aleoliva86 Posted Feb 15, 2009, 4:08 pm |
Everything is great here in Brazil.
This week my cousin Hugo and me will go meet Autralia! Im very excited. |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Mar 2, 2009, 10:47 pm |
Hey mom! I've finally arrived in Australia. Thankfully I had Hugo to talk to while I was there... and there are a couple other toyvoyagers here currently with me. Sara says tomorrow two of them will be moving onto other hosts (one in Japan and one in Mexico - crazy yes?)... well Sara says she got put to a couple jobs in Bathurst so in the next week or so they'll be out searching for some wild kangaroos to see if I can spot them... :-) Well I'll write a proper update with some photos soon! I've been resting a lot since I got down here! Write again soon! <3 |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Mar 5, 2009, 7:36 am |
Hi! It's been really boring around here lately.. Sara hasn't been able to get out as much as she would have liked to so we've been sitting at home with her... well, nothing much interesting has been going on but today Sara tried kangaroo for the first time. So she thought this was note worthy... we all smelled it and it actually smelled really yummy! It looked just like a steak and Sara says it actually just tastes just like beef, but very very lean, almost no fat at all.. yummy!
Not much there but sometimes I wish we could try new things too - so here was Sara's dinner (or part of it anyways) from the other day. I promise more interesting things ahead in the days to come! Write again soon! |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Mar 5, 2009, 7:54 am |
Today we were taking a small road trip. No where exciting but Sara took this as an opportunity to show us what the Central West is full of... which sadly isn't all that interesting, but hopefully you'll find it a bit more interesting... it's very dry and brown here. There's been barely any rain, so now that it's Autumn, we're hoping for a bit more rain... *fingers crossed* first stop we went to a small town called Blayney which has a population of only 3,000 people...
Here I am at the top of the highest point in Blayney, Church Hill... you can see the whole town from here... ...and here's the rest of the view around Church Hill from where we're standing... Coming down from Church Hill we went down the main street to our next destination... here I am on the main street which is called Adelaide Street... We're back on the road again... I'll update more soon! |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Mar 5, 2009, 8:30 am |
Next stop was the Blayney Wind Farm and Carcoar Dam which is just outside of Blayney and Carcoar... here I am in front of the wind turbines...
Sara also decided to show you Carcoar Dam... if you click that link you can see what Carcoar Dam used to look like. Since the Central West has been in a drought for so long the water level is much much lower than at the moment... here I am in front of what is left of the dam... Kind of puts it into perspective how much of a drought Australia is in, especially inland from the coastlines... here's a closer image of the water level. You see that line on the hill just below the trees? That's where the water used to be... can you imagine THAT much water evaporating? Scary isn't it? ...and here are a couple more photos of the wind mills that run the wind farm... Write again soon! |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Mar 5, 2009, 8:46 am |
Next stop was Carcoar which is one of the many tiny towns between Blayney and Cowra, so we decided to get a few photos. Carcoar has a population of around 400 people... so very small, here I am on the main street...
...there's sadly not much to see here but Sara took us down to the little river that runs through the town. Sara says her and her husband Daniel used to drive here from Blayney to here to have picnic's once in a while. :-) Isn't it pretty? Back on the road... we're almost there! Another 40 minutes or so... write again soon! |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Mar 5, 2009, 9:21 am |
Last stop, we're finally there! We've arrived in Cowra which is a town about half the size of Orange, with around 13,000 people. There's not too much to see here... Sara and her husband had to do a few mystery shops. So we just waited, after all the jobs were done we all went down to the Lachlan River... we saw a LOT of bird life while we were there... here I am in front of the river...
