Tuesday, July 7, 2009
We go to the zoo
The text for this post was written some time ago, but due to the tedious nature of choosing the images it languished in draft mode. Given that I'm back in Australia and our friends at the Taronga Zoo have themselves a new arrival, I figured I should finish it.
On Sunday we took the ferry down the Parramatta river (the "eel river", natively speaking) to Sydney. We had a nice breakfast down at the wharf, and then a refreshing 45-minute ride into the main harbor.
The city itself wraps around the harbor, much like San Francisco and its surrounding boroughs. It's quite a sight to see filled with sailboats, and for the best views of its iconic skyline I would suggest one of its relatively inexpensive ferry trips from Circular Quay (which, as Erin reflexively remindes me, is pronounced "key") to pretty much anywhere.
We were headed towards the Taronga Zoo, which was a second short ferry ride from Circular Quay. It was definitely the most impressive zoo I've been to, and reminds me of the quality of Binder Park Zoo with about four times as many exhibits. The zoo is arranged on a hill; we took the skyway car to the top, from where we could wind our way downwards past each of the park's enclosures.
They had a number of native Australian animals in a very satisfying un-fenced walk: kangaroos, wallabies (a smaller species of kangaroo), and emus. I am very proud to say that I got to pet a kangaroo! They are quite softer than I imagined, and born in captivity these were gentle creatures. I think the closest animal to match them to in the US is the deer: They're vegetarians, common everywhere, quite docile (though skittish in the wild), hunted for meat, and frequently run over by autos on the highway (as the many signs and the one corpse we passed the previous day warned us).
Koalas for some reason cost money to pet, so instead we only took pictures. They are cute animals, though if I had that sort of ear hair I might consider a trim. Also angling my buttocks away from the crotch of the tree when I have to poo, but that's just me.
We saw dingos, and took some pictures in case Nina wanted to see her very near cousins. The main difference seemed to be that her relatives were a bit less unruly. Sadly the promise of big daddy bones did not tempt them nearer to the fence.
The aviaries were full of interesting birds, and they had a very impressive lizard, amphibian, and snake exhibit. We saw gorillas (they doody where they sleep), lions (noble yet boring), and a hungry tiger that paced around the feeding doors of its pen much like our cat Mona does when she can't get to her food bag.
The tasmanian devils and red pandas were adorable! The meerkats seemed eager to meet us, and the sea lions were quite attentive and responsive when called to as they surfaced.
My personal favorite animal was the mountain goat. They had a tiny "mountain" (maybe 15 meters tall) that the animals could climb, and the ones on the ground were gentle enough to come and greet us at the fence (they have black tounges!).
We took the ferry back to Circular Quay- I mean "Key"- and had a nice dinner at a close-by pub. Towards the beginning of the day at the zoo we saw Ram and his family, and at the end met them again (Laura and Connie as well) on the 5pm ferry back to Paramatta, which we snagged as I was dragged away from the remnants of my fish and chips [Note: I ended up back here on my second sojourn around Sydney on a Sunday, because I couldn't find a single open sit-down restaurant in the shopping district]. I did not find a chance to visit the milk bar.
I'm eager to get back [Note: Hah!] to the city in June (Oracle willing) to do a bit more exploration, but this weekend has been well worth the whole trip.
The Voigtlander was the big star today for me, and sat on my camera for everything except for a couple of panorama photos and the shots with the Traveling Kangaroo. It performed adimrably, and 90mm was plenty long enough for zoo photos. The DA 21 came in handy for some city shots in Circular Quay- I don't normally use autofocus, but I set it in "snapshot mode" for some candid street shots (f8 in AV, AF-S).
On Sunday we took the ferry down the Parramatta river (the "eel river", natively speaking) to Sydney. We had a nice breakfast down at the wharf, and then a refreshing 45-minute ride into the main harbor.
The city itself wraps around the harbor, much like San Francisco and its surrounding boroughs. It's quite a sight to see filled with sailboats, and for the best views of its iconic skyline I would suggest one of its relatively inexpensive ferry trips from Circular Quay (which, as Erin reflexively remindes me, is pronounced "key") to pretty much anywhere.
We were headed towards the Taronga Zoo, which was a second short ferry ride from Circular Quay. It was definitely the most impressive zoo I've been to, and reminds me of the quality of Binder Park Zoo with about four times as many exhibits. The zoo is arranged on a hill; we took the skyway car to the top, from where we could wind our way downwards past each of the park's enclosures.
