ANIMALS IN DRESSES

Winter observations...

2012-01-30T15:32:00.000+02:00

Ou yeah ou yeah-cheese!

Being in the moment

2012-01-22T21:53:00.000+02:00

We slowly cross an arch of a bridge. If somebody could see us from above, they would see that a line of swan tracks diagonally hit the line we are standing on right now.
The straight line of the bridge softly becomes a ribbon. The white stripe takes us to the orangery, belonging to the botanical garden of Kaunas, Lithuania.
Did You think I was in some other warm country? Or this was yet another retrospective of Australia ?

The were two huge swans battering about in the glass house. But they weren't birds. These were brides. You can see them in...not quite unexpected places. The opposite-You expect to see them in all the places that are natural or very much remind of nature. Places that are historical, idyllic, etc.
But I once saw a wedding couple standing in front of a black nylon (?) wall of an outdoor concert stage. What did they need a black background for?
Of course I'm talking about the conventional weddings. I have no idea what backgrounds "the original" people choose for their wedding albums.

I had a chance to pet a big iguana lizard on my way out. I regret I haven't taken a picture. But then I started thinking abut an expression, or no, it's not an expression. A research has been made that if people take pictures of events, places, they erase it from their minds. They will only be able to remember that day or place when they see the actual photo. And all they'll remember is what they see in that photo. It's possible they won't even remember the emotions of that moment.
I had an experience of this kind in Australia.
We had lunch in one small town near the ocean. The view was astonishing, majestic. And the only thing I took pictures of were seagulls, peaking through the top of a table.
And when we were leaving the town I started to regret I haven't taken a picture of that view.
But now, when I mentally go back to the places we've been I can only remember that one place very sharply. All the places that are caught on camera are remembered the way they are on the paper.
You know the moral here...

Postcards traveling

2012-01-20T12:45:00.002+02:00

Have you ever heard of post crossing? The idea is that people from all over the world send each other post cards. You never know where You'll have to send the next card, or where you gonna get one from.
One can write what kind of cards they'd like to receive.
I love all of my received cards! And I'm running out of magnets!
And it's so much fun to find one in the postbox! Because it's only bills most of people receive nowadays.
Today I got the dinosaur card from Portugal. The sender is the author of the illustration! Simão works in a Dinosaur museum! How cool is that???

...one friend of mine couldn't understand why it's fun to receive cards from people you don't know... I think she should try it first :-)

One very angry chichuahua

2012-01-19T14:01:00.000+02:00

I've decided, it's much more healthy to doodle or sketch than check Facebook, blogs or other addictive stuff while rendering something. Of course, I could surf in search of really useful thing, but then I get all interested and forget to work.
Sketching takes less time and is ...a... productive?

Orchid seminar no.2

2012-01-15T22:52:00.006+02:00

Haha, you can totally see what I'm interested in at the moment.
When I look at my photos under "My style" tag, I become ... sad. I really don't like most of them. First of all, I need a new camera and I need to get out. Cause these photos at home are so boring and ... ugly. Yes, ugly.
But anyway. I'm not so much into clothes right now anyways.
Plants plants plants. Films, drawing, eating, walking and travelling is what is important and of interest right now!

And about this post. It's a second seminar about orchids for me. It was held today.
The orchidarium You see belongs to one very fun lady. She probably has the greenest fingers of all the people I've ever met.
I'm not sure if You remember, but I've posted pics of her cacti and succulents earlier.

You see a tiny orchid Taeniophyllum (also called Pin head orchid, minute orchid, leafless orchid , tapeworm orchid). The species in the genus are small to very small leafless epiphytes with flattened green roots which contain chlorophyll and have taken over the photosynthetic role of the leaves. The leaves are reduced to minute, overlapping scales covering the stem apex. The flowers of the species are very short-lived, they are mostly greenish-white to yellow
And there is a flower spike coming!

Collaboration

2012-01-14T22:28:00.007+02:00

I'm glad to announce that I'm working on yet another film, comisioned by Šviesa publishing house, Educational games department. This time I'm only responsible for the moving part. Animation that is.
I'm gonna give life to drawings by artist Algimantas Rolia.
I really like his work!

The green code

2012-01-14T15:43:00.005+02:00

I consider myself very fortunate to have such talented friends!
You see a very special book here. It contains stories by ordinary people. The subject is nature, it's preserving. Green thoughts in general.
The "head" of the project is EU Parliament member Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulienėnė.
Coordinated and compiled by-Justė Brukštutė and Benas Buivydas.
Stories-by 19 different people, mostly children and teenagers.
Book design and illustrations-by Jonas Liugaila and Rūta Ivaškevičiūtė (both are also here).
There are two illustrations, created by two other people. They are the winners of the visual part of the project.

The format and the paper are sooo pleasant!

My friend Luka is a part of the book as well.

It's a pity one can't find the book in bookshops. There were only 1000 editions printed. I was lucky - I got mine as a present.

You can see the whole book here. It can also be downloaded as a pdf...

Good morning

2012-01-11T09:13:00.000+02:00

Dragon head like phalaenopsis flower.
Is it the first colder morning in Lithuania this year? Wow, minus 6 degrees Celsius. I'm being sarcastic here if you can't hear me...

Cinnamon and chocolate and sweet sugar

2012-01-09T20:24:00.002+02:00

As You have probably noticed, my interest in plants took a sudden turn.

Most of my desert plants are dormant (at least I hope so). Almost no watering, no movement, nothing. But many orchids bloom right now. It's not easy to say no when you see some in a shop. I like small species. Or (funny enough) bigger plants, but with rather small flowers.

People on the orchid forum say it's an Oncidium Sharry Baby. It fills my home with odor of chocolate and cinnamon...
I start my morning with smelling it.

This is another "baby". Probably an Oncidium Sweet Sugar.

I can't smell anything on this one.

Oncidium has these funny flowers, that look like dancing ladies. Can you see them?

The spring is approaching and people will soon start ordering plants on internet. I wonder if I'll get infected with that one.

Putting a hairy sock on

2012-01-07T14:58:00.001+02:00

Last december I visited Rūta Kiškytė and her "Hairy sock" Kioskas.

Eglė Xiapin (check out her very special contribute to the new Hairy sock collection) is browsing through the new catalogue, full of fresh photos by her friend Rasa J.

Huge collars and necklaces received special attention. I remember I had a similar necklace of two red bubbles when I was small. Just that thing was like 5 times smaller. Rūta's piece made me feel like child again...

A collection from another girl who shared the space the same evening. See her tasty stuff at SpindiJewellery !.

Rūta's jewellery has been exhibited in Melbourne, Australia and the next stop is New York!

The notorious (for her special/odd/fun/colorful choices) Sussie Bubble likes "Hairy sock" stuff!

I tried out the gigantic collar.

On the work table...

The quality is amazing! Everything is made with real care.

And the December!

2012-01-04T13:53:00.000+02:00

The last month for my calendar! It has been a pleasure!

I was thinking: next December suppose to be the last month ever because the end of the world should come as some prophesy says.

