Bre, Michelle, Martin & Chris at the Golden Sheaf, Cherry Jam and some infamous French fairwell party.

 

I think Michelle described it in her email the most accurate way:

 

- First visit to the Golden Sheaf
- The most divine lamb salad I've ever tasted (also the only lamb salad I've ever tasted)
- First visit to cherry jam
- Surf
- Coffee (and sugar)
- Watching Chris flip out looking for parking... and Martin remaining calm - golden.
- Arriving and staying in good company
- Dancing thanks to Bre
- And well great photos thanks to... well the 3 of you.

I'm totally exhausted but writing this with a huge smile. Thank-you to all three of you for an absolutely fantastic weekend.

 

 

Bre and Martin

 

 

Bre, Michelle, Martin

 

 

niiice shot

 

 

some improvement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the official invite from Alex, BondiOpenAir sent via email on July 26th, 2006

 

August 4th, 2006

 

Tahitian Manoa Drollet has conquered what is believed to be the biggest wave ever surfed at the notorious reef break of Teahupoo.

 

click the link below to watch this incredible ride, ;-)

 

august 4th, 2006 friday,

 

left work at 4.20pm, picked up Martin's Z4 from BMW, nearly felt asleep at the BMW Service Shop as day was exhausting after Chad and I had kicked some ass for smartpilots australia. managed to be home by 5.40pm. picked up Bree (the new blond stunning Angel from 24,Eastern Ave). Rushed in the sportscar to BJ, bought two tickets for THE LAKE HOUSE, there was even some time left to have a quick chat and enjoy a Chai Latte and a Cappucino, 6.30 movie time, a pack of caramel popcorn and we sit in the theatre just looking at the screen...

 

Alex: Pick a place. I'll be there, I promise.

Kate: [voice over] Here's a little something for you. There was a freak blizzard in the spring of 2004. So, watch out for that April snow.

Henry Wyler: Do you have a girlfriend?
Alex: Uh, you're going to think I'm crazy.

Alex: She's more real to me than anything I've ever known.

Kate: I sometimes feel as if I'm invisible, as if no one can see me at all. I never felt that way when I lived at the Lake House. It's the one place

Kate: [voice over] Dear new tenant, welcome to your new home. I'm sure you'll love living here as much as I did.
Alex: What do you mean lived here?
Kate: Since no one has lived in this house for years.

Kate: [voice over] Ridiculous. For argument's sake, what day is it there?
Alex: April 14th, 2004.
Kate: No. It's April 14th, 2006.
Alex: It's the same day two years apart.

 

Kate: Can this be happening?

Alex: This house is about connections.

Kate: Even though this is clearly impossible, it's amazing.

Alex: [voice over] How's your sunset?
Kate: It's perfect.
Alex: I only wish you were here to share it with me.

Kate: I miss the Lake House. And its trees.

Kate: It's not meant to be.
Alex: No, don't say that. Something must've happened.

Kate: One man I can never meet. Him, I would like to give my whole heart to.

 

Kate Forster: [to Alex] Call me on July 10, 2006 at... 9:05 PM.
[cell phone rings]
Kate Forster: [hesitantly picks it up] Oh, hi Morgan...

 

Alex: I need to make a reservation. Two years from tomorrow.
Hostess: Two years?
Alex: Yes... two years from tomorrow. Alex Wyler.
Hostess: We'll certainly have a place for you.

 

Alex: I think we have the same dog!

 

[to Alex]
Kate Forster: You waited.

 

[to Morgan]
Kate Forster: What is this, Jr. High?

 

[about meeting Kate in the future]
Alex Burnham: I'll wait!

 

Alex: Don't give up on me.

 

[last lines]
Kate: You waited.

 

Kate: Oh, a comedian. What, did you eat clown for breakfast?

 

Alex: I'm an architect. I like to build.

 

Anna Klyczynski: He must write one hell of a letter.

awesome movie!!!