Walking down to the river there were a lot of aboriginal paintings on the underside of the road (which passed over the river)... here are some of the paintings... Can you guess what some of the animals are? Well, there are dolphins, echidna, turtles, fish, dugong, kookaburra, and snakes. How interesting is all that? Isn't it pretty? You can't tell but there are HUNDREDS of Long-billed Corella's... they're making heaps of noise but they're fun to watch. Sara took a short video of them in the tree... you can watch the video here. It's short and you can also hear the noises they make... they were crazy... here are a few snap shots of them as well... ...and we even got to see a bunch of Australian Wood Ducks... After spending an hour or so at the river we decided to head home. It had already been a long day and it was only 230pm. Crazy! Well back home we go... write again soon! Miss you mom I hope you enjoyed my day out! |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Mar 19, 2009, 1:38 pm |
Today we took a trip to Bathurst... and something Sara does always when she goes to Bathurst is she goes and sees if she can spot any kangaroos. They're commonly just outside of the town on a road going towards Blayney. They're in a farmers paddock which is now slowly being turned into a more residential area sadly. So now they're being pushed farther and farther out of the town... this time we actually did spot some kangaroos... can you see him behind me?
Here's a close up of that same guy: I know! He's really really small but Sara couldn't get much closer... when she tried not only did that guy hop off... but all the others as well. Sara didn't even notice those guys, they blend in so well to the dry grass don't they? We were kind of rushed in Bathurst today so we didn't see as much as Sara would have liked to show us... but there's another stop in the mean time... write again soon! :-) |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Mar 19, 2009, 2:01 pm |
Right near the kangaroos actually is a famous Australian race track... Mount Panorama.. which holds the famous race each October called the Bathurst 1000 this race means all of the Central West (where we are living currently) is flooded with people for a weekend and Australia shuts down because on Sunday everyone is watching the races. Sara told us there was a couple times she went out when she lived in Blayney (population 3000) there was like no one out.. it was literally like a ghost town... well now's our time to take a little part in something very famously Australian... :-)
Here I am in front of the Mount Panorama gate... you can see in the background the sign on the side of the mountain (which is the close up in the picture above)... Here's the starting gate... although we started from the other side so there are no pictures of us there sadly... ...and here's some pictures of us going around the track... ...at the top of the mountain Sara took a very quick photo to show the view from the top of the mountain (which is right above that white sign that says Mount Panorama)... After we took a ride on the track we got out of the car and visited a now famous statue of Peter Brock who won the panorama races a record 9 wins before he died in a car crash in 2006, very soon after Steve Irwin died actually! Here we are in front of his statue... ...here's a better photo of it... ...we also learned a bit more about the race track. They have some huge signs along the side of the gate (which I'm standing in front of in one of the first pictures)... Sara couldn't get a good photo so she'll just write out what it says: Shortly you will be on Mount Panorama. A 60kph scenic drive offering spectacular views of Bathurst and surrounding country side. The last true public road racing circuit left in Australia. Twice each year it is of special significance to the motor car and bike racing enthusiasts rising almost 200 metres and falling through a succession of bends, it has heart-in-mouth appeal to drivers and spectators alike. With motor racing in Bathurst as early as 1911, the Vale Circuit for motor cycles was opened in 1931 and when abandoned, a scenic road albeit a race circuit, was constructed to the Bald Hills, now Mount Panorama. The home of the toughest and most famous car race in the Southern Hemisphere, the Toohey's 1000, it is a unique test of man and machine with every driver striving to do the perfect lap. This has changed somewhat from the first Australian long distance classic, the 500 miler at Phillip Island in the early sixties, shifting Bathurst in 1963. The Bathurst City Council, Australian Racing Drivers Club, ATN Chanel 7 and sponsors alike have been involved in this phenomenon of excitement, spectacle and human drama, Australia's greatest motor race the Toohey's 1000. Since 1938 the Easter Australian Grand Prix for motor cycles has been held here. To every Australian motor cycle enthusiast Bathurst has the most magic of all, even though in 1989 the Grand Prix went to Phillip Island and in 1991 to Eastern Creek. It's amazing how much I learned today about Bathurst and the most famous part of Bathurst... this last weekend we actually watched a race at Mount Panorama, it was some kind of 12-hour race... how crazy is that... can you picture going around that thing for 12 hours. I think I'd go crazy! Well I'll update again soon! Miss you mom! <3 |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Mar 30, 2009, 5:14 am |
Today we decided to do a bit of the touristy stuff in Orange since we've seen the surrounding areas it's now time to explore the town we've lived in for the last few weeks. We packed up the car and took a short drive. The first stop wasn't too far from where Sara lives, it's Banjo Patterson's birth place. Which wasn't where we are but very close to where we are standing... here I am on the bust that looks like Banjo...
