Bribie Island Pacific Stripes

The northern-most point of  Moreton Bay, between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, lies Bribie Island. It's a sand island about 34kms long. People live on the southern part but up in the north,  and a large section of it is national park. The beaches on the ocean side are gorgeous with fine, white sand and largely empty.

The guide I was with told me that the sand comes from the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, a thousand kilometres south. The mountains erode and make their way into the water systems eventually getting washed out to sea. The eroded material gets rolled around and ground into sand in the ocean and travels up the pacific, depositing on the coast as it goes. By the time it gets up here, it has been ground up so much that the sand is very fine - almost like flour.

A tiny bit of seasonal colour...

Being where we are in the world, nature doesn't really put on much of an autumn show... which makes these bushes on the road to Mount Coot-tha all the more spectacular amongst all the lush green and bright blue skies.

I took this shot on Tuesday and by Friday they had all but fallen off. You've gotta be quick around here.

Panyiri 2010

Here's a shot from last week's Panyiri, which is Brisbane's annual celebration of all things Greek. The kids in the front are from the local state school, getting ready to take the stage. Like the other capital cities in Australia, Brisbane has a large and vibrant Greek community and the traditions of music, food and dance have been passed on to the emerging, Australian-born generations...    

By the way... if you haven't tried honey puffs before this is DEFINITELY the place to go!

Cheers to Mouse for getting this shot.

Skyline Skywatch

We've been having some beautiful cold, clear mornings here recently. Perfect for a bit of sky-watching! (also perfect for staying warm in bed under the covers with your eyes well and truly closed...the lengths I go to for this blog!)

Take the comfort option; visit Skywatch Friday.

State Of Origin - Game 1

The State of Origin is an annual best-of-3-game series of Rugby League between Queensland (the Maroons) and New South Wales (the Blues). Last night was game 1, played in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales. Queensland won 28-24.
The competition is a very big deal in these two rival states. People go nuts. And woe betide you if you happen to have worn the wrong colour to work that day.
I suppose the build-up is much like (proper) football except the players have bigger necks and more fun off the field.

Australian Golden Trevally $8.50kg

Spotted at the fish market in the Civic Centre, Inala.

Can You Feel The Force?

Members of the Queensland police force, poised like coiled springs at the Gateway Bridge walk a couple of weeks ago.

Mount Nebo Open Mic Night

Over the weekend, I went up to visit friends in Mount Nebo, a small mountain community north west of Brisbane. Once a month they have an open mic night. Everyone is welcome to join in... music, comedy, poetry or whatever you're good at...bring a plate of food to share and your own drinks and settle in for the night - great fun! Just remember to rug up - it's freezing up there.

Traffic Stopping Art (number 46)

Welcome back to the Painted Traffic Signal Box series! It's hard to keep up. There are hundreds out there and I keep seeing ones I've photographed before that have been painted over. This one is on the corner of Main Street and River Terrace in Kangaroo Point. The artist is Jesse Breckon-Thomas.

For others in the series, click on the "TSBs" label below.

Best Seat In The House

Underneath the fig tree on top of Highgate Hill; one of the best places I have come across to watch the sun rise over the city of Brisbane.

Leaving On A Jet Plane Skywatch

Check out other skies around the world at Skywatch Friday.

My, Roger...What Big Eyes You've Got...

This notice, posted on a traffic light pole near where I live, caught my eye. Wow, that dog's got big eyes, I thought to myself. $250,000 dollars? I'd better keep my eyes peeled!
Anyway... I went to the website thinking it might be some sort of exciting, arty project but was a bit disappointed to see it is promoting a well-known dog food. Oh well... I suppose credit is due for creative advertising.

Gabba Street Stencil

Annerley Road anguish.

Burning Whip Of Fire

I can't just have one Brookfield Show shot, it's not a one shot type of event. I was determined to get a piglet racing shot but managed to get to the enclosure too late (again). The prize chickens on display were an impressive sight but the lighting was pretty low and I didn't want to startle the poor things with my flash. I think their nerves may have been a bit frazzled already as their barn was right next to all the big fairground rides with loud music blaring out and teenagers screaming. One thing I did catch was this man who was very adept at cracking a whip while it was on fire. I'm not sure when that might come in handy but I guess in rural Queensland you never know.

