The Essence
Trip Start
Jun 25, 2007
1
12
Trip End
Jul 24, 2007
Eudlo, Australia
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
When we left for our trip, it was Karon's job to organise everything and make sure the trip ran smoothly whilst it was my job to capture the essence of each country we visited through the camera lens. No doubt you will understand that you have to "commit" to the photo to capture the true essence of a country. This committing to the photo was a valuable technique that I had learnt from watching John on our previous journey to Western Australia.
As we journeyed, I took many photos. Occasionally I would exclaim to Karon "Now that's the essence!" In actually fact a photo of a water buffalo is hardly the essence of a country even if it is a cute pink water buffalo.
To capture the essence of a country is remarkably difficult. Think of what is the essence of Australia. Is it football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars as some people would have us believe? The image of a drover? Ularu? The Barrier Reef or some other geographical icon? Maybe the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge?
I was a bit perplexed about what was to be "my essence".
After travelling for a month around exotic locations, I started to miss a few things about Oz. Maybe this is the essence not only of a country but of my life?
The things I missed most were/are:
· Family
· Grand kids (of course these are family but it amazes me to think how much I missed these little guys)
· Work - We might grumble about our day to day grind but we are blessed to have health and employment. (I won't be rushing back to the classroom however.)
· Home - Sitting on the verandah in the quiet of a Mistymorn. Surfing on golden sands! (fortunately that's where I surf as out in the waves is a bit hazardous)
· Friday night footy - especially watching the Broncos (if they win!)
· Food - although wasp's larvae and cobra are yum, a good Sunday roast with lots of baked potatoes is really the bee's knees or do they eat them too?
· Your own bed - teak is for the bed ends not the mattress!
Using these as the "essences" of a country I have included in this, my final blog entry, pictures from the countries we visited covering these dot points.
And finally we were at all times proud Aussies taking our job as "peace ambassadors" seriously saying "g'day mate!" ad nauseum or demonstrating our cultural heritage by singing classic aussie songs like Khe Sanh or being iconic animals like Wallabies.
"Oh Really!!!"
Thank you for participating in our incredible adventure xxxx
(Karon insisted that it was a necessary requirement of all good Q'landers to have fourexs.
Comments
Essence!!
Hmm well I considered all the shots carefully and some definitely stuck in my mind!! I liked the one with Karon and the tiger plus Im a tiger being born in 1950 and the water buffulo in the river but hey I couldnt go past Grand Kids 4 the children with Bernie the king of the kids. That shot almost brought a tear to my eye. Bern you are such a wonderful teacher and kids of every nation and every generation owe more to you that you could imagine. That shot shows the interconnectedness of all spirits in all lands in total meaning and it was just the absolute best one - the real essence!! And Id say worth the trip in that one moment. Congratulations mate!!
Essence choices
My choices of country essence is 2,9, 10, 17, but all the photos are great, I thoughly enjoyed your trip, love Denese
Re: Essence choices
Very very nice photos! In fact I'd say essential viewing!
I especially like th e interactive ones, so hill lady, Karon and the hat even parent and child or kids playing but especially the animal/people interacting; patting the tiger looked great was this photo before tor after the tummy rub? and the one with Bernie and the elephant...does it look good as a matching pair with Karon's expression of delight when being cuddled (if that's the right word) by the same elephant? but best of all i think (agreeing with Ray) is Bernie the king of the kids!
Thanks a lot!
John
Grand Kids five
Having only just arrived home from Thailand myself this photo speaks to having played with these in their own village I had a chance to experiences the simple joy the experiences and don't take for advantage as I'm prone to doing.. The people are beautiful and its a great shot dad.. That's Gold!!!
Luke
Natural essence
My thought of a picture that captures essence cant be a posed photo, it would be a sight you see with your own eyes if one was to visit the country and walk by... therefore Grand Kids 1 and Grand Kids 5 are my choice for a pic 'capturing essence'. Love all the pics though and look forward to getting to the see the rest and hear all the good stories. Love Andrew