San Jacinto Monument

I like this picture because it reminds me of Texas. A Lone Star and a lot of sky.

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Battleship Texas

The keel for the Battleship Texas was laid in 1911 and it was the last coal fired steam piston battleship built (later converted to oil). It has 14" guns, 2 in each of 5 turrents. It saw duty in WWI and WWII and is the only surviving dreadnaught of it's era.

Lou on a Red Couch

This is Lou sitting on a red couch.

Little Girl Feeding a Parrot

This picture was taken in the Lamington Rain Forest at the visitor's center. I was taking pictures of parrots in the trees after most of the tourists had left when this little girl came over to me and asked me if I wanted some bird feed. I told her no, I'm just taking pictures.

She then proceeded to feed this parrot that is almost as colorful as she is. I remember Megan used to look like this on occasion when we allowed her to dress herself...

Great Barrier Reef

This shows the kind of picture you can get with simple equipment underwater these days. It was taken with my point and shoot camera in a plastic camera pouch that cost about $15 while I was snorkeling. It has it's limitations but in shallow water it works just fine.

We were in the Whitsunday Island's on a day sail. Very beautiful and highly recommended...

Crimson Rosellas

Two Crimson Rosellas bathing in a pool in the Lamington National Forest.

Red-Necked Pademelon

The red-necked pademelon is a forest living wallaby about the size of a big rabbit. This one (and quite a few others) were at O'Reillys in the Lamington National Forest near Brisbane. The pademelon doesn't use his tail like most kangaroos and wallabys do - it's not a tripod. There are three types - one lives in PNG, another in Tasmania, and then these in the Queensland. They are pretty shy but fairly tame around O'Reillys and come out at dusk and dawn. I got quite a few pictures of them.

Pademelon Fight!

I don't know what these Pademelons were fighting about but they were going at it. It was getting pretty dark but there was some sunset light coming from behind the bushes. They were moving pretty fast and are a blur in the picture. When they heard the camera shutter they sat and looked at me with a "we weren't fighting" look. Pretty soon they went back to fighting...

Masks

This week I am writing about Papua New Guinea (PNG) crafts. I was there last week and visited an interesting native craft sales outlet. To be honest, I don't know a whole lot about them yet. Here is a web site if you want to do a little research: janesoceana. Keep following the links or do your own search - I suggest adding Sepik River to the search since many of the best carvings seem to come from there.

Crocodiles are big on these masks - note the tongues of the two upper ones. Sometimes you see crocodiles substituted for other body parts on statues. Obviously the masks and statues have spiritual and magical powers for the PNG people.

In addition to what I have posted here, it is also possible to buy small gold items made locally. Goldsmithing is a relatively new skill however since gold mining was introduced in the 20th century.

Prices on these things are pretty reasonable. I will be taking orders for Christmas soon...

Three Dudes

These three dudes are pretty impressive in person. The statue on the left is over 8 feet high. Statues of this type have a carved man behind the mask, usually seated. They usually have another mask fitted to the back of their head also. The masks decorated with all sorts of natural items and are carved basically from trees. Like I said, impressive...

Statues

You can find all sorts of small statues. These examples vary from about 2 to 3 feet tall or so. Some are women and some are men. Many are decorated with feathers, hair, natural fibers, or shell. You have to be careful with these - they won't let you bring them back into Australia if there are any signs of insects or endangered species...

Story Board

Story boards are a relatively new craft in PNG created for trade and are nice. Originally they were done on bark for display in the men's lodge. Later they were turned into carvings. You can hang them on walls or one guy told me he mounted his under a glass top to make a coffee table.

Typically they tell a story - this one has hunting scenes in it and what look like some village life of some sort.

Pots

Pots are among the craft items that are available. There is one style that looks like a fish with a wide mouth I like. I liked these with the faces. The coloring is not glazed - it is dry and powdery like a colored clay that is painted on. I bought one for David and the color is water soluble so it definitely isn't dishwater safe.