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Holiday pics

(*steve*)

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As several of you are aware, I had a small holiday at the beginning of this month.

What follows are some highly political images taken during that holiday...

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And now some that are less challenging for parts of our international audience...

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And some random pictures of an Australian City. Can you guess which one?

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Hmmm... That wasn't really fair. How about this (it's another Australian city).

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Aaagh. Even worse. Wait, is there something wrong with that bridge? Do I hear the name "Lake Illawarra?" (And am I being too cryptic?)

OK, this should be easy. It's images inside a famous art gallery in the city which is on the river the last two photos were taken on (in fact those images were on the ferry ride to the art gallery itself.

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Perhaps we should have a short sojourn to images taken outside of cities.

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OH NOES! Too many images...
 
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(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
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OK, back to Australian cities. This one should be easy...

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Need more clues?

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And yeah, it was the Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras the evening I took this image. And there were a few people on the water flying the flag!

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(And possibly getting into the spirit...)
 

shrtrnd

Jan 15, 2010
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So... are you going to demystify the locations for us?
I admit it, I'm too ignorant to know.
 

(*steve*)

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The first 4 pictures were taken at the site of the old visitor's centre at Port Arthur.

This was the site of many of the deaths in one of Australia's best known multiple shootings.

This event was the one which prompted the then-current right leaning government (with strong public support) to enact stronger gun controls, including a buy-back scheme to encourage people to give up guns they really didn't need.

The site of this killing was demolished, leaving just the shell of the buildings as a monument to the deceased and wounded.

This event occurred in 1996, was not Australia's last event of this nature, but was approx 10 times larger than subsequent events involving firearms. The site still has flowers placed around it (I saw several the day I was there).

In the subsequent section, the first 11 images are of the remains of the buildings of the old penal colony of Port Arthur. Following this are some trees and some of the coastline as we left.

I will continue later...
 

shrtrnd

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That's interesting (to me anyway).
Thanks for the location ID's, the background information makes the pictures more meaningful to my uninformed self.
 

(*steve*)

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The next two "random pictures of an Australian City" were taken at dawn as we entered the Port of Melbourne. I was not expecting hot air balloon, but hey, there they were.

There next two pictures were taken in Hobart on the Derwent River on the way to Mona (a relatively famous art gallery). The second of these images shows the Tasman bridge that was hot by the bulk order carrier "Lake Illawarra" on a dark night in 1975. You might notice the longer spam on the right side of the bridge with different construction. The vessel struck a support here, taking down the support and two adjacent spans. The Lake Illawarra remains sunken under the new span.

The trip to Mona is taken on a wave piercing catemeran built in Tasmania. The vessel itself is the smallest in their range, and is totally unnecessary for river travel. However the person who created Mona supports local industry and this is another of his extravagances. Entry to Mona is also free to residents of Tasmania.

Following this are a series of photos taken within Mona. The gallery itself is mostly underground, carved out of rock. As they need more gallery space they just dig another gallery :)

The last image from Mona is a person. He is paid to sit in the gallery for 9 months of the year and on his death his skin will be donated to Mona! (250k euros!)

The last pictures in the first set are a sunrise over the ocean, followed by a number of images from Wineglass bay in North East Tasmania.

One of the features of our visit here was the 540 degree turn executed in a bay that was less than twice the length of the vessel across.

I will continue with the other set of photos later.
 

shrtrnd

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You did a heck of a lot of travelling. Were you mostly sight-seeing, or did you have time for some rest and relaxation?
Did you go on a cruise (it sounds like it), with a tour group, or on your own?
Any recommendations on does and don't you to warn us of, or tell us about?
Any places you wanted to see but didn't get to? (Or ones you did see you don't recommend?)
 

(*steve*)

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Yeah, it was a cruise, just a short 8 night trip to a few ports along the South Eastern coast of Australia. The last images (on the second post containing images are (of course) Sydney.

We started and ended in Sydney, a really interesting place to spend a few days.

