'Finding Maria' in honour of Simon's friend who dressed up as the mother he never knew, 'Maria', in his own photographic series.

His most recent body of work, 'Memoria,' was influenced by his travel and cultural experiences and the importance of preserving identity and traditions in an ever homogenizing world.

Website Facebook Twitter Blog

simon@simonlewisstudio.com

Recent Project: Memoria

Pete Longworth

Pete Longworth is a Sydney based photographer. Originally from outback NSW, Pete has spent the majority of his life on the road less traveled. Teaching photography locally and internationally, Pete also shoots idyllic destination weddings to fund a healthy obsession for personal projects.

Enchanted by the collision of image and sound, Pete collaborates extensively on multimedia projects. The most recent, Another Time, Another Pace, screened at the Cannes Short Film Corner and won the New York Independent Film Festival for People's Choice and the Best Experimental Short Film. Pete has done talks for Nikon Australia, Sydney Apple Store and was a guest speaker at TEDx in Auckland.

The playful slide show above, 'Hide and Seek', was shot during David Alan Harvey's 'At Home' Workshop '09 in Central Park, NY.

Website Facebook Flickr Blog

petelongworth@me.com

Recent Project: A Little Different

Kerry Payne

Kerry, originally from Sydney, Australia, is a traveler whose urge to roam and love for photography have made long-time, happy and steadfast companions.

'I feel most valid when sharing stories that need a voice, or to have a light shone deep down into the heart of them.'

Her deeply personal project, Left Behind (above photo essay), tells the stories of the suicide survivors...those who are left behind when somebody they love chooses to end their life. She is discovering daily the power this work has to heal broken hearts all around the world. Her own included.

Left Behind has been published by Burn Magazine (USA), Esquire (Russia) and Marie Claire (Italy).

Website Facebook

kerry@kerrypayne.net

Recent Project: Father

David Maurice Smith

David is a Canadian freelance photographer based in Sydney, shooting documentary projects and lifestyle based commercial work. Subjects range from world famous surfers, to elderly pensioners, focused entrepreneurs, to homeless drug addicts, global recording artists to remote African villagers. His approach is always the same: 'connect with people, get close and shoot'.

The above slide show is a part of his ongoing NYC Hip Hop Culture Project entitled 'ORIGINS' born from his interest in youth culture in his previous career as a social worker. You can help David to make this meaningful project possible, at Pozible.

Website Facebook Blog Vimeo Twitter

david@davidmauricesmith.com

Recent Project: Fight

San Fran...A Doo-Ditty

2011-02-28T17:11:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if I can refer to this posting as a vlog or not...so instead, I am calling it a doo-ditty, because it sounds right.

And without further 'a doo', here is my little doo-ditty of my trip to San Francisco in the spring. A regular blog posting shall follow shortly.

Toodle-loo!

Spring Fling in San Fran

2011-02-13T20:52:00.000-08:00

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature nor do the children of man as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

- Helen Keller, 1880-1968, Blind/Deaf Author and Lecture

Tiny Preface: I've mentioned in previous posts that I had been dealing with some health issues I thought I had nipped in the bud but unfortunately, it was only temporary. I have periods of respite where I am totally fine, but can be hard to come by, which is the reason I haven't been very successful at staying on top of my blog for the past 2 years! I won't bore with details but really, I just want everyone to know, I'M NOT A SLACKER! I am getting closer to figuring this all out and there IS light at the end of the tunnel. Looking forward to the days where I'll be writing these posts from the road again:) And with that...on to the Golden City.

View photo album here.

Dominik, fellow David Alan Harvey Workshop Alumni, was traveling all over the US and going to be in San Francisco at the beginning of June (2010). My Bali surf sister, Marj, lives there and I so wanted to visit both her and Dominik but couldn't imagine going there the way I was feeling at the time. Dominik had been my cheerleader, long distance medical advisor (he happens to be a doctor too) and amazing support, all the way from Germany via Skype.

He said I had to let it stop controlling my life. That I was missing out on too much. I agreed. But feeling lousy much of the time prohibits one from working on a steady basis and I was plunging pretty heavy duty into debt. Also, it is hard to enjoy oneself no matter how fantastic the surroundings and people might be, when one feels not unlike hot garbage.

Much like my theory for going to the DAH workshop in NY, I decided it was not going to kill me. I knew it would be good for my MENTAL health to take a break from my solitary and somewhat embarrassingly, monotonous life within the walls of my apartment to be with good friends, despite the financial cost and risk of how I might feel while there.

I ended up being well about half the time, which allowed for a few really stellar days in San Francisco! Dominik and I both stayed with Marj and her 2 roomies in the Castro District. Of course I felt right at home, since I live in the Vancouver equivalent of Castro, the West End, where there is no shortage of goodness and gayness!

Days were spent touring around San Francisco catching up with Dominik and shooting in between. Marj picked us up after work one eve to check out the Golden Gate at sunset. It clouded over as soon as we got there, but ended up being a great atmosphere to take pics.

The next day, Dominik and I rented a couple of bikes so we could pedal across the Golden Gate. Doesn't that sound nice? Yes. I thought so too. But when one has been sedentary for the majority of the previous months, it can be quite a shock to the system going uphill for what seemed like hours before we actually got ourselves on the damn bridge! But quite worth it indeed.

It literally was all downhill post bridge to Sausalito! I took some video while we were biking through town and apparently didn't shut off the camera. It continued to roll as we parked our bikes at the ferry, as I walked to get some espresso and even my trip to the ladies room! Twas quite entertaining to watch once I got home and realized the accidental footage.

It was a shame we had no time to check out Sausalito but it was the last ferry back to San Francisco and we had a date with Marj to trip the light fantastic. Did I just really write that?

ANYWAY. We headed out to Madrone Art Bar where Marj had us on the dance floor within minutes of walking in the door. She's good like that. It had been AGES since I'd been out dancing...probably the last time I saw her in February (2009)! That ain't right.

"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude."

Cynthia Ozick
Writer

We met up with Jay Martin, another student from David Alan Harvey's workshop who also lives in San Francisco, in Chinatown. We spent the day catching up with him and shooting the area after he treated us all to a lovely Vietnamese lunch.

It was great to catch up with Jay and after bidding him adieux, we went off to Dolores Park, one of Marj's fave hangouts. We claimed our piece of grass and took in all that is Dolores Park. There were hippies, swings, sunshine, drugs, dancing..it felt kinda like a playground for adults. Quite nice.

Photo: Marjorie Green

We called it an early night so we could see Dominik off at the airport in the morning. Was very sad to say goodbye but I knew it wouldn't be long til we were making plans to meet somewhere sometime soon again. Dominik and Marj are two of my favourite people in the whole world. Hanging out with them feels like home. Comfy and familiar.

Marj and I proceeded over to Redwood City to see even more favourite people! Goosh and his wife Suzanne, both photog crazy like me, moved there a few years ago from Vancouver. Suzanne made us slushy watermelony health bevvies while we goofed around with Nash, their first born (Rio has been added since) and caught up. They need to move back to Vancouver..hint hint!

Photo: Marjorie Green

We soldiered on over to the Union Street Market where we happened upon a vendor selling beautiful dresses at stupid low prices. Marj and I fell madly in love with the designer who advised us on which of his masterpieces would look the sassiest on us. It was a very girly and divine way to end the afternoon.

We returned home exhausted from the day, but a lovely one at that, and a fabulous finale to a trip I would not have taken without the support and encouragement of such amazing buds.

Unfortunately, it was the same story for the rest of the summer. There were good days and bad days. On good days I was a MACHINE trying to catch up on all the things I couldn't do when I wasn't feeling up to snuff and taking advantage of that time to its absolute fullest.

If there's anything I've learned from this experience, it's that you should never wait to do what you want in life. 2008 was my last year of consistently feeling well. If I had waited a year longer to travel to SE Asia/NZ, I would not have been able to go. I live with the mind set now that everything could change tomorrow. So take advantage of and focus on the goodness in your life TODAY. Learn to be grateful for the littlest things. We shouldn't have to lose something to understand its true value.

Sing in the rain, get your ass to yoga, make a snow angel, fly to Zimbabwe, go dancing!
Don't wait for 'someday' to see what's over the rainbow.

Photo: Dominik Dunsch

"You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear. Do it! Develop an appreciation for the present moment. Seize every second of your life and savour it. Value your present moments. Using them up in any self-defeating ways means you've lost them forever."

- Wayne Dyer, Author and Speaker

'The Bud' Magazine Cover + Interview

2011-02-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

Nigel Simmonds, Photo Editor at The Bud Magazine in Bali, contacted me several weeks ago to see if I'd like to be interviewed for their Spotlight series in the Jan/Feb/Mar issue of The Bud. I deliberated for about a millisecond, then said yes please!

Read the full interview at the bottom of this post.

I had worked with Nigel before on a past feature (written by my friend Mike) on K etut of Eat Pray Love fame. Marjorie Green and I had taken pictures of our visit to Ketut and the images were used in that story.

The Bud is 'the definitive guide to the creative, holistic and spiritual centre of Bali'. If you're in Bali, you will find a copy at any major news stand until the end of March. If you'd like to order a copy, contact info@theyakmag.com.

Click on any image for a closer look.

Tracey, what does photography mean to you?

I had always expressed myself through acrylic painting but knew I was no Friday Kahlo. So I played it safe and studied Business whilst filling my electives with Fine Arts in university. In the last semester of my degree, I took a darkroom photography course and realized how expressive one could be with a camera; therein, discovering my new paintbrush.

After 6 years of working in the corporate world, taking night courses in digital photography and embarking on short travelling photo expeditions when I could, I quit my 'real job' as a Communications Manager in February, 2008 and set off for SE Asia. This marked the beginning of my career as a full time photographer and essentially a new lifeblood.

I often think of the people I would not have conversed with and the places I may not have traversed if I didn't have this fire inside. Being a photographer has connected me to amazing people and places, transformed me into a curious wanderer and allowed me to see the world with eyes wide open.

Richard Avedon said it best:

“And if a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up. I know that the accident of my being a photographer has made my life possible.”

Where are you based, and how is Bali viewed in your corner of the world?

Vancouver, British Columbia is my base city at the moment, but I'm looking for a change. Shanghai and New York are high on my list!

I think Bali is a bit of a mystery for many of us in the west...an exotic place in a far off land that one only dreams of travelling to. The gregarious people, fascinating culture and exquisite landscape can be depicted in pictures somewhat but I've always said that one really must go to Bali themselves to experience the magic that lingers there.

What are some of the misconceptions about the countries to which you travel to shoot?

I think the most common misconception before leaving for SE Asia was that I wouldn't be safe as a female travelling alone. But on the contrary, I felt safer there than I do in most North American cities.

When did you first pick up a camera?

I always had a camera growing up but it was more about preserving memories of friends and family. My parents took pictures and video of virtually every important moment in my life. There are storage closets brimming with 8mm film, beta tapes and polaroids. So they may have influenced my need to document a little!

Having a pretty sentimental side, it gives me comfort knowing these fleeting moments in life can be captured and revisited over and over again, instead of slipping into the subliminal abyss of my memory.

Have you always shot in digital, or did you start out in film?

The darkroom course I took in university was strictly film. I had to made a pinhole camera from scratch as my first official photographic device. This helped me to thoroughly comprehend exposure, shutter speed and depth of field. I could spend all night in the darkroom engrossed in making the perfect print, messing with dyes and cheese cloths...burning and dodging, pushing and pulling.

I shot with film for 3 years until my camera was stolen in 2005, so I made the switch then. Digital has made my life easier in a lot of ways, but I still long for those experimental, dare I say romantic, nights in the darkroom.

What do you shoot with when you are travelling? (camera, lenses, tripod, flash etc)

Camera: Canon 50D

Lenses: Canon 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 LII, Tokina 12-24 f/4.0, Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L, Canon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS

Flash: Canon Speedlite 430EX

Tripod: Manfrotto 190 b

Audio: M-AUDIO Microtrack II

I shoot wide much of the time, especially for street photography as seen in my NY images and use a telephoto for shooting surfing. I rarely take my tripod or flash and usually choose just one or two lenses as I prefer to travel as light as possible. I also have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 when I want to shoot video or don't feel like schlepping a heavy DSLR.

My IDEAL camera kit would be a Canon 5DII with a 7D as a back up and a few good prime lenses. Dreamy.

What software do you use for colouring and retouch?

I use Lightroom to import, catalogue, rate, keyword, caption, post process and export. I bring images into Photoshop here and there but for the most part Lightroom has everything I need as a photographer.

As I am starting to shoot more video, I use iMovie to compile photos, video and audio for short multimedia pieces.

Your images are 'feel-good' in that your pictures often portray romantic situations and places. Do you ever document suffering?

I'm very active in supporting animal rights and environmental issues and always searching for ways to make an impact. One of the reasons why I name Asia as a place I'd like to live is because of the dolphin slaughter happening in Japan and much of the consumer base for shark fin soup thrives in China - two issues that lay dear to my heart.

James Nachtwey describes using photography as a tool to 'shake people out of their indifference - to protest and by the strength of that protest to make others protest'. Images speaks louder than words in many cases and I'd like use that power to make a difference somehow.

I am also inspired by Nick Brandt, a fine art photographer, who documents the vanishing beauty of the animals and landscape in East Africa in a way that is awe-inspiring and demands attention.

Ideally, I would like to work with environmental organizations such as Sea Shepherd, Wild Asia, Greenpeace and shoot for magazines like Earth Island Journal and National Geographic.

What are the qualities you look for in a good photograph?

Photographing what you feel instead of just what you see is something I learned from taking a workshop with David Alan Harvey. Photographs are a reflection of the person taking them..a mirror to who we are and what's going on inside.

Ultimately, if the image tells a story, evokes an emotion, conjures up a memory or a dream, starts a conversation or just creates some good old ocular bliss, that photograph has succeeded.

Do you plan your shots, or is it a question of 'see it, shoot it'?

Life...as it happens. I prefer spontaneity. It's a thrill to discover for yourself what Bresson meant by the decisive moment.

"Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever."

- Henri Cartier-Bresson - 1957

Photography as 'art' is a difficult commercial medium. There are probably more profitable careers to follow...

How much of your time in photography is spent not using a camera?

Quite a lot unfortunately. Much of my time is spent in front of my laptop editing, key wording, captioning, organizing and backing up hard drives, marketing myself, learning about new technologies, what other photogs are shooting and what's happening in the industry. I also freelance as a business writer. I do love every aspect of my career, but like most photographers, I would always rather be out shooting.

If there is a single message in your work, what is it?

I believe there is art in every living moment...spontaneous moments balanced by a quiet affinity and the profundity to be found in even the most fleeting, everyday occurrence. The most banal occurrence has the potential for iconicity.

Where do you next plan to travel?

I am very interested in the religion and culture of surfers and their connection to the ocean, so am hoping to visit Hawaii again and possibly Chile, early in the new year.

More photographic expeditions will be planned through South America, India, Asia, Africa, Europe and definitely back to Bali someday too. In the words of Susan Sontag, "I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list."

And lastly, how can we view more of your work?

My website is www.traceytomtene.com. From there, you can link to my blog and photo gallery.

'At Home' with David Alan Harvey - The Finale!

2010-11-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.

- Henry David Thoreau

View all photos here.

And so the week came to a close and somehow...we all managed to survive! The day (Friday) was spent working with Michael Courvoisier and David Alan Harvey to choose our final images and audio for the slide show. The hard part was over. It felt great...and kinda scary.

That evening, gallerists, curators, editors, iconic and emerging photographers trickled into the loft filling it with confabulation, clicking cameras, bursts of light and laughter.

Then, an audible hush came over the room. James Nachtwey was in the house. Photog enthusiast or not, this is a man you should know about. His work focuses on social issues and war conflicts having earned him numerous awards throughout his career, such as the World Press Photo Award ('94) and Robert Capa Gold Medal (5 times), and is widely know for the Oscar nominated documentary, 'War Photographer'. In 2007, he was one of three recipients of the TED prize. His life changing wish was to use his photography to help stop the worldwide epidemic of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). He is a brave, humanitarian photographer and inspirational human being. I have NO idea what words I managed to fumble out of my mouth when I met him, but I do remember his calm and quiet strength being very palpable.

'But everyone cannot be there, and that is why photographers go there – to show them, to reach out and grab them and make them stop what they are doing and pay attention to what is going on – to create pictures powerful enough to overcome the diluting effects of the mass media and shake people out of their indifference - to protest and by the strength of that protest to make others protest.'

- James Nachtwey

Amongst the likes of James Nachtwey were Josef Koudelka (uh-huh!), Antoine d'Agata, Michael Lloyd Young, David Coventry, Patricia Lay-Dorsey, Kerry Payne and Tim Hetherington (yes I finally got to meet him!).

Jason Houge, Anton Kusters, Patrica Lay-Dorsey

Emerging photographers' work (from Burn Magazine) were displayed on any margin of bare wall that could be found alongside some of the greats, Elliot Erwitt, Gilles Peress, Bruce Davidson, Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb.

Speaking of the Webbs..the door was shut and the room was shushed as we all settled in to enjoy Alex and Rebecca's latest work, images from Istanbul and Cuba...ocular ecstasy!

