Bart Bear's Blog

During our last visit to Brisbane we did a special river cruise. Fifty years ago, when Mum was a little girl, her parents took her to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and she cuddled a koala for the first time. Readers of my blog know that she has cuddled lots of them since then (search koala). Anyhow, it seemed like an anniversary that we should celebrate, so Dad and I shouted her the trip. It is a beautiful cruise up the Brisbane river to the sanctuary, lots to see, interesting commentary about the history of the river, and a great crew. The steep path from the jetty to the sanctuary entrance really tested the Oldies fitness, but they managed it. So here's Mum, 50 years on, cuddling an absolutely huge koala (not the one from 50 years ago). As most of the koalas are much bigger than me, I just talked to them whenever I could find one that was actually awake. Koalas sleep for over half the day and eat for most of the rest of it. Lone Pine was founded in 1927 and is the world's first koala sanctuary. Do visit it if you are looking for something to do when you are in Brisbane.

Labels: animals, Brisbane, cruising, Queensland

Here's a real dragon. It is an Eastern Water Dragon, called that because these critters live all along the east coast of Australia, they live near water, and they are part of the dragon family of lizards. They like to laze away on branches of trees that hang out over the water. When they get scared they jump into the water and swim down to the bottom until the scary thing has passed. They can stay under water for almost 30 minutes! Actually, they scare lots of people who are walking along the river bank or canoeing near shore. They grow to be fairly big, nearly 1 metre long, and a lizard that size suddenly zipping past your head is pretty scarey. This one was sunning himself near the pool at the apartment we stayed in at Brisbane for the astronomy conference last year. He wasn't scared of people or small bears at all.

Labels: animals, Brisbane, Queensland

 While we were in Brisbane on our way back from the eclipse there was a huge storm. Brisbane is just a little bit above and left of the centre of this radar map. The big storm cell is just over 300km across. It hit Brisbane just as we were trying to get to sleep and lightning hit the train track just outside our hotel. I have never seen Dad jump so high from a prone position. I wish I had the video camera running as nobody would believe Dad is so athletic :) Actually I love watching storms. The lightning is spectacular and small bears are not afraid of thunder. I don't like the damage that strong winds cause and really hate the bushfires that lightning sometimes starts, but I do love the spectacle when there is no real danger.

Labels: Brisbane, Queensland

I just love Ferris wheels and I ride them at every opportunity. I have been on lots of little ones, the biggest so far is the one at Perf (see my postings from Perth (Dad says that's how you spell it)). This one at Brisbane is just a little bit bigger than the one at Perf and it is also on the bank of a river. You will find it at South Bank in Brisbane. It gives you great views of the city and the river. It even has a ledge in the gondolas that is just the right size for small bears to sit on. And guess what? In just six weeks time I will be riding the biggest wheel in the world! The Oldies are going overseas again, and this time I am going with them.

Labels: Brisbane, Queensland

In earlier posts you met the alter-egos of the Oldies, Sheik Rattlenroll and Princess Neferonnasunday (that's them on the right of the picture, just in case you are confused). Well, at the barbecue evening of the astronomy conference in Brisbane they were joined by two more representatives of Egyptian astronomy. Unka Ray and Aunty Libby have been to Egypt too and they decided to join the Oldies as their alter-egos. Unka Ray is Pharaoh Potolomey the Last and Aunty Libby is Princess Neferataloss. They caused quite a stir at the barbie and, surprisingly, some of the attendees couldn't work out what Egypt had to do with astronomy. Just in case you are wondering as well, Alexandria in Egypt was the main centre of all sciences in classical times. One of the most important astronomical books of all time was written there, Ptolomey's Almagest. You should also remember that the Arabic scientists were the ones who kept the sciences alive during the European Dark Ages. Indeed, most of the brighter stars have Arabic names. The presence of the Pharaoh, the Sheik and the Princesses at the barbie was a tribute to these important ancient astronomers.