If you don't know, Banjo Patterson is a very famous Australian and he's even on the $10.00 note down here. He's famous for writing the poem Waltzing Matilda... if you've never heard it here it is: Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, Under the shade of a coolibah tree, And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me" Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me" And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled, "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me". Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong, Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee, And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag, "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me". Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me" And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag, "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me". Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred, Up rode the troopers, one, two, three, "Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?" "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me". Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me" "Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?", "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me". Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong, "You'll never take me alive", said he, And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong, "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me". Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me" And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong, "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me." "Oh, You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me." Right near the Banjo Patterson bust is the remains of the old Templers Mill... here's the rubble... can you see us on it?... How about now? ...here we are! Sadly people use the rubble as a bit of a garbage pile sometimes... really sad actually... but here's a bit of information about the historic templers mill... In 1828, the land between Orange and Suma Park was granted to emancipist Simeon Lord as part compensation for the land he had surrendered to Governor Macquarie in 1811 in Sydney. It was probably Lord's son, Thomas, who built and supervised the district's first flour mill on the property, which retained the Aboriginal name Narrambla. It is possible that the grinding stone was first operated by convicts but in 1840, when the mill was acquired by John Arthur Templer, these were replaced by horse works. In 1848, Templer installed a 12 horsepower steam engine and boiler, and the mill's chimney probably dated from this time. Farmers brought grain for grinding at one shilling a bushel. It was in Templer's homestead among the trees by the creek that his great nephew, Andrew Barton Paterson, was born on the 17th of February 1864. Banjo Paterson as he became known, is one of Australia's best known and most popular poets. Templer's Mill operated until about 1870. The boiler was later used for many years at Heap's Brewery in Moulder Street, Orange. The remains of the mill, considered dangerous and beyond repair, were demolished in 1971. Last stop we got to see the memorial to Banjo which is right next to the road... here we are in front of the memorial... The Australian Poet Andrew Barton Paterson "Banjo" Was born 17th February 1864 at the Narrambla Homestead which stood 8 chains North East of this memorial. Erected 1947. "And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended and at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars." -Clancy of the Overflow On the way back to the car we got a view of the surrounding areas of the birth place... this is a lot of what the areas around Orange looks like. As you can tell, we really are in a bad drought with how brown the grass is... we haven't had a good rainfall in months! That's our visit to the famous poets birth place... now it's time to move onto the next big tourist trap in Orange... this is a bit longer of a car ride... write again soon! |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Mar 30, 2009, 5:41 am |
Next stop was around a 20 minute drive from where we were and technically on the outskirts of Orange... but knowing what it was that would be understandable. Not something you'd expect to see in the middle of the rural area of New South Wales... but an extinct volcano! Seriously, how crazy is that? It's the highest point West of the Blue Mountains which is on the outskirts of Sydney, around a 2.5 hour drive from where we are now... it's the famous Mount Canobolas... here I am at the top of the mountain...
The top photo you can the city of Orange in the distance... looks so tiny from up here... here I am on the compass at the apex point of the volcano... this is where you stand and it shows the direction to look to see the different cities and towns in the region... on a clear day you can see hundreds of kilometers. Here's the panoramic view around the top of the mountain from one side to the other... as you can see it has a lot of radio and TV towers. Honestly it's a huge eye sore... oh well! There are lots of hikes and bush walks all around the apex point of the mountain... we got to learn a bit about the mountain while we were here. If you see in this image you can see there are lots of "vents" where there were smaller less active volcanoes surrounding the main volcano... here's a bit of information about Mount Canobolas... Mount Canobolas volcanic complex is listed in the Commonwealth Heritage Register for it's unique geological composition and location. These factors have resulted in a distinctive vegetation pattern, containing rare and unique species, which in turn contain habitats for a number of equally unique animals. Within a 30 kilometer radius of Mount Canobolas, approximately 30 vents are known to have erupted. These eruptions commenced about 50 million years ago and halted approximately 10-15 million years ago. The Mount Canobolas vents erupted over that entire period, while others within the 30 kilometer radius were active for shorter periods. The basalt capping has largely weathered away producing fertile soils as far away as West Wyalong. Which is 222 kilometers away from Orange or just under a 3 hour drive West of Orange. After we had a bit longer at the top of the volcano and a few more photos we started to head down the mountain. Half way down, we stopped and got a picture of the mountain and a better view of Orange from above. The small mountain next to the main apex of Mount Canobolas is called Little Canobolas, it's a 2km walk from the top of the mountain... Well, we're not quite done yet... we have one more place to visit before we've seen all the main touristy areas of rural New South Wales (this area anyway)... write again soon with more photos of our next stop! |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Mar 30, 2009, 7:01 am |
Next and last stop today is Lake Canobolas which is really the only water source in the region beyond Carcoar Dam which you saw a few weeks ago. Which is almost non existant. Thankfully there's more to this lake, although it is a man made lake... here I am in front of the lake... isn't it pretty on such a sunny bright day like today?