A tough act to follow, but now the mood was set perfectly...

David then introduced the student slideshows and talked about how he encouraged us throughout the week to look in the mirror and see ourselves...reference the past and use it for now, in our own special way.

Intro'd by DAH...a moment.

I have had a lot of time to ponder where I was at that week. It hadn't been a great year, 2009. I had been sick a lot since getting back from Asia and had gotten to the point of being pretty unwell, more than not. I debated not going to the workshop, but in the end, thought that the 'what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger' adage made sense and couldn't fathom to miss the opportunity. I didn't know why I was sick, when it would hit, how long it would last or how to fix it. And it was starting to consume me.

When a surf break doesn't have waves, it can feel pretty hollow...lonely. Not unlike what I was feeling at the time. Mojo-less.

When I was in Bali, I could still feel the push and pull of the waves at night after surfing all day, eventually lulling me into a deep, blissful sleep. Gliding along the ocean's memory acts as a catalyst to experiencing a unity with nature...an esoteric relationship with the cosmos while the rest of the world disappears, and one enters another dimension. It's not difficult to understand then why surfing has been described more so as a religion by surfers than just a sport, and the restlessness, even depression in some cases, that they experience in the absence of waves.

'We're all just visiting
All just breaking like waves
The oceans made me, but who came up with love?
Push me, pull me, push me, or pull me out'

- Eddie Vedder

Steven Kotler, author of 'West of Jesus', was suffering from Lyme disease and it wasn't until a friend encouraged him to get back on his surfboard that he realized the effect surfing had on his health. He credits the sport for saving his life. The late Andy Irons, 3 time world surfing champion, said that he would 'self destruct' if he didn't have surfing to exorcise his 'inner demons' and Laird Hamilton, famous big wave surfer, has spoken about falling into a depression when there was no swell.

'Tidal' is defined in the dictionary as, 'of, relating to, or affected by tide'. I titled my essay this as I thought it was appropriate not for the pun, but more figuratively as a word that could encapsulate both the powerful surge of feeling which surfers have described when riding a wave, i.e.: flow or stoke, and the opposing emotions that can occur when those waves are gone...the ebb.

Originally, Rockaway had appeared to me as a disillusioned, surfless town, but as the week went on, the reverential surfers revealed themselves, still beckoned to the sea...if only by mere ripples.

Special thanks to Ian Roberts of Holiday Maker (NY) who contributed the music for this slideshow: www.myspace.com/holidaymakermusic.

'Tidal' - Rockaway Beach, NY - October, 2009 from Tracey Tomtene on Vimeo.

I would like to thank the surfers I photographed in Rockaway Beach, for without them, my essay would have been rather thin: Kevin Blagys, Sean Bolebruch, Americo Cruz, Melissa Finch, Veronica Hendrick, Dara Lazar, Marcos Guiu Navarro, Salvador Pantoja, Ian Roberts, Scott Snelling and Douglas Wasserman

Everyone's slideshows were met with rousing applause. Subjects ranged from subtle glances of homo sapiens in Central Park to hip-hop in Harlem to a pagan troll collector and all the way down the rabbit hole! It felt great to share all of our hard work with people who really appreciated it and I was elated to be in the company of such talent. The bonds we cultivated throughout the workshop will last a lifetime. I'm sure of it.

As parties go at the Kibbutz, much of the patrons moved up to the roof to enjoy the magnificent Manhattan skyline. Many of us remained in the loft, relishing in the chance to finally just enjoy each other's company and...RELAX!

There was still a buzz in the room when we met the next morning to wrap it all up with DAH and take one more look at our final slideshows. It was hard to believe it was over. Sadness...but a sense of relief also. We looked at the work of Anton Kusters (co-curator of Burn Magazine) and Michael Courvoisier (David's assistant) who we'd come to know and love throughout the week. Both amazing photographers and their work definitely brought me some inspiration.

With the advent of digital photography, we are seeing more and more print publications die or move to online platforms and the barrier to entry lowered profoundly. Competition is cutthroat and the cost of constant upgrading of equipment vs. actual profit is certainly not in favour of the photog. Making a living as a photographer IS damn hard and the industry uncertain. But after meeting David, I was encouraged to press on. If anyone has weathered the storm..persisted through the ebbs and flows, it is David.

We wouldn't have Burn Magazine, if he hadn't.

Photography to the amateur is recreation, to the professional it is work, and hard work too, no matter how pleasurable it may be.

- Edward Weston

David Alan Harvey on Remembering Your Name from Tracey Tomtene on Vimeo.

Workshop Attendees

Roberto Alfano (Italy)

John Busch (USA)

Dominik Dunsch (Germany)

Natalie Grono (Australia)

Frank Hack (Canada)

Piper Jones (USA)

Simon Lewis (USA/Australia)

Pete Longworth (Australia)

Workshop Interns

P.S.: I have felt great for the last 8 weeks (a far cry from my longest record of 12 days) after taking a herbal concoction for a month. Still not totally sure what exactly has been making me so sick, but parasites are a good bet. Just waking up in the morning and feeling 'normal' is a gift, appreciated on so many levels and never taken for granted. Stoke.

There is hope that this blog might actually be up to date, someday!

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.

- Henry David Thoreau

'At Home' with David Alan Harvey, NY - Ch. 2

2010-10-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

Every time someone tells me how sharp my photos are, I assume that it isn't a very interesting photograph. If it were, they would have more to say.

- Author Unknown

View more photos here and here.

And so the first day of the workshop...we gathered at the loft and each had our work critiqued by David Alan Harvey (DAH) himself, discussed where we each were in our photographic lives and ideas we had for our essays. We finished in mid afternoon but I was still lost as to what the hell I was going to focus my topic on. I had some ideas of what to do but just wasn't feelin' anything. I went back to talk to David and he brought some clarity. Surfing. It was always supposed to be. So I hopped the subway to Queens.

I didn't arrive til just before dark. But at least now I knew the way....take the L, to the A, to the S and you're there in 75 minutes or less...providing all trains are running, which they were not half the time, but always made for a new challenge or side adventure. I was a bit miffed at myself for not making the decision to do surfing right from the get-go but alas, better late than never!

Over the next 5 days, I went straight from the workshop (which ended anywhere from 1 to 3 in the afternoon) to pick up my gear and head to Rockaway. There were good days and bad days. I came back on the subway some nights properly salted from the sea...damp and deflated, and others, brimming with excitement for the morning so I could share what I shot with my workshop peeps.

The swell was, shall we say, non-existent and the surf shops closed half the time I was there but somehow, some way I always managed to happen upon at least one surfer. When I wasn't shooting a surfer, I was looking for evidence that Rockaway was in fact a surf town? Even some town folk I spoke to seemed baffled when I mentioned surfing. It certainly wasn't obvious at that time of year.


James Estrin, NY Time Lens Blog Editor

David Griffin, National Geographic (left) and Rob Clark, NG Photographer (right)

Meanwhile at the workshop, David Griffin, Director of Photo Editing at National Geographic; Rob Clark, National Geographic Photographer; James Estrin, NY Times Lens Blog Editor; and Scott Thode, Editor-in-Chief, VII Magazine (formerly of Fortune), visited the workshop and joined in on the photo critiques and 'jam sessions'. Tim Hetherington came by to talk about his 'Sleeping Soldiers ' project the ONE morning I was late (out shooting surfers til 2AM)! Bollocks! I saw his exhibition and lecture at the NY Photo Festival '09 earlier in the year and had no idea that he lived in the building and would pop in on our workshop (one must love NY for that kinda thing). Regardless, I was still overwhelmed and grateful for who I was able to meet to that point, along with everything I was taking in from the critiques, my peers and of course, DAH.

Time and time again I see how subjective photography is. How one image can stir up completely opposing emotions in people. There is always room for growth. My love for the medium expanded exponentially with the people I met, the amazing images I witnessed being created throughout the week and just simply being in the Mecca of photography, NYC.

But it wasn't over yet....

...just wait til you hear who was at our slideshow party (photo geeks will appreciate)!

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see.

- Dorothea Lange

Featured on BURN MAGAZINE!

2010-09-16T01:22:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to David Alan Harvey and Anton Kusters, for putting Stubby the Pigeon up as a single image on Burn Magazine today.

It definitely made MY day.

Click image below to check it out on burn.

About burn

Burn is an evolving journal for emerging photographers and is curated by Magnum photographer, David Alan Harvey.

WARNING – QUICKTIME MOVIE – LARGE DOWNLOAD (112MB)
THIS PRESENTATION CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT

Source: http://www.burnmagazine.org/about/

'At Home' with David Alan Harvey, NY - Ch. 1

2010-08-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

And if a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up. I know that the accident of my being a photographer has made my life possible.

- Richard Avedon - 1970

View rest of photos here.

Only 12 students are invited to David Alan Harvey's 'At Home' Workshop every year, which is held at his loft in Brooklyn. Celebrated editors and publishers as well as distinguished photographers pop in for jam sessions whilst the students shoot their own personal photo essay over the course of a week. At the end of it all, the students' work is exhibited in a slideshow format in front of the NY photo world. DAH's goal with the workshop is to help emerging photographers move to the next level.

I purposely arrived a few days early so that I could contemplate the subject of my photo essay. I had done some research on surf spots around NY prior to leaving but the closest was over an hour away in Queens and I knew shooting time was going to be crucial. I had hoped when I arrived that I would stumble upon some topic or person magically and that would be it. Uh, not quite so easy.

Cait had been back in NY since I last saw her there in May and Marj (from San Francisco) also happened to be there checking out grad schools. What a treat this was! Cait and I had travelled in Thailand, Cambodia and NZ together and Marj was my surf sister in Indo. I had yammered on about how amazing they each were to both of them and was so happy that they would finally meet and we were all in the same city at once.

We met at a veggie restaurant in the East Village called 'Yummy House'. Cait had taken me there in May and I was almost as excited to eat there again as I was to meet David Alan Harvey. As I suspected, Marj and Cait got on like a house on fire and I could barely get a word in edgewise! I was elated to be with them both in my most favourite city.

Marj and I met up again the next day to go to the Brooklyn Bridge and planned to find cheap tix to a Broadway show but as per usual, the two of us shooting together in an 'exotic' place does not help us do 'on time' very well. So we ended up taking in a late comedy show instead.

I ventured on over to Harvey's loft in Williamsburg, Brooklyn that Friday eve for a casual meet n' greet pre-workshop. It was on the way there that my camera REALLY started acting up. I had bought my Canon 50D when I was in NZ in late '08. It had randomly been giving me the dreaded 'error99' when I clicked the shutter. Of course, it would do this always at the worst possible time and I would miss the shot..now it was throwing out errors like candy at kind of a mega critical time!

So I arrived at the loft in a bit of a huff. Fortunately for me, Marios Savva had brought a 50D as a backup to his 5DII and said I could use it for the duration of the workshop. A-maaazing. What a lifesaver! This alleviated some of the stress and I was able to stop worrying about my camera and start meeting the rest of the workshop cronies who hailed from all over the place: Italy, Germany, India, Australia, Canada and the US. We lingered on the top of the building, affectionately referred to as the 'Kibbutz', and marveled at the spectacular view of Manhattan.

It was hard to believe where I was. And David Alan Harvey just hangin' a few feet away. He has contributed images to prestigious publications such as Sports Illustrated, NY Times and Life Magazine and to over 40 articles in National Geographic since 1973. His book publications include 'Cuba', 'Divided Soul' and 'Living Proof'. He has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1997 and counts Magazine Photographer of the Year (NPPA, 1978) as part of his award collection.

He is well known for mentoring photographers and one of the ways he does this is by bringing emerging and iconic photographers together through Burn Magazine, which he curates, edits and publishes with Anton Kusters. Burn Magazine won a Lucie Award (the Oscars of the photo world) for best online photography magazine this past year.

So...he's KIND of a big deal. Meeting him was as I suspected. Not only is he taller than the average human, his presence is larger than life and when he walks into a room, you know it! The guy is madly in love with life, photography, humanity and the arts. In short, he is a sweet combo of teacher, mentor and drinking buddy.

Sleep took some time to set in from all the excitement. I was nervous about what the week would bring. Would I find a compelling topic? Would I get the shots I wanted? Flounder or flourish under the pressure? And the critiques...not nerve wracking at all! Regardless, I knew the experience would be rich and I was happy and grateful for the opportunity to even be there...and hellbent on giving it my all.

Focus more on your desire than on your doubt, and the dream will take care of itself. You may be surprised at how easily this happens. Your doubts are not as powerful as your desires, unless you make them so.

- Marcia Wieder, Author and Speaker

My First Magazine Cover (Ketut from Eat, Pray, Love)!

2010-08-08T16:07:00.000-07:00

"I want God to play in my bloodstream the way sunlight amuses itself on the water."
— Elizabeth Gilbert

For those of you who haven't heard of 'Eat, Pray, Love' by American author Elizabeth Gilbert yet, well just wait a few days, and you will. Her story takes readers on a pleasure, spiritual, and fate seeking journey through Italy (Eat), India (Pray) and finally Bali (Love), that many of us have marveled at (envied) since she released her bestselling memoir in 2006.

'Eat, Pray, Love', the movie will be released next week (August 13) starring Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem. If they aren't already, it's only a matter of time before Ketut Liyer, the medicine man and Wayan, the herbal healer, both from Ubud and very influential in the Love (Bali) portion of the book, will be household names.

MG Photography

In Bali for the first time in July '08, I had dragged my new friend and fellow traveler Marj along with me to have a vitamin lunch and Traditional Balinese Massage with Wayan, followed by a reading of my destiny with Ketut (my fortune was almost exactly the same as Gilbert's in the book BTW, but a good one nonetheless). Of course we took many pictures of both experiences not knowing that they may come in handy someday for...oh let's say, a feature story in a magazine?

My friend Mike (bless him!), a writer currently living the life in Bali, wrote a compelling article about Ketut and asked if I'd like to submit some images to accompany the story. I got word in September from the Editor of 'The Bud Magazine' that they'd like to use one of my photos for the cover and a selection of both Marj and I's photos within Mike's feature for the Winter 2009 Issue.

Holding a magazine in your hands with an image that you took published on the cover is a pretty cool moment in one's photography career. But even better was to be able to share my giddiness with one of my favourite people and the very friend I experienced Bali with, Marjorie Green.

"we must take care of our families where-ever we find them."
— Elizabeth Gilbert

Read more about our visit in the original blog posting with Ketut and Wayan here.

These are the images used in the article:

TT Photography

MG Photography

"But is it such a bad thing to live like this for just a little while? Just for a few months of one's life, is it so awful to...nap in a garden, in a patch of sunlight, in the middle of the day, right next to your favorite fountain? And then to do it again the next day?"
— Elizabeth Gilbert

MG Photography

"You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight."
— Elizabeth Gilbert

TT Photography

MG Photography

To see the rest of the images, visit my Eat, Pray, Love: Ketut and Wayan Gallery or view the slideshow below:

Eat, Pray, Love: Ketut and Wayan - Images by Tracey Tomtene

I'm sure watching the movie will make me ache for Bali, as I do often, but more than anything, I'm grateful to have gotten to go there at all. It is a magical and mysterious little island. Those of us who have been there know exactly what I'm talking about and those of us who haven't, should go and see for themselves!

Gilbert's book contains an unexpected plethora of insight and wisdom, causing many of us to question if we are really living the life we're meant to. Why not seize what you want from life (not what others think you should want) and find your destiny now (if you haven't already!)? I know it sounds cheezy but you never know what will happen tomorrow, in the next minute or even the next second that might forever prevent you from getting to take that leap...

...don't let your dreams, just be dreams (ie: magazine cover, check!)

Let yourself go.

"Stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be."
— Elizabeth Gilbert

Visiting the Homelands (snapping all the way)!

2010-06-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

[Photography] is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever . . . it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.
-Aaron Siskind

View photos here...and here.

Most of the first 48 hours home from Bali were spent asleep in Millet (just outside of Edmonton, AB). I used to live with Sue and Garry there while I was finishing my practicum for my Business Degree. I think of their place as a shangri-la, a peaceful country retreat and a second home. Their house is beautiful yes, but it feels like a home because of all the laughing, hugging, delicious cooking and love consistently filling up the space inside. Anyone reading this who know Sue and Garry, know what I mean!

After the battery recharge, I headed on down to Jasper National Park to attend and shoot a wedding. Driving through the picture perfect mountains under ubiquitous skies with turquoise freshwater lakes to gawk at along the way, reminded me just how beautiful my own backyard is. It was also comforting to be driving in a car, that has a seat belt, on paved roads, with speed limits and law enforcement (despite the speeding ticket I received in the mail a few weeks later)!

I had taken photos of Jody's family the previous winter and was delighted to shoot her wedding also. They are such a cool and close family and it's hard not to feel all kinds of goodness whenever I see them.

The wedding took place near a lake in the late afternoon followed by a reception, dinner and dance at the Sawridge Hotel. The intimate celebration was charming and exquisite and it was so fantastic to be a part of it...congrats to Jody and Glen!

