Here's a stained glass picture showing the aboriginal concept of the madona and child, and the one below shows an aboriginal nativity scene, complete with grass trees, a kangaroo, emu, and a kookaberra.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
September 30, 2010
Drove out to New Norcia with my AWC group, to tour a monastary built in 1846. Lots of gorgeous artwork, wood carving, etc. and we got a special tour of the bakery, since one of the ladies was friends with someone there. They still bake bread and biscotti in the same oven they've used for over 150 years, pretty amazing.
This is one of the chapels, and a monk living there some years ago carved all the woodwork himself. The ceilings were all done by the monks too, as well as the paintings.
Here's a stained glass picture showing the aboriginal concept of the madona and child, and the one below shows an aboriginal nativity scene, complete with grass trees, a kangaroo, emu, and a kookaberra.
Here's a stained glass picture showing the aboriginal concept of the madona and child, and the one below shows an aboriginal nativity scene, complete with grass trees, a kangaroo, emu, and a kookaberra.
Friday, October 15, 2010
September 27, 2010, continued...
On the way to Kalgoorlie, we had to pass this monster truck bed (actually 2, one behind the other) and they were so wide the traffic on the other side of the road had to be stopped to allow these things to pass, since they took up both lanes. These were headed to one of the mine sites, and they are the bed of the dump trucks, which are enormous.
Here's a pic of the super pit, and if you double click on it you can see the dump trucks going up the side.
This is one of the mining vehicles, so massive it's hard to believe anything could be that big.
On the way to Kalgoorlie, we had to pass this monster truck bed (actually 2, one behind the other) and they were so wide the traffic on the other side of the road had to be stopped to allow these things to pass, since they took up both lanes. These were headed to one of the mine sites, and they are the bed of the dump trucks, which are enormous.
This is one of the mining vehicles, so massive it's hard to believe anything could be that big.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Well we finally made the drive out to Kalgoorlie, the site of the Super Pit, the largest producing open pit gold mine in the world. It's about a 6-7 hour drive from Perth, so we spent the night in an old, historic hotel. We saw this framed poem in the lobby, and thought it was an interesting bit of Australia/American history.
Here's the accompanying explanation of the poem.
And here's the gift he sent to the hotel/barmaid. Sounds like Hoover was a true romantic.
Well we finally made the drive out to Kalgoorlie, the site of the Super Pit, the largest producing open pit gold mine in the world. It's about a 6-7 hour drive from Perth, so we spent the night in an old, historic hotel. We saw this framed poem in the lobby, and thought it was an interesting bit of Australia/American history.
And here's the gift he sent to the hotel/barmaid. Sounds like Hoover was a true romantic.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Yesterday we drove about 2 hours out to the Dryandra Woodland, and on the way we passed mile after mile of these canola fields - gorgeous yellow flowers for as far as you could see.
Yesterday we drove about 2 hours out to the Dryandra Woodland, and on the way we passed mile after mile of these canola fields - gorgeous yellow flowers for as far as you could see. Saw this echidna while we were out hiking. He tried hiding under some rocks, but there was only enough room for his beak, and he eventually decided we weren't going to hurt him and waddled away. If the ground hadn't been so rocky, he probably would have dug in, and they can basically disappear into the ground in a matter of minutes - they are incredibly strong, fast diggers.
We passed this mob of kangaroos, and for the first time ever we saw a couple of them boxing. These two young ones started hitting each other, and then the bigger one came up and smacked both of them, then hopped away. As soon as he left, the two smaller ones started pushing each other around again. Pretty funny, just like kids.
We decided to stay until dark to do some night spotting, and saw several cute possums.
Josh and Ai had a baby girl, Yumi Laurel, weighing in at 8lbs, 8ou, and just over 21 inches long! How exciting, and we got to see her the very next day in the hospital via Skype. She is gorgeous, can't wait to see her at Christmas when all the kids come over to visit. Here's her picture, taken off Skype.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Left the "Bates Motel" as quickly as we could, and headed to Hervey Bay for a half day whale watching trip, which we scheduled just the night before on Bill's laptop. Reportedly the humpbacks stop over in the bay to take a rest from their migration along the coast, and we were lucky enough to see multiple whales, some with calves. The captain turned off the engines and for 20 or 30 minutes we got to watch 3 jueveniles "spy hopping" around our boat. They were almost close enough to touch, and when they swam underneath the boat, it rocked like crazy, and it was a very big boat. Great way to end our trip, flew back to Perth from Brisbane that night.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Monday, September 6, continued...
When the tide went out we were able to do a reef walk, seemed so strange to realize we were walking on the reef, but as long as you stay on the sand and off the coral, no damage is done. Interesting to see all the strange critters like these big sea cucumbers and beautiful clam shells.
Unfortunately we had to leave the island today, but it's been very relaxing and low-key. There are no locks on the doors so no keys to bother with, and they say there has never been a problem with theft. Everyone was very friendly and there is a fairly large marine research station on the island, associated with the University of Queensland.
We took the boat back to the mainland, then drove to a small, historic town called Marysborough. I booked a hotel that was described as being quaint and historic, but turned out to be a derelict, falling down, positively scary place and we felt lucky to wake up the next morning without having been bludgeoned in our sleep. When we tried to check in, there was no one at the desk, and although we kept calling the number, no one responded, so we left to get some dinner. However, Marysborough basically rolls up the sidewalks at 6:00pm because there was not a restaurant open, which explained why no one was manning the hotel desk - after all, it was almost dark outside! If there had been anything else availbable, we would not have gone back to the hotel, but since it appeared to be the only place in town, we checked in and held our breath. The hotel apparently has a rather large number of "permanent residents" and the sign on the soda machine said, "If you continue to put slugs in, the owners of the machine have threatened to take it out - you have been warned!" Very high class clientele. Anyway, we left as quickly as possible the next morning, and headed for Hervey Bay.
We took the boat back to the mainland, then drove to a small, historic town called Marysborough. I booked a hotel that was described as being quaint and historic, but turned out to be a derelict, falling down, positively scary place and we felt lucky to wake up the next morning without having been bludgeoned in our sleep. When we tried to check in, there was no one at the desk, and although we kept calling the number, no one responded, so we left to get some dinner. However, Marysborough basically rolls up the sidewalks at 6:00pm because there was not a restaurant open, which explained why no one was manning the hotel desk - after all, it was almost dark outside! If there had been anything else availbable, we would not have gone back to the hotel, but since it appeared to be the only place in town, we checked in and held our breath. The hotel apparently has a rather large number of "permanent residents" and the sign on the soda machine said, "If you continue to put slugs in, the owners of the machine have threatened to take it out - you have been warned!" Very high class clientele. Anyway, we left as quickly as possible the next morning, and headed for Hervey Bay.
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