There were a LOT of ducks right near where we were standing... sadly we didn't have any bread to feed them... Sara says how she loves to feed the ducks and always feels a bit bad when they approach her and she doesn't have anything to give them... All of us toyvoyagers decided to sit in one of the gum trees near the beach and relax for a little bit... We sadly didn't stay very long since it was already almost 6pm! Would you believe it? Well one last look at the lake and it's time to head home... Well that was a huge day for us, we got to see a lot of interesting things... but we've seen a lot of rural and regional New South Wales. I'll be leaving to my next host soon! Write again soon! Miss you mom! |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Apr 8, 2009, 9:59 am |
...wait what?
...why are we waking up at such an ungodly hour? We've just started to adjust to having the clocks put back an hour... and now were getting up at 5am, being packed into the car to go somewhere? why? Well at least we can sleep... In the mean time we had to get some petrol, here we all are, awake and at the petrol station... time to move on, we're already 20 minutes off schedule... Write again soon... at our next destination... |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Apr 8, 2009, 10:04 am |
Next stop is Wellington... it's a small town of around 4,500 inhabitants. Since it was still very early we decided to just pass by instead of getting what we had to do done here... so moving on through... here are some photos driving through the town...
As you can see it's a pretty small town... as we were coming out of the town we actually saw a train it wasn't long before the train was way behind us... ah well it was cool while it lasted... moving onto the much larger town ahead... write soon! |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Apr 8, 2009, 10:10 am |
Next stop was the much larger town of Dubbo. Dubbo is closer to the outskirts of the real "outback". There's a lot more red dirt, and you've got a very large zoo called the Western Plains Zoo which is has a huge breeding program for African animals since the weather is very similar here to African weather patterns. It gets *very* hot during the Summer... here are some photos driving through Dubbo...
...Sadly we weren't able to spend much time in Dubbo, we still had so much to do outside of Dubbo... and we had a few more hours of driving. Sara apologizes that we didn't do anything really interesting today... but we got to see a lot of the area she lives in... it's very beautiful but so very dry... we're on the road again, it's time to get to our next destination... |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Apr 8, 2009, 10:17 am |
...to get to our next destination we had to pretty much drive all the way back into Orange... to a small town called Molong... this town is *tiny* it has a small population of only 2,000 - it's one of those towns where if your not looking you're already through it... but we got a few photos whilst we were driving through...
...it wasn't long and we were back to a very farmy landscape... it never felt like it was going to end... ...but it did end... but only for a short time... write again soon! |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Apr 8, 2009, 10:24 am |
...an hour outside of Molong... was an even smaller town, Sara hadn't ever driven through this area of the Central West... but it was a very small town called Cudal... it only has a population of just under 400 people... crazy crazy small...
...just outside of Cudal was this horrendous smell and a lot of smoke... we were all wondering what was up. We knew it had been very hot lately with very little rain (even for Autumn)... and then we saw it... ...at some point in the day there must have been a large grass fire on this persons property. It was still smoking, and it was all gone... everything... the smell was pretty intense... makes you wonder what it was like during the Black Saturday Victorian bush fires this year... that smell would have been horrible to deal with! |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Apr 8, 2009, 10:31 am |
Last stop for today, and it was only 2pm... can you believe we've made this much of a mark on the map today in just a few hours? Well, you can be assured we are tired as hell!... here's the last stop for the day... a small town called Canowindra a population of only 1,500 but it no doubt looks a lot smaller than Molong, which has like 500 more people... crazy huh?
