Morning love

Starting a tradition...

Last year, we had only just moved into our little flat that Earth Hour came along. I really felt like doing something and organised a candle light belgian dinner in our still pretty much unfurnished flat (read: eating sitting on the ground from a table made from milk crates :D ) The candles gave enough light for us to end up leaving the lights off all night instead of just for Earth Hour.

It was so nice, that I really felt like doing it again this year and with this start a new tradition: Candle light evening for Earth Hour with a home-made belgian dinner! :D

This year on the menu:
Sirop de Liège lacquered pork ribs with home-made fries as main (click if you don't know what sirop de liège is)
Dame blanche with strawberries as dessert
Belgian beer tasting (Thanks to Graham who brought these along :) ): Leffe Blonde, Chimay Bleu and Delirium Tremens

aperitif


dinner


relaxing after dinner



there's nothing like belgian chocolate, mmmh :p

Anglo-Australian Telescope weekend

About 2 weeks ago, the MQ Photonics research group at uni organised a trip up to the Anglo-Australian Telescope and Observatory in Siding-Spring, about a 6 hour drive North of Sydney, in the middle of nowhere with a night sky so beautiful that you will keep dreaming and the stars in your eyes for a long long time :)

The group in front of the dome for the 4m AAT telescope


On the Saturday we went for a walk in the Warrumbungles to the Breadknife rock (look well and you'll see the telescope dome in the background... :) )



Chillaxing kangooroo :)


Visit of the telescopes:

The guys in front of the 4m diameter AAT (Nick, Simon, Nem and Alex)


2Df instrument at the back of the telescope, every little black button you see takes in the light of a star on the field of view and sends that light through the fibre attached to it to another instrument for the analysis of the light


One long spectrum...


The view from the telescope dome with Chris



BBQ under the dome in the evening :)


Kangooroos posing for us everywhere on site :)


The beautiful night sky, no comment...




More Telescopes and Alex



Trees full of butterflies, they were huge! Beautiful as well! :)




Some extra pics from the others I thought you might like :)



The guys going crazy with long exposures at night :) promoting the Macquarie student chapter funded vy the Optical Society of America MQ OSA

Photo rally

Just a few pictures I took during a photo rally i participated in with Alex a friend from uni (in the first picture). The point was to walk around Sydney taking pictures of random things being inspired by a few symbols that were given at the start. You could then upload your pictures online and maybe win a prize. These are my favourites i took









Go to http://www.acp.org.au/workshop/foto_rally/entries to see all the entries of the competition.

New Year's Eve in Sydney!

It has been so long, I thought that with the new year it was definitely time to put up some more pictures! :) and what better way to start the new year with pictures from my new year's eve in Sydney. One of the first ones to celebrate 2011, WOUHOUOU!

Sydney is famous for its amazing fireworks, so what people do on new year's eve is that they go and try and find the best spot with the best view of the opera house and harbour bridge and go sit there all afternoon, waiting for midnight to come...
Luckily there's the sunset to entertain you while you wait :)


and planes drawing smileys in the sky...


What the areas with views looks like... and this was not even a crowded place...


And then the fireworks began...



The after shot, looks like Sydney was on fire! ;)


After the fireworks we went to some friend's place and ended the night with the sunrise on the beach! Just perfect end! :)

Me, Mat, Julia and Ksawery on the beach

Sunrise


Feet in the water, washing away all troubles of 2010 (not that there were many) and greeting 2011 with the sunrise, i love it! :) (Thanks Mat for the pic :))


On the ferry on our way home, it was definitely time for bed!


Delayed christmas in Sydney on the 1st, homemade xmas tree and pressies to unpack, wouhouou :D

I woke up yesterday, looked out of the window and...

:)

Lovedale Long Lunch: where it's all about the wine, the food and the good times! :)

Every year, there's a weekend in May where the region of Lovedale in the Hunter Valley (wine region North-West of Sydney for the ones that don't know yet ;)) attracts thousands of people for 2 days of fun in the Sun! Seven wineries and restaurants work together to offer the best wines, food and music to the visitors. Travel from vineyard to vineyard and spread your lunch over the whole day, tasting a bit here and there, buying when you like and enjoying the superb scenery with the music of life bands in the background...

You start early in the morning, so first stop is all about getting in the mood with a cup of coffee and letting the heat of the Sun wake you up :)
Welcome to Sandalyn Wilderness Estate




Time for some food at Gartelmann Hunter Estate


Cured Ocean Trout with a carrot and cucumber salad, creme fraiche and salsa verde and 2009 Gartelmann Jessica Verdelhoto accompany this


No red wine without a nice piece of cheese, right?

The end of the day is approaching at Allandale Windery, last chance to taste the wines, red? white? verdelho, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Semillon, sparkling, Muscat... I ended up buying a Chambourcin from 2003... never heard of this one before, but definitely nice, will be perfect for a nice steak dinner! :d


Long days and a lot of people = a lot of wine


Time to go home already, the day went by way too fast! but at least we get beautiful views to say goodbye... and see you next year for sure! :)