Cute and cuddly

No idea why these kids had rabbits as part of the bad but the bunnies didn't seem to mind.

Portable puppy

Monochrome Weekend

For more monochrome madness, visit Dragonstar's Weekend in Black and White. 

Polly want a cracker

I've been offline  for a while as my father fell and broke his hip and has been in hospital for the past couple of weeks. I met Karen and Midori in the visitors waiting room of St George Hospital. Karen is from Copeton Waters State Park near Inverell in northern NSW. Midori is a very friendly and extremely beautiful eclectus parrot.

That dog again

Here's that Neopolitan Mastiff again. He was being trained as an attack dog and hated cameras, apparently he thought you were raising a gun. I wouldn't want to run into him on a dark night, or any night, really. One of my colleagues got a different view of him 

Man's best friend

I'm not very good at street photography, I like the moment but its out of focus.

Bentley

I've seen Bentley around town a few times in the last couple of years but this is the first time I've met him properly (after chasing his owner around the supermarket).

A man's best friend

This is Willow, who was helping David carry the groceries home. I don't think the dog is blind in one eye but David didn't have time to explain the eye colour.

Easter Show (8)

This is a bilby, a highly endangered and very cute, species of bandicoot. At Easter, instead of chocolate eggs and bunnies, try a chocolate bilby and help to save the species. This one is a large male.

Easter Show (7)

Some very attractive animals.

Easter Show (6)

Getting ready for competition with a wash, brush, polish and, of course, new shoes.

Monochrome Weekend/Easter Show (5)

They also have domestic animals in competition at the Show. This is the only decent cat picture I managed to get. I wanted to see the Abysinians but they weren't being show that day. Here is a big sook of an Oriental (unfortunately with his eyes closed).

For more monochrome madness, visit Dragonstar's Weekend in Black and White.

Easter Show (3)

More of what the Show's really about. The blokes from the bush in the horse pavilion.

The country schools bring their animals down for the competitions.

Blue Tongue

I haven't seen a blue tongue lizard in my area for many years and thought they weren't around any more. Then I came across this one just outside the back door. It was fairly quiet in the middle of a weekday when I would not normally be home, so maybe they are around, just not at the same time as me. Also, there aren't as many cats and dogs around as there used to be.

Hard at Work

This is Lucy, our switch operator Ian's guide dog. Ian is blind and does a fantastic job of operating the office's swith and helping people set up and operate their phones. He can also read and respond to emails using software that reads the messages to him and is learning to use the internet, again using softwear that reads to him. Ian has great sense of humour and, on a day when he had a woman from the Blind Society helping him learn a new system, quipped as he was taking her to lunch - "the blind leading the blind".

These photos are poor quality as they were taken on the p&s and, unless she's fast asleep, Lucy won't keep still. One day I'll take the DSLR in and try and get some good shots. She's a beautiful dog.

Theme Day - Animals

No idea where it came from, or where it went, but it was there in the evening in the same spot for a few nights late last year.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Taphophile Tragics

Ninamarca is a pre-inca burial cemetery located  at 3700 metres above sea level along the road to Manu National Park (which is in the Peruvian Amazon). From memory, Ninamarca was the first stop on the 2 day bus (truck actually) tour down to the Amazon and if you ever go to Manu its well worth going down by road from Cusco and flying back. (Although I'd actually recommend going to the Bolivian Amazon, its a lot cheaper and people say just as good. But make sure you go right into the jungle - somewhere like Chalalan Eco Lodge in Madidi not the 2 day jungle trip from Rurrenabarque. Manu didn't impress me that much, although we did see a jaguar. Overall I liked Bolivia a lot more than Peru although you do have to see Machu Picchu.)

As a silent reminder the tombs, called "Chullpas", mark the pre-Inca civilization of the Lupaca people that inhabited the Andes a long time ago. A chullpa is an ancient Aymara funerary tower originally constructed for a noble person or noble family. The tallest are about 12m high. The tombs at Sillustani are most famous, but chullpas are found across the Altiplano in Peru and Bolivia. Recent research has focused on the connection between chullpas and the ritual pathways etched into the landscape around Nevado Sajama, as well as possible patterns within chullpa sites.

Corpses in each tomb were typically placed in a foetal position along with some of their belongings, including clothing and common equipment. The construction of the chullpa varied with ethnic group: in general, those of the north Altiplano are circular and constructed with stone, while those of the south are rectangular and constructed with adobe. Some are unadorned, while others have intricate carvings. At Sillustani, many of the chullpas have lizards, which were considered a symbol of life because they could regenerate their tails, carved into the stone. In virtually all cases, the only opening to the tomb faces the rising Sun in the east. It is possible that chullpas were also used by the Incafollowing their conquest of the Aymara. Very similar stone constructions on Easter Island known as tupa have sometimes been suspected to be closely related to chullpas.

For more taphophilia please visit Julie's Taphophile Tragics.



Truck

Jaguar

Winterfest Medieval Fair (3) - The Joust

Winterfest Medieval Fair (2)

Unlike in medieval times, gender was no barrier.