ABC News reports that: "A German man has become the first person to traverse Australia from south to north using a kite-powered skateboard.
Dirk Gion left South Australia 17 days ago and arrived in Darwin this afternoon.
Mr Gion says the 3,000-kilometre trip was aimed at proving the kite-powered skateboard could be used to travel long distances."
Pete's Points
Gives a whole new meaning to being told to: "Go fly a kite!"
Seriously though, I can see backpackers taking up this challenge in countries all around the world. What you can save on transport costs can be spent on buying a PDA equipped with GPS, Camera and satellite phone so that you can always tell where you are, not be lonely and also be in a position to uplink your story of the day to your favourite BLOG.
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Ephesus - Turkey
Library
Ephesus is excellent - rich wonderful ruins with wide paved streets in marble. There was an excellent theatre which has been sufficiently restored so that it can be used for performances today.
The other site which was fascinating was the public conveniences - most of which seem in better condition than some of the local conveniences. The silted up former harbour area is a flat unproductive area and salt apparently still leaches from the soil after 2000 years.
Famous biblical figures passed through this town as did Anthony and Cleopatra. Take the virtual tour.
Viznar - Spain
The Viznar Youth Hostel is just 17 kilometres from Granada.
As such, for people with a car this is a simply fabulous place to stay.If you do NOT have a car however commuting is very difficult.
Arriving in Viznar we found out immediately why there was no train connection. Viznar is a small village perched on a hill overlooking Granada. With tiny narrow streets which are quite steep a train is of course quite impossible. There is a bus route, but it is not frequent. The hostel, once a boarding school, has quite spectacular views of the whole of Granada and is located in a wonderful spot. The inside is great and our room for two was fabulous.
Monday, November 01, 2004
Letting the days go by and St. Tropez
One of the great pleasures in France is to find a café with outdoor seating on a lovely sunny day, order your drink of choice - perhaps a pastis, or a pernod, or a coffee, then, depending on your language skills, pretend to read a local paper or something with more English in it, like the International Herald Tribune or (God forbid) USA Today.
What you should really be doing, is to observe the passing parade as it goes about its daily business.
There is something delightfully furtive about observing normal people and speculating about what is happening in their lives. I have often found myself writing down these speculations and creating a story about real people that is a complete work of fiction. My imagination is usually assisted by the fact that I am waiting for my partner who has gone window shopping or more realistically - bargain hunting.
Then again, if the people are boring or there is not much action taking place - you can actually spend the time reading the paper and enjoyig the sunshine and your drink.
Speaking of leting the days go by, it is simply impossible to visit the Riviera without at least sampling St. Tropez.
The villas that you see on the way into the town of St Tropez are sumptuous and nice. The town conjures up pictures of the elegant jet set and the advertising suggests a town filled with the "joie de vivre" of the well dressed socialites flitting their way from one beautiful location to the next.
Reality alas is not nearly as wonderful as the scene that has been painted. It’s actually a small town on the south side of a bay. We think the action goes on in and around the villas. The actual town is merely for the people who provide the services to those who own the villas and their guests.
St Tropez has an enormous marina and some quaint houses, but most of what we saw was geared to servicing the huge yachts which were moored there, capable of being owned only by the super-rich. Million plus dollar boats and all competing with one another for attention. The owners were not readily visible, but their live on crews were doing the necessary work to keep these behemoths shiny and the centre of everyone’s attention. If you wanted to advertise that you had money to burn—this was the place.
What you should really be doing, is to observe the passing parade as it goes about its daily business.
There is something delightfully furtive about observing normal people and speculating about what is happening in their lives. I have often found myself writing down these speculations and creating a story about real people that is a complete work of fiction. My imagination is usually assisted by the fact that I am waiting for my partner who has gone window shopping or more realistically - bargain hunting.
Then again, if the people are boring or there is not much action taking place - you can actually spend the time reading the paper and enjoyig the sunshine and your drink.
Speaking of leting the days go by, it is simply impossible to visit the Riviera without at least sampling St. Tropez.
The villas that you see on the way into the town of St Tropez are sumptuous and nice. The town conjures up pictures of the elegant jet set and the advertising suggests a town filled with the "joie de vivre" of the well dressed socialites flitting their way from one beautiful location to the next.
Reality alas is not nearly as wonderful as the scene that has been painted. It’s actually a small town on the south side of a bay. We think the action goes on in and around the villas. The actual town is merely for the people who provide the services to those who own the villas and their guests.
St Tropez has an enormous marina and some quaint houses, but most of what we saw was geared to servicing the huge yachts which were moored there, capable of being owned only by the super-rich. Million plus dollar boats and all competing with one another for attention. The owners were not readily visible, but their live on crews were doing the necessary work to keep these behemoths shiny and the centre of everyone’s attention. If you wanted to advertise that you had money to burn—this was the place.