 

it seems, someone has read the TIME TRAVELLERS WIFE, Audrey Niffenegger

 

 

There are two main characters in this story - librarian Henry DeTamble and Clare, the girl/woman he loves throughout his life. What makes this novel so intriguing, is that Henry suffers from Chrono Displacement Disorder, which means he has the habit of time traveling without warning, to places or people in his past or future. In one such trip, when he is 36 years of age, he meets his wife Clare, who is 6 years old at the time. And given that you can't take anything back with you, Henry is unfortunately rather bare on this auspicious occasion - thank goodness he's married to Clare....

And so the story begins, and the reader is instantly caught up in the magic of this strange relationship which sees Clare constantly being left behind as Henry hurtles from the present to the past and/or future...

Of course, it is hard to get your head around the notion at first, and you could think yourself dizzy trying to imagine how it works - don't bother, just go with the flow, and be caught up in the wonderful experience . Part thumping big love story, part Science Fiction and Fantasy, this is a novel which cannot be pigeonholed, and should not be missed.

If you only read one fabulous book this year, make it this one.

 

IT'S LIKE SOMEONE TOOK THE WORLD AND SHOOK IT UP LIKE ONE OF THOSE SOUVENIR SNOW DOMES.

 

NOTHING IS WHERE IT USED TO BE...

 

Five Indonesioan guys are listening to Eminen as they cruise downtown Kuta in an old Holden Kingswood. An Canadian couple are entering Cafe Oz , on the Rue Sain-Denis in the heart of Paris, and ordering two bottles of Budweiser. An Irish man is drunk - okay, some things never change - and struggling to master the Tango with an Argentinian woman in Barcelona. People are eating sushi in Dubbo, paella in Dallas and Wiener Schnitzel in Dubai. You can learn capoeira on Bondi Beach and buy a pair of vintage cowboy boots in Moscow.

 

People used to try and shorten the distance between Point A and Point B. Now it seems you can never have too many destinations in between...

 

TRANSIT

 

spotted in transit magazine, issue two, w005

 

 

bondi beach at 07.30am

 

 

another sunny august winter day 2006

 

 

 

unbelievable how fast time goes by.

 

On the 17th of July, 2005 Smartpilots Australia opened officially its gates and put its first fleet of branded SmartCars on the roads of Sydney. It was not an easy start and some unforseen events in the first half of 2005 did not make things easier. I won't forget the day, when John and I went to our first meeting to introduce the Management of Daimler Chrysler Australia to Smartpilots Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this picture was taken in Jannuary 2005. A lot of research on the market and first founding steps for the business have been made.

 

One Year and ten days later, Smartpilots Australia has achieved quite a bit. Within the last 12 months, we managed to sign 12 highly established brands on board. Smartpilots Australia developed its services to Melbourne and Brisbane and is therefore operating on a national level. 

 

 

Sunday, just yesterday...What a weekend again. Went climbing to St.Peters Climbing Hall with Mr.Kratky and did not manage the overhang, :-(((( Good evening action at the Golden Sheaf in Double Bay. Went for drinks at 8 to catch up with Pip, Karina and the others. Had to leave after Midnight because I promised to come to Rebecca's FAIRY party in Surry Hills. Martin was pissed that we had to leave - he was working on an US chick, can't remember her name and a stunning Ozzie, called Christina. Bumped into Ugene from Aquabumps who just returned from an insane boat trip in Indo. Everyone was briefed as he kept us updated via his newsletter service on www.aquabumps.com.au Check it out, it's a fantastique surfers site.

 

Anyway getting back to Pip's lunch invitation. Martin went for an aerobatics flight lesson in the morning while I intened to go for a surf around 9am. Still can't believe it by myself but I slept in till 10.30. Too late for any surfaction as lunch was scheduled for 12.30. Shit...and the waves looked just amazing. Weather was perfect, blue skies, sunshine and 25deg. Small breakfeast on the terrace, talking on the mobile about last night and Pip calling me to tell, Chris bring the surfboard with, waves looks stunning, we go for a surf afterwards...splendid!

