Blog Archives
SEE IT: Finding Nemo 3D
I have been waiting for this! On Friday, September 14, “Finding Nemo 3D” comes to theaters. I can’t think of any other movie that I would want to see more in 3D. It hasn’t been in theaters in nine years. I still remember seeing “Nemo” for the first time. As I watched the opening scene, I kept thinking, “Why did they use real footage in an animated movie?”
And then I realized it wasn’t real. It just looked that way. That’s the genius of Pixar.
Early reviews indicate that Nemo in 3D is money well-worth spent. The sea comes alive and takes us through that heart-warming journey of a father in a desperate search for his son…with a fish who can’t remember anything (could anyone but Ellen DeGeneres have played “Dory”?) The journey of little Nemo as he meets new friends in Australia in a quest to find his father once again. And let’s not forget the sharks and their 12-step recovery program to keep from eating fish (“Fish are friends, not food.”)
So whether you have seen it before or never seen it all, see it! Hope to see you all enjoying the EAC! And if you don’t know what I mean, dude, you gotta see the movie. Righteous!
franklyHANK in THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
G’day, Chicago. I’m back in the states, but I had to share with you my adventure in The Great Barrier Reef, my favorite spot down under! I stayed on the beautiful Hamilton Island in The Whitsunday Islands. The photo below is a view from my hotel room at The Reef View Hotel. How would you like to wake up to that?
While on Hamilton Island, I was not alone. This is one of the many cockatoos that are natural to the island and repeatedly perched themselves on my balcony every day (hoping for food). Did you know cockatoos have the mental capacity of a 2 or 3 year old child? Sometimes you can just see their cunning minds plotting. LOL
Check out the view on the water above the reef. It doesn’t get any greener than that.
And under the sea, the fish swim right in front of you. I’m still need to develop my pics from my underwater camera. Can’t wait to see those.
And here are two pics from my very first time scuba diving on the reef. Amazing does not describe it.
Check out these aerial views of the reef. I didn’t have time to take a flight over the reef, so i captured these when I was flying to Melbourne. I’m 20,000 feet in the air, so you can see how massive these reefs are.
More photos on The Great Barrier Reef page. Check it out. Coming soon… my last stop in Australia…Melbourne!
franklyHANK in CAIRNS
G’day, all. My next stop on my great Aussie adventure was Cairns. Despite how it’s spelled, it’s pronounced CANNS. I’m still getting it wrong, but I’m trying. Cairns is on the east coast of Australia and very tropical. It reminds me of a little beach town we would see in the states. It’s also the closest major city to the Great Barrier Reef.
When I trecked out to the reef, our first stop was Green Island (below – click on any pic to make it bigger). Look how beautiful the water is. Amazing! It’s a small island, but it has a hotel and you can stop there and snorkel and relax. That was not my destination though. I was headed to the outer reef.
I would love to share with you the pictures I took at the outer reef, but my underwater camera floated out of my pocket while I was snorkeling. 
Whomever grabbed it, I hope you enjoy the pictures I took and may a plague descend upon your home for the next 20 years (that’s the Italian in me coming out).
There was a bright ending to the day though… once I was back on the boat to come back to Cairns from the reef, we spotted this amazing rainbow nearby.
More past the page break…
franklyHANK in Uluru
G’day, all! I just recently left Uluru in the outback of Australia and what a magical place that is. Uluru is also known as Ayers Rock and it’s a sacred place for the Aboriginal people. It’s the world’s largest smooth-skinned monolith. Even more fascinating, only a small fraction of Uluru is above ground. It extends for another 3 miles below the surface. Our guide had a great analogy. Imagine a water bottle. The cap is Uluru and the rest of the bottle is Uluru below the ground. CRAZY! Here is a shot of Uluru at sunrise. I love this picture. CLICK ON IT TO MAKE IT BIGGER.
Here is a close up of Uluru at sunset the day before. You can really see the patterns in the rock.
