We thank Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and we must thank Roger too for the weekly job to find ten bloggers for each of the ABC Team members to visit and to read their posts. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar . This week we are looking for words beginning with S.
Whenever I go to Australia I try to buy a souvenir typical of the surroundings I visit. One of them is a product made of the Banksia Nut.
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| Banksia Nut cone and flower in Queensland and avery small cone. |
The Banksia Nut is a cone of a bush. When the bushes have finished flowering the flowers look like spiky cones. After that they grow into a kind of wooden cones. There are many different kind of Banksia Nuts. In Queensland, where I found them, they were small, while in west Australia the cones are very big and therefore good enough to use them for all kind of objects.
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| Coasters made of a Western Banksia Nut |
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| Coasters, pencilbox and vase. |
I have six coasters made of Banksia Nuts , a vase and a pencil box.
The Banksia Nut is named after Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist of Captain Cook, who landed in Cooktown in 1770.
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| Bullroarer |
The bullroarer is an ancient ritual musical instrument and used as a means of communication over great distances. It dates to the Paleolithic period, being found in Ukraine dating from 17,000 BC. Anthropologist Michael Boyd, a Bullroarer expert, documents a number found in Europe, Asia, the Indian sub-continent, Africa, the Americas, and Australia.
In ancient Greece it was a sacred instrument used in the Dionysian Mysteries and is still used in rituals worldwide. You handle it by revolving it over your head. I saw it being used in one of the Crocodile Dundee movies, where it was used to call the Aborigines from the neighbourhood.
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| Didgeridoo |
Along with the didgeridoo, it is prominent technology among Australian Aborigines, used in ceremony across the continent.
Other musical instruments are the clapsticks.
The bottles with sand are filled near the beach of Queensland near Hopevale in an area called the Coloured Sands.
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| Coloured Sands |
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| Coloured Sands |
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| Coloured Sands |
28 comments:
What lovely mementos, Nicely curated, Wil
ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
What a fascinating, interesting, fun post, Wil!! And I love your photos!! Great souvenirs! Thanks so much for sharing them with us! Hope your week is off to a great start!!
lovely mementos
Such wonderful memories for you and so much great information for the rest of us. The colored sand is just amazing -- I never dreamed of that!
These souvenirs are so beautiful.
Lovely memories.
What lovely souvenirs.
Great souvenirs that tell a good story!
Very cool post. Australia is on my bucket list.
An Arkie's Musings
A most interesting post, Wil, - the musical instruments are beautiful, both in sound and construction. Lovely souvenirs.
Wonderful Souvenirs. I have not seen anything made of Banksia Nut cone and flower before.
I really like your memories and souvenirs, especially the coasters.
How fascinating that that instrument was found in Ukraine too.
What an amazing world we live in.
Very interesting souvenirs! I love the Banksia nut items - very cool & great memories of your travels!
Super Special Souvenirs!
leslie
abcw team
We usually buy some souvenir, however small, so that we have a happy memory of the place.
Interesting as always, the strange and varied items you've bought home to treasure.
Such beautiful souvenirs! It made me think of back when The Netherlands had a far flung empire -- I'll bet that many Dutch homes held similar exotic items. And probably still do.
And what an amazing header!
A great post, Wil!
http://amitaag.blogspot.in/2014/05/sepia.html
Beautiful artwork made out of these nuts ! The sand glasses I found in Egypt too, they even made me one with a cat inside (usually it's camels) and I got one from Dubai too !
Wil,
I really enjoyed reading this, loved the Digeredoo and the coloured sands in bottles.
I have some sand from The Sahara Desert in Africa. We had a trip into the desert, riding camels to see the sun set.
I would love to visit Australia, but really am not fit to do so now.
Thank you again for such a interesting post, I love all your souvenirs too,
Best wishes,
Di..xx
What beautiful and interesting souvenirs!
S is for...
These are very interesting and beautiful souvenirs! Thanks for showing them to us :)
I've always wanted a bullroarer... my sister lives in Australia now, I should bug her about it. She did bring me a boomerang once, as did my grandparents, so I have two hanging up. Your mementos are gorgeous!
The material makes beautiful objects, the coasters are so pretty.
Ann
Such lovely photos.
You have the most fascinating collection of Australian souvenirs! They all give you a true feeling of the essence of its cultural roots and geographical essence. Blessings!
Beautiful souvenirs, all new to me. I appreciate the learning. Love the banksia nut pencil box, vase and coaster.
I love the coasters made of the Banksia. They're beautiful.
Your posts are always so interesting and informative, Wil, you put the rest of us to shame!
Luv, K
We bought boomerangs for my son and son-in-law when we went to Australia, but I think they were too beautiful to be used. That is such a beautiful bullroarer.
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