I've got friends in Australia. All new days start there. So it means they will be the first ones to witness The End. Because it can't start simultaneously everywhere, if there's an exact date mentioned. I hope my friends will let me know how it went!

Circus in the beginning of November

2012-01-03T20:47:00.007+02:00

The November from my calendar. The October was posted earlier.
I think I like this drawing the most. It's exactly how it feels in the end of autumn. Empty...
I'm trying to think of some special dates. Nothing comes to my mind...
If you don't count the first of November, of course.

Wolves in forest in september

2012-01-03T09:32:00.002+02:00

I have reused a part of my old print for the month of September. This is a paper etching, made during a print making course in Gothenburg, year 2004 or 2005.

Wolf children are big enough to run around at this time of year. Human children start their school in September in Lithuania.

In Sweden they do it in August...

Small dog syndrome

2012-01-02T23:38:00.000+02:00

It seems I am not done with the topic of small dogs. Remember the old animation (sorry for the quality)?
Today I felt like exercising a bit. See what it turned out like...

August sniffing

2012-01-02T10:27:00.001+02:00

This is another page from the calender I've made.
My birthday is in August. Estonians celebrate their independence day at the same time. Oh, by the way, my boyfriend is Estonian.
All the jokes they make about slow Estonians aren't true. They are just serious, calm people!
Why dogs?
I used to be a real dog person. Though I have had my own puppy for 4 months only. I have developed an allergy that forced me to say good bye to all doggies. But I have noticed I've started to feel love towards cats. Probably because lots of my friends has one at home. I think I like them more than dogs now. Not just cause my allergy of cats is tiny, but also because they are less in your face, not that vocal and tidier animals.
I hope someday I'll rescue one poor kitty from an animal shelter...

Gold leaf!

2012-01-01T21:31:00.003+02:00

The New Years party. I danced so much, my leg muscles and knees hurt!
It never turns out as one plans. I wanted to cover a half of my hair in gold. But the gold leaf would't stick to the hair gel. So, just a few crumbles on one side had to do.
I also wanted to have a more dramatic make up, but probably with not enough gold the drama just evaporated...
I used greasepaint to make the face pale. The same paint actors use in opera and clowns in circus.
We were a bit in a hurry to leave, so I totally forgot to take a picture of my dress. But I hope there will be some photos from the party.

Happy new year!

2011-12-31T11:14:00.001+02:00

The last day of December and You see the month of July from my calendar.
The photo is made in Australia, Melbourne. It was a very green street. Felt as if we are in a jungle.

I hope You will have a great party tonight!

Waiting for tomorrow

2011-12-30T22:34:00.001+02:00

Not much going on today. I'm on a stand by mode in all possible meanings.
Probably as millions of other people. We just promise ourselves lots of things. Things we gonna do the next year.

This is my new set up. An orchid in it's own little atmosphere. Until it needs to be watered and the glass goes up.

The Fox has a new friend The Rooster. A garage sale find from Australia.

A bit more of Australia. A branch of an eucalyptus tree. It fills the room with a very nice fragrance.

The only corner that is a bit more unusual than always. No Christmas tree, nothing, just that lamp garland...

See the tiny green balls on the right? It's my plant. The stems have rotted a bit, so I needed to cut them and just let them lay a bit until trying to pot again.
Sad time for plant growers. Always too dark at home.

Good morning to may

2011-12-30T12:40:00.002+02:00

Good morning!
May! One of the favorites! A month of birthdays: sister, her son (my godson), my boyfriend...

New Years Eve tomorrow. I have bought a black dress and I have a nice idea for my hair. But I got what is called a cold eye (I'm not sure about the English term). Probably will have to wear an eye-patch or something... I could look very "Twin Peaks".
Have fun tomorrow!

Eggs in April

2011-12-29T12:52:00.001+02:00

April is known for Easter. Most of the time.
This April will be special for me cause I'm gonna visit another continent again! Can't wait!
The photo I've used for this month is taken In Adelaide, in South Australian museum. In a cupboard, full of drawers containing all kinds of goods.

Home in March

2011-12-28T16:56:00.003+02:00

A page from the calendar I've made.
You might have seen January and February already.
And this one here is March at my place with friends.
It's probably the ugliest month of the year, so it's extra important to make the home as cozy as possible.There are some good things about it though: days are longer, it announces the spring. And there are a few birthdays to celebrate.

Happy holidays guys!

2011-12-25T15:19:00.000+02:00

That's the sister!

2011-12-19T23:40:00.002+02:00

This is my younger sister Asta.

A night out.

She is a jazz singer. A deep voice.

She can also draw.

I can't sing at all...

The calendar is ready

2011-12-17T13:17:00.008+02:00

It turned out rather OK. Tiny though-12X12 cm. But it made one person very happy yesterday.

I'll show the rest after the Christmas.

Have a nice weekend!

2011-12-16T14:56:00.001+02:00

Some of them are rather recently purchased, but I just wanted to post plants I haven't posted yet.
So these three here are aloes. Small ones. I really love them. Aloes are so different, but still recognizable species.

An orchid - Maxillaria tenuifolia. It's flowers will be small, but they will fill the whole room with a scent of fresh coconuts!

Even though it has no flowers yet, and who knows when will I get to see them, I admire those bulbs. And the new bulbs climb higher and higher.

A hoya obovata. I traded it for another plant.
Probably everybody has had a large hoya growing in their home. Most likely in the kitchen, as these plants love humidity and heat. But it was usually one kind of plant that was popular at that time. Or more correct-that was the only kind available.
The same plant that has been growing together with me growing up is still happily living at my parents home.
There are so many different hoyas! And the uglier the leaves are the more appealing the plant is to me. Some of them produce huge fragrant flowers. You should just google to see it.

A Senecio stapeliformis. It's still separated from other plants. Living in a big glass vase, in case it has some bugs or fungi disease.

I hope you enjoy it's shape and color as much as I do...

Desert and tropical plants together. We'll see how it went next spring.

Euphorbia lactea forma cristata is difficult to grow on their own roots, and are generally grafted for convenience on Euphorbia canariensisor Euphorbia resinifera. The top plant can become very large. I wonder how can the one under support it.

A crassula. Again, I have forgotten, which one. A small cool plant.

The tropical corner.

The Chinese Money Plant or Pilea peperomioides.

That's it for now. I'm off to a printing company to pic up the calendar! I hope there will be no surprises. Like wrong colors or something.

Totally random

2011-12-15T12:58:00.003+02:00

I promise, these are the last photos of Australia. At least I think so.
While waiting for the 2012 year calendar to be printed I had to choose between this or a bunch of plants. I wonder how many people prefer one over another...
And about the pics: the one above is very special. It was the only day I could wear my bikini without getting goosebumps. And I also had a dip n the ocean. Once in 4 weeks!

Australians love their dogs very much. Most of the people I've seen had two dogs. And usually they weren't the pure breed. Unless I'm not familiar with some Australian breeds. But at least I know the Australian cattle dog!

