Via Airmail

Views of Sydney, Australia

Beautiful views of Sydney Harbour and Bondi Beach.  You can see the famous Sydney Opera House, which seems to almost be floating out on the Bay, and also the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The stamp is a super cute baby Dingo.  I think this must be part of a series.  You can see a baby kangaroo (one of the other animals in the series) here.

{AU-217232}

Postcrossing card #91

An Australian Surfer

This very cool card came from Fremantle, Western Australia, which is a port city.  The postcrosser who sent it told me they have thousands of beautiful beaches.  I love the breathtaking view and the solitary figure standing there looking out onto the ocean.  

The photograph was taken by Graeme Edwards, VC and is titled "Wait for a Break".  It is from the Living Australia Photography Competition of 2011.

As the card is prepaid there is no stamp to share this time around.

{AU-210519}

Postcrossing card #71

Virginia Woolf's A Common Reader

I've often thought of buying the box of buying Postcards from Penguin of the one hundred book covers, but I've yet to do so.  I might still just end up with a selection of them via Postcrossing, however.  I think the box of covers that I have seen have the orange design, but this one is blue, so perhaps it isn't the same thing?  Pelicans vs. Pnguins--I'm sure there is a difference, though I am not sure what it is.  In any case, I like it.  It's also a perfect choice for me.  Besides the postcard being generally bookish, I also admire Virginia Woolf.  I have this book, The Common Reader, by the way and have read a few of the essays in it.

The postcard came from Australia.  I love the stamp and it's one of the first I've gotten with a winter motif.  Since winter is not far off in Australia, it's not surprising to see it.  It's been very warm where I live, so cold, snowboarding thoughts aren't at all unpleasant at the moment!

{AU-199995}

Postcrossing card #36

An Australian Kangaroo

I think the card might be large enough that you can read the description, but a few interesting things about the kangaroo: They only live about 6 years in the wild but can live 20 years in captivity (I wonder what the discrepancy is--I didn't think they were prey).  They can run up to 64 km per hour and can jump over obstacles up to 3 metres high.  

The card doesn't say how large they get, but I bet you wouldn't want to meet one in the wild! 

The portion in red on the map is the natural habitat of the kangaroo, which appears to be most of Australia.

And I even received an matching kangaroo stamp!  I love the little baby in the mother's pouch--he's just peeking his head out.

{AU-197001}

Postcrossing card #32

An Abundance of Cards, part 2

I have a bit of a hodgepodge of cards today, as these are from a variety of swaps on the Postcrossing forum.

I thought this one was quite striking and with such vivid colors.  The back caption reads;

Lightning strikes over Uluru.

This is a sandstone rock (Ayers Rock) formation located in the southern part of the Northern Territory in Australia.   As it turns out Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, so I've received my first card without even trying.

This is a curious card.  I only know it is from a Russian book.  Unfortunately I don't know the name of the author or the title.  Perhaps if someone happens by who can read Cyrillic they can help me out?  I'm guessing it is a children's book.

Mystery solved: Thanks to Leo for confirming that this is indeed the cover of a (famous) children's book:  Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

Another card from Russia came just a week too late for Valentine's Day.  The sender tells me that the words on the front read "With Love".  Very sweet card. 

And the last card is a steam locomotive from Taiwan.  The sender says this now only runs on the forest railway.

Via Airmail: Australia

My very first set of (unofficial) postcards have arrived from a Postcrossing member in Sydney, Australia.  I've joined in a few swaps while I'm waiting for my regular Postcrossing postcards to travel to their destinations.  Isn't Sydney gorgeous?  It's a panoramic card, so long and skinny. 

And the stamps on the back are quite nice, too.  Very celebratory, wouldn't you say? 

The second card with a group of aboriginal children is very unusual.  Another panoramic card.

Desert Acrobats

"Wongi" Children photographed in the Western Desert Regions of Australia.

I was happily surprised to find out that a second card that I had mailed to Finland had finally reached its destination after thirteen days in the mail.  I'm addressing the next card to go out and hoping one is winging its way to me.  Until then, the Postcrossing forum is a fun place to visit.

What will tomorrow's mail bring?