 

Jumped on my push bike, bag over my shoulder, surfboard in the left hand and down to Bondi. Nic and Pip were the first and waiting at the bar of North Bondi Italian Food, Ramsgate Avenue. Just downstaires of North Bondi RSL. What a nice place!

 

 

 

Pip and Kersty

 

 

Nic, Kersty and Pip

 

 

Martin and the Chicks

 

 

Karina the pocket rocket

 

 

Pip's camera is not an easy go...

 

 

sweet Karina and me (we tried a million times to get it focused, but it obviously didn't work)

 

Well, lunch ended after 4pm...That means 3.5 hours of power lunch action. We canceled the surf but went for the classic Watsons bay run.

 

Thanks for this great Sunday Pip!!!!!

 

 

 

Guys I know, I haven't been posting for a while. Time is just flying by and there are just too many things to do than sitting in front of the computer and uploading images. Let's look back to Saturday, 2 weeks ago. Stu invited us to his sisters birthday. Michelle turned 30 and threw a size able party at the Springwood Country Club. Many of you will ask now, "where the f*:"* is Springwood? Nestled in the Blue Mountains, where Michelle and Stu gre up, a 1,5 hour drive from Sydney.

 

The theme was "80ies High School Party" which sounded very promising and Martin and I headed off Saturday, 5pm torwards the blue mountains. Traffic was moderate and we arrived at Stu's home 1,5 hours later. Martin was wearing a white suite, MIAMI VICE style while I as usual did not follow any direction - I basically was dressed like people were really dressed during the 80ies. Levis 501, brown colleges shoes, a gay pink t-shirt and some to big surfers cowboy hat...

 

Stu's dad opened the gate - Man this guy was wearing a funky suit. Half turquoise, half black - kind of what Joker from Batman would be wearing. Stu wearing fully makeup, German Lederhosen and Cowboy boots. A weird combination but flashy.

 

After a beer at Stu's place we straight went to the Springwood Country Club where I could not believe my eyes. The place was decorated like a fully High School Graduation party in the 80ies. We Euros know this kind of atmosphere just from movies like "Back to the future". No joke..I was impressed. The girls were wearing fully 80ies balldresses in all kind of glimmering colours...check it our for yourself...no comments!

 

 

 

 

 

 

sehr nett Hr. Kratky und Fraeulein Konstanze

 

 

nice jacket...

 

 

fullly gay action with Mr. Stu

 

 

what a lovely couple

 

 

the three LOCKLEY siblings

 

 

smoking Kratky

 

 

und schluss!

 

 

 

 

 

 

it was one of those quiet Friday afternoons at the office in 265 Miller Street. I basically had finished all my work, a couple of private emails to my euro mates and that's it...no more need for staying any longer at our beautiful office in North Sydney. Ususally I'd get changed, jump on my bike and cycle in supercyberspeed back to the Eastern Suburbs.

 

Not today - the wheel for the flat tyre repair was still at the bike shop and my bike at home. The plan was getting back home with Martin, but good old Martin was still busy. Soooo what to do...hmmm

 

File back up to our external hard drive - good choice...superexicting, :-(((  but might become quite handy at possible future virus attacks. I therefore started coping files onto the harddrive and discovered at the same time Rebecca's folder. She had put already some of her Dubai pictures on the drive. Not shy of spionage I spoted lots of memories. hmmmmmm

 

Was it really good that I had a look at those images? Well I don't know, I haven't seen them for a long long time. All on a sudden memories came back and I'd like to share a few with you. All those pictures were taken during summer 2004, June and July. Won't forget of Dubai! It was a brilliant time and I do not wanna miss a single second out of it!

 

Thanks to the hardcore Dubai Team: Georges, John, Bec, Jennie, Rani, Bernd, Sabine, Mandy, Victor, Bibi, Bernd, Jule, Maex, Andy, Michael, Silke, Carlos, Mostafa, Doc, Melanie, Hr. Claus, Schezir, Georg and many many more...

