Panda love

The Taipei Zoo, which was established 102 years ago has a Panda enclosure and they were delightful to watch as they ate their snacks and stripped bamboo or rolled around with huge ice blocks that held  a tasty treat in the centre.

The gardens were very tropical and well maintained. We are finding Taipei is clean, people are kind and helpful and the traffic obeys the signals!

These were the colourful doors in the ladies toilets. Aussie and Taiwanese bonding!

And a super message for us all.

Life in the freezer- day 23

Our second day of travel to our Altan Nar [Golden Mountain] destination begins across an icy landscape. The sparse, hardy plants have a dusting of ice.

The sun comes up and turns the landscape into a million,magical sparkles.

A sign!

Wind shapes the snow drifts across the rocky ground. The snow is an unusual event in the Gobi, which is generally warmer than Ulaanbaatar.

We stop for a few photos with long shadows also captured. We are thankful that our driver is very good at negotiating the tough conditions safely especially as we are travelling alone in one vehicle.

When we see a ger or a goat and camel herder we stop and ask for directions as we try to find the well we need to use as our marker point for the last leg. The conditions of the rough ground and washouts make our going very slow. Will we get there before nightfall?

This is camel country and we pass many herds.

Modern transport on the left meets country transport. 

Meeting an eagle

Well this is something I haven't done before! I didn't know if I'd be strong enough to hold the eagle but he was surprisingly light.

It was an awesome experience. Another eagle, an owl and a vulture were also lined up here at this spot for tourists on the way to the Chinggis complex.

Here another visitor poses with the vulture- what an amazing wing span!

And the Bactrian camels are so pretty compared to the Australian variety.

 

 

Yak and camel wool

The Mongolians are noted for the beautiful cashmere clothing available. The fine cashmere wool comes from goats but yak and camel hair is also used to make clothing and blankets. The scarf above is 50% yak and 50% baby camel wool. Not as light as cashmere but just as soft to the touch.

 
The shop named Mary and Martha have a large range of items in yak and camel. These colours are all natural from the animals and I really like how they have combined them.

 

Sunrise and sapi

Sunrise at Jasri on the east coast of Bali near Candi Dasa seen while out on an early morning walk.

Also encountered were the beautiful sapi [cow] of Bali, tethered to palms or pandanus.

Going to the dogs

Visited the Sun Dog Kennels in Talkeetna to see some of he dogs that run the gruelling Iditarod race over 1,000 miles of snow. This puppy could be a future champion.

A poster from the race.

Inside the hut where we were had a very informative talk about the race and the dogs.

Summer in Alaska with lots of flower baskets.

 

Elk

A young male elk, I think. Can you see the velvety antlers?

This lamp base is also made in different materials and a popular item for sale in the tourist shops. 

Wildlife

We have been fortunate in spotting wildlife on our travels here. Most of the time Bob is capturing them via his telephoto lens and getting great shots. This is a female Bighorn Sheep. They are often seen along the roadside eating the green pick or licking the soil for minerals. They are shedding their winter coats so look quite scruffy.
 

More pattern

Here are some photos of more patterning from the Werribee Open Range Zoo. Before the ticket box is a group of large African animals, seen in the zoo. The animals have been made very appealing by mosaics and interesting painted treatments.

The children love climbing over them.

What were they thinking?

This lovely piece of commercial print fabric has been in my stash for a while and is perfect for a backing that I need now. However African animals do not include the tiger among the big cats. Tigers are found on the Indian subcontinent and widely in zoos which help preserve the population as numbers in the wild diminish. We were lucky to see one while on safari at Rathambore, Rajasthan last year.
 

Amazing exhibition

The sheer scale of the installations in the Falling Back to Earth exhibition  is breath-taking. The vision of artist Cai Guo-Qiang is at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane until May 11. Although the exhibition opened on Nov 23, when we were away, it has taken us until now to see it. I am standing in front of part of Heritage, a waterhole surrounded by 99 thirsty animals. The pristine white sand surrounding the waterhole was being carefully brushed into place by an attendant with a feather duster.

The reflection of the roof appears in most of my photos.

Bob is running with the 99 wolves in Head On. Luckily he pulled up short of the glass wall!

 

Sculptural elements

Came across some lovely sculptural elements at the seal and penguin enclosure. Lots of colour shaded Perspex? sheets and weathered wooden batons on a wall outside.

This must have appealed to the patch worker in me.

Fish caught in fishing rods, not in the usual way. Melbourne Zoo is a lovely spot for a day out Annette. 

Melbourne zoo

Visited the Melbourne Zoo yesterday. It is such a beautiful leafy, green place and many people were flocking in when we arrived mid morning. This giraffe was not the attraction- perhaps the baby elephant was?

No, not this one! The baby was staying very close to Mum and was far away, so no photos possible for me.

Had to be content with seeing the baby and elephants like this one.