This is a view of Cradle Mountain viewed across Dove Lake in Tasmania's Central Highlands.
One of the colder parts of Oz bush-walkers (hikers) there are warned to be prepared for snow even in summer.
Snow at Christmas in Oz who would credit it? :-)
Showing posts with label Tasmania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tasmania. Show all posts
Monday, July 15, 2013
Cradle Mountain
I am feeling much better tonight so I thought I would post a piccie of the day I shot a couple of years ago.
This is a view of Cradle Mountain viewed across Dove Lake in Tasmania's Central Highlands.
One of the colder parts of Oz bush-walkers (hikers) there are warned to be prepared for snow even in summer.
Snow at Christmas in Oz who would credit it? :-)
This is a view of Cradle Mountain viewed across Dove Lake in Tasmania's Central Highlands.
One of the colder parts of Oz bush-walkers (hikers) there are warned to be prepared for snow even in summer.
Snow at Christmas in Oz who would credit it? :-)
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Abanboned fishing shack, Tasmania
The heat continues unabated down this way.
The bushfires across in Tasmania continue to rage with hundreds of houses destroyed.
Whole towns burnt to the ground.
Tonight ferries are evacuating thousands of tourists trapped by fires in the Tasman Peninsula
But, thankfully, no lives have been lost.
My piccie of the day is one I took down that way last time I was there.
The bushfires across in Tasmania continue to rage with hundreds of houses destroyed.
Whole towns burnt to the ground.
Tonight ferries are evacuating thousands of tourists trapped by fires in the Tasman Peninsula
But, thankfully, no lives have been lost.
My piccie of the day is one I took down that way last time I was there.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
A question answered
I posted a picture of a summery but deserted Tassie beach as my piccie of the day yesterday.
Which drew a question from Anne Gallagher:
“Oh wow, what a beautiful beach. If there was a beach like that here in the states it would be filled with people. Where is everyone in Tasmania?”
Well to answer your question there are some Tasmanians there down the other end about 6 of them. (if you click the piccie to embiggen it you can just about see them as dots at the far end)
Why only six on such a gorgeous beach?
There is a story to that.
Tasmania is the smallest state in Oz. By Aussie standards Tasmania is tiny at 90,768 square kilometres (34,042 square miles). Compared to Western Australia (2,645,615 square km) it is a baby.
But Tassie’s size should not be sneezed at.
To put it in perspective it is almost exactly the same size as Maine in the US.
It is about a sixth bigger than all of Scotland in the UK.
Scotland which is considered to be sparsely populated by UK standards has 5,254,800 people.
Maine by comparison is sparsely populated with 1,328,188
Tasmanians are even scarcer than Mainers. In the whole state there are only 511,718.
So there are plenty of beaches to go around in Tassie!
“Oh wow, what a beautiful beach. If there was a beach like that here in the states it would be filled with people. Where is everyone in Tasmania?”
Well to answer your question there are some Tasmanians there down the other end about 6 of them. (if you click the piccie to embiggen it you can just about see them as dots at the far end)
Why only six on such a gorgeous beach?
There is a story to that.
Tasmania is the smallest state in Oz. By Aussie standards Tasmania is tiny at 90,768 square kilometres (34,042 square miles). Compared to Western Australia (2,645,615 square km) it is a baby.
But Tassie’s size should not be sneezed at.
To put it in perspective it is almost exactly the same size as Maine in the US.
It is about a sixth bigger than all of Scotland in the UK.
Scotland which is considered to be sparsely populated by UK standards has 5,254,800 people.
Maine by comparison is sparsely populated with 1,328,188
Tasmanians are even scarcer than Mainers. In the whole state there are only 511,718.
So there are plenty of beaches to go around in Tassie!
Friday, July 27, 2012
Cradle Mountain
Friday, June 15, 2012
When one thing leads to another.
My piccie of the day has a story attached to it. If I hadn’t taken the piccie I am about to share the image I used for this week’s What is it Wednesday
would never have been.
Back in May last year Deb and I were down on holiday in Tasmania. One day we went across to Bruny Island which lies just off shore of Tasmania’s south-east coast. We drove from the northern point of the island down to the southern tip.
