Bart Bear's Blog

Whoops, Dropped Them.

2012-02-12T14:53:00.003+11:00

Yesterday we did something a bit different. Unka Mark, Aunty Vicki and their friend Sonya were camping in their caravan down at a pretty place called Araluen. That's less than 2 hours from home so we drove down to stay with them for a while over lunch. Unka Mark does great barbeques and Aunty Vicki makes really tasty salads. Well, one of the great things about camps is that usually you have a fire there. Not always in summer in Australia because sometimes they start bushfires. Anyhow, Unka Mark's fire was just the right size for toasting things. I tried to find some marshmallows but there weren't any, so I tried a couple of snails that were sitting on the stick I wanted to use. The snails weren't happy about that and dropped off as soon as they felt the heat. I had to be satisfied with just poking the ashes and watching my stick burn. Next time, I pack the marshies.

We Got There!!!!

2012-02-09T12:45:00.003+11:00

We finally managed to do it! We got out to Montague Island and saw the lighthouse, seals and seabirds. Mum has been trying to do this for around 35 years but the weather or the rough seas have always prevented her. Not this time. We went out on a little boat called "The Sherrif". The captain was called Andy and the deckhand was Nathan and they were great guys. They even tried to teach Mum how to fish; they caught 3 big Snapper, Mum didn't. Of course, having a small bear on the wheel and at the throttle makes a big difference on any boat trip, and Andy and Nathan were glad of my help. I looked after things in the cabin while they untied the boat and moored it at the wharves. Because we had to go out and back across the bar at the entrance to Narooma inlet we all had to wear lifejackets. I would like to have a picture of just how rough it was getting across the bar, but I was too busy hanging on. Lots more photos of the trip coming in the following posts.

Wollongong Harbour

2012-01-31T14:41:00.002+11:00

This is one of the prettiest harbours in New South Wales. It is Wollongong harbour and is really two harbours combined into one by the breakwaters. The first harbour is called Belmore Basin. It is on the far side of the picture behind the wharf where the fishing boats are moored. Belmore Basin was dug out by convicts in the 1860's and the small lighthouse was built on the end of the breakwater. Later on the breakwater in the front of the picture was built to make a bigger harbour, today the new area is used by yachts and motor-boats. The hill in the background is Wollongong Head and it has a historic fort and a bigger and newer lighthouse on it. No doubt about it, harbours with boats and lighthouses look really great when the weather is good.

Blue meets Blu

2012-01-31T14:29:00.002+11:00

There is a big blue fish that lives in the aquarium at Merimbula. I am not sure what sort of fish he is because the labels on his tank didn't say. Maybe he was a new catch and the aquarium people hadn't had time to label him yet. Anyhow, he was very interested in us when I was showing Blu around the place. He followed us whenever we got close to the glass. Maybe he was curious about us. After all, he wouldn't see many small bears under the ocean. Maybe (horrible thought) he thought we were something edible. Fish this big make me sort of glad that Mum won't let me go snorkeling with the Oldies, but I won't ever admit that to her.

Derelict Dockyoard

2012-01-16T10:21:00.002+11:00

Here's a couple more photos of the old dockyard on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour. For nearly a century this island was Australia's main shipbuilding and repair centre. Now it is deserted and falling gradually into ruin. Some of it is being restored as Museum exhibits, but the large things are beyond it. The top photo is of the turbine workshop. This used to be full of huge machines that could make or repair anything in a ship's engines. Some of the gigantic machinery is still there in the side bays, but the smaller stuff has been sold to other factories. It is sad and a bit spooky to walk through this huge building. The bottom photo is of one of the dry docks (full of water ) where Australia's O class submarines were refitted and repaired in the 1970's and later. At the end of the dock is the headquarters building for the submarine repair depot and it has the nose of a sub coming out of the lawn in front of the building. There is a large camping area on the island. It is on the area where the metal shop used to be. Other big workshops have been removed as well and one of those areas is used for concerts and stunt shows. That's one use for the island, but to me Cockatoo Island is a sad reminder of the way that Australia was once almost self-sufficient and of the industries we have lost.

Christmas Clowning

2012-01-06T21:40:00.002+11:00

Incidentally, I had a great Christmas. I really love my new bobsled, but it was also lots of fun spending the day with Unka Mark and Aunty Vicki. These Oldies of mine (and I include M&V as honourary Oldies) really know how to let their hair down and enjoy things. Large mugs of Jingle Juice were consumed, along with lots of superb people-type food. Speaking of hair, what do you think of Unka Mark's blue fuzzy top? Guess what, it is not really his hair. You can look like that too if you have a blue cobweb broom handy. Not that many of us would want to look like that... I helped with the Christmas lights again (check Unka Mark's and my effort from earlier Christmases in older posts). We had cousin Billy T with us, he doesn't get out much, and I introduced him to the art of wiring and lights. It might be a bit hard to see us in the photos, but we are there checking out the lights. Love Christmas time with real friends.

What a Test !!

2012-01-06T21:17:00.003+11:00

If you have been wondering why there have not been any posts for the last 4 days, the reason is very simple. I have been glued to the TV, watching one of the best cricket tests that I have ever seen. The game between Australia and India was a beaut. Not just because Australia won by a huge margin (an innings and 68 runs), but because it contained some brilliant batting and bowling by both teams. The superb effort of Australia's captain, Michael Clarke, will go into history as one of the best ever, 329 not out!!! He is now officially one of my heroes. I really enjoy watching good batsmen and Clarkie, Hussey, Ponting, Tendulkar and Laxman were really great to watch. So were the bowlers; I like Hilfenhouse, Pattinson and Sharma best. I watched every minute of the match and Mum kept dragging me further away from the TV every time I got close. She says that I will get glassy-eyed if I sit too close but I don't think that will be a problem as my eyes are made of glass anyhow. Now, if either team needs a mascot for the rest of the series, I am open to offers.

The Lake Is Low !!!

2012-01-02T12:30:00.002+11:00

Our lake, Lake Burley Griffin, is very low and has been for a while now. I wondered why, because it has been raining fairly often and all the dams are full. I thought it might have been so that the rubbish from the floods last year could be cleared a bit more easily but that has all been done now and the lake is still low. You can see from the top photo just how low. The rocks are normally covered by half a metre of water. They have been uncovered now for long enough that weeds are starting to grow in the sandier patches. Obviously something has happened that keeps the lake low. The answer is at Scrivener Dam, the dam that makes the lake. At least one outlet is open for hours every day. The reason is that the hinges on the big flood gates have started corroding and have to be replaced. That means that the lake has to be kept low so that workmen can get to the hinges. Some waterbirds are a bit upset about that because they have been nesting in the swampy bits around some of the lake edges and their nests are now on dry land and foxes and cats could get at them. I hope the lake is back to full before the next nesting season because I think small swans and dabchicks are cute.

New Year Again

2012-01-02T11:57:00.002+11:00

Don't the years fly past quickly? Here it is 2012 already and I was just catching up with 2011. Something has been puzzling me for ages - Why do Oldies go a little bit crazy on the last evening of the year? Just look at these Oldies of mine. I don't mind them wearing silly masks, but I object strongly to the pressure on me to do the same. Fortunately the only mask that fits me belongs to my alter ego, the Crystal Avenger, so nobody dares laugh at that. So what did we do on New Year's eve? We went for a walk in town and saw some of the concert and the preparations for the fireworks, walked around a bit of the lake and then went home to watch the really big fireworks at Sydney on the TV. The great thing about watching fireworks on TV is that the mozzies can't get at you. The little pests were biting outside as soon as it got dark. Blu hadn't seen fireworks before so I had to teach him all about the different sorts. Dad was a chemist before he was an astronomer, so I know a bit about how fireworks get the different colours and patterns. There is no doubt about it, Sydney has the best fireworks. No where else in the world has such a spectacular harbour as the setting, and most places don't spread their displays over such a large slice of the city. I love it all, New Year, fireworks, Sydney, harbours, even silly Oldies. Did we share a few samples of things alcoholic? What do you think?

Bear Bobsled

2011-12-27T13:48:00.002+11:00

Santa played a mean trick on me this year. He left my present under Unka Mark and Aunty Vicki's tree, so I had to wait until lunchtime to get to it. All morning I was taken around to other places for breakfast and morning tea and had to watch Oldies and kids unwrapping presents. That's really tough on an impatient small bear. Eventually we made it to MY present. Just what I had asked for, my very own bobsled. That covers a vital gap in my transport fleet. I can now zip around in snow. All I need is snow, which doesn't fall in Canberra very often, but when it does I am ready. In the meantime the bobsled has tiny wheels that let me zip across the tiled floors. Note the Royal Australian Bear Force markings. This goes with the RABF aeroplane Santa bought me last year. I suspect that Santa contracted the construction of both vehicles out to one of his larger elves. I can't say which one, just in case I spoil future jobs, but the photo of the Oldie with the weird hat and the mug of Jingle Juice is a strong hint for you.

Have a Great Christmas

2011-12-21T20:21:00.002+11:00

Just 4 more sleeps before Santa comes. It is a very busy time of year for us. Everything seems to come in the same few weeks: the Oldies wedding anniversary, bro Trent's birthday, grandkids (the Oldies' grandkids, not mine) to drop presents off to, and most importantly of all MUM'S BIRTHDAY. I am not allowed to tell you how old she is, but it's a lot older than me, that's for sure. Mum's birthday is tomorrow. Then it's out with the Santa lures and settling into the impatient wait. Of course there is a lot more to Christmas than Santa, but small bears tend to leave the heavy philosophy to Oldies and concentrate on the fun. No matter how you celebrate Christmas, I wish you all a happy and safe holiday season. And I will report in again soon after and report on how Santa did this year.

I Found Him

2011-12-16T19:19:00.002+11:00

Last week we went down to the special Christmas Barn at Bredbo. This place has just about every Christmas ornament, tree, Santa statue, reindeer or snowman that you could ever think of. Mum and I love the place, Dad just grumbles along to carry things. When I climbed up the lamp post to see what was up there, I looked across the hedge and there he was - Santa, sound asleep on what I thought was a giant, very bent, banana. Well, Mum tells me that that was the crescent Moon, but I know enough about the Moon to know that it doesn't work like that. Anyhow, Santa was there asleep. I tried waking him up. I climbed up and tried tickling his nose, I tried bouncing on his tummy. I even yelled "Wake Up Jeff" just in case that was his secret identity. Nothing worked, so I whispered my request list into his ear and hope that his brain recorder was working. I will find out in just 9 more sleeps. Here's hoping.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Again

2011-12-08T13:48:00.002+11:00

Last night we went for a drive to check out one of the sure signs that Christmas is getting near again. There are many streets where the people dress up their houses with gazillions of Christmas lights. I always like being driven around to see them. The photos are from two of the best displays I have seen so far. The top row is a house in Bissenberger Crescent in Kambah. This house was on TV the other night in a program on Australia's best Christmas light displays. The whole house and garden is covered in lights. The garden is like Santa's cave, full of toys and elves. If you look hard you can see me sitting by the entrance, hoping that Santa will come by. The bottom row shows the biggest and best-lit Christmas tree that this small bear has ever seen. It is in Tennyson Crescent in Forrest. The garden here is also covered in lights that make it a cave. All the lights on the tree and in the garden are controlled by a computer and they change colour and turn on and off in time with music. It is wonderful to see and hear. To top it off, every so often Santa lands on the roof of the house, walks along the roof, and dives down the chimney. I love Christmas light displays, and really think that these ones will take some beating.