Aix en Provence
Aix en Provence is a city packed with people and with many spring fed fountains.
Aix is the place where Cézanne lived and worked.
In many of his paintings the surrounding landscape features as the backdrop. Watching the play of light on the houses and on the landscape it is easy to see what captured his attention and is recorded through his talent.
If you can recall the pictures that he painted try and see whether there is anything in the town of today that you recognise from them.
A sneak preview can be found at: Aix en Provence
Aix is the place where Cézanne lived and worked.
In many of his paintings the surrounding landscape features as the backdrop. Watching the play of light on the houses and on the landscape it is easy to see what captured his attention and is recorded through his talent.
If you can recall the pictures that he painted try and see whether there is anything in the town of today that you recognise from them.
A sneak preview can be found at: Aix en Provence
Nimes
Nimes is a lovely old town. We found parking not far from a very well preserved Roman arena which is still in use today - especially for the French version of bullfighting in which the bull is not killed.
A few minutes walk away, is another oddity, the magnificent and compact ‘Maison Carreé’. This is actually an original Roman temple in excellent condition, dedicated to the grandchildren of Augustus. It has remained in use during its entire history, hence the reason for its good condition. If all you have ever seen are the ruins of a Roman Temple this one is worth a visit if for no other reason than to enable you to really visualise what the ruins looked like before the ravages of the centuries took hold.
Just imagine the house or apartment building you live in today and speculate on how well it could stand up to being over a thousand years old!
To have a look at what you are in for before going there, take a look at Nimes and Maison Carreé
Er . . . . you DO speak French of course?
A few minutes walk away, is another oddity, the magnificent and compact ‘Maison Carreé’. This is actually an original Roman temple in excellent condition, dedicated to the grandchildren of Augustus. It has remained in use during its entire history, hence the reason for its good condition. If all you have ever seen are the ruins of a Roman Temple this one is worth a visit if for no other reason than to enable you to really visualise what the ruins looked like before the ravages of the centuries took hold.
Just imagine the house or apartment building you live in today and speculate on how well it could stand up to being over a thousand years old!
To have a look at what you are in for before going there, take a look at Nimes and Maison Carreé
Er . . . . you DO speak French of course?
Arles
Arles is a lovely town with lots of Roman ruins. The amphitheatre is particularly well preserved and still in use today for all sorts of festivals. The theatre, alas is less impressive. There was a lovely Romanesque church with magnificent carvings and a really well laid out cloister.
We visited this town by chance as it had a Citroen dealer who would service our vehicle.
We styed because of the charm of the place and its excellent food.
To see more of this town before your visit try: Arles
We visited this town by chance as it had a Citroen dealer who would service our vehicle.
We styed because of the charm of the place and its excellent food.
To see more of this town before your visit try: Arles
Perouges
Perouges is an interesting town—named after the people from Perugia in Italy who settled there this lovely little village of some 900 people has not changed much since the 15th Century. So much so, that many of the period movies like the Three Musketeers with Georges Depardieu are set here.
Wandering through the streets is a pleasure especially if you have seen the movie and can identify the places where the action took place.
Have a sneak preview at Perouges
Wandering through the streets is a pleasure especially if you have seen the movie and can identify the places where the action took place.
Have a sneak preview at Perouges
Byere la Vielle
The tiny chapel in this little village has the only frescoes in the Constantinople style from the 12th Century like those that existed in the Cluny monastery (unfortunately now destroyed).
Autun
Once a Roman garrison town named after the emperor Augustus, this town boasts an amphitheatre with seating for 20,000 and some monumental Roman gates.
At the top of the hill on which the town stands, there is a cathedral built in the 11th to 12th centuries with wonderful carvings reputed to have been done by Gislebertus.
In the nearby Musée Rolin (3, rue des Bancs 71400 AUTUN Phone +33 3 85 52 09 76 - Fax +33 3 85 52 47 41) there is also a collection of mediaeval paintings including one of Moses parting the Red Sea and some lovely Roman artefacts.
To see more of this town before you actually go there try: Autun
At the top of the hill on which the town stands, there is a cathedral built in the 11th to 12th centuries with wonderful carvings reputed to have been done by Gislebertus.
In the nearby Musée Rolin (3, rue des Bancs 71400 AUTUN Phone +33 3 85 52 09 76 - Fax +33 3 85 52 47 41) there is also a collection of mediaeval paintings including one of Moses parting the Red Sea and some lovely Roman artefacts.
To see more of this town before you actually go there try: Autun
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