Each time Luka asked me to step into some grass or bushes for posing, my body would go into a shitting rabbit position! My expression of fare of poisonous snakes. Laurius expressed him self in a way that makes me laugh when I think about it : yeah, the snakes are just lurking on every corner, waiting for you to pass so they can throw themselves on your feet and bite your repeatedly!
I can't say I'm afraid of snakes. Like some people get panic attacks when they as much as hear someone talking about one. I just have read what symptoms one gets after a bite. I'm talking about Australian snakes in particular.
The worst fear I have is probably suffocation. And that one is among the causes of death after a snakebite.

A tiny Japanese garden near my friends home. One can have a wedding here. Australians love to get married in zoos, botanic gardens, wineries and other odd, but aesthetic surroundings.

A couple of seeds I was planing on to take home with me , but chickened out cause of the customs.

As it turns out, a few shops here in Vilnius have plenty of exotic seeds for sale. In purpose of home decoration. Well, it's not the same. I wanted the ones I have picked my self!

More walking in the hills just outside of Adelaide. The more time passes after the trip to Australia, the better it seems. I have even stopped telling people that it was cold there.

A skeleton of a wedge-tailed eagle. It's amazing what long legs almost all of the birds of prey have. Usually the long bones are hidden among the feathers. Until they need to be extended away from the body to snatch the pray.

Some very funny Australian flies. Fatty fatty!

The larvae of the Green Parasitic Fly is a parasite in other insects. I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad about this...

And this here is a photo from internet. But I just wanted to remind you that this is the kind of spider I had an opportunity to meet in a camping toilet. I first noticed the legs peeking out from under the toilet lid. And it just sat there looking up at me. I tried to kindly push it a bit further with a piece of toilet paper, but it just decided to stand it's ground.

Oh, and it was a bit smaller than the one in the pic. A teenage (explains the unawareness of how dangerous humans can be)or a fully grown male (could it be that's why he was so brave?).

It could be that the spider couldn't move after being totally mesmerized after being exposed to the shape of human body parts for the very first time in it's life...

Just a few of the movies I have been watching lately

2011-12-12T21:05:00.002+02:00

You gotta see this if you like modern dance! I'm in love with this choreography!

This one here is so worth watching I had a look at it for the third time. The third time is for comparison with the new "The thing " remake. I haven't seen it yet...

I'm glad I haven't wasted any of my time watching this. I have seen this one though. It was during the flight from Malaysia to UK. As I said, no time wasted...
Oh, I like Tom Hanks, but this one is awkward. Especially knowing he's directed it as well.

A bit of Australia at home

2011-12-12T12:58:00.000+02:00

The most recent plant - Dendrobium Berry Oda. It's a hybrid: a cross between a Dendrobium kingianum and a Dendrobium 'Mini Pearl' (=Dendrobium canaliculatum x Dendrobium bigibbum).
Dendrobium Kingianum is an orchid from Eastern Australia. It's flowers are small and the stem looks like a bamboo. Thus this orchid is sometimes called a bamboo orchid.
I have now 8 orchids. Very little.
There are still many many plants I would like to get my paws on. But I think I'll concentrate on some tiny ones now. Cause of the space shortage, but also because the small plants are so interesting to take care of. They are hiding there in the pot. And the next time you come closer to inspect it, there's something new going on. It's a bit like a surprise each time.
My succulents are doing almost OK. There's too little sun for them. And the winter has just started!
I have two things to dream of now-an aquarium and an orchidarium! The water from the first one can very successfully be used in the second one.
And here is a plant I'd like to see in my small collection-a tiny orchid Corybas Pictus. Scroll down for the pictures, see how small it is!

Talking about orchids

2011-12-11T22:04:00.000+02:00

Can I officially call myself an orchid fan/grower? Well, I participated in an orchid seminar today.
Two topics were covered: Jewel orchids and taking care of orchids in winter time.

Lots of interesting new stuff. Also plenty of new faces.
And there was a small market on the spot. One could purchase a plant that could possibly be never found in a regular shop. Relatively rare plant that is.

This was cheerfully called a "make it yourself" phalaenopsis farm. These here are 3 year old hybrids, bred in Lithuania.

Some of the jewel orchids. Grown rather for their beautiful foliage than flowers.

A jewel orchid on the left. And some other kinds of orchids in bloom.

There was snow outside. One of the first this year...

A fast bag remake

2011-12-10T16:37:00.000+02:00

I found this leather backpack in a secondhand shop. I'd like to have a backpack, but this one was made in such a peculiar way, it would have been useless to me. I couldn't leave this piece of strong leather alone, so I took it home with me.
Unfortunately I don't have a sewing machine that could bite into leather, so I had a shoe mender to fix it.
It turned out pretty OK. But just one note to myself regarding similar projects in future: next time I trust an older man to do work like that I'm gonna mark spots (with a marker or something) where stuff must be cut or sewn into place.
So, I had the handles removed and put in a different place, also a lining added.
What do you think?

The book !

2011-12-08T15:16:00.002+02:00

Remember, I told you about an open project that I took part in? Well the books, containing all 236 and chosen 77 pictures of Morran are here and here!
All the profit will go to WSPA - World Society for the Protection of Animals - Sweden (WSPA international).

It's even more precious as Morran is not here anymore...

I'll go and order myself one right now.

Foxes in june

2011-12-08T12:33:00.001+02:00

OK, I said I wouldn't post any more months. I want it to be a surprise afterall. But I can't. It's fun to share!
So, foxes. Why June? I don't know why, but it sounds like foxes could have their weddings in June. But I think they do it in winter.
Just like may parents! On a new years eve! It was very very cold that day. -25 degrees Celsius. I sometimes look at the wedding pictures. They are black and white. My mom is standing in the snow in her wedding dress. One wouldn't be able to see her if not for the jacket hanging on her shoulders. My dad's jacket.
All the tips of the noses are slightly darker than the rest of the face...

South Australian museum

2011-12-07T20:12:00.000+02:00

I visited the museum during my last days in Australia.
This lion greets everyone who enters. I couldn't quite get if it's real stuffed lion or just a big toy. It was written somebody gave it away. I think it has never been alive.

The Pacific collection blew my mind away!
See what people over there find beautiful: carving vertical lines in the forehead. Above.

Other people think it's nice to have a very long scull. Actually, I wish I had a head like that. There's never enough of the back of the head!
Mothers wrap tightly a cloth around their babies head, making it more and more elongated as the years pass. Even the facial features change...

All the masks were truly incredible! Scary of course...

I think this one here wins the award of the creepiest .

I need to know more!

These masks were made when a person died. Basically , it's a death mask.
This is what you get when there are no cameras around...

Rather recent aboriginal art. At least the materials are new. These here are made of iron plates.

Wooden shields.

There was a beehive inside one of the rooms. And it was all glass. I could see everything! And the best part is that the bees move in and out trough the museum window, right into the city center!

This is the highway.

Swan of February

2011-12-06T20:56:00.001+02:00

Another month, another bird. February this time. I don't remember when the swans come back, but one thing is for sure. February must be really hard for the birds who've decided to endure the Lithuanian winter. White bird on a white lake.
I would really much like not to post each time I make a new month, but I can't. I have created half of the year already!
But I want to post something!

