1 Like
The CSIRO Parkes Observatory is a very large radio telescope which was used to support the Apollo 11 landing, and has done a great deal of astronomical research over the years. It is still in operation, and they have a nice visitor center, gift store, movie theater, and cafe. Make sure you take the northerly paved road route unless the weather has been dry for a good while. Google Maps took me the dirt road route from Parkes - in the rain.
Speaking of rain, there were some sprinkles that ended up on the lens in this photo. I've left them in the photo instead of photoshopping them out. I did use HDR techniques to boost the lighting and colors so the picture didn't look boring.
There are no kangaroos in Austria. We're talking about Australia, the world's smallest continent. That being cleared up, let's dive right in! Australia is a sovereign state under the Commonwealth of Nations, which is in turn overseen by Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth. The continent was first sighted and charted by the Dutch in 1606. Captain James Cook of Britain came along in the next century to claim it for Britain and name it "New South Wales." Shortly thereafter it was declared to be a penal colony full of nothing but criminals and convicts, giving it the crap reputation you may have heard at your last cocktail party. This rumor ignores 40,000 years of pre-European human history, especially the Aboriginal concept of Dreamtime, an interesting explanation of physical and spiritual reality. The two biggest cities in Australia are Sydney and Melbourne. Sydney is more for business, Melbourne for arts. But that's painting in very broad strokes. Take a whirl around the panoramas to see for yourself! Text by Steve Smith.
