[Originally published October 11, 2012] Five years ago today, I had just finished up a 5 week stay in South Africa and was setting off to Australia. My blog posts around that time were wrapping up my time in ZA (short for South Africa) and also pondering what traveling in Australia would be like. The Oz portion of my trip was a solo portion, a time full of thought, experience, determination and discovery, all alone. It was amazing.
New to this series? Click here to get learn about The Big Trip Redux beginnings.
But before I head to The Land of Oz, I'll post a few more images from the last weeks on the farm. As I wrote earlier, the Harrison Farm is a working farm, bringing in a yearly harvest of lucern, a type of alfalfa. It was harvest time while I was visiting, and I spent one morning on the tractors with the guys in the fields. It's definitely tough work.
My friend Luke Vehorn is an artist, internationally recognized, and one of his chosen art mediums is oil painting. During my stay in ZA, Luke and I planned to collaborate on an art project. We chose 4 images from our travels around the Cape and painted them, taking turns on the canvases every few hours or so, each of us adding to the image, leaving our mark on the paintings. Now, I'm a photographer, not a painter, not by any means. But, with a little guidance and some natural creativity, I think I helped create some pretty incredible images! A Bob Ross Reference was created that week, one I'll never forget!! (Happy Trees!!!) Check out photos of the paintings below. And read more about the art project here.
Once finished, the paintings went up for auction, all proceeds accepted as a donation to one of the Vehorns charities in ZA. Two paintings were purchased, the Protea Flower (South Africa's national flower) by Luke's youngest sister, and the 'Surfer's Paradise' (an image from Jeffrey's Bay, SA) to my mother! To this day, it hangs in her living room and I see it every time I am home. To the best of my knowledge, the other two paintings may still be for sale… Email me if there are any takers! ;)
Follow this link to read about my travels plans leading for Oz, posted on October 6th, 2007.
Today, October 11th, 2007, I was just touching down in Australia. Next up, Adventures in Oz!