An October goose

2011-12-05T20:16:00.001+02:00

Everybody's busy making their own calendar. Well, I also have caught this disease.
I'm not sure I can make it until Christmas, but it's fun creating something for myself anyway!
This is mister goose, wearing a knitted sweater. My dad's birthday is in October...

Oh, and to avoid any misunderstanding-I haven't painted the background, just the bird.

Read about Australia

2011-12-05T11:40:00.002+02:00

Hehe, funny. My friends, whom I have been visiting didn't have the energy to post on their blog when I was there. My presence probably made them less and less energetic each day. But now they do post! Luka even has been drawing adventures of the road on the road! You can also read about the trip from another person's point of view. Visit Luka's and Lauriu's blog!

I at home!

2011-12-01T19:19:00.004+02:00

OK, since people are still writing to me and asking to either bring coins or send them a postcard, I feel obliged to post especially for my coming home occasion!
Maybe it's my fault: I haven't specifically told, that I'm back in Lithuania. But I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it somewhere. Possibly in the post about my trip back through Malaysia. Oh, and if I remember right, one post is named "Honey, I'm home".
Or somebody is too lazy to read more than one post?
Anyway, I have been in Eurasia, Europe, the Baltic's, Lithuania, Vilnius, at home for about two weeks now.
I'm really glad to be back. I somewhat enjoy the weather (I'm more prepared than in Australia), and even the 2 hours long day is OK, but one thing bugs me anyway-people in supermarkets. Stop breathing on my neck, stop pushing me! RELAX!

That's about it...
I'm off to finish watching a film . " 50/50".

Australian soil

2011-11-30T12:45:00.000+02:00

I'm not claiming that my shoes or feet are objects worthy of your attention. They sometimes help to perceive the size or color of the ground and objects.
This is a scull of kangaroo. I had to put the lower jaw back in place.

We suspect these green spots are portions of poo of some kind of bird. Or they used to belong to any other animal with an extremely loose stomach.

Leaves of gum trees.

Footprints of a pelican.

Another odd, unknown object! It's very light, tightly rolled. Looks like seaweeds+hair+something else. There were a few more of these balls. Was it wind made? We were at a beach after all...

Where the bags live

2011-11-28T22:10:00.003+02:00

Remember, I visited my friends in London this spring? Well, they have moved since then. A new, 300 square meters place!
Alius has now so much space for his bag workshop, expect an avalanche of all possible colors!

The apartment is so huge, one shouldn't forget something if wandering off to another corner of the room.
I think I got a bit tired after a while.

A part of the workshop. Leather everywhere!

Visit Alius Makackas blog- www.madebyhandbags.blogspot.com and don't be shy to order a bag!

I think the whole place has a bit of Japanese touch to it...

A photo by Xiapin/Egle Navickaite.

And-the view through the window. We think a number of films , where the action takes place in Victorian London must have been filmed in these streets!

Warming up

2011-11-28T15:07:00.006+02:00

I had to warm up a bit before picking up some work again.
2012-is gonna be the year of The dragon. I wish I could make a calendar (like everybody else ;-)), but dragons ain't easy to make. Especially when you want them in 100 different styles. Give me any other animal and I'll make it fast (at least that's what I think), but dragons take some time. Maybe cause they live long?

Eight hours in Kuala Lumpur

2011-11-25T12:14:00.000+02:00

It's humid, hot, noisy, dirty, confusing and most of all very different from home or Australia. But I've enjoyed it!
I had 11 hours between my flights. So instead of sitting at the airport, I took a fast train and ended up in the middle of a hot pot.

All the streets are at 90 degrees to each other in Australia. Almost no chance of getting lost. So when I stepped out of the central train station in KL, I had no idea which way to head. Streets were above each other, twisting in all possible directions. I've planned to walk a great distance, but I understood soon enough it would be a difficult task. I didn't want to miss my plane! Though I regretted I haven't taken an extra week to stay in Malaysia. To rest and warm myself at the beach.

I traveled by the Rapid train (that sometimes runs above the ground-nice view!) around in the city.

An amount of time was spent in Chinatown and around it.

I have forgotten how Bangkok was. I always remember it as a big, noisy and smelly city. But I think it wasn't as dirty as KL.
I ended up in a part of a town where I could see 4 streets at the same time. It was very strange to notice that I was the only woman there!

The sunset was at 19 o'clock. But it felt as if the streets got even more jammed with people. Probably because of the food hawkers and stalls appearing. I myself had an interesting meal, surrounded by huge gecko lizards climbing on the walls.

The last hour was spent in the modern part of the city. I took the train to the city center, to gaze at the Petronas Twin Towers. You can see the top and the foot of the buildings.
Time to get to airport...

Last days in Australia

2011-11-24T15:33:00.001+02:00

The last days in Australia. A short visit to the botanic gardens, the Adelaide museum (would you like to see some interesting photos?) and the riverside.

Some more interesting blossoms.

I think the plants in these two pics are irises. Different than at home.

And since I was back in the botanic gardens I visited the Bicentennial Conservatory. Tall tropical plants, surrounded by tall walls.

Look at these things on the right! I think it's plants air roots-basically breathing organs.

The palm tree on the left had huge leaves! The largest I've aver seen!

It so beautiful in the gardens when the sun is close to horizon. Everybody knows it's a disaster to take pictures during the day if the sun isn't concealed by the clouds. It's right above your head here in Australia and everything just looks burned out.

Ehmm, I couldn't get enough of that light.

Ducks are there each time you turn your head.

On the right-a large tillandsia.

Look at those eyes on the left!

The tram goes all the way to the beach in Glenelg. The ocean is just behind that horizontal line.

The indigenous black swans.

A juvenile black swan. The difference is the brown aye. Grownups have red eyes. It makes them look a bit stupid ...

One day-two locations

2011-11-24T11:17:00.000+02:00

Warning! This post contains pictures of dead animals.

We went to the sea side another day. Or is it ocean side? It was pretty much deserted, except for birds, corpses of fish and a seal, a couple fishing and some cars on a tiny peninsula.

I swear, I didn't make this composition!

Footprints of a pelican. There's one thing I've missed in Australia-pelicans! I haven't seen any up close.

The only seal I've seen. We should have gone to Kangaroo island to see some live ones.

There was fire smoke on our way to a winery. Could be a bit worrying as it's fire ban right now.

We went to one winery just for their cakes and the view. Unfortunately, there was a wedding, so we couldn't sit in the pretty garden house. Also we got eaten by sand flies-much worse than mosquitoes!

We spooked some large predatory bird while walking in the surrounding park. It left a fresh kill behind. We are terribly sorry, bird!

The trail. I'm still a bit worried about snakes. But it's probably too cold for them anyway.

The alley of African plants.

Look at the photos below. I found the same kind of plants, but with blooms opening in different stagesVoi!

Almost there...

Voila!

In the hills

2011-11-23T11:41:00.000+02:00

Since Laurius has to work, we spend our evenings driving to spots of interest around Adelaide. This time-the hills. The city is virtually surrounded by them.
I can't tell how long the walk took us, but it was long. If I remember correctly, we took the red trail.

You can see the trail running down. Or up...