Bear Crusoes

2011-12-02T16:01:00.002+11:00

In just about every story about castaways there is a time when the hero is forced to live in a cave near the beach. On our Narooma trip, Scruffy and I found an ideal cave for castaway bears. It is near the entrance to the little harbour. There are lots of rocks there that have been eroded into strange and beautiful shapes. Most of them have holes and caves in them. This one was just above the high tide line and had everything that castaways would need. A little beach near the front, lots of small rock pools where small fish get trapped as the tide drops and shellfish on the rocks. If the Oldies had left us there, Scruff and I would have been able to survive happily for a long time. We might even have learned to swim.

As Close As We Got

2011-12-02T15:50:00.002+11:00

You probably guessed that I have been away again. This time we spent several days down at Narooma waiting for the sea to calm down and the rain to go away. We were hoping to get out to one of the few lighthouses in New South Wales that Mum hasn't got photos of yet. It is on Montague Island and is one of only two island lighthouses in NSW. The lighthouse went into operation in 1881 and was upgraded to automatic operation in 1986. It is 9km offshore and you should be able to get to the island on one of the tours from Narooma. We didn't get there. The weather was too bad some days and there weren't enough customers on others. The only photos we managed to get were from our apartment balcony. Considering that Dad took this one between rain showers near twilight, it's not bad. Maybe next time we are going through Narooma we will get out to the island and get better photos.

Temple of the Queen of the Nile

2011-11-22T17:19:00.002+11:00

This is one of the most spectacular ancient buildings in Egypt. It is the mortuary temple of the female pharoah Hatshepsut. There were only a few female rulers of ancient Egypt. Hatshepsut was the most successful of them and ruled for 22 years. Her army secured Egypt's borders and most of her rein was peaceful and prosperous. She sent trading expeditions all over the known world and the results made Egypt very rich. The sign in the left corner of the big photo says that the dead tree stump near it is from a tree brought back by an expedition to the land of Punt, probably Somalia, Eritrea or Arabia. What the Oldies liked best is that there are some really well-preserved hieroglyphs in parts of the temple. Because they have been under cover for thousands of years, rather than buried in sand (the carvings, not the Oldies), the colours have survived. The wall in the photo is covered with hieroglyphs describing an offering to Anubis, the God of mummification. The temple has survived the centuries very well. Restoration is going on, but compared to other buildings in the area, Deir el Bahri, this one is a masterpiece. Let's hope it survives the present troubles in Egypt.

Nightmare Stuff

2011-11-22T17:08:00.002+11:00

I hate crabs. The nasty things live in the sea, rock pools and beaches. I love going to the beach and looking at the cute greeblies in the rock pools, so you can see that crabs are a problem for me. I can deal with little ones, provided I have a big stick to belt them with or a pile of rocks to toss at them, but big ones give me the creeps. Well, here's a big one. Fortunately, he is safely behind thick glass at the Merimbula aquarium. I was showing Blu what the enemy looked like when the photo was taken. There are big crabs like this all around the coast of Australia, but mostly in deeper water. Although I would really like to go snorkelling with the Oldies, if I bumped into something like this I would be out of the water quicker than Mum was when she met the sharks at Lord Howe Island (that's another story).

The Crystal Avenger Rides Again

2011-11-16T18:20:00.002+11:00

Is it any wonder that our house is free of rodents, spiders and creepy-crawlies? Any such critter trying to take up residence is met by the protector of the residence, the Crystal Avenger. Armed with the invincible Hammer of Thorbear and protected by the Shield of Captain Ambearica, riding the Skateboard of Justice, the CA is the scourge of household pest. Dad tells me that the first Avengers movie is due out next year. It will star my heroes Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and Hulk. Well, if the producers are looking for extra characters for the next movies in the series, I can suggest one to Mr Lee. Crystal Avenger, the heroic small bear.

Two Ways to See the Nile

2011-11-16T17:27:00.003+11:00

There are two main ways to see the temples and towns along the Nile, by boat and by train. Of course you could walk if you wanted to, but it would take a very long time. The Oldies went by boat. There are hundreds of boats, most of them cruising between Luxor and Aswan. Here are a lot of them docked at the cruise wharf at Luxor. The Luxor temple is visible just behind the boats. It is close enough that the Oldies were able to just walk off the boat and into the temple. Notice how the boats are docked three abreast at the wharves. Passengers on the outside boats have to walk across through the lobbies of the inside boats to get to their one. Leaving Luxor is an experience as most of the boats leave at almost the same time and then race upriver to the locks at Edfu; the faster boats get through the locks first. It's fun to see. Boats have the big advantage that they are really comfortable and the food is good. The other way is to go by train between towns. This is faster but nowhere near as comfortable and the food is a bit chancey. This train was on a section of track north of Aswan where the sand dunes were almost on the river bank. One of the big jobs of Egyptian railwaymen is keeping the dunes from covering the tracks. No matter how you travel, the trip along the Nile is fascinating and well worth doing. I wouldn't like to walk it though.

Is This Cheating?

2011-11-09T14:53:00.004+11:00

If you didn't know the full story you could be forgiven for thinking that somebody is cheating. I mean, a whale-watching boat aiming straight at a pod of three dolphins, how likely is that? Well, the dolphins aren't real. They are pump-up rubber ones there for kids to play on. The boat is really a whale-watching one though. It is the one that we went out on when we stayed at Nelson Bay. Just shows that you can't assume the photo always tells the story.

Cruising Down the River

2011-11-09T14:40:00.002+11:00

Actually, these pictures were taken when the Oldies were cruising UP the river. Not just any old river either, but the longest river in the world, the Nile. It's just four years ago that they were in Egypt, and they never stop talking about it. One of the highlights was three days cruising the river between Luxor and Aswan. It really fascinated them because the Nile is unlike any river they had seen. It runs through the desert and the amount of cultivation, trees and pasture depends only on the depth of the water table. In some places the land on either bank is low and farms stretch for kilometres out to the first hills. In other places the hills are right on the river bank and the desert comes right to the river. There are hundreds of boats using the Nile, from big tourist liners like the one that the Oldies were on, to small sailing boats called feluccas. There is always something to see; people fishing, farmers plowing (using cows as tractors), cattle grazing in swampy patches, and hordes of kids who come down to the banks to wave. A Nile cruise is something that everybody should do and, when things in Egypt settle down, think about a visit. Egypt really is a very special place, one that you will never forget.

The New Big Dam

2011-11-03T09:33:00.002+11:00

Yesterday we went for a trip out to see the work on Canberra's new dam. It is being built on the Cotter river. There is already a dam there, but the new one will be three times as high and hold a huge amount of water. The new one will actually cover the old one when it is finished. There is a great walking trail from the carpark at Cotter picnic ground to a viewing platform where you can see the new dam being built. The trail follows the river most of the way. The water is really clear and you can see fish and tortoises and even platypus if you are there at the right time. I like to sit on the little bridge over the river and count critters in the water. Actually, I would love to go canoeing or rafting down the river, but the Oldies won't let me. When you get to the viewing platform you can see the work going on; huge cranes, cement and rock trucks and men working on the next section of dam wall. You can see the old dam behind the work. Water is flowing over the spillway of the old dam and is piped into the river below the new one. There are a lot of posters at the platform explaining all about the new dam. I will visit the dam every month and keep you posted on progress. There is one thing that you have to watch out for when you do this walk in summer. The path is concrete for a lot of the way and snakes like to lay on it to soak up the warmth. We found a fairly big Copperhead near the path on our way back. He had moved off the track when he heard us coming and was just off the edge waiting to see what we would do. Copperheads are very venomous, so you should treat them with respect. We waited a while and then Dad got the snake to slowly slither away by stamping his foot; snakes feel vibration and Dad sounded like something the snake didn't want to meet. Next time we do this walk I hope to meet some more interesting critters.

Cooling Off at the Trough

2011-10-28T10:38:00.002+11:00

It was hot the day we were at Berry and I needed to cool off somehow. I thought that I had it made when I spotted this thing like a bear-sized concrete swimming pool. It is a drinking trough for horses, donated by Annis and George Bills. There are around 700 Bills troughs around Australia. They were bought with money from the estate of George in the first half of the 20th century and spread across the country to provide water for working horses. Unfortunately, there are no longer any working horses in Berry so there was no water in the trough. There went my chance for a nice cool swim (provided I could have got in there before Mum spotted me). Fortunately, the Oldies were feeling the heat too so we went and found a cafe and bought some cool drinks. Here I am, a bearie with a berry smoothie in Berry. Berry nice.

Berry Monumental

2011-10-28T10:22:00.003+11:00

Like most small NSW towns, Berry has some interesting monuments tucked away on its streets. The one on the left is a bust of Alexander Berry, the guy that the town was named after. Berry was a Scottish surgeon, merchant and explorer. In 1822 he was given a land grant of 10,000 acres and 100 convicts to establish the first European settlement on the south coast of NSW. He called his place Coolongatta, and there is still a farm there called that, but the town that grew up was named after Alexander Berry and his brother David. The one on the right is in honour of the first mayor of Berry, James Wilson. It was originally a drinking fountain, but vandals have removed the fountain bits (I really do hate vandals). A pity because the day we were at Berry it was very hot and I could have used that drink. Actually, the central bit is a bowl so it would have made a good swimming pool for small bears.

Feathered Freeloaders

2011-10-23T18:27:00.002+11:00

I got a real chuckle from something that happened most afternoons during our visit to Kiama. It happened just across the road from our cabin, so I could watch without being in the way. The local fish market opened about an hour before dark, after the fishing boats came in for the day. Lots of fish were delivered to the shop and lots of locals came to buy really fresh fish. Among the locals were a flock of six pelicans. They landed near the shop and hopefully waddled up to the door. They watched everybody who came to the shop, hoping for a handout. Nobody gave them a fish for ages. At closing time they finally got a feed. The shop-keeper came out with the fish heads and offal and the pelicans left happy. There are six pelicans in the photo, can you see them all?

Rough Seas

2011-10-23T18:15:00.002+11:00

Remember that I said it was rough the day we sailed outside Sydney Heads on the "James Craig"? Most of the passengers were sea-sick and the top picture may give you an idea why. The camera was actually held horizontal, not aimed at the top of the waves. Those waves are the result of a 5 metre swell and they are higher than Dad, let alone me. The ship handled it fine, only a couple of really big swells actually came over the deck. There was a lot of spray of course and it was raining a bit as well, so everybody got wet. The really sick passengers were taken down below deck and put into hammocks. The thing about hammocks is that they swing and can take some of the motion of the ship away. The problem is that if you keep your eyes open you can see everything moving in different directions to you and that can make you feel even sicker. Scruffy and I weren't sick. Small bears are immune to sea-sickness. We did want to see how it felt to be swinging in the hammocks though, so we grabbed an empty one and tried it out. We liked it, but were quickly removed to make way for the next sick person. Old sailing barques are great ships, but they are rough on passengers when the seas get rough.

