curiouswombat: (D-d does glam)
[personal profile] curiouswombat
I wonder why some Friday evenings I just want to collapse in a heap, and others seem to find me full of busy?

I don't think it relates to how hard work's been; this week has been busy, busy - but I got home this evening and have done all sorts of useful things, and am now drinking coffee and posting pictures for your entertainment. I have two bits of gentle beta-ing to do for pleasure in a few minutes - and I'm then going to make cookies/biscuits and, maybe, flapjack (the baked oat/syrup stuff not pancakes).

I might just collapse in a heap tomorrow instead!

Under the cut are just a few more pictures from Sydney - including some rather cuddly wee guys - well I think they are, anyway.



These first pictures were taken in the Botanical Gardens - which looks to be a really nice green place in the middle of the city -

Botanical gardens Sydney 1

As you can see it's within sight of the landmark bridge and Opera house.

D-d really likes the juxtaposition of trees and skyscrapers - this is a good example -

botanical gardens Sydney 2

And then she looked up, and wondered what sort of tree this was - it seemed to have some rather weird fruit hanging in it -

bats 1

She went a little closer, and used her zoom lens, and lo! A whole lot of little guys in leather capes!

bats 2

Aren't they cute? She walked around to get them with different light -

bats in botanical gardens 3

I just think they are so cute and cuddly! I have bat envy.

This next picture is in the same batch - but I don't think it can be the Botanical Gardens as the Opera House is on the other of the bridge compared with the earlier one - but it is a lovely picture.

Botanical gardens Sydney 3

Now - this was her visit to the Fish Market - less cuddly, I think!

Fish 1

Fish market 2

she just thought everything was so colourful, and so different to the fish shop at home.

And you can't see that lot without eating any of it - and she is her mother's daughter, so she got the camera out before the fork!

fish on a dish 1

Would you believe at the moment there is an Aussie chef on TV cooking octopus?


And finally, her farewell to Sydney - a couple of night time pictures. I love this one -

sydney at night 1

And this one, with the pink fountain and the flamingoes -

sydney night  with flamingoes.



The daughter in question is out with some other baby lawyers on a pub-crawl this evening! Tomorrow her and I are going to the Commonwealth Youth Games Swimming Gala - right here on the Island - it's great fun simply driving around at the moment spotting competitors. I've seen cyclists from Canada, Belize, Pakistan and Jamaica, and team members in the kits of Trinidad & Tobago, Australia, Botswana - and others I can't remember. It is wonderful to think we have such a big event right here - we are the smallest host nation ever.

Date: 09/09/2011 07:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cairistiona7.livejournal.com
Lovely pictures! And I must confess, I saw the "rather weird fruit" and immediately thought, "Those are bats, curiouswombat, not fruit!" LOL

Maybe they're fruit bats. *g*

Date: 09/09/2011 07:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
We're fairly sure that they are fruitbats - the reason she didn't realise straight away is that our native bats all live in buildings or caves rather than hanging up in trees!

Date: 09/09/2011 08:11 pm (UTC)
ext_7165: (Brisbane-River City)
From: [identity profile] alwaysjbj.livejournal.com
They are fruit bats... flying foxes. Lovely little creatures. Although I don't think the people who are unlucky enough to live near one of their colonies would agree with me...they are VERY noisy and messy (and for those of us with horses they are a little scary at the moment as they are the source of Hendra Virus (http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/4790_15093.htm) which kills horses--and can be spread to people who come in contact with the infected horse).

Date: 09/09/2011 08:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
Thank you. They are really sweet - and I guess the Botanical Gardens are a good place for them - no-one living very close and, I would guess, not many horses.

Date: 10/09/2011 02:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ayinhara.livejournal.com
Thanks for the horse lore. I never heard of Hendra Virus.

Date: 10/09/2011 05:30 am (UTC)
ext_7165: (Sadik)
From: [identity profile] alwaysjbj.livejournal.com
I don't think it's found anywhere outside Australia, so not something you'd need to worry about. It's very scary because as you'd know, your first instinct if you see your horse on the ground in trouble is to run to it... not to put on gloves, mask etc before running to it, aas such Hendra has killed several vets and horse-owners.

Date: 10/09/2011 01:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ayinhara.livejournal.com
It seems that it is not found outside Australia. The zoonotic aspect is certainly worrying. We have had outbreaks of West Nile virus, which seems to exist world wide. Fortunately for horses, there is a vaccine.

Date: 09/09/2011 07:29 pm (UTC)
ext_135782: ([butterfly]TIGER_TYGER)
From: [identity profile] rolypoly-laurie.livejournal.com
Great pictures, thanks for sharing! :)

Date: 09/09/2011 07:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
It's a pleasure - getting to see the world from the comfort of an armchair is one of the benefits of LJ!

Date: 09/09/2011 07:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] engarian.livejournal.com
Those are awesome pics. Love the bats - small little flying fuzzy critters. And the two nighttime pics of Sydney - very nice indeed. I assume the flamingos are statuary? Pretty kewl.

