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qnewslgbtiqa · 4 months

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The QNews Guide to Mardi Gras in Sydney: The Parties

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/the-qnews-guide-to-mardi-gras-in-sydney-the-parties/

The QNews Guide to Mardi Gras in Sydney: The Parties

In the second instalment of QNew’s guide to what to do during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival we explore all of the dance parties that take place in Sydney during the festival. Check out our guide to the parade if you missed it here.

Mardi Gras Party

Get ready for pulsating dancefloors, electrifying beats, and pure liberation at the official Mardi Gras Party.

10 hours. 10,000 people. 6 venues. 50+ artists. Those numbers just scrape the surface of what is the largest LGBTQIA+ dance party in Australasia. At the official Mardi Gras Party you can expect heaving dancefloors, hypnotic rhythms and the unmissable hum of joy, sex and liberation in the air.

With rooms tailor-made for everybody’s individual tastes and titillations, find your tribe for the night among six venues. Plant yourself at the Hordern Pavilion where Contemporary, Chicago and Vocal House genres reign supreme.

The Forecourt delivers Vocal House with twists of Pop and Nu-Disco to keep you swirling all through the night.

Fall into a trance at Liberty Hall with Techno, Tech-House, World Music and Electronica pumping through you (BYO chewing gum).

Watson’s werks it out with Classic Divas, Disco and Retro hits and for all the millennials, sport your favourite crop top and flare jeans at Big Top for a night of Nineties and Noughties.

Sat March 2, 2024

Bondi Beach Party

Get your summer glow at Bondi Beach Party! Join 15,000 for beach vibes, live entertainment, and the ultimate Aussie party!

What sets Australia’s Mardi Gras apart from New York, San Francisco or London Pride?

We have top-notch beaches baby! So why not celebrate all that is quintessentially Australian with sun, sand and beach babes by heading down to Bondi Beach for the queer-essential Bondi Beach Party!

Join 15,000 party-goers for the biggest party of the Mardi Gras Festival.

Stacked with live entertainment, dance floors, food, drink, and beyond; there is no better way to enjoy Mardi Gras than dancing while the sun sets on this iconic Aussie spot.

Sat February 24, 2024 Bondi Beach, Queen Elizabeth Drive (South) 2pm – 10pm | $239.00 + bf

Ultra Violet

Calling all sapphic wonders, futch queens and femme queers: Ultra Violet returns for Mardi Gras 2024! An event purely designed by and for LGBTQIA+ women, Ultra Violet transforms the National Art School into a day-to-night party not to be missed.

Complete with live acts, DJs and performers to keep the party grooving, this is THE party to be for gals, Sals and non-binary pals.

Sat February 17, 2024 National Art School. 156 Forbes St, Darlinghurst 3pm – midnight | $119.00 – $129.00

Kaftana Pool Party

It’s time to frock up or frock off at the Kaftana Pool Party.

The best way to ease into Mardi Gras with a camp day around the pool.

Sun, slays and carabart is what you can expect while the glistening ivy Pool Club becomes the perfect setting for you to soak up the atmosphere.

Drag artists, cabaret performers and DJs will get you through the day, with Charlie Villas, Diva Cups, Jojo Zaho, Miss Katalyna, Sexy Galexy, Tanzer, The Huxleys and Victoria Anthony on the lineup for a gay day out.

Wed February 21, 2024 ivy Pool Club. 320 George Street, Sydney 4pm – 11pm | $65

Hot Trans Summer

When the future is trans, we may as well party away in the present.

Curated for trans and gender diverse people, by trans and gender diverse people.

Take a trip on the Grass Island party boat and soak up that Sydney Summer sun while you celebrate all that is beautiful about being yourself – which is EVERYTHING, obviously.

This cisn’t an exclusive affair, so make sure to bring your best Judy for an absolutely TRANScendent evening.

Thu February 22, 2024 Grass Island Party Boat 6pm – 10pm | $49 + bf

Laneway

The party never stops, not when Laneway is here to stay!

From the humble beginnings of a few milk crates in the alley to what has become a renowned Mardi Gras wrap up party, Laneway is the only way to go.

This year the Laneway takes over the beloved Beresford and the adjacent Hill Street for a street party vibe like no other.

Meet new friends, have one last hurrah with the new ones you’ve made, or just come for a drink and a flirt – there are no wrong answers.

Sun March 3, 2024 The Beresford. 354 Bourke Street, Surry Hills 2pm – 10pm | $99

Sundaylicious

It’s a Sunday and you aren’t sure where to go, but you want to start with something deliciously queer. Why not Sundaylicious?!

Sundaylicious is an event to end all events for all members of the Rainbow community.

Make a splash, a fashion statement, or throw some glitter on and go to the send-off party for Sydney Mardi Gras Parade Weekend!

Sun March 3, 2024 Cafe del mar. 35 Wheat Road, Cockle Bay Wharf 3pm – 10pm | From $48

Candyland XXL

Have a sweet tooth and just NEED to suck on a lolly? (And a big one at that). Go down to the circuit party to end all circuit parties at Candyland XXL!

With DJ legends like Dani Toro and Jose Rendon, Jaw-breaking performances, multiple dance spaces, laser and lights shows, plus an indoor and outdoor space.

Sat February 24, 2024 ivy Pool Club. 320 George Street, Sydney 12pm – 8pm | $90

Candyland Encore

Keen for a double dose of sugar! Candyland Encore is here for those who couldn’t make it to XXL, or just want another taste.

Featuring gogo boys, more incredible DJs, and those same diverse dance spaces.

Go and get your Willies Wonka’d and your duds milked for Candyland Encore.

Sun March 3, 2024 Establishment. 5 Bridge Ln, Sydney 2pm – 10pm | $90

Paradiso Pool Party

Have a Kick On and be Cool for the Summer one last time at the Ultimate Pool Party for Mardi Gras.

Featuring international DJs from across the globe, and plenty of Cocktails by the ivy Pool Bar.

Slip into your favourite budgie smugglers, soak up some sun and welcome in the second week of Mardi Gras with Paradiso Pool Party.

Mon February 26, 2024 ivy Pool Club. 320 George Street, Sydney 2pm to 11pm | $89 + bf

Club Sandwich: Pleasure and Protest

Celebrate all the best parts of the LGBTQIA+ community with some fun between two buns, and potentially some S&M (Salami and Mayo.)

Serve yourself up at Club Sandwich, hosted by the queen of crASS, Betty Grumble for all those voyeurs, oddballs, and anyone feeling even remotely sensual.

This event is also themed “Pleasure and Protest”, combining sex and art with pole dancing, poetry, Lambada and lap dances (please bring cash tips for all performers.)

Sat February 24, 2024 The Red Rattler Theatre Inc. 6 Faversham St. Marrickville 8pm – 11pm | From $30. Free for MOB + TWOC

Diamond Dance

Diamonds are a Dyke’s best friend, at least at the Diamond Dance they are! Come celebrate 60 years of Mardi Gras and Pollys Club with Dykes on Bikes as they join forces to celebrate.

Experience the classics of the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s as an essential party playlist.

Featuring a performance by Dykes on Bikes, a best-dressed contest, and a door prize!

Thu February 29, 2024 Paddington Town Hall. 249 Oxford Street, Paddington 6.30pm – 10.30pm | $30 + bf

Mega Malebox

Tired of the countless apps with nothing but headless torsos asking you for photos?

Want something a little more exciting? Then visit Mega Malebox!

Once you enter write your name, appetites and a message inside the Malebox to find your Mr Write.

Come on by and celebrate 25 years of Oxford Street’s Love Hub (and hear what all the Hubbub is about.)

Wed February 28, 2024 The Stonewall Hotel 8.30pm – 3am | From $48

DAYkaedelic + Dykadellic

Ready for a sapphic sunny soiree? Then bring your carabiners to DAYkadelic/Dykadellic!

