Tales of a Technogypsie

Manly MarketManly Beach, Queensland, Australiahttp://www.manlyharbourvillage.com/ Every sunday the Manly Creative Markets spreads out its presence in the Little Bayside Park along the Esplanade of the beaching and boating resort of Manly Beach. It runs from 8 am to 3 pm offering a wonderful assortment of hand crafts, Australian local gifts, food, snacks, handcrafts, and farmer’s [...]

Manly HarbourManly Beach, Queensland, Australiahttp://www.manlyharbourvillage.com/ Manly Harbour is a popular resort location, especially for boating. It is also home to Manly Harbour Village which supports the community of boaters and recreationists who utilize the docks. Sheltered from harsh weather and the sea, Manly Beach and its harbour is conveniently locaed 20 minutes outside of Brisbane [...]

Brisbane River Queensland, Australia The Brisbane River quickly became home to me during my Australian travels in the Summer of 2011. It was home to the HMB Endeavour, upon which in May I was a volunteer tour guide and crew member while it was in port at the Brisbane City Center and during its circumnavigation [...]

Brisbane River CityCat Brisbane River, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia One of Brisbane’s most popular form of public transportation and sightseeing is the Brisbane River CityCat and CityFerry Services. This ferry is very fast, efficient, and inexpensive way to get from point A to point B during one’s explorations of Brisbane and its famous river, parks, recreational [...]

Spotted last in Manly Australia … a bird in the bush …. Can you identify this bird? Can you identify this bird?

Australian National Museum, Canberra, ACT, Australia Sir William Colin MacKenzie ~ 1877-1938: the surgeon, anatomist, philanthropist, orthopaedist From the Australian National Museum display: ” Colin MacKenzie was a Melbourne surgeon who studied marsupial anatomy in order to understand human anatomy. Like many other scientists, he believed Australian animals would soon become extinct. MacKenzie wanted to [...]

Melbourne Road Side Art Melbourne, Victoria, Australia One of the memorable facets to Melbourne I remember from my travels is the fantastic and sometimes bizarre roadside art one can find on the highways in and out of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Many of the roads and freeways around this Metropolis compete for attention by the implementation [...]

The Parliamentary Triangle & Australian Embassies * Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * As Canberra is the capital of Australia, with the Australian Capital Territory the central region for all of Australia’s government, it is also home to Australia’s Parliaments, Embassies, and Governmental offices. Most countries in allegiance with Australia have their embassies represented here. [...]

Old Parliament House or Museum of Australian Democracy * Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * Within Canberra lies several Parliaments and Embassies, representing many cultures and governments. One of the Parliaments which is no longer used for law making as it was the “provisional” parliament house which was base operations for Australia’s Parliament from 1927 [...]

New South Wales Australia One of my favorite regions of Australia, the NSW, or “New South Wales” is located along the southeastern edge of Australia, just north of Victoria and south of Queensland. It totally surrounds the Australian Capital Territory and is Australia’s most populated state (1/3 of Australia’s population) with those who call themselves [...]

* April 23, 2011 Concert @ The Transit Bar * Downtown Canberra * ACT * Australia * While exploring downtown Canberra, I popped into the Transit Bar, underneath where I was staying in the Canberra Hostelling International for a night out downtown. The Holidays, a local Australian band, was just returning from their first ever [...]

Reddacliff PlaceBrisbane, Queensland, Australia Every day during my gig as a tour guide for the HMB Endeavour, I would walk through Reddacliff Place. Reddacliff is also known as Brisbane Square. Its a great little market square located between the Victoria Bridge and Queen Street Mall, at the base of Brisbane Square across from the Treasury [...]

Mooney Memorial Fountain a.k.a. Eagle Street Fountain* corner of Queen Street and Eagle Street, 118 Eagle Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia * 400 * Every day enroute to work as volunteer guide aboard the HMB Endeavour, I passed by this quaint little ornate Victorian Revival Gothic styled fountain, and finally took a chance to admire this [...]

James Cook University @ BrisbaneQueens Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia A private university established in 1970 in the heart of Brisbane near Eagle Street Pier, James Cook offers its students a committment in the study of Australia’s indigenous cultures, a dedication to research especially in marine sciences, biodiversity, tropical ecology, global warming, tourism, tropical medicine, and [...]

Sushi Kim’s * 388 Queen St. (Wharf St.), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 4000 * Just as you’re walking down Queen Street from the Queen Street Mall as it turns to Wharf Street, enroute to Eagle Pier, on the left hand side is a small little tiny sushi mart that has incredibly affordable, delecious, and fresh sushi [...]

Adelaide Street Brisbane, Queensland, Australia One of Brisbane’s major thoroughfare streets in the City Center is Adelaide Street. Here is located King George Square, Brisbane City Hall, the ANZAC Square with the Shrine of Remembrance, the ANZAC Square Arcade, Law Courts Complex, Brisbane Square and the Post Office Square. The street runs paralle to Ann [...]