On the way back across the island I just had to pause to take my piccie of the day…
The strip of water reflecting the sunset colours is the D'Entrecasteaux Channel which separates Bruny Island from the Tasmanian mainland (which sounds absurd to an Aussie ear because Tasmania is an Island off the coast of the Oz mainland).
Anyway, because I stopped for the piccie we just missed the 5:30pm ferry back to the mainland.
Now after the 5:30 ferry there is only the 7:00 ferry. Miss that and you are on the island until the following morning. So we waited by the ferry terminal to make sure.
In the dark.
Now what is a boy with a near new camera going to do?
He’s going to experiment.
So I set up my camera on my tripod, pointed it at the ferry terminal and took a long exposure of 4 seconds.
“Nice”, I think, “but I could get a bit more light in the piccie.”
So I double the exposure time to 8 seconds, a long, long exposure.
This time while the shutter is open a fisherman in a powerboat shoots through the shot.
His navigation light draws an almost straight line 2/3 of the way across the frame before the shutter closes.
Bingo a WIIW puzzle is born!
would never have been.
Back in May last year Deb and I were down on holiday in Tasmania. One day we went across to Bruny Island which lies just off shore of Tasmania’s south-east coast. We drove from the northern point of the island down to the southern tip.
On the way back across the island I just had to pause to take my piccie of the day…
The strip of water reflecting the sunset colours is the D'Entrecasteaux Channel which separates Bruny Island from the Tasmanian mainland (which sounds absurd to an Aussie ear because Tasmania is an Island off the coast of the Oz mainland).
Anyway, because I stopped for the piccie we just missed the 5:30pm ferry back to the mainland.
Now after the 5:30 ferry there is only the 7:00 ferry. Miss that and you are on the island until the following morning. So we waited by the ferry terminal to make sure.
In the dark.
Now what is a boy with a near new camera going to do?
He’s going to experiment.
So I set up my camera on my tripod, pointed it at the ferry terminal and took a long exposure of 4 seconds.
“Nice”, I think, “but I could get a bit more light in the piccie.”
So I double the exposure time to 8 seconds, a long, long exposure.
This time while the shutter is open a fisherman in a powerboat shoots through the shot.
His navigation light draws an almost straight line 2/3 of the way across the frame before the shutter closes.
Bingo a WIIW puzzle is born!
Friday, June 8, 2012
Hell on Earth
A few days ago I posted about Walhalla with the throw away title of “Al goes to Heaven”.
Well tonight I am talking about another spectacularly beautiful place that was once quite simply hell for those who lived, worked and often died there.
Down in Tasmania on the spectacularly beautiful Tasman Peninsula, not far from the world famous ruins of Port Arthur lies another set of Convict Era ruins.
Approaching the ruins today, you walk through peaceful bushland, then quite suddenly you come into open ground and up on a mound to one side you see this.
Following the path around you come up onto the platform that once formed the parade ground of the settlement that was here.
It is eerily beautiful, and I had a great time catching angles:
From inside the bakehouse
Across the ground to a barrack house
And looking through the remains of the hospital you get a hint of just how spectacular the scenery around here is.
But just a short stroll up the hill beneath what was a brick built guard house is a pointer to how terrible this place was.
Because, you see, this location is known as “The Convict Coal Mines”
The prisoners here had been sent from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales to the far ends of the Earth.
For some convicts life in Oz was not in the end too bad. Once they served their sentence they really did have a chance at a new life.
But the prisoners who came here came to a real hell.
Coal mines anywhere in the 19th century were terrible. But to add to that these men were not skilled miners, but in most cases unskilled prisoners from the slums of the UK.
They slaved underground in the most abysmal conditions driven on by the usual punishments of the day, floggings and the like.
But there was an extra punishment for those who the system chose to break.
I am guilty of misdirection with my tales of treasury vaults last night.
Those of you who said a vaulted ceiling were right.
Because under that guardhouse were the punishment cells
This passage gives a hint of how dark this space was. Bear in mind that where the light is pouring in today was once below ground in a prison cellar, the ceiling at the far end has collapsed.
Here is a piccie of one of the cells. It is just long enough for me to lie down. I had to duck to get under this ceiling and the width is just a little more than my shoulders.
