Dark Helmet and a wee bit of truth

Not much comment required for these two... some real truths and well isn't that the biggest blackest helmet you ever did see. I want one.

Stowaway

...and there I was, just popping up to Palm Beach for a bbq with a few folks, stopped off for some water at a petrol station and as I opened my car door something caught my eye....can you spot it?

I'd already got in and out of the car several times before Shelob moved and caught my eye. Cor blimey I shit me pants I can tell you. I mean, the little bugger had been sat inches from my head for the last half an hour! Well...suffice to say, there was no way I was getting back into the car with that thing scurrying about right next to my head. So, I collected my camera to get a couple of 'evidence' shots whilst I took a couple of minutes to figure out what to do with said hairy beast. I had nothing to remove it with and the lady who was parked in the car spot next to me wouldn't even get out of her car. Her boyfriend was no better either.

This thing is a huntsman spider. Non venomous but pretty big and really really quick. Being bitten by one is like being stabbed with two pens, and well, that doesn't sound very appealing. When they spread out their legs they have an impressive span, but this one is hiding a bit. Apparently it might actually be scared of me (oh, the irony) and was hunched up in a defensive 'bugger off' posture. Well, unfortunately for Incey Wincey I was in no position to leave him be. I had to move him otherwise I couldn't get back in the car and I couldn't leave the car there, so i very professionally threw my hat at it. At first I just pissed it off but eventually after about a dozen attacks of my Indiana Jones style hat, faster than light itself, it shot off further into the car, somewhere inside the engine bay through a hole in the door. This created a bit of a conundrum as I could no longer see it. What also concerned me was the fact that It might drop out of the holes the pedals go through onto my feet. Problem was, the more I stood there thinking about it, the more I realised I was just going to have to get on with it - as stated I couldn't leave the car there. So, after twenty minutes or so I had satisfied myself it wasn't too close to my feet (mainly by whacking the plastic surrounds and generally trying to scare it away) I got back in the car and drove very gingerly for the next few hours. Every time i even thought something brushed my leg I jumped a mile...

Feel free to click on this photo for a nice close up. At some point over the next few days I'll let Andy know that we have a stowaway. Thing is, they like really warm dark places and inside a car is their idea of utopia, so I can't imagine it leaving. For the next few months I'm a public transport man. Don't like driving anyway (cough)...

Christmas Day 2008

Ho Ho Ho

Christmas this year was unusual. Great fun, oh yes, but it just seemed a little odd not being round the table with Mum, Dad, Chris, Tim et al (all while trying to sneak an extra large portion of smoked salmon mousse ring...lol). Instead I spent it on a wee beach overlooking Manly in 30 degree sunshine. I had a lovely day with Simone's family and my cousins (and uncle) on Shelly Beach eating oysters with tabasco (mmm), drinking beers and snorkelling amongst the coral.

Uncle Mike enjoying an oyster, part of the fabulous spread provided by all for Christmas lunch

Everyone on the beach, as you might expect, was in joyous mood with carols being sung on the beach in the blazing sunshine (you would occasionally catch a distant 'FIIIIVE GOOOOOOOLLLLLD RINGS' from another party at various points throughout the day)

This was actually Little Manley just over the other side of the Manly peninsula.

Finally....I can't take the credit for the following photo as I don't have an underwater camera but this is a Grouper fish. These things grow bloody huge. Anyway, the reason for this photo is that whilst snorkelling I came across one of these. The one I found out on the reef was about 4 feet long and a foot high. I mean it was HUGE. It came so close and was completely uninterested in me and I obviously posed no threat to the point that I could reach out and touch it as it swum not six inches from my nose. Most cool indeed.

The view back across to Shelly Beach from the Howitt's rooftop apartment. To the left is the Pacific Ocean and the wide open sea!

Welcome wee guest

Thought I might just pop these on. As you can imagine, living in a country with an unbalanced claim on most of the world's dangerous, venomous and downright creepy little (or massive as the case may be) creatures, we get a few unwelcomed house guests. Many of these guests are removed by way of chemical death. Occasionally we get a little bug that is quite welcome and really quite cool - as can be seen of these shots of our Preying Mantis. I did not name him Jesus as that would be cliched and, most importantly, mis-spelt.

