Moments that have taken my breath away...

"Life is not about the number of breaths you take but the number of moments that take your breath away." (anonymous)

• Exhilerating leaps into the sky
• The love at Gran and Gramps 50th wedding anniversary
• Seeing Ally in her dress for the first time on our wedding day
• The blue haze of the Blue Mountains outside Sydney
• The mangrove forests fringing the beaches at Cape Tribulation (North Queensland)
• South Africa winning the rugby world cup in 1994 (and 2007! )
• New years eve 1992 when I met Ally.
• Long, lazy days at Buckaneers BackPackers (South Africa)
• Rowing on the beautiful, aqua blue Pokhara Lake (Nepal)
• Richard Attenboroughs´s documentaries, especially "Blue Planet" and "Life of Birds"
• Soaring condors at Colca Canyon (Peru)
• Mum´s marriage to Mike and how happy they were
• Seeing Matthew and Sammy for the first time
• The letter Jo wrote about Gran when she passed away
• Listening to Gramp's tape that he left us after he passed away
• Gazing at the stars from Palmiet beach (South Africa) at night
• Watching puffins from the Cliffs of Moher (Ireland)
• Watching the sun set over the Mediteranean from the walls of an ancient castle at Kizkalesi (Turkey)
• Floating on my back at night in the Citrusdahl hot baths (South Africa) looking up at the stars
• Music: The Big Blue Sound track, Beethoven's Ode To Joy, Louis Armstong's 'What a wonderful World'
• The views from the top of Mount Olympus (Greece) after a 3 day hike
• Putting a message into the Wailing Wall and meditating in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (Israel)
• Climbing to the top of the The Monastery (Petra, Jordan) and looking out into the desert
• Contemplating life from the walls of the Jaisselmer fort (India)
• Meditating by a little lake in Muktinath, high in the Himalaya mountains (Nepal)
• The view from the Thorang La pass, looking down onto Muktinath (Annapurna circuit, Nepal)
• The view from a Roman fort, looking down onto the emerald waters of Olympus (Turkey)
• Meditating on a mountain overlooking Butterfly Valley (Turkey)
• Watching swifts swirling through the sunset at Monsoon Palace (Uidaipur, India)
• Sleeping out in the desert dunes in Rajistan (India)
• Sunset over the rocks in Wadi Rum desert in Jordan.
• Cuddling Ally in a river in Franschhoek (South Africa) during our honeymoon
• Sitting on a log, looking out into a blue lake in Chitwan National Park (Nepal)
• Exploring the stunning Taj Mahal (India) at sunrise
• Paddle skiing down waves at Muizenberg (South Africa) and Manly (Australia).
• Rollerblading an endless downhill stretch with Keira at Stanley Park (Canada)
• Mud fights in the nude at Saklikent gorge (Turkey)
• Somersaulting down sand dunes on the Nile (Egypt)
• Swimming out to an island in Kizkalesi (Turkey) and exploring its ruins
• Swimming with wild dolphins and a whale at Llandadno (South Africa).
• Making love in a secluded island castle (Ireland)
• Swimming with a turtle in Dahab's Blue Hole (Sinai, Egypt)
• Lazily watching the Nile float by from a felucca (Egypt)
• Seeing the Big 5 (lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo, Rhino) in the Serengetti Game Reserve (Kenya, Africa)
• Climbing to the Telicho Lake, the highest lake in the world at 6700 metres in the Himalayas (Nepal)
• Paraglinding over the lagoon of Oludinez (Turkey)
• Jumping from high cliffs on a day boat trip in Oludinez (Turkey)
• Watching the sun rise and the moon setting at the same time from Masada mountain (Israel)
• The undulating hills and tropical forests of Umfolozi, Mkuzi, Hluhluwe game reserves (South Africa)
• Seeing a Pels Fishing owl at Ndumu reserve (South Africa)
• Diving in the Canyon and the bottomless Blue Hole in the Red Sea (Sinai, Egypt)
• Snorkeling in Lake Malawi and watching beautiful tropical fish (Africa)
• Snorkeling with turtles at Barbados and Galapagos Islands
• Photograpohing Cambridge colleges at dusk (UK)
• Riding horses at 8 Bells as a kid
• Paddling with Gramps at Boulders beach
• Gran and Gramps coming to stay with us in Cape Town when we were kids
• Opening xmas presents as a kid
• Thick shakes at Dahab (Egypt)
• Granny Station´s chicken lunch and junket as a kid
• Going to Muizenberg with Grandpa Station as a kid and drinking appletizer
• Hiking the stunning Vicos Gorge in Greece
• Hiking the stark and scenic Fish River Canyon (Namibia)
• Walking through the lush Tsitsikama forest (South Africa)
• Seeing the world's tiniest bible and a statue of Peter with his foot rubbed away at the Vatican (Rome, Italy)
• The Tomb of Queen Nefertiti (Luxor, Egypt)
• Exploring the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam after a joint (Holland)
• Viewing the Nan Goldin photo exhibition in Amsterdam (Holland)