I spent a few more days in Edmonton before flying back to the homeland of all my homelands...Saskatchewan. What could be more of a quintessential prairie experience than hanging out with my Dad and Jumper the cat on the farm in Birch Hills? Bali is certainly a paradise yes, but this was paradise country style...the sound of the crickets chirping at night, the smell of freshly cut grass, driving anywhere within a 50 mile radius and getting a friendly wave from everyone you pass, running through the fields and not encountering another soul and breathing in what seemed like the cleanest, purest air on earth (which my lungs definitely needed post Asia). I made my Dad a blueberry pie..from scratch (ok maybe not a big deal but I don't do that kinda stuff often)! Although I love my life in the city, one needs a dose of where they came from every once in awhile and I'm proud to be a country girl! It was probably the best visit home to date.

At the end of the week, Dad and I went to Saskatoon for my cousin Michael's wedding. He and his fiance Amy, had asked me to be their wedding photographer and I couldn't have been happier to both be in attendance for their special day and also to document it for them. It is not very often that all of the Tomtenes gather in one place but almost everyone was in attendance for this one! There was lots of catching up to do and the day went by in a blink. Michael, Amy and the bridal party were ridiculously photogenic and so much fun to photograph. It was a perfect day and only the beginning of many more for them I'm sure. Love you two!

I said goodbye to my Papa the next day and boarded the plane back to Edmonton. The next few weeks were spent catching up with family and friends I hadn't seen in ages. Edmonton is so fantastic in the summer..unending festivals to attend, the bucolic river valley running through the city and Whyte Ave. bustles with crowded patios, musicians playing on the street and always a friendly, laid back vibe...something I've missed since moving to Vancouver.

I also got to photograph my ex-boss's family. Russ had hired me back in 2003 as VOXCOM's Creative Writer and Marketing Specialist. So many good people and experiences came into my life because of this, and I will always look back fondly on those amazing 4 years working with Russ and all the marvelous friends I made at VOXCOM.

In August, I received an email saying I had been chosen as one of 10 students to participate in David Alan Harvey's 'At Home' Workshop in Brooklyn, NY in October ('09). David Alan Harvey is a National Geographic photographer. A member of the photo agency, Magnum. Curator for Burn Magazine. An iconic photographer. I let out a giant gasp and almost fell off my chair when I got the news (in front of several onlookers at Starbucks:-/). Was it real? Was someone joshin' me? Stay tuned to find out.

Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like.

- David Alan Harvey

Bali - The Reprise Part 2

2010-04-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

The following is a photo/video essay of my exhibition in New Zealand and my return to Bali (June/July 2009). Hope you watch, enjoy...and turn it up!

NZ and Bali Adventure from Tracey Tomtene on Vimeo.

We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.

- John Hope Franklin

View entire photo album here.

Julien and Ernesto finally arrived in Bali and checked themselves in at d'Kubu. Here we all were again, a year after our first meeting! It was all a bit surreal actually. Our trio soon became a foursome when Dan from Germany (who is German/Indonesian) became my new neighbour at d'Kubu.

One day, the four of use were leaving the guesthouse for lunch and Wayan, the wonderful Balinese girl who works in the laundry dept., was frantically pointing at the tiny TV at reception. We all crowded around trying to decipher what the Indonesian journalist was saying....Wayan translated and said 'Michael Jackson's heart exploded'. I was in complete shock. MJ was my boyfriend all throughout elementary school. I had the MJ microphone and glove, outwore his red and black Thriller outfit and a mini white glove earring and attempted to master all his dance moves. I recited the 'Thriller' lyrics in the public speaking contest at school. Spun his records in my room day in and out. Performed the entire Thriller dance for anyone who'd watch! I identified with his shy demeanor, his love for animals, music and dance. Despite all the terrible things that were said about him later in life, I will always remember him as I did a child of the 80's and imagine him now, walking on the moon (literally).

We ventured off to Dreamland (yes that is what it is really called) to get away from crazy Kuta for awhile. Driving in Bali on a moto...hmm. Not such a relaxing mode of transport. As we were leaving Kuta, a taxi hit me from behind and my back tire flung out sideways almost tipping me over. Practically growing up on motorbikes, ski-doos and 4-wheelers might have helped but I definitely had my fair share of crashes! I don't think my Dad would believe Ernesto when he said, 'Tracey est un bon chauffeur!'

We arrived in Dreamland 30 minutes later. The waves were breaking too close to shore so I went swimmin' instead! Trying to get INTO the ocean proved to be more difficult than it looked. I kept getting toppled over by every wave coming in - it was all white water but went well over my head...which caused me to indecently and involuntarily expose myself to all the locals! A one piece suit might have been a better choice that day.

The situation got much better once I was in deep enough. I dove into each wave so that when the peak was just going over me - I would flip up both of my feet and snap them out the top. I felt like a lumpa lumpa (dolphin in Balinese). I didn't ever want to get out:)

After sunset, we moto'ed on over to Jimboran Bay. It is a whole bevy of tables out on a beach where you can get fresh bbq'd seafood. It cost us $10 each to have an array of seafood, Balinese vegetables, rice, fruit and freshly squeezed fruit juice. Ridiculous!

On the way back into Kuta, I was going through an intersection and a tour bus turned on my right and then another on my left from each side of me. I had to accelerate hard enough to scoot in front of them and avoid a Tracey sandwich. Traffic laws? Nope, just guidelines.

I felt the same relief getting back to my guesthouse as I did when I would return from walking in Ho Chi Minh City...crossing the roads there was even more death defying. Another reminder of why I love my homeland.

A few days later, we hit Padang Padang, near Uluwatu Temple. There is a viewing deck above Padang Padang where you can see surfers catch world class waves and the sun soakers down on the beach. We had been there the year before but it was no less stunning the 2nd time around. There were no surfboards available to rent so wave diving and photographing it was!

We hit Uluwatu later that afternoon. At the bottom there is a cave like enclosure that opens up to the ocean and seemingly endless perfect waves. It is divine. If you take some stairs to the top, there is a platform that overlooks all the surf action...a most enjoyable photo taking afternoon.

We went to Ocean Beach that night but it just wasn't the same as last year. The stage had been moved back and doesn't float on the pool anymore. The entertainment is the same but not as spectacular. Maybe because Marj and I were there almost every night last year?! I remember watching the Balinese fire dancers for the first time...one of those moments when you say to yourself, 'This is pretty effing cool.'

Two weeks flew by...Dan had parted ways to explore other parts of Indo and Ernesto had to get back to Belgium. Now that he was a doctor again instead of a surfy backpacker, he had only a limited stay. I still had a few weeks left in Bali, as did Julien. We were sad for them to go but it was the beginning of a new chapter, new friends and experiences. Strangers from all over the globe quickly become like your temporary family in a foreign land.

I met Wati and Nick at Alley Katz during a night out with Pauly H. Wati is from Java and came to Kuta to get work and Nick is an artist who only works part of the year so he can travel and surf. This is where Paul B. from Australia, also came into the picture.

I met Rick, from Brazil, outside my guesthouse one night. He had just finished a triathalon in Australia and was seeing what Bali had to offer before returning home. All of us quickly formed a little network and were soon meeting daily for dinz, beach walks and trips out to Uluwatu.

As I have said before when writing about my travels, it was always the people that kept me in one spot for longer than expected, not the place. I had wanted to check out the north and east of Bali during this time, but couldn't bring myself to leave my new friends! I was also addicted to my daily hot yoga session and when I wasn't socializing or surfing, I was making the rounds promoting my work.

I headed out to Uluwatu one afternoon to photograph Nick surf and hang out with Wati. We met on the perch that overlooks the rolling waves of the surf break. Wati is from Java and has worked as a waitress at Ocean Beach, Sky Garden and Alley Katz. She makes more than most Balinese because of tips from westerners but the average worker in Bali makes about 600,000 rupiah a month on average – $60 CDN. Wati and I became like sisters after spending only a short time together. I was seriously missing having a girlfriend to dish and hang with and Wati came along at exactly the right time.

We got back to town and Paul B. (Australia) and I went to Gong Corner for dinner. He reminds me of the guys I grew up with but is city through and through. He is a painter. He meditates. He is sharp. He cares about the world. He is interesting. A great conversationalist. Needless to say, these made meals with Paul B. an absolute DELIGHT! Rick (from Brazil) joined us later, making the conversation even more riveting. I love exploring other parts of the world just by discoursing with fellow travelers. We all have different accents, first languages, cultures, customs and religions but when we are together, we learn something from each other and realize that we are more alike, than not.

Rick insisted he drive me home on his moto. He MADE me wear my helmet just to drive a block down the street. Rick has many endearing qualities also. He really listens to people when they speak. He would lean in to them and peer intently; you could tell he was truly interested in what they had to say. I think that's pretty cool. So many people just want to hear themselves talk never bothering to get to know who they're speaking to. He taught me a Brazilian dance. In exchange, I taught him how to 2 step!

One day when I was walking home from Seminyak via the beach, I started picking up plastic bags. My hands were getting full so I opened one of the plastic bags I picked up and then had to open another so I had somewhere to put them all. The more I picked up, the more upset I got. Even worse was that people looked at me like I was mad when this is something everyone should be doing! All I kept thinking about is that once the tide carries them out, how many unsuspecting ocean creatures will mistake them for food and then suffer long and painful deaths trying to digest them. When are we going to get that we are shitting where we eat? We consume the fish that live in and feed on what we dump in their home. Shame on us humans. Shaaaaame.

Check out this link to Plastiki...a boat made of plastic water bottles sailing from San Francisco to Sydney to bring awareness to how one time use plastics are devastating our oceans. Please say no to plastic whenever possible friends:)

Rick, Julien, myself and a German whose name I don't recall had a very memorable dinner one night at the ever popular Gong Corner. German guy was really funny. He had some pretty crazy stories about traveling and seemed to get into a little bit of trouble wherever he went...the only way to travel really.

Julien went to 'Come In', a cozy little street bar to meet some regulars there and the rest of us to Sky Garden. We danced. It was fantastic. The atmosphere, the fans blowing your hair around, the bass of the music literally making your heart vibrate, the humidity, heat and beautiful people surrounding you makes one feel really freakin' amazing.

I went for one last surf at Kuta beach the day before I left. It wasn't my best session but happy to catch a few more waves one last time for who knows how long. I went down to Gloria Jean's to say goodbye to Frank and Fran and have my usual Americano. On the way, I performed my daily ritual of picking up fallen frangipanis, putting one behind my ear and bringing another to GJ's as an offering to the gods out of respect for the Balinese staff's Hindu religion.

Rick came over and we hopped the moto out to Uluwatu temple to watch Balinese dancing at sunset and cavort with all the monkeys that live there. Those monkeys have it pretty good - never ending snacks and human paraphernalia to snatch, not to mention a luxurious 5 star view!

Pauly H., Paul B., Wati, Julien, Rick and I went to dinner at Gong Corner.. I had cap kunggung and dadar galung one more time. It was bittersweet. I was so happy to have met and spent time with these new friends but made it much tougher to leave.

After breaky with Pauly H. and saying goodbye to Nick and Wati, I was on a plane the next morning to begin almost a 3 day journey home. Four hours after arriving in Bangkok, I took an overnight flight to Seoul, spent 12 hours there and then another overnighter to Seattle..9 hours after arriving there, I finally flew to Edmonton (what can I say, I was on a serious budget and it was a cheap ticket!). The rainbow of the journey was the spa in the Seoul airport. I paid $12 to take a hot tub, a cold water dip, a shower and then a solid 3 hour nap in a private room..EVERY airport should have this option (that and bibimbap!).

Murphy's law, when I arrived in Edmonton, they held me up in customs for over an hour to search every inch of my luggage while Sue and Garry waited patiently for me on the other side. Finally at 1 AM, I was released. Ahhhhh...and for the next 2 days, I slept in my own 'Dreamland'.

Photography for me is not looking, it's feeling. If you can't feel what you're looking at, then you're never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.

- Don McCullin

Bali - The Reprise

2010-03-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

"Better far off to leave half the ruins and nine-tenths of the churches unseen and to see well the rest; to see them not once, but again and often again; to watch them, to learn them, to live with them, to love them, till they have become a part of life and life's recollections."
- Augustus Hare

Bali - The Reprise Photos

It was 2:30 in the AM when the alarm on my phone went off and rudely awoke me from deep, dreamy REM. I had to get to the hotel where I had to drop my rental car and catch the shuttle to the Auckland airport to check in for my 6 AM flight. AGH! Knowing I would be dipping my toes in the Indian Ocean by that evening definitely helped to rouse me out of bed. I was excited to surf. To photograph. To see friends. Meet new ones. Eat. In Bali!

I had a stop in Sydney for a couple of hours...that brought back some memories, and not the good ones either! Alas, a lesson learned!

I was reminded of Australia's immense proportions as it took a good part of a 6 hour flight to fly the length of the country. Another destination high on my list to explore. Sex and the City reruns kept my sleep deprived noggin content until arriving in Denpasar.

When I arrived in Kuta, the smell of incense intermingled with heat and a hint of pollution brought back so many memories from last year, some of the best of my entire life.

My first stop was d'Kubu Guesthouse (where I had stayed for 2 months the year before). I was greeted with surprise and hugs from the same young Balinese staff that was there last year...it is always nice to see familiar faces in a foreign country, especially the locals'. It's pretty easy to remember Balinese people's names as their are only 4 to choose from: Wayan, Made, Yeoman or Ketut, based on birth order. So you've got a pretty decent chance at getting it right.

I headed straight for the water and watched the sun sink behind the sea. I never thought I would be lucky enough to make it back to Bali so soon. If there is one thing I have learned about travelling, going back to a place for a 2nd time is never as magical as the first. Meeting Marj in the airport upon arriving in Bali last year was a chance meeting that helped us both recover from the weariness of backpacking through Asia for several months and from hearts that had needed mending for too long. Dancing literally til dawn, surfing the day away, followed by watching the sunset and meeting new peeps at 'The Steps' every night was good for the soul and helped us both to get our mojos back!

Since this time in Bali was solo, I quickly developed my own daily routine: hot yoga for 90 minutes first thing in the morning, Banana Pancakes, 2 Boiled Eggs and Country Potatoes (or Potato Country as it was called on the menu), Gloria Jean's for coffee and photo editing, then depending on the tides, either a late afternoon surf or picture taking! Dinner was almost always at Gong Corner: authentic Balinese cuisine (usually costing about $2-$3), fresh garlic naan, Nasi Goreng, Lumpia, Gado Gado, fresh squeezed fruit juices and my ultimate favourite Balinese dessert...Dadar Gulung (coconut pancakes).

I had found a Bikram's Yoga Studio about a 25 minute walk from my guesthouse owned by 2 Australians, Pina and Jack. They were bright and friendly and I loved going there, not just for the yoga, but for the good vibe they brought to the space.

Frank and the gang at Gloria Jean's in Kuta Square were always there in the afternoons to have a chat with and offer advice on where to market my photography on the island. I even got my own personal Harley Davidson travel mug compliments of Frank so that I didn't have to use a takeaway cup.

Frank Andrews - Gloria Jeans Bali - More bloopers are a click away

My friend Mike, a fellow Canuck, was also back in Bali. We had met the year prior and he was now practically living there with his girlfriend. For the duration of my 5 weeks there, we would meet up for lunch, a beach walk or hot yoga. It was great having someone from the homeland to hang out with. Even just knowing he was on the island was a comfort as throughout most of my travels, I am a stranger to most.

Paul, my neighbour at d'Kubu from last year, was also in Bali as he spends half his year there and the other half in Australia working construction (he is from Germany and the US). Talking shit and chilling out were my two favourite things to do with Paul – he has both down to a fine art.

Surprisingly, I caught the very first wave I attempted...and the 2nd and the 3rd! My surf sessions were all pretty much the same: would try to paddle out further, get pummeled, almost drown and then paddle back in to the mini waves! Mother Nature was pretty clear about where I belong:)

Besides catching waves, I also caught a nasty cold, so I took a bus to Ubud for a few days where I met 2 photographers, Jiri from the Czech Republic and Jill Gocher from the UK. She has her own photo gallery there, where I now have this photo on canvas.

Jiri and I spent an afternoon photographing in the rice fields on our bicycles followed by dinner in an organic garden while watching the sunset, topped off with meeting Jill over at Bali Buddha for dessert. Oh Bali Buddha. They have all kinds of western, Indonesian and Balinese dishes, all made with local, organic ingredients. I could eat there every day for the rest of my life and be very content...with a big Buddha belly!

Ubud was a welcome respite from the constant traffic and debauchery in Kuta. It is definitely not off the beaten path of the tourist track but has a little more culture and a laid back vibe.

I took in some Balinese dancing at The Lotus Pond. As the name suggests, it is a beautiful setting for entertainment. The entire performance was in Balinese and even though I hadn't a clue what was happening, it was enjoyable to watch and I was happy that they didn't perform it in English. As I was leaving, I heard a westerner make a 'suggestion' to one of the hostesses that because she didn't understand Balinese that they should consider doing it English. Oh bollocks! Why don't we just homogenize the whole entire world?! God forbid a culture not cater to your needs. If you want to feel at home when you're abroad, then stay the hell home!