Adelaide in the background. The population is 1, 2 million, but it takes a really big area. It's because of all the suburbia. The town is wide spread, with the city center, marked by tall buildings, crammed up in the middle.

I can't get enough of these huge ants! Just look at these tweezers! And they are also very interactive. They would follow you around if you stay close enough.

A family of Chewbaccas.

Getting pretty high. The trail is narrow at times. So you experience that pulling towards abyss feeling.

I take a photo of a section of the trail I've walked at each curve. The indistinct darker line in the center (a bit higher than the middle of the picture) is the trail.

The waterfall. See the tiny blue spec at the lower left corner? It's a person...

OK, we've seen crickets swaying in the sunshine, we've seen the female crickets laying their eggs , but we weren't prepared for this! Well, at least we know now how they make their eggs.

I think it has a warning sigh on it's back.

One of the look outs.

Even scrubs and grasses are gorgeous here!

We accidentally turned off the path and ended up in some kind of thorny bushes. I think it was blackberries. Man we got scratched! But it was fun anyway!

See the low very green plant area? The thorny blackberry bushes we've just passed.

The trip started somewhere beyond the left corner of the photo.

Mister/miss lizard in pajamas...

Down at last!

Back in Adelaide

2011-11-22T14:27:00.002+02:00

I'm sorting photos of my journey to Australia and I can see the end of them. A couple of posts left.
And now-about the photos in this post. We've come home to Adelaide. But there's plenty to see around the city. So we head out for the wetlands and mangrove. A place worth calling a fairy tale.

The tide was low, but we still could see the water movement. The trail twisted and zigzagged first among low bushes, later-among higher trees.

Waders...

The ground was crawling with small crabs. They dig into the weed and mud as soon as we approach. Crabs react to movement.

There were lots of birds, of course. But it was difficult to spot them. The birds knew we were there. Only occasional egrets could be seen flying above the canopy.

Photo by Laurius.

The Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa).It had it's bath so fast we weren't sure if it was cold or afraid of the water!

Photo by Laurius.

Back in town. This is where I want to be-in the jungle! It's a wall of a school yard .

Luka's monstera and the fatty pigeon. He is coming to our yard very often now. Of course, he is- he gets sunflower seeds every single time he comes! I think he will decide to move in near future.

Check out this plant! It's a kangaroo paw! I've seen them in shops in Lithuania!

Some streets were covered in pink fallen blossoms (Jacaranda trees). And the scent was nice! I will always remember Australia as a country of smells. Nice smells: gum trees, ficus berries, jasmine, coffee, roses and many more.

Treasures from the Shell beach

2011-11-21T15:27:00.000+02:00

Honey, I'm home!

2011-11-21T13:57:00.000+02:00

I'm back in Lithuania. The trip went OK, it's just it took me longer than going to Australia. I had 9 hours of waiting in Kula Lumpur, so I took a train into the city. But later about that.
I'm experiencing a major jet lag. It feels like standing on a rocking ship. I can't do much. Except for unpacking, washing and posting this post.
I want to continue posting in the right order, so expect some more pics from Australia!

And now-plenty of photos from two days at the Innes National park (South Australia).

We stayed on Shell beach. Very true, as You can see!

It was a nice warm day. I wish I got into the water right away, cause it got colder the next day.

A bench - a real luxury! This is the place where we got most mosquito and sand fly bites. Also a couple of tics hitch hiked home with us. It appears I'm a good tic remover!
I also saw my first larger spider here. A huntsman.
And Luka and me almost tripped over a kangaroo here! They were sneaking up behind us in the dark. Each time you wash your hands at the rainwater collector, there's a kangaroo sitting in the bushes (like one meter away!) to get some drops of that precious water.

A bad quality pic, but at least you can see how close was a kangaroo piece-fully grazing. With a joey by it's side!

A caterpillar pretending to be a snail! I touched it's "antennae" and it mimicked the snail going into it's shell! Really cool!

Sun burned succulents.

The shell beach...

Laurius has spotted something!

This has been the longest sneak so far.

The object! The Sooty Oystercatcher, Haematopus fuliginosus.

The sunset. Our last one as it got too cold the rest of the trip.

We drove around the Innes national park for sightseeing. Flies were our constant companions. Thanks god they weren't the biting kind.

See the flies on my back? Only a few, because it was really windy up there!

A small plant. Probably some kind of succulent. What else would survive in these harsh conditions!

A bigger one.

Nature's own horizontal bonsai!

Small trees and large aloes!

This is emu's poo. It was everwhere! Not ugly at all cause of all the seeds. Sorry for this one :-)

How on Earth did these snails got up there? I mean a top of a hill, where the wind blows like crazy. Have they been blown up here?

Emu babies. We decided they look a bit like gorillas!

And now-more of bugs and birds.

The Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae).

The incredibly big Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus).

Angry Silver gull. Mine mine mine!

This one was so cold it couldn't move anymore. I didn't touch it wings, it was enough to put a hand under it's feet and voila!

Innes National park trading post and a petrol station.

We had some veggie burgers here. I hate falafel since then...

In a phone booth in the middle of nowhere...

Some emu portraits.

A small jelly fish.

And a large one. Luka doesn't like swimming in the ocean. There are waves, sharks, and most important of all-jelly fish. And there is the box jelly fish-the extremely deadly creature!

Can you believe these kangaroo balls??? How is it to jump for him?

It's perfect for your honey moon, said the add next to this building here! But there were no windows...

Dolphin beach, Innes national park.

The water had that beautiful turquoise color. And it was a perfect place to snorkel, but ahh, it was too cold.

Pfff, girls on a beach!

Some other bays and beaches of Innes national park. It was sooo windy here it required a sign like this. We didn't climbed down to check out a shipwreck. It scared us off.

On the West Cape (near the lighthouse). It felt as if you could be blown away any second.

Amazing bugs and lizards in Flinders Ranges

2011-11-16T16:30:00.004+02:00

Flinders Ranges. At last! We hit only the most southern part of it. The place is huge and the further you go the more desert you get.
It was the first REALLY hot day on our trip. We thought we would drive more northward the next day, but we ( or at least me) got this strange claustrophobic feeling. The one that has something to do with being in very hot places, very far away from any kind of water. And you can only bring a limited amount of it with you. We decided to go for the ocean the next morning.

A female cricket laying eggs in the grown. I know they have this special tool to lay eggs, but how on earth did she make that hole?

Red ground-the signature of Australian desert!

We got up high to look down on the valley we've come from. And we've been surrounded by kangaroos!

We were camping like old people-making only one day trips and returning back to the camp for the night. I've learned it's not cool at all. What cool is is to have your heavy back pack on your shoulders and walk like 20 km up to Mount Remarkable and sleep over at the camp up there. That's what's cool -to be fit and not to have any fear of dying of thirst. I'm totally OK with "uncooliness" ...

A cricket pretending to be a piece of wood. It was turning it's head back and forth. Swaying twig?
I wonder if he has met the green cricket lady.

The beautiful gum leaves. Should I bring some with me?

And now-some odd seed-cases! The ones above usually need fire to germinate.

