Saturday 31 October 2009

Happy Halloween from The Wombat

The Wombat got dressed up for a Halloween party; shame his moustache kept falling off.
The Wombat in (bad) fancy dress

To make up for his lack of interest in fancy dress, here's a photo from earlier in the year. It has a pumpkin in it. (And a less-groomed Wombat.)
The Wombat examines a pumpkin at the Ulster-American Folk Park

Thursday 29 October 2009

The Wombat in China

The Wombat spent the last couple of weeks of October travelling through China (with a new handler). Here are some of his holiday snaps...

If The Wombat sits on the Great Wall, can he be seen from space?
The Wombat visits the Great Wall of China

The Wombat checks out the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium in Beijing, and dreams of winning gold... in the marsupial sprint, perhaps? (Shame he's a year late.)
Dreaming of Olympic gold in Beijing

If this is the Forbidden Palace, is it OK for The Wombat to look at it?
The Wombat views the Forbidden Palace in Beijing

The Wombat took a trip down the River Yangtze - he's not actually on the edge of the boat here, which he was very relieved about.
The Wombat goes down the River Yangtze

The Wombat is impressed by the giant head, although he's not sure who it belongs to...
The Wombat in China

This is as close as The Wombat managed to get to a real panda - they are vegetarians, right?
The Wombat meets a panda

Saturday 24 October 2009

More castle-visiting for The Wombat

Back in the summer, The Wombat took a trip around Donegal, including through the Glenveagh National Park. He liked it so much that he decided to go back in September, and this time, to visit the castle. (He likes castles a lot.)

Although no photos were allowed in Glenveagh Castle itself, The Wombat greatly enjoyed the short tour. Even if all the stag motifs all over the place were a bit much.
The weather wasn't all that great, but the gardens still looked lovely - here The Wombat is looking at the back of the orangery.
The Wombat visits Glenveagh Castle, County Donegal

Outside of the sheltered grounds, the weather was very blustery - The Wombat had to cling tightly to this fence to avoid being blown into the old swimming pool or the lough below!
The Wombat looks at Lough Veagh, County Donegal

Sunday 18 October 2009

How we used to live - USA & Ireland

Near Omagh in Northern Ireland is the Ulster-American Folk Park, a mostly-outdoor museum which aims to show how people lived in the mid-1800s - those who stayed in Ireland and those who left for the States. It has lots of reconstructed buildings which illustrate life on both sides of the Atlantic, with lots of farmland around them.

Here The Wombat is trying to decide what this piece of farm equipment might have been used for.
The Wombat at the Ulster-American Folk Park

He wasn't too sure whether it was safe to be surrounded by so many chicken. Maybe he'd be OK if he sat up high?
The Wombat is scared of chickens

In the bar, he was thwarted by an empty glass (probably just as well).
The Wombat is thwarted

And in school, he learnt a valuable lesson.
The Wombat learns a lesson

Finally, in preparation for his future travels, he checked out the cost of being posted to the US. Not sure if he realises those are 1800s prices, though...
The Wombat checks his postage costs

Monday 5 October 2009

Views of Belfast

It's a general rule that when you live in an area, you don't usually do much sight-seeing there. Well, The Wombat is happy to be an exception to that rule, and spent a fairly bright autumn afternoon last week wandering around some bits of Belfast.

He started out by going up in the dome at the Victoria Square shopping centre, to take in the views. Thankfully, there's a lift; his short little legs would never have managed the stairs.
The Wombat in the dome at Victoria Square Belfast

Back at ground level, he went to view the Albert memorial clock - it was built back in the 1860s on rather soggy ground and has a worrying lean.
The Wombat views the Albert memorial clock in Belfast

He then had a stroll down to the weir to view the River Lagan - here you can see the M3 bridge, with the World Heritage-listed cranes, Samson and Goliath, in the background.
The Wombat surveys the River Lagan in Belfast

And also down at the weir, he had a look at the Big Fish - its ceramic scales have prints of playbills, newspaper cartoons and advertisements, and other things to commerate Belfast's history.
The Wombat checks out Belfast's Big Fish