the wonderful world of Oz…
When people who follow our Instagram met up with me upon our arrival back to the States the first thing they asked was, how long was the longest leg of the trip?… let me tell you: thanks to an unexpected train strike, it started with a 7 hour car drive from the French coast, 3 hours at the airport, 8 hour flight to Dubai, 3 hour layover, then a 14 hour flight to Sydney. Somewhere over the Indian Ocean I woke up and had absolutely zero knowledge if it was day or night, yesterday or tomorrow. So I did what I had to do – had a glass of champagne at 32,000 feet.
Day 1: There are perks to jetlag- we found ourselves wide awake so early in the land down under we were able to enjoy the sunrise over Sydney Harbor. One of the motion cameras Kevin packed was his RED Epic which he brought along for a beautiful time-lapse, a continuation for the video from France. Choosing the equipment to bring for a project like this took a lot of thought and planning. What is mobile and light enough to carry for hours? What will give us the ‘power of nature’ beauty shots? How much can we bring before we start getting weighed down since most days are travel days? I ended up choosing to bring the Canon 5DMark III for stills at ingredient moments and most of the behind the scenes images you see here. I also brought along my Leica M which I used in “off” times just hanging around my neck ready to capture candid moments along the way. I love the Leica for this because it’s small and lightweight and unobtrusive. I choose, however, to shoot the main ingredients and stories with the Mark III because it can shoot, focus and process images much faster.
We chose a Canon C300 as our primary camera and also used it to capture audio from our lavalier mics. The C300 turned out to be a perfect companion to the Epic, especially for it’s light weight and low profile and, with Canon mounts on both, the ability to swap lenses between the two.
After Sydney woke up before our eyes we got busy with the girls on the hunt for two more natural Origins ingredients: Peas & Bamboo. Australia provides a perfect climate for growing these two edible plants, which makes sense feeling how incredibly mild and warm it was for what would be their “winter”.
Below we find the most beautiful peas…I found their vine-like arms to be quite whimsical-looking with beautiful little white flowers. Peas fresh off the vine are so delicious. We had such a good time with this delicate little ingredient full of antioxidants and amino acids that we found a lunch dish featuring it! You know the saying “you are what you eat” and I want to be everything that is inside of this little pod.
While on the journey, Origins sent us along with the first batch of their Origins Plantscription Anti-Aging Power Serum, which you can now request a free 2 week sample of here!
Bamboo keeps coming up in my life these days and I have to say it is truly a powerful piece of nature. Used as a building material, an eco way to create products, controlling water, as a food for animals and humans and in art (I’ll never forget climbing around on bamboo on top of the MET!) it’s no wonder it’s also another special ingredient used by Origins.
Day 2: Adventuring into the outback. You can’t go to Australia and not find yourself in a peaceful natural environment. Following the girls around, splashing through mud in our 4×4, finding koalas and kangaroos was all a part of the culture and adventure we hoped to discover so far from home.
Then it’s back to the airport with my favorite travel pieces: Hartmann tweed suitcase and Coach travel wallet. Tomorrow we will begin the final journey…
