HAPPY EASTER ......and DRAGONFLIES

to have

HAPPY EASTER....hope it's been a safe and relaxing one!

This photo was one of those "aim and shoot while hoping for the best" type of photos! Casper the Cat was eyeing off this dragonfly which concerned me so I followed them around with camera in hand not expecting much at all. When the dragonfly landed on the strelitzia momentarily, I just well, aimed and shot, and hoped the camera 'knew' what I wanted in focus. And...yes it did.



Here's the dragonfly up close.

Wreck of HMAS Sydney discovered.

The photo above is of some of the crew of the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney.

The Sydney was sunk in November ,1941, by the German raider HSK Kormoran, after they had engaged in a sea battle off the Western Australian coast. The Kormoran subsequently sank and lost about 60 of its crew of approximately 380 sailors. All 645 crewmen of the Sydney went down with the ship, and the location of both ships has eluded searchers and historians ever since.

It was announced today that the wreckage of HMAS Sydney was located overnight. This ended a genuine mystery that had puzzled historians and others for over 65 years....the location of both ships had been the subject of over 20 search projects. It was announced yesterday that the wreckage of the Kormoran had been located, so it wasn't a surprise when today's announcement was made.

The area has been designated a war graves site, and I believe neither of the shipwrecks will be interfered with.It has provided some degree of closure for families of the lost crewmen.

If you are interested in reading more, Wikipedia is a good place to go.

QUICK POST ON NEW DISCOVERY

Happy happy Sunday, and I have a whole day at home after being out nearly all day, every day, last week.

Lots I'd like to do today...mow the lawns, be down on the beach at low tide to trawl through a lovely drift of shells and stones there at the moment, make some more bookmarks and bag beads, catch up with people via the phone ,practise my tap-dancing before class tomorrow and catch up on some reading.

BUT.....I just wanted to point you in the direction of this blog. I love this idea, all aspects of it such as wanting to ask people what they're reading, connecting with fellow human beings, being a natural sticky-beak etc etc. I urge you just to take a peek at it, and if you know of a similar blog, based in Australia, I'd love to know about it!

This week's show-and-tell!

Yes, Thursday is my show-and-tell day... something I've made this week that I feel very happy with.

First up, is the card I did for Harry and Barbara's 60th wedding anniversary. Because my mum and dad have recently celebrated theirs, I know just how special this is occasion is. Even more so for their family, as Harry has spent a large part of the last 4 months in hospital and has been home for a couple of weeks. Harry, Barbara and I share a love of the operas of Richard Wagner. The performance we went to of 'Tristan and Isolde' at the Sydney Opera House in 1990 was one of the greatest afternoons/nights of my life! (Wagner's operas are very long)

These are 2 cards and matching jewelled bookmarks I made at class yesterday. The Indian Ocean blue card is for my friend Louise's 50th birthday. They are the colours I seem to gravitate to all the time!

KAKADU NATIONAL PARK

This is the first in a series of occasional posts about places I've visited that are important to me.

Kakadu National Park, which is part of Arnhem Land , is in the Northern Territory of Australia and I was there in July 2003(...was it that long ago?...sigh). It is on the United Nations' World Heritage List for its cultural and natural significance and its wetlands are recognised as significant under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.

This is yours-truly taking a photo at Ubirr, which is breath-taking! Photos don't do the scale and scope of this spot justice at all.

People have continuously lived in Arnhem Land for at least 50,000 years and Kakadu NP is rich in archaeological sites detailing this history.

The gallery above is at Nourlangie Rock.

Arnhem Land has one of the greatest concentrations of rock art in the world,with over 5,000 sites catalogued and an estimated 10,000 gelleries still to be recorded.The rock art is found on the sandstone walls of rock overhangs that are part of the Arnhem Land Escarpment and generally date from about 25,000 years ago, up until fairly recent times.




These 2 galleries are at Ubirr. Most Art from Arnhem Land is of the X-ray type.

The wetlands and billabongs are inundated in the Wet Season, usually from about December through to March/April, and then gradually dry out during the Dry Season, which ends with The Build-up (to the next Wet). The Indigenous people for whom Kakadu has been home for thousands of years, actually recognise 7 distinct seasons.

Below is Anbangbang Billabong, with Noulangie Rock in the background.

About one third of Australia's bird species are found in Kakadu NP, especially around the billabongs. When we were there, the billabongs were drying up but we still saw an amazing number of birds.

Below is the death-throws of sunset at Yellow Water Billabong. Witnessing sunset here is a particularly 'touristy' thing to do...little mini-buses from the 2 resort-type venues in the park, plus campers like us in our dusty 4WDs, descend on this little jetty to watch sunset over the water each evening, weather-permitting.We got there very early and grabbed the front-row seats, and , just because we are campers, doesn't mean we lack class!! In the photo, the basket next to my sister held our chilled beer and champagne,smoked salmon ,sour cream, capers and crackers, cheese and our glasses.