It only looks light because I had to use a flash to get this shot. Without it I could not see the end even with the light from the hall. The only positive thing about them is even as a ruin they are dry.
As a punishment, men were locked in these spaces for days and sometimes weeks at a time in the pitch dark. And when they were let out it was only to face another round down the mine.
Above is so beautiful today it is quite sobering to see this evidence of just what a hell this place was.
Well tonight I am talking about another spectacularly beautiful place that was once quite simply hell for those who lived, worked and often died there.
Down in Tasmania on the spectacularly beautiful Tasman Peninsula, not far from the world famous ruins of Port Arthur lies another set of Convict Era ruins.
Approaching the ruins today, you walk through peaceful bushland, then quite suddenly you come into open ground and up on a mound to one side you see this.
Following the path around you come up onto the platform that once formed the parade ground of the settlement that was here.
It is eerily beautiful, and I had a great time catching angles:
From inside the bakehouse
Across the ground to a barrack house
And looking through the remains of the hospital you get a hint of just how spectacular the scenery around here is.
But just a short stroll up the hill beneath what was a brick built guard house is a pointer to how terrible this place was.
Because, you see, this location is known as “The Convict Coal Mines”
The prisoners here had been sent from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales to the far ends of the Earth.
For some convicts life in Oz was not in the end too bad. Once they served their sentence they really did have a chance at a new life.
But the prisoners who came here came to a real hell.
Coal mines anywhere in the 19th century were terrible. But to add to that these men were not skilled miners, but in most cases unskilled prisoners from the slums of the UK.
They slaved underground in the most abysmal conditions driven on by the usual punishments of the day, floggings and the like.
But there was an extra punishment for those who the system chose to break.
I am guilty of misdirection with my tales of treasury vaults last night.
Those of you who said a vaulted ceiling were right.
Because under that guardhouse were the punishment cells
This passage gives a hint of how dark this space was. Bear in mind that where the light is pouring in today was once below ground in a prison cellar, the ceiling at the far end has collapsed.
Here is a piccie of one of the cells. It is just long enough for me to lie down. I had to duck to get under this ceiling and the width is just a little more than my shoulders.
It only looks light because I had to use a flash to get this shot. Without it I could not see the end even with the light from the hall. The only positive thing about them is even as a ruin they are dry.
As a punishment, men were locked in these spaces for days and sometimes weeks at a time in the pitch dark. And when they were let out it was only to face another round down the mine.
Above is so beautiful today it is quite sobering to see this evidence of just what a hell this place was.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Too Easy!
Well I said the last “What is it Wednesday” was too easy.
Myrna Foster hit it in one with “It looks like a rock. Is the orange part some kind of lichen?”.
And almost everyone else was pretty close to the money.
I can see I am going to have to put on my thinking cap to find a tougher one for next week!
Anyway here it is, lichen covered boulders on the coast at the Bay of Fires on the North East Coast of Tasmania.
I shot this when we were down there last year.
Once again I have been criss-crossing the city today. I am managing the roll-out of funding for a dental health program for disadvantaged people across the whole State. At the moment I am holding meetings with public and community dental health units to finalise agreements. One of the feel good moments of working for government!Tuesday, July 12, 2011
A Milestone (of Sorts)
My progress on my WIP continues to move along, although not as quickly as I would like. As you may know I have been working long hours recently tidying up to leave my previous job in good order and now trying to get on top of my new job as quickly as possible.
At the moment I am up at 5:30am and on the train as soon as I can get to the station. Then I am usually home late and hit the sack about an hour or two after I stagger in the door. This doesn't leave much time for anything during the week.
This has meant some things have had to slip a bit. First I have become really slack at responding to your comments on my blog, I promise I will fix this as soon as things ease up a bit.
Second I am not visiting as many of your blogs as I would like and even when I do I tend to lurk without commenting.
Part of my long day is a commute of over an hour at each end. This is normally a blessing in disguise because it gives me time to write. I'm still managing an hour of writing time most mornings. Unfortunately things haven't been as good in the evenings, with long days I have tended to sit vacantly staring at my PC screen through sheer exhaustion, plus if I leave late the train is usually crowded so I often don't get a seat for the first half of the trip.
Now that is my whining for tonight. Because despite all that I have still reached a milestone. I am provisionally saying I have finished writing my first draft of my WIP.
Freycinet Penninsula (Tasmania) in evening light
Why provisionally? Well I'm cheating a bit, as I have said before I am writing each stream of POV separately with the aim of weaving them together afterwards. Well I have reached the 'afterwards' bit. Most of my narrators have finished their stories. The ones that haven't are waiting impatiently on me. If the text I have slides together nicely some of my narrators will add a few comments and I'll move on to thinking about a second draft.
But, and this is a big but, I suspect that as I go I will likely have to adjust some strands to get them to even vaguely fit. And there is some background material for some characters that I don't think I will have to flesh out if the piece sits nicely as a whole.
I hope all this is making sense. Any way apart from some frustration about hours in the day it is going well.
So what about you? Have you ever had times when your life felt like it wasn't your own?
At the moment I am up at 5:30am and on the train as soon as I can get to the station. Then I am usually home late and hit the sack about an hour or two after I stagger in the door. This doesn't leave much time for anything during the week.
This has meant some things have had to slip a bit. First I have become really slack at responding to your comments on my blog, I promise I will fix this as soon as things ease up a bit.
Second I am not visiting as many of your blogs as I would like and even when I do I tend to lurk without commenting.
Part of my long day is a commute of over an hour at each end. This is normally a blessing in disguise because it gives me time to write. I'm still managing an hour of writing time most mornings. Unfortunately things haven't been as good in the evenings, with long days I have tended to sit vacantly staring at my PC screen through sheer exhaustion, plus if I leave late the train is usually crowded so I often don't get a seat for the first half of the trip.
Now that is my whining for tonight. Because despite all that I have still reached a milestone. I am provisionally saying I have finished writing my first draft of my WIP.
Relaxing Photo Break
Freycinet Penninsula (Tasmania) in evening lightWhy provisionally? Well I'm cheating a bit, as I have said before I am writing each stream of POV separately with the aim of weaving them together afterwards. Well I have reached the 'afterwards' bit. Most of my narrators have finished their stories. The ones that haven't are waiting impatiently on me. If the text I have slides together nicely some of my narrators will add a few comments and I'll move on to thinking about a second draft.
But, and this is a big but, I suspect that as I go I will likely have to adjust some strands to get them to even vaguely fit. And there is some background material for some characters that I don't think I will have to flesh out if the piece sits nicely as a whole.
I hope all this is making sense. Any way apart from some frustration about hours in the day it is going well.
So what about you? Have you ever had times when your life felt like it wasn't your own?
Gratuitous Rainforest Fungi Shot
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Two Speed Al
This is a long weekend down in Oz. We have ‘the Queen’s Birthday Holliday’ tomorrow. Normally I see myself as a republican, but I guess I’ll celebrate the good Queen’s day if it means a day off from work :-)
For those of you who don’t know, Oz is still a monarchy! We have not entirely cut our ties with the British Empire and Queen Elizabeth II is still our queen Downunder.
Now on to the two speed Al.
Work on my WIP has slowed to a crawl over the past few days.
I’ve recently been knocking over around 500 – 1,000 words a day. Over the past week this has slowed to around 200 – 300 words. Two of my characters have been fencing with each other over romance and misunderstanding. To add to the complications the sister of one has been interfering, with best intentions of course!
But it has meant that I have been delicately feeling my way rather than powering ahead. So things are slow.
However, I suspect I may have solved a bottle neck with a bit of early hours insomnia. I think I have sorted the conflict and will be able to move ahead.
Now that said I am probably a little unfair with my characters as I’ve probably been distracting myself as well. Over the past few days I have worked through not one but two rough outlines for possible future writing projects!
One is a sci-fi/fantasy piece for adults that involves time travel and is set in both the ancient world and present day.
The second is a YA piece that is also sci-fi/fantasy that take place between our world and another.
Both have taken a lot of thought, particularly the YA book because I haven’t written with a YA audience in mind before.
I like both ideas a great deal. Oh for more time to write!
I mean that pretty seriously. I have a lot of writing planned out now!
As you may know my WIP is the second in a series that goes with my first book Veiled in Shadows. At the moment I have two more planned to go with those. Each is a stand alone story (I hate “to be continued” endings) but they all feature some of the same characters and explore the events of the 20th century from different perspectives.
So if I add these projects to my “To Be Written” list I have years of writing ahead of me!
Now in the spirit of being two speed, two photos with very different themes. First Lilli, who is already very much a member of our family.
She has been with us for a week tomorrow and is a ball of energy.
Second, a rainforest stream in Mount Field National Park, Tasmania.
I saw a wild platypus for only the second ever time in my whole life just downstream of these rocks. They are common, but very shy so hard to spot. Alas my camera was safely tucked in its bag so no photo (sorry Susan). A magical experience nonetheless.
So dear friends a question, does your imagination ever get in the way of the task you have at hand?
For those of you who don’t know, Oz is still a monarchy! We have not entirely cut our ties with the British Empire and Queen Elizabeth II is still our queen Downunder.
Now on to the two speed Al.
Work on my WIP has slowed to a crawl over the past few days.
I’ve recently been knocking over around 500 – 1,000 words a day. Over the past week this has slowed to around 200 – 300 words. Two of my characters have been fencing with each other over romance and misunderstanding. To add to the complications the sister of one has been interfering, with best intentions of course!
But it has meant that I have been delicately feeling my way rather than powering ahead. So things are slow.
However, I suspect I may have solved a bottle neck with a bit of early hours insomnia. I think I have sorted the conflict and will be able to move ahead.
Now that said I am probably a little unfair with my characters as I’ve probably been distracting myself as well. Over the past few days I have worked through not one but two rough outlines for possible future writing projects!
One is a sci-fi/fantasy piece for adults that involves time travel and is set in both the ancient world and present day.
The second is a YA piece that is also sci-fi/fantasy that take place between our world and another.
Both have taken a lot of thought, particularly the YA book because I haven’t written with a YA audience in mind before.
I like both ideas a great deal. Oh for more time to write!
I mean that pretty seriously. I have a lot of writing planned out now!
As you may know my WIP is the second in a series that goes with my first book Veiled in Shadows. At the moment I have two more planned to go with those. Each is a stand alone story (I hate “to be continued” endings) but they all feature some of the same characters and explore the events of the 20th century from different perspectives.
So if I add these projects to my “To Be Written” list I have years of writing ahead of me!
Now in the spirit of being two speed, two photos with very different themes. First Lilli, who is already very much a member of our family.
She has been with us for a week tomorrow and is a ball of energy.Second, a rainforest stream in Mount Field National Park, Tasmania.
I saw a wild platypus for only the second ever time in my whole life just downstream of these rocks. They are common, but very shy so hard to spot. Alas my camera was safely tucked in its bag so no photo (sorry Susan). A magical experience nonetheless.So dear friends a question, does your imagination ever get in the way of the task you have at hand?
Thursday, June 9, 2011
A New Job!
Well it is almost a month since I had the interview, but I have landed a new job!
You may remember I had an interview with the Victorian Public Service. One of the three person interview panel asked me to apply for another job the same day (I didn’t get that one).
Then about a month ago the chairperson of the panel had her PA ask me to apply for another job for which I was interviewed.
I thought I had done a reasonable interview, but hadn’t heard any more. Then last night one of my referees phoned and told me she had been contacted for a reference.
Naturally I was pretty excited last night and today I was phoned by the chair of the third panel and offered the third job! The delay was caused by an internal applicant appealing their decision.
To say I am relieved and happy to get the new job is somewhat of an understatement. The job is very different to my current one. At the moment I am managing a couple of charity services that support homeless people in Melbourne. My current job is very coal face, very stressful and exhausting. I love community service, but I am ready for a change.
The new job is very different, it is managing a policy team for the Department of Health. The link with my experience is that part of the role is oversight of programs that provide services to homeless and other marginalised people. Effectively my ‘clients’ in the new job will be charities and other NGOs that run services similar to the ones I am running now.
I won’t be starting for at least another three weeks because I have to give notice where I am now. The hardest part will be leaving the truly dedicated team of staff and volunteers that I manage now. It will also be strange moving away from the community sector and into a government job.
