Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Number 78 - Whale Sharks (and then some!!)

Oyster Stacks



I don't even know where to start after the incredible weekend I have just had!

I have wanted to swim with a whale shark for about 5 years now having seen the photos of a work colleague that were mind boggling. Beginning this blog, I decided I would do at least a couple of the big things and this was certainly one of the biggest dreams.

Whale sharks are the worlds largest fish and can be up to 12 metres long (I'm struggling to get past 1.5!). In terms of size it rivals some of the largest dinosaurs in weight. In short, it's one massive fish.

Whale sharks are found in temperate waters around the world and one of the best places to see them is Ningaloo Reef, off the Exmouth Cape in Western Australia. Exmouth is 1200km north of Perth (the nearest capital city) and was established as a US Navy Base in World War II as a communications hub for submarines.




My first concern was the flying. Being a somewhat apprehensive flyer I was a little hesitant about the propeller planes that service regional Australia. However, excitement beats fear and so I found myself on my way to Perth. A couple of small meltdowns later (and some encouraging text messages!) and I was settled in my Dash-8 flying over the outback on my way to Exmouth.

Aerial outback views
 Once I had recovered from my Flying Freak-Out, I managed to properly appreciate the aerial view. Incredible patterns in the earth made me wonder how Aboriginal Art could so closely resemble these, when they had never seen this perspective. The colours, contrasts and accidental designs were breathtaking. It was the first of many "I can't believe I'm here" moments.







Aerial Outback Views

Monday, June 3, 2013

Number 24 - A Rubik's Cube, a little metaphor for life?

In the spring of 1974, Erno Rubik, the 29 year old Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture invented the puzzle that was to become the aggravation of one eighth of the worlds population. 



Since it's release in 1980 it has become the worlds best selling toy (over 350 million) earning a place in New York's Museum of Modern Art, a spot in the Oxford Dictionary and a fairly impressive list of film credits.

As a true child of the 80s, it has been a minor but niggling addition to my list but I soon realised that this little niggle would give way to full blown obsession once I seriously began trying to solve it.