Berlin Bear, Moscow, Russia

kristl


Posted Aug 23, 2007, 6:06 pm
Hello!

Don't you know?? I've just been chosen to take part in ToyVoyagers Project and travel around the world!!! I'm happy and proud! To tell the truth I've already travelled a little - I was born in Berlin (Germany) and then came to Moscow (Russia). So I hope it wouldn't be very difficult for me to make other journeys. I'm already looking forvard for them!

And I'm very glad that I have this Travelog, cause I always wanted to have a diary, but I didn't know what to white there.. There was not many things in my life that are worth writing about.. But now everything has changed!!!

In the house where I live there are many other toys - they are my best friends, but I hope to find much more friends all over the world - this is one of my Missions, you see.

The other Missions.. Well, the thing is I am very curious: I want to see everyting I can and visit everything I can (that is why I wrote aboute continents and countries.. European - cause Europe is my native land). When I was small I heard a song:
The bear has gone to the mountains
The bear has gone to the mountains
The bear has gone to the mountains
To see what he could see

I want to do that too!!!

And Scotland.. Well, I think it is very beautiful country, I've read much about it :)

So, I think it's enough for the first post. Hope to meet you all some day!

And look! It's me on the foto! In my home - The Bookcase - with my favourite books))

Good night to you all! Hm.. It's almost night here))
kristl


Posted Aug 24, 2007, 7:37 am
Good morning! It's morning here where we are :)
I just write to show you my new Travel Tag! Kristl has just created it in photoshop ;) She spent 2 hours (!!)
Here it is. Do you like it? Is it nice?
kristl


Posted Aug 27, 2007, 6:53 pm
Well my journey is a bit delayed.. I decided to wait for Éireannach who travels to Vienna to ChristinaB and go to the post office with her. Hope that we'lldo it this Thursday. I'm looking forward for it!

By the way in Éireannach's Travelog there is a foto where we're together ;)
kristl


Posted Aug 31, 2007, 9:08 am
Hi, it's Kristl here. Berlin asked me to post a foto of him, Éireannach and Snegovik. They leaved their home yesterday and here is the photo - they're prepared and wil start their journey in a couple of minutes!

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spanks


Posted Sep 14, 2007, 12:59 am
Well I've arrived! It seems I might have been at the post office for a day or 2 before Bonnie and her mum came and got me, but that's ok, I was feeling very jet lagged and was enjoying a nice nap when they picked me up.

Bonnie's mum needed to charge her batteries so she could take some happy snaps of me and guess what?

..........

well .. have you guessed yet???

..........

ha ha .. no silly, Pamps arrived today! Bonnie took me with her to check the post office as she was hoping Pamps would be here before he had to sit in the post office all alone all weekend, and there he was, in all his moosey glory!

I can't stay and chat now, we're off to have some Sao biccies with Vegitmite on them, i'm told it's an Aussie thing and that i just have to try it ... it looks like tar  :thinking:  :p
spanks


Posted Sep 25, 2007, 9:17 am
I've had a pretty lazy time of it lately, but now that school holidays have begun it seems a trip or 2 is on the cards for us  :D

during the last week of school, chook, bonnie's 6yo sister, had a couple of things happening at school, and she invited us to come along.

On the tuesday we went and helped the yr1's do their reading, I was in charge of the books, Bonnie was in charge of the cards and Pamps was in charge of the stamps, the kids had a ball chatting with us and showing us the ropes :)

Afterwards we went to "mums" friends house for a little farewell morning tea for bonnie, we got to play with the other kids and then we had a ride in the big yellow giraffe!


spanks


Posted Sep 25, 2007, 9:21 am
On the wednesday we were invited to attend Dinosaur Day at chooks classroom, it was very exciting and very scary! we saw sooo many dinosaurs, all the kids had to design their own and then make it out of clay, there were some very very good dinosaurs!