There is a spider living there somewhere! I must confess-I was constantly checking for spiders. As one of the most deadliest spiders live here. The Redback spider. And we know, one of them lives somewhere in my friend's yard.
The only big one I've seen was the Hunstman spider. Under a toilet seat while camping. Not fun, not fun at all. OK, a little bit fun, but just a little bit.

Ah, all these interesting things in the bush...

Looking for something-can't remember-what. A small lizard perhaps. Oh, if I only knew what to expect in close future!

Puzzled animal expressions-the best! Is he thinking-to pretend he's not there or to run to his mummy?

Wheee-a lizard. We sat on a top of a hill (the trip almost gave us all a heart attack), eating our apples when this brave fella came along.

I wasn't feeling so great the next day (I drank too little water and probably got dehydrated ) so I stayed alone at the camp. I was laying in the car when I suddenly heard a rustle. There was a huge lizard, trying to get into our tent! I just sat there and watched him through our opened trunk. Then I got worried it would tear the net of the tent. I had to get out and nicely ask mister lizard to go away. I think it was the Lace Monitor, or Lace Goanna (Varanus varius) which can grow up to 2,1 metres long!

I gathered my courage and got out. The animal got spooked and walked (!) for the nearest bush. I got closer, so it started climbing up a tree.

This is how I got a chance to look at it as much as I want. I really wanted my friends to come back and look at this beauty!

There was a group of (I think) White-browed Babbler (Scientific name: Pomatostomus superciliosus) in the same tree as the lizard!

These birds really babble! One of the funniest calls I've heard in Australia. It's The Chestnut-crowned Babbler (Pomatostomus ruficeps).
I left the lizard alone and went to take photos of some birds.

Galah parrots were abundant! Noisy mornings as it was chick feeding time all the time.

Unknown creature in a sink. I hope it knows which end is the butt.

Luka got startled when she came across this exhibit at night. She thought it was a huge moth or something at first. Then we thought the poor bird got lost-we found it in the camp ground shower. But the next night it was there again! May be not such a bad place to sleep anyway. One can always have a glass of water.

The night was very stormy-thunder and everything. Later we found out there was a huge storm in Adelaide the same night. We considered ourselves lucky we didn't go the ocean that day.
A wet bug the next morning (above).

The next day is hot again and we drive back south to Yorke peninsula.
Watch out for The Malleefowl crossing !

A short stop at a small town to try out some traditional pastries.

Mister skink of Yorke peninsula of Innes national park.

To be continued...

Days, full of rocks

2011-11-15T17:19:00.000+02:00

Hello, guys!
I hope you aren't tired of this many pictures every day! No drawings, no style :-)
This post contains trips from two different days. Locations -around Adelaide.

Stuff you can see when the tide is low.

The black dots-tiny tiny shells, stacked together.

The rocks are brownish pink. And they erode in nice small rectangular pieces.

Tiny chains of mountains!

And this place here looks totally man made. But it isn't. It's all sun, wind and rain.

These grow in somebodies yard. Almost on a street. Ahhh...

And the next day we head for Granite island. To watch the worlds smallest penguins come ashore after a whole day at the ocean.

The brown quail. Scientific name: Coturnix ypsilophora. They weren't shy at all!

One of the funniest birds. Reminds of a mouse when it scurries in the grass.

Find a bird in this pic!

The sun is setting and we hurry around the island, to meet the penguins.

Some really cool colours...

Little Pied Cormorant. Scientific name: Phalacrocorax melanoleucos. Drying it's wings.

There's more of me than Australia in these last posts. I start to get a bit ashamed. But sometimes one needs a humane figure to express the magnitude or miniature size of objects. In this case..I'm not sure... The light?

Getting darker and darker. We hurry up. But I have to stop to take a photo of some succulents, of course.

The Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor).
Finally we got a chance to see some penguins, cautiously returning to their borrows. One was situated exactly under stairs of a wooden path that runs around the island. It was really amazing to see how small the penguins are. But witnessing how high they can jump and what steep walls they can climb was even more jaw dropping!

Little desert national park

2011-11-14T16:00:00.001+02:00

On the road again. Towards home, towards South Australia.

We made our camp in Little desert national park camp ground. It's just us and an old couple in a caravan. They were gone the next morning. It feels as if people leave when it's still dark.

The trail is very easy and nice. But this is our first warm evening during our trip! And together with warmth flies emerge.

See a trail of flies behind me? A funny thing-they weren't so keen to get under the shade of the hat.

Preparing for a dinner. It's also our first table and bench!

There were so many different animals moving around the tent we got a bit scared at the beginning. We could recognize a passing emu. Possums were a puzzle at first. Then we got out of the tent to gaze at the stars and met a bunch of possums.

It was the warmest evening, but also the coldest night! We suspect it was around 5 degrees Celsius towards the sunrise. We thought the morning would never come. It was rather horrible. But the horror dissolved with the new day and we had our strawberries...

Zinc!

We located footprints of an emu the previous day. They led to a puddle.

Laurius got very close to the mother emu and her chicks. Brave, I must say. The bird made sure Laurius didn't get any closer by walking towards him a bit.

Australia is a home to giant blossoms, spiders and ants. If you get too close, it abandons it's pray and starts to follow you. I'm not sure if either wants to take you home as a bigger prey or to scare you off .

There are giant koalas in Australia as well.

Very small and empty Kiata.

All fruit and vegetables must be left behind in Victoria state. SA doesn't want any additional fruit flies.

Royal botanic gardens in Melbourne

2011-11-13T16:45:00.000+02:00

We visited another haven for birds-Royal botanic gardens in Melbourne.
Above: Little Wattlebird. Scientific name: Anthochaera chrysoptera.

This is a Willie Wagtail. Scientific name: Rhipidura leucophrys. I could watch this little fella all day long. You should see the way it wags it's tail-hence the name.

Signs are everywhere: in parks and on camping grounds. European bees have been introduced to Australia. Sometimes they get extra bully when thirsty. Who wouldn't? I'm not sure what kind of bees were these ones.

The object of caution itself! I couldn't believe the size of it. When I've finally located it. I could barely see the beehive-it blended so well with the tree.

A king fisher. One second there, another-gone.

Love/hate carvings on plants again!

Purple Swamphen. Scientific name: Porphyrio porphyrio.
Runs like crazy. Not such a good flyer though.

Dusky Moorhen. Scientific name: Gallinula tenebrosa.
Another good runner/leaf walker.

Some giant plants.

A couple of close ups. Above - a bird flower (Strelitzia).
And a bark of a tree. Some of hard to climb trees are called monkey puzzle trees!

More giant blossoms and leaves.

The succulents were mostly growing outside the park walls.

Angry looking bird. Adelaide has it's noisy miner. And Melbourne- it's common miner. Scientific name: Acridotheres tristis.

There were bell miners as well. (Scientific name: Manorina melanophrys). I can assure You it deserves it's name.

Hunting for succulents.

Melbourne in the evening

2011-11-13T02:55:00.000+02:00

Melbourne. Part 1.

2011-11-12T18:30:00.001+02:00

Melbourne cup took place when we reached the city. Streets were full of dressed up women. The most significant and recognizable accessory was a hat! Take a look at the Melbourne cup fashion 2011!

