A Winter's Tale

Well the last of the Australian winter spread its frosty breath across the Hunter as August gave way to September and winter drifted back into our memories for another year.

Actually there was nothing remarkable about the 2012 winter, it wasn't exceptionally cold, no unseasonable warmth, we didn't get any miserable August wind storms, neither were we slammed by continual East Coast Lows (although we did get hit by a couple of these nasty weather events)  and so winter in the Hunter just petered out to Spring. Overall, according to the Bureau of Meterology, Australia had an extremely average winter, with temperatures close to normal and rainfall just a bit below the average, like I said ... nothing remarkable. 

One thing I was able to this year is photograph more Rugby League. This was due to a change in the national competition where the local team, the Newcastle Knights, decided to enter a Reserve Grade side in the NSW Cup and so I was able to brush up my sports photography.

Personally, one of the saddest aspects of Winter 2012 is that due to a change to my work structure, I won't be spending as much time in the Hunter vineyards, so my ability to get out and photograph the continual changing scenery in and around the vineyards will be curtailed in the short term. I will still be able to visit the Polkolbin and Lovedale area, however my time will be limited to the weekends, not during the week, as I was able to do in the past. Although the disappointing, the changes at work does open up more opportunites to photograph some different aspects of the Hunter region that I may have missed out on in the past, so change may end up being a good thing!  

So as winter slipped away into Spring the changing seasons has already bought the warmer weather and so it won't be long till we are complaining about the heat, the drought and uncomfortable nights lulled to sleep by the 'swish-swish' of the ceiling fans.

 Maybe we will look back on winter 2012 with a fondness in January! 

The Low Blow

When storms are approaching, most sensible people take cover, however, some less stable individuals grab their camera's and head out into the maelstrom.

Living in Newcastle we are fairly lucky with the weather,  we have a fairly temperate climate with hot summers and mild winters, all in all it is a pretty nice place to live, no cyclones, no hurricanes, no tornadoes, no ice storms, we don't even get snow!


This isn't to say that Newcastle isn't totally immune from extreme weather events and recently  we had our brush with our most unpredictable climatic visitor ... the East Coast Low (ECL). Now ECL's seem to feature on the Australian east coast around the start winter when warmer waters in the Tasman Sea (prior to this years event the sea surface temperature was around 21°) form eddy's off the coast and mix with a cold front moving through southern Australia. Although an ECL can form any time of the year, in my opinion, they seem to occur between April and late June.(more info on ECL's  can be found at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology )  

Our latest ECL occurred on the 5 - 6 June, when a low deepened off Victoria and then moved up Australian east coast bringing with it 7 mtr swell, wind speeds of 94 kp/h and 20 mm of rain. In terms of severity this storm was only a minor weather event and quickly blew itself out over two days. Which kind of makes  this latest ECL a baby when compared to the 2007 'Pasha' Storm, where Newcastle had a 14 mtr swell, wind speeds of 124 kp/h, over 200 mm of rain and caused the grounding of the 76,000 tonne bulk carrier the Pasha Bulker, or the 1974 'Sygna' Storm which had wind speeds of 165kp/h recorded at Nobbys Head! 


Since I was holidays, I like a lot of other hardy fools, braved the howling wind and driving rain to head down to Newcastle to capture what was unfolding along the coastline.


Although the conditions were nowhere near the intensity of the '07 'Pasha' storm, the conditions were spectacular, especially around the southern breakwall to Newcastle Harbour, where waves continually pounded over the walkway, quite a sight. Another rare event that was occurring  were surfers were taking advantage of perfect sets that were entering the harbour on the lee side of the breakwall and were making the most of this unique opportunity! Unfortunately  even getting as close as you could to the pounding surf the camera could not capture the awesome beauty of 7 metre white crested waves that were being continually pushed up the coastline by the intense low pressure system.


So next time you are on the Australian east coast and you hear about an East Coast Low forming in the Tasman Sea, grab the camera, clear the memory card, charge the batteries, prepare the wet weather gear and head out Although you will be cold and wet, to get this close to nature at its unpredictable fury, is truly an unforgettable event.  

      
A word of warning though, if you are silly enough to venture out in these conditions be very mindful of the extremely hazardous conditions that you are exposed to, especially near the coast       

Sharing Weekends

After our dismal summer, it has been great to actually get out and about, doing things that make the week at work bearable.


What is even better when you get to share those moments with people you love.


Saturday dawned to a fine and warm early autumn day, not scorching hot, but still warm enough to visit Nobbys Beach. It was made even better because my grand-daughter was visiting and so we headed down to make the most of the last of the sun, surf and sand. The temperature was still around 25 deg. and the water temperature was still around the low 20's, which made a late, late season swim quite pleasant experience ..... something I missed out on during our summer of sorrows.


Sunday was also a copy of Saturday, fine and mild. So it was off to a community planting day, organised by the local council to help stabilise a local creek that has recently been reclaimed from invasive non native plants. So for two hours, we dug, planted, mulched and watered new plants to help our local environment and our local community.


After our free breakfast, it was then off to Kurri Kurri and to wander around the 9th Annual Nostalgia Festival. Rock 'n' Roll music, classic cars, Rock 'n' Roll music, hot rods, Rock 'n' Roll music, market stalls, Rock 'n' Roll music ... all combined to make the day a wonderful adventure, a real step back in time to the 50's and 60's era ... oh and did I mention the Rock 'n' Roll music?

Sometimes it is great to get some 'me' time on the weekends, however it is better when you can share your weekends with family, community .... and Rock 'n' Roll music.   

 

Wet Days & Wine

Ahhh, the vineyards of Polkolbin in the spring time can be quite picturesque with lush verdant vines thriving in the warm Australian sunshine. 