 

here we go in memory...

 

 

Chris, Maex and John

 

 

Sheikh S Rd S

 

 

Sheikh S Rd. N

 

 

Chris, boardoff at Wollengoong Beach

 

 

Maex, John, Julieanne and Chris

 

 

my 31st bday at Mandy's & Vic's place, date 18/06/2004

 

 

 

 

the cake had the shape of a kite!!!!! and tasted unreal!

 

 

 

 

John at the place were he used to work, Emirates Towers Hotel

 

 

good od Maex

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello again,

Sorry for not posting any earlier but the last two weeks have been just hectic at work. Lots of new exciting things are happening at Smartpilots Australia. Apart from work, surf is just amazing.

 

The winter months in Sydney are well known for it's great and big surf. Last weekend was just awesome - Stu, Pip, Emile and I did the usual "leave the girls at home" boys surf trip and discovered 8 - 10ft waves along the entire North Shore coastline.

 

Pip discovered a whole new adventure - borrowing Martin's wetsuit and trying to squeeze hisself into a sheer small wetsuit...check out those images

 

 

the start... still smiling...

 

 

Pipp fighting & Stu working hard on the zipper

 

 

where did those shoulder muscles dissapear????

 

 

Stu admiring Pip's new shape

 

anyway, Pip in Martin's wesuit was a killer. Accordingly to Pip, paddling was nearly impossible and felt like his arms would be attached to elastic strings...

 

We attempted to surf Newport-Rockpool Beach but after a massive paddling out action, wave lineup was just unreal, scary. There was a small crowd out there surfing those massive mountains but I did not even think of catching one of these scary bastards...they were just out of my league. On my way back in, I caught one of the smaller ones and managed to snap my boardleash when jumping of the lip. Stu welcomed the lost board at the beach, had to swim in and enjoyed the walk of shame at the beach...niiiiice one!

 

Sunday, 9th July - smooth 4-6ft surf was back to Newport-Rockpool Beach and I enjoyed 3 thrilling hours on the water. Met a radical surfer from Brasil. We did some Worldcup Soccer talking and took some nice smooth breaking headhigh right handers. I really thought France will be Worldcup Winner 2006 but unfortunately the bloody italians were the better team on Sunday evening. Went watching the Game at 3 o'clock in the morning together with Martin at the Hilton's Bar in the Sydney. Came to work really dissapointed but spirit is back again - life just goes on... ;-)

 

On the first weekend of July, Pip and I went to beautiful Whale Beach. Awesome small surfaction, with knee high smooth breakers. We had  a hillarious boys afternoon at Whale Beach and via this way big kiss to Lauren from the Barrenjoey Cafe Bar.

 

 

  Pip & Whale beach in the background

 

 

Chris and Whale Beach in the background

 

 

  posing in uk camo...

 

 

Pip and Palm Beach background

 

 

Pip on a football mission on Saturday morning at 7am at Vaucluse view point

 

 

Vaucluse view point at night...

 

Can't wait for the next weekend. It's Stu's sisters Birthday Party at her parents place in the Blue Mountains. Stu's sister is turning 8 and the boys brigade looks forward in spotting our future wives during this birthday party. This will allow us at least another 15 years of pure freedom, :-)))

 

just kidding, it's her 30th birthday and we'll party haaaaard at the local country club. Please keep patient pictures will follow...

 

Have a great week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

a usual day in London, UK

 

image received from a great friend of mine who has recently moved to London... for those german language fanatiques, check out Christoph's blog: http://www.adaddiction.com/uk/WEBLOG/

 

 

 

 

Weddings and Engagements are all over the place. Can't remember a year where I received as many invitations for engagement parties and weddings as in 2006. Did I become the only "wanna be" teenager in a world of grown ups? Don't get me wrong, it's fantastique so much love around me and this weekend it was Barbara's and Emile's turn. Basically the dress rehearsal for the main event in Germany in July this year. Before heading to the Council we met up at B&E place and developed the sensational sport of flower sucking...

