Thursday Thirteen 005: Places I Love.
It's still Thursday somewhere, right? ;)
So this is thirteen places I've visited that I love, for various reasons, and I hope you enjoy this entry. It's a little late because I have a cold (again! Argh!), so yeah. Onward!
13 of my fave places
1. Shaniko, Oregon.
Good article about it. The only photos of inside the hotel.
I visited Shaniko with corellian_sugar when I was in the US last year and it totally exceeded my hopes as to how awesome it would be. My only regret is that we didn't spend more time there. (And at Bridal Veil and Antelope, but that's how daylight lasting only X hours goes.) This ghost town that isn't quite is awesome. I love the fact it was like walking back in time, the place is so lovingly preserved by the few residents that live nearby, on the outskirts of the town or in the town of Antelope. The whole area was simply breathtaking - all this yellow rolling hills with sharp vicious rocky outcrops and then suddenly... an old west town. I toy idly with one day setting a story in Shaniko or having Shaniko play a small part in my Archangels novel.
2. Centralia, Pensylvania.
Good article about the town. And another one. Centralia is the inspiration for the Silent Hill films and is used as a location in the film.
Totally worth hiking around through the undergrowth to find a miner's wash station hidden away, look and poke at coal shale, smell sulfur and generally be an abandoned places geek. g_shadowslayer braved the narrow, winding path behind the hill of dirt with me to find the wash station and we pawed through it wondering what the hell it used to be. Consensus on the abandonedplaces comm suggested it was a wash station/house, not a residence as we'd thought. I'm a bit sad we didn't see the smoking road with all its holes and lumpiness, but hey, we saw ruins and weirdness and all round awesomeness.
3. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC.
The Byzantine collection.
Another one I visited while overseas, this time at the suggestion of strangemuses, who told me it had a huge collection of Byzantine artefacts and as I am a Byzantine loving history geek, I jumped at the chance to visit. It didn't disappoint, and as I doubt I'll actually get to Istanbul, this was a very brilliant substitue. What she didn't tell me about, however, was the Music Room. The whole room is late medieval/early Renaissance artefacts, art and furniture and the ceiling is just breathtaking. I sort of leaned against the wall while the curator eyed me suspiciously and stared at the ceiling. I may have shed a tear, but thankfully no one saw that. And why? Unless the V&A or the Louvre or the London Museum or the York Museum do a travelling exhibition of medieval art, etc, I will never see these things. And this was just... well, it was. Basically.
4. Sci-fi/Rock n Roll museum, Seattle.
Main info page.
The funnel of guitars from floor to ceiling! The Jimi Hendrix collection! The life size Gort saying hi! The singing Death Star! The first edition pulp SF novels! The SF Wall of Fame! Yeah, I was in my element here. Health shit notwithstanding. corellian_sugar took me here on the way back from Canada and it was *awesome*.
5. Stonehenge, Washington.
Good article about Stonehenge. And another with great photos.
I am a lover of the weird, wonderful, crazy and kitsch and when corellian_sugar told me about Stonehenge and sent me a photo, I knew I had to see it. I hobbled around it cackling like a delighted hyena and took a ton of photos, including getting T to take one of me doing my 'I am the high priestess of the sun!' pose. Also the view from Stonehenge of the Gorge and the river is breathtaking. It's such a beautiful spot and another one I'd like to feature in a story at some point, somewhere. The idea of Archangels fighting demons in the middle of a Stonehenge in the US appeals to me a lot.
6. Talc Alf/Ochre Pits/Parachilna Gorge
Talc Alf, video of the Ochre Pits, which doesn't really do it justice, Parachilna Gorge.
When I was a little Star, aged 12, my primary school took us on a week long school camp. We went to the Flinders Ranges and Leigh Creek, so right up to central and northern South Australia. This was my first time in this part of my country and it really stayed with me. So much so, that everytime I go up there, these places are a must to visit. Talc Alf may well be an eccentric bloke in the bush with some strange ideas, but he carves the most gorgeous things in talc stone, and I still have the piece I bought back then, a dove. (If anyone wants to see it, let me know, and I'll take a photo of it.) The Ochre Pits are still used by the local Aboriginals to this day, for the ochre used in their tribal rituals and the vids and photos really don't do it justice - the richness of the colours, the softness of the ochre pits themselves, these just don't come across until you actually see and touch it for yourself. Parachilna Gorge is one of many gorges around Australia, but I like it because it's a pretty walk and it's peaceful and you can get chased by pink and grey galahs. Also, Ochre's coloru meanings: yellow represents the sun and means rebirth and new beginnings (and who couldn't use one of those every now and then), pink is the colour of lungs and therefore breath, purple means cleansing.
