Interesting Bits and Pieces
From recent happenings or stories around Australia and the world.
Ancient earthquakes shaped the mighty Murray River.
The modern course of the Murray River was carved 70,000 years ago when a series of earthquakes and aftershocks that went for years lifted the ground along a fault line in southern NSW. It was an event local Dreaming says was the rainbow serpent's tail flicking.
The Barmah Millewa Forest in southern NSW was created by the series of earthquakes on the Cadell Fault. Supplied: MDBA.
The 80-kilometre Cadell fault line stretches from Deniliquin through Echuca, to Rochester in northern Victoria. A series of six very large earthquakes events formed the fault scar, which is up to 10 to 15 metres high at Mathoura.
NEW The 117-acre Elmestree House Estate (main), right next to Prince Charles's Highgrove country retreat in Gloucestershire ( pictured top right; left inset: map showing the proximity of the estates), is on the market for the first time in more than 70 years... for offers in excess of £7.5million. The Grade II-listed house boasts a ballroom among its six reception rooms (centre right, bottom right), while a three-bedroom annexe, a four-bedroom farmhouse and a two-bedroom lodge cottage are also included in the sale price (pictured bottom inset: one of the outbuildings that comes with Elmestree). A stable block, coach house, courtyard, farm buildings and a walled garden set among parkland and ponds contribute to the rural idyll. Princess Diana often walked and jogged through the estate before her marriage to the prince soured - she was once pictured listening to her Sony Walkman as she strolled through a meadow there.
Pioneering Scottish photographer John Thomson took some of the earliest pictures of China on record.
He was born in Edinburgh in 1837 and set off for the Far East in 1862 where he spent the next decade capturing images from all walks of life. In 1866 he became the first person to photograph the now world-famous Angkor Wat religious monument in Cambodia. Images from his journeys form one of the most extensive records of any region taken in the 19th Century.
A Manchu bride, Beijing 1871–72.
GHOST MANTIS
The ghost mantis grows to about 45-50 mm long camouflaged as dead withered leaves.
Eltz Castle In Wierschem, Germany has been owned and occupied by the same family for over 850 years.
It is still owned by a branch of the Eltz family that lived there in the 12th century, thirty-three generations ago.
Agree it looks creepy Toot.
Vampire myths originated with a real blood disorder.
Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. Shelley travelled through Europe in 1815 along the river Rhine in Germany, stopping in Gernsheim, 17 kilometres away from Frankenstein Castle, where two centuries before, an alchemist engaged in experiments. She then journeyed to the region of Geneva, Switzerland, where much of the story takes place.
Frankenstein Castle
The interior of the Eltz Castle is so different to the exterior
Wish I could pop over and visit!
pretty large castle looks lovely, but I would not have liked to have lived there one hundred years ago it would be freezing cold in winter.
Lovely pictures of the interior Suze.
Thankfully then Celia
you will also have servants that will put bed warmers under your bed to keep you warm
so you can dream on :)
Australian bird of the year poll 2021
The Australian bird of the year 2021 is the ... Superb fairywren.
Better Photography Magazine Photo of the Year 2021.
Some award winners below from the Revealing Nature Category.
Two Bornean orang-utans cuddling.
— Pedro Jarque Krebs.
Baby Asian elephant sitting on its mother's back.
— Pedro Jarque Krebs.
Flying fruit bats swooping on a lake in Sydney.
— Robin Moon.
Australian marathon swimmer Chloe McCardel breaks record for number of successful English Channel crossings.
Melbourne marathon swimmer Chloe McCardel set a new record for swimming the English Channel after completing her 44th crossing on Wednesday.
Amateur diver recovers 'crusader sword' from Mediterranean seabed
A sword believed to have belonged to a crusader who sailed to the 'Holy Land' almost a millennium ago has been recovered from the Mediterranean seabed off Israel thanks to an eagle-eyed amateur diver. Though encrusted with marine organisms, the metre-long blade, hilt and handle were distinctive enough to notice after undercurrents apparently shifted sands that had concealed it.
Taliban hunts for priceless Bactrian Treasure hoard of 20,000 gold artefacts that date back over 2,000 years after they went missing during takeover of Afghanistan
Taliban thugs in Afghanistan are hunting for a priceless collection of gold artefacts dating back over 2,000 years. The treasure known as the Bactrian Treasure is one of the largest collections of gold in the world and represents the history and culture of the Ancient Silk Road. But during the Taliban's takeover of the country following US and UK troop withdrawals at the end of August, it disappeared. Now in a chilling message Ahmadullah Wasiq deputy head of the Taliban's Cultural Commission said efforts had begun 'to track and locate' the 20,000 priceless pieces.