Autumn is finally here. Horrible summer be gone already. Its not always the start of the month that mark the cut off…. but nature sure has its own way of reminding you how time does pass by. I walk by this tree everyday to work but it wasn’t until today I noticed the big change in colour. Yay, here comes autumn. The king of all seasons!! 
Autumn leaves in Naremburn. Click image for a larger version.
And here is how it looked just a month before.
The succulent that didn’t quite make it through last Saturday’s heat 
The poor thing couldn’t tolerate the 41 degree C Sydney went though. It was a record high from the last 85 odd years!
RIP Succulent
Our hearts go out to all our friends and loved ones in Queensland. As you prepare for the floods peaking today please take care and stay safe and look to reach for higher grounds.
It was only a few weeks back we caught up with Kel and Mark and went to Lamington National Park and had such a ball. All those lovely areas we drove through would now be under water and cut off from the rest of the living world. Brisbane is facing its worst ever flooding in more than 100 years, with officials warning almost 20,000 homes in the Brisbane city alone will be flooded by early tomorrow morning. Our thoughts and well wishes are with you and those you love.
Here are some photos from our trip to the Leura Garden Festival 2010. I suggest using a decent browser like Firefox, Safari or Google Chrome. You’d need the free Flash Player for the slideshow.
UPDATE: Here are some photos from our trip to the Leura Garden Festival 2010. I suggest using a decent browser like Firefox, Safari or Google Chrome.
This weekend we’re heading off to the lovely Blue Mountains, well more precisely to the Leura Gardens Festival. This year its being held from the 2nd of October to the 10th. For the benefit of others who may not know where Leura is — the gardens of Leura is situated in the Blue Mountains approximately 100 kms west of Sydney and are famous for their magnificent displays of Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Dogwoods and Camellias, as well as flowering annuals, perennials and bulbs. The blaze of springtime colour in the gardens attracts visitors from all parts of Australia and overseas. There are big gardens and small gardens in the Festival and each garden has its own distinctive character. Link on the the following links to have a read on thes individual gardens. The list includes Shenstone, The Braes, Rustlins, Brabourne, Tandella, Greenheys, Elouera, Abbotsford, Everglades and Illion. We’ll be run off our feet literally, trying to do all that in a day, but it’d such be a welcome change.
A bit of history — The Leura Gardens Festival is a registered charity, the objective is to provide funds for medical equipment and patient care at the Blue Mountains District Memorial Hospital. There is more history to be found here. The proceeds go for a very worthy cause while promoting tourism and economy for this beautiful ecofriendly area. Heres hoping I’ll have one or 2 decent photos to share with you that do the lovely mountains justice.
Earth Hour is upon us again. Turn your lights off and join in with the world to voice your opinion for a better tomorrow. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.
In 2007 right here in Sydney, Australia we are proud indeed to have started of such a great butterfly effect. 2007 saw 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. 2008 saw this surge up to 50 million users. This years pledge will pass through 74 countries that stand for the cause of preserving our Earth.
It wasn’t until this morning that I read about the asteroid DD45 and was quite in shock… such a strange thing would happen and very few people knew about it. Or perhaps the information was controlled to avoid people panicking over it. Who know what happens when you put your head to the pillow… well as the information below will tell you… a lot does go on!
Asteroid plays chicken with Earth: Richard Macey
Pink ice king Protea with three bees sucking nectar
We were up in Mt Tomah for the morning the other weekend soaking up all the autumn colours. As we walked past the different Waratahs and Proteas this particular King Protea caught my attention. When I got closer to the Protea and was ready to shoot I realised there were some bees buzzing inside the beautiful flower and I heard another 2 buzz past my ear and land right in the centre of the flower… I didn’t waste any time and shot away and was happy with the result. I’d make a wallpaper out of this shot soon, if you want a copy make sure you leave a comment.
King Protea was originally from the Cape Town area in South Africa. It is the national flower of South Africa. More information can be found here, here and here.
I have written about Animal Cruelty before and here again I got a lovely little something from Liz that echoes my thoughts. I much rather quote:
Derriere to be different and parade your posterior with pride!
As you can tell this is not a very ‘original’ post but need I say more how we need to be mindful of sharing our planet with other living beings. Statistics show that each year the RSPCA in Australia alone accepts about 135,000 animals from the local community and investigates more than 46,000 complaints of animal cruelty and neglect. Pass it on to your friends or help donate and raise awareness. Please help Protect animals from cruelty.
RSPCA Happy Tails Day
Together we can still fight global warming. Spread the word. Encourage your friends to watch the movie or buy the book/DVD — Incovenient Truth. Here is a list of 10 quick things you can do to help keep greenhouse gases more managable, or grab the adobe acrobat file here (size: 1MB).
UPDATE: 8th January 2007 What happened to winter on the Northern Hemisphere in December 2006 and summer in Australia? Is this proof enough? There are simple things you can do to make a huge change. Try these very easy 10 things (PDF, size: 1MB)
Based on the climate pattern changes that are occurring lately An Inconvenient Truth is a masterpiece. Film directed by Davis Guggenheim, featuring Al Gore, is an eye opener. Based on years of study, scientific calculation from data collected across the globe, endeavouring scientific knowledge, correct understanding of climate change and photographic proof from Earth and space (outside Earth’s atmosphere) …An Inconvenient Truth offer raw, biting truth of how we can choke ourselves in rising smog quite possibly just over a decade from now if we didn’t start acting on issues today. We are in fact very rapidly reaching a tipping point. A point of no return .
Gloriously beautiful autumn days are back in Sydney. I can’t stress how very much I love autumn. There is joy, calm, peace, relief from the sultry January and February and food tastes even more scrumptious! Sydney weather is just amazing but autumn in particular in Sydney is incomparable!! Ask anyone who lives or has visited Sydney in autumn. The leaves are slowly turning colour and everyday seems more beautiful than the day gone past.
Yes, I’ll be continuing my USA Journal, so stay tuned. Lots of stories to tell, and lots of photos to share. I’m working my fingers to the bone!
view of the sky from my backyard
UPDATE: 15th May 2007: Please visit some of the animal petition sites at the end of this post and leave your thoughts on animal cruelty. I do appreciate your feedback on my blog too. Thanks.
The RSPCA is shocked and appalled at the use of live dogs and cats as bait in shark fishing, reported recently on the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. AND SO AM I. THIS IS SICK. Please sign in the Petition. Even if you do not wish to sign the petition can you PLEASE let your friends know about this act of animal cruelty and make ‘em more aware of whats going on? Thanks Liz for passing this on to me.