7. Wilpena Pound
One of the most majestic places on Earth. The Age article is a good one. Wilpena is Aboriginal for 'The place of bent fingers.'
I have climbed up the sides of this thing and down into the flat center then up again. The view is amazing. The hike is hard. I couldn't do these days. I've done it many times in my youth, teens and twenties. It's a natural amphitheatre which is full of wildlife and scrub - the hike can be arduous and the rangers do recommend if you're not used to it, to do the beginners hike. That takes two hours. The experienced hike is six hours up, six hours down, rinse, repeat, and yep, I've done that one too. It really is beautiful and you don't really notice the passage of time, because there's so much to look at.
8. Kanyaka Ruins
Info page for the ruins.
Kanyaka is one of those many stories in outback colonial Australia - Europeans, ignorant of just how harsh it is to live outback decide to do it anyway, either for gold mining, sheep farming, cattle farming or crop farming. Kanyaka was a livestock station and for a while, it did very well. Then, Australia's climate being what it is, drought hit. Everything died and finally, the station owner and his surviving family and workers moved to the nearby town of Quorn and the station was left to fall into ruins. It's not a heritage listed site and it's really eerie to walk through the ruins of a huge homestead that used to house over 100 people and was such a major part of the livestock trade in the nineteenth century. Eerie, but beautiful too - I love these ruins and I always get a sense of hope and tenacity from them, unlike other ruins I've visited in the Flinders Ranges which have been nothing but despairing and sad. So yeah, Kanyaka is awesome.
9. La Perouse, New South Wales.
I'm actually amazed there's a good site about La Perouse! And another one!
Sydneysiders (I'm looking at meredith_shayne!) are probably looking at me askance right now and wondering, "La Perouse? Really? Seriously, Star?" But yep, really and seriously. I've been there a few times with my brother and he's got friends there, but I've always enjoyed myself, poking around it. Next time I'm in Sydney, he's taking me there again, so I can trot over to the fort on Bare Island there, I've decided.
10. The Big Macadamia, Queensland.
Yup.
It's a big macadamia nut. Seriously. You see, Australia is a land of big things. Big orange, pineapple, rocking horse, Murray cod, koala - you name it, there's probably a big thing somewhere of it. How the trend of big things came to be isn't known, but there's lots of them and they constantly crack me up. The first time I saw the macadamia, I laughed so hard, I couldn't stop. It's part of the now closed Big Pineapple complex (and I'm sad it's closed, the whole place is wonderfully cracktastic), and inside the nut is a shop where you can buy, you guessed it, macadamia nuts!
11. Simpsons Gap, Northern Territory.
One site, small article and more detailed information.
In my bio, I talk about how when I was a very little Star, perhaps aged 6 or 7, I won a competition by drawing Humpty Dumpty with an Aussie hat, complete with corks and writing a little story about it. My prize was a holiday to the Northern Territory, so mum and I took five days and up we went to Alice Springs. My teacher at the time, I remember mum telling me, was thrilled I was doing this because she felt that travel was one of the best teachers for a child. I remember that week in the Alice with great fondness - we stayed at a youth hostel and I made friends with other guests and the owner, we went to the River Todd and I had baramundi for the first time (best fish EVER), I rode a camel for the first time while mum went "Eeeeeeeek!", and we visited Simpson's Gap. Simpson's Gap is an image that's stayed with me all these years because I remember how cold it was in the middle of the gap. The water was cool, the rock walls were cold and red and it was amazingly silent. I loved it. So, Simpson's Gap is one of those places that stays with you forever.
12. The Big Merino, NSW.
He's really the biggest merino in the world. And he's in Goulburn.
Another big thing. The Big Merino is awesome. Inside his belly is a shop where you can buy... wait for it... wool! And wool products! You can also buy jam, which is a big part of Goulburn's industry. But he's a big concrete merino sheep in the middle of nothing. I was coming home from one of my many visits to Sydney, and doing it the cheap way, ie, by very cramped bus. The drive is something like 16 hours, and it's all in one hit. Yeah, we're hard arse here. XD So, I'd had a nap, and I woke up, it was around mid-morning and heading towards lunch time and the bus driver said we were stopping at Goulburn for lunch. For miles around was nothing but flat arable land, crops as far as the eye could see... and this big grey thing rearing out of the middle of it all. It got bigger and bigger as we got closer and then I realised that oh. It was a giant fucking sheep in the middle of nowhere. And I love it. It's been moved to a different location in Goulburn since I first saw it, but I'm happy to have seen it and hung out there a few times, in the original and new locations.