If you tour Uluru you are bound to see some cave art from the aborigines people. This picture below is believed to have been drawn about a one thousand years ago. And it’s still standing. Don’t ask me what it means, please. LOL
Last, but not least, thanks to a recommendation from Ji Suk Yi, I attended the SOUNDS OF SILENCE dinner at Uluru. It’s champagne during sunset, a candlelit dinner while you chat with the people at your table and then the candles are blown out and every one star gazes. My photo below (click on it to make it bigger) doesn’t even come close to comprehending what we saw in the sky that night. I could see the Milky Way galaxy. I could see gas clouds in outer space. I could see stars that I didn’t even know existed. I saw at least three shooting stars. I saw satellites orbiting the planet. The sky was so amazingly clear. Our guides said we were there on a great night and I feel blessed to have been able to experience that. So look at the picture below, multiply it by a thousand or even ten thousand and you won’t come close to what we saw. I wish I had my tripod b/c I would have been able to take better shots of the stars. Live and learn.
A few more pics on the ULURU page, so check it out. Off to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.
franklyHANK in SYDNEY
Crickey, mate! I’ve been so busy hopping around Sydney that I didn’t have time to post pics. Australia is BEU-TI-FUL! But food is pricey… $18 for a hamburger. $5 for a Coke. And those are Aussie prices. The US $ conversion makes it a little more. Crazy. The cheapest house in Sydney will set you back $600,000… that’s the cheapest!!! Check out this amazing city scape. How can you not love this? (click on it to make it bigger)
Of course, here is a tighter shot below of the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge… the Sydney Opera House is the most photographed building in all of Australia.
No trip to Sydney is complete without a trip to Bondi Beach… pronounced bond-eye. Women can actually go topless on the beach… and it’s a surfer’s paradise…
And I, uhm, didn’t quite realize what I was shooting when I took this pic of surfers below. Definitely a full moon in the water. Oops!
I will post more pics on the SYDNEY page, but I had to share this cuddly photo. Which one is cuter? Me or the koala? If you say the koala, you are dead to me! That’s rain on me, by the way, not koala pee. 
Funny side note, only in the Australian state of Queensland can you actually hold a koala bear. It’s a state law. I hope to do that when I head to Cairns in a few days. Alice Springs photos coming soon…
SEE THE VIDEO: Hugh Jackman Injured on Oprah Set
Thanks to Australian television, you can see Hugh eating it during Oprah’s taping in Australia… check it out! SEE THE ORIGINAL STORY HERE.
Hugh Jackman Injured On Oprah Set
**UPDATE** See the video HERE.
Oprah is throwing one wild party down under…and actor Hugh Jackman is feeling the pain the day after.
Jackman was taping one of Winfrey’s Ultimate Australia Adventure shows on Tuesday when he made a dramatic entrance on a flying fox – a heavy-duty wire set with a harness and handle assembly that slides on wheels. However, he hit the brakes to lit and collided with light rigging. Jackman received a nasty cut under the eye and Oprah stopped production of the show. When Jackman was ready to go, just 10 minutes later, the show taping resume and Jackman appeared with a bandage over the injury and a black eye. Ouch!!! He even took part in a show closing dance number.
Oprah is taping four shows in Australia as part of her farewell season. The Australia shows will air in January.
Oprah Audience Lands Down Under, Mate!
300 wild, screaming, crying, Jesus praising members of the Oprah Winfrey audience have landed in Sydney, Australia to begin their 8-day journey courtesy of Harpo.
They will explore the Great Barrier Reef, the Outback and the country’s wine regions, take surfing lessons, observe kangaroos and koalas on Kangaroo Island and enjoy beachside barbecues, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Two Oprah shows will be taped at the Sydney Opera House on the 14th and another will be taped in a TBD location, but it’s believed it will in the Outback.
Have fun, Sheilas! Throw a shrimp on the barbi for me and don’t the let the dingo eat ya baby! G’day!
