Bart Bear's Blog

I don't understand fashion. I mean, just take a look at this little number and tell me if you really think it is anything special. Mum found it at Paddy's Market in Sydney and fell for it. She says that it is just what she needs for the next Melbourne Cup day at work. For some strange reason ladies wear hats that day even if they don't for the rest of the year; I don't understand why. Now one thing is for sure, this hat is far too small for Mum's head. It fits me, and Mum is a whole lot bigger. Hmmmmmm, thinks, if I removed the silly feathers and the sissy-looking mozzie net stuff it would be a fair approximation to a small bear sized bowler hat and they are certainly a fashionable thing for gentlemen to wear. Mum may have just lost her tiny hat.

Labels: family

Here's one of the lighthouses that we walked to in Sydney. It is Hornby lighthouse on the cliffs at South Head. The entrance to Sydney Harbour is between North and South Heads and is nearly a mile wide. You would think that ships would have no problem finding their way through a gap like that, but back in 1857 there were two shipwrecks, one on each side of the heads, and 142 people were killed. The "Dunbar" was caught in a gale in August 1857 and hit the cliffs at the Gap near Watson's Bay and there was only 1 survivor of the 122 people on board. Two months later the "Catherine Adamson" was wrecked off North Head and 21 sailors died. Obviously, a lighthouse at the entrance was needed so Hornby was built in 1858. It is a really pretty lighthouse, not very tall but painted in red and white stripes. As usual, I climbed up the steps and tried the door and, as usual, it was locked. Sometimes you can find lighthouses that you go up inside, but Hornby is not one of them. The little square gazebo thingy at the base of the lighthouse is the remains of a searchlight station from World War Two. The searchlight used to light up ships coming into harbour so that they could be identified and if they were baddies the guns mounted on the clifftop could zap them. The guns were only ever fired for practice because the only baddies that got through the Heads were some Japanese midget submarines, but that's another story that I will show and tell another time.

Labels: lighthouse, New South Wales, Sydney

There is a great walk in Sydney that takes you around the South Head section of Sydney Harbour National Park. It takes you past Hornby Lighthouse, HMAS Watson (a shore base, not a ship), a nudie beach, and lots of relics of the old harbour defences. There are several gun pits, the remains of a torpedo station, an old searchlight post, and even this big muzzle-loading canon. The canon is in a gun pit facing into the harbour over Camp Cove. It probably dates back to the mid 1800s, but I haven't managed to get a date for sure. The other guns have been removed but you can see the mountings of some of them and the trenches that lead into the pits. Small bears and kids could have a great time there if their Oldies weren't so worried by cliff edges. There are wonderful views of the city and the harbour from the "inner" side of the headland, and of the cliffs on the ocean side. Provided you can manage some sections of narrow, steep rock steps you will enjoy this walk. Did I get to the lighthouse? What do you think? Piccies shortly.

Labels: New South Wales, Sydney

Here's some more photos of the Sydney Opera House all lit up for the Vivid Sydney festival last weekend. I really liked watching this, even if it was so cold sitting on my bollard that it almost froze me, even through my natural fur coat.

Labels: New South Wales, Sydney

Parts of Sydney really looked different while we were there. A big arts festival called the Biennale was running and the area around Circular Quay and the Opera House was all lit up with coloured lights after dark. I found a great place to sit and watch the changing lights, on one of the bollards that are used to tie up big ocean liners when they are in port. This bollard was just across from the Opera House and I could see from the ferry wharves at the Quay right around to the Bridge. Buildings at the Quay had coloured lights shining on them and the colours changed every few minutes. The Opera House was really spectacular. The roof "sails" became a series of giant screens and beautiful images, changing every couple of minutes, were projected onto them. Mum took lots of pictures, so I will show you some more of them next time. I watched them until the Oldies were on the point of freezing solid (it was COLD in Sydney this time). If you are in Sydney while the light show is on, get down to Circular Quay after dark and enjoy.

Labels: New South Wales, Sydney

Have you been wondering where I've been? Well, the Oldies decided to buzz off to Sydney and do a few walks that they have been wanting to do for a while, and also to visit a couple of historic lighthouses. One walk I really enjoyed was the one across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Oldies, and a lot of other people, call it "the Coathanger" because it looks a bit like an old-fashioned coathanger. The bridge was opened on March 19, 1932 and is the largest steel arch bridge in the world. Today it carries a lot more traffic than its designers ever thought possible. There are eight lanes for motor vehicles, two train lines and footpaths for Oldies and small bears who want to walk. We took a train from Town Hall station across the bridge to Milson's Point and then walked back across to the Rocks. The walkway is 49 metres above the water so you get great views of the harbour and the city from the bridge. The only thing I didn't like was the way that the walkway has big wire barriers at the sides. It makes you feel that you are walking in a gaol. The barriers are there to stop stupid people from jumping off or dropping things on boats. Personally, I think it would be great to parachute off the bridge and land on the deck of a ship, but I know Mum won't ever let me do that.

Labels: New South Wales, Sydney

The safest place to see crocs is the Sydney Aquarium. The crocs are safely penned up in there. I certainly wouldn't want to meet one on a muddy river bank up in the tropics. Aussie saltwater crocodiles are the biggest, meanest, most dangerousest crocs in the world. There are other sorts, of course. The American alligators are almost as bad, but they are smaller and a bit more scared of people. This display in the aquarium tells you how to spot the differences (size, bluntness of head, teeth, etc), just in case you meet something like that and want to know what it is that is about to chomp you. My advice is to forget about identifying the nasty critter, head up the nearest tree as fast as you can climb, and yell for your Oldies to come and save you.

Labels: animals, Sydney

It's winter again. I don't like it very much. We have had our first frosts for the year and Mum leaves for work sometimes before the Sun breaks through the fog. Winter in Canberra is the pits. Unless you are a ski-bunny, which Scruffy, Milkshake and I are certainly not. In our opinion, water should not be in the form of cold white stuff that you slide across on planks, but should be nice warm liquid full of waves, boats and fish. We want to escape the cold and get back to one of the great islands that the Oldies take us to sometimes. We don't care which one as long as it has warm water and cold drinks. The nice, warm water in this picture is at Emily Bay on Norfolk Island. This is the clearest water I have ever seen, and it's full of coloured fish and really safe for the Oldies to snorkel in. Actually, it would be safe for small bears as well, but some of us are lumbered with a Mum that won't let us get wet. The tall, cold drink is one we "guarded" for Mum on another island, Daydream Island in the Whitsundays. We were there on a day trip from Hamilton Island and somehow the liquid level in the glass dropped considerably before Mum got back. The way Milky is balanced on Scruff to bring her mouth level with the straw may be a clue to what happened. Take us away to the tropics again, please.

Labels: beach, Canberra, Hamilton Is, Norfolk Is