Guns and meat

I marveled at all the new varieties of junk food I saw on this trip, and while Wall Drug seemed to be lacking in the chips category, there was an impressive selection of flavored processed meats for sale.

And toy guns. I'm an out of touch coastal elite, of course, so I did find this a little shocking. Not surprising, sadly.

Wall Drug

What started as a small drugstore offering free ice water to travelers in Wall, South Dakota is now a huge shopping complex offering Western clothes, a playground with an 80-foot dinosaur, a chapel, an art gallery, and excellent homemade donuts.

I think it was probably the strangest place we visited on our road trip and this was an itinerary that included the Corn Palace and the Spam Museum.

Farm truck

The canola makes a nice pop of yellow on this North Dakota farm.

Truck stop

This image of a truck in North Dakota is from last summer, so doesn't really count as a flashback.

I'm on vacation now, though attempting to jump through the hoops that are apparently necessary to get a gel injection in my poor, pathetic injured knee has turned out to be practically a full-time job. (I never had to deal with a specialty pharmacy before and hadn't realized it was so damn complicated.) Otherwise, I'm sorting papers, catching up on shows I haven't watched yet, reading, and oh yes, going through the photo archives.

Flashback: Mirror Lake

And that's it for New Zealand—one last scenic stop on the South Island.

Flashback: Milford Sound

Most of the pictures I never went through from New Zealand were of Milford Sound, and I made an executive decision that I didn't need any more waterfalls.

But I did like this picture: looking out the mouth of the sound to the Tasman Sea while a lone albatross looks for fish. And that fog, just waiting offshore.

Flashback: Mount Cook

I did post pictures of the moon over Mount Cook, but only one clear picture taken in the daytime. So here are a few more; who doesn't love looking at mountains?

Flashback: New Zealand

Clouds veiling Mount Cook in the Southern Alps.

This photo reminds me of a comment a co-worker posted on a picture of rays of light streaking from the sky in the fjords: Please tell God I said hi...

Oh and there was the time I saw a submarine

I think this is the end of Australia.

I had completely forgotten about this. We sailed out of Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef, and suddenly this submarine appeared next to our boat. After a few minutes it submerged again, but I'm not sure anyone ever explained to us what it was doing there. Looking at the picture now, I realize that it actually wasn't that big and was possibly some kind of scientific vessel, though it looked enormous at the time.

A suitably strange incident to wrap up pictures from a strange and wonderful place.

Sunday bird blogging

I don't seem to have any interesting Australian birds to post; fortunately I will never run out of penguins!

These king penguins were in St. Andrew's Bay in South Georgia.

Saturday reflections

Moving on—finally!—to Melbourne, here's a double-header of reflections, in the river and the botanical gardens.

Urban poetry

I did post several pictures of this at the time: Hosier Lane in Melbourne, considered to be the best place to see street art in a city that's apparently famous for it. But here are a few more.