I’m not kidding myself, the new job will have a steep learning curve. It is going to have its own stresses. But in comparison to the real dangers we face in this work it will seem a refreshing change.
Now just a few piccies.
The Horseshoe Falls, Mount Field National Park, Tasmania
Fungi, Mount Field National Park
Freycinet Peninsula, Tasmania in morning light
Wave washed rocks Freycinet Peninsula
You may remember I had an interview with the Victorian Public Service. One of the three person interview panel asked me to apply for another job the same day (I didn’t get that one).
Then about a month ago the chairperson of the panel had her PA ask me to apply for another job for which I was interviewed.
I thought I had done a reasonable interview, but hadn’t heard any more. Then last night one of my referees phoned and told me she had been contacted for a reference.
Naturally I was pretty excited last night and today I was phoned by the chair of the third panel and offered the third job! The delay was caused by an internal applicant appealing their decision.
To say I am relieved and happy to get the new job is somewhat of an understatement. The job is very different to my current one. At the moment I am managing a couple of charity services that support homeless people in Melbourne. My current job is very coal face, very stressful and exhausting. I love community service, but I am ready for a change.
The new job is very different, it is managing a policy team for the Department of Health. The link with my experience is that part of the role is oversight of programs that provide services to homeless and other marginalised people. Effectively my ‘clients’ in the new job will be charities and other NGOs that run services similar to the ones I am running now.
I won’t be starting for at least another three weeks because I have to give notice where I am now. The hardest part will be leaving the truly dedicated team of staff and volunteers that I manage now. It will also be strange moving away from the community sector and into a government job.
I’m not kidding myself, the new job will have a steep learning curve. It is going to have its own stresses. But in comparison to the real dangers we face in this work it will seem a refreshing change.
Now just a few piccies.
The Horseshoe Falls, Mount Field National Park, Tasmania
Fungi, Mount Field National Park
Freycinet Peninsula, Tasmania in morning light
Wave washed rocks Freycinet Peninsula
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
A Two Part Post
No I don’t mean to say that I am going to present this post in two episodes.
Instead I am going to tackle two sides of the way I am feeling at the moment.
First I am going to be a whiny, snivelly Al.
As you know I had a wonderful holiday last week (by the way in Oz lingo holiday = vacation, not just the special days in the calendar).
Many of you will also know I have been hunting for a new job. I think I am seriously approaching burnout after (too) many years in coalface crisis services like my current job managing programs for homeless people.
Normally I come back to work after a break recharged and ready to go again.
This time I am just as tired as when I went away. I am ready for a change.
So why two parts?
As part of my Al managing Al’s mind strategy I am now going to share some thoughts about what helps keep me sane. Because I am not so far gone that I can’t recognise I am truly blessed as well.
First I went away last week with the love of my life Deb.
It was (as far as I recall) our second child free break in over 25 years of marriage. Just the two of us was wonderful and a real reminder of just how special this wonderful woman is to me. I hasten to add that I don’t exactly need reminding because my Deb is always amazing!
Second despite the fact that they are frequently demanding sods, our three beautiful girls are mostly a pleasure to have around.
Then I have distractions and hobbies which I pursue with a passion.
My writing is the best part of my working day. Commuting by train as I have been now for several months means I get a stress buster on the way to work and on the way home! And as a bonus my WIP continues to look more like a novel.
Then (as you know) I spend a lot of time out and about chasing photo opportunities.
So dear friends I hope you forgive my whingeing. Things are mostly okay with Al.
I haven’t had anything like enough time to sort my piccies from Tasmania, but I will include just a few.
As I am a bit boring I will include two of subjects I have already shared.
First another shot of the pademelon I posted last week. Isn’t she cute the way she holds the leaf she is eating in her little paws?
The Russell Falls from another angle.
And finally some tiny translucent bracket fungi - 
they are about the size of a 20 cent coin (roughly the size of an American Quarter or a British 10p, and exactly the same size as a Kiwi 20c)
Instead I am going to tackle two sides of the way I am feeling at the moment.
First I am going to be a whiny, snivelly Al.
