Diana Australis' photos

From the middle of the KyzylQ’um Desert in Uzbekistan. A lunch stop in endless hot plains where the summer temperatures are in the 50°+ range. Today is about 36° The ancient camel trains of the Silk Route traversed these desert tracks from China to Türkiye. We were on the road today through this for 7 hours moving from Khiva to Bukhara. Have a fabulous weekend. Peace and good health to all xxx

Semi destruction at a street art decorated fence. Borneo. Have a wonderful Friday and a fabulous weekend, hopefully with sun and lovely weather, and tranquillity. I am off to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and China for a few weeks. Trying to fit in as much adventure travel as I can before my age precludes it, so going to some very remote high altitude places in mountain areas, and to the deserts in China. Thanks so much for the good wishes and lovely comments for my journey. I do not know how many more adventurous travels remain for this old girl, but I work hard at keeping fit and at keeping my adventurous spirit firing. I am lucky my husband is a similar soul. Love to you all ❤️

There is a background fence on the opposite bank of this river. Bringing in a fishing boat on the river in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak in Borneo. On a hot equatorial day. Enjoy your Friday all. Good health and a peaceful weekend to you too. Sincerely, Diana

Far North Pakistan at 4000m in Chipurson on the Afghan border, almost. Have a happy Friday. I wish we could all be optimistic about a world at peace…it is all very sad just now. Best wishes and thanks for your visit

Driving through glacial moraine at 4000m in one of the remotest parts of North Pakistan. Almost touching the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan. The landscapes are jaw droppingly gigantic, reducing one to feeling like an insignificant grain of sand. The moraine is the roadway here. Wishing you a fabulous Friday, and a wonderful weekend. Thanks for visiting…Diana oxox

From the remote Baltistan village of Machlu in the Hushe Valley on the treacherous dirt road to K2 trek start point. A very conservative area of remote Baltistan, but friendly and welcoming to polite visitors. Many Western mountaineers come up along here to climb K2 or one of the other multitude of 7-8000m plus peaks in this region. . But it is much quieter and less mountaineered than Nepal or Everest. A few die up here on the peaks each year. The stone walls are their fencing here as timber is in short supply. These are poor subsistence farming villages. Have a fab Friday and a spectacular photographic weekend!

Up in the minority ethnicity Kalash villages, right on the Afghan border, life goes on as it always has. This woman, in her daily dress..traditional Kalash, pounds the laundry in the water channel of snow melt running by her home. Although in Pakistan this is a dangerous spot. We have been a couple of times and not long after this visit, insurgents came across the Afghan border and committed acts of violence in this village. They wish the locals to convert from their traditional beliefs to hard line Islam. It is a very remote area of the world, hard to get to, but so very interesting. I am glad to live in a safe place..and to have a washing machine!

In far North Pakistan heading along the KKH towards the Passu Cones( locally known as Tupopdan) on the way to the Chinese border at Khunjerav Pass. Sending sincere wishes for a happy and peaceful Friday, and a marvellous weekend to you and your loved ones. Thank you for visiting…D

Up in the highest area of Australia, the Snowy Mountains, are huge expanses of alpine and sub alpine plains. Though the climate is harsh and the soil poor, they are populated by sheep and cattle, which eat the tussock grass. This is a huge storm about to hit the unsuspecting cattle! Sending very best to all for Friday and for a weekend which is peaceful and happy

Happy Friday! This is Gulmit in North Pakistan on the Karakoram Highway. My much loved ‘adopted’ family lives here and I love staying and spending time in this remote little village which I first visited 24 years ago. The mountains in the distance are 6-7000m and the highway climbs up to the Chinese border on the high Khunjerav Pass at 4700m, about 2 hours along from here. Hope you have a fabulous weekend. I have been busy rehearsing and performing a lot lately, so have been a bit absent,…sorry! Cheers…Diana

HFF. The park across the street from my home ( which is at the rear right side of the picture, near the tree). It is a popular and very well used recreational park. On the rear left of the photo, at the end of the street, is an enormous conservation park, with walking trails down to the Murrumbidgee River. There are lots of kangaroos and native animals in the area. I hope you really enjoy your Friday, and that the weekend brings happiness and joy. Peace and good health to all

Pakistan. In the high Pamir, surrounded by 6000m + peaks. The lake has farm fields with stone fences. The mountains cut off the light increasingly early in the afternoons as autumn progresses. I thank you for your visit. Wishing you a peaceful and pleasant Friday, and a weekend with enjoyable weather and activities.