• See Tutankamin's treasures in the Museum of Cairo (Egypt)
• The Earth From The Air exhibition in London
• Playing volleyball on Clifton beach after work and then watching the sunset
• Ice climbing on Grey´s Glacier, Torres del Paine (Chile)
• Zip lining between giant trees at Whistler (Canada)
• White river rafting grade 5 rapids on the Zambezi River (Zimbabwe)
• Quad biking on the dunes of Swakopmund (Namibia)
• Doing the Cobra Rollercoaster ride 6 times in a row to get the perfect shot
• Jumping off a 3rd story balcony in Luxor (Egypt) into the pool (to impress my tour group)
• The Friday Night rollerblading skate in London
• Hiking Suicide Gorge in South Africa with mighty leaps into the river
• Playing Paintball (South Africa)
• A romantic holiday in the tropical paradise of Paradise Island (Mozambique)
• Lunch at the beautiful Lake Palace in Udaipur (India)
• The beauty of the Lake District (UK)
• Watching the sunset at the Temple of Psoedian (Greece)
• The perfect blue colour of the sea in Turkey
• Camping at Storms river and crossing its swing bridge
• The view of Table Mountain from Blouberg Beach
• Exploring an isolated forest in Zululand in search of elusive bird species (South Africa)
• The Isle of Skye (Scotland)
• The indescribably beautiful views from the Island of Capri (Italy)
• A secluded white beach on the Otter Trail (Garden route, South Africa)
• The petrified forest in the Namib desert and its beautiful sand dunes
• The mighty power of the Augrabie Falls (South Africa), Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) and Iguassu Falls (Argentina)
• Lazing on the beaches in Zanzibar (Tanzania)
• Floating through the riverlets of the Okovango Delta on a Makura and listening to the cry of the fish eagle (Botswana)
• The extraordinary colour of the Morraine Lake (Canada)
• The enormous blue gums in Shanon National Park (Australia)
• Dancing spontaneously to "What the world needs now is love, sweet love." with Russel and Roger at Bain´s Kloof (South Africa)
• Reading "A Short History of Everything" (Bill Bryson)
• Reading Lord of the Rings on the Annapurna Circuit (Nepal) and watching the movies
• My first sight of Abu Simbel and The Pyramids (Egypt)
• Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness (Scotland)
• The extensive ruins of Pompeii (Naples)
• The endless Catacombs (Rome)
• The Sistine chapel - particualrly its ceiling (Rome)
• The amazing Meteora monasteries, perched on the top of huge boulders (Greece)
• The multi coloured buildings of Burano Island (Venice, Italy)
• Seeing my first Laughing Kookaburra (Australia), Toucan (Brazil), Lammergeier (Nepal), African Finfoot at Nature's Valley (Garden route), Green Coucal (South Africa), Black eagles on Devil's Peak
• Seeing thousands of flamingos in Ngora Gora crater (Africa)
• Bush babies in the Kruger
• Seeing my first wild bear in Banff (Canada)
• Movies: the end of "Schindlers List", the start of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the last ark, the end of 6th Sense, the cup falling in Usual Suspects, the last dance in "Awakenings", playing classical music to the inmates in "Shawshank Redenption", the collage of kisses in "Cinema Paradisio"
• Watching hundreds of hummingbirds in Mindo, Ecuador
• Walking amongst a colony of half a million Megellanic Penguins at Puerto Tombo in Patagonia, Argentian
• Photographing the changing mood of the Fitzroy Mountains and the breathtaking sight of Laguna Tres and Laguna Torres
• Watching huge chunks of ice fall of the Morraine Glacier
• The amazing Iguassu Falls
• Climbing a live volcano in Pucon, watching lava spew, and then sliding down the mountain on our bums
• 5 day hiking in Torres del Paine and watching the first ray of sun hit the Torres pillars
• Exploring the vast swamps of the Brazilain Pantanol (Brazil)
• Snorkeling in crystal clear rivers and caving in Bonito (Brazil)
• Frolicking in the mud in Parati (Brazil)
• Exploring hallucinogenic salt deserts, spurting geysers and eerie lagoons around the Uyuni Salt pans (Bolivia)
• Hurtling down the worlds most dangerous road on mountain bikes and then chilling out in Coroico (Bolivia)
• Hiking along the ancient road of the Incas on the Inca trail (Peru)
• Sunrise over the sacred and mysterious city of Machu Picchu (Peru)
• Hundred of thousands of sea birds (including beautiful Inca terns) at the Ballestas Islands (Ecuador)
• Sandboarding at the desert oasis of Huacachina (Ecuador)
• Photographing Horses in the Mist in Ecuador
• Exploring the flooded forests of the Cuyabeno Jungle (Ecuador)
• Snorkeling with penguins, sharks, turtles and rays and getting close and personal with tortoises and marine iguanas in the surreal islands of Galapagos
• My first sight of the Sydney Opera House (Sydney)