". . .If people and their manner of living were alike everywhere, there would not be much point in moving from one place to another."
- Paul Bowles

Bat in Ubud from Tracey Tomtene on Vimeo.

I even had a pet a in Ubud! I went to get a massage at the Ubud Bodyworks Center. Just as I sat down in the rest area I spotted a large bat hanging upside down a few feet away. I had to rub my eyes and take a second look. Was that really....a bat? So I came up a little closer and yes, a bat the size of an adult cat hung before me and I have to admit, it was pretty love-able. There were many inhumane situations I had come across throughout SE Asia but this was the first time in Bali that I had witnessed an animal chained to something.

I did not want to support a place that was keeping animals captive, so I went to the front desk and asked why the bat was tied up. They said that he was too young to find food on his own so they would keep it there until it matured. I do hope that this was true for the bat's sake and I wasn't just being told what I wanted to hear.

I went to visit the bat every day I was there after that. He reminded me more of a pet than a rodent, as they are sometimes mistakenly referred to. I fell in love with him somehow?! He seemed happy because he was eating a lot of the time but I hated that he couldn't come and go off his perch as he pleased...spread his wings, fly and be a free little bat. Couldn't he still come back for food when he pleased? Anyway, all of this has been sent in a letter to Ubud Bodyworks Center. I hope I can report a happy ending in my next installment.

Balinese dancing, rice fields, new friends, a pet, great food and massage, there's no need to wonder why so many retire early to this amazing little island.

After a week in Ubud, I returned to Kuta to meet up with Julien and Ernesto from Belgium! We had all met at d'Kubu last year and here we were about to meet again, a year later almost to the day...

"Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone."
- The Dhammapada

In New York

2010-02-04T16:14:00.000-08:00

Recently having compiled images of NY for 'New York: 3 Octobers' (running til Mar. 11 in Edmonton), I realized just how many photos I have of the city and thought this would be a good way to share my favourites...music by Jay-Z (feat. Alicia Keys), 'Empire State of Mind'.

In New York from Tracey Tomtene on Vimeo.

Journey Back to NZ - 'In Transit' Exhibition

2010-01-25T13:49:00.000-08:00

'I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see.'

- Duane Michals, Photographer

'In Transit' Exhibition Photos

I had a 10 hour layover in L.A. via Vancouver to New Zealand, which gave me the opportunity to meet up with Mark Hanauer, a wicked awesome commercial photographer in Santa Monica. He had been a fantastic mentor to me while creating my photo book and putting my exhibition together. Mark, his girlfriend, Tracey Shiffman, a book designer, and his dog, Shaq hung out with me on the Santa Monica promenade. This made my layover fly by and I definitely feel like I have some new friends there:)

I boarded my flight that night to learn that they had put me in an aisle seat. Not cool for an umpteen hour over nighter. So I went and laid claim to the last row in the plane hoping no one would get the same idea and I could stretch out eventually. To my chagrin, a male passenger came along just as we were about to take off and sat at the end of the row, dashing my hopes! Right after dinner, while I was in the bathroom, he took it upon himself to stretch right out across all 3 seats. Um. First of all, I was there first Buck-o. Second of all, how RUDE!! He could of at least asked if it was OK to put his smelly feet beside me!! I was running on little sleep from waking up to Sigurd (my cat) puking on my bed at 3 AM that morning when I had to get up at 4 AM to catch my flight. To add to this, I couldn't eat my delicious 'looking' vegetarian meal because they couldn't tell me if there was any alcohol in the sauce (if this is your first time reading this blog, even a drop of alcohol can make me sick for up to 10 days). So I ate the bun with all the butter that came in the packet to sustain myself for the duration of the flight.

12 hours later, we were landing in the southern hemisphere, 5 AM New Zealand time. I had to kill 3 hours before the rental car place was to open so I freshened up, got tea and wrote on my laptop. I went outside and waited a half an hour before calling. They said that the shuttle should be circling any minute. So I waited another half hour before calling again. This time, I asked if I was perhaps in the wrong place. I was.

So I went to the right place. I waited there for another half hour. When I finally got to the rental place, I waited another 2 hours before the car was finally ready. After a whole lot of waiting and hullabuloo, I finally drove away at NOON. 7 hours after landing! For some reason, I was too tired for this to upset me and went on my merry way surprisingly unfazed.

I arrived at Cait's old digs a short time later. I had stayed with her in Auckland while looking for work there last year. She had since returned to her home in NY but her awesome set of roomies offered up a bed for me to sleep in while I was there for the exhibition. This was such a blessing considering how broke I was and didn't have to add the expense of accommodations to my ever growing debt.

Some Kiwi-isms that I had forgotten but came back to me after being back for a few days:

'Flash' - When something is a bit pricey or really nice.

'It's all right' - You're welcome.

'Sweet as' - Cool (that's right, there is no noun after 'as' – another example would be if it was chilly outside, 'It's cold as!').

'Yep' - Yes

'Aye' - Don't you think? (similar to the Canadian 'eh')

'Lolli' - Candy

'Mmm' - Used when on the listening end of a conversation...with an inquisitive tone.

'Fine' - used to describe the weather, meaning 'it's not raining'.

I went off to get my prints framed the next morning and pick up fliers at The Depot (the gallery I was exhibiting at) to promote 'In Transit - A Meeting Point: 3 Women, 3 Strangers, 3 Journeys' to potential consumers of travel photography.

This was the content for the promo:

In Transit is an exhibition by three women who, though strangers to each other, share a passion for exploration; each capturing the fleeting moment of her journey as 'tourist' and photographer. The artists - Samantha Bech, Tracey Tomtene and Karen Williamson, converse with the viewer through still image, inviting access to a culture, place or event outside their own turf.

It was a glorious day to do it; the sun was shining and I had always loved downtown Auckland on foot. I headed south to the Bay of Plenty for a blissful 4 hour drive amid grazing sheep, rolling green hills and winding roads. I had made 2 CDs to groove to and that I did! I hadn't taken a good solo road trip in months and it was so good to get behind the wheel again with just me, my music and the countryside (and espresso, of course!).

I got to Tash's in Whakatane and we had hot homemade soup and warm bread with Jono while catching up by the fireplace. It was such a cozy, warm feeling being there – like coming home. When I snuggled into the bed I used to sleep in that night, the familiar texture of the soft billowy pillows, duvet..and Chloe the cat, all came joyfully rushing back! I had missed the comfort of going to bed knowing there were other sleeping homo sapiens nearby, especially good friends like Tash and Jono that feel more like family.

The next morning, everything changed. I started to feel a bit groggy but ignored it and didn't give it a lot of thought because there was no reason for me to think I could be sick. I was so careful not to eat anything that might have alcohol or extracts. I was to meet Feliciano that day, a fellow traveller who was living in New Zealand, from Patagonia, that I had met on couchsurfing.com. By the time I was on my way to see him after lunch, I knew that I was not well. Despite that, I had a lovely visit with Feli. An aspiring photographer and world traveller, Feli was on his way to tour India and Asia for 3 months. We chatted the afternoon away over hot tea but I just felt cloudier and sicker as minutes passed.

I drove back to Whakatane while having a big pity party for myself knowing that I was not going to feel well for at least 4 more days. Most of the next day was spent in a housecoat on the couch while Tash and I caught up on the last 6 months. It was so nice to have someone around that I don't have to pretend to feel normal with, when I'm feeling like hot garbage.

I drove back up to Auckland the next day to hang the exhibition and meet with the 2 other photographers I would be exhibiting with, Samantha Bech and Karen Williamson. We had been planning the whole exhibition remotely with Hahna, the Exhibition Co-ordinator, so it was great to finally see everyone in person.

The opening (June 6^th) went swimmingly! Unfortunately, Sam couldn't make it at the last minute as she was shooting a wedding that day and her bride needed her to meet with her earlier than scheduled. She is originally from Canada but has been in NZ for several years with her husband. It is funny how you feel such an affinity with people from your homeland when you are in a foreign country.

The show went on, with just Karen and I doing the Q and A with Lizzy, another Gallery Co-ordinator, in front of a live audience of gallery patrons. I had rehearsed how I would answer each question and had my answers in front of me on a piece of paper. In the end, everything was pulled out of my ass and I barely remember a thing that I said! Before I knew it, we were cleaning up empty wine bottles and dishes and the place had vacated. It was over. Five months of hard work and anticipation and finit! With that, brought a sense of relief, accomplishment and anticipation for more. The show would not have meant as much to me if Tash and Jono did not attend. It meant so much to me to have friends there, especially ones that have been a big part of this crazy, life altering journey I've been taking.

As an exhibiting artist, one is required to volunteer at the gallery for a day. I loved it! And it was bustling due to a Sunday market going on next door. Tash and Jono came and met me for lunch before departing back to Whakatane. It is a sad goodbye when you don't know how long it will be before meeting again, but Tash and I have known one another since we were 20. No matter where we are in the world, we still manage to stay close.

I turned in early that night, still feeling like a bag of poo. I had to get up at 2:30 AM, that's right AM, to drop off my rental car and take a shuttle to the airport for my 6 AM flight to Australia, en route to Bali, the Land of the Gods...and SURFING!

'The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.'

- Julia Margaret Cameron, Photographer (1815-1879)

Travelers Reunited and the NY Photo Festival

2009-12-15T16:19:00.000-08:00

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”

– Miriam Beard

See photo albums below:

Cait, Ro and Dunc Visit Vancouver

New York Photo Festival

After I returned from California, I decided to attend the New York Photo Festival. I was not in any kind of financial condition to go, but decided that I really couldn't afford not to go either. There were opportunities for me to show my work to photo editors and gallerists during the festival so I decided to create a book filled with my favourite images from '07 and '08. This proved to be a much more time consuming task than I bargained for but definitely a rewarding one in the end. See a digital version here.

During this time, Cait paid me a visit on her way home to New York from New Zealand. We had met in Chiang Mai, Thailand on a jungle trek. She was traveling with her friend Ada. The three of us went on to Pai together for a week of yoga, Reiki, banana pancakes, swimming, bon fires, gypsy bars, meditation, wheat grass juice and goodness. We met up again in Bangkok later and crossed the border into Cambodia together, which you can read more about here:

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

The Killing Fields, Cambodia

We went our separate ways after Cambodia. Cait headed south of Bangkok to a meditation retreat before starting a teaching gig in Thailand and I went on to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. We kept in touch over the next several months and come October ('08), we found ourselves both in New Zealand where we got to explore a little more of the world together again.

Since both of us were on a tight budget, as per usual, we spent most of the time walking around Vancouver: Yaletown, Gastown, Commercial Drive, Kitsilano and English Bay. This gave us oodles of time to catch up on all the happenings since our last goodbye at the Auckland airport. When I had to work on my photo book we just planted ourselves in a coffee shop for the afternoon.

A couple of weeks later (May '09), Rosie and Duncan also paid me a visit! I met them exactly a year before in the Perhentians, Malaysia. We shared a cab to Kota Bharu after getting off a flight from Kuala Lumpur. We spent a fantastic few days together on Besar, the bigger island of the Perhentians. We later met up again in July in Kuta, Bali. They had left England to go on a year long round the world trip and lucky for me, they not only included Vancouver on their North American itinerary, but also NY, where I got to meet with them again later that month.

The New York Photo Festival took place in DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), Brooklyn, also known as the new photo district of New York. This was another time when I felt I was a part of something really big happening in the photography industry. I like that feeling.

I took in lectures and exhibitions from many photographers but the one I remember and was inspired by the most was Tim Hetherington. His exhibition called 'Sleeping Soldiers' used powerful audio, video and still images, extremely effective in bringing you to the steep hillsides of Afghanistan and closer to the experience and emotion of war. It is photographers like Tim Hetherington and James Nachtwey that I hold in such high regard, who capture and share with us a reality that most would rather pretend didn't exist.

The hot topic at the festival was photography complimented by other forms of media. More and more photojournalists are incorporating video and especially audio into their repertoires, rendering their stories much more effective. Brian Storm from Media Storm suggested I do the same. His site features some of the most memorable photo essays I've seen in a long time. Jonathan Torgovnik's 'Intended Consequences' documents Tutsi women who had been raped by members of the Hutu militia, many of them contracting HIV as well as becoming pregnant, during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. View his multimedia presentation here, and you will see what I mean by 'effective'.

There were many events, lectures and moments worth noting but I will stop there, otherwise I might never finish this extremely delayed blog installment!

In the evenings I met up with Rosie and Duncan again who were staying only 3 block from my hostel before they departed back to England. Cait and I managed to squeeze in meeting in the East Village, Chinatown and Little Italy as well as having tapas with my favourite NY couple, Carolina and Rodrigo (from Brazil). We met on a boat in Halong Bay, Vietnam and had kept in touch ever since. Read more on our Hanoi expedition here.

I returned from New York very glad that I had gone and feeling hopeful for the future of my career. I had just participated in a group exhibition at Exposure Gallery in Vancouver called 'Streets' and was about to exhibit in another called, 'Salon'. At the same time that 'Salon' was going on, my images went up at Ronda Shott Photography for the Camrose (AB) Artwalk (thanks to my Mom). I had less than 2 weeks left to make the final preparations for 'In Transit', which was to take place in Auckland, NZ with Sam Bech and Karen Williamson on June 6th, 2009. Needless to say, I was a very busy girl...which is hard to complain about when you are doing something you love so much!

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Home for Awhile...and Cali Road Trip!

2009-09-11T15:28:00.001-07:00

'No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until one comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.'

- Lin Yutang

See photo albums below:

Vancouver and Edmonton

Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach and L.A.

California Coast and San Francisco

Home was a seriously mixed bag of feelings. I gave myself 5 weeks to see everyone and get all my paperwork (work visa) in order before I was due back to NZ mid December ('08). I was really excited to see everyone but also had a dreaded feeling of going home. It guess it was the void of adventure that I wasn't so keen on but reveled in the comfort of arriving in a familiar airport, where you know the language and the best way to transport yourself from point A to B.

I stopped in Vancouver briefly to say hi to the kitties and pick up some winter clothes and went off to Edmonton the next day. Visiting friends and family in Alberta was of course really great. My mom had a table at the Festival of Trees in Camrose to sell all her knitting wares so I joined her to sell some of my prints from NY, Hawaii and SE Asia...we had 3 full days of catching up and mother daughter bonding, which made it a more than worthwhile endeavour.

I stopped by the island (Victoria) to see old friends: Stacey and Aron as well as Kelli. It was an awesome visit (as always) before going back to Vancouver to meet up with Marj. She came up from San Francisco for a week of visiting with myself and her friend Mirena. We caught up on all the happenings of the last 4 months since we said goodbye in Bali and of course had heaps of fun, as per usual.

After spending such a great week with Marj in my home city and having some time to take a step back to look at the big picture. I got to thinking if going back to NZ was such a great idea. The pay is not overly high in NZ, the currency is quite weak and I didn't have a lot of luck finding work while I was already there for 3 months. I wanted to get ahead in my photography and the business of it all and could do that easier with a solid home base within my own country (definitely less red tape). I loved NZ but it is so far away from the mecca of photography, namely New York. So I cancelled my flight for the time being and decided to stay put in Canada, my home and native land...true, PATRIOT loooooove...

This lead me back to my Dad's farm in Saskatchewan to see Tronn, my brother, and my Dad, then back to Edmonton for further visiting over Christmas. It was a good time for me to be home and I knew that I made the right decision to stay put.

In January ('09), I received an invitation from The Depot Artspace in Auckland, NZ, inviting me to exhibit with 2 other female photographers during the Auckland Photo Festival in June. I didn't really have to think about what my answer would be so I emailed back with a resounding YES!

The next few weeks were spent in front of my laptop, continuing to market myself, preparing for the exhibition, looking for jobs and catching up on editing photos and various projects I had been working on until one night....I had the most horrible dream. I was in a bathroom tied up and couldn't move at all. I was trying to say something and a lady came in with my laptop and raised it high above her head and aimed the corner directly at my forehead before starting to bludgeon me until my entire frontal lobe became a gaping hole. Blood and brains were everywhere and when I tried to talk, all that came out was garble and drool. I woke up and laid there for 2 hours, completely freaked out.

The next morning I woke up feeling spent from that nightmare. I had received another email from Marj regarding coming to L.A. to meet Dan (we had met him in Bali, he is originally from Germany, and he was coming over from Australia). I had told her that I couldn't really justify a trip having no income and just getting back from the other side of the world but I took the dream as a cue that maybe I needed a mental health break (or rather a break from being glued to my laptop day and night), so I told her I would be there.

The bus driver had to shake me awake upon arrival at Seattle airport. I walked into the airport sporting an imprint of the texture of my camera bag on my cheek and wiping drool from my chin....classy!

I had some time to kill so I went and got lunch. Eating isn't what it used to be. My sensitivity to alcohol had seriously progressed to a point of not being able to eat anything that had even the smallest amount in it (or I could count on being ill for 4 to 10 days). I had to learn the hard way that some extracts, like vanilla, actually contained pure alcohol. Really bad news for someone who loves her cookies with coffee – no more, unless someone could tell me exactly what was in it. Booooooo!

