Trendy Market Threads

Vintage clothing stall bathed in early morning sun at the West End Markets.

Rush Hour

Let Them Eat Cack!

Spotted at the children's cake competition at the West End State School Fiesta yesterday.

Traffic Stopping Art (number 47)

Welcome back to our meander through Brisbane and it's painted traffic signal boxes. We're up to 46 - wow my feet are killing me!  This one is on Adelaide Street near the junction of Albert Street and it's by artist Douglas Trudgeon.

Rogue Cosies

Decorated bollards on the south side of the Goodwill Bridge with thoughtfully designed holes at the top for the lights. Aaaaah.

Hand In Glove

Continuing from yesterday's post about these knitters who have gone in overnight and wrapped things up in their winter clothes... here's the hand sculpture on Eagle Street by Sebastian Di Mauro. Normally, the hand looks like this.

The project, which includes wrapped up lamp-posts, statues and bollards, a clothes line and a giant spider web, had over 800 contributors, knitting for months to make this all happen. Find out more here.

Want to visit all the sites yourself? See a map with the sites marked here.

I Knit Brisbane Project

To coincide with the first day of winter in Brisbane (June 1st), a bunch of rogue knitters have wrapped up parts of the city all nice and cosy in some fantastic woollies. I had a wander around town yesterday and found statues, bollards, lamp-posts and buildings that were all looking a bit cozier than usual. This statue of Thomas Joseph Ryan (premier of Queensland 1915-1919) looks very fetching with his bag and his shawl, don't you think?

More about this tomorrow!

Church Dangles Enticing Carrot:

June Theme Day: Funny Signs

This is an adult shop.
Forgive my teenage humour.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

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.