Somewhere Else

A favourite tourist sight in Rome is the grand road known as Via dei Fori Imperiali (literally the Way of the Imperial Forums). From there, you can stare down into the Roman Forum, admiring those evocative ruins among which Julius Caesar died.

According to Shakespeare, Julius Caesar commented that, “Cassius has a lean and hungry look”. If you turn around and look in the opposite direction, you will see a tower which is lean in the other sense of the word. It is the Torre delle Milizia, which is flanked by pine trees and has a very obvious lean. If you walk to the tower, the lean becomes even more striking (below).

Visitors to Geraldton, 450km north of Perth, could easily think that the local Acker Dacker fans are a very cultured bunch. After all, there is an ACDC art gallery in Marine Terrace.

But don’t be fooled. ACDC stands for Arts and Cultural Development Council – a community arts organisation encompassing culture and the arts, visual arts, performing arts, music and dance. And the gallery is worth a visit, whether you’re a fan of Acker Dacker or not.

We’ve mentioned before how much we like lines – straight lines, curves, spirals, knots and more. They’re all interesting. So this tower was bound to catch our attention. It’s the DNA Tower in Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia.

The tower is in the form of a double helix, and commemorates the first description of the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick in 1953. In 1962 they received a Nobel Prize for their pioneering work, along with their colleague Wilkins. There has been debate ever since about whether they really deserved the prize. If you imagine scientists working solely to understand the universe, unswayed by emotions, ambition and jealousy – it’s time to think again. They’re human beings.

In everyday English we use the words helix and spiral as synonyms. But to a scientist or mathematician, they are entirely different. A spiral has an increasing radius, like a snail shell. A helix has a moving centre point, like a screw thread. So DNA is a double helix, not a double spiral. And don’t talk about spiral staircases to a mathematician!

It’s worth climbing the 101 steps of the DNA Tower, even if you aren’t particularly interested in maths and science. From the top there are sweeping views across Perth.

While we were in Finalborgo (see yesterday’s blog) we also saw this amazing sundial. It’s painted on the front wall of a building in the town’s main square.

You might notice that the window on the bottom right side of the sundial looks a bit odd. In fact it is another one of those painted mock-windows that we seem to find all over Italy. You can see that clearly in the photo below. And there is another sundial on the building next door. This is sundial paradise.

Yesterday we looked at the miniature Pinnacles at Guilderton, half way between Perth and the real Pinnacles. But you don’t even have to leave Perth to see standing stones. The ones above are in a sloping cliff face near the Swan River in Nedlands. They also look like they might turn into true Pinnacles one day, if they don’t get overrun by housing instead.

And then there are man-made “Pinnacles” like those below. They are in another park by the river in Dalkeith. If you have a good memory, you may also recall the Aboriginal art standing stones in East Perth which we featured back on March 30. The Pinnacles have obviously had a powerful creative influence on Perth.

The Pinnacles at Cervantes (above) are among the most easily recognised tourist icons of Western Australia. When we were working in England and in Japan, they used to have tourism pictures of the Pinnacles on trains – apparently to make us homesick for wide open spaces and blue skies.

Now we just have to travel 200km north from our home in Perth to see these eerie standing stones, which look like a setting for a sci-fi movie. But there are similar rock formations much closer to home than that. The photo below was taken at Guilderton, about 100km north of Perth. These rocks are like a miniature version of the Pinnacles. Perhaps they should be called the Minicles – or maybe Embryonicles, since they look like they will become Pinnacles when they grow up.

Looking through our photo archives, we came across this vintage caravan which has a special significance for us. It’s the very first vintage caravan that we ever saw.

Nicknamed “Joker II” and belonging to Mark T and Jenni G, this 1957 custom made wooden van is shown here being towed by Mark’s 1958 FC Holden station wagon. It’s a rare sight, since Joker II has been garaged for some years now. Mark and Jenni have quite a collection of vintage caravans and we see them in caravan parks several times a year, holidaying in other vans from their collection.

As you can see below, stepping inside Joker II is like stepping back 50 years in time. No wonder we file these vintage caravans under the heading “Time Machines”. You can read more about Mark and Jenni’s caravans at their website.

You probably played the game as a kid: I spy with my little eye, something beginning with … V

But what does V stand for? In this case, it’s not the obvious one – Venice. No, it’s something to do with the camera. Being travel writers/photographers, we buy a lot of cameras and we have a checklist of features that any camera we buy must have. Recently we have seen four different cameras that looked like they fitted the bill. All had 10-12 megapix, around 10 times zoom and wide angle. And they were all light and compact. Perfect for travel, except for one drawback. None of them had a viewfinder.

Many people ignore the viewfinder and hold the camera at arm’s length, looking at the LCD screen on the back. But that is not ideal for several reasons. You can hold the camera much steadier when it is up against your head. That means you get sharper photos. And on a sunny day it is almost impossible to judge the correct exposure (sometimes even to see the image on the screen) if you are holding the camera at arm’s length.

So when you are buying a camera, look for one with a viewfinder. And use it, of course.

This year Australia Post is celebrating 200 years of mail deliveries. The old post office in central Perth (above) is decked out with banners, even though it is no longer used as a post office.

This iconic building got off to a bumpy start. The initial design was drawn up in 1912 and the construction contract was awarded in 1914, just four weeks before the start of World War 1. After the war, the plan was modified to have two extra floors. So construction wasn’t completed until 1923.

The impressive neo-classical building used local West Australian materials and was the largest and most expensive building in the state when it was completed. Today it is dwarfed by more modern buildings, but retains its stately demeanour in Forrest Place.

You will also find some architecturally interesting post offices in country towns. Our favourite is the ornate 1912 post office in Kellerberrin (below).

When we are in Rome, we inevitably walk up/down the Spanish Steps (see yesterday’s blog). But there is somewhere in Rome that has an even more amazing set of stairs. Two sets of stairs in fact, as you can see above.

This Stairway Happy Hour is just around the corner from the huge white monument to Victor Emmanuel II. The stairs on the left go up to the 14th century church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli. And the staircase on the right, known as the Cordonata, leads up to the Piazza del Campidoglio.