Surfing on Santa Monica Beach - Aug 07

Hatchie turned 29 on the 2nd of August and her wish was to have a surf lesson. The part that was most interesting to me was the yoga lesson before it (included in the package) so we (Hatchie, Bel, Sam and I) set out for a day of fun.

I managed to stand up twice (no images for proof of course) but you will have to believe me.

Fun day, I am im no immediate hurry to return to the surf (still nursing bruised knee caps..) but was a great laugh.

Tulum, Mexico - July 2007

Hatchie and I flew to Cancun on 4 July and then transferred to Tulum, which is 1.5 hours south to arrive at our resort called 'Maya Tulum'. http://www.mayatulum.com/ It was amazing. Called a wellness retreat, we were spoilt with 3 hours of yoga and amazing healthy meals for 5 nights. We had this incredible beach villa with just 10 steps to the waterfront, waking up each morning included a quick dip in the ocean, it was so relaxing. Included in our package was some incredible spa treatments, it was heaven. Some included the mayan clay mask and chocolate nobility. The chocolate nobility was my favourite - here they exfoliate you in ground up cocoa then they paint you in chocolate which sinks into your skin making it feel incredible, then after your second shower they massage you in cocoa oil - your skin looks so polished - oh god take me back!

One of the highlights included a private tour to the ruins of the now Seven Wonders of the World at Chichinitza - you can no longer climb it (as someone fell and died) but it was great to see it. Actually when we were there they were filming it in preparation for the possibility of being included into the 7 wonders.

We went to these amazing 'cenotes' like under water wells. The pictures dont do them justice - just take a trip there and see how amazing these fresh water wells are. (see pic)

I dont usually go back to the same places but this time i will make an exception. I will definitely one day go back - it was a dream holiday come true!

Friendly faces

Always up for fun visitors - LA is a good stop for a few days!

Andrew particularly loved meeting the Supernova Rockstar winner who was trying to eat his supersized chicken nugget. Cathy was beside herself laughing along with me.

Loved having Katy visiting, cant wait to see you and Creany again in August!

Nicole visited sunny LA in May and I am lucky to see her again later in the year, another Willow Spa visit is in order I think!

Lee Lee Lamour visits frequently so will have to capture a good shot next time she breezes in in July!

Aunty Gail and Uncle Arch visited in September and they loved breakfast on the beach at Paradise Cove - my favourite visitor hot spot, great food and great views....

Petra and Chris headed off for the hills in August and our last night dancing at the Buffalo Club was a fun one. Come back soon for a visit!

Yosemite Adventures - June 07

Packed with adventure (and plenty of adrenalin) Bel and I (Team Nevada) hiked to Nevada Falls, an 11km (8 mile) adventure which took the best part of 6 hours. For 2 non hikers, we did damn good!

Being the adventure seekers we are (hahaha) we decided our day was not complete without a trail ride with some fine horses. 5 minutes into the ride we were met by a bear and her 3 cubs - yes that means 4 bears. If Bel's deep breathing didnt scare me enough, the growling in the woods did. The guide did little to calm us when over the walky talky she screams 'urgent assistance required, we have bears beside us'. With both of our horses on two legs we desperately wanted to turn back but we pushed on. Fun in the end, yet tiring and burning legs for days - however, another adventure complete!

Team Half Dome were so impressive, they hiked 16 miles (20kms) from 530am - 700pm, climbing cables and up a 45 degree angle, what an achievement. Not for me this time, but maybe one day.

It was wildlife central, and as much as I tried to be at one with nature, it is just not my calling! I guess no big surprise for those who know and love me!

Terrific weekend was had by all, thanks to the Queen for having a birthday!

Thanks to Hatchie, Kristen, Sam and Bel for a fabulous time and for organising such awesome weather also!

Check out the video for some fun pics and the sound track is care of Bel - well done!

G'day LA Ball - 07

I was on red carpet duty so had the walky talky and called the info through when the stars entered the carpet. Very fun and some great memories ‘meeting’ Olivia Newton John, John Travolta, Cate Blanchett, Naomi Watts, Cameron Daddo, Russell Crowe, Catriona Rowntree, Kieren Perkins, Kym Wilson and of course the lovely Irwins, what a lovely family.

Here is a pic of my best buddies here in LA who work for TA, Belinda, Michelle (Hatchie my room mate in green) and Amy.

New York State of Mind - Oct 06

There is no better place to go for a good girly weekend getaway than New York. My friend Kylie Robertson who is the PR Manager for Hamilton Island, offered her lovely apartment for our weekend adventures. I was very excited to see that she lived one street away from Carrie's apartment set for Sex and the City. I was quite the stalker as she also lives on the same street. Charles Street, for those inquisitive friends of mine! We certainly enjoyed a food and wine tour of the city and hit the Gansevoort Hotel, Lotus Bar and Club, Pastis, Magnolia Bakery and ran into none other than Kerri Russell (Felicity) and Blythe Danner (Meet the Fockers).

