Recharge your batteries

Someone had to try it. At the railway station at  Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris waiting passengers are encouraged to rechargez vos batteries by the SNCF who run the main parts of the rail net.  I couldn't get near it to try because so many people were pedalling away to charge up their phones and revitalise themselves. For more see comments at http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/27ejyn/pedal_charging_station_in_paris/?limit=500

Posted from Lee Shipley's phone

Postcard from 26000 feet above the Indian Ocean

Prize for the most useless and expensive item in a flight shopping catalogue goes to...

Posted from Lee Shipley's phone

Postcard from Changi: Trees bon

The immense two-storey 'social tree' planted into the main departure concourse of Changi Airport's Terminal 1.

When you are stuck in Singapore Changi Airport for 13 hours you tend to do some exploring. The garish electronic 'Social Tree' was planted on the Departure Concourse of Terminal 1 two years ago for the amusement of passengers tired of shopping for Gucci, Toblerone, plastic E-gadgets and Starbucks (alleged) Coffee. Big consoles allow them to do series that are automatically squirreled away di you can retrieve when you revisit the airport in 50 years time..if the airport has not disappeared under the waters of Climate-change.

At close to nine metres tall and taking pride of place at the heart of Terminal 1. Travellers can also post their mugshot or vids taken at the booths on their social networking profiles. More photos of the chintzy installation can be found at the Fans of Changi Facebook page. 

 

Instructions writ large on touch screens

Bye!

Posted from Lee Shipley's phone

Reaching Escape Velocity: West End to Singas

You know you have gone upmarket when a hotel's pavlova looks like this.

You know you have gone market when the audience at a Spanish Film Festival tango between sessions.

You know you have gone upmarket when expensive Italian spring water appears in a hotel's vending machine

It has been a furious two days, staying overnight in the economic but generous Hotel Jen above Roma Street Station in Brisbane. Saying even more farewells both in person and by the blower.

Then it is off to a police drama flick at the Palace's Spanish Film Festival. An opportunity to practice the language but, we snooze after a nervous previous night before the removalists arrive.

And on to the kooky delights of Saturday night in the West End.

A final photo over the city

finally, escape velocity

Luv dem Airbuses when only 75% full

We needed this

Ah yes, caved in and bought a selfie stick.

Then to the first of three legs to Paris. Thank goodness for the free wifi and snooze lounges of Singapore's Changi Airport.... and some real rest because we have 13 hours to kill before flying out.

Posted from Lee Shipley's phone

As the Sun sank slowly into the West, we leave...

We uplifted from Russell Island, our home for 14 years today.  Our shoreline house has been rented, our worldly goods, sold off, given away or some stored for our return to Australia after a European Summer.

We leave at the best time for the Islands, as the late autumn closes in with clear, cool, crisp days and what have got to be some of the most spectacular sunrises and sets on the planet.  Yes, we are going to miss it...and our many friends accumulated over that time but time and tide wait for no man, we must move on with our lives while we still have the energy.

We caught the next to last barge on Friday night and we were able to capture a few images to remind us why we have to revisit these magic islands and the kind people who inhabit them.

Ray-Ban Barge reflects the setting Sun

One last image of Russell's Krummel Passage

Posted from Lee Shipley's phone

SMBI: Another magic morning

Posted from Lee Shipley's phone

The last of the summer wine

It is often said that the only way to really appreciate where you live is to go away. Last night, coming back from the mainland on one of the Southern Moreton Bay Islands fast ferries revealed why. The Moon rising was full over Stradbroke, the sky clear cold, not a breath of wind, the water still.  I wasn't the only local trying to get a decent photo of what was a remarkably beautiful scene.

Not a great photo but if you consider it was taken with a dinky mobile phone at 24 knots in the low light of  dusk, it was remarkable I got anything at all.