I'm 9 !!

2011-10-23T11:45:00.002+11:00

Guess what? Yesterday was my 9th birthday. That's pretty old for a small bear. Maybe it is one of the reasons that I look a bit faded in recent photos, compared to ones from back when my blog was new. Anyhow, I love birthdays because there is always a special dinner and presents. Last night we went to dinner at Teatro Vivaldi, a resserterornt owned by Mum's friend, Mark (I still can't spell restaurant). And how about these presents? My very own skateboard. It even has straps so that small bears can stand up on it. It didn't take me long to get the hang of it; I can even do some tricks. And a special wombat friend, called Banjo, to join my critter friends. And the ultimate weapons for a guard-bear; the Hammer of Thor-bear and the shield of Captain Ambearica (Mum says that I have been watching too many Marvel superhero movies, Dad says that you can't possibly watch too many. I agree with Dad). Those creepy-crawlies that invade the house through the drain-holes in the fly screens are in for trouble now!

A Berry Nice Town

2011-10-21T13:36:00.002+11:00

On Wednesday we drove down to Berry for the day. We had driven past Berry a couple of times on our way along the south coast but had never had the time to stop. So this time we made a special trip to check the place out. It is actually a very nice little town. There are roses planted along the main street, lots of cafes and shops and arcades full of interesting stuff. It is small enough to see most of the shopping area in a few hours. I think that the most interesting place is the Great Southern Hotel. It has two surf boats parked on its roof! Now I know that there is a flood there occasionally, but the water never gets that high. Maybe they are just prepared for the next biblical deluge, or maybe these are boats that they have sponsored in the past. I tried to climb up to them, but the verandah posts had too many splinters in them. You can just see me sitting on the rail if you look closely. There are lots of other interesting things at Berry, so do drop in if you are down that way.

Contrasting Company on the Queen

2011-10-15T13:30:00.002+11:00

No doubt about it, the company on "Queen Mary 2" ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous, and these two pictures tell the story. The top one shows the Queen's Ballroom, a place where there is always music and dancing every night. The things that interested me most were two busts of royalty, King George V and Queen Mary. Here I am with the lady that the ship was named after, Mary of Teck, Queen Consort to King-Emperor George V. The bottom photo shows me with one of the lower orders. You guessed it, Dad after perhaps a few too many ciders in the Chart Room bar. The effects of several happy days cruising are obvious. Just as well there is a small bear on hand to mind Mum's purse and video camera while she is busy taking incriminating photos. I really loved our time on QM2 and hope the Oldies do it again sometime.

Chatting With a Cuttlefish

2011-10-15T13:18:00.002+11:00

There is a big cuttlefish in the aquarium at Coffs Harbour. Blu had never seen a cuttle before and was really happy to find out that you can actually talk to them. Cuttlefish can change the colours of their skin. That helps them camouflage themselves when they are hiding or hunting, but it is also one of the ways that they communicate with other cuttlefish. They are also willing to communicate with small bears. Evidently this guy had never seen small bears before and was just as fascinated by us as we were with him. To talk with cuttles you use your hands and arms (and fingers if you have them). Waving them at the cuttlefish looks like you are waving your tentacles at him. He will wave back to you, but also flash different colours on his skin. I guess most of the time he is saying "What are you trying to say? Use colours idiots". One colour signal was very clear. He responded to noisy kids tapping his tank by flashing black and spreading his tentacles wide. That obviously means "Shut up and go away or I'll bite". Blu and I had a nice chat with him and will visit him again when we are next at Coffs.

Mogo "Totem Pole"

2011-10-09T17:53:00.003+11:00

There are always weird and wonderful things to see in an artistic village like Mogo. This piece of woodcarving is out the front of one of the shops. It is a fantastic bit of work. It is probably supposed to be a witch, but the "totem Pole" is covered with all sorts of plants, people, animals and strange critters carved into it. To a small bear, there is only one reason for a pole with all sorts of shapes cut into it. It was obviously put there for small critters to climb. I actually made it to the top, but the Oldies got me to come back down to sit on the arm for a photo. They say that I look like I am part of the carving. What do you think? Anyhow, I think that I add a touch of class and distinction to the carving, and I am grateful to the artist who created this superb climbing post.

That's Really Big

2011-10-09T17:42:00.003+11:00

It seems only a few weeks ago that we were on the "Queen Mary 2", but in fact it was 8 months ago! Time sure gets away, specially when you do a few trips in the meantime. Anyhow, did I mention that the QM is big? Really Big? Well, here's a couple of photos that show just how big it is. The one on the left was taken while we were docked in Adelaide. Just compare the size of the ship with the cars, and remember that most of the cars are much closer. The other photo was taken looking along one of the corridors on a cabin deck. That tiny little speck of light in the middle of the photo is the window in the door at the far end of the corridor. It's a sizable walk along the corridor, and the cabin decks don't go all the way from bow to stern. Big? It's absolutely huge. Time for the Oldies to think about our next cruise, I reckon.

Crafty Bear

2011-10-07T11:00:00.003+11:00

On Wednesday we went for a drive down to Bateman's Bay and Mogo. Mogo is an old gold mining town, but the gold was all found by the late 1800s and it is now a heritage market village. It also has a great zoo. Mum and I have a favourite shop at Mogo. It is called Amanda's and it is the best craft shop we have ever found. It is hard to move in the shop because it is absolutely crammed full of everything that you could ever need if you are into beading, card making, scrap booking, stamping or art. Do call in there if you are driving through the village on your way south of Bateman's Bay on the Princes Highway. It is actually handy to have a small bear with you when you are there. We can climb up to the top shelves and get things that would need a ladder otherwise. I love shops like this one, particularly when the shop lady is as nice and helpful as the one we met on Wednesday.

Sabre Bears

2011-09-29T10:41:00.004+10:00

Even though Fighter World has steps near lots of the exhibits so that you can see into the cockpit, these steps are built for people. That is a bit of a problem for small bears. As you can see in the top photo, I just couldn't get high enough to show Blu and Milkshake what the inside of the Sabre looked like. Fortunately, Dad and I have several Sabres in our model collection and I could teach the others about the aircraft using one of these when we got home. The Sabre at Fighter World is a CAC Sabre, built right here in Australia in the 1950s. Although Australian Sabres look like the North American F-86 Sabre, they are much more powerful. They use a Rolls-Royce Avon engine and, to fit this engine in, the fuselage had to be redesigned. It is wider and the air intake is 25% bigger than on the F-86. The Avon Sabre also has two 30mm cannon instead of the machine guns of the American version. Sabres are superb in the air. I see the one at Temora Aviation Museum sometimes and it is almost as beautiful as the Spitfire. Our model is pretty good too, don't you think?

South Solitary

2011-09-25T11:44:00.007+10:00

Here's another lighthouse that we have been trying to get photos of for ages. It is on South Solitary island and it is almost impossible to get to except by helicopter. It was classed as the most isolated one on the New South Wales coast. The lighthouse started operation in 1880 and has been in continuous operation ever since, except for a few days in 1942 when some ships were torpedoed nearby. We have tried to get close by boat in the past, with no success. So it was a great surprise to find that we could see the lighthouse easily from Emerald Beach, and an even bigger surprise to find that Dad could hold the camera steady enough to get decent photos at full zoom. You can see the lighthouse and the keepers' cottages and the path from the jetty. The island coast is so rugged that boats couldn't tie up there and supplies for the keepers had to be loaded into a basket that was winched up to the end of the jetty and then winched or rolled up the steep path. The light is automated now and the only visitors are maintenance crews that come by helicopter every 3 months. Maybe we will get better photos one day, but for now this will have to do.

Hornets Away !!

2011-09-25T11:17:00.003+10:00

At Williamtown, between Port Stevens and Newcastle, is a fantastic museum called Fighter World. It is just outside the boundary fence at the end of the main runway of RAAF base Williamtown, where the Australian Strike Fighter force is based. On the other side of the airfield is Newcastle airport. So when you visit Fighter World you not only have a museum with examples of most of the RAAF fighters to look at, but also lots of military and commercial aircraft taking off or landing right in front of you. We spent hours there on our way home from our Gold Coast trip. I really liked the exhibits, because you can get right up to the aeroplanes. There are even ladders for you to climb up for a look inside the cockpit. There is also a viewing deck where you can see what's happening all over the airfield. The thing that I loved most of all was sitting in the outdoor cafe watching the activity on the base. Milkshake, Blu and I were able to sit in the shade and see Hawks, Hornets, PC-9s and airliners taking off only a couple of hundred metres away. The FA-18 Hornets in this picture went straight overhead. Us small critters loved the noise, even if some kids at another table didn't. Where was Scruffy? Well, Scruff doesn't like aircraft much so he was catching up on sleep back in the car.

Taking Blu Fishing

2011-09-21T10:07:00.002+10:00

There is a great aquarium at Coffs Harbour. It is fairly small, but it has exhibits of the fish and critters that live in the ocean there. Blu had never been to an aquarium. In fact he had never seen fish, so I had to take him in to see. He was a lot happier when he realized that he wouldn't have to get wet. Turns out that he loves fish and, like me, would love to go snorkelling with the Oldies. In the top left photo you can see me telling him all about the clown fish in the right-hand tank and the octopus in the left one. The octopus is hard to see because he folds himself into the shape of whatever he is on and also changes his colour to match. This one is called a "Gloomy Octopus", but actually he seemed pretty happy. Mum has some great video of him prancing around his tank. Occies are superb escape artists and this one has a very heavy lid on his tank to keep him in. Blu loved the Lion fish even though it is dangerous, but my favourites are the Clowns. Actually, at present I am looking after a small aquarium. Brothers Trent and Nathan are overseas and I am feeding Nathan's fish while he is gone. So far they are all alive and well, but I will be glad to see him back. Looking after other people's pets is a big responsibility.

Port Stephens Light

2011-09-20T20:13:00.006+10:00

There is a lighthouse at Nelson Bay that is very hard to get to. Since Mum has this urge to photograph every lighthouse that she can, this one has been a target for ages. The problem is that it is on an island which is connected to the mainland by a sand spit. You can walk across to the island at low tide. However, it is a long walk from the road to the sand spit and across to the far side of the island. The Oldies couldn't make it between tides, so walking to the lighthouse is not an option for them. But guess what? Our whale-watching boat went past the island and when the captain found out about Mum's interest he took the boat in close so that she could get photos. So here is the Port Stevens lighthouse. It was built in 1862 and is now, like most Australian lighthouses, solar powered and automatic. In the top image you can also see the ruins of the keepers' cottages. These were burnt by vandals in the mid-1980s. Small bears hate vandals. Anyhow, that's one more for our growing collection of lighthouse photos, courtesy of a very helpful boat captain.