Sara and Daniel have only been here once before... and they went to the Age of Fishes Museum... there's a lot of information and fossils there about the ancient fishes that were found in Canowindra... very interesting. You can read about it in Toothy Walrus's blog if you want to. :-) Here we are in front of it... Sadly we were all too tired, so we got a few photos of us and the main street and then headed home... it had been very long day for everyone... especially the people... :-P Well sorry there wasn't too much to see or do today... there's more to come... apparently we're going somewhere awesome on Saturday... you'll see when it happens... write again soon! |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Apr 12, 2009, 8:38 am |
Today we went on another road trip to Abercrombie Caves... Sara enjoys going to caves, but this time she was able to take the toyvoyagers along... sadly she wasn't allowed to really take photos of the toyvoyagers within the caves. So Sara took a photo of us on the road to Abercrombie Caves... here I am, it's very full of eucalyptus trees isn't it? Very pretty...
...and we're finally here... feels like we've been on the road forever! Very quickly once we got through the entrance we saw a whole bunch of animal crossing signs, these are the main ones though, so kangaroo and wombat crossing... I wonder if we'll see anything... it's a very twisty road, we've got to be very careful, it's a very dangerous road... Thankfully we got down safely and got our tickets to do a tour in one of the caves called the 'bush rangers cave'... you can read about that cave and the history of the ribbon gang right here. The ribbon gang hid out in the caves for about 10 days before being captured and eventually hanged (because of horse theft and murder)... it's a very interesting read about the cave... but we came out of the office and saw this strange sign... there must be a lot of kangaroos in this area... Sadly we didn't see any kangaroos at all - there was a lot of people camping, Sara thinks they might have scared the kangaroos into the bush having so many people around... oh well, we did see lots of ducks and cockatoos though... Now we're just waiting in line to get into the caves... we're just waiting for the tour guide... quick! It's starting to rain really hard on us... thankfully for us only the people got wet, we were all in Sara's bag so we didn't get lost... Finally we're in the caves... here are some pictures Sara took within the main self-guided tour archway cave... we had to walk through this cave to get to the bush rangers cave... This is the exit of the archway self-guided tour cave... and just around the corner is the main cave we're getting the tour through... but something interesting is this is what is called the "grand arch" it's the largest grand arch in the Southern Hemisphere... even more interesting is we are 500m under the ground right now... how often are you that far under the ground, and can still see sunlight? Pretty crazy right? Well onto the bush rangers cave... Now we're finally in the bush rangers cave... there are a lot of very small passage ways and there was an area in the caves where there was quite a number of bats... here's the "bat chamber"... See how on the left side of the photo the rock is very dark? Well, that's where the bats are most often... so there's a lot of... bat poo there... we actually had one fly quite low near Sara's head... but weird enough out of the 50 people around Sara she was the only one that seemed to notice it... crazy huh? Moving on there's a few more things to see in here... Then we had to make our way back through the main cave we went through initially and then went back to the car... quickly after the tour we didn't take too many photos. Sara was just trying to stay as dry as possible (or keep her camera as dry as possible) as it was pouring down rain at that point... time to head home... Something interesting on the way home... we saw an echidna... it was on the side of the road in the long grass... sadly Sara couldn't stop and get photos since it was a very narrow road and it was wet out... so sadly no photos of him... Sara wanted photos quite badly since she'd never seen a wild echidna before. :-) Well, write again soon... tomorrow is Easter down here! :-) |
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Apr 12, 2009, 8:44 am |
I just wanted to wish you a very happy Easter Sunday from all of us down here in Australia! :-) Miss you mom! Write again soon! :-)
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sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Apr 13, 2009, 8:42 am |
Today is our last day in Orange... sadly it wasn't a very nice day outside although I quite enjoyed it while I was here... we drew our names on a really foggy window...
