Bart Bear's Blog

Two weeks ago Dad had his 80th birthday. It is extremely difficult to think of a present for somebody who actually doesn't want anything special, but after much searching and discussion Mum and I had a bright idea - give him membership of the National Zoo and Aquarium right here in Canberra. Naturally we weren't letting him go by himself, so yesterday we also got membership. Now we can visit the zoo any time we like over the next year, just swipe our cards and enter from any of 4 gates. That's great because the zoo is fairly large and the Oldies are fairly slow so we don't have to see everything in just one visit. Yesterday we only saw about a sixth of the total. The zoo is well setup for visitors, the paths are mostly boardwalks and the landscaping provides the right amount of shady trees and open areas for both animals and people.These Squirrel Monkeys are right next to the main entry and cafe, great entertainment while you are downing coffee and ice cream. The zoo has two adult white lions and a small pride of ordinary ones. As usual on hot days the big cats were all either sun baking or snoozing in the shade. One of the Sun Bears was having his daily exercise climbing on the network of logs in the enclosure, his partner was sleeping in their den. The Otters were their usual busy selves, swimming in their pool (usually with the current) and running around their enclosure to find where food may be hidden. This one found a stash in a bamboo container, it was fun watching him trying to get it out and eventually eating the lot of it. There are some gates with signs like in the last image. Naturally, I had to see why. Dad caught me just before I got over the gate. Just as well because that is one of the places they feed the lions from. We will be back to the zoo often.
 

Labels: animals, climbing, family, zoo

Yay!!! After 2 years when our flower festivals were closed due to the dreaded virus, they are back. The big one is Floriade, in Commonwealth Park, but I prefer the one at Tulip Tops, just over the border into NSW. Because there is a small entry fee to the garden the crowds are smaller. This means that the Oldies can get photos without having to wait for gaps in the people traffic. Another big advantage is that the garden is flat so my ageing Oldies find it much easier to walk around. As well as flowers there are lots of trees in blossom. I like to smell the blossoms but have to be wary of the hordes of bees that are busy harvesting the pollen. There is a cafe with good snacks and free tea and coffee. And yes, there are lots of trees for small bears to climb.

Labels: Canberra, climbing, gardens

We are still in lockdown here in Canberra but can get out for a couple of hours for exercise. Today is the first calm, warm, sunny day for ages so we headed out for a walk near the lake. Of course we had to wear masks; it makes the Oldies look like escapees from a bad movie set but I look cute. Lots of people were walking or riding on the paths but everybody was being COVID sensible. The trees are full of blossom at present. That means that small bears have to be careful of bees when we get our climbing exercise. The sqirtey thing in the pictures is the Captain Cook Memorial Jet which commemorates the bicentenary of his first sighting of the Australian coast. I like it because when the wind blows the other way it squirts onto cars going across Commonwealth Avenue bridge. Meanwhile, on those miserable days when the weather was foul, Dad and I built stacks of card model lighthouses. Most of them are of UK lights, but there 4 Aussie ones in there as well. Here's to more days like today.
 

Labels: Canberra, Captain Cook, card models, climbing, lighthouse, trees

Just a year ago I was investigating more of Hawaii than I had on previous trips. What a sorry year it has been. One of the interesting buildings is the Ali'iolani Hale which houses the Hawaiian Supreme Court. Most people recognize it as the headquarters of Hawaii Five-O. When I visited there was no sign of the Five-O crew, not surprising as they don't actually have their HQ there. I was hoping that they would be there filming and I could get a job as an extra. Anyhow, the building is a fascinating museum of the legal history of Hawaii with rooms devoted to the Hawaiian royal dynasties and the efforts they made to train a cadre of political and military specialists trained at European universities and academies. The central staircase features in several episodes of my favourite TV show, so I got Mum to photograph me acting like one of the casualties in the episode where the HQ is being attacked. A word of warning to small bears and children - it is quite painful if you slip while climbing on the upstairs railings. I sat in the Supreme Court in the spectator seats, behind the bench where the judges sat and in the dock where prisoners sat during their trial; that's the photo the Oldies like. This is a place visitors to Honolulu should spend time checking out. It is just across the road from the 'Iolani Palace.