As you know I had a wonderful holiday last week (by the way in Oz lingo holiday = vacation, not just the special days in the calendar).
Many of you will also know I have been hunting for a new job. I think I am seriously approaching burnout after (too) many years in coalface crisis services like my current job managing programs for homeless people.
Normally I come back to work after a break recharged and ready to go again.
This time I am just as tired as when I went away. I am ready for a change.
So why two parts?
As part of my Al managing Al’s mind strategy I am now going to share some thoughts about what helps keep me sane. Because I am not so far gone that I can’t recognise I am truly blessed as well.
First I went away last week with the love of my life Deb.
It was (as far as I recall) our second child free break in over 25 years of marriage. Just the two of us was wonderful and a real reminder of just how special this wonderful woman is to me. I hasten to add that I don’t exactly need reminding because my Deb is always amazing!
Second despite the fact that they are frequently demanding sods, our three beautiful girls are mostly a pleasure to have around.
Then I have distractions and hobbies which I pursue with a passion.
My writing is the best part of my working day. Commuting by train as I have been now for several months means I get a stress buster on the way to work and on the way home! And as a bonus my WIP continues to look more like a novel.
Then (as you know) I spend a lot of time out and about chasing photo opportunities.
So dear friends I hope you forgive my whingeing. Things are mostly okay with Al.
I haven’t had anything like enough time to sort my piccies from Tasmania, but I will include just a few.
As I am a bit boring I will include two of subjects I have already shared.
First another shot of the pademelon I posted last week. Isn’t she cute the way she holds the leaf she is eating in her little paws?
The Russell Falls from another angle.
And finally some tiny translucent bracket fungi - 
they are about the size of a 20 cent coin (roughly the size of an American Quarter or a British 10p, and exactly the same size as a Kiwi 20c)
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Home Safe
Our Tassie vacation came to an end on Friday night.
We were back home in Melbourne in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Our last couple of days in Tassie were as packed as the first few.
Like our trip there in January I’ve come home with far too many piccies to share.
I will probably do a few posts on the trip over the next couple of weeks.
I am a little weary still from our trip and I am hitting the sack early tonight to be ready for work in the morning. So I thought I would share just a few piccies of our last couple of days there.
In Thursday we drove down through the Huon Valley. When we got to the Huon River it was amazingly still. The river’s surface was like a mirror and I was lucky enough to capture some beautiful images of reflections.
I’ve turned one of these upside down.
Can you tell which way is up?
That afternoon we caught the car ferry over to Bruny Island. This piccie shows “The Neck” which joins the north of the island to the south.
I captured this sunset from Bruny Island, 
the strip of water reflecting the sunset colours is the D'Entrecasteaux Channel which separates the island from the Tasmanian mainland. The mountains in the distance are those north of Recherche bay which featured in my post last week..
On Friday we headed to the Tasman Peninsula.
Heaps of Banksia species were flowering in the bush.
On the north side of the peninsula are the remains of the convict era coal mines. I love archaeology and ruins so I took hundreds of piccies.
These two are part of the remains of the convict barracks.
We were back home in Melbourne in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Our last couple of days in Tassie were as packed as the first few.
Like our trip there in January I’ve come home with far too many piccies to share.
I will probably do a few posts on the trip over the next couple of weeks.
I am a little weary still from our trip and I am hitting the sack early tonight to be ready for work in the morning. So I thought I would share just a few piccies of our last couple of days there.
In Thursday we drove down through the Huon Valley. When we got to the Huon River it was amazingly still. The river’s surface was like a mirror and I was lucky enough to capture some beautiful images of reflections.
I’ve turned one of these upside down.
Can you tell which way is up?
That afternoon we caught the car ferry over to Bruny Island. This piccie shows “The Neck” which joins the north of the island to the south.
I captured this sunset from Bruny Island, the strip of water reflecting the sunset colours is the D'Entrecasteaux Channel which separates the island from the Tasmanian mainland. The mountains in the distance are those north of Recherche bay which featured in my post last week..On Friday we headed to the Tasman Peninsula.
Heaps of Banksia species were flowering in the bush.
On the north side of the peninsula are the remains of the convict era coal mines. I love archaeology and ruins so I took hundreds of piccies.
