Random and Odd Things

I'm sittign here and there's a thousand things going through my head. I have 25 things here on my desk that the Frenchman wants me to sort through, there is occasional rain tinkering on the roof here that makes me look outside and I see the ocean which is steely blue and stormy right now. At times I've looked out and there have been dolphins and yesterday there was a pod so big I'm thinking 100 of them. They were just playing too - leaps into the air and the like. God I love living here.

I was walking man's best friend Norten yesterday just up the road and I hear this singing happening. This is new. I walk ahead and there is a guy wearing long pants, a button up check shirt and a backpack standing at the edge of the ocean on the cliff just singing away. It's operatic too and quite impressive, the view is obviously inspiring him and as I approach he notices me and stops singing, moving somewhat embarrassed from his position, and then passes me in the opposite direction. I see now that he's Japanese, and I have no idea how he found his way here - it's quite remote and there's no stereotypical tour bus in sight. I smile inside and out. I love this kinda stuff. 

I also need to pack. For Byron Bay. The weather forecast says showers all weekend... Which isn't ideal for a beach weekend and an ocean swim race, but I guess we'll manage somehow, and for an ocean race who cares if it's raining or not? Well, it's best if it's warm and sunny for optimal eye candy like in the photo above... now that would be nice.

Mystery Body Part - identified

Here's the body that belongs to the mystery part, which is outlined below, his (right) upper arm. A few people got very close... but no winners this time.

Do you know your body? Weekend Challenge

How well do you know the male body?

Today's challenge is to identify the body part on the left. Once someone has figured it out I'll post the full image... it's worth getting it right.  

Will you be the first to get your man?

Post your answer in the comments. 

Sunstormy Day

The alarms go off and sunlight is streaming through the window. It looks like a summer's day through my blurry morning eyes. I wake up again to the post-snooze alarm. It's still sunny and I wander to the kitchen for breakfast with the warmth of the sun on my bare skin as it floods the room. I hear some noise on the metal roof, step onto the balcony and rain is pouring down, no storming down, but I'm still in the sunshine and the view is spectacular. I think I should photograph it but I've been lazy with the camera of late. It's still stunning but the rain clouds are trying to take up more of the sky and I shoot it. The sound on the roof becomes deafening, and by the time I've finished breakfast the storm has passed. 

This is the weather of the past week and spectacular it has been. Watching the ocean with all the changes is never boring. And you know as soon as the sun comes out that the rain is near. Norten has had a lot of false alarms for his walks... Maybe he needs a Canine Raincoat. But I could happily just sit out in the storms as they pass, get saturated then dry again in the sun. Then press repeat.

The first superchilled photo from the new digs. (click to enlarge)

France: less than 3 hours from Sydney

Now I knew they spoke French in New Caledonia, but less than 3 hours from home and we might as well have been in France. The architecture, the people, the cars, even the supermarkets were straight from France. Butter, cheese, salami, yoghurt, biscuits, wine, foie gras... pretty much everything, oh and the pastries, yum! 

There were a few things that weren't particularly French, like the reefs and the tropical fish. We jumped into the natural pool - picine naturale, a short stroll along a sandy tidal river bank on The Isle of Pines, and in the middle of chasing the multicoloured fish we found ourselves surrounded by a bigger school of fish. You'll see a short video of these below which turned out to be, I think,  quite mesmerising.

I could have stayed on the island a whole lot longer. Spending most of the daylight hours on or in the water is my idea of a perfect escape, and The Isle of Pines is made for exactly that. Oh and the food, bloody expensive, but oh so fine. 

Superchilled Out

The Transparent Stimulus Package was voted in overwhelmingly by the senate poll, and I do hope you all enjoy this fine stimulus which superchilled will be sending out to all registered readers marked "Easter Bunny Package". Look out for your delivery man.

Easter is a hop step and, wait no, just a hop and step away, and we're up, up and away. Headed to a land of French speakers for the holiday plus a little more. Nouvelle-Calédonie is the destination du jour, and I think I'm just going to collapse in a heap when I get there. A relaxed and twisted wreck of me lying on the sand, morphing through the water and being drip fed French inspired, Pacific infused food. It's not a tough existence, though there's always the prospect of a LOST experience should the plane decide it needs more adventure in its life. Even then, so long as I survive the landing I'd be happy to play out the pacific life for a while. 

Life has been busy, full, work is non stop but I'm loving it, and for Easter, leaving it for a bit. I've been very good and have given away most of my Easter eggs, but still some make it through the defences. I'm not sure what the New Caledonia Easter experience is, but I'm hoping they have a lot of hot Easter Bunnies. Do Croissant's come in hot cross versions? This intrepid explorer will be seeking all of the above and more. In the meantime I wish all Superchilled readers a great Easter break or at least a spectacular weekend if you don't get holidays with it. I'll be back and hopefully more energised next week.

Wedding Speech Hell

The wedding was fantastic, stunning outdoor location, fun people, great food and a very relaxed vibe. Everything was running smoothly, right until the speeches where, in place of the groom's name, was inserted MINE. Not once but twice or three times, I can't quite remember. I felt like I was living an episode of Friends. A train crash that just wouldn't stop. My name is now John and I have no idea who that Trevor guy is, though he seems to be a little too popular and has said something about never attending a wedding ever again. 

Choose your own Stimulus Package

We've had our governments telling us all the things they're doing to keep us stimulated, but they've got it all wrong. Their stimulus packages aren't exactly, um,  stimulating. Time to rectify that with Superchilled's own Stimulus Packages. You get to choose your own personal package from the 4 below. Vote in the panel at the top right and see if your package gets voted through by the senate. 

The Transparent Package

The Dive-On-In Package

The Big Package

The Sly Package

Calculated which package gives you the greatest stimulus?

Make your choice known and vote now (top right).