Big Sandy Mountain

2011-09-17T11:50:00.002+10:00

At Coffs Harbour I found this big mountain of sand. It was near the edge of a car park, so while the Oldies were taking photos of the harbour and the approaching storm Blu and I set out to climb to the top of the pile. Climbing sand is difficult. It slips away from under your feet and you slide back down until you find some firmer stuff. Blu has the advantage here because he is so small and light. We found that the best place to tackle this climb was along a ridge. It was just like Hillary and Tenzing going up the South Col on Mt Everest. It was a long, hard struggle to the top but we had a great sense of achievement. Then it started to sprinkle and Dad just walked up and took us back to the car. He didn't even have to stretch very far up to reach us. Sometimes Oldies can really spoil the moment.

Whales in the Rough

2011-09-17T11:40:00.005+10:00

We stopped for a few days at Nelson Bay on our way back from the Gold Coast. It is a bit quiet there in the winter months, but one thing that is happening is the migration of Humpback whales along the coast. They come close inshore at Nelson Bay and there are lots of boats that take you out to see them. The day we went it was fairly rough. Just take a look at these photos of one of the bigger boats being bounced around in the 2 m swells. You can see some brave and determined whale-watchers out on deck, but most of the passengers were inside trying not to be sea-sick. Our boat was only half the size of that one, so we got bounced around a lot more, but small bears don't get sea-sick and the Oldies usually don't either (it takes 5 m or more to get Dad crook). Yes, we saw some whales but they were all travelling fairly fast. Mostly we only saw the puff as they came up to breathe, and the tail and fin as they dived. Most of the passengers on our boat were thrilled by that. I wonder how they would react to the magical close encounters we had a few years back on out trip to Hervey Bay (check my Dec 2006 archive for image).

Going Bananas

2011-09-10T10:30:00.003+10:00

Just north of Coffs Harbour is a tourist trap called the "Big Banana". Coffs is about the southern limit of commercial banana growing in Australia and the Big Banana has displays and tours that show you how it's done. You can take a ride around the banana plantation, and try selected banana goodies in the cafe. Now, Australia is very short of bananas at present. Most are grown in Queensland and a series of cyclones wiped last year's crop out, so Coffs bananas have skyrocketed in price. In fact, we couldn't find bananas to buy in Coffs, all of the crop is shipped to the cities as fast as it can be harvested. One of the displays is a huge banana with a strange critter hugging it. Blu and I had to climb up and see what was happening. Turns out that the Monkey and the banana are both plastic fakes. A pity, because I like small monkeys and would really love to have a banana this size to munch on.

Bears at the Beach #2

2011-09-10T10:17:00.003+10:00

This is the closest that I managed to get Blu to the surf at Emerald Beach. He eventually got game enough to come down out of the tree and go onto the sand. Even then he wanted to sit on a log so that the small crabs couldn't get him. I am not scared of small crabs. Scruffy and I worked out a way to clobber them on our last Fiji trip; you can find photos of that in earlier posts. Big ones still scare me though. The tide was way out when this photo was taken. You can see by the ripple marks in the sand that the water comes almost to the log at high tide. I figured that if we stayed there long enough we would get to swim, but no luck with Mum on watch. I reckon that by the time we go the beach again, Blu will be ready to build sandcastles with Scruff, Milky and I. If you look carefully, you can see an island on the horizon. That is South Solitary Island and it has a lighthouse on it, more about that later.

Bears at the Beach

2011-09-04T13:16:00.005+10:00

Blu hadn't been close to a beach before our last trip. He had seen beaches at a distance, but had no idea how much fun they could be. Well, one of the places we stayed at was Emerald Beach, just north of Coffs Harbour. This is a small town with a great beach for surfers and families. There are usually big waves for surfers at the end near the headland, and calmer water for kids further down the beach. I figured it was time for Blu to get down onto the beach. The problem was that he was scared of waves and crabs and wouldn't go there. So, I sat with him in a tree near the beach and we watched the surfers and kids having fun, and after a while I managed to get him onto the sand. I was about to get him into the water when Nemesis (AKA Mum) arrived and read the riot act about small bears and water. Maybe some day I will manage to get into the ocean.

If Only.....

2011-09-04T12:57:00.002+10:00

If only Scruffy and I were bigger, we could have had great fun with this car. We found it during our last trip to the Gold Coast. There was a "Fashion, Food & Fast Cars" day on the avenue where we went for lunch. One of the cars was this little beauty. I am not sure just what sort of car it is, other than a race car. It is too small for F.1 and looks a bit different to an Indycar, but it sure looks fast. The owner was happy to let the Oldies look all over it, so naturally Scruff and I did too. There must be a standard size for drivers of these cars, Dad is too big around the middle to fit into the cockpit, and Scruff and I are too small to see out when we sit in there. If we tried to ride where we are sitting in the photo, we would be sucked into the big intake just above our heads. That leaves Mum, and at least she is speedway trained, so maybe she would be the best one of us to take the car for a run. The owner wasn't going to let any of us drive it anyway, but I would love to go for a run in a car like this. I will post more pix of some of the cars that lined Tedder Avenue that day, later on.

Jealousy !!!!

2011-08-30T16:40:00.002+10:00

You may think that I am suffering from a rare tropical disease and that the other three are worried about me, but it isn't like that at all. In fact, I am tucked up nice and snug in the Oldies bed at Pacific Views and am sound asleep. I was the only one allowed to sleep there, the others had to sleep on a bedside table. Naturally, they were not happy about that. I suspect that they were plotting some sort of fiendish retaliation when the picture was taken. Scruffy and Blu certainly look like they are planning devilry. Anyhow, I stayed in bed and they stayed on the table. Jealousy really is a curse and profits nobody.

Pacific Views

2011-08-30T16:18:00.002+10:00

This is where we stayed during our week at the Gold Coast. It is called "Pacific Views", and that is just what it gives you. The beach is just across the road and from the balconies you can see almost all of the northern Gold Coast beaches. We stayed on the 16th floor and if you have sharp eyes you can see Mum and I waving to Dad who was down on the street, taking the photos. It might look like Mum is ready to drop me over the rail, but she was holding me really tight and telling me to stop wriggling. Scruffy, Milkshake, Blu and I spent lots of time sitting out on the balcony watching boats and surfers. That high up we didn't have to worry about kookaburras, crows or crabs. One morning, just after we woke up, we heard on the news that a baby Humpback whale had beached itself just a kilometre or so down the beach from us. We watched from the balcony as lifesavers, marine rangers and lots of people tried to keep the poor little critter cool, and dig a trench back into the sea so he would float off at the next high tide. He did get back into the ocean that night, but went the wrong way and couldn't find his mum, so he died and was washed ashore miles up the coast. We all felt really sorry for him. That was the only sad part of our stay. The rest of the time it was warm and sunny, but not warm enough to tempt Dad into the surf.

A Special Hospital Visit

2011-08-23T14:38:00.003+10:00

Our main reason for stopping in Port Macquarie was to visit the Koala Hospital. This is a very special place which helps sick and injured wild koalas recover and return to the forest. Port Macquarie has just the right sort of forest for koalas to live in, but it also has lots of cats, dogs and cars. The forest comes right into the town in places, so in some places people and koalas live in the same areas. Koalas are safe while they are up in the trees, but they have to come down to the ground occasionally to move to another tree. Each year hundreds of them are hurt by being banged into by cars or mauled by cats and dogs. This is when the volunteers at the Koala hospital come in. The hospital has a surgery, intensive care unit, 6 outdoor intensive care yards and 33 rehabilitation yards. Blu and I have definite koala ancestry, so we were very keen to visit the hospital The top photo shows us checking out one of the outdoor IC yards. There is a recovering koala in there; you can see him if you look hard. The bottom photos show me reading one of the signs that tell the story of the koala in the big rehabilitation yard, and the koala herself, snuggled down high up in the gum tree. As well as treating sick koalas, the hospital is part of a research team trying to find cures for koala diseases. Do visit the hospital if you are ever in Port Macquarie, and donate a bit to help keep them in operation. One of the fun ways you can help is to adopt a wild koala; we have adopted 6 so far. If you want to help, you can read about the koala hospital and the "Adopt a Wild Koala" program on the web at http://www.koalahospital.org.au

Watching the Water

2011-08-23T13:53:00.003+10:00

Well, we are back in Canberra after a fortnight on the road. We drove over 2,500 kilometres - up to the Gold Coast in Queensland and back. Along the way we stopped at a few nice places for 2 or 3 days. The first stop was at Port Macquarie on the New South Wales north coast. Port Macquarie was founded in1821 as a convict settlement and its early history was very brutal. Today it is a top holiday spot and a place lots of people retire to. We stayed in a park cabin right next to the Hastings river. I love cabins like this because you can always see something interesting happening. During the day there are boats and joggers and at sunset you can see keen fishermen trying to catch the fish that come in to feed as it gets dark. The fisherman who used the breakwall in front of our cabin says that dusk is the best time to catch fish and he caught lots of them so he must be either right or very lucky. Scruffy, Milkshake, Blu and I spent lots of time sitting on the veranda rail watching the passing traffic. The only problem for us small critters were the Kookaburras that thought we might be edible, so we weren't allowed to sit on the rail without an Oldie in attendance. When the Oldies went out for dinner and left us in the cabin, they left the curtains open so that we could watch from the safety of inside the cabin. Besides being a pretty place for people, Port Macquarie also has a large population of wild koalas living there, more about them in the next post.

On The Road Again

2011-08-03T06:08:00.004+10:00

Just a quick note to let you know that we are off on the road again. The car is packed. Scruffy, Blu and Milkshake are ready to climb into their special seats in the back (the littlies ride in the cup holders) and the Oldies and I have the maps all sorted. See you all again in a couple of weeks.

The Learning Curve

2011-07-31T12:52:00.003+10:00

When we visited Cockatoo Island there was a very interesting exhibition there. It was all about the remarkable inventions of Henry Hoke, Australia's most forgotten inventor. It is an exhibition full of strange things, like the barbed-wire watering can, the excuse generator, chain saws (using different sizes of dog chain), red and green oil for port and starboard lights, short and long weights, and dozens of other unlikely things. I really liked this one. It is Hoke's Learning Curve and, as you can see, I am definitely further up the learning curve than Scruffy. Actually, Dad says that Henry's family name gives away the joke about the exhibition. It is great fun and if it ever comes to a city near you, make time to visit it and have a good laugh. You can see more about the exhibition at http://www.ibys.org/shed/?page_id=16

Under Sail in Sydney

2011-07-31T12:39:00.002+10:00

Here we are on "James Craig" setting out for our sailing adventure. The sails are being set and Scruffy and I are on the wheel. There are crew up in the rigging, but they are hard to see. The water inside the harbour is nice and calm. That changed rather dramatically as we cleared Sydney Heads, and the passengers changed from a happy mob of sightseers to a green-tinged group desperately hanging on to anything in reach while the crew spent hours turning the old square-rigger around and getting back into calm water. There's nothing like a 5 metre swell and strong winds to test people for sea-sickness. Actually, us small bears thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We never get sea-sick and we learned a lot about ropes and sails and just how tough it was back in the days when big sailing ships were the main means of transport.