Starting when the sun is high in the sky, this party provides you with music, dancing, drinks, and a good time for all queer women, gender non-conforming folks, and any allies that want to come with!

Make friends, meet old friends, and maybe even meet someone to go on a Bunnings trip with if you’re really lucky.

DAYkaedelic 24 February, 2024 3pm – 9pm | From $15 DAYKaedelic at Botany View Hotel

Dykadellic 29 February, 2024 7pm – 1am | From $19 Dykadellic at Kinselas Hotel

Pound Party

Things at Pound Party are bound to get EXTRA steamy, and that’s not just going to be because you’re in Sydney Sauna.

With parties across multiple dates and times throughout Mardi Gras, no need for FOMO. Designed specifically for any masc-presenting people to cruise the sauna rooms as they please and well… Do exactly as the name says.

February 24, March 1-3, 2024 Sydney Sauna. 38-42 Oxford St, Sydney 9pm – 5am | $53.80 + bf

Queer Kingdom

Come to your own Royal Coronation at the Queer Kingdom! Dress the way your heart desires and enjoy the burlesque, boys, and booze.

Embrace your kinkiness and celebrate the community at the historic Stonewall Hotel and its iconic 3 separate dance floors.

All are welcome here whether you’re a Bear, Otter, Twink, none of the above, somehow all of the above, or a new archetype that has yet to be discovered.

Thu February 29, 2024 The Stonewall Hotel 8.30pm – 3am | From $22.50

For more information go to www.mardigras.org.au

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jonnysinsectcatalogue · 9 months

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Thorny Devil Stick Insect - Eurycantha calcarata

Today's showcase is among the largest of live insects exhibited at the Toronto Zoo. Housed in the indoor Australasia Pavilion alongside its familial relative - The Spiny Leaf Insect - the differences between the two warrant discussion on how they've adapted to different environments. While the Spiny Leaf Insect is confined to Australia, the Thorny Devil Stick Insect's range occupies New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia (as the zoo's information display in Picture 5 highlights). Compared to their leafy relatives, these individuals have dark and more flat appearance, and are much wider at their head and thorax, their body being more uniform in width. Their width is such that calling them 'sticks' just doesn't do it justice. They more closely resemble thorn-covered chunks of tree bark with legs and antennae. Such an appearance grants them very effective camouflage from the many rainforest predators in their wilderness home while nestled against a tree. Their flat bodies may also help them squeeze beneath tree bark as well, letting them blend together just like the individuals here are doing (in the insect world, there tends to be safety in numbers, either too many choice to eat, or someone else may get eaten instead on you). Furthermore, By keeping still against a tree, these prickly insects bide their time until nighttime arrives and treetop feeding can begin. Yum yum! They'll crawl their way up to the canopy and slowly chip away at the leaves around. Walking is really all they can do since they completely lack wings. They can't even flash their predators!

In captivity however, these Phasmids are protected and are regularly supplied food, but there are also leaves they can eat if they feel so inclined. Yes, like their relatives: despite a monstrous appearance (and a name that evokes a spiky, cryptic Australian lizard (Moloch horridus)) these slow-moving giants are vegetarians. That being said, like their reptilian namesake, they are thorn-covered and are well armored from attacks. The males in particular have a surprising trick to defend themselves: a large, curved femoral spike on the hindlegs (like on Picture 5's displayed information. Anything to gets too close and ignores a threatening leg-lifting display will be punctured, and yes, it is sharp enough to pierce human skin! Ouch! Observe from a distance, if only to determine which individuals here are male or female. I've looked through these picture many times and have found no femoral spikes to identify a male (it's possible there are none or just one to mitigate aggression between rivaling males over mating rights). Instead, there are mostly females in this terrarium, as evidenced by their large size and the presence of an ovipositor at the abdomen's tip. Though pointed, it's not a sword, but the tip does help to penetrate and tunnel through soil to find a suitable place to lay eggs and then bury them safely. Assuming for a moment that there are no males in this terrarium, much like their leafy cousin, E. calcarata females can also reproduce using parthenogenesis. How resourceful! Given the shared trait between Stick Insect species and how unusual it is, an information display shared between the two would highlight this knowledge beautifully.

This is the final insect showcase I have to share from the Toronto Zoo (all images are marked with the Mantis icon). Pictures were taken August 27, 2023 at the Toronto Zoo with a Google Pixel 4. Please go and visit the animals (insects very much included). I will return in the future.

#jonny's insect catalogue #ontario insect #stick insect #thorny devil stick insect #phasmatodea #phasmid #insect #toronto #toronto zoo #august2023 #2023 #nature #entomology

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torontopublichealth · 2 years

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Toronto Zoo - Connecting people, animals and conservation science to fight extinction

The Toronto Zoo is a zoo located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Encompassing 287 hectares, the Toronto Zoo is the largest zoo in Canada. It is divided into seven zoogeographic regions: Indo-Malaya, Africa, Americas, Tundra Trek, Australasia, Eurasia, and the Canadian Domain. Some animals are displayed indoors in pavilions and outdoors in what would be their naturalistic environments, with viewing at many levels. It also has areas such as the Kids Zoo, Waterside Theatre, and Splash Island. It has one of the most taxonomically diverse collections of animals on display of any zoo worldwide; it is currently home to over 5,000 animals representing over 500 species. The zoo is open to the public every day of the year except December 25. The zoo is a corporation owned by the municipal government of Toronto. Founded by John Cameron Egan and business partner Hugh A. Crothers, an industrialist who became the first Chairman of the Metro Toronto Zoological Society in 1966, the zoo opened on August 15, 1974, as the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo.

Animal Enrichment

Animal Enrichment is very important in the Toronto Zoo. Did you know that each of our animals receive enrichment every day? When you visit and notice barrels, toys and other devices within animal habitats, those objects serve as animal enrichment that plays an important role for many of the species here at the Zoo.

Enrichment at the Toronto Zoo aims to enhance the animals’ environments by providing them with opportunities that stimulate their natural behaviours. Giving animals opportunities to follow their natural instincts is as essential to their overall health and well-being as good nutrition and medical care. Environmental changes are made with the goal of increasing the animal’s behavioural choices and drawing out their species appropriate behaviours, thus enhancing animal welfare. Some devices may encourage foraging behaviours while others are strictly for play.

About Toronto Community Health

Toronto Community Health (TCH) reports to the Board of Health and is responsible for the health and well-being of all 2.9 million residents. TPH has focused on protecting and promoting the health of Toronto residents since 1883 by:

Preventing the spread of disease, promoting healthy living and advocating for conditions that improve health for Toronto residents

Using surveillance to monitor the health status of the population in order to respond to ongoing and emerging health needs

Developing and implementing public policy and practices that enhance the health of individuals, communities and the entire city

As a part of their responsibilities, Toronto Community Health is working with companies like The Sports Clinic to ensure the well-being and best possible facilities for the sportsmen in this community.

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thegrumpypenguin · 4 years

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The magnificent old soul glimpsed through the foliage

A rare full-body portrait

As I mentioned in my January post, I tried this year to use as many “first-times” in the calendar as possible in order to minimize the chances of rehashing old stories for you here in the blogs. This has meant I’ve used a great number of animals from the Australasia Pavilion, simply because I’ve not featured many of its species before. The flip side to this idea, however, is there is a good reason I’ve not featured some of these animals before: I simply don’t have that much information on them. Makepeace, the lone tawny frogmouth living at the Toronto Zoo, is an excellent example of this problem. When I sat down a couple of days ago to begin working on this piece, I did as much digging as I could and I realized there just isn’t very much info about Makepeace specifically available as I had hoped there would be. I’ve reached out to a few people since then – former Zookeepers, friends who have been Members at the Zoo for a long time, a gentleman in the States who (apparently) holds the Stud Book for the Tawny Frogmouth species in captivity – but have not heard back yet from any of them. I am going to write this post now with the little information I do have and then update it as more comes in. I’ll make sure to announce each edit on social media; if you don’t follow me on any social media platforms, I recommend you come back here in a couple of weeks and see what more I’ve been able to add!