The "Jackosaurus" is chooks dinosaur!


spanks


Posted Sep 25, 2007, 9:31 am
On the thursday, Dee took us for a walk down to the river front to see the giant Platypus and giant Frog - Tiddalik .. it was very exciting! We also stopped and climbed a giant tree, it was super windy so we had to be really careful too, i ended up getting stuck not very far up, thankfully, so Dee kindly helped me down again. Then wewatched the ducks swim lazily by and we almost got a pic of a blue tongued lizard but just as Dee snapped the pic the little critter took a run for it and she missed it :(

for the click disabled  ;)

   

Quote:


Tiddalik the Flood Maker

Tiddalik, the largest frog ever known, awoke one morning with an unquenchable thirst. He started to drink, and he drank until there was no fresh water left in the world. The creatures everywhere were soon dying and the trees were shedding their leaves because of the lack of moisture. It seemed that very soon Tiddalik the frog would be the only one alive.

The animals could not think of a way out of their terrible plight, until a wise old wombat suggested that if Tiddalik could be make to laugh, all the imprisoned water would flow out of his mouth.

So, everyone gathered by the giant frog’s resting-place. For a long time they tried to make him laugh, but in vain. The kookaburra told his funniest stories, so good that he could not help laughing at them himself; the kangaroo jumped over the emu;and the blanket lizard waddled up and down on two legs making his stomach protrude; but the frog’s face remained blank and indifferent.

Then, when the animals were in despair, the eel, Nabunum, driven from his favourite creek by the drought, slithered up to the unresponsive frog, and began to dance. He started with slow, graceful movements, but as the dance became faster he wriggled and twisted himself into the most grotesque and comical shapes, until suddenly Tiddalik’s eyeslit up and he burst out laughing. And as he laughed, the water gushed from his mouth and flowed away to replenish the lakes, the swamps and the rivers.

Source: The Dreamtime Book Australian Aboriginal Myths Text by Charles P Mountford and Paintings by Ainslie Roberts Rigby Publications, Adelaide, 1993
becka_kate


Posted Nov 1, 2007, 8:33 am
Hi
I've arrived safely in Sydney.

Here I was when I arrived. Luckily Pamplemoose and I have gotten to know each other quite well, so it wasn't a problem to share a ride!
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Our host took us outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. It is spring here - but the weather goes from beautiful to wet and rainy very quickly and there have been lots of thunder storms.
Pamplemoose and I made use of the new decking and furniture to relax and get ready for our upcoming sightseeing expeditions.
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See how beautiful and green everything is? Bec used have this pot plant in her flat, but she says she has black thumbs, so her mum has to look after it for her now.
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becka_kate


Posted Nov 4, 2007, 5:43 am
We made a Sunday drive through the Royal National Park today.
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The Royal National Park was established in 1879 and is the world's second oldest national park - after Yellowstone in the USA. In July 2006, this park was added to the National Heritage List, which are places with outstanding natural, Indigenous or historic heritage value to Australia.
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We spent a lot of time driving along the road as we were headed to Bundeena, which is 23km in from the highway. We saw lots of native plants and trees.
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We crossed the Audley Weir (which has a tendency to flood after heavy rains, but the sky was clear, so we knew we'd be ok getting back out!)
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The road was so windy too. All those tight bends!
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I thought the cyclists we passed were very brave - the road is very narrow!
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At times it felt like we were never going to get there! The road just kept going on and on and on!
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But then we came over a bend and I could see water. My hosts and travel guides had told me I could play on the beach at Bundeena, so I knew we must be getting close! (The excitement was a little too much for me!)
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becka_kate


Posted Nov 4, 2007, 6:19 am
Bundeena is a tiny beach side village in the Royal National Park. It is quite isolated even though it is right on the edge of the city. You can only access it by the long, winding drive we took or by a ferry service from Cronulla. Sometimes it is cut off by flooding at Audley, bushfires in the National Park or bad weather that makes it impossible for the ferry to run.
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The beach is very beautiful and a nice place to spend a Sunday afternoon relaxing.