Labels: astronomy, Brisbane, Egypt, friends, Queensland

Meet my new friends, Unka Ray and Aunty Libby. Unka Ray is an astronomer, like the Oldies, and they meet up at conferences. They all get on together very well, and are actually more mischievous that this small bear is supposed to be. Our stay with them after the Brisbane conference was an occasion of many coffee shops, cafes, ressertorunts (I still can't spell restaurant) and much wine. Where am I in the group photo? Well, who do you think took it? Now, one of the new friend's I met was Unka Ray's small droid, R2D2. This little guy talks so fast that his words come out as whistles and beeps. He actually talks faster than Mum. Evidently he comes from somewhere out in space. I had to spend ages teaching him about Earth, with the help of Unka Ray's spinning globe. There are more like him out there and I have asked Mum to track them down and invite one to live with us. Here's hoping.

Labels: astronomy, Brisbane, friends, Hervey Bay, Queensland

Yes, I am just back from a week in Brisbane. The Oldies went up there for an astronomy conference, and then we went up with friends to stay at their place at Hervey Bay for a few days. The bags are unpacked now and the Oldies are busy catching up with the work that has piled up while we were away (I had to sneak time on the computer while they are out shopping). On the trip I traveled in planes, boats, trains and cars; not bad for an 8-day trip. When our plane landed in Brisbane we caught the train in to the city. You can see me waiting on top of the luggage for the train to pull in. If I look a bit anxious it is because Dad is always in a tiz until we get to where we are going and some of it rubs off onto small bears. Anyhow, we had a good ride in, found our motel, and headed out to explore Brisbane. The nicest way to see lots of the city is to take a ride on one of the City Cat ferries. Brisbane is built along a very bendy river, so you see lots of it if you ride a complete loop on the ferry. Of course I was not allowed to run loose on the ferry. Mum still has this theory that I would fall overboard at the first opportunity, so she held onto me while the boat was moving. I think that I could get to like Brisbane. It is not as busy and pushy as Sydney and Melbourne, and it is much warmer than home.

Labels: boats, Brisbane, Queensland, train

In the Kingsford-Smith Memorial at Brisbane airport they have a couple of models of Smithy's other aircraft, as well as the original "Southern Cross". The one that I am looking at here is the "Lady Southern Cross". This was a special Lockheed Altair that Smithy bought to enter the 1934 Mac Robertson England-Australia air race. He broke every city-to-city record in her before setting off for England. At Cloncurry he found serious damage to the engine cowling and had to pull out of the race. People called him "chicken", so he proved them wrong by doing what was thought to be impossible. With PG Taylor, he flew the "Lady" across the Pacific from Australia to America in October 1934. This was not only the first west-to-east crossing of the Pacific, but the first crossing in a single-engined plane. Smithy hit financial troubles and planned to make a record flight between England and Australia. He left England in the "Lady" on November 6, 1935 and disappeared somewhere over the sea near Burma. Two years later one of the wheels and part of the undercarriage of the aeroplane were found on Aye Island, but nothing else has ever been found. It is likely that the engine failed, the "Lady Southern Cross" hit the top of a hill on the island and crashed into the sea. I wish I could have met Smithy, Australia's most famous airman.

Labels: aircraft, Brisbane, heroes, Queensland

This is the most famous aeroplane of all time. It is the Fokker Trimotor "Southern Cross" which was flown on many pioneering flights by Charles Kingsford-Smith, Dad's hero. Smithy called her "the old bus" and said that she was the perfect aeroplane and that she never let him down. This was the first aircraft to fly across the Pacific from America to Australia (in 1928), the first to fly non-stop across Australia (1928), the first to cross the Tasman in both directions (1928), the first to cross the Atlantic from east to west from Ireland to New York, and the first to fly completely around the world crossing the equator twice (in several flights between 1928 and 1930). It also made some of the earliest air-mail flights between England and Australia and across the Tasman. Today it sits in a special memorial building at Brisbane airport. Do visit it if you are in Brisbane and think how different airliners are today, and how the air routes between Australia, England and America were first travelled by this great aeroplane and Smithy. There is just one brief mention in Dad's library of Smithy carrying a Teddybear on one of his flights. I like to think he always did.

I will be away for a week, but more on Smithy when I get back.

Labels: aircraft, Brisbane, heroes, Queensland