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If a Sauna and tar won't cure it, nothing will

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A postcrossing post card from Jorma in Finland.

Hmmm - I'll have to give a sauna a try sometime!

Thanks Jorma!

Hangzhou Night Scenes

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A postcrossing post card from Evelyn in Hangzhou, China.

Evelyn is a student, and although it's summer vacation time, she's studying to make sure she passes her college entrance exam next year.

Evelyn hopes one day to be a director.

Best of luck, Evelyn, and thanks for the post card!

City Reach Brisbane River - 1909

City Reach Brisbane River - 1909

This postcard from Rita shows a view of the Brisbane River looking South-East from the top of Queen Street towards the Kangaroo Point cliffs, with the Customs House in the foreground.

It shows a view in the opposite direction compared to this postcard which was taken around the same time.

The Morning Mist over the Pasture

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A postcrossing post card from Catherine, in Sichuan, south-west China.

Catherine loves good food from all over the world, but she says Sichuan food is the best.

Thanks for the card, Catherine!

Devon Riviera

Devon Riviera

A postcard from my mate Simon who is currently taking a quick holiday in the UK.

Hope you're having a good time, Simon!

By the way, for you Fawlty Towers fans, the middle left picture is of Torquay. (Don't mention the war)

Thanks for the postcard, Simon!

Lisboa. Cais das Colunas (1940-1950)

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A postcard from Catarina in Lisbon.

The photo shows Lisbon in the 1940's.

Catarina is currently completing her Masters Degree Biomedical Engineering, which means she hasn't had much of a vacation this summer :)

Thanks for the card, Catarina!

Found it!

I found the image on the right here. Many of the features in it match those in the postcard which places it as I thought at Petrie Bight. The photo on the right is from Picture Queensland, the State Library of Queensland, dated 1924. Here's what the info about the picture says:

Wharves at Petrie Bight, Brisbane. The S.S. 'Royal City', 5411 gross tons and 3481 nett tons, docked at Nixon-Smiths wharves, Circular Quay, on 17 February, 1924. The S.S. 'Royal City' is discharging 19, 399 cases of kerosene, 20,000 cases of benzine and motor spirit and 650 tons of general cargo from New York and Port Arthur.

The 1924 picture has many additional buildings not in the postcard, so I'm sticking with my guess that the postcard is dated around 1910.

Unfortunately, I don't think the ships in both pictures are the same. The stern of SS Royal City in the picture on the right is quite different from the stern of the vessel in the postcard.

Even so, it's great to be able to more accurately date and place the postcard.

Town Reach Brisbane River

Town Reach Brisbane River

A postcard from Angela in England.

I am guessing, but I think this picture looks north-east towards Petrie Bight from Customs House. It's probably dated between 1900 to 1910. Unfortunately there's no stamp on the back of the postcard, and no postmark. The writer didn't date the card, so we can only guess!

At the turn of the century, Petrie Bight, downstream from the city centre was occupied by wharves.

The houses in the top right of the picture are probably on Bowen Terrace, New Farm.

For comparison, see another picture of this area around the same time.

RMS Baltic

RMS Baltic Postcard

A Postcard from Miry.

RMS Baltic is the twin funnelled ship whose stern is visibile in the picture.

At the time she was built in 1903, RMS Baltic was the largest ship in the world, with a GRT of 23,876 and a length of over 222 metres.

She was the third of a set of four ships dubbed "The Big Four", abd built for the famous White Star line by Harland and Wolff in Belfast - the same yard that made RMS Titanic.

Her maiden voyage was from Liverpool (the port seen in the picture) to New York in 1904. Her Captain, Edward J Smith was later to be the captain of RMS Titanic in 1912.

In 1909 she rescued survivors of the collision between another White Star Liner, RMS Republic, and SS Florida off the coast of Newfoundland.

In 1912 she transmitted ice warnings to RMS Titanic before that ship's fateful collision with an iceberg.

In 1929 she rescured passengers of the sinking ship, Northern Light.

She was scrapped in Osaka in 1933.

This postcard was mailed in 1928 from Liverpool to France (see reverse side for details).

So much history in one postcard. How wonderful!

The Kings Head, Bexley

Kings Head Postcard

A postcard from Miry.

My father worked as a barman at "The Kings Head" in the early sixties before we migrated from the UK to Australia.

It wasn't far from where we lived (Bexleyheath).

The owner of the pub, Frank Petty, begged Dad not to leave for Australia, but thankfully we did. Frank kindly sent us "The Times" calendar every year for many years after that. It hung proudly in our loo, showing a picture of one magnificent British garden for each month of the year.

Boulonge-Sur-Mer. - L'Embarquement pour Follkestone

Boulonge-Sur-Mer. - L'Embarquement pour Follkestone

A postcard from Miry.

Boulonge-sur-Mer is located in the North-East of France, and is that country's major fishing port.

This postcard was sent in 1906 from Wimereux to Palaiseau.

Bald Eagles

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A postcrossing post card from Teresa in Tennessee, USA.

Teresa lives in a rural farming community, not far from Reelfoot Lake, where these magnificent birds can be observed in the winter months, perching in cyprus trees, and soaring over the lake.

Thanks for the postcard, Teresa!

Ponta Da Piedade, Algarve, Portugal

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A Postcrossing post card from Carlos in Portugal.

Thanks Carlos!

Respect

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A Postcrossing post card from Svenja in Germany.

The two words on the card are "Respect" in Swahili and German. It's part of gernan campaign to encourage mutual respect. See respekt-kampagne.de for more details.

Thanks Svenja

Camping on the Earth's axis, geographical South Pole

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A Postcrossing post card from Jannett in Germany.

Janett lives in the south-east of Germany in a small village near Austria.

This is the Aurora Australis as seen in Antarctica, photographed by Robert Schwarz.

Thanks for the great postcard, Janett!

Ostseeheilbad Travemunde

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A Postcrossing post card from Katrina in Gernany.

Katrina lives in a small town near the Baltic Sea which has the honor of having the oldest lighthouse in Germany, built in 1539.

She works in a kindergarten.

Thanks, Katrina!

Luzerne

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A Postcrossing post card from Jacqueline in Lucerne in Switzerland.

Thanks, Jacqueline!

Suomen Joutsen

Suomen Joutsen

A Postcrossing postcard from Anne in Finland.

The three masted, full rigged "Suomen Joutsen" was built in 1902. She has a steel hull and plied the trade routes between ports in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Since this was before the days of the Panama Canal, this means she frequently passed through the treacherous waters of Cape Horn on the southern tip of South America.

In 1930, the Finnish Navy purchased this beautiful ship for use as a Training Vessel.

From the mid 1950's she was a stationery seamen's training vessel, but in 1991 she was purchased by the city of Turku and operates as a museum.

What a beautiful grand lady of the sea. And what a gorgeous painting by Håkan Sjöström.

Thanks Anne. You made my day!

Coolum Beach, Sunshine Coast, Australia

Coolum May 09

A post card that Lilly recieved last year from friend Sophie.

Thanks for the card, Sophie. We love Coolum too.

And thanks for letting me share it, Lilly!

I love the stamp too (click on it to see the larger image, it's worth it) - it could be anywhere on the Aussie coastline during the summer holidays at the beach. Dad's listening to the test match on the radio, the van is full of sand, and there's not enough room in the fridge because of the beer.