I landed in Long Beach where my surf sister Marj was waiting for me! She pulled up and we headed off to her sister's. We had a really good dinner and visit with her sister Beth and her husband John. A very warm and welcoming couple, but I would expect nothing less from someone related to Marj.

Most of the next morning was spent catching up and hanging out. Dan had called so we headed in to L.A. to pick him up. He was in Pasadena couch surfing (www.couchsurfing.com). He hadn't changed a bit...besides his sun bleached hair from living in Perth, Australia the last few months. The three of us went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and explored. I got faux stabbed by Jason from Friday the 13^th and had a small heart attack. Later, we went bowling at Lucky Strike before calling it a night.

Marj and I headed off to Laguna Beach the next day. I loved driving down there by the ocean through all the cute little surf towns. We walked around to different galleries and had a super chill afternoon. When the light got good, we cruised as fast as we could to beat the sunset at Huntington Beach. The next hour was spent photographing the pier, surfers and sea birds. A dreamy golden hour.

A surfer told us about the Tuesday night market in town where we ended up running into a t-shirt vendor named Allen Scott. One of his t-shirts had 'Cardone' on them. I asked if he knew Ryan Cardone and it turned out that he used to design t-shirts with him for a skateboarding line they did together. Small world. I was meeting Ryan in a couple days to talk about putting my surf photography on his stock site (www.tidalstock.com). I loved every minute of that day. Sun, surf, art, coffee and one of my best friends in the world:)

The next morning, we went back to L.A., picked up Dan and went on a tour of Warner Bros. Studio. We got to see the set of E.R., Cold Case, The Ghost Whisperer, Friends, Gilmore Girls etc. It was pretty cool, although I don't think I have seen even one episode of any of the aforementioned, save for Friends! We really wanted to see Ellen but she was taping during the golden hour. We did see where she parks her Porsche though. We didn't see any stars but figured they were all hiding behind bushes and buildings and too intimidated to approach US. Ha ha ha. Our tour guide thought the story of the 3 of us meeting in Bali would make a good movie. When we were on the ER Emergency Entrance set – Marj had Dan pick me up and pretend he was running me in. Afterward he said my bones were REALLY heavy. Hmmmm? Lol!
Other Danisms:

'Ooooooooh!' He just says this a lot...when he gets excited.

'Look there's a hobo!' When seeing a homeless person in L.A.

'Where's the pee-pee box?' I think he picked this one up in Australia?!

We also had a lot of fun in the Friends room where all the paraphernalia from the set was. We got our picture taken in front of a green screen where Dan was pushing me and Marj was trying to stop him in front of the train from Harry Potter. So it went nicely with the photo of Dan carrying me into emergency after his attempt to kill me.

We headed to Venice Beach afterward to meet my friend Nell. She had recently moved back to California from Vancouver where she was a yoga instructor and back to her old job as a lifeguard while studying yoga therapy. We walked Venice Beach down to Santa Monica Pier where we did a lot of swinging (on swings!) and then to the pier. Nell took us to Mao's for dinner – a popular haunt with the locals. DAYUM it was good!

After we left, we were all shivering walking to the car. Dan said 'think warm thoughts' but I thought he said 'think warm farts'. We all laughed and thought it was a creative, albeit smelly, way for one to warm up!

We drove through Rodeo Drive and looked at some of the houses in Beverly Hills, then off to Sunset Boulevard. Whisky a Go Go wasn't at all what I expected. I kept trying to picture Jim Morrison on stage and it just wasn't working. There was a really good band playing though who sounded like a cross between Tool and Metallica (Scarlet Paradigm). We dropped Dan off and said our goodbyes. Oh where in the world will we see him next?

The next day, we met Ryan Cardone just outside of L.A. He is a really great guy. We had a 2 hour meeting and mostly talked about surfing and photography. Loved it and am very excited to contribute his site (www.tidalstock.com).

We got to Pismo Beach just in time for sunset but the sun disappeared behind the clouds literally as soon as we got our cameras out. The same thing happened at Venice Beach. It forces me to be more creative, but as most of you can probably surmise by now - I like my solar flares:) I love photographing with Marj. She does her thing and I do mine. I feel so good after a sunset photo session. I suppose it could be likened to taking a hit of your favourite drug. I am addicted!

We drove into the college, coastal town of San Luis Obispo and checked into our hostel - $25 each a night? Yeeks! A far cry from Asia prices! We went to the farmer's market. It was SO All American. I felt like I was in a football movie. We went to an organic restaurant and had some really good eats before meeting Marj's friend at a little coffee shop where we chatted about all of our travels, dreams and future plans. Marj convinced us to continue the evening at a pub. It's a college town so I would imagine everyone was in their early to mid twenties...one is reminded of how old they really are when surrounded by a crowd that looks SO young! A guy from Mexico City came over and asked if we were from Germany? Hmmm. Perhaps Dan rubbed off on us a little?

The next morning we hit the road again, stopping in Cambria for coffee and loitering, San Simeon to see the elephant seals, the coastline to watch a storm linger above the Pacific and Monterey for a little taste of its charm.

We finally got to San Francisco just in time to make it to the Valentine's Day Bitter Ball Cruise! Marj got us tix for my birthday and we danced the night away in the San Francisco harbour with pretty much ALL gay men. It was fantastic!

We spent the next few days cruising around San Fran. I was sick from something that I ate that must have had some kind of something in it but I tried to ignore it as best as possible and enjoy it all.

We met up with Goosh my last night there and had dinner together. I hadn't seen him since he and Suzanne got married and left Vancouver. We had a superb eve of catching up and talking about...what else? Photography!

'The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.'

- St. Augustine

New Zealand Part II

2009-06-20T05:19:00.000-07:00

NEW ZEALAND PART II

New Zealand

More of the Shaky Isles!

Springtime in NZ

I followed the signs in the Auckland airport to the ‘All Departures’ gate to catch my flight to Christchurch. I was asked to fill out a Departures card....’For a domestic flight?’ I asked. Oh no. There is another terminal for domestic departures and it was either a 15 minute wait for the shuttle or a 15 minute walk. I was already running late....so I ran. I arrived just in time to hear the announcement that my flight was delayed. What a surprise!

An hour and a half later, I landed in Christchurch. I could take a shuttle for $20, a taxi for $40 or a public bus for $7. All three of these options seemed ridiculously expensive after SE Asia of course, so I opted for the bus.

I got to the Bus Exchange where I was to call Anthony, my very first couch surfing host (couchsurfing.com) but could I find a payphone anywhere? No. And when I finally did, would it take coins? Nuh uh. So I had to use my credit card again after already spending $10 in Auckland just to call Tash for 5 minutes and was freezing with just my bunny hug, light pants and sandals! Why didn't I wear jeans on the plane or buy REAL shoes before I left? I guess I had forgotten what cold felt like after 6 months of heat in SE Asia.

While I sat waiting for Anthony, I noticed a seagull stroll by me. This seagull looked...PRISTINE. Its feathers were so white and it’s beak so red. After being exposed to so many animals that were mangy, diseased and unkempt in Asia, this seagull looked like it belonged to the royal family.

I stayed up chatting with Anthony and his roommate, Michelle, until I finally collapsed into bed at 1 AM. The entire journey from Denpasar ended up lasting 20 hours...as opposed to the original duration of 9 hours.

The next day, Anthony took me to Sumner Beach! A quaint little town by the ocean. We had a fabulous lunch there – eggs Benedict, apricot coconut crisp and espressos! I don't have any photos of this leg of my journey because my camera equipment was locked up in my baggage....which was lost somewhere between Australia and NZ (of course).

Michelle, Anthony and I went for breakfast the next morning before Michelle drove me to the airport. I hope that someday I will be able to return the hospitality to them.

When they announced that my flight to Rotorua was delayed, I actually laughed out loud after all that had already happened. I had specified a window seat on the flight to Rotorua, and had another chuckle when I realized my 'window seat' had no actual window!

I can't explain what a comfort it is knowing that someone you love is waiting for you at your destination. I had landed by plane, arrived by bus, tuk-tuk, sangthaw, boat etc. in so many places not knowing what to expect, where to go or who to trust completely alone. Although it's exciting and adventurous, it makes you appreciate a friendly face so much more. Knowing Tash was waiting for me at the airport when I arrived had me smiling the whole plane ride!

We had met and became fast friends way back in 1995 in Camrose, Alberta. The last time we had seen each other was in Edmonton about 4 years prior but had always stayed close through letters, email and telephone calls. At that time, her and her husband, Jono, had both graduated from Rhodes in South Africa and were immigrating to New Zealand with plans to later move to Australia. And here they were, livin' it! New Zealand provides a pretty beautiful life for those who take advantage of it, and they are a prime example of that.

The car ride from Rotorua was filled with stories, laughter and making up for all our lost time. We got to Whakatane (pronounced 'fuckatawny'...my mom had fun with that one ) and met Jono for a coffee at 'The Bean', where they roast their coffee beans in-house - I was in love with Whakatane already!

Their home was exactly as I had envisioned..cozy, comfortable and full of character. I spent the next 3 weeks there looking for work, editing photos, visiting and EATING! It wasn't until my clothes from Canada arrived and I tried to put on my favourite jeans that I realized just how MUCH I had been eating. I blame Tash. Her cooking was out of this world, gourmet, scrumptious and irrefutably deee-lish!

One weekend when Jono was away, Tash and I watched all of the Harry Potter movies back to back while eating curry, cookies, popcorn and drinking chai all wrapped up in arm warmers, housecoats and slippers. Divine!

I then spent a couple of weeks in Tauranga, which is also situated in the Bay of Plenty. The homeowner, Lisa, owned a pet sitting co. as well as a dog kennel so it was an absolute dreamy housesit for me! I took care of about 6 dogs for 2 weeks as well as Pickle, the cat. I was walking for about 3 hours every day so each of them could get a good jaunt in. It was so nice to have them around and they kept me reallllly busy!

At the end of it, Tash and Jono came to Tauranga to pick me up and we went to Mt. Maunganui. Tash and I walked up the mountain and quite typically, Jono ran! The summit offers a view of the vast ocean scape, paragliders, grazing sheep and surrounding city.

Kate and Graham Currie, Tash and Jono's friends from Hamilton came to visit that weekend in Whakatane. When they arrived, I was on my 'bird walk' – an amazing hike right beside their place – lots of stairs and elevated views. A great workout for someone who spends most of their time in front of a laptop.

We had a serious spread that night with much laughter and many stories of Jono and Graham's homeland, South Africa, as well as little tidbits about the Maori culture from Kate, the only Kiwi of the bunch.

Kate, Tash and I had a lovely morning drinking tea over girl chat and then got dressed and went to the carnival across the street. Tash and I giggled and screamed like little girls on the Rock and Roll! We then went to Ohope Beach for coffee and lunch and a walk at Otiwarari Bay. The beach was beautiful – so many seashells and so smooth. I was madly in love with life in New Zealand.

The next morning, we had another bbq but this time with French toast! We ate in their cute little backyard complete with garden, lots of flowers and trees. Jono would surprise Tash with things like making a flower bed or converting the garden path from straight to curvy.

I returned to Tauranga for another housesit taking care of 2 dogs and 3 cats. Pam worked with Lisa (my last housesit) and her parents were going 'across the ditch' to Australia. During this time I was going up to Auckland trying to find a company to sponsor me so I could stay in NZ without having to return home to obtain a work visa. This proved much harder than I had hoped.

By this time, Cait had arrived in NZ! I had met her in Thailand with Ada at the beginning of my trip and we had gone on to travel to Cambodia together. She had just spent 4 months in Thailand teaching English and we found a place in St. Helier's Bay, Auckland with 5 awesome roomies. I stayed with her when I was there and we got to catch up on all our travel adventures since we last saw one another.

My last house sit was in Muriwai Beach with 2 dogs, Neo and Pixie and Mog, the cat. I had no idea what a dramatically stunning place this was going to be. When I went down to the beach for the first time with the dogs, I was overtaken by the 50km of black sand beach, tumultuous waves and stormy nuanced sky.

The dogs and I went to the beach everyday to frolic in the surf and run up and down the beach...ok that was more them than me, but I had fun watching!

Cait came up to visit and we had a lovely day of eating ice cream, hanging with the dogs, checking out the Gannet colony and later making dinner and watching a quirky movie.

I came back down to Whakatane just in time for Halloween! Apparently Kiwis aren't big on dressing up for Halloween, so Tash was determined to show her friends what a great time they were missing out on. We decorated the entire house and Tash baked up a storm of Halloween goodies.

There was a vampire, a ghost, a smurf, a mummy, pirates, a Barbie, the Joker, hippies, a fly, an oyster catcher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oystercatcher) and the cat in the hat!

There was limbo, there was dancing, there was eating and drinking - a great party made by the spectacular people who attended and hosted the event.

And then it came....the 3 months in NZ that I had to secure a work visa and a job were up. If I had any hope of working in NZ, I was to return to Canada to apply for and obtain the visa. I returned home November, 2009, 9 months after I had set out to SE Asia, hoping only to stay for 5 weeks....at least that was the plan.

New Zealand Part 1

2009-06-20T04:37:00.000-07:00

Arriving in Christchurch felt much like home and I wasn't too sure how to feel about that. When I was taking the bus into town from the airport, the first thing I noticed were the houses. They look like any old house that you would see in Canada. It’s now new. It’s not different. And I guess I got used to diversity to a point of needing it to to satisfy my wanderlust?

Maybe it was just the realization of leaving Bali and my dreamy life there. I think it was a good balance for me. I felt like there were a lot of dissimilarities that made it feel like I was traveling in a foreign land yet it had all the amenities (such as toilet paper) for me to feel comfortable...but not TOO comfortable.

The seashell wrapped in a little net that I purchased in Pai, Thailand at the beginning of my trip fell off my ankle literally minutes after arriving in NZ. A couple hours later, the seashell ring I had made myself also released itself off my finger...metaphors signaling a new phase.

I got myself comfy cozy in my seat for the flight from Denpasar, Bali to Sydney, Australia. I thought I was going to have the whole row to myself when ‘REALLY drunk Australian guy’ plopped himself down beside me. He was well aware how drunk he was, and kept apologizing in between telling me about how much he loved his wife but sounded like he had a bit too much fun with the ladies in Bali. Ugh! After I had politely told him that I really just wanted to go to sleep, he proceeded to babble on. His friend across the aisle finally gave him a firm talking to and he passed out cold for the duration of the flight. Yes!

Little did I know that this was just the beginning of a hullabaloo of a journey ahead of me.

Our plane landed in Sydney, Australia about 6 hours later in the wee hours of the morning. We then sat on the tarmac for 30 minutes before we were offloaded. I then had to sprint to get to my next flight leaving within 10 minutes. When I arrived, I got serious attitude from the Quantas agent because he had paged me 'several' times. Um...dude – I was on a plane! I ignored his prissiness. He then asked me to show him my onward ticket from NZ. What? Onward ticket? Why would I have one of those? I am a fly by the seat of my pants backpacker? How am I supposed to know where I am going after NZ? That could be days or even years away?

I was unable to produce said ticket. So he told me to wait until someone was available to escort me back through security while he radioed the baggage people to ‘offload’ my luggage (of which I am sure had not even arrived from the other plane yet). I stood there feeling like a complete ASS for not knowing that I needed this documentation to enter the country. Being a member of the commonwealth, I wasn’t so particular about researching this type of stuff as I was within Asian countries. Aren’t we all friends here?

The Quantas lady escorted me out of security. She told me I would have to purchase an onward ticket out of NZ as well as book another flight into Christchurch. This was really....upsetting. We were almost to the baggage department when she asked me if I had an Australian visa, to which I replied, 'no'. She told me to have a seat while she went to talk privately on her radio. Things were either looking hopeful or desperate at that point. I glanced at her to see if I could read her body language...am I going to jail or hopping the next plane to Christchurch?

She came back over and walked me in the opposite direction to the transit desk to my friend Drew. This guy needs to have a reality TV show all his own.

Apparently, Jetstar could incur a $5000 fine for letting me board the plane in Indonesia without checking to see if I had an onward ticket. Now I was in Australia illegally without a visa or a flight out of there. This was now an immigration issue and their problem, not mine. Drew made some calls and put it to them straight – he told me he doesn’t 'take any BS from these people', as he sat with his arms folded behind his head and chest puffed out – they can either pay for my $300 flight or the $5000 fine. Their choice. Within minutes I was booking a 'refundable' flight back to Vancouver so I could continue on my way (I refunded it later when I got to NZ but with the currency conversion, I lost $500 CDN..I could have spent a week in Fiji for that!).

During this process, Drew bought me a coffee and entertained me until my flight to Auckland. It took 2.5 hours to get there arriving 2 hours before the next flight was to leave for Christchurch. In that time I tried to rent a car and locate my baggage to see if I could just stay in Auckland and drive to Whakatane myself instead of flying all the way down to Christchurch on the South Island and then all the way back up to Rotorua on the North Island, where Tash was to pick me up. In the end, I was told my baggage was en route to Christchurch from Sydney already and there were NO rental cars available for neither that night OR the next day. And so the journey to Christchurch continued..

Teeny Little Update!