Love the fact that the world has come to your little Isle for the Games. I'm sure everyone will enjoy the venue. Have fun wandering around spotting kits and athletes :-)

- Erulisse (one L)

Date: 09/09/2011 07:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
My husband says he thinks the bird statues are cranes... but whatever they are really neat!

It is amazing that we are able to host a world-wide youth games - I'm guessing most of the teams had no idea where they were coming to. The Tongans got lost on the way, for a short while, the Pakistanis had a bomb scare on their plane, and the competitors from the Falklands and St Helena had to set of a couple of weeks ago to get here on time!

Date: 09/09/2011 08:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com
Beautiful photos! Thank you for posting. I would have been particularly thrilled to see that tree of fruit bats and the pink flamingoes!

Date: 09/09/2011 08:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
The tree of fruit bats is so neat - well to those of us who associate bats with barns and eaves spaces anyway!

Date: 09/09/2011 08:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] estelcontar1.livejournal.com
The pictures are great, especially the night ones, and most especially the first one with the bridge and the Opera house. As for the bats, I like them, and I know them up close. There's a lot of very high palm trees (100 feet high) lining my street, and bats use them as dormitory, which means I can see them very close from my balconies. I even nursed a sick one which chose my dining room balcony as hospital. LOL Also when they are your neighbours I don't recommend leaving bananas in a fruit bowl in a place in which they can zoom in, eat them and zoom out. You might end up with only the banana skin. *g*

Hopefully, you won't collapse in a heap tomorrow either.

Date: 09/09/2011 08:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
Our bats tend to be smaller and live in houses or caves - so I can see why she was so taken with these - and I am very envious of you being a bat-nurse! I'd be inclined to leave bananas out just to watch them steal them.

I like that picture with the bridge and the Opera House, too. She has a good eye for a picture.

Date: 10/09/2011 07:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] estelcontar1.livejournal.com
Ours are smaller and their bodies are darker too. They're the same colour as their wings,and the wings envelope them completely, but they do hang up from trees just like the Australian ones do.

Aha! But the thing is they tend to zoom in while you're asleep. Then, when you pick up the banana to eat you find out only there's nothing left under the skin. LOL

Date: 10/09/2011 10:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
Hee - I can just imagine the expressions when someone picks up an empty banana!

Date: 11/09/2011 11:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] estelcontar1.livejournal.com
A bit like that funny guy on your icon. *g*

Date: 09/09/2011 08:20 pm (UTC)
ext_7165: (Citycat)
From: [identity profile] alwaysjbj.livejournal.com
Lovely photos!

I love the framing in the first Botanical Garden photo. As an interesting aside, the Botanical Gardens (at least the one in Brisbane, so I assume it would have been the same in Sydney) started out as the convict tended farm to feed the colony, hence being in the middle of the city.

The fountain is beautiful... I am trying to place it because I think I've seen it (alas, during the daytime), but it's been years since I last went to Sydney... I'm thinking it may be in Darling Harbour, but I'm not sure.
Edited Date: 09/09/2011 08:20 pm (UTC)

Date: 09/09/2011 09:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
I love the framing in the first Botanical Garden photo.

She has a good eye when it comes to taking pictures. How interesting about the beginnings of the Gardens - I must tell her tomorrow when she recovers from her, inevitable, hang over!

It could well be Darling Harbour - the other picture taken at more or less the same time seems to have boat moorings or something similar in it.

Date: 09/09/2011 10:14 pm (UTC)
jerusha: (Default)
From: [personal profile] jerusha
Oh, the seafood looks to die for! We just don't get seafood like that here. And I would agree with you on the bats. I know a lot of people don't like them, but I think they're adorable!

Date: 09/09/2011 10:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
We get very fresh fish - but the wide array of different crabs and things with tentacles was very different to home - although I think I'd leave eating the things with tentacles to her and S2C!

Date: 09/09/2011 10:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] petzipellepingo.livejournal.com
Wonderful photos! ANd fruit bats, how cool.

Tomorrow her and I are going to the Commonwealth Youth Games Swimming Gala - right here on the Island - it's great fun simply driving around at the moment spotting competitors. I've seen cyclists from Canada, Belize, Pakistan and Jamaica, and team members in the kits of Trinidad & Tobago, Australia, Botswana - and others I can't remember. It is wonderful to think we have such a big event right here
Very cool, enjoy.

Date: 09/09/2011 10:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
The fruit bats all look like tiny Spikes I thought when I first saw them - or possibly The Count from Sesame Street!

I'm looking forward to going to the swimming - I'll report back later.

Date: 09/09/2011 10:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ellynn-ithilwen.livejournal.com
Wooooow! So beautiful! :)

Looks like a perfect holiday all together. :)

Date: 09/09/2011 10:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
She had a fantastic time - and the photos will keep me happy for weeks to come.

Date: 09/09/2011 11:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cbtreks.livejournal.com
The bats are cute. I'm completely phobic about bats indoors - if one gets in the house, I have to leave, literally - but bats outdoors don't bother me in the least. The fountain with flamingos (or cranes!) is neat. I'm so glad she's letting you share her photos with us.