My first photo of Makepeace

I had paid no attention whatsoever to this beautiful bird for most of my years of visiting the Zoo. The species has always featured prominently on the sign in the Oz Aviary listing all the birds to be found in the area, but the tawny frogmouth seems to be a rather shy creature and is excellent at blending into the background. It was only at the very beginning of 2018 when I began to make a weekly visit to the Zoo with my friend, Lynda, and we spent a great deal of time in the warmth of the pavilion that I started to seek Makepeace out. Another avid photographer friend, Lloyd, had recently posted shots of him so I was able to work out where to look, and on my very first visit in January of 2018 I spotted Makepeace at the back of the exhibit, on a tree near the window and catch-up cages. It was not an easy spot to capture his image, as it was well into the undergrowth and extremely back-lit from the windows, but I managed to get a few shots that time and on subsequent visits that year.

New hiding spot!

In late summer I went to see him and he had vanished! I looked all around the pavilion without any luck, until an amazing Horticulture worker, Norm, came by and pointed him out to me. Makepeace had moved to a spot above the HVAC equipment right above the back window. You can see from this shot at left that he was extremely well-hidden in this location, and he stayed there for most of the rest of that year. As a result, I didn’t take many shots of him over the next few months; in fact, the one here seems to be the only one I have of him in that spot. Eventually he moved out well into the open and I snagged the full-body shot of him that appeared farther up this page. He sat out there on the lattice-work roofing over the turtle pond for quite a while – it may well have been a cool spot for him in the summer heat – until he moved on to his current perch: right above and to the right of the door leading from the aviary to the area where the Komodo dragon lives (among others). He’s tucked in nicely to his corner but very often will react to a visitor he knows (such as myself or Lynda) and fix those piercing eyes on us. When he’s really feeling sociable he will clack his beak and blink his eyes slowly. It’s quite a sensation, believe me, when he locks giant peepers on you; it’s like he’s looking directly into your soul!

He’ll win every staring contest, hands down

See what I mean?

Sleepy boy

From the very little information I uncovered, I believe his mate was named Adelaide. It appears she may have passed in or around 2009, which is before I began my Volunteering career, because her name appears in a list I found from that year, but there was some pushback in the comments about exactly how many tawny frogmouths still lived at the Zoo. Sadly, this species mates (for life) and he has been on his own since then. What I do know for sure, though, is this: Makepeace was born (hatched) on June 13, 1986, which makes him well over 33 years old! This site lists their life expectancy at 12-14 years in the wild and, for some inexplicable reason, shorter in captivity; I don’t imagine that second part to be true, but still: for Makepeace to outlive his normal life expectancy by a factor of nearly 2.5 is absolutely incredible. I’m not seeing any more information about their life expectancy on Wiki;

however, when a student on one of my tours inquired as to whether Makepeace is the oldest in the world, I did manage to discover that there are a couple of others of his species that are slightly older than he is. If he hangs on for a while, though, he could easily hold that title. This site suggests that the oldest “reported” frogmouth was 32 years old in 2018; that’s how old he was, but it seems to have been a different bird.

Papa and chick!

In 2013, a chick was hatched at Paulton’s Park in the UK to a very old couple: Gerben, the dad, was 33 while mom, Fleur, was 29. Both of these would be older than Makepeace today, but I cannot find any record of them still being around, nor even of their passing. However, I did find this adorable photo of Gerben and his chick (named Willow)!! This makes me wonder if maybe it isn’t too late to obtain another, older mate for Makepeace and give him one more chance at producing an offspring for his legacy. I doubt this will happen, but you never know. In the meantime, I will continue to pop ’round to see him whenever I am in his building, because it does my own heart good to see him still alive and kicking after all these years.

There’s not a lot more I can tell you right now. I will continue digging and update this post when I have more information for you. Oh, I did happen to come across this cool old program from the AAZK conference in Miami in 1985; note the talk being given by Oliver Claffey on “Breeding the Tawny Frogmouth at the Metro Toronto Zoo” and remember: this was the year before Makepeace was even born! (You’ll probably have to click on the photo and zoom in.)

Next month: one of my favourite animals in the whole zoo and one I did my very first project on during Volunteer Training. So if I don’t have a lot of information to share with you next month, there’s an entirely different issue to be dealt with!

See you then!

2020 “HANGING OUT WITH ANIMALS” Calendar – March Story As I mentioned in my January post, I tried this year to use as many "first-times" in the calendar as possible in order to minimize the chances of rehashing old stories for you here in the blogs.

#Animals #Australasia #Australasia Pavilion #Calendar #Frogmouth #Makepeace #March #Tawny Frogmouth #Toronto #Zoo

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architectnews · 2 years

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RIBA Reimagining Cities and Towns Post-Covid

RIBA Reimagining Cities and Towns Post-Covid competition winners, Expo 2020 Dubai Architecture Design Project Images

RIBA Reimagining Cities and Towns Post-Covid student competition

28 Feb 2022

International students awarded for post-pandemic urban design proposals at Dubai Expo 2020, UAE

Clockwise from top left: ‘Regreening Wasted Heritage For Urban Agriculture’ by Matías Carrillo, Aranza Rubilar and Rosario Burgos; ‘2061 Pabulum Odyssey’ by Maxwell Lau Ho Chuen; ‘Cascading Planes’ by Samer Elokdah, Youmna El-Ghounemy and Moatazbellah El Behery; ‘Parasitic Interchanges’ by Lorenz Kleemann:

RIBA Reimagining Cities and Towns Post-Covid at Expo 2020 Dubai

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has awarded four winners of the 2021 RIBA International student competition ‘Reimagining Cities and Towns Post-COVID.’

The competition invited students from RIBA-validated universities and schools of architecture in Asia & Australasia, Americas, Europe and the Middle East & Africa to submit design proposals for towns and cities in a post-pandemic world.

The winners were announced today at a hybrid ceremony in the UK Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020.

The four award-winning projects are:

Asia & Australasia

‘2061 Pabulum Odyssey’ by Maxwell Lau Ho Chuen, The University of Hong Kong.

This project questions whether the role of technology in restaurants will increase over the next 40 years, as the transmission of viruses leads to less human contact. It examines the involvement of machines in food preparation and delivery, and how we can retain the human experience of dining-out.

Americas

‘Regreening Wasted Heritage For Urban Agriculture: Rainwater Harvesting For Permaculture And Human Consumption’ by Matías Carrillo, Aranza Rubilar and Rosario Burgos, Universidad del Bío- Bío, Chile.

This scheme proposes restoration of well-known Chilean landmark, the Central Market of Concepción, following a fire in 2013 that left 370 families unemployed. It suggests regreening the space to fit the new market, encouraging urban agriculture and self-sustainability, while also improving community services and providing employment opportunities.

Europe

‘Parasitic Interchanges’ by Lorenz Kleemann, The Confluence Institute for Innovation and Creative Strategies in Architecture, France.

‘Parasitic Interchanges’ imagines a hybrid existence between the real and virtual world. It proposes co-living structures across Los Angeles that incorporate both physical and virtual amenities for residents, making the virtual world more accessible while fostering a strong sense of community.

Middle East & Africa

‘Cascading Planes’ by Samer Elokdah, Youmna El-Ghounemy and Moatazbellah El Behery, The Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport, Cairo.

‘Cascading Planes’ looks at the infrastructural developments taking place in Egypt, including new flyovers and widened roadways, and the disconnection residents have from their neighbourhoods. It proposes the diversion of cars to underground tunnels and utilising rooftops, abandoned structures and parking areas to create safer, open, and well-ventilated areas for pedestrians, to connect them with their cities and reduce isolation.

