Tropical Snowflake: February 2007

Wednesday 28 February 2007

Pestilence Must Be Next

Canberra should have been experiencing the last few days of Summer when this major hail storm hit. This is not even normal for winter in the nation's capital. These are the pictures I received the morning after the storm, from multiple people that I know living there.

Northbourne Avenue

Hail cracking up

Bunda Street in Civic and a police car probably waiting to arrest jaywalkers

Saturday 24 February 2007

Swan Lake & Coombes Sisters

Karen and Jen came up for the weekend of the 23 & 24th of Feb to see Damien Rice on Friday night at the Enmore Theatre. The four of us (Karen, Jen, Giles & I) saw Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at the Capitol Theatre on Saturday night. That was my first ballet experience and I loved it!

The curtain screen for Swan Lake at the Capitol Theatre

Before Swan Lake, we visited the very good cocktail bar at Lo Studio in Surry Hills. George + Helen introduced us to this bar and it's restaurant (note order of priority).

The lights above our lounge in the Lo Studio bar (photo by KC)

The lights taken with the flash on (photo by KC)

Jen + I enjoying our second cocktail for the evening

On Sunday, we visited the Lindt Chocolate Cafe. The service was slow, they weren't serving non-chocolate food and we were starving so we left in search of food in Pitt Street, without having any chocolate. It was a rainy day and something was trying to prevent us from eating chocolate but we prevailed with a visit to the Haigh chocolate shop in the Strand before rushing home for Karen + Jen to catch the bus home to Canberra.

Karen + Jen at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe

Thursday 22 February 2007

Lying in Inappropriate Places

I sometimes wonder why I bother to wash anything.

Tuesday 20 February 2007

Queenie

Giles + I had to go out with the rest of Sydney, to see the royal boat.

Some facts (do your own conversions because I like the old country speak)...

Owned by Cunard who according to them have "Advancing civilization since 1840";
Length: 1,132 feet;
Beam: 135 feet;
Beam at Bridge Wings: 147.5 feet;
Draft: 32 feet 10 inches;
Height (Keel to Funnel): 236.2 feet;
Gross Tonnage: Approximately 151,400 gross tonnes;
Guest Capacity: 2,592 lower berths; 3,056 maximum capacity (Including 3rd & 4th berths);
Crew: 1,253;
Cruise Speed: 28.5 Knots;
Power: 157,000 horsepower, environmentally friendly, gas turbine/diesel electric plant;
Propulsion: Four pods of 21.5 MW each; 2 fixed and 2 azimuthing
Strength: Extra thick steel hull for strength & stability for Transatlantic Crossings (no iceberg claims here - touch wood)
Stabilisers: Two sets
Cost: Estimated $800 million

The Queen Mary 2 docked at Garden Island

In 1839, Queen Victoria awarded Samuel Cunard the first ever licence to deliver mail across the Atlantic, proudly granting his steam ship the honoured title RMS (Royal Mail Steamer).

My eyes are close for some reason

Giles + Queenie (The QM2)

Compare this...

QM2 is five times longer than Cunard's first ship, Britannia (230 ft.)
QM2 is 113 feet longer than the original Queen Mary
QM2 is more than twice as long as the Washington Monument is tall (550 ft.)
QM2 is 147 feet longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall (984 ft.)
QM2 is more than 3½ times as long as Westminster Tower (Big Ben) is high (310 ft.)
QM2 is only 117 feet shorter than the Empire State Building is tall (1248 ft.)
QM2 is more than three times as long as St. Paul's Cathedral is tall (366 ft.)
QM2 is as long as 41 double-decker London buses (31½ ft. each)
QM2's whistle is audible for 10 miles