Miscellaneous Pics (Page 7)

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This isn't a road sign, but may be of interest to surveyors and other road professionals. This brass plug can be found at the front of the old NSW Department of Lands building on Bridge Street in downtown Sydney. It reads: 'The top of this plug is 27 feet 3 3/4 inches above mean high tide, and 28 feet 11 1/4 inches above mean sea level.' This is the point which served as the datum for elevations all across New South Wales. This datum became defunct with the introduction of the Australian Geodetic Datum in 1966. The Department of Lands building is now home to Land and Property Information NSW, the State Government agency responsible for mapping, aerial photography and the regulation of surveying standards. Inside is an extensive shop selling all kinds of cartographic products, and is a must visit for any geography fanatic.

Here's a few for the licence plate fans. I paid my respects to those who have and are currently serving Australia in conflicts past and present by attending the daytime memorial service in Hyde Park, Sydney on Anzac Day - April 25th, 2003. Many luminaries were present, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the highest judicial office in this State. Here is Chief Justice Spigelman's licence plate, complete with a flag of similar design on the bonnet.

And this licence plate belongs to the Commander of the Australian Theatre - abbreviated to COMAST - one of the highest positions in the Australian Defence Force. The logo on the plate consists of the crests of all three branches of the military overlaid upon one another - two crossed swords for the Australian Army, a pale blue eagle with its wings spread for the Royal Australian Air Force, and a golden anchor on a blue oval shield for the Royal Australian Navy. I believe (but I might be wrong) that the two stars on the plate above the bumper bar means that the COMAST is a General. The three colours refers to each branch of the ADF - dark blue for Navy, red for Army and sky blue for Air Force.

This plate belongs to the Air Commander (Australian Threatre), ACAUST for short. This plate features the kangaroo roundel displayed on aircraft flown by the Royal Australian Air Force, and is based on the 'bullseye' roundel of Britain's Royal Air Force. The plate above the licence plate also has two stars, the same as the COMAST licence plate, but is sky blue only.

In addition to the above plates, I also saw licence plates belonging to the Governor of New South Wales, Her Excellency Dr. Marie Bashir; and to the Maritime Commander (Australian Theatre). The Governor's licence plate consisted of a metallic background carrying a gold-coloured bejewelled moulding of a crown. The Maritime Commander's plate bore the abbreviation 'MCAUST' and the crest of the Royal Australian Navy at the left. I forget what the slogan was on the MCAUST plate. Unfortunately I was not able to get pictures of these two plates as I had run out of film.

An unusual pole bearing a Give Way sign in Broken Hill, the largest town in outback New South Wales. (Thanks to Emma C. for sending me this!)

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© Bradley Torr. Last updated 27-Mar-2006.

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