The Commander Islands, Komandorski Islands, or Komandorskie Islands (Russian: Командо́рские острова́, Komandorskiye ostrova) are a series of islands in the Russian Far East, a part of the Aleutian Islands, located about 175 km (109 mi) east of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Bering Sea. Treeless and sparsely populated, the islands consist of Bering Island (95 km (59 mi) by 15 km (9.3 mi)) and Medny Island. Nikolskoye, a small village, is the only settlement on these islands, the others being unpopulated nature reserves. Not on any tourist agendas. We were on a 47 passenger no frills expedition cruise to tramp in wellington boots around Kamchatka and remote places searching for bears and wild things! We did see huge Kamchatka bears, rusty- coloured, trotting on deserted shores, swimming, scooping up salmon at river mouths. And walrus, sea lions, millions of different birds, eagles…whales of many kinds. And no people apart from us. A great museum of dead things…boats, ships, fishing gear, oil drums etc.. what comes in never goes out again! Have a fab Friday and an interestingly happy weekend….

The Commander Islands, Komandorski Islands, or Komandorskie Islands (Russian: Командо́рские острова́, Komandorskiye ostrova) are a series of islands in the Russian Far East, a part of the Aleutian Islands, located about 175 km (109 mi) east of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Bering Sea. Treeless and sparsely populated, the islands consist of Bering Island (95 km (59 mi) by 15 km (9.3 mi)), Medny Island (55 km (34 mi) by 5 km (3.1 mi)) and fifteen islets and rocks. The largest of the latter are Tufted Puffin Rock (Kamen Toporkov or Ostrov Toporkov), 15 ha (37 acres), and Kamen Ariy, which are between 3 km (1.9 mi) and 13 km (8.1 mi) west of the only settlement, Nikolskoye. Administratively, the Commanders compose the Aleutsky District of the Kamchatka Krai (Wikipedia) We visited this, the only small village on any of these islands, the others being unpopulated nature reserves. This building is one of a large number of nineteenth century buildings then used as fur trapping and trading enterprises, when much of the marine life was exterminated by the Russians and Americans to supply a hungry fur trade. Now just relics. Not on any tourist agendas. We were on a 47 passenger no frills expedition cruise to tramp in wellington boots around Kamchatka and remote places searching for bears and wild things! We did see huge Kamchatka bears, rusty- coloured, trotting on deserted shores, swimming, scooping up salmon at river mouths. And walrus, sea lions, millions of different birds, eagles…whales of many kinds. And no people apart from us. A great museum of dead things…boats, ships, fishing gear, oil drums etc..

The Commander Islands, Komandorski Islands, or Komandorskie Islands (Russian: Командо́рские острова́, Komandorskiye ostrova) are a series of islands in the Russian Far East, a part of the Aleutian Islands, located about 175 km (109 mi) east of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Bering Sea. Treeless and sparsely populated, the islands consist of Bering Island (95 km (59 mi) by 15 km (9.3 mi)), Medny Island (55 km (34 mi) by 5 km (3.1 mi)) and fifteen islets and rocks. The largest of the latter are Tufted Puffin Rock (Kamen Toporkov or Ostrov Toporkov), 15 ha (37 acres), and Kamen Ariy, which are between 3 km (1.9 mi) and 13 km (8.1 mi) west of the only settlement, Nikolskoye. Administratively, the Commanders compose the Aleutsky District of the Kamchatka Krai (Wikipedia) We visited this, the only small village on any of these islands, the others being unpopulated nature reserves. This building is one of a large number of nineteenth century buildings then used as fur trapping and trading enterprises, when much of the marine life was exterminated by the Russians and Americans to supply a hungry fur trade. Now just relics. Not on any tourist agendas. We were on a 47 passenger no frills expedition cruise to tramp in wellington boots around Kamchatka and remote places searching for bears and wild things! We did see huge Kamchatka bears, rusty- coloured, trotting on deserted shores, swimming, scooping up salmon at river mouths. And walrus, sea lions, millions of different birds, eagles…whales of many kinds. And no people apart from us.

HFF and apologies for absence..crazy couple of weeks. The restored Main Street of the town of Iquique situated in N Chile, bordered by the Pacific Ocean, and the Atacama Desert. Travel memories… Keep warm and hopefully dry, or cool if you live in a hot climate, like here! Best wishes.. Diana

HFF from the omnipresent stone fences of far north Pakistan in the high mountainous landscapes of rocks and jagged peaks. These are the Passu Cones, or Tupopdan to the locals. All above 6000meters in height and marking the beginning of the twisting climb along the Karakoram Highway to the high altitude border post with China. A beautiful and remote place. One of my very favourite. Wishing you a calm and satisfying Friday, and a mild and enjoyable weekend. Bisous, hugs, abraços…..and good wishes. Diana

Virtual travel, an old pic. La Habana, Cuba. In the central area of the old city, surplus old cannons are used to ‘fence’ off streets to through traffic. In the 15 and 1600s Havana was a giant commercial city, the centre of trans-shipment of Spanish wealth from its South American colonies to Spain. Thus it was a target of pirates..hence the profusions of cannons. It must have been a dangerous place to be! Hope your weekend is less dangerous and far more pleasant….and that the weather is kind to you, wherever you are