RIBA Director of International, Azlina Bulmer, said:

“The pandemic has caused communities to rapidly rethink how they live, work and interact with each other, and this international competition encouraged students to consider how the current global challenges will shape cities and towns in the years to come. We received over 70 entries from 20 schools around the world, which included many innovative, sustainable and resilient designs for the future. Huge congratulations to all our winners for their creative, forward-thinking proposals.”

Design Competitions

Background:

The Reimagining Cities and Towns Post-COVID competition ran from June to December 2021 and judging took place in September and December 2021.

The jury for the Reimagining Cities and Towns Post-COVID competition comprised:

Asia & Australasia: • Odile Decq – Chair • Prof. Paula Velasco • Manuel Ferreyra Luque • Agustin Moscato • Carlos Arroyo • Prof. Ayman Wanas

Americas: • Dr Clarissa Rhomberg – Chair • Dr Davide Lombardi • Arch. Jayantha Perera • ZHUANG Shen • Dr Jens Christian Pasgaard • Nicolas Hannequin

Middle East & Africa: • John Latto – Chair • Dr Lindsay Howe • Rocío Margarita Cacho Cruz • Nasurudin Hasbullah • Dario Vanegas-Vargas • Dr Rune Christian Bach

Europe: • Prof. Ruan Xing – Chair • Prof. Suzette Michel Aziz • Lucia Hollman • Ar. Azman Zainonabidin • Prof. Nicolás Stutzin • Prof. Hassan Abdel Salam

RIBA Reimagining Cities and Towns Post-Covid competition images / information received from the Royal Institute of British Architects

Location: Dubai, UAE

Dubai 2020 Expo Pavilions

Dubai Expo UK Pavilion Design: Es Devlin photo by Alin Constantin ; image courtesy of Es Devlin Expo 2020 Dubai UK Pavilion Building

Singapore Pavilion At Expo 2020 Dubai Design: WOHA photo © Singapore Pavilion, Expo 2020 Dubai Expo 2020 Dubai Singapore Pavilion Building

Sustainability Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai Design: Grimshaw Architects image courtesy of architects Sustainability Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai

RIBA UK News

RIBA News & Events 2022 image courtesy of the Royal Institute of British Architects RIBA News & Events 2022

RIBA News & Events 2021 RIBA News & Events 2021

RIBA announces winners of 2020 President’s Medals RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards 2020

UAE Architecture

Abu Dhabi Architecture Designs – chronological list

Dubai Buildings

Architecture Tours Dubai by e-architect

Dubai World Expo 2020

Comments / photos for the RIBA Reimagining Cities and Towns Post-Covid competition in UAE page welcome

The post RIBA Reimagining Cities and Towns Post-Covid appeared first on e-architect.

#e-architect

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takeoffphilippines · 6 years

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2019 Guangzhou International Fruit Expo (Fruit Expo 2019)

Date: June, 27th-29th, 2019

Venue: China Import & Export Fair Complex

Address: No. 380, Yuejiang Zhong Road, Guangzhou, China

Website: http://www.fruit-expo.com/index.php?lang=en

Preview of Fruit Expo 2019

Supported by 208 Guangzhou-located foreign embassies and consulates of Indonesia, USA, Chile, Thailand, Argentina, Spain, Malaysia, Australasia, Greece, and Vietnam and overseas professional associations, magazines, websites, Fruit Expo 2019 is going to be staged on a show floor of 30,000 sq.m, hosting 500+ exhibitors and 30,000 visitors. Hosted in Guangzhou, one of the biggest fruit trade hubs in Southeast Asia, Fruit Expo 2019 will be able to put its hands on the best industry resources for its attendees to share!

Review of Fruit Expo 2018

On a show floor of 10,000 m2, over 160 exhibitors gathered for the show, including Pagoda (Biggest Fruit Chain Store), JD.com (One of biggest E-commerce Platform), Great Sun Food (One of Biggest Fruit Suppliers), Walmart (One of Biggest Retail Store) and etc. For international pavilions, overseas exhibitor groups from 6 countries (Thailand, Vietnam, Chile, India, Philippines, Greece), in addition to those independent exhibitors from Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, and Indonesia, marking a stunning overseas exhibitor attendance rate of over 30%! 90% exhibitors were content with the show. Many of them said that they will returning for Fruit Expo 2019.

Exhibition Scope:

− Fresh Fruit: fresh fruits, fresh cut, organic product, etc.

− Processed Fruit: frozen fruit products, dried fruits, fruit cans, fruit juice, fruit jam, preserved fruits, nuts, highly processed fruits, etc.

− Fruit Processing Equipment & Technology;

− Cold Chain & Logistics;

− Fruit Growing & Post-harvest Handling;

− Fresh Retail & Related Technology; etc.

If you are interested in sourcing worldwide fruit products and gaining global reach, then please don’t hesitate to attend Fruit Expo 2019!

Fruit Expo 2019 Organizing Committee

Contact Person: Janice Lin

Tel: 020-29188152

Mobile: +86 13615927098

Wechat: ljyjanice0318

Email: [email protected]

#fruit expo 2019 #international event #onthescene

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healthylifepage · 6 years

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THE BIG ACTIVE ESCAPE: AUSTRALIA

Happy New Year dear reader; I shall kick off 2018 with some travel-related food for thought… Australia has long been at the top of my bucket list, kept on that list thanks to the mammoth pilgrimage required to reach the complete opposite point on the planet. For many travellers in the Western hemisphere, it’s a trip you might only ever make once (if perhaps at all); for others, a single visit and they decide to undertake the permanent move East. It is an enchanting and diverse land, but there’s too much to cover in a single post, so I’ll break it into two digestible bits; this is Part 1, and recounts a sublime week at Qualia on Hamilton Island, part of the Whitsundays, blessed with turquoise crystal waters, dusted with powdered white sands, and fringed by lush tropical forest. Totally repaired since a dreadful tropical cyclone wrought devastation upon the islands some 7 months earlier, The Whitsundays are Australasia’s answer to The Maldives, but with one unbeatable competitive advantage: the Great Barrier Reef. Click MORE to see what exotic treasures I found there…

My destination resort came extremely highly recommended by the ‘Antipodean cognoscenti’, of which there are MANY. If you’ve been, you have a view; and so I’m now one of those people! Qualia was the name of my hotel, and the word itself describes those individual, personal sensory perceptions which unfold within your mind, and which define your reality and existence. I like this name, as it says something about what the resort evokes. Oh yes, and I say ‘resort’ with caution, as it conjures ancient images of British package holidays in Benidorm… this is a far more subtle a kind of resort, which sits on Hamilton Island, at the beating heart of the Whitsundays and is one of 74 tropical islands that lie between the Queensland Coast and The Great Barrier Reef.

This is *the* destination to experience Australian health and vitality along this gleaming stretch of the coast. Here’s why…

SOME CONTEXT ABOUT THE ISLAND…

The entirety of Hamilton Island is owned by the Oakley family, as indeed is Qualia, the flagship hospitality destination. Visiting a large island which is owned by one family is a totally unique experience; their passion and significant investment into world-class infrastructure means the island is superbly well groomed, beautifully maintained, is very clean, feels safe and is utterly stunning. The family even built a commercial airport to ensure the throughput of tourism, which is a staggering undertaking when you sit back and think about it! Everywhere you go, you command your own Club car Buggy which is supplied by the hotel to each of its guests, but which are also used by residents across the entire island. If you go to a restaurant or bar outside of the hotel, or indeed if you undertake any other activities on the broader island, you still sign the cheque onto your hotel room. That effectively means that the whole island is your resort, and that is quite distinct from my experience of travelling anywhere else in the world. It is totally liberating!

Every year there’s a Triathlon, a Marathon, an annual long-distance swim along Whitehaven beach, canoe races, and my personal favourite, the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week for sailing!