Labels: buildings, climbing, Hawaii

If you watch the TV program "Hawaii Five O" you will recognize these two buildings. Actually, they have nothing to do with Honolulu Police, apart from providing film locations. They are historic buildings from the time of the last Hawaiian royal family and the takeover of the islands by the USA. The first building is the Ali'iolani Hale. It was originally built in the early 1870s by King Kamehameha V. He intended it to be the royal palace, but changed the plan to be the central offices of the Hawaiian government. Today it is the Hawaiian Supreme Court building. The statue in front of the building? More about that later. Across the road is the 'Iolani Palace, which was the royal residence of the rulers of Hawaii from 1882 to 1893. It was built on the site of an earlier palace, which dated back to 1845, by the last king of Hawaii, David Kalakaua. The last monarch, his sister Queen Liliuokalani, spent a year under house arrest here after a coup ended Hawaiian royal government. Both buildings are designated as National Historic Landmarks. The palace is open Tuesday to Saturday, so naturally the Oldies took me there on a Monday and I couldn't see the inside. However, there are some spectacular banyan trees in the grounds, just right for a small bear to climb (my Aloha shirt made it easy for the Oldies to keep an eye on me), so the visit was not wasted.

Labels: buildings, climbing, Hawaii, history

A fortnight ago, on one of our sunny Sunday drives, we found a piece of Australian history in a most unlikely place. This house in Bowning, a small town north of Canberra, may not look like much but it has links to two of Australia's best poets and to the Melbourne Cup. The house is Mayfield House. It belonged to the aunt of poet Henry Lawson and he lived here occasionally between 1899 and 1913. Another poet, Banjo Patterson, was sometimes a guest. Google these guys and you will find out about a "feud" between the two poets. It seems like a put-up job to this small bear as they wrote a lot of stuff in the same house and sent it to Sydney on the same train from Bowning railway station. Trains don't stop at the station anymore. Most of the tracks have been pulled up and people live in part of it. The old Coach House and stables are now Mayfield Mews, a garden centre and cafe. There is some interesting local art for sale as well and some of it makes a great climbing frame for small bears; can you see me? Back in 1861, the racehorse Archer was stabled here on his way to Melbourne where he won the first Melbourne Cup (actually, he won again the next year as well). I love our weekend drives, we always find out something new.

Labels: climbing, history, New South Wales

Fijian Resorts have lots of interesting things for small bears to explore. I managed to escape from the eagle-eyed Oldies one morning and found some fun things to do in the gardens. You can see me in the photos if you look carefully. Just outside the reception driveway is this tiny waterfall. I had a real battle with my conscience - to swim in the pool at the bottom, or not to. Remembering what Mum would say if I came back soaked, I just sat in the spray for a while and dried off in the Sun before going back to the room. Some of the trees had vines growing right up the trunks. I found one that looked just like the pictures in the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, so I tried climbing up to see if that giant really did exist. I still don't know, because one of the big Fijian gardeners hauled me down; actually he could have been a small giant. The gardeners turn every tree stump into strange sculptures. I had a look inside one that looked like a warrior, and he was hollow. Actually, palm tree trunks have soft insides that are easy to scoop hollow and were used as water pipes and gutters in the olden days. The tiny umbrellas? Well, after a strenuous session of exploring, small bears like a cool, refreshing cocktail. The best cocktails have tiny umbrellas in them for some strange reason. You can see that I did a lot of exploring.

Labels: climbing, Fiji

Here's "Voyager of the Seas" at two very different harbours. The top photo is at Mt Manganui, the port for Tauranga. Where cruise ships dock here is away from the main port area, which is much more busy. You have to take the shuttle bus to get into Tauranga. The bottom one is at Auckland. Here the ships dock right in town. You can (if you are feeling fit) walk from the ship to the CBD. The other photos? Well, while most of the passengers are ashore is a great time for small bears to go exploring. The crane thingy in the top photo is the gadget that lowers life rafts into the water. The rafts are in those white canisters and when they hit the water they pop open and become a raft holding around 100 passengers. I would love to see this happen, but although I climbed up to the base of the crane I just couldn't reach the handles. Mum says that's just as well because if I had managed to drop one overboard I would have been in big trouble. Actually, Mum kind of limits what I can do. Just look at her reaction when I was trying to see what this cable did. I work on the basis that signs written for people don't apply to small bears.

