Up until now, pretty well all my googlemaps posts have been related to the cool things that turn up in the photos – I’m a very visually motivated person!

However, I’m also a web developer, so it hasn’t slipped my notice that google have created a very flexible API for people to hook other information into. The results are absolutely incredible, try these three as a starting point.

• Australian Points of Interest
• The WeatherChaser
• super UK info map

If you want to keep track of these amazing developments, check out this fantastic site, googlemapsmania which catalogues many of the best of these tools – known as ‘mash-ups’.

Edit: yoicks! they’ve linked back to me. That’ll give the stats a blip!!

Over at googlesightseeing.com I think they must be getting sick of me. They posted Australia’s Parliament House, which, among others, I suggested. However, in the spotter credits they say “woowoowo (again!)”. What’s that all about?

Anyway, I’ll show them! While we’re in the Nation’s C we’ll stop by a few other sights:

• The National Museum
• The Telstra Tower on Black Mountain
• The Australian Institute of Sport

But I think the real charm of Canberra on Googlemaps is how organised it all is – everywhere you look there are beautiful circles and angles and public spaces!

I was talking to a friend today about the Queensland theme parks. The Gold Coast is the holiday destination of choice for 7 – 14 year olds for one reason… well, four reasons: Seaworld, Dreamworld, Movieworld and Wet’n’Wild.

Dreamworld is my choice for action and rides and my favourite is the Tower of Terror, casting it’s clearly visible shadow across the park. A few facts: 380 feet high, 100mph top speed (from zero in 7 seconds – 4.5G’s). Yes, it’s a buzz!

While we’re on the topic, I’ll point you to Movieworld, Wet’n’Wild, and the wonderful Seaworld.

Here are the famous Horizontal Falls in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia. I’ve never been there myself – hope to one day!

This particular spot is where the massive tides of the area get jammed through a rather small gap, creating a Horizontal Waterfall. When the tide turns, the water ‘falls’ back in the other direction.

At the time the satellite took the photo, it was looking a bit tame, things get more serious in the middle of the tidal run. Some nice photos here.

There is still relatively little high res imagery of Australia, there’s even less that covers major airports and regional airports… well, they’re hard to find. All the same, it’s a bit disappointing when the US has so many planes in flight, that I could only find this one, just off Point Cook, Victoria. We actually go for picnics right nearby – it’s a beautiful spot with dozens of species of migratory wading birds… and there’s always a plane or two coming and going.

Of course, I’m still finding interesting things on google maps, but every now and then you stumble across something that is more than just an image. You see, the high-res photos on google are (we’re told) up to 3 years old, the medium res ones are probably more… they are little snapshots of history.

On May 20, 2002, Indonesia relinquished control of East Timor, finally putting paid to years of brutal repression. It seems ages ago now, and although a few Australians remain in support roles, the horror is a fading memory. This image of palls of black smoke rising from several locations in the capital, Dili, looms up from google maps as a stark reminder of those terrible times.

Yeah, I’m still hooked on Google maps, so I’m going to risk boring you with a few more great spots to visit. First, there’s this hot air balloon over Berlin. Then there are some enormous fires in Siberia. Finally – it’s virtually impossible to spot individual people on these maps, but a crowd is pretty clear. So far, I’ve only see sporting crowds, but here is a clearly visible crowd on a Barcelona beach. Nice!

OK, next to the world’s big rivers it’s just a trickle, but it’s our trickle! The Snowy River flows from the highest mountains in the country down to the sea near Orbost.

With all the controversy about river levels and ‘environmental’ flows, it’s heartening to see that, at least when this picture was taken, it’s got a healthy flow. Judging by the colour of the water, I’m guessing it’s recently rained. In fact, the flow is so healthy that I’m sure we can see a white water rafting trip in progress! Definitely a couple of rectangular orange blobs with another one about 100m upstream. Lucky them, eh?

There’s something a bit circular about looking at an ancient relic like the Great Pyramid of Gizeh through the magic of a technology as new as this.

Yippee!!… Google Maps have gone global – there are patches of high res photography scattered all over Australia and other non-US bits! So, much as I love (and will continue to patronise) googlesightseeing, I want to start my own archive of great locations. Australia-centric, but not exclusive.

Just to kick it off, I’m starting with the main intersection on my street – because I can! Future links will be much more exciting – I promise!!