Thanks Kylie once again, we had a blast!

Mum and Dad visit Vancouver - May 06

Mum and Dad visited Vancouver on their way to their Alaskan journey. It was great to spend some time with them in gorgeous Vancouver, it is really just like Sydney Harbour, only not as good!

Saying good bye was hard again and who knew when I would see them again.

I love visitors so feel free to come any time! Lucky for me, Michelles loves new faces also!

Thelma and Louise Road Trip - Nov 06

Well as Thanksgiving gives us a 4 day weekend, we decided to high tail it out of LA and hit the open road.

What an amazing 4 days…this was one awesome and visually stunning road trip. Take a look at the attached outline of our trip. Keep it at the back of your mind when you next come to the US. It was really very fun and I was so impressed with what can be achieved in just 4 days – around 1200 miles!

My room mate Michelle (better known as Hatchie) and I flew to Las Vegas after work on Wednesday, rented our SUV (we ended up with a great Jeep Liberty) and checked into the Luxor Hotel. One thing I have always loved about Vegas is how fun it is to stay at a new hotel each time you go. I am slowly working my way up the strip (so to speak…)

DAY ONE – VEGAS / WILLIAMS / GRAND CANYON
So we started off early on Friday and left Vegas around 8am. We flew most of the way and for the most part drove at around 90 miles p/h, around 120 kms/h which was great fun. Can you imagine no cop cars on a holiday weekend – well not that we knew of, maybe we just drove too fast past them?

Later in the day after going through some cool little towns we arrived at the gorgeous Grand Canyon. We had both been there before but it was still so special. This was Thanksgiving evening and we had a great turkey dinner with all the trimmings at a lovely lodge called Bright Angel Lodge at the rim of the Canyon. It was great to be able to spend this celebration away and even better not to do the dishes later!

DAY TWO – GRAND CANYON / MONUMENT VALLEY / NATURAL BRIDGES / CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK
Next day we left to explore Monument Valley and the Natural Bridges before arriving at Capitol Reef National Park. Monument Valley is only around 2 miles long but it was incredible to see these amazing ‘monuments’ just pop out of nowhere. They say there are literally hundreds of Indian jewelers along the way but thankfully for us they too took the Thanksgiving as holidays and we kept our money safe in our wallets.

This day we failed to recognize a small squiggle on our maps. Well of course this happened when I was driving. Here we are admiring the amazing scenery when all of a sudden the road narrows and we get signs of unsealed roads ahead for the next 10 miles. The road not only narrows it starts to wind uncontrollably and I absolutely freak out. There are no guard rails and one bad move you are straight off the ledge into a valley I couldn’t even look out the window at. Oh my god, the scariest driving experience ever. Hatchie was on look out for any cars and when came I just moved over and let them pass. It was nothing less than frightening. This day was a long day of driving, around 200 miles too long for me.

DAY THREE – CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK / BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK / ZION NATIONAL PARK
This was probably a real highlight of the trip. We left around 9am and very soon arrived into Bryce. Wow what a place. Even though my photos came out well the beauty of Bryce cannot be captured in a photo. It is all in my mind. Hatchie decided the only way to see this Park was by hiking. Yes those of you who know me well know I am not the keenest hiker, however, when in Rome…..it really was special but so was the cold. Although I prefer cold to warm I do need to be better prepared. It was about 10C and I had two layers on. My beanie, gloves, scarf etc were safely in my drawers in LA useless to me. We did a 2.5 hour hike and did see some amazing views.

Later in the afternoon we arrived into Zion. This was my favorite place. We did about an hours hike into the Emerald Lakes which was very pretty. We stayed at the Zion Lodge and it was great, we upgraded to a cabin with a fireplace but no TV. We went and heard the ranger talk to see what we were getting ourselves into. The ranger advised that rattle snakes, cougars, mountain lions, scorpions and tarantulas exist throughout the canyon. Very comforting and with that we were both off to sleep early.

DAY FOUR – ZION NATIONAL PARK / VEGAS
I really wanted to do a horse ride along the river but as it was winter they do not operate. Basic walk to start with, around 45 minutes - see Hatchie being superwoman. Very pretty and this took us into the base of the canyon. In summer you can hire special shoes and walk through this area.

Then we started walk number 2. I know my limits but sadly Hatchie does not. She just keeps going. Given that I knew that snakes and spiders existed up there I was cautious with every step that I took. Fortunately for me I never met or saw anything I didn’t like. It was a big hike around 2.5 hours but stunning views and again some great pics.

We got into Vegas around 6pm showered and off to dinner at MON AMI GABI within the Paris Hotel, this evening was stayed at MGM, home of Studio 54 (oh the memories Leeann) and Olivia Newton John who was there last week performing.

Up early Monday morning (tough 4.30am wake up call) and to the airport to fly back to LA for work.

The fun was over till the next adventure.....