Gorgeous gorge

Joffre Gorge, in the Karijini National Park, Western Australia, is very beautiful. The display of rock layers provide some very pretty colours and the place looks peaceful and relaxing.

Sending good vibes

Bush fires are raging in many parts of Australia yet again. The temperatures dropped overnight, much to the relief of the firefighters, but they're set to rise again by Friday. Tasmania was the worst hit, followed by New South Wales and Victoria.

I chatted to our son Paul, who lives in Melbourne, and he said conditions are pretty bad. So far, there are no reports of human fatalities, but there were devastating losses of livestock.

Let's all do a rain dance for our Australian friends. They need a lot of rain!

Here are some pictures of the fires:

Tasmania

In Tasmania, a grandmother led her grandchildren to the sea, the only safe place...

New South Wales: The smoke darkens the sky and it looks like night time

One of the fires from a distance

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield took this photo from the International Space Station

Australia Day

The timing of this post may seem strange. Most of us are way behind Australia and this post celebrates Australia Day. It had to go up before our friends down under end their celebrations and move on...

I had invaluable help from a good Australian friend, who sent me copious links to some great videos. Today we pay tribute to one of the most ancient cultures on the planet, the Aboriginal People of Australia (40,000 years and counting!).

Artist: Kaapa Tjampitjimpa

According to their culture, the world dates from a time called the Dream Time and they sang about being every living and non-living thing in the world. They would inhabit every creature and every rock.

We have a lot to learn from these peaceful, gentle and very resourceful people. They mastered their environment while preserving it, without disturbing the natural harmony in the world around them.


We start the celebrations with a couple of dances:





And continue with two beautiful songs by an extremely talented musician, blind from birth: Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.





We also remember some Aboriginal Australians who made their country very proud:

Evonne Goolagong, winner, Wimbledon, 1971

And again in 1982

Cathy Freeman, gold medal in Sydney, 2000 Olympic Games (400m)

Lionel Rose, first Aboriginal Australian to become a world champion boxer

Lionel loved boxing and music

Happy Australia Day!