I spent a few minutes up close just watching him, and he watching me with his beeeeeeeeedy little eyes. He was probably sizing up whether i would go well in a mushroom sauce or something, but decided that I was probably a bit lean. He scuttled off and last I heard he was chasing the elephants round their enclosure at Taronga Zoo. Just for fun.

What a cool little chap.

Stuff I forgot to mention...

Here's a real interesting little spider that you see around. I've not figured out how it gets the leaf...perhaps spins the web and waits for one to drop, but it then wraps it up and lives in it. It's odd seeing all these floating leaves around...after all you can't see the web from a few feet away, just the leaf. You can see his legs sticking out but he didn't want to play much more and i was going to get any closer.

I also went to a fantastic beach with Auntie Trish, Liam and Sim but forgot to post! Shame on me...which reminds me I have Kangaroo Valley to put some photos on as well. Will get round to it soon.

Liam, seen here, was clearly hatching a plan. Something about his demeanour gave it away. I suspected it involved beer. Which, for the record, I am honestly convinced is fully legal on this beach but was hidden from sight, your honor, only to protect it from the sunlight (cough).

And it's always sad when we see a dead animal, as can be noted in this photo. The man who discovered this poor unfortunate pigeon didn't even have the heart to move it from its final resting place. What a sensitive soul.

I didn't take this one to be fair. I just don't like pigeons. :-D

Towers in the sky

I heard about the Burj Dubai some time ago but when I saw these I thought it was about time I blogged about it.

Burj Dubai ( "Dubai Tower") is a supertall skyscraper under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure ever built, despite being incomplete. Construction began in 2004 and is expected to be completed and ready for occupation in September 2009.

The projected final height of Burj Dubai is officially being kept a secret due to competition from other buildings under construction or proposed; however, figures released by a contractor on the project have suggested a height of around 818 m (2,684 ft).

Over 45,000 m3 of concrete, weighing more than 110,000 tonnes were used to construct the concrete and steel foundation, which features 192 piles buried more than 164 ft deep. When completed, Burj Dubai's construction will have used 330,000 m3 of concrete and 39,000 tonnes of steel rebar (enough to extend over a quarter of the way around the world if laid end-to-end)

As construction of the tower progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to vertically pump the thousands of cubic metres of concrete that are required. Concrete is pumped to a delivery height of 601 m - special mixes of concrete are made to withstand the extreme pressures of the massive weight of the tower.

The consistency of the concrete on the project is essential. It was difficult to create a concrete that could withstand the thousands of tonnes bearing down on it and also withstand Gulf temperatures that can reach 50 °C (122 °F). To combat this problem, the concrete is not poured during the day. Instead, ice is added to the mixture and it is poured at night when it is cooler and the humidity is higher. A cooler concrete mixture cures evenly throughout and therefore is less likely to set too quickly and crack. Any significant cracks could put the whole project in jeopardy.

It has the world's fastest lifts at 40mph and will, of course, be decadently furnished and technologically class-leading throughout. No expense spared i'm sure.

It's a big bugger isn't it? I mean it just dwarfs the skyscrapers around it.

You can see in this comparison though why this one is a little bit special. I mean look how much taller this is then anything else. Over the years mankind has constantly striven to make the world's tallest building and the fame and immortality it brings. I mean, who has never heard of The Empire State Building? Each time the record was beaten, it was by a few feet here, a radio-mast-add-on there and so forth. This one just slaps them all down. I mean it's just gargantuan isn't it!

The obligatory artist's impression of the finished project.

Mr & Mrs Mills.

I love being in Oz at the moment but being so far away means that I miss brilliant things. One such thing is my friends' wedding. Being 15,000 miles away means I can't get home as often and looks like i missed a cracker. Congrats to you both. Gutted I couldn't be there. Love the pose by the way - like Romeo and Juliet! lol