Luke Burrage's Blog » LATW

Petra, Jordan

admin — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 18:08:00 +0000

Visiting a wonder of the ancient world. Or, as I view it, following in the footsteps of Indiana Jones.

The Treasury from the “Sig” or “shaft”.

The Treasury and a camel.

The Treasury and me, getting a blast of wind and sand in my face.

The Treasury and me, doing my best to ignore the sand blasting in my face.

The Sig again.

The facades.

Horse riding past the Obelisk tomb.

The Sig.

Me looking up at the very narrow gorge.

A camel on its way to the Treasury.

Inside a tomb.

Patterns in the rock ceiling of a tomb.

On the right, our tour guide.

Donkey!

Detail of the Sig.

Water-eroded rock.

The Sig again.

Steve making a friend during a rest stop on the bus trip.

Air Force One

Spotted at the brand new Queen Alia International Airport. When I visited Petra yesterday I spotted secret service vehicles ahead of Obama’s visited today.

I love to read comments and feedback about my blog posts. Please email me, I reply to every message: luke@juggler.net

Norwegian Fjords – May 2011.

admin — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:00:52 +0000

I took a cruise from Lisbon to the Norwegian fjords. I met up with Mike (an entertainer I explored Dubai with in 2010) in Stravanger. I took a long walk in Geiranger Fjord. There’s famous sticky-out-rock in the postcards, and I wanted to get a video of me juggling on it. It turns out that due to rain, me standing on that rock would have resulted in nothing less than me plummeting to my death. And the spot you need to reach to take the iconic photo involves ropes and other climbing gear.

I left the ship in Olden, and a the port agent picked up me and the other two entertainers in his Rolls Royce, due to the cruise ship passengers using up all the other available taxi cars in the entire town. And then we took off from an airport with the shortest runway in the whole of Norway, at about 800m. Not only is it the shortest runway, the takeoff leads right towards a steep hill. And if you turn left or right, there are more hills and cliffs. The pilot has to circle almost 360 degrees inside the fjord at a steep climb until the plane is high enough to fly out. It’s quite a fun ride!

With friends in Lisbon

Out for a drink with Mike

Mike’s new camera

Group photo

The new back end of the Grand Princess

Sailing up Geirangerfjord

Waterfalls.

Spooky!

Raining

Sheep in the rain

Sheep

The Grand Princess

Non-tripod HDR effort.

Rainlings.

Muddy

More waterfalls.

Geiranger chapel.

For some reason we were taken to the airport in a Rolls Royce.

Norwegian roads.

The MacDonald Brothers.

Our driver.

An interesting lift to the airport.

Norwegian tunnels

We took off from a very short runway.

Shortest runway in Norway!

A Brother at work.

I love to read comments and feedback about my blog posts. Please email me, I reply to every message: luke@juggler.net

The Prinsendam photo collection.

admin — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:00:34 +0000

I’ve worked on the HAL Prinsendam more than any other ship. I’ve done maybe 15 individual contracts, often spanning two cruises. There are upsides and downsides to working on such a small and old ship. The theater is tiny, which is not very good for a juggling show, and the guest entertainer cabins are considered some of the noisiest and vibrating-est in the business.

But one of the many reasons I enjoy working on the Prinsendam is the more adventurous itineraries. It specializes in visiting ports that other ships sail right past, or are so far that only a few ships visit each year. In many cases, the Prinsendam is the first cruise ship that has ever visited, or the first since the 1960′s. This means that every time I’ve worked on the Prinsendam I’ve visited either a new country, or a new island, or a new port.

Here’s a collection of most of the photos I’ve taken of the Prinsendam, from land or from the ship itself. As I work more on the ship (which I’m sure I will), and take more photos, I’ll add them to this blog post.

The Prinsendam

My first cruise on the Prinsendam began in Montevideo, Uruguay. We sailed up the coast of Brazil to Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Recife.

The Prinsendam was first called the Royal Viking Sun.

At Santorini, Greece.

At Honningsvag, the northernmost port in mainland Europe.

Sailing up to the Arctic ocean pack ice.

Passengers on the forward decks trying to spot whales and seals in the pack ice.

Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard.

Sarande, Albania.

Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Stromboli volcano, Italy.

Lanzarote, Canary Islands.

La Palma, Canary Islands.

Dominican Republic.

Aruba.

St. Tropez, France.

Stromboli volcano, Italy.

Katakolon, Greece.

Istanbul, Turkey.

Civitavacchia, Italy.

Calvi, Corsica.

Port Elizabeth, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos.

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas.

With the Maasdam at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas.

Devil’s Island, French Guyana.

On the Amazon River, Brazil.

Ilfracombe, England.

St. Peter Port, Guernsey.

The Isle of Skye, Scotland.

I love to read comments and feedback about my blog posts. Please email me, I reply to every message: luke@juggler.net

New Zealand – November 2011.

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:00:14 +0000

New Zealand! I visited cities and towns by ship, mostly, not what New Zealand is known for. One day I’ll return and travel around in van and see the landscapes and glaciers and countryside, just like everyone else does.

It was interesting arrive on the smallest passenger plane I’ve yet flown on, a Beech 1900D, with seats for just 19 seats. Then, when I flew home at the end of the contract, I took the largest passenger plane I’ve yet flown on, an Airbus A380. The difference in size is was quite remarkable. Which is why I’m remarking on it now.

Smallest passenger plane I’ve ever flown on

Volendam

Napier

Napier beach

New Zealand

Meeting with jugglers in Wellington.

Wellington skyline.

Test shot for International Juggler video.

Picton aquarium

Akaroa.

Dog.

Light house.

Volendam at Akaroa.

At the Box Fort, Dunedin.

