Luxury housing in Hongkong (Photo: Helena Hurme)

I stood on a pier on the Kowloon side when I took this picture. There was a car park on the pier and a guard at the entrance. I asked permission to walk to the pier and take some pictures. First, he did not approve of my proposal. Then I talked so much that he was totally lost and stopped interacting with me and I could finally take pictures of the sunset, the "Wasa Queen" cruise ship and the housing estate in this picture.

A Swedish-Finnish fish? (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This fish swam in the Sydney Aquarium. It was the colors of both the Finnish flag (blue and white) and of the Swedish flag (blue and yellow). I wonder whether it is edible or not? (By the way: shark tasted very good!). Some euphemistic name was used for it, flake perhaps?

Sunset in Hongkong (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This is one of the very many sunset pictures, this time taken from the Kowloon side of Hongkong.

The electronics street in Kowloon (Photo: Helena Hurme)

I took the metro to Kowloon to a certain electronics shop. It was 35 degrees centigrade so it was no easy expedition. When I showed a map and started to ask about the address, a man instantly asked if I look for "the women's street" (no, there are no women for sale there; instead it is a shopping street for women, which runs parallel to the electronics street. How handy to split up and then meet at a restaurant!). The man had difficulties imagining that I would want to visit the electronis street! But I found what I looked for so it was worth while going there.

Kissing cliffs (Photo: Helena Hurme)

During a visit to the Great Ocean Road, I saw these cliffs with waves pouring water into a small bay. To me the cliffs looked like two kissing faces!

Running for life (Photo: Helena Hurme)

During a trip to Mungo National Park near Mildura in Victoria, I saw typical Australian sheep. This is one of the many pictures taken from a moving car.

Blue Mountains (Photo: Helena Hurme)

Before the ISSBD conference in Melbourne, I went on a pre-conference tour in and arpimd Sydney. One of the trips went to the Blue Mountains. They were very beautiful, but the weather wasn't.

An inflatable roo (!) (Photo: Helena Hurme)

I wonder what the purpose of this kangaroo is? Perhaps it is intended for turists as it is easy to pack and carry! I saw it at the Victoria Market in Melbourne. I did not buy it but a piece of lambs fell to put on the safety belt in my car. It also served me well under my legs during the long flights between Australia and Hongkong and Hongkong and home

Sydney Aquarium (Photo: Helena Hurme)

Sydney Aquarium is situated in Darling Harbour, almost in the center of the city. It has many exotic varieties of fish.

Under a shark at Sydney Aquarium (Photo: Helena Hurme)

I have visited many aquariums all around the world, but the Sydney Aquarium was special in that it was possible to walk under the sharks!

From Sydney Aquarium (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This beauty looked at me in the Sydney Aquarium.

A diving dolphin (Photo: Helena Hurme)

From Sydney, I went on a dolphin cruise. In fact ,we saw a lot of them. Here is one.

Mungo National Park (Photo: Helena Hurme)

I had the opportunity to visit Munga National Park thanks to my friend Sarma, who drove me about 500 kilometers to Mildura. Mungo has remnants from about 40 000 years back. Blowing sand has resulted in what now is called The China Wall. The picture is taken from this sand mountain down to what has been a lake. Shells are still found in the an on the ridge.

Darling Harbour from above (Photo: Helena Hurme)

What a splendid idea to use an old bridge as a pedestrian precinct! Sydney is big enough to have this type of restaurant district downtown. It also makes a fabulous walk. This picture is taken from a revolving tower.

Darling Harbour in a lamp. (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This is an alternative view of Darling Harbour in Sydney as it is reflected in a lamp.

Darling Harbour (Photo: Helena Hurme)

Here is an evening photo from Darlin Harbour in Sydney. I walked around the bay twice as it was close to my hotel.

A koala (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This koala sits in a shed. I also saw koalas outside a zoo and may post that photo later when I find it among the at least 2000 pictures I took during my trip to Singapore, Australia and Hongkong!

Winter lilies (Photo: Helena Hurme)

Also these flowers are from Ballarat in winter. I took the picture through an iron grid by having the camera very close to it so that it was outside the sharp area. It can still be seen in the picture as a grey line over the left flower.

