Taekwondo Grading

Very proud of how everyone performed at the grading.

Xander successfully graded for his second dan with United Taekwondo

And here is a photo of a happy group of sweaty people.

Halloween costumes and personalities....

Halloween parties mean costumes.

Izak went as two different things...

Jason from Friday 13th...
and a butch fairy.

Xander of course was very different and went as a very subtle, and recently fed, vampire.

More hair

Zak's hair is the gift that keeps on giving...
Originally we were going for the look of a troll doll,
but it warped into this high fashion shot!

.....and speaking of 80s.

This is what happens when you go an entire Summer Holidays without getting a hair cut....

We managed to get this shorn off before school started again, but it still looks pretty unruly.

80's Theme...

Xan heading out for an 80s themed night.
Some combination of Maverick, Goose and Iceman I think... but definitely TopGunish.

Xan's Black Belt

After a lot of years of training and several restarts with different styles,
Xan got his First Dan Black Belt with United Taekwondo a couple of weeks ago.

Couldn't be prouder.

A shot of Xan doing one of his breaks, and then getting his belt presented by Master Paul.

Only from vacations?

It seems that I am only taking photos on vacations at the moment....
Very poor showing.

With that in mind we recently spent a week visiting the Great Barrier Reef off Cairns.


Xan and Zak during a snorkeling trip, heading down to check out a clam on the ocean floor:

I am not in any way a marine biologist, but from my recollections when I was diving on the reef last... there are some serious problems there.  The colour of coral is so much more subdued that what it used to be.  When Ruth and I were there last, the fish were hard to spot, because there was so much colour around.  Now they show up vivid and bright in their dull surroundings...

We got to have a good look around, as well as the snorkeling, we had a couple of scuba dives as well.
Here are Ruth and Zak in a sea of bubbles of my rapidly consumed air!

Looking...

Xan looking out over the Tasmanian coastline.

Playing with a ND filter during the middle of the day (asking Xan to stand as still as possible).

Family and a selfie...

At Tahune rainforest walk.

Portal Christmas

Zak and I made some portal decorations.
Santa coming in through the chimney has always been a little fishy to me.... especially given that I have never lived in a house with a chimney.
A portal gun makes much more sense...
One portal on the front door, one near the tree....

Testing after we made them.... 

Tasmania Trip!

First couple of weeks of the school holidays we spent down in Tasmania, touring around....

I am sure that should mean I will have some photos to put up on the blog...

Here are the boys in a random place in Tasmania.

Waterfight shots!

Our 12 Year old....

Continuing on from the Zaklander post.
The benefits of lots and lots of swimming combined with some genetics I suppose.

Zaklander

I asked Zak to help me with another photo....
but of course it was impossible to get the photo I wanted before he threw in a Zaklander, "Blue Steel".

Whippersnipper Kid

Never too young to get them helping around the house!
If my nephew is going to stay with us, he is going to earn his keep!

Contemplating Fractals

Going through some older photos from NZ last year...
One of Milford Sound..

The boys

Scouting for locations to shoot my Niece's formal, practicing with the boys.

Evenly Matched.

Izak came up with this as something he thought was a good idea....
So here it is!

Bull and Barley

A celebration (and remembrance) here on Thursday night.

The Bull and Barley, Cambooya.

My Young Men.

First day of school last week.