Second hand bookshop in Dunedin.

I love to read comments and feedback about my blog posts. Please email me, I reply to every message: luke@juggler.net

The Tjibaou Cultural Center, New Caledonia – November 2011.

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 11:00:43 +0000

Years ago I read a big book called “Buildings of Wood”. It’s a big coffee table style book, with loads of amazing pictures of amazing wooden buildings. I made a note of a few of the buildings, making sure I visit them when I had the chance, and I’ve ticked a few off the list, including buildings in Sweden and the Faroe Isles.

Wood isn’t a very common building material for modern buildings, but one really stood out. The Tjibaou Cultural Center is in New Caledonia. But New Caledonia is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Why would I ever be passing through? But as it happens, my job means I could turn up anywhere in the world. I had just one plan for New Caledonia, and I managed to get across to the Cultural Center and back, and not miss the ship.

If you ever visit, and just want to take a photo from the outside of the building (like I did, as I wasn’t sure if I’d have enough time to look inside), you must park a distance away, then pay to get into the grounds. It’s not possible to get close without buying a ticket. Which I didn’t know. But by the time I got there, after many years and after traveling half way round the world to see it, I just paid the money and checked it out. I’m glad I did. It really *is* a unique building.

New Caledonia

I love to read comments and feedback about my blog posts. Please email me, I reply to every message: luke@juggler.net

Fiji – November 2011.

admin — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 11:00:54 +0000

In November I stopped at three different places in Fiji. One was a small island with a population of only 150, then a town near a tourist part of the main island, and then Suva, the capital. I’ll look up the names later.

The small island was a true island paradise, with sandy beaches and jungles on the hills. Raymond and I decided to walk up the hill. We went via the beach, and then couldn’t find the path to the top. In the end we pushed our way through the jungle undergrowth until we finally made it to the path. This was not fun at all, and then a lot of fun, and then not fun at all. I got a scratch on my leg, which then got infected, and I had to take lots of drugs and dress the wound for the next few weeks to heal it.

Zaandam – November 2011

Visiting American Samoa and Fiji.

Suva, Fiji

Not McDonalds

I love to read comments and feedback about my blog posts. Please email me, I reply to every message: luke@juggler.net

American Samoa – November 2011.

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:00:39 +0000

American Samoa is the southernmost American territory in the world. For years it was used as a refueling stop for long distance flights from continental United States to Australia, but now planes can do the trip in one hop.

I was meant to be flying out from American Samoa to Honolulu and Japan and then down to New Caledonia, but I worked out I could just stay on the ship for another fours days instead of taking two overnight flights. That meant I could go to a beach bar with a bunch of crew from the ship, and I took one of my favourite photos of last year.

Which is, of course, the guy holding the snorkel and face mask.

I’m kidding.

Zaandam – November 2011

Visiting American Samoa and Fiji.

I love to read comments and feedback about my blog posts. Please email me, I reply to every message: luke@juggler.net

Hawaii – November 2011.

admin — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:00:02 +0000

In November I flew from Berlin to Heathrow to LAX to Honolulu, all in one day. When I arrived in Hawaii I had been traveling for about 29 hours, and then went out drinking with friends on the Zaandam. I think I stayed up about 35 hours in total.

The next day I visited the North Shore to see some famous surfing spots, and went for some walks through some scenery so interesting it has been used in many movies and TV shows like Jurassic Park and Lost. Then we sailed across to Kauai, where I took a helicopter flight. It’s the most amazing place, and once again used for so many movie locations. Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, and many, many more.

We flew to the wettest place on Earth, and I saw a 360 degree rainbow from above.

And I only vomited once. It’s what I do.

LAX

Test shot for the International Juggler video.

Hawaii on the Zaandam

The North Shore of Oahu. I jumped from the higher rocks.

Hanging out on the beach.

Stopped to take photos of trees.

Another tree.

Test shot for the International Juggler video.

Another tree.

While filming myself juggling, these two fellas started trotting towards me. I took this photo after I’d got myself behind a fence.

Dramatic skies above Oahu.

Oahu.

Helicopter tour around Kauai.

Door-less helicopter for better photos but more rain in your face.

Ready to fly!

Ground crew.

Take off!

Sound cancelling.

Above the airport.

The Zaandam at Nawillwili port.

It doesn’t look like much from this angle, but Indiana Jones ran away from indians across this meadow at the beginning of Raiders. Cool!

Above Kauai.

Not sure what this is.

The Jurassic Park waterfall!

More of Jurassic Park.

I didn’t see any dinosaurs.

Waimea Canyon – The Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

Napali coast, more backdrops from Jurassic Park.

South Pacific.

The wettest place on Earth, up to 600 inches of rain per year!

Post flight crap photo with helicopter sticking out of my ear.

I love to read comments and feedback about my blog posts. Please email me, I reply to every message: luke@juggler.net

Wannsee boat trip – August 2011.

admin — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:00:28 +0000

Juliane and I took a trip together to the edge of Berlin, hired a boat, and rowed around the Wannsee. Here are some photos I took, and one that Juliane took. Boat rowing is a good way to get sunburn and blisters, as Juliane discovered. I just got hungry.

Juliane and Luke on a boat

I love to read comments and feedback about my blog posts. Please email me, I reply to every message: luke@juggler.net

Devon and Guernsey – July 2011.

admin — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 14:00:56 +0000

In the continuing tradition of ending up in places I’ve not visited before while working on the Prinsendam: Ilfracombe in Devon, England, and St. Peter Port in Guernsey.

Summer cruising

Ilfracombe, England.

St. Peter Port, Guernsey.

I love to read comments and feedback about my blog posts. Please email me, I reply to every message: luke@juggler.net