PampleMoose, Mario and I had a lot of fun on the beach before having a late lunch and heading back 'home'
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Don't you think this looks like the perfect place to live?
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Check out the view from the ferry wharf!
up the river:
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back to the beach:
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Before we could go home, we just hadto experience life in a gum tree in honour of one of our hosts.
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I was also intrigued by this tap. How do you get the water out of it with no handle?
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My host explained that due to the water restrictions with the drought in Australia most taps in public places have had their handles removed so that people can't waste water.

Either the heat got to me (it was close to 30degree C) or I was just tired, but I found it hard to stay awake on the trip home!
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Luckily, my host offered to share her watermelon, strawberry & apple juice, so that helped to perk me back up!
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(Even if both of us are not sure we really enjoyed the flavour!)
becka_kate


Posted Nov 5, 2007, 6:34 am
Tonight we went to see Damien Leith in concert at Star City. Unfortunately Mario couldn't come with us as he was too big to fit in our host's bag!
Damien Leith won Australian Idol last year and recently won an ARIA (Australian Record Industry Award) for most record sales in the last 12 months. My host's sister is a big fan and talked my host into going to the concert with her. We had a lot of fun and even the support band was really good too.

Here we are outside the Casino. There are a lot of water falls out the front.
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Across from the Casino is Pyrmont Bay. In the distance we could see the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The white shell type thing to the left of the bay is a floating stage. There were many of these around the Harbour during the Sydney Olympics for live performances and screening of important events.

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And here is the City skyline. We meant to come back after the show to get a pic of the night skyline, but it was raining too heavily - and you know how bears are about getting their fur wet! The tall, skinny tower is Sydney Tower which has a observation deck and revolving restaurant.
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becka_kate


Posted Nov 6, 2007, 5:47 am
Today is the first Tuesday in November, which means that it is Melbourne Cup Day!
Melbourne Cup Day is Australia's most famous Tuesday. At 3.00 pm AEST, on the first Tuesday in November, Australians everywhere stop for one of the world's most famous horse races - the Melbourne Cup.

It is called "The Race That Stops a Nation" and even those who don't usually bet try their luck with a small wager or entry into a 'sweep' - a lottery in which each ticket-holder is matched with a randomly drawn horse. (Our host had a small win in the $1 sweep at work, but doesn't know how much she's won yet!)

Us ToyVoyagers decided to get in on the action - one problem though, we had no money  :( so we just had to pick a horse to barrack for. I chose Purple Moon (#12).

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Then it was time for the race to start. It was so exciting!
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And, guess what!  :o
My horse came 2nd! I was so excited!! :cyclops:
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becka_kate


Posted Nov 18, 2007, 8:03 am
This afternoon we travelled into Darling Harbour to go the Backpacker and Adventure Traveller Expo at the Convention Centre to help Bec & Kalli with their travel plans.

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Those white posts are part of the roof of the Convention Centre. The centre was built in 1988 as a part of the Australian Bicentennial celebrations and I guess they're supposed to represent the tall ships that bought the English to Australia in 1788? In the front is Tumbalong Park where very often cultural festivals are held. Today it was the Egyptian Festival.
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After we'd collected a lot of information, brochures and other stuff we took some time to explore Darling Harbour. It was very crowded, probably because it was such a nice day after a week of heavy rain and cool weather.