13. Noosa Heads, Queensland.
General info and a little more.
If Heaven is a beach, it's Noosa Heads. This is the most beautiful beach I've ever seen, and I live in a country full of beautiful beaches, where each curve of the coastline is more beautiful and breathtaking than the one before it. The water is blue and crystal clear, the rainforest is lush and green, the wildlife is *everywhere*, the air is warm and comfortable, the sand is white, the town shopping precinct is like a lazy, easygoing, non-rushed area, it's just amazing. If I was going to retire anywhere outside of South Australia, Noosa would be it. Alas, that I am not rich. Noosa Heads really is a paradise.
And now some pics. I didn't take these, no. Under the cut to save flists.
Pic 1: Simpson's Gap, NT. Pic 2: The Big Macadamia, QLD. Pic 3: Wilpena Pound, SA. Pic 4: Kanayaka Ruins, SA. Pic 5: The music room at Dunbarton Oaks, Washington DC. Pic 6: The Big Merino, NSW. Pic 7: Centralia, PA. Pic 8: Wilpena Pound, SA. Pic 9: La Perouse, NSW. Pic 10: Noosa Heads, QLD. Pic 11: The Amish! Just because. Pic 12 - 13: The Ochre Pits, SA. Pic 14: Noosa Heads, QLD. Pic 15: Music room at Dunbarton Oaks, Washington DC. Pic 16: Shaniko, OR. Pic 17: Settler's house in the middle of the amphitheatre of Wilpena Pound, SA. Pick 18: Kanyaka Ruins, SA. Pic 19: Noosa Heads, QLD. Pic 20 - 21: The Ochre Pits, SA. Pic 22: Centralia, PA. Pic 23: The Big Pineapple complex where the Big Macadamia is, QLD. Pic 24: The Big Merino, NSW. Pic 25: Simpson's Gap, NT. Pic 26 - 27: La Perouse, NSW. Pic 28: Talc art by Talc Alf.
So this is thirteen places I've visited that I love, for various reasons, and I hope you enjoy this entry. It's a little late because I have a cold (again! Argh!), so yeah. Onward!
13 of my fave places
1. Shaniko, Oregon.
Good article about it. The only photos of inside the hotel.
I visited Shaniko with corellian_sugar when I was in the US last year and it totally exceeded my hopes as to how awesome it would be. My only regret is that we didn't spend more time there. (And at Bridal Veil and Antelope, but that's how daylight lasting only X hours goes.) This ghost town that isn't quite is awesome. I love the fact it was like walking back in time, the place is so lovingly preserved by the few residents that live nearby, on the outskirts of the town or in the town of Antelope. The whole area was simply breathtaking - all this yellow rolling hills with sharp vicious rocky outcrops and then suddenly... an old west town. I toy idly with one day setting a story in Shaniko or having Shaniko play a small part in my Archangels novel.
2. Centralia, Pensylvania.
Good article about the town. And another one. Centralia is the inspiration for the Silent Hill films and is used as a location in the film.
Totally worth hiking around through the undergrowth to find a miner's wash station hidden away, look and poke at coal shale, smell sulfur and generally be an abandoned places geek. g_shadowslayer braved the narrow, winding path behind the hill of dirt with me to find the wash station and we pawed through it wondering what the hell it used to be. Consensus on the abandonedplaces comm suggested it was a wash station/house, not a residence as we'd thought. I'm a bit sad we didn't see the smoking road with all its holes and lumpiness, but hey, we saw ruins and weirdness and all round awesomeness.
3. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC.
The Byzantine collection.
Another one I visited while overseas, this time at the suggestion of strangemuses, who told me it had a huge collection of Byzantine artefacts and as I am a Byzantine loving history geek, I jumped at the chance to visit. It didn't disappoint, and as I doubt I'll actually get to Istanbul, this was a very brilliant substitue. What she didn't tell me about, however, was the Music Room. The whole room is late medieval/early Renaissance artefacts, art and furniture and the ceiling is just breathtaking. I sort of leaned against the wall while the curator eyed me suspiciously and stared at the ceiling. I may have shed a tear, but thankfully no one saw that. And why? Unless the V&A or the Louvre or the London Museum or the York Museum do a travelling exhibition of medieval art, etc, I will never see these things. And this was just... well, it was. Basically.