Lighthouse on the Breakwall

2011-07-29T17:53:00.003+10:00

Here is the old lighthouse at Wollongong. This one was built in 1871 , on the end of the southern breakwater of Wollongong harbour. It is actually one of a pair built at the same time. The twin is at Warden Head near Ulladulla. Both of them are made of iron plates and both have suffered badly from corrosion over the years. This one at Wollongong was even listed for demolition in the 1970s, but the people of Wollongong had it restored in in 1979. The main lighthouse at Wollongong now is the one on Flagstaff Point, built in 1937, that I posted a picture of on July 1.
Wollongong is the only place on the east coast of Australia that has 2 lighthouses. Mum and I now have only 6 more lighthouses that we can visit and we will have been to every lighthouse from Adelaide to Brisbane. There are a couple that we can't get to because they are on islands that have no access, or on tracks that are too rough and steep for the Oldies to manage. Yes, I love lighthouses, particularly ones like this that are in pretty harbours and are easy to get to. This one even has big concrete blocks in the breakwater that are just right for small bears to sit on and soak up the view, safely above the reach of crabs.

A Curious Critter

2011-07-25T12:26:00.002+10:00

I saw this strange-looking critter at Mogo Zoo. He is a Brazilian Tapir. Tapirs are being bred in zoos because they come from the rainforests of South America and the forests are being cleared at a terrifying rate. Tapirs are good swimmers and when they are scared they head for the water. Tapirs eat grass, fruit and nuts but they have to be careful of jaguars and people. This guy and his friends at Mogo have a big pond to swim in, but when I was there they were all just lying around soaking up sun. I like tapirs because they look like a pig that tried to be an elephant; just look at that nose. Dad says that they are one of the animals that prove God has a sense of humour, but I reckon Dad is too. By the way, can you see the bear in the shade?

A Historic Beach

2011-07-19T19:29:00.004+10:00

The long beach in the top photo is called 7-mile beach, and back in 1933 it was the site of a very historic event. On Jan 11, my hero Charles Kingsford-Smith and his crew took off from here on the first commercial flight across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. The beach was used because Smithy's aircraft, the Fokker F.VII/3m "Southern Cross" was heavily overloaded with fuel and mail and needed a very long take-off run. The beach has miles of hard sand at low tide, so it was perfect. Because the flight started at 2.30 am, flares were lit to show Smithy the best runway, and hundreds of cars whose drivers came to see the take-off turned their headlights on to help. The town where we took the pictures is Gerroa. It is built mostly on a hill overlooking the beach. Just off the highway at the top of the hill is a memorial celebrating the event. It has a 3/4 size concrete plan of the "Southern Cross", with a concrete pillar and brass plaque with information on it. Scruffy and I know a lot about Smithy and the "Southern Cross". In fact, we have seen the aircraft in its special hangar near Brisbane airport (you can see the photos if you use the search box; search Southern Cross). Milkshake and Blu are still learning things, so we got Dad to lift us up onto the pillar where we could see the beach and the read the plaque, and Scruff and I told them all about the most famous aviator and aircraft in the world.

Bears In The Tower

2011-07-16T18:04:00.003+10:00

You have probably heard about the Princes in the Tower, well here are Scruffy and I playing Bears in the Tower. The tower is the Martello tower in Fort Denison in Sydney harbour. This tower is the only Martello tower in Australia and the last one built in the British Empire. It has a small lighthouse on top of it and used to have cannons inside it. You can take a guided tour with a park ranger, but aren't allowed inside it on your own. Well, that's a challenge to adventurous small bears, so Scruff and I set out to see if we could see what was in there. The tower is made out of sandstone blocks and they have enough hand and foot holds for small critters. For once Scruff climbed faster than I did and reached the window opening first. You can see him giving me a hand up the last bit of the climb. Guess what? The window was closed and the lights were out inside so we couldn't see anything in there. The view across the harbour was very good though. We were just getting ready to climb back down when Dad found us and lifted us down; sometimes he comes in handy. The big difference between us and the princes is that we were trying to get into a tower and the poor little princes couldn't get out of the one they were in.

My Pygmy Pals

2011-07-16T17:47:00.003+10:00

Last Monday we decided to go for a drive down to Mogo Zoo. Mogo is an old gold mining town just south of Bateman's Bay on the south coast. It is only a 2-hour drive from home. The town is full of interesting shops, including one of the best craft shops Mum and I have found so far. The best thing there is the zoo. It is a small zoo that specializes in breeding endangered species of animals. They have most of the usual stuff like tigers and giraffes, but they also have a breeding pride of white lions and families of rare monkeys. These little guys are my favourites. They are pygmy marmosets and their natural habitat is the tropical forests of South America. The family of marmosets at Mogo have had lots of babies that have been sent to other zoos, so although the forests are being destroyed in lots of places the marmosets will survive. They are very curious little guys and always come to the front of their cage to chatter away at me when I sit near the cage window. Actually, their cage is quite big for such small critters and it has heaters in it to keep the temperature in there more tropical. Monday was a very cold day and the marmosets were at lot warmer than us visitors. Do visit Mogo Zoo if you are traveling in southern New South Wales. You will see lots of cute critters and help save them from extinction.

The Queen's Bears

2011-07-11T18:38:00.005+10:00

The "Queen Mary 2" has millions of dollars of artwork in it. Some of the most spectacular is in large bas-relief murals in the main corridors. One corridor has a series of large panels, one panel for each continent. Each panel has scenes showing the people, industries, plants and animals of the continent it represents. Naturally, Mum likes the African one best because it has a lot of Egyptian stuff on it. My favourite is the North American one because in one corner there is a large bear. Not quite life-sized, but still very large compared to this small bear. I tried for some days to get up close to this bit of the panel so that I could check out the differences in shape between the American Grizzly and the Aussie Bart, but it was much too high. However, one night there was a formal dinner and the passengers had a chance to get their photos taken while they were all dolled-up. One of the photographers left a small ladder leaning up against the panel, so while the Oldies were getting their photo taken I took the opportunity to climb up and check out the bruin. For some strange reason passing passengers thought that this was funny and lots of them took photos of me and the bear. Sometimes I don't understand people.

Does the Horizon Ever Catch Up??

2011-07-11T18:23:00.002+10:00

One of my favourite things to do on a cruise is to find a sunny spot, out of the wind and watch the ship's wake stretching out behind us to the horizon. You can see how good the sailor on the helm is by seeing how straight the wake is. Learners leave a wake that is all wiggles. Actually, this very straight wake is that of the "Queen Mary 2" crossing the Great Australian Bight. The ship is being steered by an auto-pilot, a combination of computer and GPS, so it had better be straight. You can often see seabirds flying low above the wake, catching the fish that got too close to the propellers, got stunned (or hacked) and float to the surface in the wake. Mostly I see terns and gannets, but once I saw a magnificent albatross. When there is no land in sight you can see the curve of the horizon and no matter how long you look, the horizon is always the same distance away from the ship.

Lathing Away

2011-07-06T12:19:00.003+10:00

When Cockatoo Island dockyard closed in the early 1990s, most of the machinery and instruments were sold and removed. Some of the really big machinery that ordinary industry didn't want are still there. This huge lathe is slowly rusting away in one of the big workshops. How big is it? Well, it could handle the complete propeller shaft from a battleship. You can get an idea of the size by comparing it to the size of the small bears in the inset image. Scruffy and I are about 17cm from head to tail (not that either of us have much in the way of a tail) and, as you can see, that is not much bigger than the length of one of the bolts that are lying there, and smaller than the diameter of the wheel in the foreground. I would love to have seen this huge machine in action. Maybe someday it will find a new home.

Who Has Right-of-way?

2011-07-06T12:03:00.002+10:00

We met this rather argumentative fellow at Green Cape lighthouse. There is a footpath from the carpark to the lighthouse and you are not supposed to walk off the path because it causes erosion of the sand dunes. Well, this wallaby had other ideas. He was resting in the bushes at the edge of the path and he didn't like people and small bears getting too close to him. Wallabies and kangaroos can be dangerous if they don't like you. They grab you with their front paws and kick you with their legs. Those legs pack a real whallop and have big, sharp claws on their toes. Some people have had their tummies ripped open by cranky kangas. So we were very careful going past this guy. You can see him watching us carefully, and I can assure you that we were watching him just as closely. We went slowly, on the far side of the path near the fence, thinking calm thoughts. The wallaby grunted and growled at us a few times but let us pass. When we walked back from the lighthouse, he had gone. I guess the extra people that arrived while we were there were just too much for him and he went off to find a quieter place to rest.

Cook Was Here

2011-07-01T17:33:00.002+10:00

Way back in 1770 my hero, Captain Cook, was cruising around just offshore of this lighthouse. The lighthouse is the Wollongong Head light, one of the two Wollongong lights. It is the first new lighthouse built in the 20th century in New South Wales, being built in 1936. It was put on Flagstaff Point to guide ships into Wollongong and Port Kembla. Wollongong harbour also has a lighthouse which operated from 1871 to 1974. Neither of the lighthouses were there when Cook passed by in his exploration of the coast in 1770. Near the lighthouse there is a metal plaque in the shape of the set of sails on the mainmast of the "Endeavour". It shows the track of the Endeavour as it tacked back and forth looking for a way to make a safe landing. Of course, Cook did not land but moved further north and landed at Botany Bay. I really like finding out about our history, particularly about my hero.

I Got A Ticket To Ride

2011-07-01T17:22:00.002+10:00

Here I am at the ticket window of the Puffing Billy station at Belgrave. The ticket man was a bit confused and uncertain about how to issue the tickets for us. The Oldies were no problem, but he had never had to issue a ticket for a small bear before then. Anyhow, that was sorted out and we walked onto the platform where the train was waiting. I really like this train. Narrow-gauge engines like this are smaller than the big main line steamers so they look much cuter. They still make the same great hissing and puffing noises and the drivers are always happy to let small bears check out the drivers cab. You can see that the station is in a forest area, and most of the trip is through different types of wet and dry eucalypt forest. A great day trip from Melbourne, just make sure that the ticket man knows how to charge you.

Shady Nook

2011-06-26T21:06:00.002+10:00

It was hot at the Avalon airshow in March. We had been walking for what seemed like hours, looking at all the aircraft parked in the static display areas. Small bears get hot very quickly and I needed to find a shady spot for a short rest. Now, there is one aircraft that has a shady spot just the right size for me. It is the F-16, and this one was visiting from Singapore. While the Oldies were talking to the Singapore crew, I settled down in the gap above the air intake for the engine and below the front fuselage. I recommend it as a resting spot for all small bears who are overheating at airshows where F-16s are parked. Just remember to stay awake and get down before the engine starts.