They had a number of native Australian animals in a very satisfying un-fenced walk: kangaroos, wallabies (a smaller species of kangaroo), and emus. I am very proud to say that I got to pet a kangaroo! They are quite softer than I imagined, and born in captivity these were gentle creatures. I think the closest animal to match them to in the US is the deer: They're vegetarians, common everywhere, quite docile (though skittish in the wild), hunted for meat, and frequently run over by autos on the highway (as the many signs and the one corpse we passed the previous day warned us).
Koalas for some reason cost money to pet, so instead we only took pictures. They are cute animals, though if I had that sort of ear hair I might consider a trim. Also angling my buttocks away from the crotch of the tree when I have to poo, but that's just me.
We saw dingos, and took some pictures in case Nina wanted to see her very near cousins. The main difference seemed to be that her relatives were a bit less unruly. Sadly the promise of big daddy bones did not tempt them nearer to the fence.
The aviaries were full of interesting birds, and they had a very impressive lizard, amphibian, and snake exhibit. We saw gorillas (they doody where they sleep), lions (noble yet boring), and a hungry tiger that paced around the feeding doors of its pen much like our cat Mona does when she can't get to her food bag.
The tasmanian devils and red pandas were adorable! The meerkats seemed eager to meet us, and the sea lions were quite attentive and responsive when called to as they surfaced.
My personal favorite animal was the mountain goat. They had a tiny "mountain" (maybe 15 meters tall) that the animals could climb, and the ones on the ground were gentle enough to come and greet us at the fence (they have black tounges!).
We took the ferry back to Circular Quay- I mean "Key"- and had a nice dinner at a close-by pub. Towards the beginning of the day at the zoo we saw Ram and his family, and at the end met them again (Laura and Connie as well) on the 5pm ferry back to Paramatta, which we snagged as I was dragged away from the remnants of my fish and chips [Note: I ended up back here on my second sojourn around Sydney on a Sunday, because I couldn't find a single open sit-down restaurant in the shopping district]. I did not find a chance to visit the milk bar.
I'm eager to get back [Note: Hah!] to the city in June (Oracle willing) to do a bit more exploration, but this weekend has been well worth the whole trip.
The Voigtlander was the big star today for me, and sat on my camera for everything except for a couple of panorama photos and the shots with the Traveling Kangaroo. It performed adimrably, and 90mm was plenty long enough for zoo photos. The DA 21 came in handy for some city shots in Circular Quay- I don't normally use autofocus, but I set it in "snapshot mode" for some candid street shots (f8 in AV, AF-S).
Saturday, June 27, 2009
No more cages
Thursday morning as I was preparing to leave, I took Franz out to play while I cleaned his cage. I quickly noticed that he wasn't feeling his usual chipper self, so I asked Jaclyn to take him to the vet right away. While we waited for her to arrive I held him for a bit and gave him some water.
On the way to the airport we got a phone call and bad news. Franz was in a lot of discomfort, and was seriously ill. Diagnosing and treating the poor little guy would take time and weren't likely to be successful even if he survived long enough to see them through. Instead of forcing him to endure any more we decided to put him to sleep. My family and Erin buried him in the woods behind my parents' house. I really appreciate all of their help.
In the end he had a fairly common spleen cancer that is quick and quiet. Last week he seemed perfectly fine. Someone really needs to figure out this cancer bullshit, already.
I don't have any good pictures of him on this computer, but when I get home I'll write a proper tribute. Here's his last picture, taken by my sister only a few weeks ago.
So long, little guy.
On the way to the airport we got a phone call and bad news. Franz was in a lot of discomfort, and was seriously ill. Diagnosing and treating the poor little guy would take time and weren't likely to be successful even if he survived long enough to see them through. Instead of forcing him to endure any more we decided to put him to sleep. My family and Erin buried him in the woods behind my parents' house. I really appreciate all of their help.
In the end he had a fairly common spleen cancer that is quick and quiet. Last week he seemed perfectly fine. Someone really needs to figure out this cancer bullshit, already.
I don't have any good pictures of him on this computer, but when I get home I'll write a proper tribute. Here's his last picture, taken by my sister only a few weeks ago.