4. Sci-fi/Rock n Roll museum, Seattle.
Main info page.
The funnel of guitars from floor to ceiling! The Jimi Hendrix collection! The life size Gort saying hi! The singing Death Star! The first edition pulp SF novels! The SF Wall of Fame! Yeah, I was in my element here. Health shit notwithstanding. corellian_sugar took me here on the way back from Canada and it was *awesome*.
5. Stonehenge, Washington.
Good article about Stonehenge. And another with great photos.
I am a lover of the weird, wonderful, crazy and kitsch and when corellian_sugar told me about Stonehenge and sent me a photo, I knew I had to see it. I hobbled around it cackling like a delighted hyena and took a ton of photos, including getting T to take one of me doing my 'I am the high priestess of the sun!' pose. Also the view from Stonehenge of the Gorge and the river is breathtaking. It's such a beautiful spot and another one I'd like to feature in a story at some point, somewhere. The idea of Archangels fighting demons in the middle of a Stonehenge in the US appeals to me a lot.
6. Talc Alf/Ochre Pits/Parachilna Gorge
Talc Alf, video of the Ochre Pits, which doesn't really do it justice, Parachilna Gorge.
When I was a little Star, aged 12, my primary school took us on a week long school camp. We went to the Flinders Ranges and Leigh Creek, so right up to central and northern South Australia. This was my first time in this part of my country and it really stayed with me. So much so, that everytime I go up there, these places are a must to visit. Talc Alf may well be an eccentric bloke in the bush with some strange ideas, but he carves the most gorgeous things in talc stone, and I still have the piece I bought back then, a dove. (If anyone wants to see it, let me know, and I'll take a photo of it.) The Ochre Pits are still used by the local Aboriginals to this day, for the ochre used in their tribal rituals and the vids and photos really don't do it justice - the richness of the colours, the softness of the ochre pits themselves, these just don't come across until you actually see and touch it for yourself. Parachilna Gorge is one of many gorges around Australia, but I like it because it's a pretty walk and it's peaceful and you can get chased by pink and grey galahs. Also, Ochre's coloru meanings: yellow represents the sun and means rebirth and new beginnings (and who couldn't use one of those every now and then), pink is the colour of lungs and therefore breath, purple means cleansing.
7. Wilpena Pound
One of the most majestic places on Earth. The Age article is a good one. Wilpena is Aboriginal for 'The place of bent fingers.'
I have climbed up the sides of this thing and down into the flat center then up again. The view is amazing. The hike is hard. I couldn't do these days. I've done it many times in my youth, teens and twenties. It's a natural amphitheatre which is full of wildlife and scrub - the hike can be arduous and the rangers do recommend if you're not used to it, to do the beginners hike. That takes two hours. The experienced hike is six hours up, six hours down, rinse, repeat, and yep, I've done that one too. It really is beautiful and you don't really notice the passage of time, because there's so much to look at.
8. Kanyaka Ruins
Info page for the ruins.
Kanyaka is one of those many stories in outback colonial Australia - Europeans, ignorant of just how harsh it is to live outback decide to do it anyway, either for gold mining, sheep farming, cattle farming or crop farming. Kanyaka was a livestock station and for a while, it did very well. Then, Australia's climate being what it is, drought hit. Everything died and finally, the station owner and his surviving family and workers moved to the nearby town of Quorn and the station was left to fall into ruins. It's not a heritage listed site and it's really eerie to walk through the ruins of a huge homestead that used to house over 100 people and was such a major part of the livestock trade in the nineteenth century. Eerie, but beautiful too - I love these ruins and I always get a sense of hope and tenacity from them, unlike other ruins I've visited in the Flinders Ranges which have been nothing but despairing and sad. So yeah, Kanyaka is awesome.
9. La Perouse, New South Wales.
I'm actually amazed there's a good site about La Perouse! And another one!
Sydneysiders (I'm looking at meredith_shayne!) are probably looking at me askance right now and wondering, "La Perouse? Really? Seriously, Star?" But yep, really and seriously. I've been there a few times with my brother and he's got friends there, but I've always enjoyed myself, poking around it. Next time I'm in Sydney, he's taking me there again, so I can trot over to the fort on Bare Island there, I've decided.
10. The Big Macadamia, Queensland.
Yup.
