Kangaroos

Kangaroos, originally uploaded by metajeff.

We pulled off the Bruce Highway to hike up to the Wild Horse mountain lookout and saw these kangaroos (hopping across the road). These are "grey" roos and stand about 4 feet tall. Much like deer in Canada, one can only get so close before they spook and run away.
(Apologies for the lack of posts: we moved house and the internet was disconnected for a week).

Jumbo's Fruit Mart

Jumbo's Fruit Mart, originally uploaded by metajeff.

Drove up to Toowoomba the other day (West of Brisbane). The countryside is very dry, as there's been a drought here for over a year. Although Australia is touted as (I'm not kidding) "the flattest continent" (Oooh! Got to take a picture of all that non-elevation!), there are mountains (the Great Dividing Range) and the road is plenty steep.

SpeedWeasel runs again!

SpeedWeasel runs again!, originally uploaded by metajeff.

Running beside the Queensland State Library, Brisbane.

South bank, Brisbane

Brisbane is the (very clean and modern) capital of Queensland State. The Brisbane river twists and turns through the city. Just like Ottawa, there's a bicycle path on either side of it, with a pedestrian/cyclist bridge that connects the two banks. I've been here 3 days and can see why this is the fastest-growing city in Australia: a bustling economy, wide highways, a semi-tropical climate and (by driving an hour North or South), hundreds of kilometers of the most pristine, perfect beaches I have ever seen (and I've seen a few). Here's a photo of the Arts Centre and Queensland State Library on the South bank of the river (photo taken from the pedistrian bridge):

South bank, Brisbane, originally uploaded by metajeff.

Old Midleton Distillery

While in Cork, Ireland I toured the distillery of Jameson's Whiskey. It's not in operation any more and is more of a museum of how whiskey used to be made in the old days, but that makes it even better. All that learning was put to good use at the tour's end: I selflessly volunteered to take a taste test comparing scotch, whiskey, and bourbon. The Irish whiskey really was nicer.

Here's an old lorry called "Paddy Flaherty" (perhaps that was the brand of whiskey the truck hauled?) at the distillery. I love the 50's shape.



More photos of the distillery on Flickr.

Borris, Ireland

I went to Ireland for a week in early October with my mother. We did a 4-day bicycle tour around County Kilkenny, staying in B&Bs. While the countryside is just as beautiful as we've been led to believe by the in the calendar photos (softly rolling hills resplendent with softly-rolled sheep), the most interesting aspect of Ireland is seeing the rapid transformation of the culture resulting from recent economic growth.

The quaint old country is still there, and most of my photos are of the cutesy bits because they're...cute, but there's more: scratch under the surface and you'll find hints of the social forces that are turning the Emerald Isle upside-down. In the quaint town of Borris, the town council has erected a little information kiosk. It's next to the picnic benches in a little park off the main street and it displays the sort of thing you'd expect the stewards of any small town would want to use to promote the place: a map showing where the church is, a list of local restraunts, and a short history:

BORRIS, with its undulating surroundings - a pleasing patchwork of pasture and village, sheltered by strategic hill from wild Atlantic weather - retains an atmosphere of peace and age-old settlement, despite the onslaughts of juggernaut! Farming is still a mainstay, while a thriving industry of engineering, machinery sales, casket and candle making, haulage and construction is bridging the gap created by the new technology of the late 1900s.

Did you catch what's going on between the lines there? What's this "juggernaut" that is threatening the town? Who is this "gap" between? If this is what the town council wants to say to tourists, imagine what they really think about the changing way of life in Ireland.

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I was recently in London and Ireland for a couple of weeks. The weather was great, I did some cycling up & down the rolling hills of the Emerald Isle, and I took lots of neat pictures.

Here's one of the Bodelian Library at Oxford. It's a beautiful, standard bicycle of the old-fashioned "safety" design. Great for getting around a university town. You know, I was amazed at how FEW bicycles there were in London/Ireland. I mean, it's mostly flat terrain, the roads are as narrow as a bathtub, and it never really gets cold, so it would make sense to follow the example of the Dutch. They can be so elegant, even when at rest: