kimbofo

9 snapshots of Niagra Falls (and one movie)

Place: Niagra Falls, Canada.
Date: May 3, 2012.
Camera: Panasonic TZ3.

I wasn't sure what to expect when we went to Niagra Falls earlier this month. I hadn't realised that the falls are comprised of two separate waterfalls — the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls — and that they would make so much noise and be so impressively, well, big.

Of course, the best way to appreciate the falls, if not from the window of your hotel, is from the open deck on board the Maid of the Mist. Oh. My. Goodness. What an exciting, funny, wonderful way to get up close to the roar of the water and to feel the spray of it raining down on you. Any wonder a disposable blue-hooded waterproof poncho is included with the ticket price. We would have been completely drenched without them.

Whe we took to the water, standing on the top deck, I got a bit excited taking photographs and filming the action. It was so wet that my camera shutter got stuck and for a moment there I thought I was finally going to have to say goodbye to my five-year-old Panasonic.

Here's a mix of pictures snapped before my camera decided to die temporarily — and after it dried out.

A very Canadian breakfast

Place: Crowne Plaza Hotel, Niagra Falls, Canada.
Date: May 4, 2012.
Camera: Panasonic TZ3.

Midway through our trip to Toronto we went to Niagra Falls for a one-night stay. I'll write more about the falls later, but as a foodie I just had to share this picture of my ultra-delicious breakfast — freshly made waffles topped with fresh cream, blueberries and strawberries and drizzled with maple syrup.

T opted for the slightly more healthier option (although it's debatable whether pastries and a carrot-cake muffin are better for you than waffles), photographed below.

Without wishing to take away from the delicious food (and the stunning view of Niagra Falls from the restaurant window), it was a bit cheeky of the hotel to give us a credit towards breakfast when we had paid a "bed and breakfast" rate. Funny that the credit did not (deliberately) cover the cost of the breakfast. I think this is what you call a scam — or a sneaky way of bleeding more money out of unsuspecting tourists...

Toronto skyline

Place: Toronto, Canada.
Date: May 2, 2012.
Camera: Panasonic TZ3.

It only took 12 years, but we finally got to visit T's sister in Toronto. We crammed a lot into our 9-day stay, but one of the highlights was taking a harbour cruise on a sunny Wednesday morning. For an hour, our little boat sailed around Lake Ontario, weaving its way through the small group of islands offshore from the city centre. And when it turned around and headed back to the harbour front we were greeted with this magnificent, picture-postcard view of the Toronto skyline.

Brighton, 17.37

Place: Brighton, Sussex.
Date: April 21, 2012.
Camera: BlackBerry Curve.

Yesterday. Just after 5.30pm. We were in Brighton at the tail end of a pub crawl to which we'd been invited by one of T's former colleagues. We nipped out to photograph the sea just as these lovely fingers of light were coming down out of the sky and shining on the ocean and the old pier.

A surprise trip to Venice

Place: Venice, Italy.
Date: March 1, 2012.
Camera: Panasonic TZ3.

On the last Wednesday in February I was told to have my suitcase packed by 1pm and await further instructions. I didn't know where we were going, only that it would be for three nights. I didn't know if our destination was somewhere in the UK or further abroad. I had an inkling that it would be a town in Kent (T's county of choice) or perhaps Hay-on-Wye or maybe even Snowdonia, in Wales.

When I received a text message at about 10am to meet T at Victoria Station, platform 12, at around 1.45pm I figured my hunch about Kent was probably right. It didn't occur to me that the Gatwick Express departs from Victoria. And nor did it occur to me that the "platform 12" might be a red herring. (I discovered that the trains from platform 12 go to London Bridge via an incredibly convuluted circuitous route.)

When we boarded the train to Gatwick Airport, I was still none the wiser as to where we were going to be spending the next few days. Even as we checked in the luggage, I had no idea. But when I accidentally saw the baggage label being attached to my suitcase with the destination code "VCE" I knew we were headed to Venice, Italy. Cue excitement!

I have been to Venice twice before, but on the last trip I had a chest infection that morphed into pneumonia and most of my time was spent in a feverish blur as I coughed my lungs up and tried not to die. This time, however, would be different!

To be continued...

Fonzies — it must be Italian for 'Twisties'

Place: London (via Italy).
Date: March 4, 2012.
Camera: Panasonic TZ3.

You might think of Fonzie as that cool Italian-American guy out of Happy Days who wore blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a black leather jacket, had slicked back hair, rode a motorbike and picked up all the chicks. But if you go to Italy today, the only Fonzie you'll find is this delicious cheese-flavoured snack food.

And yes, if you're Australian and think the packaging looks exactly like the packaging for Twisties, you'd be right. Fonzies are actually Twisties — although they're closer to pale yellow in colour than orange and they're not quite as cheesy, either. But hey, who cares, when you're deprived of Australian junk food while living in the UK, you'll snap up as many of these little beauties as you can while visiting Italy! I've returned with a suitcase full of them...

Seals in Howth Harbour, Dublin

Place: Howth, north Dublin, Ireland.
Date: June 19, 2011.
Camera: Panasonic TZ3.

The last thing I expected to see when I made a quick visit to Howth, on Dublin's north coast, yesterday afternoon was seals frolicking in the harbour.

But there, right by the fishing trawlers and moored boats, were three seals delighting the crowds.

It felt a bit surreal to make eye contact with these amazing creatures, who did not seem at all afraid of the humans staring at them from the harbour wall. If anything they seemed to relish the attention and put on a bit of a show, jumping up out of the water, doing somersaults and deep dives, and blowing bubbles out of their noses.

