Fairbanks Timewarp

Visiting the northern city of Fairbanks was a journey back in time. Buildings were out of the 1960s. Even the poshest hotel in town was straight out of the 1970s, with its posh restaurant having a menu seemingly unchanged since that decade.

Musk Oks

At a university large animal research station, we met a musk-ox, standing in its water trough to keep cool on a warm 10 degree day.

Bus

Taking the National Park ranger tour on their ancient bus was the only way into the park. They even supplied us all with a lunchbox, with nuts and beef jerky.

Caribooo !

And here's a Denali caribou.

Denali National Park

On day 2 of my Alaskan roadtrip, I reached Denali National Park. The landscape was stark and barren, but the lack of vegetation did allow frequent wildlife sightings. Here a golden eagle swoops on a grizzly bear.

More Aurora

By popular demand, here are more of my aurora borealis snaps. The bright light in the bottom one is the rising moon. In Alaska, the ice in the atmosphere seems to add a diffuse appearance to the moon.

Back from the Arctic

My arctic expedition is now over, and despite the jetlag lingering, I've had time to process most of my thousands of photos. The highlight of the whole trip, and the most wondrous scene I've ever witnessed was the appearance of the northern lights. Here are some photos I took from off the coast of Alaska. Luckily the conditions were dead calm, otherwise the long exposure (8 seconds) would have resulted in blurriness.

Cute as a ...

... button mushroom.

This one resembles a plush red velvet button.

More Bunkery Bayness

Bunker Bay

What a perfect place for a picnic.

Mammoth Cave

Visiting Mammoth Cave last weekend was awe inspiring, but disappointing at the same time. When I visited with school-friends a quarter of a century ago, we were at liberty to explore the caverns on our own. We borrowed the key from the ranger and unlocked the gates, and wandered in any direction that took our fancy. We turned off the tourist lights and relied on our torches, and headed into small crevices ever downward, in search of a route down to an underground stream, and then a alternative way out. We spent half a day in there, but never did find that way out, but it was ten times more involving that merely walking along the official path. It's a shame that those days are over.

Yelverton

From my recent stay in Yelverton last weekend, a pretty avenue of gum trees.

Midwinter Frostiness

This is the type of Perth weather forecast I dream of when sweltering in the middle of a February heatwave. One day of frost coming up next Thursday.

Mmmm funghi

Edible or not, who can tell? Found in King's Park, I was tempted to take it home for lunch.

Dolphin Quay

The view from Mandurah's dolphin quay, as the rainclouds moved in yesterday lunchtime.

Spandau Ballet

Seen at the Perth Arena a few weeks ago.

Evening Cats

Snug in front of the heater.

Hi SK !

Hi SK. If you're ever in the neighbourhood, drop in ! We're still in the same spot.

Smoky Subiaco

Being perennially tardy in reaching Subiaco stadium, I'm never there in time to see the bouncedown for Dockers matches... until last night, when the spectacular firework show created smoke that took minutes to clear.

Top Ten Novels of 2015

My continuing addiction to Candy Crush has reduced my reading rate somewhat, but I've still discovered enough material to publish my interim top ten for 2015, in descending order.

1. Phases of the Moon: Stories from Six Decades (Robert Silverberg)

2. The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)

3. Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier)

4. Insomnia (Stephen King)

5. Coming Home (Jack McDevitt)

6. Proxima (Stephen Baxter)

7. Lamentation (C.J. Sansom)

8. The Tommyknockers (Stephen King)

9. Beyond the Hanging Wall (Sara Douglass)

10. Startide Rising (David Brin)

Flower

This unidentified spiky flower grows on a tree in my garden.

That's the sort of detailed botanical description that decades of watching Gardening Australia has given me.

Zzzzzzzz.. Another Beach Scene

Spinning Around

Spinning around 180 degrees, here's the scene at City Beach before the storm.

More from the Beach

The rain was 10 minutes away now.

Stormy City Beach

I got to City Beach just ahead of the cold front hitting Perth this afternoon.