...and then we sat and watched it rain... it doesn't look very nice but it's nice and warm inside... not too hot - not too cold... I quite enjoy this weather... :-) It seems that Winter has come to Orange finally! Write again when I arrive in Sydney! Miss you mom! :-) |
becka_kate Posted Apr 16, 2009, 8:17 am |
Just a short note to let you know that I've arrived at my new destination and think I'll have a fun time staying here. It looks like I might be able to achieve some of my missions as my host is enjoying some well earned holidays at the moment and a trip to the zoo has been mentioned.... (and on the way we'll pass by the Opera House!) Yay! |
becka_kate Posted Apr 23, 2009, 12:50 pm |
Well, nothing much has been happening around here this week because it has been raining and raining and raining. We all know that we should be grateful for the rain because Australia has been experiencing a very severe drought for the last few years, but ENOUGH already!!!
Looking at the weather forecast we're hopeful it will be a nice day to go to the zoo. In preparation for this, we made some cookies called Rock Cakes to take with us (food being expensive at the zoo!) Hopefully there'll be some left to take to zoo with us as Greedy was also hovering during the cooking process..... |
becka_kate Posted Apr 25, 2009, 5:11 am |
Hi
Guess what - I completed not one, but two missions. First of all, let me tell you about the day. We woke up to sunshine and a good weather report, so it seemed like a great day to go to the zoo. We got organised and drove to the local train station, bought our day tripper tickets for the train and ferry and made our way into the city via a slow all stations train. We got off at Circular Quay station which is also the main terminal for the ferry system and got to the jetty just as the ferry was loading. What perfect timing! (Never before has happened says my host) The ferry trip is brilliant. We got to see the Harbour Bridge and watched people doing the Bridge Climb. Did you know that you can climb to the very top of the bridge? It's a very popular thing to do here. As we turned to head out the zoo we passed by the Opera House. My host's said that even though I my mission said 'visit' the Opera House, this is much better as the inside is really very dull and boring to look at. It's all concrete and blah unless you're in the concert hall. I really enjoyed the ferry trip. It's a great way to sightsee around Sydney Harbour (especially if you sit in the open at the back of the ferry!) |
becka_kate Posted Apr 25, 2009, 5:48 am |
Soon we arrived at the zoo, but were disappointed to find that the Zoo Safari wasn't running
This is a sky gondola that carries you from the ferry to the entrance - the zoo being built into the side of a hill. So, we had to catch the shuttle bus to the top instead. Our first priority was to see the Australian animals so that Hugoand I could complete another of our missions: Meet a kangaroo or koala face to face. It was very exciting! The kangaroos wallabies and emus are kept in an enclosure called the walkabout where you can really get close to them (there are no fences between you and them!) First we saw the emu. Do you know why out of all the Australian animals there are they chose an emu and a kangaroo to put on the Australian coat of arms? Because they're the only animals that can't move backwards! We thought we were doing pretty well with getting this close to the kangaroos for our photos, and then this happened - One hopped across the path right next to Hugo! WOW! Now, that's face to face! Sadly I wasn't so lucky. He wouldn't even turn around to look for my photo. Maybe Hugo's a kangaroo whisperer and just never told me? Our next stop was to see the Koalas. Most of them were asleep, slowly processing the energy they get from eating eucalyptus leaves, which are really hard to digest. (there are more koala and other upclose zoo photos here on bec's flickrpage if interested) Having seen all the Australian animals (well, we did see the wombat and platypus as well, but they were in the nocturnal house and too hard to photograph, the dingo was hiding and the echidnas had disappeared!) we moved on to the reptile house. By the way... check out the view from the zoo! Isn't it great? I checked out the iguanas. Very cool looking creatures. Wonder how I'd look with a mohawk? We left the reptiles behind and moved back outside and onto the giraffes. One of the best things about Taronga Zoo (other than the view) is just how close you are to the animals! I met some of my distant relatives, the big cats. Unfortunately the lions were a bit far away to photograph and the tiger was pacing too quickly, but this big guy was sleeping fairly close to us... Oh, some other Australian natives... the Pelican. I decided to stay far, far away from those huge snapping bills, I don't think they'd eat cat, but I wasn't taking any chances!! The meerkats are always fun to watch, so we gave our feet a little rest for a while and watched them watching everyone else. This is interesting. Its the Roar and Snore Campsite - you can stay overnight at the zoo. Feeling a little bit tired (and worried about the darkening clouds) we decided it was time to head on home. |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Jun 14, 2009, 7:06 pm |
hi! I have arrived in Malaysia! My host here is imajica and I think she's too busy nowadays (or maybe also lazy) to bring me out. So I'm just sitting having a rest.