Brisbane Central Business District (CBD)/Queen Street Mall Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Everyday for the first part of May I passed through the Brisbane CBD along the Queen Street mall enroute to my volunteer job as tourguide for the HMB Endeavour. Always distracted by unique shops, cool fashion, and foodstuffs along my journey. This area is Brisbane’s [...]

Brisbane SquareBrisbane, Queensland, Australia One of my favorite little hotspots in Brisbane’s City Center was the Brisbane Square, as it was often frequented by markets and sales. Brisbane Square is a small city block square at the foot of a high-rise building called “Brisbane Square” which rises 151 meters tall with over 38 floors which [...]

Victoria BridgeBrisbane, Queensland, Australia As I was staying in the infamous West End of Brisbane, my foot and bicycle passage to the City Center was The Victoria Bridge. This was Brisbane’s first permanent bridge and had its foundation stone laid on August 22, 1864 by the late Governor Bowen. It wasn’t finished construction until late [...]

Brisbane West End Brisbane, Queensland, Australia My first online Couchsurfing experience in Australia was in Southern Brisbane’s infamous inner-city suburb called “The West End”. A great alternative artsy lively area of cultural hodge-podge, the West End I found was one of the more exciting neighborhoods in the city. It is also one of Brisbane’s oldest. [...]

Australian National Museum, Canberra, ACT, Australia The amazing country of “the Down Under” …. “Australia” or “Terra Australis Incognita” …. the “Great South Land” which was once believed only to belong to myths and legends, until the legendary Captain Cook sailed the HMS Endeavour to discover its shores. A mythical land of strange creatures, plentiful [...]

Tuggeranong Homestead * Tuggeranong, Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * http://www.tuggeranonghomestead.com.au/ * My last day in Tuggeranong just outside of Canberra, before packing up for the plane to Brisbane, we ventured down the street to get a peek at the Tuggeranong Homestead. Unfortunately, due to being Easter weekend, I didn’t get a chance to visit [...]

Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia Travels Down Under:The Vegemite Experience Tuesday, April 26, 2011 * Hanging in Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * A later start to the day, Sir Bluey brought out the vegemite for Sir Leaf to try for his very first time. Spread on with butter, it was not agreeable to his [...]

Transit Bar * 7 AKUNA ST * Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * P 02 6162 0899 * http://transitbar.com.au/ * ‎ A great little hole-in-the-wall bar down below the Canberra YHA Hostel on Akuna street. Delving into a mix of indie, rock n’ roll, and general alternative nights and gigs, the Transit Bar provides a [...]

*Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * Chrome Goth Night * Transit Bar * http://www.gothclublist.com/details/chrome.html * 7 AKUNA ST * Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * P 02 6162 0899 * http://transitbar.com.au/ * ‎ Eager for some darksome and divine music, I hunted out what could lie beneath the underground of Australia’s capital city … Canberra. [...]

Tidbinbilla Nature reserve*Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * Phascolarctos cinereus: “Koala” or “Koala Bear:” Taxonomy: Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Marsupialia; Diprotodontia; Phascolarctidae; Phascolarctos cinereus Common Names: Koala, koala bear, monkey bear, native bear, and tree bear. Localities: Koala are found in the coast regions of eastern and southern Australia in the Eucalypt woodlands. Description: A arboreal [...]

Australian National Museum, Canberra, ACT, Australia a.k.a. “Platypus” or “Bewick’s Platypus” Taxonomy: Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Monotremata; Ornithorhynchidae; Ornithorhynchus; Ornithorhynchus anatinus Common Names: platypus, watermole, duckbill, and duckmole. Localities: Native to Eastern Australia including Tasmania, with ancestors from South America. They live on the edges of rivers and freshwater lakes where they can burrow. Description:When white [...]

Tidbinbilla Nature reserve*Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * Tidbinbilla Nature reserve* Tidbinbilla Visitor Centre, Paddy’s River Rd, * Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * (02) 6205 1233 * http://www.tidbinbilla.com.au/ * Venturing south just 40 minutes from Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory is a beautiful nature reserve called “Tinbinbilla”. Named after the aboriginal word “Jedbinbilla” [...]

Gibraltar Falls * Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * Gibraltar Falls * Corin Road * Namadgi National Park * +61 02 6207 2900 * Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * One of the first waterfalls that I had a chance to see in Australia as accompanied by my travel mate Bluey Bee Fabbo. A nice [...]

Gibraltar Falls, Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia Travels Down Under:Koalas and Cyber-goths Monday, April 25, 2011 * Area around Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia * A later start to the day, Sir Bluey heated up the last of the kangaroo meat for lunch. This time the adventuring duo spiced it up with a peanut satay [...]