So long, little guy.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Roo on the ferry
Monday, May 25, 2009
We saw the mountains on saturday
From a photography perspective, comparing the last week to today reveals an important fact: we are staying in the wrong part of Australia.
To be more clear, let me say this with the utmost sincerity: this place is gorgeous. It is a photographer's dream, provided that he or she uses a weather-proofed camera (thank you Pentax). I'm downloading some 200 photos right now, all taken today, and I'm fairly sure that the quality ones will span several blog posts.
So let me tell you where we've been. The rugby game last night that most of my coworkers went to (and the Sydney night-life afterward) seems to have worn Skip out, so instead of joining us on a nature trip this morning he handed us the keys to the rental car. Driving on the left is not for the faint-hearted, whether you're the passenger or the driver. Roundabouts offer the most confusion, right turns seem to require a conscious thought every time, and there is a clear tendency to drift to the left. Perhaps the most annoying inversion is the turn-signal knob: you can tell when Americans will turn because their wiper blades will start whipping back and forth furiously.
I am having a hard time figuring out whether the highway system in this part of the country is necessitated by the terrain or just hampered by lack of budget. We started out on a proper motorway (freeways are called that here) that ended too soon: the majority of the "great western highway" curved around the mountains through small towns with frequent stop lights and school zones- not exactly the pinnacle of rapid transportation. It took nearly 3 hours to get from Sydney to the caves, including a nailbitingly slim and winding mountain cliff road that is actually closed in one direction in the morning to help prevent accidents. Add the mist and the unfamiliarity with left-lane driving and you can imagine how relieved we were to shift that Haundai into park.
The parking lot however was situated half-way up a small mountain, and the hike down to the main house was about five minutes. It was drizzling the whole time- the clean, wet air and excellent views were very refreshing.
When we got down we ate some lunch and bought tickets to tour one of the dozen or so interconnected caves.
The caves themselves are full of crystal stalagmites formed by minerals leeched and deposited by water.
The discoverer of the caves was an early 19th century aussie named James Whalan, a shepherd and gutsy amateur spelunker. With the help of his mates, some rope, and chicken wire, he did quite a bit of exploration. He was intially prompted to enter the caves when his hat fell down a large hole: Indiana Jones style, he felt unable to leave without it, and so the adventuring began. Later one of his decidedly more amateur friends found it difficult to avoid the same hole: luckily he was also retrieved, with only a few shattered bones to show for it. The government took control of the caves in 1866, and they've been a tourist attraction pretty much ever since.
The creepiest part was definitely the underground river. The same river that they do boat tours on runs underneath the mountain, and surfaces briefly in one of the sections of the cave we visited. We had to take a steep staircase down to get to it.
Erin said she expected to hear Gollum skulking around down there.
We spent about an hour and a half underground, and by then we were pretty tired. The hike to the car we took a bit slower, so that despite the rain I could get a few more photographs. Naturally the climb back up was much tougher than the gallop down, so by the end we had quite a work out.
Erin drove us back (without incident), and allowed me to stop by the side of the road for several photo opportunities.
We saw a giant rainbow (also pictured: photographic proof of Erin driving).
I was very impressed at the beauty of the environment and its proximity to the city. It really did not take that long to get out into a very rustic location, and that was even past most of the normal Blue Mountains attractions. If you're ever in Sydney I suggest wholeheartedly that you get out to this part of the country.
For the photographers reading this, my main lens of the day was easily the DA 21mm Limited. It stayed on for most of the panoramas and other nature shots, and for about half of the shots in the cave. The FA 50mm f/1.4 came out for the other half of the cave shots and for some of the close-up flower shots when I realized that with the wind and overcast skies the Voigtlander 90mm couldn't quite get fast enough at f/3.5 to capture the shaky flowers. I stopped down the 21mm to f/11 or so for the panoramas, something I wouldn't have done until my dad borrowed the camera on our photowalk and showed me just how crispy the lens is at that aperture. The 50 I shot mostly wide open, or stopped down a bit if I wanted a bit more DOF (I dont't always like giving up the bokeh for that though).
To be more clear, let me say this with the utmost sincerity: this place is gorgeous. It is a photographer's dream, provided that he or she uses a weather-proofed camera (thank you Pentax). I'm downloading some 200 photos right now, all taken today, and I'm fairly sure that the quality ones will span several blog posts.