A street crossing in front of the central train station.

Like everywhere else in Australia, there was free public transport. We took a nice old tram (no. 35). The line ran conveniently around the centre.

I've packed a nice long skirt, a dress and a couple of blouses especially for Melbourne. Guess if I had a chance to wear them. Cold cold cold... One evening I wanted to cry quietly a bit because of the disappointment and bitterness. Not cause I didn't get a chance to wear a fancy skirt! I just wanted to get out of the jumper for a change! And I just wanted it to be warm and sunny.

Houses get older and smaller as we leave the down town of the city and enter the old suburbia. Window shopping as a word doesn't quite fit here...

Sun - rain - sun - rain... C'mon, decide now!

A very smart doggy-it's enough just to leave it there. No knots needed! By the way, all the poodles or labradodles have funny haircuts.
is it a labrador shop sign behind the dog?

It's central jungle...

Window-shopping continues as we have started our day too early. We're hungry and I crave for coffee. Most places open at 11-12 a.m.

It was a very rainyPday.

Plant and flower shops. It's so expensive to buy flowers in Australia! Probably because of the fresh water shortage.

Apollo bay. Another day.

2011-11-12T17:10:00.001+02:00

On the road again...

A surfers home.

We reach small towns, situated along the coastline. This is Apollo bay. A town visited by masses of tourists. But it was pleasant to have some coffee and smoothies, roll our eyes at the sight of the prices of so desired hoodies and surf boards.

They never seize to closely follow the movements of your hands. And they also miraculously appear out of nowhere as soon as you open any kind of small bag. Let it be a plastic bag with home made sandwiches or just a bag of chips.

A tourist among tourists.

The main side walk. We had our coffee and smoothies here. Or more accurate, we bought it here and drank it on our way through the town. We had little time-Melbourne awaits.

One sip, just for the photo shoot.

The White-faced Heron, Egretta novaehollandiae.

The same one, but in some kind of display.It can be it just got some goose bumps.

Now it's me sneaking up on some birds. See above below what I've managed to capture with my old, non professional camera.

The Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles). Many Australian birds have skin things hanging on their faces. What can these gorgeous yellow wattles can be useful for?

They are also equipped with a thorny spur that projects from the wrist on each wing. It was believed it can inject venom...

The Galah , Eolophus roseicapilla, also known as the Rose-breasted Cockatoo, Galah Cockatoo, Roseate Cockatoo or Pink and Grey, is one of the most common and widespread cockatoos, and it can be found in open country in almost all parts of mainland Australia.

The end of day 3. The koalas!

2011-11-12T03:00:00.000+02:00

Dusk falls on us as we enter a road, leading to the Aire river East camping ground. We are extra careful: all kinds of animals stir in the bush exactly at this time of the day.
Suddenly-a wild koala, sitting almost in the middle of the road. It looked somewhat puzzled. A very comical expression!
It takes us some time to break and get out of the car. Meanwhile the animal hops towards near by trees and gets up one of them. A koala can move rather fast when it wants to.

Up it goes!

It's eyes looked wider then the ones of koalas we've seen from far away, in the safety of high trees. It was a bit scared, I think.

We didn't stay under the tree for long. Just took some pictures as souvenirs. Thank You!

But a big surprise awaits minutes later. A wild koala so close, one could reach it. A few children were feeding it some eucalyptus leaves! It looked sleepy and didn't mind us at all.

Our camp. See the plastic sheets wrapped around the tree trunks? We think it's anti possum/koala thing.

We spent the night at the banks of Aire river.

A typical view the next morning.

Laurius's photo hunting again...

Day 3...probably...

2011-11-11T16:21:00.000+02:00

Looks like a place my boyfriend would appreciate ! James Dean has a forehead problem. I think, Marilyn as well...
We had a nice pack of road tripping music. Each time we've reached some small, in the middle of nowhere town, the track on the stereo would suddenly turn out to be the perfect drive trough background music. I've never been to USA, but it looks (and feels, because of the music)just like it.

One needs to sneak up on things constantly. This is what I was aiming at.

Pay attention to the ring on the base of the tail. It means the lizard has lost it's tail some time ago and a new one has grown back.

Seagulls follow us everywhere...

At last The Great Ocean Road lives up to it's name...

A cuttlefish bone. My finches nibble at these for minerals and other useful stuff. Should I bring these home?

This doesn't look amazing at the moment. But all the stuff, washed up by the ocean seemed new and different at that time.

Different formations start to appear.

Some brave (grown ups, by the way) men climbed over the stone wall and headed for the knife sharp rocks. We left soon enough-in case something happens and they need help or something.

It was a bit warmer that day. I have been in Australia for 3 weeks and I must say I have been freezing more than enjoying hot breeze.

At last-The Twelve Apostles (minus two of them). And with that we mark our journey through another state of Australia-Victoria.

And again, we were too cold to get down all the way to the ocean for a walk. Remember, I packed very lightly?

Very useful signs everywhere. They are so accurately illustrated and described that it makes you walk all the designated paths with uneasy heart anyway.

And more birds.
Red Wattlebird. Scientific name: Anthochaera carunculata.

Travelling further. Day 2.

2011-11-10T12:59:00.000+02:00

We leave the windy peninsula and head for the Great ocean road. We spot a bunch of freezing avocets on the way.

Our first hot meal-on a portable gas stove. A great thing when open fires are prohibited from the first of November due to fire ban. Seems odd to me since we have been freezing and experiencing rain showers all the time.

One of the giant things we have come across. Very american, isn't it?

Bottle brush flowers, frequently visited by honey eaters.

New Holland Honeyeater. Scientific name: Phylidonyris novaehollandiae.

Naracoorte caves.

Laurius, sneaking up on a couple of birds. I have more pics of him doing this. Coming later.

Mount Gambier blue lake.

Situated in one of three extinct volcanic craters, the Blue Lake exposes the crystal clear water that has filtered underground through the limestone, passing slowly beneath the city.
Each year in November the lake starts its colour change from winter steel blue to brilliant turquoise blue and then in March changes back to steel blue.

Stay tuned as we have returned home from our camping adventure.

Road trip. Day 1.

2011-11-05T16:35:00.004+02:00

We leave Adelaide and head for Melbourne. Our first stop at a river (I don't remember the name and I don't want to wake up my friends to find out what it was).

We've made hundreds of kilometres and almost the same amount of pictures in a week, but I'll try to post some of them.

We are leaving for Flinders Ranges (one can grasp the essence of Australia there, they say) tomorrow. It's sort of a desert. So, I won't be posting anything for a few days again. It can be we will drive straight down to the coast again without hitting Adelaide.

A drying out lake, with a bed of pink salt. It was cold then. But we had no idea just how cold it can get in SA in late spring!

We arrive to Coorong National Park (which is located on a peninsula , very similar to the Curonian spit in Lithuania) on the evening of the first day. It's very windy and rather chilly.

I had no idea that The Black Swan (Cygnus atratus)breeds in South Australia and can be seen in huge flocks in salty water.

You can tell that the conditions are harsh here-all the plants are short.

