The featured image is of the oldest bridge in Australia. Located in Richmond, Tasmania, it was built by chain gang convicts dragging leg irons, not skilled stone masons. But they obviously did a good job because it still is in service! Tasmania was established initially as a penal colony for British miscreants.  The majority of the…

Had to feature the Sydney Opera House even though you have seen pictures of it many times.  Truly a magnificent architectural feat.  Think the architect actually never saw it because of some sort of falling out with one person or another.  But what had my attention most in Sydney is the evidence of a culture…

This image is my best photo of the coral at Great Barrier Reef.  Maybe you have to dive 20,000 leagues under the sea to get spectacular color. Today's post is an update on my story of Pongtiba, who murdered his first wife because she was starving the pregnant second wife.  There were so many interesting comments…

If you think the featured image shows two butterflies mating, you are right. The female paralyzes the male and stays aboard for at least 14 hours to  make sure all her eggs are fertilized. The butterfly sanctuary in the tropical rainforest of Kuranda, Australia, was far more impressive than the fish and coral at The Great…

For five days I was immersed in the culture of the Anangu who inhabit the Red Center territory of Ayers Rock and Uluru National Park in Australia.  Some of the descendants of this thousands and thousands of years old culture now have been trained in the tourist industry and served as my guide to art,…

You have seen photographs of

For three days I have been in Alice Springs, which is located right in the center of Australia.  It is 106 here in the desert so I have been studying in museums, art galleries, the library, and  book stores, and speaking with working aboriginal artists about their work. Each piece of art tells a story,…

Sing it and sell it, Johnny Cash.  Have you been inside a maximum security prison before?  Me either.  This World Heritage Site in Fremantle, WA, was just closed down as recently as 1991!  Ye gads. Will not show you any bad news.  Only the good parts, like the fact that this was the first prison…