Lego Whale (Sydney, Australia)

Using 100,000s of iconic coloured plastic blocks, artists have temporarily expanded the marine wonders of the Sydney Aquarium with life size Lego models of various familiar creatures. My favourite is a full-size breaching whale with a superb backdrop of a tiny rowboat (and its mother sailing ship) being troubled by the wild seas. The picture stands seven to eight metres in height with remarkable detail of the brewing maelstrom and the dark unyielding ocean. And to think it is all done one tiny brick at a time...

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Little Piece of Paradise (Bay)? - Antarctica

The brooding mist hides all but the very peak of this small mountain in Paradise Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctica is an unparalleled continent, a dramatic mixture of grandeur, size, wonder, hostility and utter emptiness. Not something that any other place could be described as.

The fair breeze blew,
The white foam flew,
And the forrow followed free.
We were the first to ever burst into the silent sea.
- The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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Triggerfish - Clever Camouflage or Outlandish Outfit?

Despite it exotic appearance, the clown triggerfish is actually remarkably camouflaged. Photographed in an aquarium, this tropical fish is found in the reefs of coastal warm waters between east Africa, through Asia and the Pacific islands. Scientists consider the clown triggerfish to be a master of disguise. Despite its bold colouring, the clown triggerfish has a mottled yellow and black back to blend with the coral reef sea-floor, its eyes fade into a black stripe and its large uneven white spots blend with the reef as its swims among the corals and the surface of the water when viewed from underneath.

Their teeth grow for life so a diet of hard-shelled sea creatures is essential to keep their teeth ground down. Water is squirted at the seabed to unmask shelled clams, molluscs and snails hiding under the sandy bottom. The clown triggerfish's eyes move independently allowing them to patrol for food and predators without the need to travel in groups. And finally, to continue in their celebration of vivid colour, these fine fish lay green eggs.

Sadly the clown triggerfish are endangered but are a joy to see with its wild circus outfit and vibrant approach to life.

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Half-Timbered Beauty (Schiltach, Germany)

Seemingly lost in medieval times, the central Black Forest town of Schiltach is a jewel of half-timbered houses. The triangular market square has the most impressive samples, some dating back to the early 1600s.

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Bellagio Glass Garden (Las Vegas, USA)

Over 2000 glass flowers dominate the lobby ceiling of the Italianate-styled Bellagio Hotel in the ritzy excesses of Las Vegas. In the midst of the Las Vegas strip, this towering hotel features a restaurant with eleven Picasso paintings, a permanent Cirque du Soleil show and a nightly show of dancing fountains to music all funded by slot machines and gaming tables as far as the eye can see.

Whatever your impressions of Las Vegas, it is well worth a wander in the Las Vegas lobby to marvel at the superb and colourful glass-blown ceiling (titled Fiori di Como), designed by American sculptor Dale Chihuly. And check out the neighbouring internal botanical gardens with resplendent blooms, ponds, bridges and oversized artistic insects.

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The Curiosity Shop (Jenolan Caves, Australia)

At 380 million years, Jenolan Caves are thought to be the oldest visited caves in the world. Around two hours drive west of Sydney, ten caves are open to the public. This photo shows the mesmerising beauty of the Orient Cave visited recently with my close and treasured friend Kath. The cave features three exceptionally featured rooms evocatively called the Indian, Egyptian and Persian Cambers. The formation is appropriately called The Curiosity Shop and includes helictites that are the strange formations that grow in all directions defying gravity (and scientific explanation).

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Mount Ngauruhoe (New Zealand)

Published as part of the Blog4NZ campaign (twitter #blog4nz) to highlight the travel wonders of New Zealand and to promote that New Zealand is very much open to tourism despite the recent earthquake in Christchurch.

Mt Ngauruhoe is a stunning conical and highly active volcano in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand and part of the exceptional one day Tongariro Alpine Crossing trek.

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Goldfish Frenzy (Hong Kong)

Hong Kong is famous for its remarkable array of shops, alive with the enthusiastic hurly-burly of shoppers (both locals and tourists). The area of Mong Kok is one of the busiest where vendors selling the same goods compete as neighbours on price and ability to bargain. Areas include vendors of men's goods, women's clothing and bags, flowers, birds and goldfish.

In Goldfish Street (on Tung Choi Street) over 40 aquarium shops jostle for the attention of folks who adore fish and reptiles as pets in just a couple of city blocks. Walls of plastic bags containing the treasured goldfish line the walls of each tiny store maximising the stock on display. Other shoppers marvel at the fish tanks packed tight with fish that glisten fluorescent colours or the snakes, turtles, corals or jellyfish that may take people's fancy.

The shopping is frenzied (especially in the early evening) with people carefully choosing their favourite individuals as harried staff attempt to scoop out the relevant specimens (keen fingers tracking the chosen fish in a strange marine form of Where's Wally? (or Where's Waldo?) . New shipments arrive every week to match the insatiable desire for marine pets - hardly a surprise given my unusual goldfish experience.

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Grevy Zebra (Samburu, Kenya)

At first sight, the Grevy Zebra doesn't look quite like a zebra. Its large ears look out of place and its belly looks like it has been white-washed - the narrow pyjama stripes not stretching all the way around. The Grevy Zebra is the slightly larger cousin (and largest of all species in the horse family!) of the more familiar Plains Zebra and is seriously endangered. Favouring drier climates, these Grevies were photographed in Kenya's semi-arid Samburu National Park, lying almost in the centre of the country just above the equator-hugging Mt Kenya.

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Photo of the Week: A Single Drip (Jenolan Caves, Australia)

Two hundred kilometres west of Sydney, Jenolan Caves are thought to be the oldest show caves in the world at an estimated 380 million years, well before dinosaurs roamed our planet.It is staggering to believe such beauty and richly decorated limestone chambers are built by the constant dripping of water such as the single drops landing in the spectacular Indian Chamber of the Orient Cave (undoubtedly one of the most spectacular caves in the world).

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Wellington Lights (New Zealand)

Wellington is a chirpy, cultural city full of fine cafes, small bars and lively character that tracks around its beautiful harbour. At night, the lights of New Zealand's diminutive capital city echo the lights from its buildings shrouded by a backdrop of sharply rising hills.

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Lewis Pass (New Zealand)

Lewis Pass is one of just three alpine passes on the South Island of New Zealand allowing a path through the central spine of mountains that cuts the long narrow island in two. It was named after the surveyor who discovered the path through in the 1860s, though was exploited by the native Maori for many centuries before that, especially for the exchange of the valued greenstone. It provided a vital thoroughfare for the passage of produce. Highlighted by snow-capped mountains, rugged scrubby bushes, sharp beech-forested valleys and alpine lakes, the pass contains a number of fine walks (or tramping as the Kiwis describe it).

I travelled as a guest of Qantas Airways on The Great Crusade, a promotion highlighting the best of New Zealand while following the endeavours of the Qantas Wallabies to win the Rugby World Cup. The journey can be followed via Twitter hashtag #greatcrusade.

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