How Can I  Describe my “Journey to Australia”?

Words alone just couldn’t do justice in communicating how beautiful this place is. This video is my attempt at sharing with you what I’ve seen, the experiences I’ve had, the impressions stamped in my brain from the places I’ve been so far.

Obviously I’m not the only one who’s felt the need to express how their journey to this great land of OZ has impressed them since the song I found perfect for my video was another GutZy Woman, Rita MacNeil’s response to her own trip here. I’m sure you’ll find it inspiring, as I did.

Much of the photo’s in this video were taken around Nelson Bay at Port Stephens. An old ski buddy of my husband’s invited us to come to his condo there to join him and his family and friends in celebration of Australia Day.

While there, we spent time on his AWESOME yacht, drove fast on his HOT SkiDoo, ate tons of fresh shrimp, oysters and catch of the day, swam in the pool on the roof of the condo building and watched some of the most incredible skies from that birds eye view.

Did you see the lightening shot? The night before Australia Day, the evening sky was a symphony of God’s fireworks shooting across the sky from one end to the other. The next night were the towns fireworks as seen from the roof as well. It was a toss up as to which night was more impressive.

What exactly is Australia Day?

As one Ozzie put it, “Traditionally January 26, Australia Day, conjures up images of faded blue singlets, British racing green stubbies, sweltering hot days, icy cold beers, snags on the barbie and, of course, the beach.”

<”font-family:Arial”>Each year as people around the nation celebrate what makes this country great, there are some very special Aussies being recognized for their great work. These awards are known as the Australia Day Australian of the Year Awards. The awards profile leading citizens who are role models and who inspire through their achievements, and challenging others to make their own contributions to creating a better Australia.

Here are some Aussie facts to dazzle your friends with:

1. The Australian national flag features the stars of the Southern Cross, the Union Jack and Commonwealth or Federation Star.
2. The floral emblem is the golden wattle.
3. Although most people associate green and gold with the Olympic sporting heroes, the colors actually come from the landscapes: Gold symbolizing Australia’s beaches, grain harvests and the fleece of Aussie wool and Green from the forests, eucalyptus trees and rolling  pastures.
4. Australia’s national gemstone is the opal.
5. In 1977 three million Aussies voted in a referendum for Advance Australia Fair to become the national anthem and that it was officially proclaimed in 1984.

Hope you enjoy your new found knowledge and my Tribute to this beautiful country!

To learn more about GutZy Women or to see previous “Grand Australian Journey” videos CLICK HERE

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Do you ever try out new software that comes with a new computer?

If you’re like me, then you probably just stick with what you know, get the work done that you need to, and tell yourself you’ll try the new stuff when you get a chance. Do you find that “chance” very rarely shows up? Yeah, me too…

Until yesterday when I decided to try the video template software that Vaio so kindly placed within my computer.

You may have seen some of the videos I made using the “Flip” templates. I REALLY LOVE my flip, but I find the templates are pretty limiting, so when I took on the job for a friend of shooting action shots of her kids playing softball, I was on the lookout for something other than Muvee (the company that makes the software for the “Flip”).

Sometimes I use Window’s Movie Maker, but that didn’t excite me, so I actually was surprised to find a software fromVaio just sitting there and decided to try it. They have created some very cool templates, complete with special effects and music, so I got all excited and started to play.

Frustration took over when I realized that the only way I was going to get it to work right was to upload one picture at a time and recreate the movie over and over again. It took me HOURS!

Another problem I had was that the template panned the pictures so that the focus ended up being on the kids bodies rather than their heads and faces. I did then try to find just the right shots, but WHAT A PAIN!

Don’t you just hate it when these companies create software that is supposedly made for non-professionals which are easy and fast to use, but they end up being more of a hinderance than a help?

I would LOVE to hear about your experiences with video software, what works well, what’s easy and fast and FUN!

To check out more GutZy Women Videos, click here