 

 

 extreme flower sucking barbara

 

 

 emile

 

 

uncle alex

 

 

 miss cornelia

 

 

uncle chris

 

 

at the council...not too bad

 

 

 

 

Cornelia your poem was impressive!

 

 

the original glasgow ave gang from 2005

 

 

Sir Khadra and Bailey

 

 

the uninvited guest...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

check out some unreal footage from the RIP CURL PRO WCT

 

Last Friday Andy Irons won the Rip Curl Search WCT event somewhere in Mexico. The former 3 time world champ is now in the hot seat to challenge Slater for the world crown. How good did that mystery hollow right look? Snappers twin? What I would give...watch video footage online

 

http://64.78.18.131/live/mexico06/videos.asp

Troy Brooks (Aus) opts for some air

 

At home in Bondi Beach, Sydney this morning...1-2 foot waves with chilly SW offshore winds. It's really pretty ordinary and the beach is deserted...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nickelback's latest video reminds me that every second on Earth is a precious one.

Really touching...watch the video via this link: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/artists/Nickelback/video.aspx

the lyrics:

Prison gates won’t open up for me
On these hands and knees I’m crawlin’
Oh, I reach for you
Well I’m terrified of these four walls
These iron bars can’t hold my soul in
All I need is you
Come please I’m callin’
And oh I scream for you
Hurry I’m fallin’

Show me what it’s like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I’ll show you what I can be
Say it for me
Say it to me
And I’ll leave this life behind me
Say it if it’s worth saving me

Heaven’s gates won’t open up for me
With these broken wings I’m fallin’
And all I see is you
These city walls ain’t got no love for me
I’m on the ledge of the eighteenth story
And oh I scream for you
Come please I’m callin’
And all I need from you
Hurry I’m fallin’

Show me what it’s like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I’ll show you what I can be
Say it for me
Say it to me
And I’ll leave this life behind me
Say it if it’s worth saving me

Hurry I’m fallin’

Guys I can tell you living in Sydney is not easy. Friday afternoon, slowley the weekend sets in and in case you are an outdoor sports maniac it's difficult in making a decision what to do first...

This last weekend we went for a surf session in the morning, but swell was cranking and waves were messy. No prospects even if heading further north...so what should we do...

beeing pretty lazy, we just walked down the street at Eastern Ave and discovered the cliffs right in front of our house.

Old Style Traditional Climbing Team from the country were mountain legends are raised: Martin (AUT), Georg (AUT), Chris (AUT), in german language...die klassische 3er Seilschaft!

 

Georg, hands on saefty!

 

 

...what a view

 

 

the all time popular, Mr. Kratky

 

 

in action

 

 

Georg discovering a new route

 

 

no comment

 

 

Chris climbing

 

 

hey guys

 

 

sweet climbing action, Georg!

 

 

some hard work

 

 

what a view

 

 

see ya soon

 

 

at Sydney, Bondi, 24 Glasgow Avenue. Unfortunately the last Christmas in this great location! The house was just sold a couple of days ago and Alex, Stanzi and Cornelia have to move...

 

 

 

Special K, the cutie

 

That was Christmas 2005. I remember that we surfed on Christmas day till 6pm. I even had a short and illegal kitesurfing session at Bondi Beach. Wind was on shore, waves were average but not too bad for Christmas Day!

Sydney is full of fantastique people. Such a cultural mix and vibrant place. Especially the Eastern Suburbs appear sometimes as little Europe. Some of my close friends...

Bec and Chris (two of the three brains behind Smartpilots Australia) with one of their HBA branded Smarts. This shot is taken in front Swiss Grand Hotel in Bondi. The Car Rental used to be organised from the ground parking at Swiss Grand Hotel. It has recently changed to KingsCross...!!!!