This is part of the city skyline. The tall building in the middle is World Tower, which is the tallest residential building in New South Wales, and the second tallest in Australia. It is so big it has its own postcode!
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The playground next to Tumbalong Park with Sydney Tower in the background (plus Macca's and the funny red and blue building used to be Sega World, but is now an game centre)
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The park around the lake is a great place to sit and eat lunch & in fact we did just that!
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Buzzing around Darling Harbour are all these mini trains that take you from one place to another, as well as advertising various tourist destinations in the precinct. This one is advertising Sydney’s Wildlife World. The lizard on top is a Frilled Neck Lizard. He has a frill around his neck which he raises when he feels threatened or wants to intimidate another creature.
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The sun was getting hot and there is a great gelato stand ..... so we stopped and had gelato! Yum! You might not think that passionfruit and rum & raisin go well together, but you’d be surprised. It had to be eaten quickly before it melted everywhere.
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becka_kate


Posted Nov 18, 2007, 8:04 am
After the gelato it was time to run (literally!) and jump on a ferry to get to Circular Quay. My host tells me there's no better way to make the trip home from Darling Harbour, and on a day like today I'd have to agree. (Although the humans escorting us did get a little sunburnt sitting on the outside deck so us TV's would get a better view of the Harbour!)

This retired naval ship and submarine is a part of Sydney’s Maritime Museum. You can go onto it and explore what life is like on board a ship. Bec’s parents have been and had a great time but said tall people or people who don’t like small spaces (unlike us TV’s who are always getting crammed into small spaces!) shouldn’t go in it.
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My first full glimpse of the Harbour Bridge. It turned 75 years old this year and there was a big celebration held on the harbour.
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The famous Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Two icons in one pic! Did  you know people can now climb right to the top of the Harbour Bridge?
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Sydney’snorthshore(thispartisMcMahon’spoint).Hometotherichandinfluential…..Canyouseetheweddinggoingoninthepark?Betthebridewasverygladitfinallystoppedrainingandthesuncameout!
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Sydney’s Luna Park. An amusement park right on the harbour’s edge. The local residents have tried many times to get it shut down as they say it’s too noisy The park’s been there much, much longer than they have, so with the exception of the huge roller coaster being removed, the park’s been safe!
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An up close view of the Opera House. Bec’s school choir perform there every year, an as she’s the Choir teacher, she’s performed in the main concert hall 4 times!
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And then it was time to get on the train (more running!) and go home.
becka_kate


Posted Nov 18, 2007, 8:18 am
Today I visited Nan Tien Temple at Wollongong with my host, her mum and cousins.
It was about a 1 hour drive down the coast but I enjoyed taking in the scenery. A lot of it is the same Royal National Park we visited last weekend. I also enjoyed the nice sunny day after a week of heavy rain! I tried very hard to stay upright for the whole trip this time. Didn’t want to make a bad impression on my hosts!
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Our first stop was Sublime Point to take it the view of where we'd be going from the lookout.
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Our eventual destination (for lunch) is on the 4th peninsula you can see in this photo. On a clearer day you get a much better view of the lighthouse on the point, but today was still a little hazy from the poor weather! Look at the view - you can see why they call it "Sublime"
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The lookout had these really cool Morton Bay fig trees. The boys we were travelling with had the idea to climb them. I decided to join them. I really like this tree climbing thing!
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Look at this pretty flower. It is an Australian native called a Grevillia. They don't have much of a fragrance, but birds enjoy eating the nectar the grevillia's produce.
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Here I am at Nan Tien Temple near Wollongong.
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"Nan Tien" in Chinese, literally means "Paradise of the South". This is the biggest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. It also has the largest terracotta tile roof of any building in the southern hemisphere. This is the "Great Hero Hall" which is the largest of the two shrines. We went inside and enjoyed the sense of peace that you can’t help but feel here.
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Look at the size of the bell. The monks have to climb a ladder to ring it.
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There are a lot of Buddhist statues around the beautiful gardens.
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It is such a nice place to just sit and relax and take in the natural surroundings (if you can ignore the sounds of the cars whizzing by on the highway!!)
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Did I mention that they have a motel and convention centre if you want to stay and learn all about Buddhism?
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becka_kate