Labels: boats, climbing, cruising, New Zealand

Labels: boats, climbing, cruising, South Pacific

A special place on Isle of Pines is St Maurice Bay. This is the place where the first missionaries landed in 1848. The Kunie people have placed a statue on the spot where the first Mass was celebrated; some people say it is of St Maurice, but our tour driver says it is of Jesus. They have surrounded this statue with a fence made with dozens of tribal totem carvings. More of these make a fence along the head of the beach. I think the totem poles are fascinating. They also make good climbs for small bears who want a close-up look at the strange faces and patterns. One sad thing is the plaque at the base of the main statue, with the names of 16 Kunies who died in France in the First World War. Comparing the beautiful, peaceful place they left and the horrible, ugly way they died in the trenches is another thing that makes this small bear detest stupid, senseless war.

Labels: climbing, cruising, Noumea

Put a small bear next to an interesting tall object and the bear will inevitably try to climb it. It is even better when the objects are not ones that have been climbed by the bear before. Here are three of the things that I, along with my cobbers Scruffy and Milkshake, found to climb during our weekend at Bateman's Bay. Just outside our cabin there was a palm tree. It looked tall to me but Dad could reach up to the base of the fronds. This was a fairly easy climb, but it had one potential problem. The ease of the climb was due to the fact that the old fronds had been cut off and that left stubs of stem that were almost like steps. Scruff and I could almost walk up like on stairs, but Milky's short legs made it harder for her. The problem was that the cut ends of the fronds had split into hundreds of sharp splinters. That wasn't a problem for us critters, but Dad got lots of jabs and scratches when he found us and hauled us back inside. In the park by the river was a strange seat. It was a plank that was set into a rock that looked like some strange bird's head. Not a difficult climb for our experienced crew. The other climb, that only I was game to try, was up the side of a highway patrol car. I always wanted to have my photo taken on one of these, and I am sure the policeman wouldn't mind. And the best thing about climbing things at the coast; they put you well out of reach of those pesky crabs.

Labels: Bateman's Bay, climbing, crabs, New South Wales, south coast

Lots of people have been injured or killed climbing Uluru. It doesn't look like a hard climb, but it is very steep in places and when the rock is wet, or there are strong winds blowing, it is very slippery and dangerous. Although there is one walking track marked out on the rock visitors are discouraged from using it in any but the very best conditions. Also, the Rock is a very special sacred spot to the traditional owners and they would much prefer that visitors didn't climb it. Conditions were perfect when we stopped in the car park at the start of the track and I was tempted to make the climb. It didn't look too hard from the gateway, so I decided to do it. However, it soon became obvious that short legged small bears have a basic problem. After 20 minutes I had only managed to get to the top of the small scarp near the bottom of the Rock. At that rate of progress, I figured it would take 13 hours and 7 minutes to get to the top. That would mean missing dinner and being out after dark with the dingoes so I rejoined the Oldies and we had a great time driving round the Rock and investigating its spectacular scenery. Everybody should see Uluru.

Labels: Central Australia, climbing, Uluru

As well as the memorial to Captain Cook, there are other memorials at Venus Point. The photo on the left is of the Bounty Stone,remembering the crew of HMS Bounty and their Tahitian wives who left Tahiti after the mutiny in search of a new home safe from discovery. They left Tahiti in 1789 and eventually settled on Pitcairn Island. The faces on the monument are believed to be Pitcairn islanders John Adams and Martha Young. Most of the Pitcairners eventually moved to Norfolk Island and I have met some of their descendents there. How about that? I have been to the spot where they left Tahiti and to the spot where they landed on Norfolk. I've even seen the graves of some that left Pitcairn and died on Norfolk. That's great for a small bear with an interest in history. I have no idea what the anchor in the ring commemorates. If anybody knows I would be glad to hear. I can tell you that it is a fine climbing frame for small bears. The building in the background is a "modernised" version of a Tahitian longhouse. It is in fact a souvenir and craft shop. Mum bought a small model of the lighthouse here. We found that it was full of smelly oil but it was easy to empty and clean out and it is our best souvenir of Venus Point.

