One Lovely Blog Award

Sometimes you get some good feedback on your blogsite, but more often of not it seems that most of the time you are writing these musing for no ones benefit but your own.

So imagine how surprised I was to find out that a complete stranger, Geniaus from the http://genimates.blogspot.com/ has nominated 'Thru My Lens' in the (now) prestigious One Lovely Blog Award.

The rules for accepting the award are;

* Accept the ward, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted the award and their blog link.  

* Pass the award on to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. 

* Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award. 

Now unfortunately I don't subscribe to 15 blogs, so I'll be honest & only nominate the ones I do visit & enjoy. They are;

http://davidkusumoto.blogspot.com/ - Hows It Going To End, David Kusumoto

http://grapegoddess.blogspot.com/ - Sonoma Harvest, Lynda

http://thehandofhavoc.blogspot.com/ - The Hand Of Havoc, Nathan Pitt 

http://wheremountainsmeetthesea.blogspot.com/ - Where The Mountains Meet The Sea,

Doin' Lunch

When did lunch time become so complicated in our busy, fast paced modern lives?


These days lunch times seem to be a period when it has to filled with some kind activity, such as power walking, bike riding, checking emails, updating Facebook, surfing the net ... whew, the list just goes on. Even when do get around to 'doing' lunch, it seems we have to do it with someone else, where we can unload the burdens of our private lives and our frustrations of work upon some other hapless soul, while gorging on some overprice takeaway trash.


We seem to fill this midday void with anything rather than just getting some quiet contemplation and a chance to unwind, to restore our restless soul.


Over the past few weeks I have been lucky enough to be having my meal break in the Maitland area and once again I decided to take advantage of the wonderful Walka Water Works picnic grounds and a secluded spot at Melville Ford crossing on the Hunter River. This may sound strange, but thanks to shift work I actually have my lunch between 9 - 10am and so, without sounding selfish, it does mean that my lunch is usually taken when there aren't a lot of people around to disturb my bit of downtime during this magic time of the day.


During my lunch lately at Walka Water Works I have been visited by a very inquisitive Magpie who seems to taken quite a shine to my lunchtime meals, coming down to visit as soon as I pull up and then waits for me to give him a few nuts (is that healthy for birds? ... whatever), after that he then just takes off. This regular occurrence has taken place over the past few months and even though I don't visit that area every day (it was over a week between visits this time), or at the same time, my new found lunch mate flies down for his visit no matter what. Not only do I have my Magpie mate, there are also the cows lowing in the paddocks, a flock of quarrelsome Cockatoos and a large mob of Kangaroos that regularly graze in the area, making my lunch breaks something special.

Sure beats sitting in a sterile McDonalds fighting the cappuccino sipping pensioners for the last soggy Newcastle Herald!    

When it's a ton in the sun, working ain't much fun

"Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; 

to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language"

It is quite apparent that Henry James, who is attributed to the above quote and one of the leading lights in19th century literary realism, never spent any of his summers in the Pokolbin vineyards during an Australian summer. I'm sure if he had, I bet he would not be so bloody fond of summer afternoons!

Once again I was tasked to work in what is generally a fairly good working outdoor environment, plenty of exercise, excellent photographic location and just a pleasant way to spend a working day. However, the first week of February this year saw the area gripped in an oxygen sapping heatwave with a high of around 47° Celcius (116.6° Fahrenheit) and low of 42°Celcius (107.6° Fahrenheit)   and just to add to the unpleasantness it was accompanied by a hot dry wind. Although the cab of the truck is air conditioned, the temperature in the cab remained at a blistering 37° Celcius and provided very little relief from the outside heat.

Everywhere you looked the landscape was listless, like it was conserving energy until a cooler change moved into the area to provide some relief, however that relief never came and by the end of the week the area surrounding vineyards was in heat distress, no rain came. Given the conditions, what I was trying to capture with the Sanyo S1275, were the fumes that are released by the native eucalypt trees and give the Australian bush that unique blue/purple haze. It is ironic that this beauty also provides the bush a highly flammable fuel during extreme bushfire conditions as the super heated fumes explode in the crown of the trees and is one of the reasons Australian bushfires are so destructive.

The hot, dry weather did provide the vignerons the opportunity to continue the fruit picking without being knee deep in glutinous red clay and remove the last of the grapes for harvest, hoping that it will make the 2011 Hunter vintage one of the best on record. 


