Must Read

Boing Boing: Counting Heads: exciting, major new sf novel: "Counting Heads: exciting, major new sf novel
David Marusek is one of the best-kept secrets of science fiction, a wild talent with a Gibson-grade imagination and marvelous prose, and a keen sense of human drama that makes it all go. Science fiction editors nurture short story writers -- many sf insiders keep track of the short fiction markets and watch with keen interest the writers who are doing good work there, but until those writers manage to get a novel out, it's rare for the field at large to take note of them. Writers like Ben Rosenbaum and Ted Chiang do incredible, brilliant work in short lengths, and the field does yeoman duty recognizing them with awards and approbation, but ultimately, the audience for short fiction is regrettably small."

Mount Tabletop

This is a panorama of Mount Tabletop, taken from Picnic Point in Toowoomba, Queensland. I created the panorama from 3 separate digital photos using the excellent, and currently free, Autostitch software.
Toowoomba is my home town, and when I was a boy I climbed this mountain several times with my parents, and then later, my school mates.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Harbour Bridge
Originally uploaded by thenoodleator.

Walkin' the bridge. I did this about 1 year ago and it was foggy and pouring with rain. I'd still say this is an absolute must if you ever visit Sydney, rain, hail or shine.

The great photo is from Flickr.

St Mary's Lighthouse at Sunrise

St Mary's Lighthouse at Sunrise
Originally uploaded by *Huw*.

I found this gorgeous Lighthouse on Flickr. What a beautiful photograph.

Old Sydney Rail Board at Toy & Railway Museum

Station signs

NSW Toy & Railway Museum, Leura

Leura Town Centre

Riverglade Reserve, Gladesville

The Gladesville Bridge with Tarban Creek in the foreground


Tarban Creek with Hunters Hill in the background


Not a bad idea, where dogs, children and soccer players roam.

This is our favourite dog walking area (close to home, anyway) and on most weekend afternoons you can find a good assortment of dogs here, off the leash and going for it. Milo in particular is crazy about this place and would happily live here if we would let him. Our kids love it too because there's plenty of running space, ducks to feed and interesting things to explore like an iron footbridge and grassy hills.

Blues Point Road

Blues Point Road, McMahons Point.

Sydney Skyline & Bridge Glimpses from Blues Point Road

"Bridge glimpses". I sound like a real estate agent. This is one of my favourite places in Sydney. I worked here for the Disney Channel, and then later for a little facility called Babylonia. Real Estate-wise, it's a bit out of my league but a great place to work, to get a coffee or have a meal - and I'm told that The Commodore Hotel is a great pick-up place if you're a lot younger and less married then I am. I had dinner here last night with an old mate of mine from Brisbane days. Dave and I started out in the same company together and although I left in 1994, he stayed on and has had a stellar rise, culminating in a move to Singapore last year. We only see each other about once a year, but it's always a good conversation and catch up.

Bicentennial Park

The "Steam Fountains" at Bicentennial Park with The Treillage in centre stage.


A Perfect Day


The Playground and BBQ area


The View from Bicentennial Park towards Rhodes

This Park has rapidly become one of our favourite spots in Sydney. It is situated right next to the Sydney Olympic Park, site of the 2000 Games, and has everything you could want for a great day out with kids. There are flat, wide bike paths, fountains, BBQ's, two fantastic playgrounds, wetlands with boardwalks, a cafe and a great visitor centre. You can also take your dog along as long as they are on a leash at all times (we saw a park ranger get very cross with the owner of an unleashed dog.)

One of the highlights of the park is the row of "steam fountains" in front of the treillage. About every 10 minutes these spray a fine mist from little nozzles dotted randomly over their entire length - beautiful, and very cooling on a warm day.

Feed me

Milo, our forlorn looking pup.

He doesn't usuually look this sad - I think he thought that the camera was magically made of beef and I might feed it to him. Anyway Milo is a year-old Pugalier. That's right - you heard me...a Pugalier. Cross between a Pug and a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. He's a great boy - but still in that manic annoying destructive puppy phase. Anyway, we love him.

Today the Scylla, Tomorrow the Charybdes

The Field of Mars, RYDE

This is the view off my back deck. Unbelievably, the view the other way is of a bus depot. I'm looking North as I took this photo - hence the name of my blog. I was going to call it "fieldofmars", but that was taken.

I'll be back

Hope to see you soon.