My dinner in Singapore (Photo: Helena Hurme)

In Singapore, I went to a supermarket and bought one piece of each fruit. I did not even know the names of them all. The dark red one with the white core was delicious, the white/green one not especially good.

White roos (Photo: Helena Hurme)

These white kangaroos were in a zoo near Sydney.

A winter rose (Photo: Helena Hurme)

I especially like taking pictures of roses. This rose I found in Ballarat during the Australian winter.

A white peacock (Photo: Helena Hurme)

I visited a zoo near Sydney and saw this white peacock

An ice flower (Photo: Helena Hurme)

Here is the original version of the ice flower on the plane window, which I publisehd earlier in a cropped version.

Tropical island-detail. (Photo: Helena Hurme)

Here is the detailed picture of the tropical island that I promised. I had to make the picture smaller in order for it to upload.

Raffles hotel in Singapore (Photo:Helena Hurme)

This is the closest (i.e., through a bus window!) I came to the Raffles Hotel in Singapore during my two day stop over. A pity. I would have loved to share the experience with friends who have visited it...

A yellow Hongkong sky (Photo:Helena Hurme)

One of many sunset pictures, this time in Hongkong.

Western Hongkong (Photo:Helena Hurme)

This is one of the many pictures from the Peak in Hongkong, this time to the west.

Hongkong in laser light (Photo:Helena Hurme)

There was a laser show on the Kowloon side and I happened to stand right by it. A ship was entering from the right side.

Housing in Hongkong (Photo: Helena Hurme)

There is about 6.4 million inhabitants in Hongkong. As its surface it very limited, a solution to the housing problem has been to build highrise. Here is what it looks like from the Peak with a telephoto lens at dusk.

Evening flight from Hongkong (Photo: Helena Hurme)

The sun was just about to set when I saw a plane lifting from Hongkong airport.

A ship from above (Photo:Helena Hurme)

This is a picture of a ship from about 11000 meters, somewhere between Singapore and Australia.

By the way: the picture below depicts an ice flower on the plane window. I took it with the macro facility on a 35-135 mm Nikon lens against the setting sun.

Guess what? (Photo:Helena Hurme)

Can you guess what I have depicted in this picture? Have a look at the entry above.

A tropical island (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This picture I took with through the airplane window at about 11000 meter with a telephoto lens (200 mm) with Nikon D100, so it corresponds to a 300 mm lens on an "ordinary" camera. I'll add a closeup where mountains are clearly visible as well as a picture of a ship from the same altitude.

Hongkong in sunset (Photo: Helena Hurme)

I took the legendary Star ferry to Kowloon in order to take pictures of Hongkong. Here is one just before sunset.

Sunset near Mildura (Photo: Helena Hurme)

I clearly love taking pictures of sunsets! This is taken from a moving car near Mildura in Victoria, Australia. My friend Sarma took me up there in order to show me "real life", not only a fours star hotel. We drove into the sunset and I had the opportunity to make pictures while she was driving.

Hongkong and Kowloon (Photo: Helena Hurme)

I went up to the Peak in Hongkong at around 5 pm and took pictures for about three hours. This is one of the best. Others will follow.

A concert hall in Singapore (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This building, which resembles of a hedgehog, can be seen in Singapore.

Skyscrapers in Singapore

I started my journey to Australia with a two night stop over in Singapore, ahppily, because the time difference is 8 hours. I participated in a city tour, which included a short boat ride, which gave me the opportunity to take pictures over the water.

In the tree tops (Photo: Helena Hurme)

During my trip to Australia, I visited the "Otway fly" (http://www.otwayfly.com/), where it is possible to walk among the tree tops in a rain forest. A very impressive experience. Here is one of the pictures.

Melbourne (Foto: Helena Hurme)

Here is a picture from central Melbourne. More will follow...

From Ballarat

At the moment, I am in Ballarat in Australia. I have made lots of pictures, but do not have the cable here at the moment to download pictures. You just wait and see. There will be LOADS o them. I already downloaded 678 pictures to CDs.