QUALIA ITSELF

The hotel comprises dozens of structures, all discretely woven into the cliff face at the northern-most tip of the island, and is architecturally modern and discreet, in keeping with the colours of the granite lithology and the forestry around it. This was very important to the owners, and as a guest, I feel it speaks to their respect for this protected landscape. Having been directly hit in April by Cyclone Debbie, the owners were super keen to refresh the whole resort so that they were 100% ready for their summer season (December), and they did a superb job of it; I would have and no clue that 260 kph winds were levelling this tropical paradise just 7 months prior to my visit, such was the resolve of the local people who all waded in to fix it up.

SERVICE

Having endured a 30-hour voyage to get here, Qualia was the first example of Australian hospitality I’d experienced, and I found it characteristically friendly, warm and welcoming. Staff genuinely seem happy to work here; you’re greeted with a real smile, (living in London that’s a rarity) as the pace and flavor of Island life seem to instill a contented tranquility amongst the c.2,000 locals. By the end of the trip, this becomes somewhat infectious…

WELLNESS

It’s an outdoorsy, beautiful, and most immersive venue for a wellness escape in the midst of the beauty of nature…

I started each day with an hour-long 07:30 yoga class in their beautiful open-walled pavilion, followed by the healthiest breakfast whilst surveying the Coral Sea below.

I left each session feeling utterly recharged, emotionally contented and totally compelled to return.

THE FOOD

Given the closeness to the waters, you’d be right to expect the freshest of fish, which for a pescetarian is a dream. However, there’s also plenty of chicken and red meat on the menu, sourced locally in Australia. You’ll get the opportunity to try some new fishes for the first time, such as a Humpty Doo Barramundi, as well as a host of golden reef fish that are in bountiful supply here.

Whether by the pool, on the beach, or in the open air restaurant, Qualia’s cuisine, is accompanied by endless views across the tranquil waters, which instantly renders any meal that little more inspiring. This little Pied Currawong joined me for breakfast every day to admire that vista!

Breakfast – my favourite meal – was afforded a lengthy menu including my daily regular, egg white omelet with shavings of parmesan cheese, rocket and a pesto-herb dressing, plus a small exotic-fruits chia porridge. Every morning a two juice power shots would appear along with a small fresh fruit platter. The quality of the food was high though perhaps not in comparison to what Italy / France is capable of conjuring.

WELLNESS FACILITIES

Activities are somewhat of a speciality for Qualia. There’s the Spa, Yoga, charters, cruises, Golf, guided walks, local food tasting classes, Rib tours, jet ski tours, seaplane/helicopter tours, wildlife tours, naturopath discussions, gymming, and sailing, amongst many others.

There’s an indoor/ outdoor gym which is adequately equipped with Technogym machines and a selection of sufficiently heavy free weights (mostly dumbells, though some kettlebells and bars too) with bi-fold doors leading to a terrace looking out onto the sea, and steps down to a white sand training area. Serious viewspo and extremely motivating and the great outdoors is indeed the best gym on offer here, with an external rowing machine to benefit from the above.

Water sports included my favourite, sailing, alongside a superb Rib tour of the island, though there were cruises, dinghy’s, jetskis, paragliding, kayaking, paddleboarding, wakeboarding (etc) on offer!

THE SPA…

This was such a gorgeous spa, nestled high on top of Qualia, with many of its pavilions designed in such a manner as to feel that there are no walls (clearly there are), yet it feels completely hidden away from the rest of the world. It’s an open-air sanctuary where you instantly relax. You often feel a soft warm sea breeze whilst gazing out over the ocean. Wonderful toiletries from Aesop adorn every part of this complex, which benefits sauna and steam facilities, outdoor showers, endless spa treatments including deep tissue, reflexology, reiki, naturopathy, and personal training. I visited daily for a dose of invigoration. Away from the spa complex, THIS infinity pool…

YOGA

Every morning there’s a complimentary yoga class on offer, hosted by the lovely teacher (and island local) Damien Evans who is a distinguished Naturopath and Iridologist; his energy and spirit are a superb accompaniment to the day’s beginning, so I could not recommend this daybreak activity more strongly. He is only too happy to help you feel better on your trip, and strikes a great balance to get you there.

HIKING

There are several mildly demanding routes available to walk, stretching to 20km of trail. I found them to be better for taking in the scenery than executing a punishing workout, though the island is most certainly blessed with some interesting hilly relief!

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

Invariably the star attraction in this part of the globe, it is the single biggest structure made by living organisms in the world. It’s also the world’s largest coral reef system, composed of more than 2,900 separate reefs & 900 islands, which stretch for 2,300 kilometres over an area of around 350,000 square km. It is vast. And it just happens to be a 30min chopper trip away from the hotel, which has its own Helipad. I undertook the ‘Best of Both Worlds‘ excursion, which involved departing at 08:30 from the helipad, snorkelling in the reef before anyone else has arrived, then hot-tailing over to Whitehaven beach for a private picnic on the untouched white sands. Rather than talk about it, here’s a little picture montage to tell the story…

This half-day heli-tour was undoubtedly the coolest thing I’ve done all year, possibly in many years. Whilst it was expensive, it was totally worth it, as a once in a lifetime experience that has indelibly etched images of exquisite natural beauty on my retinas.

THE ROOMS

There are 60 pavilions, all of which offer huge floor to ceiling windows, and all with their unique sea views. The rooms are light and airy with high ceilings using solid natural materials like wooden floors, slate tiling, white linen, and 100% cotton fibers which I always find ease my sleep. The huge, plush and perfectly made-up beds ensure you get the high-quality restorative sleep that’s required on an escape. Plus, this was the sunrise view from the balcony each morning, when jetlag gets you up at 5:30 in time to see the sunrise, and nature awakens with a stunning aviary chorus…

IN CONCLUSION

If you’re used to Europe, this is not another cultural experience filled with the heritage or artefacts of ancient civilisations; the island is new in its construction (having been founded in the 70s), but loses nothing for this. The raw natural beauty is the real ancient civilisation here; Hamilton Island is a highly polished destination for an indulgent wellness retreat, promoting cognitive ease at every turn. A visit to Qualia absolutely restores and refreshes, time both stands still and runs rampant, the senses are delighted by the finish, and it’s not at all stuffy in the mind’s eye, but rather, characteristically casual and altogether sumptuous.

If you’re contemplating making a big trip in 2018, then you’ve plenty of time to plan for this one, as their summer kicks off on 1st December (though the weather is frankly pleasant all year round for this pseudo-tropical island).

More to follow… Faya x

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THE BIG ACTIVE ESCAPE: AUSTRALIA posted first on yummylooksbest.blogspot.com

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yolandadsims · 6 years

Text

THE BIG ACTIVE ESCAPE: AUSTRALIA

This is *the* destination to experience Australian health and vitality along this gleaming stretch of the coast. Here’s why…

SOME CONTEXT ABOUT THE ISLAND…

Every year there’s a Triathlon, a Marathon, an annual long-distance swim along Whitehaven beach, canoe races, and my personal favourite, the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week for sailing!

QUALIA ITSELF

SERVICE

WELLNESS

It’s an outdoorsy, beautiful, and most immersive venue for a wellness escape in the midst of the beauty of nature…

I started each day with an hour-long 07:30 yoga class in their beautiful open-walled pavilion, followed by the healthiest breakfast whilst surveying the Coral Sea below.

I left each session feeling utterly recharged, emotionally contented and totally compelled to return.

THE FOOD

WELLNESS FACILITIES

THE SPA…

YOGA

HIKING

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

THE ROOMS

IN CONCLUSION

More to follow… Faya x

The post THE BIG ACTIVE ESCAPE: AUSTRALIA appeared first on Fitness on Toast.

from Health And Fitness Updates http://fitnessontoast.com/2018/01/02/the-big-active-escape-australia/

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muscledemandsrespect · 6 years

Text

THE BIG ACTIVE ESCAPE: AUSTRALIA

This is *the* destination to experience Australian health and vitality along this gleaming stretch of the coast. Here’s why…

SOME CONTEXT ABOUT THE ISLAND…

Every year there’s a Triathlon, a Marathon, an annual long-distance swim along Whitehaven beach, canoe races, and my personal favourite, the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week for sailing!