Green Cape Light

2011-06-26T20:46:00.005+10:00

Dad had to go down to Merimbula last week, to give a public talk on astronomy. Naturally, the rest of the crew (Mum, Scruffy, Blu, Milkshake and I) went too. We took a couple of extra days and made a road trip out of it. One of the places we went to was Green Cape lighthouse. Mum needed photos of it to add to her collection of lighthouses of Australia. Green Cape was built in 1883. It is the first concrete lighthouse tower in Australia and is the second tallest and most southerly lighthouse in New South Wales. These days the light does not shine, even though all the mechanism is there. In 1998 it was replaced by an automatic solar-powered light on the lattice tower. I don't think these modern lights are anywhere near as beautiful as the towers they are replacing. The thing we will always remember about Green Cape is that last week it at was at the end of what seemed like the most pot-holed road in Australia. Our little Mazda 3 had a tough job picking its way between holes that were deeper than our ground clearance and covered almost all of the road. It took us 45 minutes to drive the 23 kilometres of dirt road. So bad that the Oldies said that if the photos weren't good enough it was just too bad; they won't go out there again until the road is remade. No doubt about it, lighthouse visits take you to all sorts of out-of-the-way places.

Cockatoo Cranes

2011-06-20T22:04:00.002+10:00

Cockatoo Island was Australia's most important dockyard until its closure in 1992. Hundreds of ships of all sorts were built and repaired there. Today the dockyards are empty of life. No ships are there. The big dockyard cranes are slowly rusting away. Submarines used to be built in the dock near the closest crane in this photo. A visit to the island is a sad experience, seeing the wreckage of what was a busy industrial site. Fortunately, some of the people who used to work there have started a preservation group and they are slowly saving and repairing some of the equipment. The small crane in the bottom picture is one of the current projects. It is a steam crane. The big silver tank at the back is the boiler which used to provide the steam to power the lifting bits and the wheels. Scruffy and I had a good climb around the crane and if all the bits were connected up and the boiler had steam in it, we could have driven it around and shifted things. Can you see us in the photo? The little inset may help. We love old machinery and are really happy that lots of people are helping to save important bits of our history.

Wet & Windy Windfarm

2011-06-19T18:42:00.002+10:00

Last Wednesday we did something really different. The Capital windfarm near Bungendore had a ticketed open day and we managed to get tickets. We have been watching the windfarm grow over the past few years. The roads and the railway take you close enough to see bits of it, but I really wanted to get close to some of the big rotor towers. Well, it was a wet and windy day and really cold. The road in was muddy and slushy and the bus slid around a bit on the way in and out. However, we could get right to the base of one of the towers, and we could even go inside. Actually, there is not much to see in there, just a distribution cupboard and cables and a ladder going up through a hatch to the rotor. I would have loved to go up there, but too many security guys were watching. The big surprise was how quiet the windfarm is. The only noise was a very quiet "swoosh".

Beyond the Barrier

2011-06-14T20:05:00.002+10:00

Sometimes you just have to go a little bit outside the rules. I mean, just look at this sign. It says that all sorts of nasty things might happen to you if you go off the path or outside the safety fences. The problem of course is that the interesting bits are all off the path and outside the fences. Scruffy and I are very interested in geology and the rocks on the Blowhole Point at Kiama are the best example of weathered volcanic lava that we have ever seen. Naturally, we had to go off the track and climb up the rocks to get a good look at them. There is a lot of moss and lichens in the crevices in the rock, but fortunately the rocks we were on were too high and dry for crabs to be a problem. If only we had remembered to take the geology hammer the expedition would have been a great success. Instead it ended on a bit of a low note when the Oldies found us outside the fence in a spot where a big freak wave could have got us. We knew we were Ok, but Oldies do tend to worry.

Blowhole !!

2011-06-09T17:28:00.003+10:00

Near the cabin we stayed at in Kiama there is a fascinating thing. The headland is made of old volcanic rock that the sea has been eroding away for millions of years. In one place it has enlarged a crack in the rock to form a pipe with a big chamber at the end. Some of the roof of the pipe collapsed ages ago, so now when the waves are coming from the right direction something spectacular happens. Waves slam into the entrance of the pipe and compress the air in the end of the pipe and the chamber. When the wave tries to run back out the pipe it sometimes gets blocked by the next wave coming in and the compressed air forces the water up the hole in the roof. There is a loud "whoomp" and the water sprays way up into the air. It was doing this really well while we were there. The blowhole has been on maps of Australia since December 1797 when George Bass was exploring the coast south of the new settlement of Sydney. Of course the aboriginals knew about it for thousands of years before that, and now Scruffy, Milkshake, Blu and I know about it as well.

Ah!! Steam!!

2011-06-09T16:40:00.002+10:00

Our day trip on Puffing Billy was great. It was freezing cold, one of the coldest May days that Victoria has had for ages. The carriage we were in was a relic of the early 1900s and had no windows, so the wind blew straight through us. Despite the cold, we loved the trip. Just after the train leaves Belgrave station it goes across a historic 1899 wooden trestle bridge, Horseshoe Bridge over Monbulk Creek. The bridge curves across the creek and the road, so it is a perfect spot to get photos of the engine under full power with steam and smoke pouring out of it. There are always cars waiting on the road near the bridge, with people snapping away on their cameras. After the bridge there is a long stretch through forest and you can see spectacular trees and lots of birds and occasional wallabies. I found a good place to see everything on my side of the train. It was the ledge that would have been a window-sill if the carriage actually had windows. It was just the right width for a small bear to sit on, but it also had a sign below it that Mum says I should have taken notice of. Actually, I don't think it should have applied to me; I wasn't standing on the ledge. Naturally, Mum saw it differently so I had to spend the rest of the trip much further inside the carriage with the Oldies keeping a sharp eye on me.

The Ship's Bell

2011-06-04T12:52:00.002+10:00

A ship's bell is one of the most important things on board. The bell is placed on the ship when it is launched and is only removed if the ship changes it's name or is broken up. Lots of shipwrecks are only identified when divers find the bell and can read the name on it. So here I am at the bell of the "Queen Mary 2". The days when the bell was used to signal the time on the ship are long gone, so this bell is not up on the bridge. Instead it is on a special stand in the Grand Foyer where everyone can see it. Although I climbed on the stand, I was not game to ring the bell. Dad said that they would clap me in irons and toss be in the brig if I did. I am not sure exactly what that means, but it doesn't sound like something I want to have happen. Actually, the crew on QM2 are great and they go out of their way to help passengers. The other photo is a good example. I had wandered off to see the bell while the Oldies were sipping beverages in the Chart Room. It is a fair distance for short-legged small bears. While I was walking back this lady steward called Beatrix saw me and gave me a lift back. I was delivered back to the Oldies, balanced on a silver tray! How's that for service?

They Aren't Real

2011-06-04T12:39:00.002+10:00

As long-term readers know, I don't like crabs and things that look like crabs. It's not that I am scared of them, I just don't want to be anywhere near them. The Oldies say that that is not a good thing, because we all like beaches and rock pools and sea-side things and that is where crustaceans live. Fine, just as long as the Oldies are there to keep the horrible critters away from me. So, you may think that this photo is a bit strange. Here I am, sitting next to crab and lobster pots, with a huge lobster climbing out behind my back. Don't worry, I haven't lost my strong sense of self-preservation. This is actually a display about the Western Australian fishing industry and the crabs and lobsters are only model ones. It is in the WA Maritime Museum, somewhere you should visit if you are ever in Fremantle. I can assure you that I would never get this close to real lobsters, but the photo is good for bragging rights when I am showing travel pictures to other small critters who don't know the story.

A Cabin at Kiama

2011-05-30T17:48:00.003+10:00

Last week we went down to Kiama on the New South Wales south coast; the Oldies, Scruffy, Milkshake, Blu (a new member of the crew), and I. It is only a 3 hour drive from Canberra and there are only a few kilometres of the drive that are a bit scary for small critters. That is the drive down Macquarie Pass. The road there is very bendy and narrow and huge trucks use it; we met one of them on a hairpin bend and just managed to squeeze past between the truck and the drop over the cliff edge. Scruff had his eyes closed during the dangerous bit. Anyhow, Kiama is a beautiful place. We stayed in a cottage with a view out the front across the small harbour and the ocean. Guess what was only a few hundred metres behind the cottage? A lighthouse! We could watch the light come on and start flashing just after sunset. Mum, as usual, took dozens of photos of the lighthouse in all sorts of weather; we had a couple of days that were cloudy and windy and a couple of calm clear ones. That makes 76 Australian lighthouses that Mum has taken us to visit, and leaves only 3 more before her NSW collection is complete. It was Blu's first trip and he didn't get car-sick at all so we will take him with us again.

Critters in the Cabin

2011-05-23T11:47:00.003+10:00

Here are Milkshake and I in the cabin of "Puffing Billy". The driver let us try everything while he was getting ready to go. You get a good view of the train and the tracks from the cabin of a Baldwin like this one, except for immediately in front. The view from most steam trains is like that and that explains why Australian trains have hit so many kangaroos and sheep. The controls of a steam engine are really pretty simple, the main ones are a brake, a throttle and a forward - reverse gear lever. Milky and I tried to get the train moving. Milky was handling the gear lever and I was at the brake and throttle. We could reach the main bits OK, but our legs just aren't long enough to reach the floor and get enough push to move things. I love steam trains. They have much more romance about them than diesel or electric ones. And I really like the smoke, the steam and the chuffing noises. Full marks to the Oldies for always taking me on steam trains whenever they have the chance.

Top of The Queen

2011-05-21T12:28:00.002+10:00

Here's a photo of Mum and me at the very top deck of the "Queen Mary 2". We were trying to find a place where we could do a "Kate & Leo" pose like in the Titanic movie, but all of the very front deck is out of bounds to passengers. So we went up to the highest open deck we could find. It is not a very big deck, just a small platform near the big indoor pool and one of the radar domes. From here you can see all that is happening on the sports decks, except that on this day it was cold and windy so nobody was doing anything up there. However, we got our wind-blown, lean into the wind, shot (unfortunately, the wind was behind us). The photo gives you one more example of the size of the Queen, this spot is just about at the middle of the top deck; it is a long way to either end.
The bottom photo shows the extra care that Cunard puts in to the comfort of its small passengers. In our cabin (sorry, stateroom) there was a shelf just the right width for small critters to sit on, and it had a rail around it just the right height to stop the critters sliding off in rough weather. Obviously the designers of the ship had small bears in mind when they did the cabin layout. Scruffy and Milkshake spent a lot of time there; they could watch TV and see out of the balcony door. I preferred to get out and see the rest of the ship. It is a gross misinterpretation of fact to suggest that I am just a bit too big around the tummy to fit comfortably behind the rail.