2009-05-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

Well hello there! My apologies for being stupendously tardy with the blogging, but I will resume reporting the rest of the adventures when time permits - most likely on the plane to NZ (which will be fitting as my next installment is of the Shaky Isles)!?

So I just wanted to touch base with a little update to let you all know the things and stuff that are going on. I hope to see some of you in AB and SK this summer as well as in NZ at the exhibition (and there's also a slight chance I will be in Bali mid June to July as well)!

EXPOSURE GALLERY EXHIBITIONS - 'Streets' and 'Salon'

I have 2 exhibitions coming up at Exposure Gallery here in Vancouver.

Their are 2 images in the 'Streets' exhibition tonight - the show starts at 8 PM. I am also volunteering at the gallery on Saturday from 12-5. So if you miss tonight, you can pop in for a visit tomorrow!

Also, I will have 4 images in their next exhibition called, 'Salon', starting June 19th, but won't be able to attend that one as I will still be abroad at that time. I will send out a facebook invite soon.

http://www.exposuregallery.ca

ENCOMPASS - A Photo Book

I FINALLY finished putting a photobook together entitled, 'Encompass'. It is 120 pages and includes photos from NY, Hawaii, Saskatchewan, SE Asia and New Zealand. You can take a preview of it here: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/682406.

View it in Full Screen! Many of you were thanked under the acknowledgments:)

It was put together to sell at the exhibition in NZ.

NEW YORK PHOTO FESTIVAL

I just returned from the New York Photo Festival. It was a glorious week of seminars, lectures, photo exhibits, book launches and reuniting with friends met in SE Asia. Rosie and Duncan (from UK) who I met in Malaysia, Cait (from NY) who I met in Thailand and Carolina and Rodrigo (from NY) who I met in Vietnam, were all there to catch up with when I wasn't attending the festivities.

A lot of great things came out of going that I will save for a posting down the road - for now I will say that the trip was absolutely a worthwhile jaunt:)

AUCKLAND PHOTO FESTIVAL, NEW ZEALAND - 'In Transit'

I leave for Auckland next Friday, May 29th. The opening is on June 6th at 2 PM and runs through to June 18th. I am amped for this one! My friend Cait's old roomies have graciously offered up their home in St. Helier's Bay for me to stay at during the length of the exhibit. Having known the starving artist experience for awhile now, I am so thankful and over the moon grateful for their hospitality:)

See promo here in D-Photo Magazine.

CAMROSE ARTWALK
I am exhibiting at both Artwalks in Camrose, Alberta at Ronda Shott Photography! Big thanks and love to my mom for helping not only to fund the printing and framing but also in putting it all together and to Ronda for letting me use her studio as an exhibit venue! The dates are from June 5th-July 15th and July 20th-August 28th. Those in the area can drop in anytime during business hours.

ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN VISIT!!

I will be shooting a friend's wedding in Jasper, AB on July 15th and then my cousin's wedding in Saskatoon, SK on July 25th, so I will be in those areas for a couple of weeks at least. Let me know if you want to get together and we can start to make a plan now. Also, if anyone would like to book in some portraits (family, baby, wedding) while I am there, let me know!

Thanks so much for supporting and encouraging me along the way - it really is what keeps the mojo running and means the world to me!

Tracey

Ripcurling Cosmos and Highlights

2009-03-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list.

- Susan Sontag

"When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don't know ourselves. Cool, unlying life will rush in..."

- D.H. Lawrence

See photos of Surfing Kuta and Rip Curl Pro Search

See photos of Last Days of Bali...

We were all very happy to get back to Kuta the next day...or more rather, the surfing, beach and nightlife! That night, we went for dinner at our usual place and then to Ocean Beach for the FREE FLOW – free flow is 2 hours of free drinks...not of the watered down variety - very popular! Marj and I danced ourselves into a frenzy, as we always did. I don't think I have ever had so much cardio what with all the surf days and boogie nights. We called it an early night so we could get a good surf day in before Marj left.

The next eve, Julien got some snacks and drinks and we had a floor picnic at d'Kubu to say goodbye to Marj. We went out for dinner and then to Paddy’s, a nightclub on Legian Street for one last night together. The 6 of us danced, took pics of each other, made fun and hung out. Marj and I went off to the Bounty later in the evening and danced til our heart's content.

We shared one last banana pancake together the next morning before she left and said our goodbyes. I wondered when I would see her again and what this leg of my journey would have been like without her. Marj and I had created a real female bond, one I had been lacking in my life and made stronger by our love for surfing, eating, drinking tea over endless conversation, dancing several consecutive hours until reaching complete exhaustion, traveling together and sharing the same digs for most of the previous 2 months in Bali. There have been many amazing things to come out of this journey, but the friendships made along the way, will be embedded in my mind and heart for years to come.

But as they say, every exit is an entry to something new. Lindsay, my extremely tall, provocative, outspoken, rambunctious, fabulously good looking friend arrived a few days later to continue on with the surf/dance debauchery. Lindsay is a writer, so we are collaborating on a contribution to Geist magazine using my photos and her scribblings from Bali! See her website here: http://lindsaydiehl.com.

On August 1 – I caught the biggest wave YET! This feeling is one that is difficult to put into words. It happens so quickly but the high remains for days, making you crave bigger and better waves. It is not hard to see why surfing becomes so addictive and has officially been declared a religion.

At night, I would lie awake and could still feel the momentum of the waves rocking me back and forth until falling into a deep slumber. Gliding along on the ocean's memory is understanding the power of nature, a catalyst in experiencing a unity with the universe and being totally immersed in the moment while everything else disappears around you.

I got a tattoo 7 years ago - a Celtic swirl, meaning, 'To rise above the material world and become one with the cosmos." I didn't know it then, but this would be the most accurate description of what the act of surfing means to me now.

Please read 'West of Jesus: Surfing, Science and the Origin of Belief' by Steven Kotler. Surfer or not, if you are the slight bit interested in science or religion, you will be more than enlightened and entertained.

Ernesto was always around to give me his constructive feedback – 'you look like a gorilla when you surf!' He was always after me to keep my hands up but I always had them flailing below me. I was just excited to stay on my board and graduate from surfing whitewash to REAL waves!

There were also days when I questioned whether I belonged on a board or not. I suffered numerous accidents and injuries while surfing as well: a broken finger, water in my ear canal, bruises, scratches, near drownings, collisions with other boards and my own, scrapes, broken leashes etc. These are the moments when you are reminded of who the boss is. But you keep getting back on the board despite the bad days you might have because it's all forgotten once you get back up again. And you always can get back up again.

Dan made his way back to Bali so we got to catch a few more sunrises and dances together. I was so happy to see him again – was sort of like seeing an old, familiar friend after having so many fleeting friendships on the traveling circuit.

As my flight to NZ drew closer, that feeling crept up on me - sort of like when you started seeing the back to school commercials on TV signifying that summer would be over soon. I knew inevitably that I would have to move on but it was going to be really hard to bid that charmed life adieu.

Ernesto, Rikkard and I took in some of the Rip Curl Pro Search at Padang Padang. The likes of Kelly Slater and Andy Irons were competing, but it was Bruce Irons, Andy's little brother, who claimed the trophy. There was some nice looking glass there - I had some serious lens envy and dreamed of what it might be like to couple my photography with surfing someday - ahhh a girl can dream.

Padang Padang is near Uluwatu, a famous temple, dedicated to the spirits of the sea, and known for the monkeys hanging about. Ernesto and I explored the temple which looms 70 meters above the Indian Ocean, and enjoyed the seascape. I avoided the monkeys this time around after my near death encounter at the monkey sanctuary!

SIDESTORY (you may not relate to this if you're male, but the females out there will! There was also a funny bikini waxing incident - funny NOW but not so funny at the time and not really fitting for a public blog):

I must mention doing one of the stupidest things I had done in Asia yet – I got my hair highlighted! I had been wanting to do it since I came to Bali and kept putting it off because I was afraid of what they might do to me . I was just going to go to Gloria Jean's to edit photos as I did every morning. I walked by one salon and resisted and then the next one, but the next had 3 extremely friendly ladies in front that said hello to me. They lured me in and had me sit down...and once you are sitting – well good luck getting out of there!

Perhaps deep down I knew it could end really bad but I had a small flicker of hope that it just might turn out ok. No more risky than getting my hair cut in Cambodia – which turned out a little lop sided but better than I thought!

After about 10 minutes of highlighting, she asked me if that was ‘good’? Ummmm....she had highlighted about 5 pieces and we had agreed on all over highlights. This scenario replayed itself several times with me having to ask her to add more. She of course then had to mention that 100,000 rupiah is very 'cheap cheap' for what I wanted. This is when I knew things were not going to end happily, for either party.

When going to the salon at home, I look forward to kicking back with a coffee and a magazine and listening to cool tunes....this was just plain stressful and SCARY.

When she washed it out and I sat down in front of the mirror, I kept my eyes closed for a long time, imagining the worst, so that perhaps the reality would then seem not quite so bad. It didn’t work. I opened my eyes to sheer horror. This was the most ungodly orange colour I had ever laid eyes on.

I asked her to shut off the hairdryer, moved ahead in my seat and all that I could say was, ‘IT'S ORANGE!’. I followed that up with, ‘It looks....awful!’ I pointed to the lady on the poster with the beautiful ash blonde hair and asked if my hair looked anything like that? She of course had the upper hand because she replied in Balinese again and I had no idea what she said, therefore could not come up with any kind of response that would mean anything. She then grabbed one of the foils and shook it in my face while I assume saying some not so nice things to me. She was PISSED. But so was I! I again had to remind myself, ‘T.I.A.!’ ...'This is Asia’. I made a motion to get out of my chair and she put her hand on the handle of the door and placed her body firmly in front. Apparently, I wasn’t going ANYWHERE.

She phoned her boss and went OFF on the phone. I then asked to speak to her boss who was surprisingly very apologetic and suggested I pay half – I agreed, threw the bill on the counter and hightailed it out of there!

As with all of my stories about previous conflicts with the locals, it's not the money, it's the principal! I went straight to my guest house and wrapped my hair in scarves until I could get my hands on some dye – another lesson learned in SE Asia (the hard way)!

Lindsay, Ernesto, Rikkard and his lovely and beautiful Balinese girlfriend, Ratih and I went out for dinner before my departure. Julien and Tom had left a few days prior and we were the only ones left. Ernesto walked me to Legian to hail a cab so I could catch an overnight flight to Sydney, Australia.

I said goodbye to Ernesto - one of the sweetest, most considerate, completely chivalrous, intelligent and passionate males I have ever met. He restored my faith that their are some good guys out there and I feel so lucky to have met him.

Farewell to warm waves, cheap food, boogie nights, beachy days, living in a bathing suit and sarrong, being surrounded by flowers, art and new friends...heaven on earth. I was upset, but so grateful to have been given this gift. I looked forward to what adventures would lie before me on the Shaky Isles...goodbye to my new friends and hello to a new country, climate and old friends.

I think that wherever your journey takes you, there are new gods waiting there, with divine patience -- and laughter.

- Susan M. Watkins

Boat Trip Day 3 and 4

2009-02-20T17:27:00.001-08:00

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." -Helen Keller

See photos from Boat Trip:

B oat Trip Day 3

Boat Trip Day 4

Day 3

We docked at a small island and hiked up the top of the mountain. It took some time getting used to the overwhelming beauty that lay before us. The mountains poking out of turquoise waters and clear blue skies serving as a backdrop to the stunning ocean scape that beckoned our eyeballs!

Much time was spent taking in the view until again we were torn away to go back to the boat.

Our next stop was Komodo National Park. We were told that no tourists had been killed by Komodo Dragons since the 70s but a villager was killed only a month prior. Was this supposed to be comforting?

We did our small hike around the island and no sign of Komodos but were told that we may have better luck at the next island – Rinca. We were really excited to find public restrooms with real toilets and running water. This was the first time any of us had seen ourselves in the mirror. I have to say, it was quite freeing not having a reflection of yourself to deal with – an excellent excuse to be au naturel and we were all in the 'same boat'.

Back on the boat, we made our way into a little cove just in time to watch the sun set behind the the large mounds surrounding us. Marj and I took this as an opportunity to go swimming. We were told to do so at our own risk as there is always a chance that Jaws could be lurking beneath. The water was deep and we were quite literally in the middle of nowhere but it was so much fun that we had little time to worry about it. I love Marj for always bringing out the little girl in me!

Day 4

I woke up the next morning and watched the sun rise. The sea was rough and the wind whipping. My hair blew all over my face and I laid their on the deck peering out to sea in complete bliss before anyone else awoke. I love being near, in or on the ocean and the experiences with her on this trip had been deep and memorable..I counted my many blessings. I thought of my mom and dad a lot on that boat because I was there only because of their unending support.

We were called to breakfast (banana fritters!) and set off for a hike around Rinca Island where we got a healthy dose of Komodo Dragons seriously getting down with their bad selves! Even if we hadn’t seen them, the island itself was uniquely beautiful – a landscape that I could not liken to any other.

Komodo Island National Park, a World Heritage Site, is 200 nautical miles east of Bali and is located between the islands of Sumbawa and Flores, all of which are part of Nusa Tenggara. About 3 to 5,000 Komodo dragons live on the islands of Komodo, Gila Motang, Rinca, and Flores. The species is in endangered status due to a lack of females for reproduction, human encroachment, natural disasters and of course poaching.

Komodos can live up to 50 years. The first 5 years of their lives are spent high up in a tree where their mother cares for them - after that they are on their own, spending most of their time solitary, until mating season arrives. Males outnumber females 4 to 1 (sounds much like Kuta!)...so come mating season - the women look a little worse for wear.

Komodos lie in wait for their prey camouflaged in the grass. When the unlucky victim wanders by, the dragon flings its serrated teeth and sharp claws at its prey. If its prey escapes, its luck will run out within about 24 hours for it is not the bite that will kill them but the saliva, which has over 50 strains of bacteria. Komodos will follow their dying prey for miles until blood poisoning sets in.

A Komodo dragon can eat up to 80 percent of its body weight in a single feeding and males can measure up to 9 feet and weigh 550 pounds after a hefty meal.

Marj and I spent most of the rest of the afternoon under the sea in a plethora of multi-coloured sea life. Our interests are so similar it makes it ridiculously easy to have fun with her. If you are ever in need of constant giggling and high spirits – Marj is your go to girl!

We got to Flores, our final destination, in the late afternoon and set out to find accommodations. Even though the situation had grown more favourable due to the boat being in the harbour without the wind, constant yammering of the boat engine and random wave spilling over us, none of us were too keen to sleep on deck again.

Despite its name, Flores was not what I had hoped. It reminded me of the Asia I dislike – the garbage. The concept of putting garbage in a receptacle just isn't a high priority. Their was only a handful of guest houses to choose from and after walking around for almost 3 hours, we accepted defeat and looked forward to another FIRM sleep on old faithful!

Our disappointment was offset by a having a nice little dinner together filled with laughter and chattering. Ernesto tried to teach Marj and I ze French accent – frustrating for Ernesto, funny for us! It warmed my heart to be part of this little group. I couldn't remember the last time I had felt this happy.

The sleep was not surprisingly much deeper when the boat was still, and we were awoken at 5:30 AM by the crew. On the bright side, this was prime picture taking time and I took full advantage of it.

We had breakfast and got transport out to the hotel that we booked the night before which was out of town. We watched the sunset and took photos of the fishermen on the beach that night and all the kids running amok. I had to take a moment to remind myself how lucky I am to have had this experience. I thought of what I would be doing in Vancouver at that moment....and didn’t miss that life one teensy smidgen of a little tiny bit.

"Travelling is like flirting with life. It's like saying, 'I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.'" -Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

Ro and Dunc Visit, Marj Returns, the Gillis and the Boat Trip!

2009-01-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

...life is short and the world is wide.

- Simon Raven

Click below to view photo albums:

Ro and Dunc Visit, Marj Returns and the Gilli Islands

Boat Trip Day 1 and 2

Ro and Dunc Visit

Rosie and Duncan, the couple I had met in the Perhentian Islands, Malaysia, had arrived in Indonesia and popped down to Kuta from Ubud for a little overnight visit. They met me at d'Kubu for lunch and Duncan delivered another one of his CLASSIC phrases!

He had gone to look for a guest house while Rosie and I finished up lunch. When he came back, he looked quite traumatized and serious, caught his breath and announced, 'I have seen some THINGS...!!'. Rosie and I thought he had come upon an extra especially dirty guest house? But alas, it was more traumatizing than that. Many of you may know that when dogs mate sometimes well, things get...stuck. For someone who has not seen or heard of this – it can be a confusing scene.

It went something like this - Duncan was walking down one of the Poppies Lanes when he heard a surfer let out a dramatic, disgusted, 'Duuuuuuuuuuude!'. Duncan turned to see what dude was 'Duuuuuuuuude-ing' about and it was 2 dogs running awkwardly stuck together seemingly trying to disengage...I can only picture this in my head and what I see is not pretty!

