|
Dear reader, I meant to post this pre the chrimbo holiday period, but things just got in the way and before I knew it, I had a dodgy foot, a dicky back and dead internet connection. Murder could’ve ensued but I’ve managed to not turn into an axe wielding homicidal maniac with the aid of sufficient drugs and some good books. Oh, and a husband who doth wait on me hand and foot because…well… you know…I’m worth it.
0 Comments
Remember last month when I went to Goulburn Weir and took half a day to get there? Well, this week I had another crack at it by researching the directions thoroughly, making a special note to turn onto the M39 instead of staying on the M31, and ensuring I didn’t go via Yea. Look, I know what you’re thinking: “but if you’d stayed on the M31, you would’ve headed towards Sydney and Yea is south of Seymour even, so how in god’s name did you end up in Yea if you were headed north?!?!”  How's the serenity? (Nowhere near Bonnie Doon) Well, that's not strictly true:
I had another great day/evening assisting Nic Granleese at the yearly Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Architecture Awards night. This year it was held in the Melbourne Room at the Convention Centre and we had our set rigged up in the foyer. Our job is to photograph the award winners, and any other unsuspecting victims we can coerce into hamming it up for the camera.  Nic Granleese in all his bouncy glory (pic by me using Nic's gear) To see more, go to Nic's website: http://www.nicgranleese.com/projects/19-victorian-architecture-awards-dinner-2017
Had the Boys Next Door (actual children, not the band) for the weekend while their parents absconded interstate to have a good time. We took them to Scienceworks and tried not to lose them. I promise, there was no intention to sell them for scientific experiment. I thought we might get a couple of hours entertainment out of it before they got bored, but we ended up being there for almost 5 hours and the boys loved it.  What?! Wait....how can I be there...and there...and here all at the same time?!?!?! Did someone say "chocolate"? Oh well...best get in the car and drive over an hour to the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery then. This building is situated long and low on the top of a hill with a view of orchards and vines and other hills and it's all just rather marvy. Their devonshire teas are really good (fantastic scones) and the chocolate is amazing. I'd show you pictures, but I didn't take any because I was too busy feeding my face. I had the opportunity to go to Lake Fyans near the Grampians for a long weekend and it wasn't very busy which was pretty awesome. Each dawn jaunt was calm and quiet, except for the squawking of birds, the quacking of ducks, the buzzing of mosquitoes...  Panorama of Lake Fyans just after sunrise Did you know Halls Gap has a zoo? Well it does, and it's definitely worth a visit. Go now. Well, at least go when it's open. And you have a spare couple of hours. It's got about 150 different species and lots of them are free range (not the ones that will kill you..obviously) and you can hand feed some of them. I last visited Organ Pipes almost 20 years ago and was pretty keen to see if my knees could manage the trip back up what I recalled was a very steep road. Nah, just kidding. As if my knees dictate what walks I will go on. Pure laziness decides that. I just wanted to see if an escalator had been installed next to that steep road.  Oh Danny boy - the pipes, the pipes are callin'.... Yet again, the start of the year has yielded some disgustingly hot days forcing one to stay indoors as much as possible because that’s where air conditioning lives. Sometimes dawn is an okay time to be outside, before the big burny bastard in the sky has had time to fully crank up.  Chaffeys Lane trees at dawn As is my wont, I decided right after dinner to drive out to Batesford near Geelong, to photograph the sunset from Dog Rocks. Theoretically, the journey should take just over an hour. But you know how it is: traffic…roadworks…me faffing about… 85kms and one wrong turn later, I found what I was looking for: an outcropping of rocks apparently named after a bunch of wild dogs, a tree, and the sun getting ready for its final drop. With 20 minutes to spare, I parked the car, braved the paddock which may or may not have been full of snakes, found a spot, set up my gear and waited. Half an hour later, I braved the (now darkening) paddock again and headed back to the car, all the while wondering what nasties were pricking at my feet. And for the next week, I picked barley grass seed out of my runners. This is the place where I very nearly died. See that handrail towards the bottom of this picture, winding its way downwards? Well, it's there to aid people walking down all those steps. Now....imagine that many steps times about a million more steps and you're starting to get close to how many freakin' steps there actually are to get to the bottom of MacKenzie Falls.  