Puffing Billy

2011-05-16T15:46:00.004+10:00

One of the things we did in Melbourne was to go for a ride on Puffing Billy. This is a historic steam train that used to link Melbourne with towns in the Dandenong Ranges from 1900 to 1953. It is a narrow gauge railway, just 2'6" (762mm) between rails. The track, bridges, engines and rolling stock have been carefully restored by volunteers and the trains now run from Belgrave to Lakeside or Gembrook several times every day. During the summer steam trains can't run as the sparks from the funnels could cause bushfires, so diesels do the runs. We wanted to go by steam train, so last week fitted in well; it was really cold. When you get to Belgrave station on the regular suburban train, you have a short walk to Puffing Billy station. There is a good path all the way, but it is not quick enough for impatient small bears. You can see the train down a nice straight, flat cutting, while the footpath has ups, downs and turns in it. So I left the Oldies and Milkshake to go by the path while I clambered over the fence and went straight for it. Actually, the Oldies got there quicker. I think that small bears are handicapped by having such short legs. Anyhow, we met up and had a good look over the loco, no 6A, an NA class Baldwin built in 1899. Puffing Billy Railway has 5 of these in service. Here are Milky and I sitting on the toolbox at the front of the engine. Just after this photo was taken the driver invited us into the cabin and showed us how things worked, so next time I will show you a photo of us at the controls.

Treasures of Tut

2011-05-15T01:03:00.005+10:00

Did you guess where I was heading after the last posting? The Oldies and I went down to Melbourne to see the "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" exhibition. We weren't allowed to take photos inside the exhibition, so here are some that the Oldies took when they were in Egypt back in 2007. The statues are of Tutankhamun and his queen, Ankhesenamun. You can see this statue in the Luxor Temple. Tutankhamun is buried in the Valley of the Kings, across the Nile from Luxor. Lots of Pharaohs are buried in this valley, which has a mountain shaped like a pyramid at the end. You can go into his tomb and see his mummy case (he is back inside it now), but can't take pictures. Most of the treasures from his tomb are in the Cairo Museum and, guess what, no photos allowed there either. So if you want to see some of the treasures you have to go to Cairo, or see the exhibition if it comes to your country.

Bear Archeology

2011-05-08T18:07:00.004+10:00

I will be away for most of this week. You should be able to guess where from the two clues. One clue is the photo, and the other is this name:

Back next week, after Mum and I learn more about this stuff.

Binnacle Bears

2011-05-07T19:39:00.002+10:00

Scruffy and I are examining the binnacle compass on the "James Craig". In the days before GPS and radio compasses, these compasses were the main way of navigating a ship. Because the ship bounces and rolls in the waves, the compass is mounted inside a pair of hinged rings that let it stay level all the time. The compass body is made of brass. If it was made of iron it would muck up the magnetic compass needle. In fact all of the metal in the ship has an effect on the compass needle, so it has to be carefully measured and balanced out. The two metal balls on the sides of the compass stand are part of the magnetic balance system, making sure that the needle always points north. Scruff and I figured out how this one worked and had a bit of fun balancing on the moving rings as the ship rolled, but eventually the helmsman (who was a lady) made us get down so that she could see the compass without a small bear being in the way.

Blade Art

2011-05-07T19:25:00.003+10:00

How's this for using spare parts as artworks? On the front of the promenade deck of the "Queen Mary 2" is a set of 4 big, shiny, curved thingies. They look as good as some of the so-called art that our local government clutters up our parks with, but these have a really useful reason for being there. They are the spare propeller blades for the ship's azipods. QM2 has 4 azipods. They are the main propulsion units for the ship, and have the very useful feature that they can be turned in any direction. That means that the ship can be pushed sideways as well as forwards or reverse. With the bow thrusters at the front of the ship, this makes the QM2 so maneuverable that it can spin in its own length. Sometimes it gets a little help from tugboats, but only in really tiny harbours. The only problem with these blades was that they are too slippery for small bears to climb on, and bolted down so tight that no matter how I tried I just couldn't undo the nuts.

Ready at the Ropes

2011-05-02T14:50:00.003+10:00

Scruffy and I were always ready to help the crew of the "James Craig". Up to the time things got rough anyway. Here we are standing by some ropes as the ship is getting ready to leave the wharf at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney. Actually, we weren't sure just what these ropes did, but we were ready to haul them in or let them loose whenever we got the command. The big wheely-thing behind us is one of the pumps. If water starts to come into the ship, sailors slip handles onto the square ends of the axle and turn them as fast as they can manage. The heavy wheels store energy and keep spinning during the short times that sailors are changing over. We didn't have to do that during our trip, but there were times when huge waves looked like they were coming over the deck so it was good to know that the pumps were ready. How did Scruff and I cope with the big waves? We settled down in Dad's backpack and let him worry about them.

A Beautiful Bunyip

2011-05-02T13:05:00.002+10:00

Our local government here in Canberra has a policy of putting sculpture in public places in the city. Some of these sculptures are cute and quirky and some are frankly horrible. The newest one is the best, in the opinion of this small bear. It is a statue of Alexander Bunyip, a character in a series of kid's stories by Michael Salmon, so it is outside the new library at Gungahlin. In the first of these stories Alexander, who is a short-sighted bunyip, comes to live in Lake Burley Griffin, the big lake in the centre of Canberra which has most of our iconic buildings built close to it. Being short-sighted, Alexander mistakes the buildings for food and proceeds to eat most of them before he is captured and sent to the zoo. You can see some of the buildings behind him; the Telstra tower that he thought was an ice-cream, the National Library that he thought was a cake and the Academy of Science dome that he mistook for a pie. It is a funny story for kids and small bears that live in Canberra. Bunyips are mythical creatures that the aboriginals say live in rivers, lakes and billabongs. They roar loudly at night and chase and eat people who stray from the camp at night. Nobody has actually seen one, and if they did catch one I am sure that it wouldn't look like my friend Alexander.

A Wall of Remembrance

2011-04-27T14:50:00.002+10:00

Monday was ANZAC Day, the anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli in 1915. It is a special and solemn day in Australia, when we remember all of our servicemen and women who have been killed in the wars. It is a national holiday but rather than ducking off to the beach most of us do something to remember our fallen friends and family. Members of our families (that's Dad's and Mum's) have been soldiers, sailors, airmen and civil auxiliaries in most of the wars that Australia has been involved in. In fact one of Mum's relatives gained the highest award for valour, the Victoria Cross, in WWI; you can read about him in an earlier post, just search Jeffries VC. Mum, Dad and I normally go to the Australian War Memorial for a while and just focus on remembering our relatives. Possibly the saddest places are the long walls covered with the names of the fallen. We will remember them. It has become a Canberra tradition that you place a poppy or a sprig of rosemary in the wall near the name of the one you are remembering. As you can see from this section of one of the walls, lots of other people do the same as us. War is a terrible thing but it is very important to remember the history, otherwise we might make the same horrible mistakes again.

I Caught Him!

2011-04-27T14:41:00.002+10:00

Yes, I actually caught the Easter Bunny, or at least an Easter Bunny. I set out a big glass bowl with a sign that said "Leave Eggs Here" and hid to see what would happen. Of course I went to sleep, but one of the advantages of using a big glass bowl is that they tinkle when things are dropped into them and that wakes a sleeping bear up. Sure enough, there was this small bunny trying to lift eggs almost as big as himself up higher than he was. Being a helpful small bear, I offered to help him and got talking to him. It seems that the Easter Bunny is not the world's best employer and leaves a lot of the work up to small helpers like this one. They are not well-payed, it seems like child slavery to me, so I offered to let him stay and live with us. Fortunately, Mum likes him too so he has joined the ever-growing band of small critters at our house. The only problem is, what will happen next Easter? Will Big Bunny send another apprentice around to our house, or will he come himself?

Happy Easter !!!!

2011-04-24T13:27:00.003+10:00

Wishing all my readers a happy Easter.
For small kids and critters Easter is a happy time because chocolate eggs mysteriously appear overnight. Legend has it that they are delivered by a rabbit. I find that kind of strange, but as long as the delivery is made it is OK by me, no matter what the delivery guy is. This morning I found a big chocolate egg and a choccy bunny waiting for me. I used to wonder where these strange Easter bunnies and chickens disappeared to, but that was before I found out that they were actually chocolate. OK, I have a large egg, now what to do with it? I could just eat it, but I want to do something special with it, so right now I am sitting in front of the TV watching my favourite chef lady, hoping she has an easy recipe for Easter egg omelette.

A Cockatoo Crane

2011-04-20T14:18:00.002+10:00

This crane is on Cockatoo Island in Sydney harbour. Cockatoo Island was picked as a convict prison in 1839 and a lot of the buildings and the dockyard that the convicts built have been preserved and are on the World Heritage List. From 1847 onward the docks were busy repairing Royal Navy ships, and shipbuilding started there in 1870. In 1913 it became the dockyard for the Royal Australian Navy. It was at its busiest during World War 2, repairing damaged Allied ships, building new warships up to destroyer size, and refitting merchant ships for troop and supply carriers. The first "Queen Mary" was converted to a troopship here. Cockatoo Island was the major shipyard in Australia until 1992, when the dockyards closed, most of the machinery was sold and lots of the workshops and wharves were demolished. Today, the island is managed by the Sydney Harbour Trust. You can visit it by ferry and spend many fascinating hours examining the remaining docks, workshops and machinery. Lots of the machinery is slowly rusting away, but some, like this small crane, has been restored. If Scruffy and I could have figured out how to get it running we would have had a great time using it to pick up some of the big chunks of machines that are scattered around the island. If you have any interest in industrial history then make sure that you visit Cockatoo Island when you are in Sydney.

We Looked Down On Ships Like That

2011-04-20T14:03:00.003+10:00

The size of the "Queen Mary 2" is most obvious when it is near some other big things. For example, when we were entering the port of Adelaide there was a cruise ship moored there. She was the "Amadea", built in 1991 and operated by the German-based Phoenix Reisen company. Amadea is fairly big, 193 m long and carrying 624 passengers and 292 crew; compare that with the QM2, 345 m long, 2,260 passengers and 1,253 crew. Amadea was on a cruise around the world and so was the QM2, in Sydney we met up with the Queen Elizabeth, also on a world cruise. When ships like these meet at a port, huge crowds come out to see them. At Adelaide the traffic was so heavy that it took us 25 minutes to travel the 3 km from where we met up with friends back to the ship just before sailing time. If you are on a cruise always allow an extra hour to get back to the ship, it is embarrassing if you are left behind.

Bears On The Battery

2011-04-14T18:03:00.003+10:00

I've shown you photos of Fort Denison in previous postings, but here's one from the inside. On our last visit to Sydney we went across to the fort for lunch and a look around. It is an amazing place. The convict labourers did a really good job when they built it. You can just wander around most of the fort, but if you want to see inside the round tower you have to have a guide. That's because the stairs are narrow and steep and if you try really hard you could even get lost in there. I would like to try that. Anyhow, up on top of the lower buildings is a series of gun mountings and some of them even have guns still mounted on them. These two are part of the Battery that guarded the inner harbour. Scruffy and I had them lined up to blow any invading pirate ships out of the water, but no pirates tried to invade the Opera House while we were there. Lucky for them. There is still a gun working there; every day at 1 pm it is fired as a time signal for ships to set their clocks by. We weren't expecting it and it scared the heck out of Scruff and me. We thought pirates had sneaked up behind us.

What's In Here?

