Rottnest Island - the land of quokka

Rottnest Island, viewed from The Bathurst Lighthouse

The first European explorers who stopped at this island in the Indian ocean located off the coast of Fremantle, observed that the place was infested with rats, so they named it "Rattenest", which in Dutch means "rat's nest"[1]. What they didn't know then was that there were hardly any rats living on the island, and the animal they mistook for a rat was, in fact, a marsupial called "quokka".

Vineyards of Swan Valley

An English philosopher by the name Francis Bacon once said, ‘age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read’.

Well, I have been writing for quite some time now. Doesn’t that make me an old author, the best kind to read? No, not exactly? Never mind. Anyway, at least trust me, this old friend of yours, I’m going to write about something special today. And, what’s more, it’s about wine! (You can burn an old wood later while doing a barbecue, if you really want that as well)

City hall

Brisbane city hall, originally uploaded by Sachira.

To be honest, there is not much of a story behind this picture. But, I just felt like sharing it with you. Who knows, you might like it even with out a good story =)

Anyway, to talk about a few unimportant things around it, I took this shot one evening while on my way home after visiting Mt. Coot-tha lookout. Mt. Coot-tha lookout is a place where you can to view the Brisbane city and the surrounding areas, all the way from Moreton bay to the mountains located near the Gold Coast. I think it is the best lookout around Brisbane and I am really grateful to one of my friends for telling me about it.

Didgeridoo player in Fremantle

Click PLAY to see the video


This guy is the best casual Didgeridoo player I came across while my stay in Western Australia. I met him in Fremantle while admiring these wonderful instruments at the store he was working in. Didgeridoo has always been an instrument of passion for me. Even before I came to Australia, I loved listening to its music.

My sister knew about this and one time she tried to buy one for me from Perth and bring it to Sri Lanka when she was visiting us. However, it did not really work out because of the bulkiness and the fragility of the item. Instead she bought me a CD of didgeridoo music by an artist named David Hudson, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

So, ever since I landed in Australia and got a chance to wonder around the shops, especially the aboriginal art and souvenir stores, I enjoyed admiring didgeridoos. Not just through my eyes, but also through my ears. Most of these instruments are painted with aboriginal arts making them look even more fascinating. Although, some original didgeridoos were supposed to be just a plain hollow wood. Some warm-hearted guys, like the one in the video, went to the extent of putting on a short performance for me, even when they knew that I was not going buy one.

As far as what I came across, one can buy a decent didgeridoo starting from around AU$75. Most of them are intended for tourists and casual players. Probably the professionals would own ones that are of much higher value.

Didgeridoo is an Australian aboriginal instrument. It is said to have originated in northern part of the continent. Traditionally the instrument was made out of Eucalyptus wood and can measure 1 to 3 meters in length[1]. The end where the mouthpiece is, usually have a smaller diameter compared to the opposite end to create resonance of the sound.

When playing a didgeridoo, a technique called circular breathing is necessary, which for my experience is not that easy to pick up. The aboriginal people considers the instrument to be sacred and do not like women playing it. In addition to that, I have heard that the intense breathing method creates a lot of stress on stomach mussels, and could affect negatively on women's womb.

Well, I guess that is it for now. I can guarantee you that there will be another article on didgeridoo soon on this blog.

Reference:
[1]. Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia. Didgeridoo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didgeridoo. Accessed on June 6, 2010.

The opposite bank

I took this picture of the Perth city center from the opposite bank of the Swan river. This is just one of many pictures I have captured of this city at night. I do not understand my own obsession on taking photos of Perth city at night. But, I think one reason must be that its a very pretty sight.

I think the authorities have given a careful thought to the aesthetics when planning the location of buildings in the city center. With tallest buildings concentrated towards the mid point, it adds an element of symmetry to the city skyline. On the other hand, Swan river always provides a reflective surface to enhance the beauty.

Place shaped as a spike

Mian-jin, meaning Place shaped like a spike, is the name given to Brisbane by local indigenous people. Brisbane is the capital city of Australian state, Queensland. With a population around 2 million, it's the third most populous city in Australia. The river flowing through the city, as you see in the picture, is Brisbane river. In fact, the city was named after this river[1].

I arrived in Brisbane in February 2010, but, still did not get a chance to explore the place much. It is a little strange compared to how I covered most parts around Perth in Western Australia within just few weeks from when I arrived there. Well, at lease those that were accessible by public transport.

Sleeping city...

Perth city center at night, view from King's Park. City becomes totally vacant by around 8pm in the night, with a little exception on Friday and Saturday nights. The water, which the city lights reflect on is the Swan River.

Fallen

A fallen giant, I came across while taking a hike along the trails of
Rottenest Island during the summer. The heavy winds sweeping across the island must have been the most likely cause of its downfall.

Rottenest Lighthouse

This historical lighthouse, situated in the Northeast section of the Rottenest island, has been named Bathurst Lighthouse. It was constructed as a response to a series of shipping disasters in the area. The light house was activated for the first time in 1900. For tourists, it is a popular place on the island to do some photo shoots. The Small cove, with shallow water, at the foot of the staircase shown on the picture, is a good place to have a dip in the sea.