It's a big macadamia nut. Seriously. You see, Australia is a land of big things. Big orange, pineapple, rocking horse, Murray cod, koala - you name it, there's probably a big thing somewhere of it. How the trend of big things came to be isn't known, but there's lots of them and they constantly crack me up. The first time I saw the macadamia, I laughed so hard, I couldn't stop. It's part of the now closed Big Pineapple complex (and I'm sad it's closed, the whole place is wonderfully cracktastic), and inside the nut is a shop where you can buy, you guessed it, macadamia nuts!
11. Simpsons Gap, Northern Territory.
One site, small article and more detailed information.
In my bio, I talk about how when I was a very little Star, perhaps aged 6 or 7, I won a competition by drawing Humpty Dumpty with an Aussie hat, complete with corks and writing a little story about it. My prize was a holiday to the Northern Territory, so mum and I took five days and up we went to Alice Springs. My teacher at the time, I remember mum telling me, was thrilled I was doing this because she felt that travel was one of the best teachers for a child. I remember that week in the Alice with great fondness - we stayed at a youth hostel and I made friends with other guests and the owner, we went to the River Todd and I had baramundi for the first time (best fish EVER), I rode a camel for the first time while mum went "Eeeeeeeek!", and we visited Simpson's Gap. Simpson's Gap is an image that's stayed with me all these years because I remember how cold it was in the middle of the gap. The water was cool, the rock walls were cold and red and it was amazingly silent. I loved it. So, Simpson's Gap is one of those places that stays with you forever.
12. The Big Merino, NSW.
He's really the biggest merino in the world. And he's in Goulburn.
Another big thing. The Big Merino is awesome. Inside his belly is a shop where you can buy... wait for it... wool! And wool products! You can also buy jam, which is a big part of Goulburn's industry. But he's a big concrete merino sheep in the middle of nothing. I was coming home from one of my many visits to Sydney, and doing it the cheap way, ie, by very cramped bus. The drive is something like 16 hours, and it's all in one hit. Yeah, we're hard arse here. XD So, I'd had a nap, and I woke up, it was around mid-morning and heading towards lunch time and the bus driver said we were stopping at Goulburn for lunch. For miles around was nothing but flat arable land, crops as far as the eye could see... and this big grey thing rearing out of the middle of it all. It got bigger and bigger as we got closer and then I realised that oh. It was a giant fucking sheep in the middle of nowhere. And I love it. It's been moved to a different location in Goulburn since I first saw it, but I'm happy to have seen it and hung out there a few times, in the original and new locations.
13. Noosa Heads, Queensland.
General info and a little more.
If Heaven is a beach, it's Noosa Heads. This is the most beautiful beach I've ever seen, and I live in a country full of beautiful beaches, where each curve of the coastline is more beautiful and breathtaking than the one before it. The water is blue and crystal clear, the rainforest is lush and green, the wildlife is *everywhere*, the air is warm and comfortable, the sand is white, the town shopping precinct is like a lazy, easygoing, non-rushed area, it's just amazing. If I was going to retire anywhere outside of South Australia, Noosa would be it. Alas, that I am not rich. Noosa Heads really is a paradise.
And now some pics. I didn't take these, no. Under the cut to save flists.
Pic 1: Simpson's Gap, NT. Pic 2: The Big Macadamia, QLD. Pic 3: Wilpena Pound, SA. Pic 4: Kanayaka Ruins, SA. Pic 5: The music room at Dunbarton Oaks, Washington DC. Pic 6: The Big Merino, NSW. Pic 7: Centralia, PA. Pic 8: Wilpena Pound, SA. Pic 9: La Perouse, NSW. Pic 10: Noosa Heads, QLD. Pic 11: The Amish! Just because. Pic 12 - 13: The Ochre Pits, SA. Pic 14: Noosa Heads, QLD. Pic 15: Music room at Dunbarton Oaks, Washington DC. Pic 16: Shaniko, OR. Pic 17: Settler's house in the middle of the amphitheatre of Wilpena Pound, SA. Pick 18: Kanyaka Ruins, SA. Pic 19: Noosa Heads, QLD. Pic 20 - 21: The Ochre Pits, SA. Pic 22: Centralia, PA. Pic 23: The Big Pineapple complex where the Big Macadamia is, QLD. Pic 24: The Big Merino, NSW. Pic 25: Simpson's Gap, NT. Pic 26 - 27: La Perouse, NSW. Pic 28: Talc art by Talc Alf.