A footprint of an emu on the beach sand. We saw few of them later. There were chicks among them!

The wonderful succulents.

Heaps of tiny tiny shells.

A flattened skink. I think it's the same kind I wrote about earlier :-(

A succulent I suspect...

The lizards come out when it's sunny and the millipedes emerge when it's dark. It must have been dusk then.

We found meters and meters of these rolled up under our tent the next morning.

We have been putting up our camp near or under bird nests for a few times. By accident, of course.
This is a fan tail. The nest was funny because of it's miniature size, shape and the way it was glued and on a branch and swinging in the wind. Hard wind...

Leaving for a road trip

2011-10-28T15:01:00.002+03:00

OK guys, I won't be on internet for a while. My friends and I are leaving for a road trip. See the map above.
We were planing to go all the way up to Sidney, but we figured out, it's too much time in the car. A trip with frequent stops to look for local birds and stuff is preferred.
We're gonna camp most of the time. Hope to do some couch surfing as well and meet some interesting people.
An unusual thing, but we hope to visit an exhibition by a Lithuanian artist Hairy Sock, while in Melbourne.
The funny thing is that when we tell people where we are going, they respond: oh, you are gonna be cold.
Noooo!!!! I've been a bit cold since I came here! Believe it or not!

OK then, see You in 10 days or something!

Belair national park

2011-10-28T06:42:00.001+03:00

We had half a day walk in the Belair national park.

The Red-rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus).

The birds blend in so nicely it's difficult to spot them. At first You notice one, then two and after a second You see a whole bunch of them munching on the grass, sitting in the trees.

One has to brush their shoes before and after entering some sections of the park. It because of the phytophtora root-rot fungus. It kills native plants and the whole ecosystem slowly crashes.

BBQ place in the park. It's that special kind, with no open fire.

A currawong.

We met a couple of wild emus. We could see that they are heading for the same path as we are. A bit scary, cause they are so big animals. So we just stopped and made some loud sounds. They've spotted us. It was them who gave way. After we passed the birds, they continued and crossed the path.

You can find this beautiful eucalyptus tree in shops in Lithuania as well. I can't keep it-it needs really much sun.

The Kookaburra. I was really lucky to witness it hunting. It was just sitting a couple of meters away, bobbing it's tail. Then the bird would throw itself on the grass and swallow a whole lizard while in the grass.

The Wollemi Pine is one of the world's oldest and rarest tree species belonging to a 200 million-year-old plant family.

More odd blossoms.

It was close I stepped right into this one...

I have an eye for spotting animals. I've spotted two lizards in the grass. It's Tiliqua rugosa - a short-tailed, slow moving species of blue-tongued skink found in Australia. It looked like a big moving sausage, with a head on both ends of the body.

Could it be a home for termites?

Two roaring growling koalas in one day! The sound is quite scary if you are sleeping in a tent and have no idea what's going on. It's their mating season right now...

Nice structures.

What do You want?

Remember I told You about funny magpie baby? i had a chance to film it !

At the botanic gardens

2011-10-27T14:13:00.003+03:00

Botanic garden of Adelaide is a beautiful place. Full of birds, flowers and smells. Oh, these smells! All of Australia smells wonderful. If it's not flowers, then it's eucalyptus trees.

Old seed cases of Lotus lily.

I had a tour around the garden the other day. An old lady took us through the Australian bush section. She told us a lot about the native trees. She also showed us some of the introduced species. Australians are very serious about getting rid of all the new species and replanting the native ones.
But the old lady skipped the succulent garden!

The Palm House is an exquisite, painstakingly restored Victorian glasshouse imported from Bremen, Germany in 1875. It is thought to be the only one of its kind still in existence.

The Rainbow Lorikeet, (Trichoglossus haematodus) feasting on figs.
Better not to stand under the same tree.

Noisy Miner. Scientific name: Manorina melanocephala. It looks a bit stupid because of the yellow patches behind the eyes.

A really beautiful aloe!

Inside the palm house.

This plant has very useful roots.

Snake plant!

There was the palm section as well. I plan to visit the tropical glass house soon.

Magpie-lark. Scientific name: Grallina cyanoleuca.

Can You imagine this bird in coffee shops in Europe?

We had our coffee under an oak tree! Surrounded by philodendron.

Santos Museum of economic botany. There is the permanent collection which was part of the original museum display.

A double coco nut.

I've got more pics from the visit to the park. I will either post them here later or just put them all on Picassa.

A looong day...

2011-10-26T14:34:00.002+03:00

Actually it's two days. It feels like I have been bicycling up and down the streets of Adelaide weeks ago. So much to see, smell and taste. And hear, of course!
Above-one of the central parts of the city. And the view across the street right here:

We had an Australian BBQ. In a balcony. It's different. They don't have a grill -no open fire. Like the signs in streets say: "One spark can kill a park!". Oh, and if there's a fire somewhere, fire trucks magically get all the green lights on their way. I'm guessing they have special remote controls.

The view from the balcony. Somebodies backyard.

The view from the balcony.

I had a short visit to the beach. Cooold and windy! I hope to come back here soon.

The sun sets a bit faster than at home.

China town gate.

An Australian magpie feeding it's baby. The child makes a very funny begging sound. Need to record it, I think.

The shopping street.

The same street. Look at the Santa on the top left corner! We've even seen some Christmas trees in shop windows.

One can get a free tram ride inside the city. Great!

Sushi is different here. It's in big pieces. You eat it like a chocolate bar. Pouring some soya sauce before each bite. Rather handy. I haven't decided which way I prefer.

I visited one of Adelaide's botanical gardens. Prepare for plant pictures next time!

Helmets helmets helmets

2011-10-25T15:28:00.001+03:00

One early morning we were driven up to Adelaide hills. There was fog. A rare sight in these parts of Australia.

It was much colder than down in the valley. It was 13 degrees Celsius. And we were gonna ride bikes all the way down. This is what I wore.

Luckily the guide lent me his jacket (I never packed one, didn't think I'm gonna need one here!).

And we were lucky to see a group of yellow-tailed black cockatoos again! Two days in a row!

A classic view...

The ride was really fun! A bit scary sometimes.

www.luk.lt

When it's all clear one can see Adelaide down there. The board shows what we were supposed to see.
I wish I could look around more. But safety first.

A walk in the city

2011-10-25T07:31:00.000+03:00

Adelaide (ˈædəleɪd) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia, and is the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.28 million.

Adelaide has a Mediterranean climate .

Oh, these beautiful colonial style houses...

Some odd plants near the city zoo. I don't know if it's worth visiting it. Tigers and wolves are probably the main attraction.

Shop/gallery. The handicrafts are a bit different from those in Lithuania. But not too much though...

All the succulents! Everywhere! Prepare for many more pictures in future.

Adelaide hills in the horizon.

We saw an Adelaide rosella with a misshaped beak. The beak has grown so long it's touching the birds chest! The poor thing was eating with it's head on a side. We even called the animal rescue. And they reacted very fast. But despite the deformed beak the bird could fly just fine and we never saw it again.
And here is a healthy Eastern rosella.

Omg! Look at these aeoniums! Gigantic!