those long-awaited and probably long-forgotten pictures

Here are a few links to photos that are now, finally, ready to be shared with y'all. I'm afraid you'll have to log into the Kodak Gallery Photos in order to see them, but hey it's free.

Surprise visit to Canada
For 17 days i went back as a surprise, mainly to attend my Grandma's 80th birthday, to visit friends and family, and to attend my cousin's wedding in Toronto. It was, as i expected, wonderful to see everyone, to experience typical Canadian November weather: heavy rain, sleet and snow, and to catch the tail end of the fall colours. Although it was wonderful to be around familiar surroundings and familiar faces, there was only one person missing the entire time...

Vanuatu Honeymoon
A hidden tropical paradise in the South Pacific where the waters are warm and welcoming, the people friendly as can be, the food always fresh and tasty, and the kava always strong! Without a doubt, one of the best holidays ever, and not just because it was our honeymoon!

We went trekking up the wrong side of an active volcano, bathed in a natural hot spring, dived one of the most famous shipwrecks in the world (and i got my open-water PADI certificate!!), sailed on a tall-ship for ten days as a crew member, climbing the mast, hoisting the sails, flaking the anchor chain.. and on the several islands we stopped at, we played a game of soccer with a local village, attended many village parties with cumtom dancing and string band music, and even met villagers who still practice cannibalism!

The pictures will say more than words ever can... take a seat, there are a lot to see.

Bayanbulik Roadtrip
Just before the wedding, we decided to take our last road trip with the beloved jeep. Bayanbulik, the beautiful grasslands of Xinjiang, was a place that neither of us had been to, but because of its mystery and difficult-to-access areas, we thought we should check it out.

Deciding to forego any permit, we lucked out and only managed to get stopped once by some local village police who didn't question us at all and wished us well on the rest of our journey.

Bleak, barren but in a naturally stunning kind of way, we camped on hard ground with the howling wind outside the first night. The next day we drove 18 hours straight, stopping only to buy lunch and to refuel, we passed the No.1 Glacier around 2am on roads where luck played as much as a part as driving skill; the steep drop into the canyon was unbelievable and the sheets of ice on the mountain sides were truly incredible. A definite must-see in Xinjiang!

Urumqi Friends and Colleagues
These are just some of the many great memories i had over the year in Urumqi with friends and colleagues, locals and foreigners. Lots of fun, laughter friendship and memories. Thank you all.

Matt's Mum and Dad's Visit!
Sandwiched between their visit to Beijing/Xian and Kashgar, Matt's folks came to visit us for a few fabulous days where we went camping in the mountains and shopping in Er Da Qiao. They loved every moment of it, even despite having hummus leak over all our camping food and crashing into the side of a huge truck on a narrow dirt road. Many great stories and laughs were shared, a perfect prelude to our wedding to come.