Heavy Traffic on the Gateway Bridge

Brisbane folks love a bridge and yesterday 170,000 people walked across this brand new one.

This is what the Second Gateway Bridge looked like from the south side yesterday. The event was a public walk across what will soon be a very busy car bridge over the Brisbane River. It's been built right next to and almost mirroring the First Gateway bridge (which is the one with the cars on it in the photo). The idea is that it will ease traffic congestion on the original bridge by having traffic on one bridge going in one direction and traffic on the other bridge going in the opposite direction.

length: 1.6km
height at highest point: 78m
new name for both bridges : Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges (like that's going to stick!)

Duck Herding at the Brookfield Show

If you've ever seen trained sheepdogs working as a team it's amazing. There were four dogs (one out of shot) and they managed to herd these ducks around this assault course and into a box. All the ducks were kept in a perfect bunch and all the while each dog was listening for it's owners individual instruction... pretty impressive if you ask me.

Chilly Market Day

It's been freezing (for Brisbane) these past few mornings. Everyone was rugged up at the market today.

Happy Days

Weekday morning coffee on Boundary Street in West End.

William Jolly Bridge Projection

Last night's projection. More information on this one soon, hopefully!
For others, click on the WJB Projections label below.

Edit (18.5.10) The artist who did this slide, and 3 others this month, is Guan Wei, born in China and now resident in Sydney. The Museum of Brisbane says :
   
 Guan Wei's work references cultural diversity, including Indigenous and colonial cultures. Through the recreation of oceans, islands and desert interiors, Guan Wei makes connections with subjects, such as navigation, exploration, searching for treasure, migration and the influence of and response to Globalisation.

If you like, you can visit his website here.

Pizza last night in Woolloongabba

Our family verdict: Vespa is in joint first place with Arrivederci's in Milton. Mmmmm!

Face in the clouds, Sunday

Cheeeeeeeese!

Camping friends at The Planting Festival up at Woodford last week.

Raqs The Kasbah

It was a bellydance extravaganza last night at the West End Club. Some fantastic Egyptian music and the dancers weren't half bad either. I think in the end most of the audience (95% women) were up dancing too which was great fun!

Happy Mother's Day!

RAAF Memorial

This is the Australian wedge-tailed eagle sculpted in bronze, symbol of the Royal Australian Air Force. It sits on its perch, keeping watch outside the Treasury Casino in Queens Park.

Putting a cat amongst the pigeons

Ibis birds with their guard down at the City Botanical Gardens.

Eucalypt Forest

These are Eucalyptus trees (known as gum trees) and they cover Mount Coot-tha, a native national forest within the city boundaries. The smell is gorgeous... it's a fresh, spicy, earthy smell with a hint of tea tree oil.

Showers on Edward Street

Trailer Trash

I was up at The Planting Festival in Woodford over the weekend which included a spot of spray painting. Capitalising on the recent success of the Trailer Trash night a couple of weeks ago, a couple of caravans were set up and decorated over the course of the weekend by some very familiar Brisbane artists.

Traffic Stopping Art (number 45)

This kookaburra sits on the corner of William and Margaret streets.

Queensland Parliament House

In 1863, an Australia-wide architectural competition was held to design a parliament house for Queensland and Charles Tiffin won with this French-Renaissance-style design. It's a gorgeous, majestic building which overlooks what is now the City Botanical Gardens. The first gathering of parliament was held here in 1868 and continues today.

May Theme Day: Statues

Being the first of the month, it's a theme day for members of the City Daily Photo community and this month the theme is statues. This is the Queen Victoria statue outside the Treasury Heritage Hotel (formally the Land Registary Building) in Queen's Park. Unveiled in 1906 (5 years after she died), it's by English sculptor Sir Thomas Brock who did the big Imperial Memorial outside Buckingham Palace among many others and is a replica of one he did in Portsmouth, England. She's a pretty imposing figure up on her plinth, her dark bronze features contrasting sharply with the floaty nymphs behind her.

Did you know... Queensland was originally going to be called "Cooksland" but they decided to change it in her honour.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants