It’s with a little irony that the conservation park around the corner from our accomodation is protected from all things, except for 4WD vehicles. We noticed on a walk that the erosional damage in some places was almost a metre deep. Still, we have to draw arbitrary lines somewhere…
Our (my) concern was getting back in the dark after some sunset photography, particularly as the clouds looked especially rainy.
We find Robe the perfect place to go for a break, it’s nicely far away but not too far & usually bereft of the fordes that make holidaying a bit unbearable. A stop at Penola was a revelation as the town was buzzing. Partly due to a long weekend, but also the anniversary of Mary McKillop. The town’s a lot more alive than I remembered from previous visits.
Robe itself is fairly central to Kingston (mmm Lobsters), Mt Gambier, Coonawarra (mmm wine), and the Limestone Coast (mmm more wine). I also find it an ironic place for a person of Chinese descent to go given its goldrush era history.
A quick visit to melbourne to see both end of the cultural spectrum, Saturday at the Ian Potter gallery at fed Square, Sunday at the Melbourne Motor Show.
Two hours is about as much as anybody can handle in an exhibition before one’s head becomes so full that either priorly stored information (eg, spouses birthdays, etc) start dropping off the cliffs of grey matter or alternately, ones cranium physically explodes.
And surprisingly prolific von Guérard’s body of work was. The most impressive 21st century addition to gallery viewing was the electronic folio where one could virtually flip through the artist’s various sketch books. His Lake Gnotuk (a personal favourite) which usually abides in Ballarat Gallery was on show, but strangely named something completely different (lakes or ponds or something).
Documentary art such as this always depresses me as the landscape was portrayed as it was. 160 years of of rabbits, dogs, cats, cane toads, Mexican mosquito fish & feather grass, lantana, brumbys, cows, goats, foxes, capeweed, willow, Indian Mynah birds, rats, mice & deforestation later, one could only marvel (and weep) at the natural pre-colonial ecological landscape.
I never used to have a problem sleeping on night flights, but perhaps being older any disruption of sleep is a bad disruption. Caught up with a few new release films including Tron Legacy on the way back. Really enjoyed it.
The entertainment system had to be rebooted not long after takeoff. It took a good 20+ minutes for the system to come back to life. Still with the restrictions of flight, I ponder at what sort of server would be required to simultaneously provide independent movies, games & other electronic frippery to a couple of hundred customers.
After debarkment, we happened by Highpoint for some lunch and ordered (drumroll) sushi! Normally, we’re very happy with our sushi, but after having the genuine article for 3 weeks Melbourne’s foodcourt sushi was not nice. Too much sauce. Too much salt. Serve sizes wrong. Tastes odd. Oh well, it is a food court.
I don’t think any airport is a good place to get stuck at for any duration of time. Fortunately for us, the efficiency of the system meant that we had minimal waiting time.
Time to soak in the last of our travel days, and check out any last minute souvenirs. Time to catch our collective breaths before heading back to the ‘reality’ of work.
The fast train took about 20 minutes to get from CBD to airport. No time at all compared with the hour long bus ride we had on arrival.
The air quality had not cleared, but did give an opportunity to snap some surreal sunset shots. The gantry reflections in the windows appear quite post apocalyptic anime
One of Lonely Planet’s suggested walking tours in Hong Kong was the old market district of Wan Chai. Not too far from there, I’d noticed a Telescope shop and thought we could make a trip of it to see what we could see.
Cathay has the advantage of being able to check in your luggage from the CBD which is then shot off to the airport. You just have to turn up later when your flight is due. Very convenient given that we had a day to kill but had checked out of the dorm first thing.
The Telescope shop was a repeat of the Ginza Leica experience (closed!) but did afford us a chance to have a good look around. We also had the chance to catch some of Hong Kong’s double decker trams.
A lunch date with a family friend at the Macau Jockey Club followed, and after they graciously chauffeured us around a few other markets for a bit of a look see.
Then it all came to an abrupt stop as we played the inevitable travellers’ ‘waiting for the next connection’ game.
We made it back to Kowloon by nightfall as I’d made a hair appointment for that evening. We returned to the mega mall at Kowloon Tong. Sort of a Chadstone on steroids: very shiny, all the brands, all the premium brands, few if no bogans.
The restaurants were all full, and we felt like some sushi. In Hong Kong.
There seems, like Japan, not many places for people to go and hang out, and malls such as this seem to be the viable ‘third place’.
It was with some astonishment that we discovered the Ramsar wetlands of Mai Po Marsh. A historic rice growing region, the river delta is (was) a thriving wildlife area. The super-industrial region of Shenzhen is right next door making a depressingly inevitability for the natural region’s demise.
Unlike the rest of Hong Kong, we had to make an effort to book and get there. Which made what we saw the more worthwhile.
Historically aquaculture worked in this region also, but like a lot of toiling work, the new generations are largely not interested. Additionally areas in dispute or subject to development have mysterious fires, or are ‘accidentally’ made worthless to wildlife but since everything’s dead let’s put some buildings up…
Much the way developers work the world over.
We needed our passports at the ready as the actual Ramsar site was over the technical border of Hong Kong to mainland China. Call me paranoid, but I still have a mistrust of the mainland communist…
A fabulously beautiful area was revealed to us. As the tide was out, we were witness to much birdlife, the fidler crabs of the mangroves and strange walking fish on the mudflats. More power to Hong Kong WWF’s arm.
An early morning bus ride into the New Territories for our adventure of the day. Kadoorie farm (KFBG) is a pleasant sanctuary, botanic garden, wildlife rescue & organic market rolled into one.
A dinner date with my high school mate Tsang beckoned, so killing two birds, we’d arranged to meet in Sham Shui Po so that I could check out the Golden Computer Arcade for various bits and pieces. I picked up a number of cooling fans, and graphics cards which will complete my newly designed HTPC.
In a strange for me role reversal, I blend into the crowd whereas Anna & Sarah stick out and are easy to spot. Dinner was great, and we thought we’d trawl some night markets only to discover that they kind of closed early, and offered on the whole what could only be described as cheap crap.
Bit sad, maybe I’ve become a quality snob in my middle age.