The delay between this post and the last one is, unfortunately, not because I have been away somewhere interesting. I have been looking after Mum. She had a large greebly  dug out of her foot last week. It looked like a wart on the side of her foot but we couldn't get rid of it. When the doctor cut it out it looked more like a big transparent slug. Yucky!!! She is almost better now.

Labels: astronomy, boats, Captain Cook, climbing, Norfolk Island, Tahiti

Moored near the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbour is the largest and last battleship, the USS Missouri. She was commissioned in 1944 and fought at the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa during WW2. She also fought in the Korean War (1950-53) and Desert Storm in 1991. She was decommissioned in 1992 and donated as a museum ship at Pearl in 1998. When you visit Pearl you can climb over most of the ship. Actually, when we were there it was so very hot that Mum only saw the stuff on the main deck and rooms off it before finding shade to wait in. Dad set off to see as much of the upper decks as he could, but only managed to get to the open bridge area about half-way up the superstructure. It is a massive vessel and you need hours to see it all. The most impressive things are the nine 16" (41 cm) main guns. These can send a shell the weight of a VW Beetle 32km and are accurate enough to "park the Beetle" in a spot the size of a single-car garage. Very impressive. There are lots of smaller guns, twenty 5" in twin turrets, and lots of smaller machine guns. She also has anti-aircraft and anti-ship missile systems. Naturally, all of these weapons were deactivated when she became a museum, but they are still impressive to see. The most historic part of the ship is the deck where the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed in September 1945. Why is there a screen around the gadget at the bow? It is a radar antenna that is supposedly secret, but is visible through the screen and is present on the latest models of the ship. Speaking of models, I have to hassle Dad about building one.

Labels: boats, climbing, Hawaii

When I am at the beach I like to see all of the critters that live there. Most of them are much smaller than me, so I feel safe looking for them. Any big ones I leave for the Oldies to deal with. Here are photos of me stalking the (small) denizens of Mollymook beach, just like my wildlife hero Sir David Attenbearough. You can find lots of small critters living in and under seaweed. My favourites are sand fleas. These aren't bitey fleas, they are called fleas because they can jump huge distances for such tiny things. They live in the sand and eat the washed up seaweed and dead things. Of course, it is wise to have a large rock nearby so that you can quickly climb up out of the way of bigger waves. My long-time readers will remember that I don't like crabs. Well, I have reached the stage where small ones don't worry me so much. After all, I am bigger than they are and can run faster. I find that the best way to get them to come out of their hole so that you can see them is to poke a stick down the hole and sometimes they will grab it and you can haul them out. It is kind of like crab-fishing. The little ones at Mollymook are almost the same colour as the sand and are much more scared of me than I am of them. You can spend hours investigating beach and rock pool critters.

Labels: beach, climbing, crabs, south coast

This has been a great weekend in Canberra, although there are huge fires burning around Sydney. I am sad to hear that lots of the Blue Mountains are burning. You can see pictures of my holiday there if you search the blog. Here it was warm and sunny but with a lot of smoke from the fires. On Saturday we got all of our telescopes out for a group photo. There are a 10" Dobsonian, 6" and 8" Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrains, a special Coronado Personal Solar Telescope, and a 60cm Meade spotting scope. It looks like a bit of overkill, but each one has its own special use. And they make good climbing frames when the Oldies aren't looking. On Sunday we met Unka Mark and Aunty Vicki for lunch at a cafe in the riverside park in Queanbeyan. This park has had a lot of work done to it since I was there last. The gate is made of old tools welded together. I found hammers, spades, shovels, rakes, horse shoes, rabbit traps and some things that I don't know the name of. Another area has an old plow and bits of farm machinery. I couldn't quite work out what the wheel on the plow did. The strangest thing was a ginourmous snail. This thing was taller than the Oldies. I managed to climb up and grab one of the eye-stalks but couldn't get the snail to move. Sunny days in parks are one of my favourite things.