We spent a good deal of time trying to figure out how this situation came about. Being a cat owner all my life, I had no idea what had gone on, but have since gained the knowledge - I am sure many of you know. For those that don't, here is a more detailed explanation (warning: it is a very detailed and graphical explanation): http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Do-Dogs-Get-Stuck-Together-When-Breeding?&id=1872658

The three of us caught up on our travels since we last saw each other in Malaysia and spent the afternoon cruising around Kuta and later watching the sunset at the beach. That night, I took them to Ocean Beach for dinner where we met up with some other friends from the UK they had met prior. We got a great table with cozy cushions and watched a couple of the nightly shows that Ocean Beach puts on – traditional Balinese dancing, fire shows, hip hop, gymnasts etc. After watching the spectacle, we carried on to the usual places – Poppy's, The Bounty and finished off the night dancing at Sky Garden.

The next day, I learned that Marj would be returning from Thailand! This had not been in her original plan so I was surprised and delighted to hear the news. I sadly said goodbye to Rosie and Duncan with hopes of seeing them in Australia or New Zealand, as we were all going to be settling in one of the two places eventually.

Marj Returns

When Marj arrived back to d'Kubu the next day, we went for dinner and caught up on all the happenings over tuna steaks and cokes! We went out and met Levi and Murray and their friends at Sky Garden and danced like crazy women, followed by more crazy women dancing at Paddy’s and Bounty into the wee early morning hours - another STELLAR night.

"We should consider every day lost in which we do not Dance at least once." - Nietzsche

We decided we would meet the Belgians (Ernesto, Julien and Tom) at Gili Trawangan, where they had gone the day before. We booked our flights and went to the beach in the late aft for sunrise...as we always did, then to Sky Garden for espresso drinking and emailing friends and family..I know it sounds lame but somehow Marj and I had oodles of fun just doing nothing.

Gili Trawangan

The next morning we flew off to the Gillis! The views were stunning - white billowy clouds and a volcano looming in the background. We landed in the Lombok airport but then had to take a taxi to the ferry, which would take us to Gilli Trawangan. Things got a little ugly here, but I won't go into details – no different than any other trip in SE Asia – someone always wanting to 'take you for a ride'!

Marj and I found a guest house and went straight to the beach. The currents there are really strong, so you could float a mile down the beach without swimming – kinda dangerous, but supah fun! Tom started talking about a boat trip they were thinking of taking that included Komodo island and asked if we would join them. Marj and I were up for anything – we both wanted to see more of Indonesia and she especially wanted to see the 'Red Beach', so we booked the tickets that night to leave early the next morning.

Ernesto, Julien, Marj and I walked to the end of the island to watch the sunset and took many photos – we were like a little camera club. Another beautiful Asian sunset shared amongst international friends.

We went off to have a fresh seafood buffet at a laid back restaurant just off the beach – where you could sit on cushions and just chill. The 5 of us had many laughs and shared many stories. I went to bed very excited for what was to come. Unfortunately, Marj and I were kept awake most of the night by loud chanting (was a Muslim holiday) into a megaphone and then a rooster cock-a-doodle-dooing at our front door (T.IA. - This Is Asia)...

The Boat Trip

We met the boys in the morning at the boats to head back over to Lombock and then to the capital of the island, Mataram. We got groceries for the boat and bought our plane tickets to fly back from Flores – our final destination (and found out later that we were each overcharged $50!).

We finally arrived to our home/boat for the next 4 days. This was no luxury boat my friends. It had a common area/deck and above the kitchen was another deck that had a canopy over it – the sleeping area. The only privacy anyone could have was in the bathroom, which was basically a hole in the floor with an enclosure around it. There was no shower, no soap, no faucet, no mattresses, no fresh water. None of this bothered me however I wasn’t too keen on the probability of looking like a hairy mammoth by the end of the trip!

We all sat a little dumbfounded on the deck trying to absorb that this was going to be where we were living for the next 96 hours and that we better well learn to like it if we didn't yet! And then we set forth out into the 'mighty ocean' (as said by the Mango on Saturday Night Live). The 5 of us hit the front of the boat and took many a photo for there was little else to do!

That night, we thought we would sleep on the bottom deck, while everyone else slept on the top deck. There wasn’t a lot of room upstairs so we thought this was a good idea. It wasn’t. Because we were travelling through the night on rough waters, Marj, who was closest to the bow was getting splashed by each tall wave we encountered and had to move to the top at some point in the middle of the night. We were all a little worse for the wear after our first night at sea but each of us was slowly getting our sea legs.

That day, we docked at a magnificent, isolated island and hiked to a waterfall. Ernesto, Marj and I climbed to the top of it and found a pool of freshwater to go swimming in. Ernesto took pics of us posing and swimming until we got called back to the boat. I could have spent the entire day there. The water temperature was perfect and the pond was surrounded by lush greenery with little sparks of sunlight darting though.

We spent most of the rest of the day travelling to get to Komodo Island with a stop at a huge saltwater lake. Marj and I were a couple of jellyfish for almost an hour giggling, talking shit and telling secrets – it's what we do! It is so amazing to have a friend like Marj who is totally in the moment with you and offers unending support, no matter what.

I made myself at home at the front of the boat with my book and some tea when we got back. Ernesto came and joined me and soon enough we were both asleep in the sun.... until a huge wave came and splashed over us filling our temporary makeshift sleeping sanctuary into a shallow pool. Ernesto laughed very heartily at me as I had not a dry spot on me! It was at this point that I felt what seasick was like but recovered after watching the sea's horizon for awhile. Everybody either read or took naps that whole afternoon.

That night, we all had dinner on the deck – all of us sitting in a circle surrounding the food under a full moon! I wondered where on the Indian Ocean we were and then decided that it didn't matter. There was no other place I would rather be.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Mark Twain

Bali-mania!

2008-12-28T15:43:00.000-08:00

“And suddenly, out there where a big smoker lifts skyward, rising like a sea-god from out of the welter of spume and churning white, on the giddy, toppling, overhanging and downfalling, precarious crest appears the dark head of a man. Swiftly he rises through the rushing white. His black shoulders, his chest, his loins, his limbs -- all is abruptly projected on one's vision. Where but the moment before was only the wide desolation and invincible roar, is now a man, erect, full-statured, not struggling frantically in that wild movement, not buried and crushed and buffeted by those mighty monsters, but standing above them all, calm and superb, poised on the giddy summit, his feet buried in the churning foam, the salt smoke rising to his knees, and all the rest of him in the free air and flashing sunlight, and he is flying through the air, flying forward, flying fast as the surge on which he stands. He is a Mercury -- a brown Mercury.....”

Jack London
The Cruise of the Snark
Chapter VI - A Royal Sport

To view photos from around Kuta, click here.

To view photos from our day trip, click here.

Marj and I arrived back in Kuta and continued our everyday pilgrimage to Kuta Beach to practice our new craft and meet up with our friend Dan!

Despite our surf school being well esteemed, whenever the surf instructors had a moment to spare, they were asking us out to dinner, if we were married... boyfriends?? We lied. One said he could ‘teach me how to surf’ later in the day 'pro bono', when the waves were more ‘optimal’ – oh how nice of him. Another said he could get me a good deal with his cousin on renting a surfboard if I agreed to lunch with him.....hmmmmm – is that a bribe? Every Western girl that comes within a 5 foot radius is a moving target.

Marj and I were walking home from dinner one night and a guy on a moto with a helmet driving towards us came within an inch of both of us and hit poor Marjie on the boob! A few days later, I was walking home and the same thing ALMOST happened but I jumped out of the way. The worst of it was that you couldn’t see their faces, so really they could just go around hit and running and no one would ever be able to identify them – a guy with a helmet on a moto – their are thousands!

We settled into our little guesthouse, again – the only time we really spent there was to change or to sleep - but nonetheless, it was always nice to go back. Our neighbours consisted of:

2 surfers from Germany, properly tattooed that enjoyed the nightlife Kuta had to offer even more so than the surfing – we had many good times with these 2 – they knew how to rip it up be it on a board or a dance floor.

Paul, originally from the states but had lived in Germany a good portion of his life, divided his time working construction in Perth, Australia and surfing in Bali. The likes of Jimi Hendrix, Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine could be heard blasting through his speakers while he chilled on his front doorstep with his surfboard always close by and beer in hand. He had long black dreads that suited him perfectly but surprisingly still looked like the crazy rock n' roll surfer we all knew and loved when he shaved them off. The words 'Endless Summer' tattooed across his chest spoke volumes about Paul. This guy knew how to enjoy life and I was elated to have him as my next door neighbour.
Didier, a retired cook from France, now lives part of the year in Bali and the other in Thailand. His days were occupied by writing a book and we saw him for dinner every night at 8 PM sharp, usually followed by dancing and people watching at Poppy's Nightclub

I had met Levi, a girl from London, UK, at the beginning of my travels in Northern Thailand. We had gone on a jungle trek and overnighted with a hill tribe, both fresh from quitting our jobs back home, enchanted by the unknown adventures that would lie ahead for us. We bumped into each other in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam and now here we were again, staying in the same guesthouse. Levi had met Murray, also from the UK, in her travels who was an avid surfer and so the two of them could usually be found in the surf or on the beach!

Rikard, from Sweden, blessed us with his habitation in between visiting his beautiful Balinese girlfriend, Ratih, in Ubud. He is the epitome of the typical strapping Scandinavian. His presence was always palpable with brooding shoulders and an underlying gentle pride and strength that reminded me of the men in my family and made me miss and think of them often.
And last but by far not least, Ernesto. I stopped dead in my tracks the first time I saw him standing there with sun bleached hair falling over his dark blue eyes, talking to Didier in the pathway at d'Kubu. I of course pretended I didn't notice his ridiculous good looks but as soon as I had a moment alone with Marj, I affectionately referred to him, in jest, as my 'new boyfriend' (particularly amusing considering my long running status as a loner)!

Ernesto is an unassuming doctor from Belgium of Italian and Hungarian decent. His love for surfing was so passionate that he had turned down several of our invitations to go dancing so he could be up early to hit the surf. But finally one night, he met us at our favourite pre-Legian street club, Ocean Beach. This was the night Marj was leaving to go to Thailand to meet a friend (I was very sad) but the beginning of Ernesto and I's friendship.

After Marj left, Ernesto ensured that I was always included in coming for dinner each evening with him and the boys. The boys originally consisted of just Rikkard and Didier, but 2 new additions were about to arrive – Julien and Tom – 2 of Ernesto's closest friends from Belgium. And so it began...a new chapter for me in Bali – a Marj-less chapter but a fabulous one, nonetheless.

Julien spent most of his time on the beach soaking in the warm Bali sun. He was our age as well and had the most gentle disposition I have seen in anyone I know. Julien also had not spoken English in over a decade. So needless to say, there was many a miscommunication within our little group. Julien is one of those people who doesn't speak unless he has something worthwhile to say and it usually was at the expense of Tom or Ernesto!

Tom spoke English extremely well but would get so irritated with me when I asked 'WHAT?' or 'QUOI' all the time. He would have to repeat himself and then I would say, 'Aaaaaaah you mean _______!'. Which was exactly what he had said the first time, but with his French accent it sounded like a completely different language!

My days in Kuta began with checking the tide so I could plan my schedule around optimal surf conditions before moving onto breakfast, which consisted of: 1 banana pancake, 2 boiled eggs, 'potato country' (translated: country potatoes) and a fresh unsweetened coconut juice. After that, on my walk down to Kuta Square, I would pick up orphaned frangipani flowers that had fallen from the trees and put one behind my ear as well as save one to give as a Hindu offering when I got to my destination – Gloria Jean's.

The first time I walked into Gloria Jean's, I was immediately greeted with smiling, friendly Balinese faces. I could tell right off the bat that Frank, the Australian owner, was a modern day saint – he greeted me with some friendly chit chat during my stay and I overheard him display the same charm and eloquence with his other customers. It was plain to see his absolute natural ease with people and it was because of him and the coziness I felt there that marked the beginning of my loyalty to GJ's in Kuta.

I went every day possible to work on my laptop and have my espresso and banana cake (which I enjoyed immensely!). Frank and his staff helped me to get my business cards from Hong Kong and called in their IT guy when I was having laptop issues and as if that wasn't enough, my last day before venturing off to NZ, Frank took myself, his manager and I to lunch to see me off:) I now refer to Frank to my own family and friends as my 'Bali Dad' because of the support and congeniality I received when I was there! So if you ever go to Kuta – please pass on some hugs from me.

After my work/coffee session, I went back to my guesthouse to put on my 'swimming costume' as the Brits call it and hit the surf for a couple of hours. I desperately missed my surf sister Marj, but there was always someone from d'Kubu on the beach or in the waves and I never felt like I was out there on my own.

Ernesto elected to teach me a thing or two about surfing which also inadvertently became a French lesson. Ernesto had not spoken any English since high school and now being 33 surrounded by English speakers, was trying to regain what he had lost. So when he told me to 'paddle hard' or 'stand up!' it usually came out in French rather than English and I had to reach deep down into the annals of my mind and pull out what I remembered from Mr. Mareschal's French classes in junior high!

After several days of checking out Kuta Beach, Tom, Julien and Ernesto decided to absorb some Balinese culture and invited me out on a day trip. We rented a driver and car that picked us up in the morning to take us to various temples, rice fields and villages. You would think the traveler in me would be quite excited about all of this but I am ashamed to admit that I was actually quite bored with it all. It wasn't at all the company as I always had a ton of fun with my new Belgian friends but I think after seeing so many wats, monuments, temples, sanctuaries etc, I had had my fill, for the interim at least, because all I could think about was getting myself back on a board and into the salty water....

“His heels are winged, and in them is the swiftness of the sea. In truth, from out of the sea he has leaped upon the back of the sea, and he is riding the sea that roars and bellows and cannot shake him from its back. But no frantic outreaching and balancing is his. He is impassive, motionless as a statue carved suddenly by some miracle out of the sea's depth from which he rose. And straight on toward shore he flies on his winged heels and the white crest of the breaker. There is a wild burst of foam, a long tumultuous rushing sound as the breaker falls futile and spent on the beach at your feet; and there, at your feet steps calmly ashore a Kanaka, burnt golden and brown by the tropic sun...”

Jack London
The Cruise of the Snark
Chapter VI - A Royal Sport

Kuta Surfin' and Ubud 'Love', Bali

2008-12-01T15:44:00.000-08:00

A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.

- John Steinbecke

To view photos from Kuta, click here.

To view photos from Ubud, click here.

I got off the plane and lined up in front of the taxi booth in Denpasar airport, Bali. To cut down on the expense, I turned around to see if there was anyone who wanted to share a cab. The girl behind me just happened to be the one and only Marjorie Green! Little did I know that meeting this tall, crazy, kind hearted, fabulous blue-eyed blonde was going to make the rest of my stay in Bali the most unforgettable and fun-filled in Asia yet!

At this point, I had been travelling SE Asia for 4 months and Marj for 2 so we were a touch overwhelmed by the many familiar signs from home: Starbuck’s, McDonald’s, Dolce and Gabbana, Crocs and every surf name in the book – Ripcurl, Billabong, Roxy etc. The cabbie dropped us off on Poppies Lane I. Kuta has two Poppies Lanes (aptly named I and II). This is where a good majority of the guesthouses, restaurants and non-brand name/local shopping is...and just metres from the famous surf beach – Kuta!

We were ecstatic with the amenities at our hotel – New Arena. We shared a double room that had a real bathroom with a door and bathtub and a patio overlooking a garden and swimming pool. This was not at all what I had expected. I knew Bali was a major vacation destination for Australians and had expected that it would be really expensive compared to where I had been. Luckily, I was quite wrong. We stayed in this proper hotel for only $7 each/night. We spent 4 nights there before we started feeling a little like high rollers so I took a jaunt to see what else I could find.

If I had blinked I would have missed this place but luckily for me it caught the corner of my eye – it was called d’Kubu Homestay. This place had a good vibe from the get-go. There was a tiny little courtyard surrounded by 8 guesthouse rooms. Marj and I’s room had 2 single beds with a cold shower for $5/night – splendid! Little did we know that we were going to call d’Kubu home for the next 2 months.

Marj and I got our feet wet in Kuta by trying to resist all the fabulous shopping. I had done really well not to buy much besides food along the way so as not to weigh myself down but this was going to be like trying to keep honey away from a bee! Everything is SO ‘cheap cheap’!

Our first sunset at Kuta Beach was truly spectacular. There are ridiculous amounts of people on the beach at that time – mostly Indonesian. The last thing anyone native to SE Asia wants is a tan so most of them don’t come out in the sun until it is just about to set. Marj and I were enjoying a nice walk down the beach when we were surrounded by gaggles of Balinese teenagers wanting to take pictures with us. Marj was the star of the show – they REALLY dig blonde hair and blue eyes. She might as well have been Cameron Diaz walking down the beach – this is something we just expected after some time but it took some getting used to.

Marj’s friend Dan who she had met earlier on the backpacker trail was coming to Kuta so we went out for dinner with him one evening. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship – translated: the three of us having one hell of a time together. We watched the sunset at Kuta Beach every night we could and met for dinner before going over to Legian street (famous for its clubs) to watch the debauchery at Espresso – a bar overflowing with overserved surfers rocking out to covers of Nirvana and AC/DC. Once we had our fill of that, we would go to one of the many popular clubs there: Embargo, Sky Garden or the legendary Bounty.

