This is not going to be a follow up on the US adventure. I don't know if I will do a follow up on it. Really, there wasn't much more to add to Acci's post. The homeward journey was uneventful, once I'd managed to find the right desk to book into. And since I've been home, life is mostly back to normal, with the exception of a telecommunications issue at Acci's end.
So, the photos that follow have nothing to do with said trip. These were taken last Monday on the Foundation Day public holiday. Because the day was fine, and we had nothing better to do, my parents and I headed into the city to check out the Da Vinci Machines Exhibition.
Unfortunately, I thought that the exhibition was a bit on the small side. Although according to all the advertising, there's over 60 machines on display. There were a number of machines in the hydraulics section that you could actually operate (provided you could get past all the other people to do so, and weren't broken). There were other machines where you looked at them and thought "how is that supposed to work?" and were plastered with "DO NOT TOUCH" labels.
Hydraulic saw - looks a tad more like a guillotine to me.
Bicycle. Spot what's wrong with this picture.*
The parachute that's been in the news lately (or at least the one that the news-worthy one was based on).
Aerial Screw - prototype for the helicopter, although it sounds more like the Mile High Club...
Wings!
Well, considering that the exhibition took all of about an hour and a half to go round (not including the hour-long video presentation that we missed out on), we decided that since we were down on the Perth foreshore, we'd wander down to the Bell Tower.
While wandering down to the Bell Tower, we discovered a sundial that we'd never seen before. It's a Willem De Vlamingh memorial, since he wandered down here from Amsterdam at one point in time and first charted bits of Western Australia...Just think, if it weren't for James Cook, I could've been speaking Dutch now.
For a sundial, it's in a bit of a silly place, since it's overshadowed by trees in all directions.
The Sundial
The gnomon with my Dad standing to the left.
It's hard to see, but it actually has a map of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia in relief.
It also has ships dotted round on the gnomon.
We then went on to the Bell Tower. Which despite it having opened eight years ago, I've never been to.
The Bell Tower - looks like a rocket ship, to me. Although those metallic bits to the sides are supposed to represent ship sails.
The Bells! No sign of Quasimodo, though. Or any other bell ringers.
View from the level where the bells are. There's also an observation deck at the top of the tower, but me being a tad wary of heights, didn't take any photos from up there.
Notice about a new super bell they want to get. It will be rung electronically and only either at specific times during the day, on ceremonial occasions, or on a major civic event (like the death of the Sovereign). They're hoping to have it made in either Holland, the UK, France or Germany.
Once Mum & I had poked about the Bell Tower (Dad didn't want to go, since he'd seen it before), we called it a day. Unfortunately, being a public holiday in Perth means that there's not a great deal of options once the tourist traps have been exhausted. So it was back to the train station, and the last couple of photos.
View across the Swan River to South Perth.
Curious Pelican
*Want to know what's wrong with that photo of the bike? Have a look at the shadow behind it!
7 comments:
The backwards shadow? Still wishing you were still here but I'm VERY glad I got to meet you at least once!
I love the art of the exhibition and boy, the sky seems to crisp and clear there. Is it always that way?
Can I have the pelican???
hulitoons
Neat stuff! How in the world is it that the bike shadow is backwards?!
Looks like you had a neat day. Thanks for sharing with us! : )
*hugs*
I was slightly disappointed by the exhibition. I had Tuesday after Foundation Day off so I met Christian there after he finished work and we had a looksie. So many things I couldn't figure out how they worked and I just wanted to have a play! Also Christian had already seen the dvd presentation so we only stayed for a little of it so all in all I don't think it was worth $20.
I haven't actually been inside the Bell Tower before - saving it up for when Boo and Mouse come visiting.
Huli, our little city has some absolutely gorgeous days. Like other Western Cities we have our fair share of pollution but it's not anything like some places so the sky mostly looks like that except when it's raining or there's a bushfire somewhere and all you can see is smoke.
Heh, the weather is pretty good all the time here. Except for when there's a bush fire.
Crafty, the bike shadow is actually printed on the poster behind the bike. I guess that when it was set up, they put the bike backwards to what was displayed on the poster. Whether it was deliberate or not, I have no idea.
Another good question is: why didn't they just go really wild and, say, let the bicycle's actual shadow fall onto the poster rather than print one onto it?
I still say you should have borrowed that parachute and used it to drop small furry creatures from the top of the bell tower onto people below.
And nice pictures, Smerk! Better keep a wary eye on those pelicans, though. . .that one looks like it's planning something.
neato
I just felt the need to take this opportunity to say the following:
Yay, Smerk!
That is all.
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