These two are part of the remains of the convict barracks.
Monday, May 23, 2011
The Cold Light of Dawn
Yesterday we drove from Hobart where we have been based over to Tasmania's east coast.
Our destination: the Freycinet National Park. On the way I noticed this semi-ruined boathouse and knew I had to have a closer look.
It was very photogenic,
and in the background the mountains of the Freycinet NP.
We took our time stopping for lunch along the way and finally reached the park just before dark.
I caught a few photos, but unfortunately the weather turned nasty and we had to run for shelter. We drove to Swansea about an hour away where we checked into a chalet overnight.
This morning I was up before dawn. I drove back to Freycinet, hoping to catch the rock faces of the cliffs in the dawn light.
The difference between OK landscape shots and brilliant ones is the light. The best landscape pictures are captured in the warm light of dawn or sunset.
But it was not to be. In the ten minutes after I took this piccie of the clouds beginning to pink up more cloud had rolled in and it began to rain!
I caught some shots anyway, 
but they were taken in a cold grey light not morning warmth. 
Our destination: the Freycinet National Park. On the way I noticed this semi-ruined boathouse and knew I had to have a closer look.
It was very photogenic, and in the background the mountains of the Freycinet NP.We took our time stopping for lunch along the way and finally reached the park just before dark.
I caught a few photos, but unfortunately the weather turned nasty and we had to run for shelter. We drove to Swansea about an hour away where we checked into a chalet overnight.This morning I was up before dawn. I drove back to Freycinet, hoping to catch the rock faces of the cliffs in the dawn light.
The difference between OK landscape shots and brilliant ones is the light. The best landscape pictures are captured in the warm light of dawn or sunset.
But it was not to be. In the ten minutes after I took this piccie of the clouds beginning to pink up more cloud had rolled in and it began to rain!
I caught some shots anyway, 
but they were taken in a cold grey light not morning warmth. 
A Taster
Our past couple of days have been full to the brim.
I'm a little weary this evening, not exactly what you want from a vacation. But it is a good kind of weary. We've walked a lot and covered a lot of ground.
Yesterday we headed to the South East of Tasmania.
Just a quick couple of piccies (by the way these are well worth clicking on to get an expanded view).
Recherche Bay at around sunset.
And the Lune River half an hour before.
Can you tell which way is up?
Today we headed up into the South West Wilderness area.
The world heritage area is a mix of temperate rainforest and alpine wilderness.
I caught this cutie in the rainforest in the Mount Field National Park.
She is a Tasmanian Pademelon (Thylogale billardierii). Pademelons are a cat sized relative of Kangaroos and Wallabies. These guys were widespread on the mainland before European settlement. Unfortunately in the old days some “gentlemen” decided it would be nice to have foxes to hunt and released European red foxes in mainland Oz.
Oz + foxes = extinct pademelons
There are none of these delightful creatures left on the mainland. Fortunately there are no foxes in Tassie.
The last pics are the Russell Falls (isn't that a good name)
and High in the South Western mountains...
Lake Pedder, just before sunset and in driving rain.
I'm a little weary this evening, not exactly what you want from a vacation. But it is a good kind of weary. We've walked a lot and covered a lot of ground.
Yesterday we headed to the South East of Tasmania.
Just a quick couple of piccies (by the way these are well worth clicking on to get an expanded view).
Recherche Bay at around sunset.
And the Lune River half an hour before.
Can you tell which way is up?Today we headed up into the South West Wilderness area.
The world heritage area is a mix of temperate rainforest and alpine wilderness.
I caught this cutie in the rainforest in the Mount Field National Park.
She is a Tasmanian Pademelon (Thylogale billardierii). Pademelons are a cat sized relative of Kangaroos and Wallabies. These guys were widespread on the mainland before European settlement. Unfortunately in the old days some “gentlemen” decided it would be nice to have foxes to hunt and released European red foxes in mainland Oz.Oz + foxes = extinct pademelons
There are none of these delightful creatures left on the mainland. Fortunately there are no foxes in Tassie.
The last pics are the Russell Falls (isn't that a good name)
and High in the South Western mountains...
Lake Pedder, just before sunset and in driving rain.
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