Since developing my mega allergy to alcohol (it has now been over 3 years since I have purposely had an alcoholic beverage due to a harsh reaction from even one drop of alcohol!) it has been hard for me to adjust to going out without being able to imbibe a little. It has been a long road of lifestyle adjustment but Kuta really helped that along. I was surrounded by people in Kuta drinking alcohol almost non-stop. It got to a point where I didn’t even notice I was the only one not drinking, which was a really good thing as I normally feel like a pariah.

The first nights out dancing at the Bounty were a bit awkward for me at first seeing as EVERYONE in that place can barely see straight from all the cheap drinks. The fabulous thing about not being able to drink is staying out dancing til dawn and waking up fresh as a flower to go surfing for the rest of the day. And so this eventually became our routine. Dance til the wee hours of the night, sleep all morning, head over to Macaroni for the lunch special and email checking and over to the beach to surf. Sunset usually came along shortly after that – then dinner, dancing – REPEAT! All of this costing – including accommodation – about $8/day

I had thought I would stay in Bali for a couple weeks at the most. I had been so tired and was keen to get to New Zealand to see Tash already! But meeting Marj altered this course drastically. Having much of the same interests – especially our passion for surfing – bonded us together like sisters. We caught waves together, danced together, fought off googly eyed overzealous suitors together, but most of the time was filled with laughter. When one is having the time of their life one finds it hard not to find everything hilariously, deliciously humorous! The littlest thing could happen and Marj and I giggled over it for days.

After a couple of weeks in Kuta, we decided it was time for a little change of pace. I had wanted to go up to Ubud after reading Elizabeth Gilbert's ‘Eat, Pray, Love’. I had planned to go and see Wayan the Healer and Ketut the Medicine Man and do some yoga and cleansing to get my neck and back realigned and my game on for tackling bigger waves.

Instead, Marj and I shopped (mostly without buying anything save for a great deal on a couple of silk dresses!), made some jewellery, went to the monkey sanctuary (where I was attacked and came within inches of my life!), and sat on the front porch of our guesthouse enjoying our free breakfast and tea while playing with the floppy haired wild rabbit half the day and/or drinking coffee at one of the many cozy little restaurants. After 5 days in Ubud sans surf and dancing we decided it was time to return to Kuta, but not before paying a visit to Wayan and Ketut.

Ketut and Wayan - Eat-Pray-Love - Images by Tracey Tomtene

Marj and I had the full meal deal at Wayan’s Traditional Balinese Healing Shop. She was exactly as I pictured her from the description in the book. Of course now since her shop has been featured on Oprah and talked about by virtually every woman in North America infatuated with travel, adventure and happy endings (after reading Eat, Pray, Love), her price had gone up drastically. As with everything in Asia, with a little negotiating we managed to get a price we were all comfortable with.

So Marj and I spent most of the entire next day getting massaged, drinking herbs and juices, receiving a body reading and finally the ever popular vitamin lunch to end the 5 hours we spent getting pampered there.

You’d think the two of us would be feeling fabulous after that but we both ended up getting sick and in the end we blamed all the herbs she was giving us on empty stomachs:(

The next day, we visited Ketut the Medicine Man! We had been told by some ladies we met at Wayan’s that there was a 3 hour wait to see him but we thought we’d take a chance anyway. To our delight, Ketut was chilling on his front step – exactly the way Elizabeth Gilbert found him in the book. We spent a good hour chatting with him. He read my palm and kept saying what a ‘good girl’ I was. According to Ketut, I will have one deep love in my life and 2 kids. I am also going to be bankrupt, but only for 25 days and after that a successful photographer. Oh and I am going to live to 102, so I have lots of time for all of this.

So I didn’t get to my yoga or cleansing but I figured with the amount of dancing we would do every night, not to mention the surfing all day, would make up for what I missed out on yoga in Ubud. Totally justifiable I think - and so back to Kuta we went!

Kuala Lumpur and Perhentian Islands, Malaysia

2008-11-04T18:26:00.000-08:00

The blue whale is the largest animal on our planet ever (exceeding the size of the greatest known dinosaurs) and has a heart the size of a Volkswagen.

Each year, three times as much rubbish is dumped into the world's oceans as the weight of fish caught.

http://marinebio।org/MarineBio/Facts/

See photos from Kuala Lumpur here.

See photos from the Perhentian Islands here.

It took me about 2 hours from when I landed at KL airport to get to my guest house in Little India via bus, subway and on foot. I remember thinking on my walk that I didn’t want to do it anymore. I felt like the weight of my backpack, laptop and camera bags pulling on my neck muscles would cause my head to just topple right off. Hours sitting in front of my laptop the past couple of years sans an ergonomically correct position had taken its toll long before I left, but I had hoped being less sedentary would have improved this situation....Kuala Lumpur MISSION: Find backpack WITH wheels!

The streets of Little India are crowded with mostly men having seemingly nothing else to do but stare at western women walking by (can you tell I was a bit weary at this point?). I was getting quite used to people staring by now but when you are in a mess of heat, pollution and noise, not to mention being called to as if you were a cat or dog, one can get a teeny bit irritated.

I went to a gigantic mall in search of a backpack that would add some resolve to my back issues and allow me to keep on traveling. I found one for 180 Ringitts ($56 CDN) – oh how I love Asia when it comes to shopping! I decided I needed comfort food, so I bought a ticket to the new Indian Jones movie mainly so I could eat popcorn! I had 45 minutes to kill, so I grabbed a bite nearby. When I got into the theatre, the movie had already started which I thought was strange being 5 minutes early. When I finally figured out that the movie had been playing for quite some time, I realized I had been in Malaysia for 3 days and had no idea I was in a new time zone – ah the beauty of not needing to know what time or day it is. Better I found out this way as opposed to when I had to catch my flight to the Perhentian Islands the next day.

Upon arrival in Kota Bharu (a pit stop on the way to the Perhentians), I happened upon a couple (seemingly becoming a trend) in the airport who were looking for a 3^rd person to split a cab with. We piled ourselves and our backpacks into the car for an unexpected, wild ride to the jetty. You’d think this guy was trying to get his pregnant wife to the hospital! Close calls with goats and other vehicles at high speed and intermittent sudden brakes were virtually ignored by the 3 of us, who were too enmeshed in our conversation to really realize how endangered our lives were! Rosie and Duncan, from Bristol in the UK, work in television and were on their way to Australia where they planned to live for awhile.

The highlight was when our cabbie was kind enough to unroll his window after very obviously breaking wind. I looked at Duncan who swallowed his laughter and turned to gaze out the window. Rosie and I kept talking whilst trying not to laugh or breathe in the malodorous air. We got to the jetty and hopped on a boat of you guessed it – ALL couples!

I wasn’t exactly blown away by the beauty of Kecil – the small island, or better known as the ‘backpacker’ island. The beach consisted of ramshackle restaurants and as we would learn later, sub-standard over priced accommodation. We walked around looking for a place and settled on Panorama mainly because it included dinner. It was 75 Ringitts ($25) a night for a place that had shoddy window locks, cockroaches, no hot water and holes in the mosquito nets – a far cry from the $5/night guest houses I was used to in Laos. I had read that theft was a big problem there and many a traveler had woken up to someone crawling through their window at night, so it was nice to know that I had Rosie and Duncan in the bungalow beside me.

The next morning, we decided to hit Besar – the big island or more commonly known as the ‘couples’ or ‘family’ island. This was a better move. The beaches and bungalows were much nicer and carried a lot more bang for our buck. We spent the afternoon eating banana cake and drinking tea tarik (like masala chai). I have been lucky to meet some really cool couples along the way, and Rosie and Duncan were no exception.

I saw a sign for a Reef Talk session being held at Watercolours Dive Resort to educate the public on the importance of keeping the coral reef healthy. Reef Talk is a free presentation given to anyone who is interested in conservation issues and the state of our coral reefs. Overfishing, coastal development and pollution are three of the biggest threats to coral reefs as well as the global aquarium trade, dynamite fishing and climate change, to name just a few.

At the end of the Reef Talk, they mentioned that they would be doing a beach clean up the next day. I had been searching for something like this to do on my travels so I could leave the places I visited in a better state than when I arrived.

Myself and 3 couples met with Peter Caron the next day to take a boat to a nearby beach. Peter and his wife Anke run Watercolours Dive Resort and are very informed. They are a prime example of people practicing what they preach by doing whatever they can to spread the word about conservation issues; thereby, improving the world we live in. I was impressed with their ‘Love the Shark Not the Soup’ t-shirts, as this extremely important issue is not very well known amongst the general public (see my previous blog on shark finning).

Shark fins are obtained by a process called ‘finning’ - fishing the shark out of the sea, cutting all 4 of its fins off and throwing the rest of the shark, still alive, back into the ocean. Without its fins, the shark is unable to move, sinks to the ocean floor and either bleeds to death, suffocates from lack of oxygen (gained only by swimming) or is eventually eaten, defenceless, by other predators….

We headed to Tuluk Kekek where we found out halfway through the clean-up that another group had been there picking up garbage the previous day. You would never know it by the amount of rubbish we collected. When the locals saw what we were doing, it didn’t take long for them to come along and join us. For the most part, it is the locals who do the littering due to lack of education on environmental issues. We found ALL kinds of garbage from diapers to boat engines to straws and plastic bags. I can’t help but wonder how different the world would be, environmentally, without the invention of plastic. I had mentioned in an earlier blog that there is estimated to be 46,000 floating plastic pieces per square mile of ocean, according to a 2006 UN Study.

After we filled up every last garbage bag, I went along with Pete to take photos of the platforms located offshore that were overflowing with them. He wanted to send the photos into the authorities so they could see that there has to be another alternative to storing the garbage. If it all just falls back into the ocean, there is not much point to the beach clean-ups.

Watercolours joined up with Reef Check and Wild Asia to enforce a Sustainable Islands Programme. While I was on the island, a group of divers from Kuala Lumpur came to survey the health of the coral reef and I was lucky enough to meet them and take photographs for Pete’s blog. The data they gather is used to educate the public and raise awareness about the decline of the reefs.

Watercolours is also one of the first facilities in Malaysia to offer an Eco-Diver Course in association with Reef Talk where divers can learn how to participate in monitoring surveys and conservation.

View footage of Reef Check Surveys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkCyyFEIow8

My trip to the Perhentians would not be complete without going for a scuba dive myself! I likened it a little to surfing in that you forget about all of the scary things in the ocean once you become enmeshed in the beauty surrounding you. It’s a strange thing breathing underwater and takes some getting used to. My favourite part was swimming over top of the fish as they turned to give me the ‘ol fish eye! I felt like I was part of their world for a moment and felt such compassion for the ocean and all its inhabitants. Visit the Reef Check and Wild Asia links to learn more about what you can do to help sustain our oceans.

Sign the Declaration of Reef Rights here: http://www.reefcheck.org/petition/petition.php

My last night on the islands, I was getting ready for bed and noticed a spider on my bedspread. Ladies and gentlemen, this was no ordinary spider. It was big and brown and thick and FAST! I didn’t have any tools to work with to safely contain the beast and transport it out of my room so I called for back-up.

Rosie and Duncan came over with their spider removal device or SRD for short (a water bottle cut in half) but as soon as Rosie came near the spider, it crawled over and underneath the bed. So we lifted up the mattress and put it against the wall. We then discovered that there were holes in the liner and it was probably hiding inside. This gave me NO comfort as all I could think about was it crawling out in the middle of the night to creep all over me while I sleep (I know I’m a pansy)! Luckily for me, Rosie and Duncan volunteered their mosquito net so I could cocoon myself in from the fierce creature.

Moments later, I noticed a gargantuan cockroach crawl to Rosie’s feet. I screamed. Rosie screamed. The cockroach ran behind the dresser. We pulled the dresser out and it started to run for cover when Duncan trapped it with the trusty SRD. The SRD involuntarily turned into the CBM – Cockroach Beheading Machine. He didn’t quite get all of the cockroach’s body inside the circumference of the water bottle so the head was sticking out and STILL moving! Duncan and the cockroach went outside for what seemed like several minutes. When he returned, we asked if he had killed it to which he replied, ‘What happened out there is between me and the cockroach.’ I guess I'll never know and think I prefer to keep it that way. Duncan and Rosie from the UK – my heroes!

I overnighted in Kota Bharu the next day and flew back to KL briefly before departing for my last stop in Asia - Kuta, Bali, having no idea that the best time of my life was waiting for me there.

“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed, and is, thereby, a true manifestation of what one feels about life in its entirety...”

- Ansel Adams

Vang Vieng and Vientiane

2008-10-20T18:17:00.001-07:00

All experience is an arch wherethrough gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades for ever and for ever when I move.

- Alfred Lord Tennyson

View photos from Vang Vieng here.

View photos from Vientiane here.

There are no words to describe the bus ride from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. I had never seen landscape like this before. I kept the window wide open taking in the warm wind and smorgasbord of scenery. Andrea, a girl I met on the bus from Germany, and I found a guesthouse, a footbridge away from Vang Vieng when we arrived. It was a peaceful little place in a lovely garden setting. After we settled into our new room, we walked back into town to check things out. Vang Vieng is made up mainly of restaurants serving western food and airing episodes of Friends over and over and over again. It is a surreal place. We met up with some girls from Quebec at one of the restaurants. It was nice but it didn't feel right watching TV surrounded by westerners in a developing country.

Vang Vieng is where most people go for tubing - it sounded super fun but I had not yet tried rock climbing and had been mesmerized by the beauty of the mountains and decided it was high time to conquer one.

The next morning, I met my rock climbing comrades: James – an English bloke about my age who was fresh from several months of traveling in India and still gung ho to do more (his next plan was to rent a boat, buy a tent and head down the Mekong!)। The couple – Vicky and Oron (or at least that’s what I thought I heard) were from Israel and on their way to North India. I was a little bit nervous, especially since I am not Miss Sporty and my companions looked like they’d climbed a mountain or two in the past.

The first climb was awesome but not without moments of ‘GET ME DOWN!’, ‘I am NEVER doing this again!’, and ‘What the hell was I thinking?’ A line kept repeating in my head from Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, ‘When you get to the top of a mountain, keep climbing.’ But really, my favourite part was coming down the mountain - abseiling – the closest I have been to flying yet! In the middle of all of this we had a little mountain side bbq of vegetables, rice and fish skewers served on a banana leaf! Deeee-lish!

The 2^nd climb was a little bit harder and the 3^rd, there was a point where I couldn’t feel my arms and couldn’t quite get used to the fact that if I did let go, the ropes and the guide below would keep me from falling. By the fourth climb, it had started to rain quite heavily and we were on the most difficult climb of the day. Not knowing where to put your foot next can be very disconcerting, but not being able to hear your guide over the rain as to where to head and realizing he means right when he says left (love that language barrier) made it that much more fun! Luckily for me, he yelled at me to come down because of the rain which was right about the time that I was ready to give up and I didn’t have to disappoint my fellow rock climbers by not making it all the way up!J Our descent was even more dangerous than the rock climbing itself. The terrain was made up of jagged rocks covered in slimy dirt that was exceptionally slippery. Nevermind that the decline had to be made almost entirely on all 4s!

I got back to my guesthouse completely knackered, sweaty and covered with red dirt in a euphoric stupor! I had rock climbed finally – and in Laos of all places।

My plans to kayak to Vientiane the next day went out the window (due to my muscles feeling like jello) and opted for a bus ride to Vientiane instead।

I found a place in Vientiane called, Joe’s Guesthouse, recommended for solo women travellers in Lonely Planet. And what a fab choice it was! I felt totally safe there the entire time and it was right in the heart of Vientiane along the river. I decided that this was a good place to back up all of my photos onto DVD and send them onwards to New Zealand. I spent a full week there and had some much needed Tracey Time. I was happy to take pictures, get lost on long walks, spend quality time with my laptop and just stay put for awhile.

Cait and Ada (who I had met in Thailand) recommended that I go to a Forest Wat on the edge of town to get a cheap but quality Laos massage. So I took a tuk tuk there one afternoon and was treated to the best massage since Thailand in an open air hut. She was one of those people BORN to give massages – it was great! I am not looking forward to getting back to the land of $75 massages, for this one cost me only $3 and included a herbal steam. I then walked over to a nearby wat to participate in a guided meditation with monks. About 7 more people came and we waited and waited. Finally, one of the monks said the translator wasn’t coming and then told us to START. 1, 2, 3 MEDITATE! So it wasn’t exactly ‘guided’ but was cool to be meditating with monks in a wat. You could hear them chanting in a temple nearby – tres, tres awesome Saturday afternoon!

It took me a full 5 days for my muscles to recover from rock climbing which also made me very weary। Carrying my backpack, camera and computer equipment were wreaking havoc on my neck and back, to a point where I was tempted to fly straight to NZ from Vientiane. I had planned to go through Bangkok but found a deal with Air Asia to fly directly to Malaysia from Vientiane for $80 CDN, and 3 days later, I was on a plane bound for Kuala Lumpur.

Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.

- Benjamin Disraeli