And imajica says we're gonna go to an island soon!!!! So stay tuned to see one of my mission being completed! |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Jul 5, 2009, 8:38 am |
We are going to Perhentian Island! we drive off to the jetty in Kuala Besut, Terengganu for 1.5 hours and then take a speed boat for 40minutes!
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imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Jul 9, 2009, 7:06 pm |
We arrived in Perhentian island, and the water is getting greener!!
imajica went to do snorkeling and I am just looking around.. The beach here is really beautiful with clear green-blue water!! |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Sep 22, 2009, 6:16 am |
but.. no way, I should go try snorkeling too! the water is too impossible to resist! unfortunately I dont have a goggles of my size but I just borrow imajica's.. hmm hmm..
is it ok?? or not?? |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Sep 22, 2009, 6:21 am |
Afterward we are feeling hungry and gotta eat something! here there's a small village in the island, with some small shops and guest houses. And food stalls.
Look what we're having.. this is called sata, a fish-coconut mixture being wrapped with leaves and grilled. It's tasty! And another similar food, but this one is made of shrimp.. |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Sep 22, 2009, 6:25 am |
While imajica and her family is still eating, I rush back to see the water.. I have to enjoy my last views of Perhentian Island coz I dont know when I will be able to come here again!
Hmmm... can I have a swim for the one last time? Please? OK, bye bye Perhentian Island.. see you again! |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Sep 22, 2009, 6:34 am |
Hi, and these days at imajica's house there have been nothing much happening, since she's busy. Imajica is going to move to Penang end of this month, so I just sit in her room watching her preparing and packing.. yeah, not fun
But she says she'll bring me to Penang as well!! |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Oct 3, 2009, 12:56 pm |
Guess where I am now? Notice that cruise ship at my back! I am in PENANG!
Penang is a state in West Malaysia that consists of an island and a part in the main land. It has many touristic places to visit! I am right now in Georgetown, one of the earliest cities ever opened in Malaysia.. and it's now been listed as a UNESCO Heritage site! It has a lot of old buildings from the British colonization era like this museum: and I'm right now sitting in a public square where there are many people sitting and relaxing.. this square is near the water front of the strait (where you can see the ships in the port from afar) and in this square there is this monument from the World War time. well, that's all of the photos of me in Penang! We didnt visit many places actually. imajica came to here to go to her new university, and she will be living here for the next 1.5 years! but unfortunately, it's not in this Penang city.. but about 1 hour to the mainland.. and in a rural place! I can imagine that my life will be boring as soon as I move with imajica to her new campus hostel soon... |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Oct 3, 2009, 5:02 pm |
Hmmmmmm! So I have been kept in imajica's boring campus hostel for more than 2 months without going anywhere!! it was a nightmare! the internet was hopeless there as well so thats why there's no point to take photos there and show to my friends here through this travelog.
But finally, imajica had a bit long holiday for the Eid which she spent in her hometown! In fact, I didnt have time to go and see Kota Bharu town last time when I first arrived here, so it's now the right time for imajica to show me around her place! so we're driving to the town! it's about 15 minute from imajica's house. |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Oct 3, 2009, 5:11 pm |
OK.. so we reach here... what????? A post office!! Knowing imajica as a crazy Postcrosser, I shouldnt have been surprised to know that our first sightseeing destination is a post office!
But anyway, here's the Kota Bharu main Post Office! Hmm the sign is also spelled in Jawi, an old script of Malay that look like arabic alphabet.. it says 'Pejabat Pos Besar Kota Bharu' so here's the place imajica sends most of her postcards and mail and buys stamps! This is the mailboxes! Oh, and on the banner is the 'wishing message' upon the Highness of the Sultan and Queen of Kelantan state! |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Oct 3, 2009, 5:21 pm |
We continue our trip to the town.. and I can see Kota Bharu has many old buildings from the early of 20th century with timber architecture like these..