QUALIA ITSELF

SERVICE

WELLNESS

It’s an outdoorsy, beautiful, and most immersive venue for a wellness escape in the midst of the beauty of nature…

I started each day with an hour-long 07:30 yoga class in their beautiful open-walled pavilion, followed by the healthiest breakfast whilst surveying the Coral Sea below.

I left each session feeling utterly recharged, emotionally contented and totally compelled to return.

THE FOOD

WELLNESS FACILITIES

THE SPA…

YOGA

HIKING

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

THE ROOMS

IN CONCLUSION

More to follow… Faya x

The post THE BIG ACTIVE ESCAPE: AUSTRALIA appeared first on Fitness on Toast.

from Fitness on Toast http://ift.tt/2lHcNIm via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Fitness on Toast

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thebestintoronto · 7 years

Text

Toronto Zoo Attractions

Looking for something fun to do this weekend within Toronto? Are you fond of animals? These two questions are so random but if you answered Yes for both, then you are on the right page! If you are living (or travelling) in Toronto and you already have too much of theme parks, and beaches and trails, you might want to consider going to a zoo.

Toronto has one of the most respected and largest zoos in North America. In fact it is the largest zoo in Canada and it houses over 5,000 species. Founded by industrialist Hugh A. Crothers, the Toronto Zoo was opened on August 15, 1974. The Toronto Zoo is exactly located at 361A Old Finch Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada and it is open all-year long except Christmas day.

From an article written in Wikipedia.com:

“It is divided into seven zoogeographic regions: Indo-Malaya, Africa, Americas, Tundra Trek, Australasia, Eurasia, and the Canadian Domain. Some animals are displayed indoors in tropical pavilions and outdoors in what would be their naturalistic environments, with viewing at many levels. It also has areas such as the Kids Zoo, Waterside Theatre, and Splash Island. It has one of the most taxonomically diverse collection of animals on display of any zoo; it is currently home to over 5,000 animals (including invertebrates and fish) representing over 500 species.”

Read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Zoo

According the Toronto Zoo’s official website Toronto.com, must-see attractions include the following:

- Visit the Giant Panda Experience to explore the state-of-the-art Panda Interpretive Centre and to meet Canada's only giant panda cubs! Meet Er Shun and her cubs, Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue, plus our male giant panda, Da Mao.

- Check out our 10-acre Tundra Trek featuring our 5-acre polar bear habitat and underwater viewing area.

- See the Gorilla Rainforest, home to our Western Lowland Gorilla troop including young Nneka, our juvenile (and exceptionally cute) female gorilla born January 10, 2014.

- Take a walk through Indomalaya, home to tigers, orangutans, clouded leopards, Indian rhinos and more! Plus, meet our adorable new Indian rhino calf, Nandu, born February 17, 2016.

- Explore the African Savanna, home to rhinos, hippos, giraffes, white lions and more!

- Join us for daily informative animal Keeper Talks and feedings where you will see the animals up-close and learn interesting facts about our animals here at the Zoo.

- With over 100 species of fish throughout the Zoo, explore the Zoo's Great Barrier Reef exhibit in the Australasia pavilion, filled with moon jellies, seahorses and more.

- Explore our Discovery Zone* featuring: Kids Zoo: learn, laugh and play with the little ones

Splash Island: our 2 acre splash pad, perfect for a cool down on hot summer days

Waterside Theatre: daily animal shows, free with Zoo admission

For more details such as admission, direction, working hours, etc., visit their official website: http://www.torontozoo.com/

So there you go, another fun thing to do in the weekend, even weekdays work too! Experience the company of animals in Toronto Zoo and have fun!

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pressreleaseping-blog · 7 years

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The Giant iTab Company demonstrates Giant Smartphone at Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2017

Giant Smartphones for mobile, retail, banking, corporate and event markets to be showcased in international exhibition, sponsored by techUK

London, UK, June 22, 2017 - Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), 28 June – 1st July 2017

The Great Britain & Northern Ireland Pavilion, Stand No W4.G39 F

The Giant iTab Company is showing its oversize smartphone, the Giant iTab, at Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai, being held this year at Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), from 28 June – 1st July 2017. Giant iTab is a complete Giant Interactive Tablet & Smartphone solution designed for companies with a requirement for event showcasing, digital engagement and displaying e‑commerce applications. Asia's biggest mobile event, MWC Shanghai is organised by the GSMA and held each year in the business hub of Shanghai, China, with 650 exhibitors and an expected 65,000 mobile industry professionals attending.

The Giant iTab Company will be demonstrating its Giant Smartphone on its stand, and providing its technology for the other UK businesses to use on the Great Britain & Northern Ireland Pavilion. The Pavilion is sponsored by techUK, the trade association for the UK Technology industry, and part of a programme supported by Department for International Trade (DIT) which helps UK based businesses to grow in international markets through exports.

The Giant iTab has been designed for companies presenting at events, exhibitions and conferences and has also created strong interest in the App developer market. The Giant iTab Company, formed in 2009, has already installed units in many countries, including the Nespresso store in Moscow, the Etihad Airways 1st Class Lounge in Abu Dhabi, VW dealerships in Holland, Dow Jones offices in Spain, PWC offices in Zurich, Binder events in Frankfurt plus Event Planet studios in Melbourne and has provided their solution for events and exhibitions in over 50 countries across Europe, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia, Canada and the Americas, including Brazil.

Mark Jones, Founder of Giant iTab, commented; "The Mobile World Congress events present a great opportunity for us to showcase our technology. Our recent attendance at MWC Barcelona in March was a great success and we signed up several new AV rental and reseller partners as a result of the show.

"The simplicity of our offering means that it will translate well as we prepare for the event in Shanghai. The technology market in China is booming and attending this event will also enable us to meet new local tech businesses for mutually beneficial partnerships. We are also delighted to be one of the many British UK technology companies that are showcasing technological innovation in this fast growing market. Our fully functioning Giant Smartphone enables digital content to be presented in exactly the same way as the smaller hand-held devices we all use every day and, being in a format that everyone is familiar with and already knows how to use, offers the perfect demonstration vehicle for Event Professionals, AV rental companies, App developers and the marketing departments of many corporate businesses looking to better engage their customers."

Giant iTab is looking to expand its customer base in Asia and Australasia actively recruiting new AV rental partners and resellers in Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and China.

- ends -

About Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai, 28 Jun – 1 July 2017, Shanghai

Mobile World Congress Shanghai (MWC Shanghai) is Asia's biggest mobile event organised by the GSMA and held each year in Shanghai, China.

For more information: https://www.mwcshanghai.com/

The Great Britain & Northern Ireland Pavilion

The Great Britain & Northern Ireland Pavilion provides an opportunity for British exhibitors at MWC Shanghai 2017 to show a wide range of products, services & technologies. It is sponsored by techUK, the trade association for the UK Technology industry www.techuk.org.

About Giant iTab Bringing together smart phone, tablet and multi-channel marketing into one complete digital showcasing solution the Giant iTab is a touchscreen tablet and smartphone solution designed to take advantage of today's rapidly growing world of event showcasing, digital engagement and e-commerce.

For more information: www.giantitab.com

Press Contact: Andreina West PR Artistry Chiltern House 45 Station Road Henley-on-Thames OXON RG9 1AT 44 (0) 1491 845553 [email protected] http://www.giantitab.com/

#Smartphone events exhibitions Giant iTab Giant Smartphone

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thegrumpypenguin · 5 years

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Black tree monitor; possible names are Freckles, Jeckle, or Mr. Hyde

♫ Wake me up, when September ends.♫

– Billie Joe Armstong (Green Day)

Well, I wish I had posted that song yesterday, because I somehow missed that today was the first of the month… so this post is later than it should have been. Sorry, all!

