Competition for tissues

Stephanie goes through a lot of tissues. After we moved in together, her mom told me, “Good luck with the tissues.” Lifelong dust and pollen allergies have contributed to her frequently dripping nose. As a result, Stephanie is very particular…

Shoot thinning and wire lifting

After a short break in Nelson and later Blenheim, we found ourselves another wwoofing gig (previously we spent a week milking goats) at an estate vineyard and winery in the Marlborough region, well-known for its Sauvignon Blanc. The vineyard is…

Bird’s nest in the grapevines

Stephanie found this cute bird’s nest in the grapevines today (our last day of wwoofing) while we were shoot thinning Sémillon in the rain. Each egg was no bigger than my fingertip. Bird’s nest in the grapevines

Do not lean over side of railings

To reach Christchurch for our flight out of New Zealand on Sunday, we took the TranzCoastal train starting from Blenheim. The best part was the viewing car, which was open to the air on the sides—great for taking photos (and…

Tropical Bali

Before arriving in Bali, we decided it’d be wise (for a change) to book our accommodation in advance—on the assumption that transitioning from New Zealand to Bali was going to be a bigger leap than from the container ship to…

The long way from Sanur to Ubud

Last Friday, we finally left the comfort of Tropical Bali and ventured deeper into the island. We hired a driver recommended by the hotel to take us to Ubud (a little under an hour away), where we planned to spend…

Rice paddies around Ubud

A few days ago Stephanie and I took a walk through the rice paddies north of Ubud. I found the unplanted (or already harvested) ones particularly photogenic, as you can easily see the borders demarcating each individual paddy (or terrace).…

Merry Christmas from Bali and Austin

Over the last 7 years, I’ve turned the obligatory family photo at Christmas into a chance to wish everyone a happy holidays on my blog. (For an interesting look back, see: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 A, 2009…

Balinese cooking

During our first weekend in Ubud, there were two things we wanted to do: sign up for a cooking class and find a new place to stay. Regarding the latter, we stumbled upon Gayatri Bungalows, which was cheaper (~$25/night), cleaner,…

The souvenir I didn’t get…yet

Ubud is a shopper’s paradise, and not just for souvenirs. Paintings, sculpture, clothing, furniture, and more are all available for sale, much of it locally handmade and at reasonable prices. Of course we don’t have extra room in our packs,…

Updating WordPress from Bali

Just happened to notice the WordPress 3.0.4 security vulnerability update in my feedreader this afternoon. Was even more alarmed to see the following post from Dreamhost: WordPress hack cropping up on some customer sites. Eeek! On the plus side, our…