Hello From My Hammock!

Nate & I spent the first two nights at Rasta's house and then moved on to a motel down the street so we could each have our own spaces to work and relax. I like the motel because it has a sweet hammock to check my emails in.

Today we were shooting at "The Wreck" in Byron Bay and as I was rigging my camera, a rain drop hit my shoulder... and then another one... and another... Luckily we had our rain covers with us because its a pretty long trek back to the car. We threw them on as fast as we could and started the wet run down the beach. I was so worried about my baby!! Everything is ok though.. no damage.

THE WRECK


Photo By Our New Friend Hilton Dawe

After the boys came in from surfing we hit up one of MANY amazing eateries in Byron. The Shepherds Pie was so incredibly tasty! It's like beef stew, but with lentils (Yes Christa, Lentils!) and other veggies that I always say I don't like. Guess I do now!

Finished off the afternoon with gelato.

PS- I LOVE my job!

EARTHLY SUGGESTION OF THE DAY:
(Worth 10 blog points)
Go to http://www.seashepherd.org/ and check it! ("check it" stolen from TW<3)

ITS POURING AGAIN, Gotta run!

Love
Michel

AUSTRALIA

WE HAVE ARRIVED!

G'day mates. Nathan & I landed in Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon and proceeded outside to wait for our shuttle.
As we waited, we noticed a few police officers gathering around a bag left on the curb... They roped off the area and pushed us off to the side for our "safety." We took turns hiding behind each other saying, "If a bomb goes off I will be covered in your entrails!" You've gotta stay sarcastic in those situations.





We then boarded our shuttle and headed for our rental car lot...
2 HOURS LATER we arrived at Ned Kelly's Car Rental, grabbed a Hyundai and headed towards Brunswick Heads, NSW. (Rasta's house)

The Surf has been pumping since we got here. Rastovich & Del Moro are ripping!
Our days are filled with great organic food and lots of philosophic conversation. Oh, and filming!

I have uploaded heaps of photos to my Flickr

PS- I am AMAZED at the natural beauty of Australia so I have done a little research to find out why it is so awe-inspiring. Every blog I post while I am here I will recommend one thing the Aussie's do and suggest that you take action at home to start bringing the beauty back to to America.

SUGGESTION OF THE DAY: Start using reusable bags for all grocery purchases. (I know you probably all know this one.. but I hope that you can all begin to practice it! If you already use them, you just earned 5 blog points!)




Love,
Michel

TRAVEL IS BACK!

Hello all,
I would like to welcome everyone back to my travel writings!
It's a new year and with it, comes new travel.

I am currently working on an amazing surf film, directed by Nathan Apffel.
Shoot Locations are as follows: Hawaii, Mainland Mexico, Todos Santos, Australia. & Indonesia.
So far, we have been to Hawaii, Todos, and Mainland Mex, (Huatulco, Barra, Oaxaca).

WE LEAVE FOR AUSTRALIA TODAY!
I am very excited but very tired because we have been in Mexico for the last 7 days and we don't have much time to prep for our 20 day trip to AUS.

Mexico was a lot of fun. We shot with pro surfer, Hans Hagen.
The first rental car they gave us had a flat tire. And they STILL tried to give it to us! So this was the second rental car that we packed to the gills with gear.




Mornings were spent on the beach in Barra, shooting Hans & Friends, until the winds switched onshore and we normally headed back to the hotel for Juevos Mexicana. Sometimes we would head back to Barra for an afternon session and sometimes we would go shoot natural elements.




One thing I love about Mexico (not many things in total) is that they have a "cradle-to-cradle" policy for glass bottles, which means they RE-USE them. Not RECYCLE. This cuts down on pollution and costs a lot less than Recycling.



And to end the first travel writing of 2009... I give you a work of art!




AUSTRALIA writings coming SOON!