A cruise ship makes for a totally different sort of holiday than I otherwise go on. Spending 2 to 5 weeks in a single place, drinking in the culture, and coming to an understanding of a some part of it is NOT what a cruise is. Living in a large hotel that changes address every other morning, and which doesn't let you out on the other mornings is closer to it :) .You get to see a small part of a lot of places, along with a very large number of other people. Turning up at a relatively isolated spot with 4000 other people can run any chance of actual isolation!

Cruises are as active as you want them to be. If you're so inclined you can find activities from dawn to the wee hours of the morning and to do that every day and night. You can often choose shore activities which require a substantial level of fitness. On a cruise we did around Taiwan, we did exactly that and spent a couple of days when we returned to Hong Kong just sleeping. This time we decided to do a lot less :)

On this trip we didn't participate in any of the organised shore activities, and frankly that was at least partially because of their expense. The other part was that we already had other things planned. As an example, anyone who goes to Hobart and doesn't go to Mona is missing out (yeah we went to a lot of art galleries on this trip).

We went on a Princess cruise ship. They play heavily on the fact that "the love boat" was set aboard one of their vessels. I thought it was pretty naff in the 80s, and the theme hasn't aged well from there. Sure, it starts off as amusing when the evacuation lecture is sung to the theme tune of this show, but it really drives home the audience they're targeting (or their former glories they are trying to re-live).

I'd advise a number of things:
  1. Research the cruise line and the ship. Different cruise lines, and even different ships cater for different audiences.
  2. Research the ports and the activities offered. Sometimes it's just as good (and a lot cheaper) to do it yourself, and sometimes it's better to do it yourself. In any case, you really should know where you're going. You may only be there for 12 hours. Remember that the ship won't wait for you if you're late back.
  3. Practice good hand hygene. You've heard of gastro in cruise ships, it's real, and if you get it they will quarantine you in your cabin until you're free of symptoms for 24 to 48 hours -- that can be a lot of your trip.
  4. Explore the ship. Find the hidden places (our shop had one inaccessible swimming pool and a closed off bar, and I found the entrance to the crew bar!). Marvel at the number and placement of the antennas. Find out how they deal with helicopters. Watch the pilot arrive and depart at least once. Find the windiest part of the ship. See if the TV has a crew channel (one ship has their crew training videos on the last channel -- a great way to learn about some of the technical aspects of the ship.
  5. Understand that cruise ships are stratified by class. Who you are (i.e. where you are staying) determines where and when you can eat, how quickly you can get on and off the cruise at each end, and whether or not you pay for some things. The number on cruises you've been on with that company determines even more. If you can, book a suite, it will get you more freedom to choose where and when to eat. Choose the drink packages carefully, unless you're a big drinker you may just be wasting money. I got the non-alcoholic drinks package (designed for children!) And my wife bought a coffee card. Even though my wife drank plenty of cocktails it wasn't worth paying for the package that included them.
  6. If you've never been on a cruise, book something really short (3 days or so). If you hate it, you'll get paroled pretty quickly. In my experience, most people enjoy the cruise ship experience. Our first cruise was a 3 day cruise taken with a group of friends -- one of them was turning 50 and the surprise for him is that all the people he thought had come to see him off were coming with him. Apart from this we have never traveled in a group and I probably wouldn't. My wife tends to meet people and talk to them, so we are never short of company. Actually traveling alone would be a bitch, and bookings don't work that way (you would end up paying double).
 

Ian

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Looks like you had a great time Steve :). Thanks for posting the pictures!

The art gallery looks great (and that's not normally my cup of tea). I had a google for the guy you mentioned that is paid to set there, as it sounds like that must be a really boring job (unless he's free to chat), here's an article on him: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38601603
 

(*steve*)

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It's an art gallery like no other :)
 
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shrtrnd

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Great information on the sights seen, and excellent advice on HOW to do the trips.
Nothing in advertising tells you what actual experience does.
Thanks *steve*!
 
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