MacKenzie Falls (aka Step Central) Lake Tyrrell in northern Victoria is one of those places that you have to make a plan to see. Whilst it’s off a main highway and easy enough to get to, the closest decent sized town is Swan Hill, a mere 75kms away.  Clouds gathering at Lake Tyrrell The following morning I headed out to Point Danger for the sunrise. It was cloudy and chilly and a light mist was hanging about, so I wasn’t expecting there to be much to photograph. And there wasn’t, although it did clear up enough to get a couple of pictures once the sun had cleared the horizon. Shortly after, the clouds gathered again and it started to rain properly so I went off in search of breakfast.  Worth getting up early for? Nah, not really! I took myself on a road trip to South Australia via Cape Bridgewater, because I’d always wanted to have a look at the petrified forest there. But first, a visit to Erskine Falls just outside of Lorne.  Erskine Falls, Lorne Because I'm clearly a few kangaroos short in the top paddock, I braved the cold for a jaunt out to Trentham Falls - the longest single drop waterfall in Victoria. It’s an easy walk from the car park to the viewing platforms, and getting to the base of the falls isn’t difficult. I was fairly certain I wasn’t going to pass out from the shock of actual exercise. Always a chance of hypothermia though.  Trentham Falls Lake Eppalock is another place I’d never been to up until a couple of years ago. I’d always imagined it was at least 300kms away. When I was a kid, other people always seemed to be "going camping at Eppalock". I assumed you camped in places that were very far away from where you lived. I was quite surprised when I discovered that it was just over an hour's drive from my place.  Lake Eppalock and its green goop I can’t ever remember going to Lake Eildon. I’m pretty sure I never went as a kid and I’ve certainly never been as an adult. I think Lake Mountain is probably the closest I’ve got. That’s about 70kms away, so not very close really. I decided to go when I heard there were dead trees poking out of the water (I like a dead-tree-in-lake photo). The lake didn’t disappoint, being quite low in the water department.  Sunset at Jerusalem Inlet, Lake Eildon Went to the zoo to check out the new Lemur Island where King Julien and his minion lemurs are free range but oh so aloof! Lots of them were hanging around looking like they’re doing yoga or directing traffic or just plotting the demise of the entire human race.  WTF are YOU lookin' at?!?!?  Humans on all sides...just ripe for attacking Over the weekend I attended an architectural photography workshop with Nic Granleese (www.nicgranleese.com), photographing the RMIT Design Hub in Melbourne.  Tram fight! In the wilds of Coburg lives a sustainably designed and built house, complete with a garden up top. It's a welcome change to a sea of roofs and solar panels. Created by Emilio at Nest Architects, it was built in the backyard of another property after it was subdivided. It's small, but very beautiful. More details and Nic Granleese's photos: www.nestarchitects.com.au/projects/florence-street  Greening the rooftops After finishing uni early for the day, I took myself off for a little jaunt around Port Melbourne for some fresh air and exercise, followed by potato cakes for lunch. (I walked a lot, I deserved a potato cake, shut up!)  Not much pulling up to this pier... The Celebrity Solstice was in dock at Station Pier, having a day's rest before heading out to the Pacific Ocean. The newly revamped Princes Pier, originally built around 1915 to supplement the goings on at Station Pier, was accessible again after its recent facelift. There's about 200 metres of new pier before you get to the bare pylons of the old pier. Hopefully nobody burns the new bit down.
This is Silva, an Australian Fur Seal, at Melbourne Zoo. Silva’s keepers explained that she’d lost her partner of many years and in order to combat depression, they were trying to keep her busy by teaching her to paint.  "If you'd just autograph it here, Ms Silva..." A ramble around Melbourne Zoo on a stinking hot March day, hanging out with friends, eating ice cream, bonding with a seal - what's not to like about that?  Whatchoo lookin' at? My sis and I went on a little road trip to find a place called Sea Lake. I was driving, she was navigating. It's a big lake and I'm not pointing any fingers but.... somehow we missed it (I'm sure it's her fault...somehow!)...  |
Archives
November 2019
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
