Excursions from Berlin : Lausitzer Braunkohle

Continuing with my "Bau Steine Erden" industry series from July ... 

This rather longish technical monstrosity is called "Förderbrücke F60" and was used in the lignite open-cast mines in Germany's eastern brown coal district near Cottbus close to the Polish border. After reunification in 1990, mining here with the production of briquettes for heating wasn't economical anymore and was discontinued. The huge pit underwent a revitalisation programme which is still ongoing. The bridge was too large to be dismantled  - 502 m long - and was turned into a tourist attraction. Visitors interested in this part of history can climb up with a guide and hear about power generation from this "dirty" old-fashioned fossil fuel energy  before the transition to renewable energies became reality. 

The lake will be a central part of the renaturalised pit.

There are still areas in Germany where brown-coal open pit mining continues: one is here in the Lausitz region. When we asked the guide, whether a working mine could be visited, she directed us to the town of Welzow...

 .... where LEAG (Lausitzer Energie Kraftwerke AG) still operate a huge mine that can be visited from a viewpoint on the rim of the excavation area.

Kraftwerkskomplex "Schwarze Pumpe" 

 Reflections of a blue sky in the water puddles on the energy-laden, but barren and toxic soil. 

Lignite is mostly used for electricity generation. Despite the anticipated transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, nearly a quarter of electricity produced in Germany today still comes from lignite power stations.  

 Sydney police have nice cars...   the hybrid BMW i8 ! 

Day Trips from Sydney: Bondi to Coogee Beaches

Another rewarding easy walk leads along the southern beaches of Sydney, from Bondi beach, famous for its surfers, over Tamarama to Bronte and Clovelly beaches to Coogee in a wide open bay. 

at Bondi beach

Graffiti on the seawall at Bondi

Coastal sandstone formations

one beach after the next, each one more beautiful than the one before, on a perfect day ...

 Tamarama bay

Bronte

 Not only the beaches are photogenic attractions

Waverley Cemetery seems like a good place to rest - a perfect view for eternity or for the bodily resurrection - just in case ...

 Watching and being watched ...

 Clovelly Beach

a common Mynah

Between Bronte and Clovelly Beach we saw humpback whales passing by and frolicking in the water

 The last bay before you reach Coogee is Gordons Bay, very secluded with mesmerizing colours.

a fairy wren

Coogee Beach

Have fun! 

Day Trips from Sydney : West Head Lookout and Barrenjoey Lighthouse

Sydney, Australia, where we spent a week for our daughter's Graduation this month, has such a wide choice of beaches and bays within the city boundaries like nowhere else. In combination with the year-round near-perfect weather, it makes for an unbeatable life style - no wonder those young people don't want to come home.

We set out from Sydney with a rental car, across the iconic Harbour Bridge towards Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park to the north. The name Ku-ring-gai derives from the aboriginal tribe Kuringgai that used to live here but were eradicated when the British settlers came.

The northern most tip of the NP, Barrenjoey Head, is occupied by a lighthouse. A short steep walk leads up from the car park. 

 Barrenjoey Lighthouse with the Southern Pacific Ocean to the left and Pittwater Bay to the right. Our daughter promised this was one of only three days per year with not-so-fine weather ... 

a lonely surfer

I had brought my light 300 mm lens for birds:

a Masked Lapwing  (Vanellus miles)

a Honeyeater

Pittwater Bay

As it was very windy and started to rain, we consulted google maps and decided to drive around Pittwater Bay to West Head Lookout on the other side to see the view from the other direction.

And as luck would have it, during the half hour in the car, the winds chased away the clouds and when we got out of the car, this view surprised us:

Barrenjoey Lighthouse from West Head Lookout

West Head Lookout is an extremely beautiful spot with lots of short walks to explore the area. 

One walk leads to "Red hand cave", an aboriginal site with hand printings in ochre on the sandstone. 

a Pied Currawong

We met a Kookaburra who came ever closer and seemed to listen on to what we said for quite a while ... These birds of the kingfisher-family often sit quietly on a look-out for long stretches of time watching you and when you turn around and notice them, they seem to smile back ... it must be the impression of their lower yellowish upturned beak. 

He suddenly rushed off, when a big ugly hen-like bird dressed in German flag colours appeared, with huge, dangerous looking feet. It ran straight at me closing in below the minimum focusing distance which is 1,4 m for this 300 mm lens: an Australian Brush-Turkey! It was even more unafraid of us than the Kookaburra, and we moved slowly back to keep a distance.  

 Maybe he just wanted to talk to a German...