Australia Zoo - Tortoise

This lovely fella was really enjoying the drizzly day at Australia Zoo.

One of the best features of this particular zoo was just how much care and attention each animal received from their keepers and the groundskeepers. These animals are very well socialised and they all seemed to be in very spacious and clean areas. Though I find the whole Irwin empire rather distasteful, I certainly cannot find fault with this facility or the conservation efforts/initiatives they help to promote.

We happened upon one of the keeper presentations at the tortoise enclosure. Apparently, these tortoises absolutely love to have their necks scratched! Igloo nearly pushed his keeper over while he was leaning into his neck rub.

Taken February 2010 - Australia Zoo, Brisbane, Queensland

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Glamour shot!

My roommate and I spent a lovely day walking from Milson's Point over the bridge and into the city. Man oh man, the harbour is a beautiful place! Even the bridge is really quite awesome.

This shot was taken from the North side of the harbour. Just behind me is the Sydney Olympic pool (never been used in an Olympics, but who's splitting hairs?) and Luna Park. The pool is really quite lovely, and a salt water pool to boot! Having yet to visit Luna Park, I will have to go and report back to you.

taken April 2010 - Sydney Harbour Bridge, North Sydney, NSW

Milan Central Station

There is something truly monumental about Milan's Central Station. Mussolini really did make himself a monument when commissioning this to be built. The Art Deco style here really does inspire awe.

One of the few styles that Micah and I agree on is Art Deco. There is something absolutely lovely in the long clean lines, the sleek curves and the nod to classical mythology. It really is a shame that we didn't spend longer at this station so that we could have a proper look around and admire.

As for Milan Station... plan on at least 30minutes to purchase your ticket. Actually, the same was true in Florence, so maybe I should recommend this allowance for any major station in Italy. Micah and I did the whole divide and conquer method of ticket queueing - I took the ticket window line, and Micah the automated teller line. On this particular occasion, I won, despite the 35 minute wait.

After this, the train journey from Milan to Genoa was completely uneventful. Train travel really is the absolute best way to get around in my mind's eye; far superior to the bus!

taken June 201 0 - Milan Central Station, Milan, Italy

Vanishing on the Horizon

This summer I travelled over the Indian Ocean for the first time. Yes, I understand that, for the most part, looking at an any ocean from the air is, well, similar. That said, I cannot even begin to tell you how excited this flight made me, and how much I enjoyed looking out over the water and at the clouds as we past by.

Next on my list of firsts was flying over the Middle East. None of the photos I took out the window did any justice to the landscape of this area. The unending beige sand raggedly cut with rivers that appear to be ink black. The dots on the landscape that could only be the most stubborn trees known on earth. It was captivating.

At one point, despite the haze I noticed there were no clouds. Again, the photo above does not do the scene justice. The clarity of the sky's blue was stunning. The beige of the sand below blended perfectly with the haze to create a smooth surface below, and the vanishing point on the horizon could not have been a more perfect white. The sense of distance, proportion and colour was stunning beyond belief.

I hope this image never leaves my mind. To have the perfect meld between land and sky; to have no lines, no definition... breathtaking and so very, very peaceful.

taken June 2010 - Emirates flight over Iraq

House Spider

May I introduce Hunter, our house spider.

I must admit, had you asked me three years ago about if I would like to have a spider of notable size living in my bedroom I would have answered a resounding no. It's amazing what the heat of the Australian summer can do to one's brain, eh?

All jokes aside, I was actually quite pleased to have Hunter move in with us. Huntsman spiders are known to be a very effective bug killing arachnid. They also do not really use webs and they pose no harm to humans. So really, these spiders are the ideal house guests. Our Hunter only showed his (or her) face on occasion, and really didn't grow to be that big. (Including leg-span, he was about the size of a 50c coin Australian, or a Canadian twoonie).

Sadly, we haven't seen Hunter since the end of May. I miss you my dear.

taken April 2010 - wall of our bedroom, Macquarie Park, NSW