2011-04-14T17:51:00.002+10:00

You can see these strange -looking things sticking up through the decks of most old ships. I always wondered what they are, and on the "James Craig" I had a chance to find out. We were allowed onto the ship an hour before it sailed, so there was plenty of time for me to have a good look at things before we headed out into the rough seas outside Sydney Heads. After we hit the rough stuff it was every bear for himself and all I could do was hang on tight and try to keep clear of sea-sick passengers. Anyhow, it turns out that these things are ventilators. They pipe air down to the lower decks. In the days before air-conditioning, they were the only way that sailors below-decks could get fresh air. I found other uses for this one. If you can find a way to get to the opening and lean way over, you can drop things on the heads of people on the deck below. And they work really well as sound amplifiers, so a small bear can growl into one and it sounds like a giant roarasourasus to unsuspecting passengers underneath. It's great fun, until Mum sees what you are up to.

My New Telescope

2011-04-10T11:21:00.004+10:00

A week ago a big box arrived on a truck. Inside it was a new telescope for Mum. As luck would have it, Mum had to go out for the day just after the telescope was delivered. That meant that I had to do the unpacking and assembly, with just a little bit of help from Dad. It took a while, but wasn't very difficult. All that I needed were a screwdriver, a spanner, and something to lift the heavy bits (Dad). It all went together perfectly and when Mum returned her new Celestron C6SE was ready for her. This is a great little 'scope. It is small enough to fit into the car with our usual amount of luggage, so we can take it with us on road trips. It is smart as well. All you have to do is tell it where it is and what time it is, then point it at 3 stars and from then on it knows where everything is and will automatically find the thing you want to look at. That saves a lot of time and means we can look at really faint things that we can't even see without the 'scope. The only problem is that the Oldies are very busy with public astronomy events at Mt Stromlo Observatory and we haven't had time to really use our new toy. We have a few free nights now, but guess what? It is raining and the forecast says that it will for days. Sometimes you just can't win. By the way, isn't it funny the way that I seem to change colour depending on the angle and distance of the camera flash? Maybe I'm a photo-chameleon.

Avalon Hawk

2011-04-09T14:31:00.003+10:00

I am sitting near an access panel on a BAe Hawk 127 LIF at the Avalon airshow. This is a great little jet. It is a special variant of the Hawk trainer, specially modified to be close to the Hornet fighter in its handling properties. Its cockpit instruments and layout are also close to the Hornet's. This means that RAAF fighter pilots can be trained on a cheaper aircraft before they graduate to the Hornet. LIF stands for Lead-in Fighter. I love Hawks, they are fast and noisy. Best of all, the pilots seem to like small bears. I was able to look all over this one and even see the electronics inside the hatches, nobody else at the Avalon airshow was able to go where I did.

Caer Bears

2011-04-09T14:17:00.002+10:00

"Caer" is the old Welsh word for castle. It is part of the name of lots of places in Wales, like Caernafon and Caerphilly. This little castle is part of the play equipment for kids on the "Queen Mary 2", and since us bears had taken it over for a while we named it Caerbear. OK, if you want to be pedantic Milkshake is a small cow, but when she travels with us she is an honourary bear. Actually, the castle is just the right size for small bears, small kids would not be able to fit in as well. We manned (or beared) the battlements and kept a lookout for pirates - none in sight. We spent lots of time sliding down the slippery-dip. Scruffy really liked that but got a bit annoyed at the way Milky would try to jump on him from the castle window as he slid past. There is a large section of the open rear deck of the QM2 that is fenced off for the use of kids. On our trip there weren't many kids, but us small critters sure enjoyed using it.

Spectacular Sculpture

2011-04-04T13:32:00.002+10:00

This is one of the best sculptures that I have ever seen. It is in the Grand Lobby of the Queen Mary 2 and shows the ship bursting out of a sunburst in mid-Atlantic. It is huge; 7m high and 6.5m wide. The colour of the sculpture changes with changing light during the day. Mum took many photos of it and it is a different colour in all of them. The artwork is made from brass sheet and it is 3D. It took the artist nearly 2 years to make. Because the bow of the ship sticks out from the background it appears to change direction as you walk around the lobby. There are loads of artworks on the QM2, around $3,000,000 worth. Some of them are great, like all the paintings of past and present Cunard ships, and some of them (IMHO) are not very good at all. I will show you more of them in due course.

Don't Believe It

2011-04-04T13:19:00.002+10:00

You shouldn't believe everything that you read. I mean, just look at this sign. It is on the top deck of the "Queen Mary 2" and whenever Scruffy, Milkshake and I were sitting on this ladder so that we could watch people playing deck sports we were treated like dangerous nasties. Of course anybody should know that small critters like us don't bite. We might throw things, but we don't bite. Actually, the sign refers to animals that are on the other side of the wall. QM2 has a kennel there for pampered pets that are travelling with their owners. These pets get the royal treatment; fresh bikkies, special bedding, toys, even their own monogrammed coat. I have to report that they get treated better than the Oldies treated us, except that we didn't have to stay locked up for most of the time.

Learning the Ropes

2011-03-30T18:20:00.004+11:00

Sailing ships like "James Craig" are very complicated machines. The "engine" is a batch of sails that are controlled by an absolute jungle of ropes. Each rope has a specific purpose and sailors have to know what they are all called and what they do. Scruffy and I always like to find out how things work, so we spent a lot of time investigating the 19 Km of rope on the boat, and trying to work out what each rope did. The black things we are sitting on are called deadeyes. They are where the ropes from the mast (called shrouds) attach to the sides of the ship. You can see how the shrouds go through holes in the deadeyes; you can adjust the tension on the shrouds to keep the masts straight and tight. Scruff and I got confused by all the things the bosun was calling out as the sails were set and the ship got underway, so we gave up trying to remember names and went off exploring.

A Ship From a Different Era

2011-03-30T14:18:00.003+11:00

Just over a month ago we were on the biggest ocean liner in the world, the "Queen Mary 2". Last weekend we were on a very different ship, the "James Craig". She is a barque belonging to the Sydney Heritage Fleet. She was launched at Sutherland in England in 1874. Her original name was "Clan Macleod". After 26 years carrying cargoes all around the world she was bought by James Craig of Auckland, named after him, and put on the trans-Tasman route. By 1911, steam ships made her uneconomical to run so she was taken out of service and stripped of her masts and running gear. She was used as a cargo hulk in New Guinea and was eventually beached and abandoned in Tasmania in 1932. Volunteers from the Heritage Fleet recovered her in 1972 and restored her. We just had to go for a trip on her. Unfortunately, we picked the wrong day. It was rainy, windy and rough. Outside Sydney Heads the swells were around 4 metres. There were sea-sick passengers everywhere; even Dad disgraced himself by getting sea-sick for the first time in his life. It was a scarey and exhilarating sail and it really made me appreciate the problems that our ancestors must have had coming out from the UK back in the days when ships like this were the ocean liners of the day.

Where Are The Whales ??

2011-03-24T16:42:00.002+11:00

It is great having a cabin (sorry, stateroom) with a balcony. Our one on the Queen Mary 2 wasn't a very big balcony, but it was big enough for the 5 of us to sit and watch the waves. The 3 of us small critters specially liked to sit here, just inside the open window lip, and watch for whales. We were cruising across the Great Australian Bight, which is a breeding ground for Southern Right Whales, so we thought that there would be a fair chance of spotting a few. Well, we knew they should be there but somebody forgot to tell the whales. We saw lots of sea-birds and some fish jumping, but not a single whale. Maybe they were scared by the noise of the ship's engines. Actually, the scaredest thing of all was Mum when she found out where our favourite spot was. There was no way that we were going to be blown or tumbled overboard, we knew that, but somebody forgot to tell Mum. We got hauled back inboard and had the riot act read to us.

I will be away for the next few days, doing something special at Sydney. It is a bit like our QM2 trip, but very, very different. Watch this space next week.....

Looking For The Lost Bit

2011-03-24T16:30:00.002+11:00

There is nothing quite as annoying as working for hours on a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle and finding that there is one piece missing. Scruffy, Milkshake and I had this happen to us one afternoon on the Queen Mary 2. Down on deck 3 near the front of the ship there is a long corridor with game tables near windows. It is a great place to play a board game or do a puzzle while watching the ocean. The only trouble here was that whoever put the bits back in the box last managed to drop, lose or walk off with the final bit that we needed to complete the picture. You can see how annoyed we were. Scruff checked the box out many times and I looked all over the place for something the right size and colour. We even lifted Milky up to make sure she wasn't sitting on it, put we never did find it. Somewhere on the world's biggest ocean liner there is a small bit of coloured card looking for a puzzle box to return to.

Never Lost at Sea

2011-03-21T14:46:00.002+11:00

We always knew where the ship was while we were on the Queen Mary 2. The ship's GPS navigation system played information on a special TV channel in all of the cabins. You could always see where we were on a map of Australia and get the position, sea conditions, weather, distance to the next port, distance from the last port, local time, and the program of events for the day. When this photo was taken we had left Adelaide and were going through Backstairs Passage between Kangaroo Island (KI) and the mainland. We saw three of the lighthouses that we visited on our road trips, one near Adelaide and two on the coast of KI. It was still afternoon when we passed KI, so we didn't see those two shining, but we did see the Marino Rocks one flashing on our way into Adelaide before dawn that morning. It's great knowing just where the ship is, because this part of the southern coast of Australia is called the "shipwreck coast" and lots of ships came to grief here in the days before modern navigation aids.

Bear at the B-1

2011-03-21T14:04:00.002+11:00

This sleek aircraft is a Rockwell B-1 Lancer. The B-1 has been in service with the USAF since 1986. It is a swing-wing, supersonic low-altitude bomber. I have seen a B-1 flying at previous Avalon airshows, and it is very impressive. They aren't allowed to go supersonic at the airshow, but they get pretty close to it and with the wings swept back they are low, loud and very fast. With the wings fully extended they are not much faster than an airliner at landing speed, but they are still very loud. I love the noise they make, specially when it comes way behind the aircraft. There is always a crowd near the B-1 on static display and sometimes it can be hard for a small bear to get a good look at it, but not this time. Just look closely at the crew ladder and you will see me with my new American friend, coming down after a look inside. No other visitor at Avalon was able to do this; small bears are special.

Ye Gods !!

2011-03-18T18:13:00.005+11:00

There are all sorts of interesting things on the "Queen Mary 2". One of them is the Illuminations theatre, the world's first ocean-going planetarium. Outside the entry to the planetarium there are a group of statues of ancient gods that some of the planets are named after. I had a good climb on these statues so that I could see the great work that the sculptor had done. Surprisingly, I ended up in positions that had everybody there taking photos of me and the gods. The top one on the left is Mercury. He is the fast-moving messenger of the gods (Dad says Mercury is the patron of postmen) and I found myself sitting on the message he was delivering. The cute lass on the bottom left is Diana the huntress, the goddess of the Moon. The only sensible thing for a small bear to do was to give her a big smooch. The big guy is Jupiter, the father of the gods. He has a batch of eagles that let him know what is going on on Earth and a fist full of thunderbolts to zap naughty people. For a few minutes I was his bolt-aimer and if anybody in the foyer had been on the wrong side of Jupiter they would have been in real trouble. With a little imagination life can be real fun.