Date: 10/09/2011 09:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
I'd be so worried for the bat if it got indoors - I'd be dashing around opening windows and doors and hoping it's echo detection works as well as it's supposed to!

She's quite happy about the views etc. being shared - and I would always ask her about any pictures that showed friends.

Date: 10/09/2011 12:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ningloreth.livejournal.com
I like the strange trees in the first picture!

When you see the bats' wings, you can sort of see where the idea of the undead comes from!

Date: 10/09/2011 10:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
you can sort of see where the idea of the undead comes from!

Absolutely. I think the bats all look like either Spike from Buffy, or The Count from Sesame Street!

Date: 10/09/2011 02:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ayinhara.livejournal.com
Great pictures. I love the night shots. As for bats, I'm ambivalent about them. There are bats living in Riverside Park (across from our apartment house) in NYC. Approx. 30 years ago a bat flew into our apartment. I woke up to hear my Siamese cat bouncing around on the dresser. She was chasing the bat, who seemed to be stunned. My husband easily caught the bat and threw it out the window. In NYC, bats are supposed to be carriers of rabies, so one would rather have nothing to do with bats.

Date: 10/09/2011 10:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
Yes - I can see that making you ambivalent towards them. Although, logically, they'd only pass it on if they bit you, wouldn't they? So the time to be frightened would be if you had a grip on one and it was trying to struggle free.

Although encouraging it in the right direction might be a rather long-winded process!

Date: 10/09/2011 02:27 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nutmeg3.livejournal.com
Great photos! And I don't know whether to be proud or worried that I'm so used to seeing the bats in the zoo that right away I said (well, thought), Those aren't fruits, they're bats!

Date: 10/09/2011 10:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
I think she realised quite quickly - but they were certainly something very new to her - especially just hanging out in the park!

Date: 10/09/2011 02:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bojojoti.livejournal.com
Australia is a fascinating, beautiful place. I'd love to visit it someday. Although, their bats look as if they need a spot on The Biggest Loser, as they are so chubby in comparison to ours! We've had a bat live on our property for years. The current one loves to sit on our porch waiting for insects to fly into the light. He's never bothered us as we go in and out the front door, and we try to be considerate of him, too. The only problem is that he poops in the corner. I have to sweep up his little droppings regularly if I don't want that to be the first impression of visitors!

Date: 10/09/2011 10:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
I guess the difference in bat physique might be because these ones seem to be fruit eaters. I think this means they need a longer digestive tract and so would be a bit more rotund!

I an quite envious of you having your own personal bat lodger.

Date: 10/09/2011 07:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lindahoyland.livejournal.com
What amazing photos! I love the bats!

Date: 10/09/2011 10:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
She has such an array of memories in those photos.

I love the bats too - they really do looks cute and cuddly even if they probably aren't!

Date: 10/09/2011 07:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thismaz.livejournal.com
I really like the second one and the night harbour - Sydney is such a shiny city.
The one of the bridge and the Opera House looks like it's taken from Woolloomooloo. The composition is great, with the grasses in the foreground.

Date: 10/09/2011 10:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
It really is a shiny city, you're absolutely right. She is very fond of Perth WA as well.

She does have a good eye for composition, some of her pictures look very professional, and I love those ones, too.

Date: 10/09/2011 01:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pjgale.livejournal.com
Here by way of Raingirl.
I live further south in Melbourne.
Our Botannnical Gardens used to have loads of bats, flying foxes are considered a pest as they spread lots of diseases.

The government has spent a fortune trying to move them out of Sydney as they are damaging rare trees. They used tapes of loud noises to move them out of Melbourne gardens.

Our cat brought one in the house once, creepy little thing.
We got it out but ick!

I'm glad your daughter had a great holiday.

=^-^=

PJ

Date: 10/09/2011 10:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
Hello! Welcome. Today, considering how different our island must look to some of the visiting athletes, my daughter and I were considering 'exotic' - and of course to us, living somewhere where bats are tiny and live in the roof spaces of houses and barns, your 'pests' are our exotic!

My daughter had a great time - she spent the summer travelling - and had already been to visit a school friend in Argentina before she went to visit her friend in Sydney - she then travelled up the coast to Cairns, went down to visit her grandparents in Perth, and finished by spending two weeks in Thailand...

Date: 10/09/2011 06:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] manoah.livejournal.com
I'm so glad she had a good time. Does she realize that we are ALL having a good time enjoying her trip as well?

What a lovely girl/young woman/baby lawyer you have raised!

Date: 10/09/2011 10:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
I tell her her trip has been of interest to people all over the world. She has turned out rather well, hasn't she? :~)

Date: 13/09/2011 08:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] keswindhover.livejournal.com
Awww, to the bats. I occasionally see the Aussie version of RSPCA rescue on cable, and they seem to get in all sorts of trouble in the modern world, poor dumb things. Barely an episode went by without bats being rescued from power cables, or felled trees, or office buildings.

Date: 13/09/2011 11:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com
I better hadn't tell her about that - she is already addicted to a programme about lifeguards on Bondi Beach, and Australian Master Chef...!

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