Category Archives: Australia

Unsavoury

What better way to celebrate my time in Australia than having the zoo ruin koala bears for me? My fault for visiting in spring, I suppose, but the mature male seemed disconcertingly, um, rapey.Not anthropomorphize but all the other koalas … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Sydney | Tagged | Leave a comment

Leela

Took the ferry across to Tarongo Zoo Sydney.  (Tried—and failed—not to think of Turanga Leela every time I heard the name spoken in a thick Australian accent.) I thought this logo was pretty cool.

Posted in Australia, Sydney | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Excelsior

Stan Lee, who knew that with great power comes great responsibility.  May his memory be for a blessing.

Posted in Australia, Sydney | Tagged | Leave a comment

Remembrance

In America, we think of World War II as the “big” war.  The war the biggest impact.  The war that shapes our self-perception as a nation.  For France and Britain and the British Commonwealth countries like Canada, New Zealand, and … Continue reading

Posted in Australia | Tagged | 1 Comment

Chuppah

The main event!  The reason I’m here in Australia!  The wedding of my friend Evan from back at ODW on the beach at Watsons Bay. (named by Europeans after the British sailor Robert Watson who beached his ships here, but … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Sydney | Leave a comment

Loyalty

Checked out of the Mercure Alice Springs, flew to Sydney, and checked in to the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth.  Mercure, like in Oxford or Xi’an.  Sofitel, like in Redwood City or Wellington or Chengdu.

Posted in Australia | Leave a comment

Ironwood

An ironwood tree at dusk with a crescent moon behind it.  The Europeans used the hard, termite-resistant wood for building.  The aborigines used the wood for weapons.

Posted in Alice Springs, Australia | Leave a comment

Sanctuary

In Alice Springs, went to a kangaroo sanctuary run by a guy name Brolga (a 6’7″ Aussie who got his nickname from a type of tall, slender bird.)There are 50 million kangaroos in Australia, compared to only 25 million humans.Most … Continue reading

Posted in Alice Springs, Australia | Tagged | 3 Comments

Priscilla

About 4000 kilometers (2500 miles-ish) and five states & territories later, I’ve made it from Sydney to Alice Springs, thus completing my The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert route.

Posted in Alice Springs, Australia | Tagged | Leave a comment

Excess

INXS was playing in the lobby as I checked out of the Ayers Rock Resort, of course.  Still peak Australia.

Posted in Australia, Uluru | Tagged | Leave a comment

Idiot

Years of study and what was the most useful thing I learned in film school?  The dolley counter zoom?  No.  The Kuleshov Effect?  No.  How to overexpose film stock to create pseudo-solarization?  No. Before leaving a location you’ve filmed at, you look … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Uluru | Leave a comment

Nausica

This pass in Kata Tjuta is known as the Valley of the Winds.And, yes, the wind blows through the pass & the trees mellifluously.

Posted in Australia, Uluru | Leave a comment

Bornhardt

The local Pitjantjatjara people  call this rock formation Kata Tjuta, but it is also known as “The Olgas” because in 1873 the tallest peak was christened  Mt. Olga after  Queen Olga of Württemberg (daughter of Tsar Nicholas I.)Unlike Uluru, which is an inselberg, Kata … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Uluru | 1 Comment

Cladodes

One of the shifts in environment that I noticed driving to Uluru from the South Australia was the how tangled shrubbery gave way to these trees, which looked to me to be some sort of pine.  However, I learned that … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Uluru | Tagged | Leave a comment

Dawn

Looking out at the southeastern face of Uluru with the sun just starting to rise behind me.Just off to the left, in the far distance, you can see Kata Tjuta which is the other major rock formation in this otherwise … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Uluru | Leave a comment