Kiki, Komodo dragon

Anyhow, onwards and upwards! At the left is the photo I had originally intended to use for this month, but at the very last minute, I decided to go another direction. I really like this shot of Kiki; I just felt that there wasn’t much to it at the end of the day, and that the one of the monitor just stood out more on the page. Had I known then, in mid-October of 2018, that Kiki would pass away less than a week after I finished creating the calendar, I would most likely have used her photo and saved the monitor for 2020. However, hindsight is… well, 20/20… and I do think I used the more interesting photo… but I now find I have not very much to say about black tree monitors. (In fact, they’re not even currently listed among the Australasian animals on the Zoo’s new website, even though I know I saw them there the last time I visited the pavilion.) I think I will talk about the Australasian pavilion in general, and I will continue first with more about Kiki.

Magnificent tongue!

When I first began my training to be a Zoo Volunteer, I found I was visiting the Australasia Pavilion quite frequently after class was over. Part of the reason, I’m sure, was that it was a colder time of year; part was likely because it wasn’t an area I was very familiar with. Also, one of the very first Volunteer talks I attended was delivered by Brent, who was at that time a Keeper in Australasia and quite involved in the potential breeding of the Komodo dragons. Prior to the arrival of Kiki in June of 2011, the exhibit was shared by Kilat (who was born in Toronto in 2004) and Loca (spelling seems to be in question), who was potentially his mom and who, when she died at the Calgary Zoo in 2014, was the oldest Komodo dragon in captivity by a considerable margin. As there is a decent chance I will use a photo of Kilat in the future, I will refrain from writing any more about him here; however, there is a very interesting story about Kiki that bears repeating.

Look at those claws!

During that talk back in 2012, it was mentioned that the Zoo was having some trouble firmly establishing the sex of Kiki. She was considerably smaller than Kilat – alarmingly so – and it had been assumed that she would grow larger over time. If memory serves, she was even on a special diet to hopefully “bulk up,” but it never took. The few times she and Kilat were put together to breed she tried her best to avoid him, showing no interest whatsoever. Kilat would pursue her but nothing would really develop from it. When the Keepers drew blood from Kiki and sent it in to see if there were any issues keeping her that size, they received a startling surprise: the blood tests came back with the information that Kiki was a boy! Of course, they were not put back out together after that until the issue could be sorted out; when Kiki arrived in Toronto it had been pretty well-established over the six years of “her” life that she was female. So another test was ordered. This one came back “female,” again. But since Kiki clearly had no intention of breeding with Kilat, and was still quite small, they were kept apart from then on. It wasn’t until Kiki passed away on exhibit on October 23, 2018 and was sent for a necropsy that an even more stunning truth came out: Kiki was actually hermaphroditic; that is, she had sexual organs of both male and female types (but, in her case, neither was developed enough for breeding). This, of course, explained everything that had been so confusing over the previous seven years!

Annie, the echidna

A favourite of mine (and many others) in that pavilion is the reclusive Annie, short-beaked echidna. Echidnas are one of only two types of monotremes in the world, with the other being the duck-billed platypus. Monotremes are egg-laying mammals; in the five class of vertebrates – mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians – not one of them is “perfect” in its classification rules; in other words, there are many exceptions. Annie used to live with Norman (I have always assumed that his full name must have been “Spiny Norman”) until he passed away a few years ago. Norman was easily distinguishable from Annie because he had a semi-permanent “shot bubble” hanging from the tip of his nose whenever anyone saw him. The echidnas spend most of the time the Zoo is open underground in tunnels, coming up for food around dusk each day which is pretty much the only time you might catch Annie. On the day I shot the above photo, I was in Australasia for the 34th (and final, as it turned out) birthday for Hamlet, who fell just four months short of being the longest-lived southern hairy-nosed wombat in history when he died later in 2016. While I was there I shot a video of Annie wandering around, which ends quite hilariously as I follow her into the area where Hamlet was and catch him lying on his back briefly:

youtube

Here is a shot of Hamlet on that 34th birthday; I don’t want to delve too much into the wombats as I feel they will likely feature in a future calendar:

34-year-old Hamlet, southern hairy-nosed wombat

Walnut, the cockatoo

There have been some amazing birds in the Australasian Pavilion, too, but they seem to come and go a little more often (that’s probably just my impression). Here is Walnut, the red-tailed black cockatoo, who lived there with her parents for a while and then on her own, before she left for a breeding program. She was one of my favourites while she was here; she used to spend most of her time on the superstructure over the heads of visitors and would always respond happily to a quick whistle from a friend. She was also the central character in one of my favourite stories from the too-brief time I was a Program Leader at the Zoo.

Walnut takes flight

During one of my classes in the spring of 2016, a young lad (Grade 5 or 6, I think) asked me if we had any cockatoos at the Zoo, as he had one at home. (I assume his pet was the standard white one, but I never did ask.) I said we did, in fact, have one – and I would try my best to let him see her but I could not guarantee it as Australasia wasn’t on my planned tour route. We did the other side of the Zoo in the morning, and the young man asked me again at lunch if we might get to see Walnut in the afternoon. Again, I said I would try on the way back if I could. We visited the Tundra and the Americas after lunch and we were pushing our luck time-wise as we headed along the path back to the buses, when I caught the young man, out of the corner of my eye, wistfully gazing at the Australasia Pavilion we were passing close to. I made a quick decision and stopped the group, asking if they would be willing to really hustle back to the main gates if we made a brief detour so their classmate could see the cockatoo. They were unanimous in their agreement, so we turned left and headed into the pavilion. I could see Walnut in her customary place in the rafters and walked over until I was directly underneath her. A couple of the young people had seen her as well, but I urged them not to say anything for the moment. I asked the cockatoo-lover if he could see Walnut, but he could not, so I whistled briefly for her (“Yoo-hoo,” it sounds like) and she squawked a very happy, very loud reply. He stared up at her as she made her way a little closer to all of us and gazed at her in wonder for a few moments until it was really time to go. As I marched the class quickly back out of the pavilion and toward the gate, I looked back over my shoulder to see that young lad with an enormous grin on his face, surrounded by congratulatory classmates who were almost as excited as he was. Now, that… was a good day.

I’m very carefully avoiding the animals I expect will be in upcoming editions and, if you happen to follow me on social media, I am sure you can work out what is the most likely of those to be in the 2020 calendar. So I will leave the stories of the Australasia Pavilion here, for now, and just add a small collage at the end of some of my other favourites. Next month: I need to own up to not one…not two… but three errors in the caption for the photo. Go big or go home, right? That will teach me for using the one photo that was shot on my old camera.

See you in November and thanks for reading!

Blue-tongued skink

Bearded dragon

Bettong

Crimson rosella

Frilled lizard

Nokopo

Splendid parrot

Makepeaces

2019 “VISITING WITH ANIMALS” Calendar – October Story ♫ Wake me up, when September ends.♫ - Billie Joe Armstong (Green Day) Well, I wish I had posted that song

#Animals #Australasia #Australasia Pavilion #Black Tree Monitor #Calendar #Monitor #October #Toronto #Toronto Zoo #Tree Monitor #Zoo

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thegrumpypenguin · 4 years

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Handfeeding my favourite of all the marsupials at the Toronto Zoo

Stevie at five years old

I’m not entirely sure why it happened this way, but from the first week I began my training to be a Volunteer at the Toronto Zoo (in November of 2012), the Pavilion I would almost always rush over to after class (and also on my visiting days) was Australasia. I imagine it had something to do with my having far less knowledge of the species there – and in Eurasia, but that was closed for renovations – and trying to learn as much as I could right away. What I do know is this: once I started spending time there I was immediately drawn to many of the animals who lived in the building, such as the tree kangaroo, the brush-tailed bettongs, the red-tailed black cockatoos, the Komodo dragons, the wombats…and the wallabies (Bennett’s and swamp). At that time, the wallabies shared a winter exhibit with the wombats; a couple of years later it became unworkable as the younger wombats began to get too aggressive with the wallabies. But it was wonderful while they all lived together (along with the echidnas and at least one betting) because the area offered an unobstructed view of the animals and there was always a lot to see. So I spent hours at the one mixed exhibit early in my training, and the one animal I immediately fell in love with was Stevie, one of the Bennett’s wallabies. I have no true explanation for this, either (perhaps her name?) but I adored her body language and the interest she always took in me when I showed up. So when I got my first DSLR for Christmas in 2012, I took it to the Zoo on December 28, went straight to Australasia, and began to try it out. The photo here is the 16th I had ever taken at the Zoo on the new camera, and the third of Stevie.