So let me tell you where we've been. The rugby game last night that most of my coworkers went to (and the Sydney night-life afterward) seems to have worn Skip out, so instead of joining us on a nature trip this morning he handed us the keys to the rental car. Driving on the left is not for the faint-hearted, whether you're the passenger or the driver. Roundabouts offer the most confusion, right turns seem to require a conscious thought every time, and there is a clear tendency to drift to the left. Perhaps the most annoying inversion is the turn-signal knob: you can tell when Americans will turn because their wiper blades will start whipping back and forth furiously.
I am having a hard time figuring out whether the highway system in this part of the country is necessitated by the terrain or just hampered by lack of budget. We started out on a proper motorway (freeways are called that here) that ended too soon: the majority of the "great western highway" curved around the mountains through small towns with frequent stop lights and school zones- not exactly the pinnacle of rapid transportation. It took nearly 3 hours to get from Sydney to the caves, including a nailbitingly slim and winding mountain cliff road that is actually closed in one direction in the morning to help prevent accidents. Add the mist and the unfamiliarity with left-lane driving and you can imagine how relieved we were to shift that Haundai into park.
The parking lot however was situated half-way up a small mountain, and the hike down to the main house was about five minutes. It was drizzling the whole time- the clean, wet air and excellent views were very refreshing.
When we got down we ate some lunch and bought tickets to tour one of the dozen or so interconnected caves.
The caves themselves are full of crystal stalagmites formed by minerals leeched and deposited by water.
The discoverer of the caves was an early 19th century aussie named James Whalan, a shepherd and gutsy amateur spelunker. With the help of his mates, some rope, and chicken wire, he did quite a bit of exploration. He was intially prompted to enter the caves when his hat fell down a large hole: Indiana Jones style, he felt unable to leave without it, and so the adventuring began. Later one of his decidedly more amateur friends found it difficult to avoid the same hole: luckily he was also retrieved, with only a few shattered bones to show for it. The government took control of the caves in 1866, and they've been a tourist attraction pretty much ever since.
The creepiest part was definitely the underground river. The same river that they do boat tours on runs underneath the mountain, and surfaces briefly in one of the sections of the cave we visited. We had to take a steep staircase down to get to it.
Erin said she expected to hear Gollum skulking around down there.
We spent about an hour and a half underground, and by then we were pretty tired. The hike to the car we took a bit slower, so that despite the rain I could get a few more photographs. Naturally the climb back up was much tougher than the gallop down, so by the end we had quite a work out.
Erin drove us back (without incident), and allowed me to stop by the side of the road for several photo opportunities.
We saw a giant rainbow (also pictured: photographic proof of Erin driving).
I was very impressed at the beauty of the environment and its proximity to the city. It really did not take that long to get out into a very rustic location, and that was even past most of the normal Blue Mountains attractions. If you're ever in Sydney I suggest wholeheartedly that you get out to this part of the country.
For the photographers reading this, my main lens of the day was easily the DA 21mm Limited. It stayed on for most of the panoramas and other nature shots, and for about half of the shots in the cave. The FA 50mm f/1.4 came out for the other half of the cave shots and for some of the close-up flower shots when I realized that with the wind and overcast skies the Voigtlander 90mm couldn't quite get fast enough at f/3.5 to capture the shaky flowers. I stopped down the 21mm to f/11 or so for the panoramas, something I wouldn't have done until my dad borrowed the camera on our photowalk and showed me just how crispy the lens is at that aperture. The 50 I shot mostly wide open, or stopped down a bit if I wanted a bit more DOF (I dont't always like giving up the bokeh for that though).
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Welcome to castle hill
Amway Australia, where I'm currently working, is in Castle Hill, a suburb of Sydney that looks a lot like suburban/commercial USA. The headquarters is a pretty nice building that hides a sizable warehouse in the back.
The inside campus has a coffee shop, offices, and a cafeteria. It's quite nice:
I'm sitting in the executive board room with the e-com testers:
I'm not sure why they let kids play in their car park but at least they let you know to watch out when you're driving:
One more view of the facility that I liked:
The inside campus has a coffee shop, offices, and a cafeteria. It's quite nice:
I'm sitting in the executive board room with the e-com testers:
I'm not sure why they let kids play in their car park but at least they let you know to watch out when you're driving:
One more view of the facility that I liked:
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