Posted Nov 18, 2007, 8:22 am
It was getting late in the day and we were all hungry so we went into Wollongong to get fish and chips for lunch and watch the water.
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Luckily, being so late in the afternoon (almost 3:30!) the fish and chip shop was not as busy as normal and we could get seats right out front (not a normal occurrence on such a nice day!)
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Look at those seagulls. Would you believe that one of them had the audacity to steal a piece of fish directly out the hands of Bec's mum right when we all weren't looking!?!
That building at the end of the pier used to be a fish and chip co-op but is now an expensive seafood restaurant. Behind it is the lighthouse on Flagstaff Point Cassiopeia visited when she came to Wollongong with Bec & Kalli
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Following lunch it was time to head home. We chose to take the older, more scenic route rather than the same expressway we'd travelled down on. The old highway follows the coast and winds through the old coal mining villages.
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becka_kate


Posted Nov 18, 2007, 8:26 am
We had to follow family tradition and watch the hang gliders at Stanwell Tops on the way home. (Plus buy chocolate coated vanilla ice cream ice cream cones from the ice cream van!)
Look closely in this photo and you’ll see the highway we’d just travelled on. It hugs the coast line pretty closely, and the s shape just above the wind sock is the Sea Cliff Bridge. I've included the link so you can see how it actually goes out over the water. It had to be built this way because rock slides destroyed the old road.
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There weren't that many hang gliders about as it was getting really late in the day. They're so brave! We all agreed that it's probably ok once you're up there, but taking that last step off the cliff?? No way!
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BTW - That's the Tasman Sea you can see to the right of me!

Did you know that this area (called Bald Point) is important in the history of flight because in 1894 a man called Lawrence Hargreaves was the first man in the world to fly with the help of four box kites on the beach below here?

becka_kate


Posted Nov 24, 2007, 9:37 am
Today Bec decided to take us to see the Blue Mountains. You know how much I like going up mountains 'to see what I can see'? So I was pretty excited! :cyclops: I was told that the Blue Mountains are pretty spectacular for sight seeing, what with The Three Sisters, the beautiful valleys and the rain forest, so I just couldn't wait to get in the car and get on our way.
We had to make one stop though. It was Election Day today so we had to go to the local polling booth first to vote for a new federal government. I can't tell you who Bec voted for, but let's just say she wasn't happy with the incumbent!
After she'd waited in a very long queue in sprinkling rain we set off. The weather got a little bit better as we made our way up the expressway and we were pretty happy about that. It hadn't looked too hopeful there for a while. Then, as we got closer and closer to the Mountains I started to get a bit concerned. There were lots of clouds and it started to sprinkle. Not enough for wind screen wipers..... then, horror!!  :o The further up the mountain we got, the mistier it got and it became harder and harder to see anything. By the time we got to our destination, Echo Point where we would see the famous Three Sisters, just look at what we saw:

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Nothing!!!!  :( The cloud cover was that dense that Bec was joking that never mind getting lost, she better be careful not to drive of the cliff!
Here is a link to an image of what we should have seen: The Three Sisters

After that disappointment I wasn't sure I wanted to keep investigating the area, but I was told I couldn't give up, so we drove for a little bit more with the hopes the cloud might lift a bit later and we could come back.

Next we found Hilda's Lookout. The view was still pretty shocking and we got a bit damp. I suppose that makes sense seeing as we were standing in a cloud!
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Our next stop was at Scenic World. Scenic World is the home of the Scenic Railway (which is the steepest incline Railway in the world), the Scenic Cable Car and the Scenic Skyway that either carry you down into the Jamison Valley or across it. Once again this poor bear must report that he went up the mountain and saw next to nothing!
The website says this is what I should have seen: Scenic World photos which all looks very beautiful, wouldn't you agree?
This is what I saw:
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This is the cable car - we rode down into the valley. The Scenic Cable Car is the steepest aerial cable car in Australia! It takes you on a 545 metre ride into (or out of) the World Heritage Listed rain forest of the Jamison Valley.

