Jet Lag Day 4

Everything is turned upside down. Light hurts my eyes. Walls have an unusual sway to them. I didn't think I had any approximation of a routine before now, but coming back to America has proven to me that, barring a few discreet exceptions, I did in fact used to sleep at least some in the night and become active during the day.

Yesterday I was thinking the only thing I could do about it would be to return--immediately--to Australia. But after another day of sleeping in two hour increments around a twenty-four hour clock it's clear that it's not so simple as my body belonging elsewhere in time, so much as I'm really going to have to work at this. My only option now is recovery.

Thank you to all of the photographers who cancelled this week for giving me so little inspiration to pull myself together.

Sydney

Us in our favorite hotel in Melbourne - The Lindrum, by Barry L.

Just arrived in beautiful sunny Sydney! I'm sitting on Malcolm's balcony taking it all in. Our host was dashing and brilliant this morning, arriving at Avalon airport just in time to give us the key! Poor planning led to Mal being in Melbourne for the gallery closing just on the day we were leaving for his place. Thank you so so very much for your help!

The last two days in the Melbourne area we actually stayed in Geelong with a very sweet and helpful couple who took us along the Great Ocean Road for a shoot with results I already know are fantastic. They satiated our Australian wildlife cravings by driving us to the local kangaroos favorite golf course so we could cruise them most american-ly.

And now....Sydney. So happy to be here at last.

Spring Fever

J'taime, Melbourne! I don't have any pictures yet, so I'm posting one from Marty taken last winter instead. Because he rocks.

We've had very good luck the past few days. Yesterday we met a wonderful photographer who put us in this dream hotel (giant bay windows!) and treated us to an extraordinary evening in the city. After being in a youth hostel with no privacy or space the last three days, we decided this morning to stay another day.

In Brisbane I had terrible hay fever and had to actually stop a shoot early because my symptoms were so out of control, even after dosing myself Aussie and American pharmaceuticals. In Melbourne, however, we're getting delightful spring weather and the perfect location for talking long walks, meeting new people, drinking gallons of flat white (latte without the froth), and reinvigorating our lust for travel. It's not Tropical North Queensland paradise, but it's a very inviting city where I'm feeling very calm and comfortable

If I didn't love New York so then I might consider staying...

Americans Jump New Zealand

Here's Edward and I, cold and exhilarated after our respective bungy jumps in Lake Taupo. (The hats were an essential part of our NZ experience!) He has created a gallery of some of our best tourist moments HERE on our group's communal blog. I won't drain any more of Eco Village's limited bandwidth by reposting.

I am so glad Edward was able to come and join the Zoefest love this year, but he has already journeyed back to the USA. We miss you!

Reef Diving

It had been so long after my certification that I admit it was nerve-wracking to dive back in without a refresher. Still, I was not going to give up any opportunity to gear up for the Great Barrier Reef experience. Edward and I enjoyed two (disappointingly sharkless) dives this week and his camera survived the plunge, leaving us with these pictures. Hopefully they do the underwater world some justice. Thank you for letting me share these, E!

The boat picked us up at Mission Beach and carried us about an hour and a half from shore to this stunning lagoon where we enjoyed a fairly shallow dive around the inner reef and a somewhat deeper excursion around its outer walls. Visibility was not the greatest, but bright sun and shallow water left plenty to see even just circling on a snorkel. I didn't realize that snorkeling and diving would result in so much sun exposure on my legs--the short wetsuit left a sunburn that Malcolm referred to as "the red garters."

Petting a giant clam

Clownfish

Pufferfish

Spring is here!

Eric Scott, Raumati Beach NZ

After a grueling day of travel from NYC, Chicago and Atlanta, five of us converged in the San Francisco airport two weeks ago and set off for New Zealand. We arrived in Auckland, flew to Wellington, immediately rented a car, took the Interislander ferry to Picton on the South Island and drove to Nelson, where we arrived in truly a wonderland for the senses. The longest flight of our lives proved to not be as bad as we expected, New Zealand Air had individual screens for movies and games and we were all comfortable enough to get nearly a full night's sleep to get us through all of the driving and seafaring to the South Island. Eric arranged all of the travel and accommodations and did a brilliant job in picking out gorgeous B&Bs with extremely helpful hosts. We did wind up with a few hours to spare in Wellington and out of the car someone spotted a large sign advertising NUDE so, to avoid culture shock, we all scrambled to the nearest art museum before our ferry trip.

The first three days we were more or less rained out, managing to shoot in a few clear(er) moments, but otherwise being forced to enjoy a maddeningly beautiful landscape from inside the car. We were pleasantly surprised by New Zealand food and all declared ourselves on diets after leaving the country.

After returning to the North Island, the weather cleared up a bit and Eric and I shot the above image on Raumati Beach, just north of Wellington. We then journeyed to Lake Taupo, where three of us bungy jumped into the lake in New Zealand's highest water touch bungy. Edward and I would later jump off of the Sky Tower in Auckland, a sort of base-jump inspired wired free fall over the city. From Taupo, we visited different sites between the lake and Rotorua--amazing waterfalls, hiking volcanic areas, swimming in natural hot springs.

Now I'm working and relaxing in Australia, at a resort on Mission Beach in tropical Queensland surrounded by friends, old and new. The weather is HOT and we will never run out of things to do between the Great Barrier Reef and the miles of rainforest to explore. One of the highlights of Australia so far as been the Crocodile Farm in Innisfail, where we got to hand feed kangaroos and wallabies, hold the baby crocodile and snakes, and attend a crocodile feeding. Even though we were in a zoo, it was still fun to get to see a lot native wild animals up close.

I'm at the same art photography festival that I attended last year in Joshua Tree with much of the same people. I am so grateful to have been invited to be a part of this group. Thanks to Zoe for organizing such an amazing assortment of models and photographers from all over the world and bringing us together for such a unique and unforgettable experience!

My travels in Australia don't stop with Zoefest. I return to NYC on Nov. 1 after spending the rest of the month exploring and shooting in the major cities. Here are my remaining travel plans:

Cairns - Oct 13

Brisbane - Oct 14-17

Melbourne - Oct 18-23

Sydney - Oct 24-31

There are still many openings for Vassanta and myself and we are both interested in meeting new people who might be able to show us around or provide accommodations in exchange for photo shoots!

We'd also like to start booking in New York the first ten days of November and then are discussing a trip up to Boston and Portland, Maine later in the month if we can find enough interest. I can't believe I'll only be in the US until Thanksgiving...after that INDIA!

Oldies

I just got these photos back from a shoot in Atlanta over three years ago. I wonder if I'll still be getting new edits back when I'm forty years old of material that was shot when I was twenty-one.

It's interesting how models often have to sign releases that explicitly include clauses that the photos can be published in any medium and edited using any technology available now as well as that which will be invented in the future. Nothing troubling about that, but something too over my head to think about.