AdverBarbie World Tour HIGHLIGHT: Diving the Great Barrier Reef

If you ever make it over to Australia, I cannot recommend diving the Barrier Reef enough.  It is one of the most perfect places on earth.  An underwater tropical paradise that only exists in one other place, we hit up another bucket list item for sure!  From our blue Avatar-looking stinger suits, to 3 exotic dives, this was one of the best days of our lives.  The fish were not only boasting colors similar to a fluorescent rainbow, but they were massive! I’m talking parrot fish the size of stop signs! There was this one clam, it was so huge, could be used as a full size suit case. It opened up, exposed it’s insides, and I literally had a mini panic attack.  Luckily I realized that clams are stationary, and it wasn’t going anywhere.

The coral reef was absolutely exquisite, truly alive with movement, yet so peaceful.  It was a colossal spectacle of nature.

We splurged and rented an underwater HD camera, and went to town with below surface photography.  After 6 hours we had blown through an entire 2GB memory card, and captured some of the most beautiful living creatures imaginable.   We may or may not be selling the images as stock photography.

The Reef is so gorgeous, its such a shame that it is diminishing a little bit everyday.  The reefs in Mexico used to be just as beautiful, but have been trashed by careless tourists.  I hate to say it, but the GBR is on its way to a similar fate.  Divers were crashing into the precious coral with their tanks, stepping all over the reef breaking it off and crumbling all over. It was absolutely heartbreaking.  So if you do go, for the love of god, try to not leave a remnant of your visit.  Look around and be aware of where you are stepping, turning, and diving.  Basically don’t be an idiot.  Because it took Earth billions of years to create, and once its gone, its gone forever.  K, thanks.

AdverBarbie World Tour UPDATE

After months of anticipation, we found out the next stop on the world tour: Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

You’re looking at the newest creative intern team for Ogilvy & Mather,  Advertising Agency.  We are all set to arrive March 30th, and start work April 5th.  We’ll be there for another memorable 10 weeks, yeah!  If you haven’t realized it already, this means we have successfully circumnavigated the globe in 9 months, sampling advertising and cultures like wildfire.  The World Tour has progressed far better than we could have imagined.  This deserves a big Aussie, “Sweet As! How good is that mate?” 

You’re probably wondering, how do these girls have the energy to keep traveling like they do?  Don’t they miss their friends and families?  Aren’t they running out of money?  Yep, it does get super tiring at times, especially setting up and closing down shop every couple months, but it’s totally worth it. 

Also, we would like to state for the record that we have the most amazing and incredibly supportive families. We are SO grateful for all their help along the way.  We could not do it without them, and they are with us every step.  Big thanks to both sets of our parents :) 

Also a big shout out to our brothers and sisters, boyfriend (aka TreMendez), and best friends.  We miss you, and thanks for keeping up with all AdverBarbie’s crazy antics.

Enjoy the next few posts, and we’ll be seeing you all soon.  Get this, we leave Sydney Tues, March 16th @ 2:00pm, and we arrive in LA on Tuesday @ 9:00am! Hows that for a mind trip?   Can’t wait to get some R&R stateside for a while.  Ahhhh God bless the USA.

TopGear Live: Sydney Ferrari car show and event

Ferrari:  ultimate sports car.
Shell V-Power: the gasoline preferred by Ferarri drivers.
Top Gear Live: a car show/entertainment filled weekend. 
Iris: the advertising agency commissioned to create the Shell+Ferarri activation event.
AdverBarbie: the team called upon to capture it on film.




TopGear Live: Sydney Ferrari Event from Michelle Pokorny on Vimeo.
What does all this equate?  Well, one of our tasks this week was to hit up the Sydney Olympic stadium and shoot HD footage for an agency case study.   We went around with all of our gear, and got some great images for Iris at Top Gear Live.  People just love their sports cars, especially classic red Ferarris.  It was kid in a candy store syndrome but for men & cars.  At the moment we're in the post production process, so stay tuned for the final product. 

Who's guilty for inventing box wine?

Boozing and sly-grogging put aside, these Australians make some fantastic vino.  We ventured out of the city and took a two hour trip to the beautiful Hunter Valley.  The highest volume of wine in Australia is produced and exported from the valley, and is world renowned for its wonderful tasting Semillon variety.  The Hunter Valley wineries take pride in producing almost all their wine using ingredients exclusively from this region.   Rolling green hills and a glass of sparkling Moscato in hand, this was definitely one for the bucket list.  To complete the cliche, we even saw wild kangaroos hopping in the distance.

We visited 3 vineyards, 1 garden, and 1 cheese factory all in the span of 10 hours.  I said I wasn’t going to buy anything, but of course, ended up splurging on a bottle of some excellent Rose.  And yes, the Australians were the first to box their wine.  They still continue to low brow the industry by claiming screw caps keep the wine fresher than corks do.  We'll see how that goes over in the States.  Cheers!

Entertainment Experience of a Lifetime

Once again, the stars have fallen into perfect alignment for AdverBarbie.  We were given the privilege of seeing Avatar 3D, the most advanced special effects movie to date, on the biggest movie theater on the planet.   “The IMAX Theatre Sydney in Darling Harbour is home to the world's largest cinema screen at 29.42m high by 35.73m wide – covering an area of more than 1,015 square metres. They just don't come any bigger!  The film soundtracks are delivered through a mighty 15,000 watt digital surround sound system.”    All they needed was a little olfactory stimulation, and I would have swore I was right there in Pandora.   However, I’m not sure what glow-in-the-dark rainforest smells like, but I’m sure it’s quiet refreshing.

Considering our passion for all things film, technology, and fantasy, I was 100% willing to pay $27 for a movie that I had already seen.  More good news, Alice In Wonderland is going to be playing there on March 4th.  Baaaallin’.