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Once we rode the Cable Car down into the valley, things improved slightly. It was very beautiful on the bottom of the rain forest.

Sadly they didn't have a Russian welcome sign. Good thing I'm a multi-lingual bear!!  ;)
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I thought this was a very good question for today!
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And here I am in the beautiful rain forest. Isn't it amazing??
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This is outside the Scenic World exit:
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These represent the legend behind the Three Sisters rock formation that we wanted to see  from Echo Point.
This is the legend:

Quote:

Long ago in the Blue Mountains there lived three little Aboriginal sisters. They were Meenhi, Wimlah and Gunnedoo, whose Witch Doctor father was called Tyawan.

Only one creature was feared by all – the Bunyip who lived in a deep hole. When Tyawan had to pass the hole, he would leave his daughters safely on the cliff behind a rocky wall. One day, waving goodbye to his daughters, he descended the cliff steps. On top of the cliff a big centipede suddenly appeared and frightened Meehni, who threw a stone at it. The stone rolled over the cliff and crashed into the valley.

Birds, animals and fairies stopped till as the rocks behind the three sisters split open, leaving them on a thin ledge.
The Three Sisters

The angry Bunyip emerged to see the terrified sisters. In the valley, Tyawan saw the Bunyip close to his daughters, so he pointed his magic bone at the girls and turned them to stone. The Bunyip then chased Tyawan, who found himself trapped, so he changed himself into a Lyre Bird. Everyone was safe, but Tyawan had dropped his magic bone. After the Bunyip had gone, Tyawan searched and searched for his bone – and he is still searching.

The Three Sisters stand silently watching him from their ledge, hoping he will find the bone to turn them back to Aboriginal girls.

As you look at the Three Sisters, you can hear Tyawan – the Lyre Bird – calling his daughters as his search for the lost bone continues.


Before heading home we checked out Echo Point one more time, but if anything visibility was worse!
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Oh well, the bear in the song only got to see the other side of the mountain, so I guess I can't complain too much! :)

annbear


Posted Jan 5, 2008, 12:15 pm
Hello!!
Here I am in Switzerland, a bit chilly after Australia but I´m sure I´ll soon warm up!! :o
annbear


Posted Jan 31, 2008, 12:06 pm
Hello,
So here I am giving Annbear a postcard of Australia to add to her postcrossing collection. If you like getting nice cards, try out www.postcrossing.com. It´s cool!
annbear


Posted Feb 3, 2008, 2:55 pm
Well I´m settling in nicely and thought I would check out the local area - view from the balcony, that sort of thing. Very nice!! I like it here but I want to get closer to those mountains :p
annbear


Posted Mar 4, 2008, 9:55 am
I was invited along on Annbear´s birthday skiing trip which was very exciting. Mountains are great!
annbear


Posted Mar 4, 2008, 9:58 am
We had such an exhausting day whizzing down black runs and having fun that I decided to have an early night. It´s tiring all this travelling you know! :p
annbear


Posted Mar 4, 2008, 10:42 pm
But when I woke up, someone else was in my bed!!! :rolleyes:
annbear


Posted Mar 4, 2008, 10:44 pm
This was the view in the morning - pretty impressive I think you´ll agree!!
kristl


Posted Apr 8, 2008, 5:34 pm
Can you imagine??

When I got out of my envy I saw Kristl smiling at me and understand that I'm ... HOME!

That was a surprise!! I thought I was travelling to Scotland :)

But I'm happy to spend a week at home where I haven't been for a haft of year :)
kristl


Posted Apr 19, 2008, 9:28 pm
I've spent some lovely days at home... :)

I've traveled a bit with Kristl:

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I've seen the first flowers here:

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and now I'm my way to Scotland looking forward to many adventures and new friends!

Here in Moscow I met new friends - TVs staying here - Elisabeth, Decker, Otto and Helen Bear - they all went with me to the post office to say Good Bye to me. I'll missthem, but meybe we'llmeet once more? :)

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