Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
All photos in this series were taken on 05 June 2023.
All locations were within a morning loop-walking distance of Wilpena Resort, or a deal less than one hour’s driving distance from Wilpena Pound.
The Flinders Ranges region is a unique and beautiful part of Australia.
Winter is the best time to go there, and most of it is less than a full day’s drive away from Adelaide.
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Even as a spectacularly distorted reflection on the facade of another, lower and more “glassy” edifice, St Martins Tower is unmistakably itself.
Since we moved to Perth in 1983 many different tenants have “badged” St Martins Tower; as you can see in lower right hand quarter of the above photo, the current logo is that of ICBC – a Chinese bank.
From 1978 to 1988 St Martins Tower (140 metres) was Perth tallest building.
In the much more crowded and taller 2024 skyline, it is #10.
The #1 ranking, however, has remained unchanged for 32 years; Central Park (249 metres) still looks down on all other WA rooftops.
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Architecturally speaking, much of what stands tall in Perth is depressingly typical of what stands tall in just about every other substantial city on “our” planet.
Most post-1960 “towers” are both bland and brutal.
However, Perth’s unusually intense winter light can work “magic”, when combined with the happy fact that “vertical”, “flat” glass panes are hardly ever truly vertical or truly flat.
Comments closed…and it’s “companion animal” is a 5.6 tonne numbat!
Together, they make one hell of an “entry statement” – or “exit statement” – for those who travel by ferry to and/or from the South Perth foreshore.
Not coincidentally, South Perth’s major attraction is Perth Zoo, which is within easy walking distance of the ferry station.
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This particular tea house was commendable: the ambience was authentic, unfussily lovely, its tea & “goodies” were very palatable, and the “live” music was of a high standard – not merely “close enough, for tourists”.
Keyboards, synthetic “beats” and excessive reverb + compression were all pleasingly absent.
“Attracting tourists” was part of this tea house’s equation, but only part; very evidently, many local people liked it.
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The above photo was taken in Kashgar’s livestock market – a fascinating place, which Pelican Yoga will eventually explore in much more detail.
The particular characteristics that define “premium” sheep are partly environmental, and partly cultural; the “best” sheep on offer in China doubtless look “highly exotic” to most Australians.
To most Chinese people, Australia’s highly-prized merinos would doubtless appear equally “strange”.
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Uyghur teas do not necessarily primarily involve leaves of Camellia sinensis.
(Camellia sinensis is the leaf source for nearly all of the world’s non-“herbal” teas)
Leaves – of whatever species – are not necessarily the key element in Uyghur teas.
More than one species was sourced for the pictured “loose” tea; its “hero” ingredients are flowers.
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In Kashgar’s “old city”, closed doors and windows often deliver more visual delight to a passer-by than do open ones.
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According to the sun, it was not yet 11 am on 24 May 2024.
I took the photo in Kashgar’s “old city”, looking across to “new” Kashgar’s TV tower.
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The pictured location is circa 80 minutes driving distance from White Sand Lake, and within two hours or so of downtown Kashgar.
(astonishingly low speed limits apply to buses on the Chinese section of the Karakoram Highway, even in benign weather. The road itself is excellent. A rational, less rigid approach to speed limits would enable considerably shorter, safe driving times on days when ice and snow are entirely absent from the Highway’s surface. On the day when the rules become rational, motorists should be sure to wave at the pigs who’ll then be flying high, above)
I took this photo from the bed of the Ghez River, adjacent to where it is crossed by the Karakoram Highway.
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