Australia

G’ Day, mates! These past few weeks – have been hectic as I am catching up with deadlines of commission works and I hardly have time to clean my house, cook and blog. I have completed 3 major works so far and have 2 more to go. So I thought I just take some time off for few hours, catching up with my breath and maybe planning for a trip somewhere once I get my big fat royalty come August from a designing job.

I am planning to go Australia! Yay! Yep, it got something to do with the Visit Australia ads from Advertlets panel on my sidebar and the Outback Australia calendar that I received from Kim Barker recently. I feel like they are hinting me indirectly to go there. I haven’t been anywhere outside Malaysia so I think it’s better to start from A; Australia I mean. Then maybe next year to Bologna, China the year after next year, Denmark after that and so on and so forth. Hehehe and maybe come up with a book called “My Illustrated Travel Journey from A to Z”. That’s not a bad idea, ay mates?

So, okay; advertising do works on me and I have been doing some research and gathered more information from australia.com.- a very cool website with comprehensive information on their 8 states and territories:

• Australian Capital Territory
• New South Wales
• Northern Territory
• Queensland
• South Australia
• Tasmania
• Victoria
• Western Australia

Australia.com also has released an amazing interactive journey tools called Come Walkabout Planner. The planner features 16 of Australia’s epic journeys and allows visitors to navigate through stunning panoramic images of each journey with destination highlights, images and suggested activities. The virtual journey really made me went oohs and wows.

Besides the planner, there’s Great Australian Road Trips; it has a set of tools where visitors are provided with interactive trip finder, practical tips, myth busters, suggested itineraries and route maps, useful checklists, a request-a-brochure mailing service and links to self-drive holiday packages, travel agents and accommodation. Besides the online interactive website, a book entitled “Great Australian Road Trips” has been published for tourists to carry on the road trips. This is a new approach by australia.com for those who like to drive around Australia by themselves.

This is the book that I’ve got from visiting local Tourism Australia. You can get one too if you visit them.

Told ya, am doing a research on Australia

Ok, I am very much interested in visiting New South Wales ( I wist I could visit all territories) and here are some of the places to visit (and of course not to leave behind, Kim Barker’s studio!) once I get there:

• Sydney Opera House – one of the great iconic buildings of the 20th century, an image of great beauty that has become known throughout the world. The Opera House was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007. It is one of the world’s most distinctive 20th century buildings, and one of the most famous performing arts centres in the world.
• Shopping at Bondi! I heard it opens every Sunday from 9am to 5pm and stocks a variety of goods, from collectibles, retail clothing, jewellery, sunglasses and furniture, to plants and homemade arts and craftwork.
• Hunter Valley Gardens – visit the 10 stunning featured gardens especially the Storybook Garden! Can you believe that there are more than 8,000 roses on display in the Rose Garden! As well as more than six thousand trees, one million ground covers and six hundred thousand shrubs. Breathtaking already! This is a must for my photo album!
• Port Stephens -to visit the bottle nose dolphins and koalas. The waters of Port Stephens are home to over 100 bottlenose dolphins and, in season, serve as a thoroughfare for migrating humpback whales. One of the largest koala colonies in Australia is to be found in the wild at Tilligerry Habitat. Do you know that koalas are usually inactive for 20 hours a day and feed mostly on eucalyptus leaves? This I just learned from browsing information about Australia!

I’m already excited and I am going to renew my passport soon! Yeah, made one in the 90s with the intention to go holiday to Phuket but someone got in the way. But this time around, I won’t let anybody gets in my way; I’m going places. In this case I’m going Oz!

See! I can already picture me in Australia! Hahaha just ‘berangan’ a bit! Would you like to join in the fun and picture yourself in Australia? Ok how about a contest; the first 3 (I received 3 submissions already!!! This contest is officially CLOSED!) 2.51pm, May 4, 2009) Ok, I’m giving out ONE MORE! hurry!! Ok, officially CLOSED 6.08pm, May 04, 2009!!! who came up with the drawing will win themselves free t-shirt with their own illustration (iron-on technique) on it? Sounds good? Let’s get pen rolling!! All you got to do is:

• Illustrate yourself in Australia (any medium will do)
• post it in your blog; link to this post and australia.com
• leave a comment in my comment box
• cross your fingers!

I’m waiting; don’t just stare, get moving and draw! Hooroo for now! I’m yabbering, it’s time to get back to work!

Australian Slang:
G’Day – Hello
Oz – Australia
Hooroo – Goodbye
Yabbering – Talk a lot

Updates!

Ist Australia illustration: TH: Illustrate myself in Australia
(TH, I need you to scan the illo for clearer resolution, can?)

2nd illustration: Mizzyn: Emila’s Australia Themed Contest

3rd illustration – Yoon See: My submission for Emila’s Australia Themed Contest

4th – Spiffy: I Have Landed!

Lastly, Nina: 5th – Australia

1st commenter
Jia