The Big Blog
Signs of Australia Day
Since it is Australia Day today I thought I would share some iconic signs of Australia. Not sure how many of you will know what the one above actually means! Then there are always the wildlife warnings....Where too next?Some lovely Australian names there....
26 January 2016
A reverence for trees - The Plane trees of Trsteno
On our first visit to Croatia in 2009 we’d planned to stop in at Trsteno, just north of Dubrovnik, and take a look at some huge plane trees that guard the entrance to an impressive arboretum, and the arboretum itself. A couple of km out of Trsteno the traffic...
8 January 2016
A tree of the year?
For those that follow my blog you know that I have a great love of trees, and so it was with delight this week when I found out that there is an annual “Tree of the Year” competition in Europe. Each country in Europe is able to nominate one tree from which...
29 November 2015
Paris, tasty morsels and movies 3
My final Paris gem are the lovely bridges that criss cross the Seine, especially the historic Pont Neuf which just happens to figure large in one of my top few films of all time, Les Amants du Pont Neuf, the 1991 version with Juliet Binoche and Denis Lavant....
4 October 2015
Paris, tasty morsels and movies 2
The wonderful Canal St Martin is another 5km long gem, with its nine locks and two swing bridges is the icing on the cake in a charming, hip part of Paris. The canal travels for 1.5 km underground and emerges quite close to the Place de la Republique. The...
2 October 2015
Paris, tasty morsels and movies 1
I don’t know of any other film trilogy set over 20 years and made in real time with the same characters and actors. I guess I’ll have to wait until 2022 to find out if there is going to be another sequel to this delightful series. In the meantime, enjoy Paris!
30 September 2015
Black and White
One of my challenges in photography is to try and keep focussed on one particular topic or genre, for me that is trees and nature. But having a curious mind and enjoying so much of what I see around me I inevitably aim my mind and my camera elsewhere. So here...
23 August 2015
Winter
Well it’s mid winter here, and it certainly feels like it. The last month has been cold and now we’ve had steady rain for a few days, and the little river opposite our house is flowing nicely. The house is a rather cold if you’re not next to a radiator! Still...
2 August 2015
Where's the wheelbrace?
Last week I headed off for a day trip to do chase birds with my camera in an area I have been to many times before. After lunch I decided to head a little further away, to another nature reserve that I had not previously visited. I headed on out to station...
21 June 2015
India - Cultural cornucopia
It’s remarkable that India manages to be one country. With so many different peoples, traditions, religions and languages it’s a wonder it all hangs together. But hang together it does with more than 20 recognised official languages. Hindi, the most widely...
11 May 2015