I overheard one elderly lady claim that up until fairly recently you could buy a bag of fish for €3 to feed the seals. But the trade was stopped when it became clear that too many people were feeding the seals and the sea creatures were stacking on the weight.

From my internet research, I now see that the seals are pretty famous. They have their own Twitter feed and one of them, Sammy, has his own Facebook page!

Tidal River, Wilsons Promontory National Park: the place that makes me glad to be alive

All pictures taken: Wilsons Promontory National Park, Australia.
Date: January 18, 2011.
Camera: Panasonic TZ3.

Yesterday the folks and I went to Wilsons Promontory National Park for a day out. The Prom, as it is affectionately known, is on the southern-most tip of the Australian mainland and is less than an hour's drive from my parent's home.

Comprising more than 50,000 hectares of pristine beaches, native bushland, rainforest gullies and mountain peaks, it's one of the most beautiful places on the planet. 

At just 180km south-east of Melbourne, it's incredibly popular with day trippers and campers. The main hub of activity is Tidal River, which has 484 campsites, a visitor's centre and a general store.

It also has an amazing sheltered beach of white sand, a tea-coloured river that is stained by the tannin that leaches out of the native vegetation, and beautiful granite rocks to match.

For someone who has travelled all over the world and lived in many different places, this is my touchstone: the place that makes me glad to be alive.

You can find out more about 'The Prom' via the Visit Victoria website.

Melbourne: serving the world's best coffee

Place: BearBrass restaurant, Southgate, Melbourne, Australia
Date: January 13, 2011.
Camera: BlackBerry Curve.

When I moved to London all those years ago the thing I missed most about my homeland wasn't the weather or the friendliness of the people, but the wonderfully rich Italian coffee I had so long taken for granted.

I remember spending weekends trawling the cafes and eateries of Soho and the West End with a fellow Australian looking for that perfect flat white. The closest thing we came to finding that little bit of heaven was the Cinnamon Bar in Aldwych, but it still wasn't anything like a good cuppa from home.

Nowadays London is awash with coffee chains -- Starbucks, Costa, Cafe Nero -- and getting a half-decent coffee is no longer the trial and tribulation it was back in the late 1990s. In the past 12 months some of those chains have even introduced the "flat white" -- although they still don't taste quite as good as the ones produced Down Under.

How lovely, then, to enjoy silky smooth coffee after silky smooth coffee when I took myself to Melbourne for a bit of a mini-break last week. The best bit was not having to step into a corporate coffee chain to enjoy them.

That's because Melbourne is awash with independent coffee shops, thanks to the Italian immigrants that rocked up on our shores in the 1950s. Indeed, coffee chains don't seem to have much success here: Starbucks shut down 61 stores in 2008 because those stores struggled to attract customers.

The only coffee chain that seems to have a good reputation for good coffee is an Australian-owned one --  Gloria Jean -- and even then it has less than a dozen in the CBD, so it hasn't saturated the market.

The other added benefit of drinking coffee in Melbourne is that every establishment,  from the smallest sandwich bar to the biggest restaurant, seems to know how to make a decent one. And the coffee used is always top-notch.

In four days of coffee supping I did not have one bad coffee.

The only downside was a slight overdose -- three flat whites in the space of one morning (I was thirsty!) -- that left me feeling slightly jittery  and nauseous from too much caffeine. But even then I wouldn't swap the experience for the world: sometimes you just got to make the best of a good thing while you can.

Visiting the pandas in Chengdu, China

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All pictures taken: Panda breeding centre, Chengdu, China.
Date: November 28, 2010.
Camera: Panasonic TZ3.

One of the highlights of my trip to China late last year was visiting the giant panda breeding centre in Chengdu (officially known as the "Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding" which sounds a bit Chinglish to me).

I had expected the base to be a tourist trap, with more visitors than pandas. But, as with most things in China, my preconceptions were completely wrong. Despite visiting on a weekend, there were very few people there. And there were giant pandas -- everywhere!

The world-renowned base was first opened in 1987 with just six pandas. Today there are more than 90 pandas, all of which have been captive-bred.

The animals live in lush, green surroundings replicating their natural conditions in the wild.

They are lazy creatures and spend most of their time sleeping or eating bamboo.

I couldn't help wondering if the ones we saw were simply men in costumes, because they didn't seem quite real. I had to keep pinching myself that I was even there.

And while I was  pleased to see they were living in such wonderfully naturalistic conditions, I felt sad that none of these animals will ever be released into the wild. That's because there's simply nowhere to put them -- their natural habitat has been gradually destroyed or fragmented. (And even if they could be released, it's doubtful they'd survive on their own, because they're so accustomed to human "contact".)

The upside is that the researchers at Chengdu are doing great things in ensuring the future of the species. Their work in captive-breeding means there will always be giant pandas for people like you and me to see in sanctuaries and zoos around the world.

And the base, which is a non-profit organisation, is also promoting the intrinsic value of these beautiful creatures by investing in wildlife research, conservation and educational tourism.

(Obviously the work is costly -- it can cost £5,000 a year to feed and house each panda -- so donations and annual adoptions are always welcome. You can find out more via the base's official support page.)

The base is also home to a population of red pandas, funny little agile creatures that are only distantly related to the giant panda. I had great fun watching them chasing each other around their enclosure, but less fun trying to capture them on camera because they were so active!

There's also a museum on site (the world's first panda museum) and a cafe that serves delicious banana pancakes.

My only quibble is the movie about panda breeding that plays on an endless loop in the cafe: seeing the reproductive habits of pandas on the big screen while trying to eat lunch can be a little off-putting!

The Panda Base is at 1375 Panda Road, Northern Suburb, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.