In fact the oldest buildings in this town are shophouses date from early 1900's.. and most of them have been either renovated or replaced by new buildings. |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Oct 3, 2009, 6:31 pm |
Finally we reach at the town square! Here is the center of the town.. and tourists usually stop here since there are many historical buildings and landmark around here.
This is the Jahar Palace, and old palace with timber architecture which is now a museum of Malay Royal Custom and Traditions. And from another side of the square.. with the bazar building seen from afar.. as well as the wooden fence of another old palace. A closer view of the gate of the palace.. though the royals are no longer living in this palace, it still serves as as place of royals function sometimes. I dont know if we can enter the palace.. but I'll just take a peek |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Oct 4, 2009, 7:19 am |
Near the square is the Handicraft village. This place has several timber-architectured buildings like old palaces which are home to a handicraft museum, souvenir shops, art gallery, art class and food court. Imajica buys her postcards from here too!
In front of the Handicraft village is this area with many small village houses replicas - they are like kiosks for foot massages, etc. And this is the gateway to the Handicraft village! In front of the Handicraft museum. |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Oct 4, 2009, 7:24 am |
We move further to see more of the town.. and we stop at this area with this familiar kind of architecture again.. I have come to understant that the roof design of this building is originated from the Southern Thailand. And this is the Islamic Historical Museum. Seen at the back is the minaret of the Kelantan State Mosque.
And this is the closer view of the mosque! It's rather huge but within a small area so we can't take a picture of the whole building. It's one of the oldest mosques around here. |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Oct 4, 2009, 7:39 am |
Hi there! imajica brings me to a trip to Kuala Terengganu, a coastal town about 2.5 hours from Kota Bharu. The town is located very near to the beach, and we stay at this hotel of Batu Buruk beach resort.
It's night and we can't swim in the pool.. though I can't resist it! Have to wait for tomorrow! |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Oct 4, 2009, 7:45 am |
YAY, it's morning! How cool to breath fresh breezing air at the beach!
Though nobody really swims at the beach anymore.. Our hotel from the beach Well, at least we have a pool, remember? And this resort hostel looks very nice with its foresty design.. here's the cafetaria where we have our breakfast! Oh, and inside the lobby, I found a traditional house right for my size!! Welcome to my house! |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Oct 4, 2009, 7:53 am |
Hi everyone! Guess what? I am in TAJ MAHAL, INDIA!!!!
HAHAHA.. of course not! Actually, we're visiting this monument park.. it has 21 replicas of famous monuments from all over the world, especially mosques! Do you notice the Dome of the Rock at my back? And Badhashi mosque of Pakistan. These built the replicas to look exactly as the original building, only the size is smaller. But it's still exciting, as if I'm really visiting these famous buildings!! |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Nov 27, 2009, 3:28 pm |
Well, here I am at the Dome of the Rock. The original building is located in Jerusalem and is one of sacred buildings in Islam.
Let's go inside! It does look like real one, huh? |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Nov 27, 2009, 3:34 pm |
Then we visited this Grand Mosque, which original building is located in Saudi Arabia. It's the holiest mosque and one of the largest mosques in the world!
And another mosque called Prophet Mosque, which original building is also located in Saudi Arabia. Imajica has visited these two mosques in there last year, and she told me the real mosques were hundreds times bigger than these replicas! Anyway, I'm glad that I can at least visit these buildings in Malaysia! |
imajica ilyanim@yahoo.com Posted Dec 5, 2009, 12:22 pm |
OK, and we also proceed to many other monument replicas in this park.. such as...
Aleppo citadel of Syria Suleyman Mosque of Turkey Mohd Ali Mosque of Egypt Alhambra citadel of Spain Kalyan Minaret of Uzbekistan (it's so tall!! I bet the original building in Uzbekistan is much taller!) Agadez of Niger and Kul Sharif Mosque of Russia Wow, it's like visiting a lot of countries in one place!! |