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Holiday

CannibalRabbit’s Holiday specific posts

Whacked-Out Wallabies

Jun 29th, 2009
by CannibalRabbit.
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The BBC has a story about wallabies causing crop circles [^] in Tasmania’s opium poppy fields. Apparently the wallabies get into the fields and sample the produce. Under the influence they then bounce around in circles until they crash – result, natural crop circles.

Tasmania Poppy Field - Scottsdale Jan 1998

Northern Tasmania is one of the few places in world that poppies are legally-grown, with Australia producing around half of the world’s total output. The highly regulated opium poppies are used in the commercial production of codeine and morphine [^].

The above photo is a poppy field waiting to be harvested, taken near Scottsdale [^] during the CannibalRabbits Tour of Tasmania in January 1998. Yes, there is just a a normal farm fence, about waist-high, separating the field from the road – and a scary “Keep Out” sign!

Sydney & Old Photos

Aug 27th, 2008
by CannibalRabbit.
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Have you ever wanted to make your photos look old.  There are plenty of guides out there on the web for doing this in Photoshop and other high-power and high-cost photo editing applications.  But there is a one-stop website offering the same service in seconds – all Wanokoto does is create antique photos [^] – and it does it well.

CannibalRabbit Sydney old Queen Victoria Old

This aged photo of the Queen Victoria in Circular Quay has a much better impact.  I like how the modern lines of the Queen Victoria seem so out of place in the otherwise mid-20th Century setting. 

Over at CannibalRabbit we have some more present day photos of the Queen Victoria, the Queen Elizabeth 2, and their crossing.

Rose Bay – Sydney Seaplanes

Apr 16th, 2008
by CannibalRabbit.
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Rose Bay Seaplane
de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver – VH-AQU – Sydney Seaplanes

I have had this as the title image for this site for a while now.  I thought that it was time for an explanation.  Rose Bay is the site of Australia’s first international airport – a seaport.  When we went out on a Harbour cruise to see the passing of the Two Queens on Sydney Harbour we managed to get down to Rose Bay, in Sydney’s Inner-Eastern suburbs.  While we were there we saw a couple of Sydney Seaplane’s flying boats come in to land.

In 1938 Qantas Empire Airways launched it’s luxurious flying boat service to England from Rose Bay.  The 15 passengers onboard paid a little more than the average annual wage of the time for the privilege of a ten day flight rather than a six week voyage.  The flight took ten days and had 31 stops.  As would be expected with the price they had paid the guests were pampered all the way with meals being served on china and there was enough room on-board to play quoits, and the nights were spent in top hotels on land. 

Today Qantas is gone from Rose Bay, but there is a regular flying boat service to Palm Beach, Gosford and Newcastle, as well as Sydney joyflights (Sydney Seaplanes [^]).  On the tourist-busy weekend that Sydney was experiencing with the two Queens in town, it seemed as though Rose Bay was busier than Sydney’s “real” airport at Mascot.  Even with this steady flow it was still hard to get a good photo.  This one had the bonus of having the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House in the background, making this unmistakable photo of Sydney.

Sources: Sydney Seaplanes [^], abc.net.au [^], Airways Museum [^], Afloat Magazine [^], Qantas [^].

The Age Has Googled A Ferry Disaster

Mar 25th, 2008
by CannibalRabbit.
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The Age is running a story about Google Maps at the moment and the apparent “ferry disaster” in Sydney Cove: 

The Age “Ferry Crash” in Sydney Cove from Google Maps

The ferry “collision” appears right beside a giant cruise liner – either the Queen Elizabeth 2 or Queen Mary 2 – which was docked at Sydney Cove when the photographs were taken.
The image appears to show a ferry travelling at full speed colliding with a smaller boat. Metres away, another boat appears submerged under water except for the tip of its nose. Source: theage.com.au

Google have said that this is just an image stitching issue.  The interesting thing is that the Age couldn’t be bothered to research their story properly.  Two things indicate that the Liner in question is in fact the Queen Elizabeth 2: the fact that she is berthed facing out into the harbour, whereas the Queen Victoria was facing Circular Quay; and secondly, a quick Google revealed that the call-sign on the roof of the Bridge “GBTT” belongs to the QE2. 

Link to Google Map [^], with the QE2’s call sign clearly visible.

Sydney – Two Queens

Mar 3rd, 2008
by CannibalRabbit.
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QV and QE2 CrossingThe CannibalRabbits are just back from Sydney.  We headed up there to see the passing of the two Queens – Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 and the new Queen Victoria.

Two Queens Crossing

There are more photos on the Photo Gallery [^]

We were lucky enough to have booked a harbour cruise for the big event.  This meant that we had grandstand seats to watch the passing of the two Queens.  It was amazing the number of people that decided to join us the shores of the Harbour all around Mrs Macquaries Seat and Cremorne Point and Ashton Park on the north side of the Harbour were absolutely crowded.  On the Harbour itself had every size of vessel from ten-foot tinnies up to the 90,000 ton, 965 foot long, 179 foot tall Queen Victoria.

The passing was billed by Cunard as a Royal Rendezvous.  This was the QE2’s 29th and final visit to Sydney, and marked the 30th anniversary of her first visit to Sydney on the 24th February 1978.  Once this world cruise is over she will be turned into a luxury floating hotel in Dubai. The Queen Victoria was on her maiden world voyage.  While passing on either side of Fort Denison the liners sounded a whistle salute, which could heard 16km (10miles) away.

 Cunard Press Release [^]

Sydney Morning Herald Photo Gallery:
              Queen Victoria [^]
              Queen Elizabeth 2 [^]

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