While the weather was generally regarded as a boost for the harvest, the sweltering unrelenting heat must have effected tourist numbers, as visitors stayed closer to the coast to take advantage of the cooler weather and the perfect swimming conditions. And who could blame them! No such options for us tasked to work in those searing conditions, the fruit pickers still were out in the vines (albeit finished by midday), roadwork gangs were still out repairing roads, delivery drivers were still out on their rounds and of course there was Australia Post, picking up the wine, making sure it arrived secure and delivered on time, both for domestic and international consumption.


"It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the drivers and vehicles that stand along the road, each vehicle and driver at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat (even if its 47°) nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed."  apologies to Herodotus, Herodotus, trans. A.D. Godley, vol. 4, book 8, verse 98, pp. 96–97 (1924).

So when the temperature hits a ton, working in the sun ain't much fun ... believe me!              

Australia Day The Newcastle Way

Australia Day is so big in Newcastle these days is that they have to hold it over two days ... unfortunately we still only get one day off!

This Australia Day the Newcastle City Council decided to combine our national holiday with our annual Maritime Festival, which in some ways is a great idea, like having heaps more activities around the harbour, however it does rob us of another weekend festival on our wonderful harbour later during the year! 


So starting on Australia Day Eve, the harbour came alive as all types of water craft assembled on the harbour, from  the Police vessel 'Intrepid' right through to riders on stand up paddle boards to participate in the 'Harbour Lights Boat Parade'. Then at 9pm the sky erupted as a spectacular fireworks display from Dyke Point showered Newcastle with an awesome light display. One of the local cruise operators decided to offer a supper cruise for less than $100 to those who wanted to take advantage of the festivities but didn't want jostle with the crowds. I love harbour cruises, so I decided to spend the dollars and take part in a unique Australia Day experience on the harbour.


Australia Day itself was another picture perfect Newcastle Day and although some may contend that it was a bit on the warm side, long you kept hydrated, with plenty of sunscreen applied, there were plenty of activities to enjoy and participate in such as;


* Beach Volleyball,
* Ski Boat racing,
* Tugboat Ballet,
* Maritime Naval Salutes,
* Aerobatics,
* F/A-18 flyovers,
* Boat building competitions &
* various multi cultural stalls and displays that highlighted our unique Australian culture.


If you couldn't find something to please you in Newcastle on Australia Day, you are very hard to please.


Of course if you are planning to visit Newcastle for Australia Day next year, if possible utilise the wonderful public transport system, make sure you bring plenty of water, wear some very comfortable walking shoes and of course ... make sure you bring the most important item, your camera!      

Australia Day the Newcastle way is a unique way to celebrate everything that is great about our wonderful country ... see you next year!

When You Are Left Up In The Air

Ever have one of the lazy Sunday mornings, when all you want to do is just sit around recovering from an active Saturday night and your plans for the day are still up in the air?


Here in Newcastle when we are faced with this dilemma we can wander down to The Foreshore and the surrounds where you can guarantee that there will be some activity to take in and while away the hours. Lately Livesites has been very active in Newcastle and on Saturday 23 January was no different, with a free circus, Circus Avalon,  that featured high flying aerials on the trapeze, ring and tissue, acrobatics, juggling, hoopists.


Also, located in Foreshore Park was 'Kites Above Newcastle' where the sky was filled with all sorts of kites from the professional kites on display from the Australian Kite Flying Association to young kids just out for the day with the parents enjoying the thrill of their first kite adventure.


Of course once you have seen all the free entertainment, you can take a short stroll down to our two lovely ocean beaches (Newcastle & Nobbys), or to the wonderful ocean baths, where you can soak up the wonderful views, or go for a swim, or grab a coffee or ... oh, the list is endless and varied.  


So if you are ever left up in the air on what to do on the weekend, pack a picnic, pack a towel, pack some sunscreen and head on down to the Newcastle Foreshore where there is always something happening!

Oh, and also, most importantly ... remember to pack your camera 

Fading Into Night

One the magical things you can do on Newcastle Harbour is to organise a dinner cruise and take in a different perspective of our wonderful city.


I've been on a few of these type of cruises before, one on Lake Macquarie and a couple on Sydney Harbour, but what really sets Newcastle apart is the fact that it is a working harbour. While some may scoff at the idea of cruising a working port, Newcastle is spectacular as you wend you way along the row of ships loading/unloading all kinds of products and produce, although coal is still our main export.


Although I was aching to take the Canon 400D, once again I had to content myself with the Sanyo 1275s, as I correctly predicted that the boat would be pretty full of diners and the bulkiness of the Canon would restrict where I would be able to move around. So armed with the compact Sanyo 1275s we departed Newcastle Marina at Wickham just before sunset. The day itself wasn't a typical Newcastle summers day, which is normally warm and clear and usually tempered with a nor' easterly in the late afternoon, this day had a lot of cloud, with a light southerly, which was, initially, a bit disappointing..


