Somewhere Else

This large object is located on a ridge at the south end of Cottesloe beach in Perth, Western Australia. What do you think it is? Could it be:

   (a) A shipwreck memorial?

   (b) A communications antenna?

   (c) A clock?

   (d) A skateboard ramp?

In fact, this limestone structure is a clock – a sundial, to be precise. It was constructed about 20 years ago and is based on the design of 18th century sundials in Jaipur, India. Those curving “wings” are the shadow boards on which you read the time.

The surprising thing about sundials is that even though they are simple in concept, they can be very complicated to read. Larger ones like this typically have corrections for the different months and maybe for daylight saving too. By the time you have figured out how to read the time, you feel like you have done a crash course in astrophysics!

You may have noticed already, but we’re not letting you forget that 2009 is the year of the cow in the Asian zodiac. The reason is simple – one of us was born in the year of the cow. The other was born in the year of the tiger, so expect to see a few tigers in our blog next year.

Our Japanese friends always smile at the idea of a tiger marrying a cow – they seem to think that the cow is at risk of getting eaten. Ha ha. One of our friends in Japan, who was also born in the year of the cow, asked to see an origami cow on our blog. So here it is. Below there are some other Japanese cows that we acquired while we were living in Japan during the last year of the cow, 1997.

And the Japanese word for cow? It’s “ushi”.

This amusing sign is displayed at bus stops all around Perth, Western Australia. It looks like a typo, or maybe an ad for a weight loss program directed at people with spelling difficulties. But no, it means exactly what it says.

If you SMS/text the bus stop number to the bus company, you will get a reply advising when the next bus is due. So it really is a “wait loss program”.

A few months back we mentioned the painted bus shelters in Perth, Western Australia. Recently one in our neighbourhood was repainted with some classic elephant images. It seems to have caught everyone’s attention – a local stopped to have a chat about while we were taking the photo above.

We knew that this bus shelter was going to be repainted, since a few weeks earlier it was suddenly painted plain grey in preparation for the project. We hoped to talk with the artists while they were working on it, but were Somewhere Else when they did the painting.

Just one question: Why elephants? Most painted bus shelters seem to feature a local motif. Does someone have a pet elephant in our neighbourhood?

What would you answer if someone asked you where “The motion picture capital of the world” is located? Maybe you would think of Hollywood or Mumbai. But residents of Culver City in Los Angeles would give a different answer.

The sculpture above is entitled “Film Strip – USA”. The sculptor was Natalie Krol and a plaque on the sculpture says that it was “Dedicated by the citizens of Culver City – the motion picture capital of the world”.

It’s not an outrageous claim. Up to the middle of the 20th century, more than half the movies made in the USA were made in Culver City. That included such classics as Ben Hur, Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane and many more. The mural below honours another timeless classic from Culver City.

We were in Milan earlier this year, and went to see the monumental Arch of Peace beside Sempione Park. Napoleon ordered the construction of this arch in 1806 to celebrate his victories, but he was defeated at Waterloo before it was completed. After that, construction languished for decades.

When we were there it looked like the arch was still under construction, but it was actually undergoing restoration. Oddly enough, the Arch of Peace looked very pleasing with its covering of scaffolding. And the graffiti artists obviously appreciated the fencing around the base of the arch. Let’s hope they don’t finish the restoration too quickly.

Walking along the beachfront at Cottesloe, Western Australia a few days back, we spotted this unusual car. The badges indicated that it was a Facel Vega HK500. We had never heard of this Euro-sounding marque before, but guessed from the twin exhausts (below) that it was probably a V8. And the fins and retro tail lights suggested late 50s.

A quick google showed that the Facel Vega HK500 was a luxury French car built from 1959 to 1962, and powered by a Chrysler Hemi V8. You could say that it’s a perfect blend of American muscle and French finesse.

Yesterday we talked about Dalgety, New South Wales. If you do visit the town, make sure you stop to look at the Dalgety Garage.

This sprawling galvanized iron building is in the main street and is still used as a garage. But it’s more than just a car repair shop. Proprietors Bill and Anne have filled much of the interior with a huge collection of interesting memorabilia. There is an impressive variety of old tools, furniture, signs and much more. And if you’re a classic car fan, there are some interesting vehicles as well. This 1937 Dodge Fargo pickup is a piece of the garage’s motoring heritage.

Sometimes you might be tempted to think that all small country towns are much the same. But you would be mistaken – they’re all different and they often have an interesting story to tell.

Take the small town of Dalgety for example. It is located in southern New South Wales, in the highlands and right on the Snowy River. The town looks very sleepy and you could just drive straight through without really noticing it. But this is definitely a town with a past.

Just over a hundred years ago, Dalgety was on the short list to become the capital of Australia. The final choice in 1908 was between Dalgety and Canberra. According to local legend, it was a wet and miserable day in Dalgety when the capital city selection committee came to town. So they chose Canberra instead. There may be some truth in the legend – it was raining when we went there as well.

The decision in favour of Canberra had far-reaching implications. Today Dalgety has a population of about 80, versus 330,000 in Canberra. But Dalgety has retained its old world charm. The locals are very friendly and happy to have a talk about how glad they are that Dalgety never became the capital. We had several chats with them in the town’s cafe/garden shop (above).

You can read more about Dalgety in our article “Capital Idea” in the July 2009 issue of On The Road magazine.

It’s a problem familiar to global wanderers. You walk into a Chinese restaurant in an Italian town and decide to order wanton soup and fried noodles. But how do you say wanton in Italian? After studying the menu, it becomes obvious – wantons are ravioli in Italian. Of course.  And the noodle? It is spaghetti in Italian.

Things get worse if you order pizza in an Italian restaurant in Germany. Yep, they still call a pizza a pizza. But what if you want four seasons pizza? In Italian it’s called quattro stagione – which is familiar to all fans of Vivaldi. But in German it becomes the jaw crunching vier jahreszeiten.

So if you like juggling three languages at a time, order wanton soup in Italy or pizza in Germany. If not, you’d better stick to the local food.