For the most part neither of us are huge fans of passages ... we aren't about the sailing but rather about the destinations. However it never ceases to thrill and entertain us when a pod of dolphins plays at our bow.
Photo taken enroute to the Maldives from Thailand (1062 nautical Miles out 464 to go)
View Map of Location

A Good Day at Sea , by SailBillabong.

I recently connected with an old high school friend and learned she now lives in Dunedin, New Zealand. New Zealand was a definite highlight for us. I went back through our archives to remind myself of the Dunedin area and came across a few beach shots from the Tunnel Beach Walk. This is a fantastic, easy walk that takes you to secluded beaches surrounded by tall limestone cliffs. Outstanding!

View Map of Location

Tunnel Beach Walk, by SailBillabong.

The Nekowiar Festival, held in Tanna Vanuatu, is a once in a lifetime experience. Imagine thousands of people, in a small village, in the middle of Tanna, dancing for three days straight. It is completely amazing!

View Map of Location

Vanuatu Dancing, originally uploaded by SailBillabong.

If you ever get a chance to walk through the jungles of Borneo and view the wild Orangutans - jump on it! These are fantastic creatures - one could easily spend hours being entertained by them.

Shot taken in Kumai, Borneo - Indonesia. View Map of Location

The Big Male & His Girlfriend, originally uploaded by SailBillabong.

Koh Dam Hok, Thailand is only accessible by water. It has a tiny little sand beach, crystal clear waters, and a small cave. Amazingly green foliage grows from the black and gray cliffs which tower over you. It is a very special spot.

View Map of Location

Little Cove of Paradise, originally uploaded by SailBillabong.

There are few things more impressive then standing before a huge block of ice - talk about making you feel small! The Franz Josef Glacier is located on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Franz Josef is a 12 km long glacier that descends from the Southern Alps to less than 300 meters above sea level - right into a green and lush rainforest! Hiking on this glacier was one of our best experiences in New Zealand - a definite don't miss!

View Map of Location

Franz Josef Glacier, originally uploaded by SailBillabong.

I'm not normally a morning person, but when the day starts out with a scenic (and serene) hike through the woods it's hard to complain! This photo was shot at the base of Mt Warning in New South Wales, Australia.

View Map of Location

Rays in the Forest, originally uploaded by SailBillabong.

The other day we took a ferry over to Greece. It was the perfect day trip. We wandered around the small island (Kasterlorizo) for a few hours and enjoyed a lazy waterside lunch. This photo was one of the first we've tried HDR techniques on. It's not the ideal or most interesting photo for HDR, however we did notice that it gives the photo just a bit of a "pop".

View Map of Location

Kastelorizo Harbor, originally uploaded by SailBillabong.

We thought it would be fun to occasionally take a look back. Where were we at this time last year and the year before and the year before that and ... you get the idea! So, where were we in late August of ...

2004 Suwarrow, Cook Islands
A beautiful atoll with native adventures

2005 Savusavu, Fiji
A fun small town with a family feel

2006 Port Resolution, Tanna, Vanuatu
A heart pounding experience with an active volcano

2007 Riung, Flores, Indonesia
A peaceful spot away from everything

BlurbBits for this Entry

(use the BlurbBits Photo maps to view each location)

Three panoramic views from around the world. The scenic variety is endless and the views never cease to awe us.

Blue Mountains; just outside of Sydney, Australia View Map of Location

Rice Padi fields near Kelimutu, Indonesia View Map of Location

Matagi Bay, Fiji View Map of Location

New Zealand is full of waterfalls, and they are all amazing. The Purakaunui Falls in the Catlins Region of the South Island was one of our favorites. This photo has been edited to give it a more "sketched" feel ... let us know what you think!

Purakaunui Falls - Sketched, originally uploaded by SailBillabong.

View Map of Location

A highlight of our travels was a trip up the river in Kumai, Indonesia and into the Tanjung Putting National Park. Here we got a chance to watch the amazing orangutans. The park sets up feeding stations in the jungle. The goal is to keep the orangutans away from the local farms, where the farmers kill any ape or monkey feeding on the crops, by providing a supplemental feeding. The orangutans are not captured or caged - they are still very much wild animals.

It was most entertaining to watch the dynamics of the orangutans as they ate ... especially in regards to the buckets of milk. This one ape in particular seemed to find the bucket almost of more interest than the milk inside. The following three photos are a series. It was getting slightly dark, so the photos aren't of the best quality but perhaps you'll find them entertaining!

BlurbBits for this Entry

View Map of Location

It's a bit ironic that one of the first things we did when we started our land tour of Egypt was to hop back onto a boat for a sail! But it is the Nile after all; how could we possibly visit Egypt and not sail the Nile?

Felucca ride on the Nile, originally uploaded by Sail Billabong.

View Map of Location

Our apologies as we have been 'at sea' and unable to post. To make up for the missing weeks, here are three photographs. We love photographing children; they are beautiful and fun and really enjoy seeing their picture in the LCD screen afterwards. Two of the photos were shot in the mountain highlands of Indonesia (Kupang) and the third was shot in Vanuatu.

BlurbBits for this Entry

(use BlurbBits photo map to see locations)

This photograph was taken near Komodo Island in Indonesia. We really lucked out when the turtle lined up perfectly with the snorkeler!

Underwater Diver and Turtle, originally uploaded by Sail Billabong.

View Map of Location

We are just getting ourselves organized (you know sorting through those 22,000 photographs) ... in the meantime here are a couple of shots that we had lying around in our Picasa Web Albums. Once we get organized we will post a photo or slide show every week. The photos in this introductory slide show are from varying locations throughout the world.

BlurbBits for this Entry

(use the BlurbBits photo maps to view location)