Stevie (near) with Francesca, Sophie, and Norman (echidna)

It was an awesome exhibit to hang around in those days; if you got there at the right time you could theoretically see up to nine different animals from five different species – although I never did. From the photo at right: Stevie and Francesca (one of the two swamp wallabies along the wall) are still living at the Toronto Zoo, but I’ve only been able to view them out side in the warmer months or on a special Wild Encounter tour in their holding area. But I never forgot Stevie and every time I spotted her I made sure to have a conversation with her. She always appeared to be paying attention to me and often looked over at the sound of my voice, especially when I called her by name. In fact, the knowledge that she always remembered me even after months of having no connection is extremely comforting as I agonize here at home during our “Covid Lockdown,” desperately missing my animal friends and hoping they don’t forget about me.

Swamp wallabies in Edinburgh Zoo

Early last fall two male Bennett’s wallabies arrived at the Toronto Zoo as potential mates for Stevie. One of them – Darwin – came from High Park Zoo in Toronto and the other – unnamed, so he is now called Peter – from Riverview Zoo in Peterborough (Ontario). Only one of the males (Darwin) is “intact,” so “mates” plural would be incorrect. In any event. I would love for some spark to happen between Stevie and a suitor, because when Sarah and I visited the Edinburgh Zoo in 2015 I spotted a swamp wallaby and her joey, who I would guess would be about five months old here, and they are even more adorable than a kangaroo joey (in my opinion, of course). I think I might actually lose my mind if Stevie had a baby, and I know it would be even cuter still because Bennett’s wallabies are the best wallabies. I added that last line to see if my friend Lloyd reads these blog posts. He’s got a bit of a thing for Francesca, Toronto’s remaining swamp wallaby. I mean, she’s cute enough, I suppose:

Francesca in 2012

[I have to jump in here with an edit: I learned after I wrote this piece but before it was published that Francesca, swamp wallaby (pictured above) sadly passed away on April 23rd. At 16, she was the oldest known swamp wallaby, according to my friend, Lloyd, who adored her. I am so sorry for his loss.]

Sydney and Stevie

Of all the times I’ve been to see Stevie, however, far and away the most memorable was the time represented by this month’s photo. That browse she has just taken a bite of is being offered to her by yours truly. I sprung for two Wild Encounters with the kangaroos last year , the second one coming on (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend because I knew they were about to go off-exhibit for the winter due to the coming Terra Lumina attraction. The kangaroo walkthrough had been closed the entire time I had been Volunteering, which is to say for the duration of the visit of the giant pandas, as it would have been too difficult to maintain any sort of crowd control when the people exiting the walkthrough would meet the panda lineup head-on. I had never really paid much attention to it when it was open before I started, but many people (Sarah included) missed it a great deal and told me so. Thus, when it was finally re-opened (with new landscaping) last spring, I went to take a look on the very first day. Well, let me tell you: it was almost like we had added an entirely new species (well, three) for me to learn all about. I spent a large part of my summer hanging out in there; by the end of it I could tell all twelve kangaroos apart from one another, and (of course) both wallabies. I spent most of my time with my favourites: Tori and her joey (eventually named Mr. Partington…but you’ll need to wait to hear his story), Jeff, and Stevie, who is easily my favourite marsupial at the Zoo. She spent most of her time ignoring the bigger western grays, but occasionally she’d show up at a feeding bowl with them – especially the less aggressive roos, such as Sydney, who was the smallest of the adults.

Catching the scent

On a Wild Encounter focusing on the walkthrough, the big finale is being allowed to offer food to the kangaroos and wallabies, depending on who comes over. The first time I did it, only the roos came by and I got to feed, among others, the oldest one there, Meribah. That was a delightful experience. But as the weeks wore on and I spent more and more time approaching Stevie and talking to her, I found that she became quite comfortable around me and often moved a little closer to me, perhaps to catch my scent or just get a better look. It’s a lovely connection we have made. And so it was that on the second Wild Encounter, I noticed Stevie had actually come quite close to the mob, watching what was going on but making no attempt to participate. But I talked to her and kept my eye on her and when she started to hop away from the proceedings I happened to be positioned on the outside of our group, close to where she was headed. So I held out some browse and called her, gently, to see what would happen. She paused and looked over, contemplated just continuing to hop away, and eventually decided to come to me to see what I was offering. In this photo above, you can see Stevie having just taken a deep whiff of the browse and me, and processing the scent (with her mouth open, she’s using the “flehmen response“) to establish if there were any risk involved in taking the food I was holding out. She decided everything was cool, and she began to eat from the browse… and, of course, I was a puddle. All of the photos I managed to take of the event were shot by me holding my camera in my right hand only, and shooting down my fully extended left arm to my hand holding the treats. I asked the group leader at one point if she would mind coming over slowly to take my camera and get a shot with me in it; however, even though Stevie knew her very well from many previous tours, her approach caused the beautiful girl to release the branch and hop away. I was the only person there that day that Stevie approached, and I do not think it has been a commonly – if ever – repeated event. It would appear that our bond, first forged in 2012 but with long periods of no contact, is very strong indeed, and that makes me supremely happy.

However, as strong as my bond is with Stevie it will never be as strong as the bond she has with the Keepers she loves. And of those bonds, I cannot imagine one ever being stronger than what she shared with Ruby, a Seasonal Keeper last summer. This photo might be the greatest moment I’ve captured at the Zoo yet.

Stevie and Ruby and hold your calls, we have a winner

I’m going to end it here, as I have other animals coming up this year that I don’t want to inadvertently steal the thunder from. (Many of them are from the same Pavilion.) I’ll add a small collage of shots of Stevie all taken last summer in the walkthrough. Thank you, as always, for reading along with me and we’ll continue the story of the kangaroo walkthrough in July. Next month: another Wild Encounter favourite. See you then, stay healthy, keep a safe distance, and wash your hands.

2020 “HANGING OUT WITH ANIMALS” Calendar – May Story I'm not entirely sure why it happened this way, but from the first week I began my training to be a Volunteer at the Toronto Zoo (in November of 2012), the Pavilion I would almost always rush over to after class (and also on my visiting days) was Australasia.

#Animals #Australasia #Bennett&039;s Wallaby #Calendar #May #Stevie #Toronto #Wallaby #Wild Encounter #Zoo

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healthylifepage · 6 years

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THE BIG ACTIVE ESCAPE: AUSTRALIA

This is *the* destination to experience Australian health and vitality along this gleaming stretch of the coast. Here’s why…

SOME CONTEXT ABOUT THE ISLAND…

Every year there’s a Triathlon, a Marathon, an annual long-distance swim along Whitehaven beach, canoe races, and my personal favourite, the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week for sailing!

QUALIA ITSELF

SERVICE

WELLNESS

It’s an outdoorsy, beautiful, and most immersive venue for a wellness escape in the midst of the beauty of nature…

I started each day with an hour-long 07:30 yoga class in their beautiful open-walled pavilion, followed by the healthiest breakfast whilst surveying the Coral Sea below.

I left each session feeling utterly recharged, emotionally contented and totally compelled to return.

THE FOOD

WELLNESS FACILITIES

THE SPA…

YOGA

HIKING

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

THE ROOMS

IN CONCLUSION

More to follow… Faya x

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