Labels: astronomy, Canberra, climbing, family

Last Sunday was Aunty Enid's birthday. We took her out for lunch at a ressetorront (I just can't spell restaurant) in the country, called "Poacher's Pantry". It is about 45 minutes north of where we live, at the speed Mum drives, and is an old farmhouse which has been turned into a posh eatery. They specialise in all sorts of smoked and preserved meats. You can try just about any critter that isn't on the protected list. The thing that I like is that there is a big area of lawn and garden with interesting old machinery and artwork. Just the thing to keep a small bear occupied while the Oldies natter. Here are my 3 favourites. The best is an old steam traction engine that is being restored. Dad can actually remember almost 70 years ago when engines like this would trundle onto his granddad's farm and power all sorts of farm machinery. He remembers it well because he was always in trouble for getting too near the big flat belt that went around the big wheel on the side of the engine and around the drive shaft of the farm things. This engine has a rope fence around it, so I could only get as close as the top of the fence. I aim to visit again when it is repaired and running. I love steam engines. The artwork is a different matter. Most of it is solid enough for a small bear to climb all over. I really like the pear made out of old horse shoes. And when you feel like a rest there is a pond with goldfish where you can just sit and watch the fish. Poacher's is a great place for an unhurried lunch on a sunny Sunday.

Labels: Canberra, climbing, family

This is a part of Canberra which was burned out by the firestorm of 18 January 2003. It used to be a pine forest, but now it is being turned into lots of small forests in what is called the National Arboretum Canberra. The plan is for 100 forests of rare and symbolic trees from Australia and around the world. Besides being a nice place to visit, it will help save rare trees and generate seed banks for other arboretums (OK, arboreta if you must be pedantic). It may not look like much at present because all the trees are small, but in years to come it will be a beautiful place, especially in autumn when the deciduous trees have coloured leaves. Click on the photo to make it bigger and you will see some of the plantings and the Visitors Centre. Some of the things you can see, even before the trees grow, are a great collection of Bonsai and Penjing, and a lot of sculptures. Now as far as small bears are concerned sculptures are no good if you can't climb on them. Well, the one in the bottom photo is a beauty. It is a wedge-tailed eagle and its nest, made from old tools and bits of old farm machinery. Unlike some sculptures around Canberra, it actually looks like what it is supposed to be and it is also a great place for small bears to climb.

Labels: Canberra, climbing, gardens, trees

Last weekend we went down to Unka Mark and Aunty Vicki's bush block near Pambula to help them mow the long grass. There is a great cafe and garden centre called "Oaklands" in Pambula and we called in there for lunch on the way home. While the Oldies were having lunch I wandered off to inspect the collection of old vehicles. The first thing you see is a big sign that says kids have to be kept under control. It didn't say anything about small bears, so I didn't worry about it and had a ball climbing over everything. The car is a Rugby. Dad knew about that brand, but nobody else did; I guess his age shows. The sign on the windscreen forbids people from sitting or climbing on the car but, again, small bears were not mentioned. They weren't mentioned on the sign on the old stagecoach either. Actually, the sign on the coach looks like it may have been written by a small bear. Click on the image to make it bigger and take a look at the spelling :) As for the wagon near the windmill, I just say that climbing on it was a real barrel of fun (or maybe bearall of fun). I love old vehicles, especially when nobody is around to stop me investigating them.

Labels: climbing, family, New South Wales, south coast

There's always something new to see and do on "Voyager of the Seas". Scruffy and I climbed over everything that we could get to during our fortnight on board, but have things left over for next time (that's a big hint for the Oldies). One of the most important things to find out is what to do if anybody falls overboard, so we found out where all of the life preserver rings were stationed. You can find these at many places around the decks of cruise ships and the idea is that if somebody falls over you toss one of these rings to them, trying hard not to hit them. I would love to have a go at that, but can't convince Scruff to jump overboard. As you can see, the rings on Voyager are big enough that one would probably hold all of the small bears on the ship. Another interesting thing we found was a wall covered in flat statues (flatues?) in the play area. One section had this banjo-playing crab. Now, as long-time readers know, I do not like crabs. However, this one was definitely not a threat so I took the opportunity to find out a bit more about how crabs are built. I couldn't get the banjo to work at all.

Labels: boats, climbing, crabs, cruising, New Zealand