But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining!


The cloud cover wasn't 100% and so as the sun sunk, the broken cloud reflected this wonderful event, changing from purple, to a spectacular golden glow, then finally to the most intense display of orange I have seen in quite some time. It was truly amazing and although I only had the little Sanyo, it picked up every colour nuance perfectly.  


As the sun slowly sunk away into the west taking its wonderful display with it, the harbour then took on a different perspective as the arc lighting begin to take effect and began reflecting off the water in shimmering hues of orange, red, silver and blue. As well as all this there were also the lights of Newcastle itself  including Christ Church Cathedral, Fort Scratchley, Nobbys, Queens  Wharf and the lights of the CBD all glittering like a thousand jewels on the shoreline.


So if you ever want to see a different side of my wonderful city, book a dinner cruise with either Moonshadow Cruises - http://www.moonshadow.com.au/ or Nova Cruises - http://www.novacruises.com.au/ and enjoy a wonderful night on our very special harbour.


Oh, and as I always say .... make sure you take your camera!  

Summer Holidays In Carrington

The Christmas/New Year breaks are pretty special, they give you time to relax, unwind and practice some photography in exotic locations .... such as Carrington. Now I will admit that Carrington doesn't have wonderful beaches where you can kick back to relax in the sun, neither does it have rolling acres of lush vineyards with fattened grapes that are ready for picking or wonderful cellar doors dispensing some of Australia's best vintage. Nope, Carrington is Carrington, an often much neglected industrial suburb on Newcastle Harbour, located on a narrow piece of land between the Hunter River and the shores of Throsby Creek.

When Newcastle was first settled, Carrington, as we know it  today, didn't exist. It was a low lying tidal island that was known to the local Aboriginals as "wuna - r tee" and was known to be abundant with fish, mud crabs and oysters. Originally named Chapmans Island during the convict era, then later Bullock Island, it rose from the mud from 1859 when extensive dredging commenced in Newcastle Harbour to help alleviate flooding (probably following the 1857 floods) with the spoil spread over the tidal flats gradually raising the island above the tidal influence. Then during the 1860's Bullock Island became a ballast dumping ground for the visiting coal ships and as the demand for coal continued to grow, more expedient methods were sought on the loading of the colliers with Mr. E O Moriarty, the Chief Engineer of the NSW Steam Navigation Board, expanding Bullock Island to accommodate the growing coal trade. In 1874 Mr Moriarty commissioned the British based  Armstrong Hydraulic Machinery Factory to design  a hydraulic crane delivery system for the Bullock Island site. James Barnet was commissioned to design  the Power Station to accommodate the new fangled  equipment and so in 1878 Newcastle led Australia when the £20,000 ($16 million) Carrington Hydraulic Power Station began operations with the first load of coal dispatched using this new system on the 18th March 1878. It wasn't until 1916 -17 that electricity replaced the steam pumps and in 1964 the last of the internal machinery were removed from building for scrap. Recently the building has been purchased by the NSW State Government which intends to restore this excellent example of 19th century industrial architecture to its former glory after nearly 50 years of disgraceful neglect.   

It was also during the 1860's that families first began to settle on the former mud flats and a town quickly established itself around the growing community, so much so, that the Municipality of Carrington was proclaimed in1887, with a brand new council chambers being completed one year later in 1888. The town continued to grow with over 2,000 residents by 1900 and when BHP opened, Carrington's future seemed assured. However, the 1930's depression proved disastrous for Carrington with 58% unemployment or those lucky enough to be working were on  reduced wages, so much so that a shanty town called 'Texas'  sprung up to provide struggling families with rudimentary accommodation


Carrington survived the Great Depression and continued to grow as a tough, no nonsense, Newcastle working class suburb with its proximity to the railway, wharves and associated industries providing workers with stable employment. This is also evident in the amount of pubs in Carrington, with nearly a pub on every corner! Even with the closure of BHP in 1999 and the relocation of many supporting business, Carrington, once again proved resilient and has since then become more gentrified as young families take advantage of the towns proximity to Newcastle.


Today Carrington is still an industrial suburb, dominated by the Hunter Port Corporation, however, it is still dotted with many historic buildings that are over 100 years old, including the Hydraulic Power House, Public School, Post Office, Council Chambers, hotels and numerous private houses that give the suburb it's unique rough diamond character. 


So if you are looking for something to do during your next summer holidays, grab your camera and take a stroll back through time in Carrington.