 .... What !!!

Well normally this would be the case, however springtime in Australia, especially in New South Wales, can be extremely temperamental, with wild swings in temperature and weather conditions, especially in the current La Nina conditions. And believe me this week certainly proved the point as to the changability of our weather. 


As the week started out it was hot and humid and quite uncomfortable. However, by Wednesday morning the heavens had opened up over the Hunter and dropped over 80 millimetres, which is over 3 inches in old speak, of much welcomed rain over the district. So while our summer is just around the corner, a cold snap such as the one we are experiencing at the moment, can have you wondering why you packed away your winter weight jumper and wet weather gear so early, brrrr

Although the dams can always use a much needed top up, working in the constant precipitation is not much fun and dodging the constant deluges can try the patience of a saint ... or an Australia Post transport driver. 


As Charles Dudley Warner famously said, although mistakenly attributed to Mark Twain,  "everyone complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it" 


However, I just think I'll just let Enya take us out with -


It's In The Rain


Every time the rain comes down,
close my eyes and listen.
I can hear the lonesome sound
of the sky as it cries.

Listen to the rain...
Here it comes again...
Hear it in the rain...

Feel the touch of tears that fall,
they won't fall forever.
In the way the day will flow,
all things come, all things go.

Listen to the rain...
(the rain...)
Here it comes again...
(a-gain...)
Hear it in the rain...
(the rain...)

Late at night I drift away
I can hear you calling,
and my name is in the rain,
leaves on trees whispering,
deep blue sea's mysteries.

Even when this moment ends,
can't let go this feeling.
Everything will come again
in the sound, falling down,
of the sky as it cries.
Hear my name in the rain.

'In The Rain' lyrics Roma Ryan courtesy 2005 EMI Music Publishing Ltd - www.enya.com

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!  

A Mighty Fine Vintage

Robyn Drayton Wines 

I was lucky enough to spend another week in the Hunter Valley wineries picking truckloads of our beautiful produce for delivery just in time for the festive season.and summer holidays. Of course every time I visit the wineries I always pack my Sanyo S1275 camera, my camera of choice when on the road.

Lindemans Wines

Now I have been doing this work on and off now, depending on the rosters, for a number years and I have seen the vineyards displaying every aspect of viticulture through every type of season. From the autumn hues to the starkness of winter vines, to the new growth in spring and to the picking of the harvest in late summer. I have also witnessed the vagaries of the Australian weather, from dams that have run dry in drought and where the only moisture comes from the sweat of the farmers brow,  through to total inundation of the land, where at times the ground becomes so soaked that the ground turns to a glutinous clay bog, where fruit becomes bloated and ruined on the vine due to the inability to harvest .


Out all those visits, over all those years, I have never seen the wineries of the Hunter Valley looking so lush and green. Late spring rains have turned bare winter vines into row upon row verdant fields of what could be another stunning vintage for the Hunter Valley region.


With the fruit now set on the vines, every Hunter Valley vintner is eyeing off the long range weather forecasts to assess when will be the best time to harvest the vintage, which traditionally in the Hunter Valley  is around February/March. However, every year brings new challenges, because the grapes have to have the perfect balance between sugars and acids, it is a combination of local knowledge, science, skill and a lot of luck. Miss the harvest by a day or two and the crop for the year is ruined. This why the vintners are worried, the long range forecast is for a wet summer and for an extremely wet February, right in the middle of harvest season. If it is too wet the wineries can't use the mechanical harvesters and have to rely on skilled teams of fruit pickers to manually bring in the bulk of the harvest which increases the cost of production and reduces wineries margins. A testing time ahead for these skilled artisans of the land.


However, for the casual visitor, now is a great time to visit the wineries, to taste the special wines from the Hunter Valley, eat some of the best food from some of our top restaurants and soak up the wonderful vista of green that is laid out before you at every winery (remembering to pack your camera!). Life doesn't get much better than this!


The only people that will have a worried look on their faces will be the vintners as they ponder, the age old dilemma that faces every farmer, no matter what the crop .... when to harvest. 

Ivanhoe Estate

A week of winter wanderings at work

One of the distinct advantages of being employed as an Australia Post driver is the continual changing of the work environment. This week, whilst not typical of what I do every week, had me travelling from the Hunter Valley wineries, into Newcastles' peak hour traffic flows, to late afternoons around Raymond Terrace and over to the wonderful sunsets around east Lake Macquarie.

Of course, on these wonderful adventures, tucked safely away, but always ready, was my take anywhere friend, the Sanyo S1275.


On Monday I was taken off my shift and asked to cover a heavy truck run up to the wineries. The day itself was a cold blustery day that made any task outside totally miserable and was a day only suited for sitting in the cabin of the truck, no inspiration there I'm afraid!


On Tuesday, once again I was sent up to the wineries, only this time the weather was perfect and a great day to practice a bit of photography, so my S1275 was put to good use. However, I was fairly busy and really didn't have a lot to time to spare, so I was confined to short period of photography during my lunch break.
  
On Wednesday I was finally on my normal run which takes around much of the local area and involves a lot of driving through the afternoon traffic, which isn't much fun. However, if you push really hard, you can sometimes grab a 15 minute break at Toronto on the east side of Lake Macquarie and use the time to relax. Unfortunately due to traffic delays it meant that I didn't have any time to stop and reflect on the beauty of the area.       

On Thursday I was back out to Toronto in the afternoon, only this time I managed to work in 15 minutes of camera time and so as soon as I could I had the camera out, marvelling at the beauty of a late winters afternoon on Lake Macquarie.


On Friday I was asked to cover a shift that incorporated the Raymond Terrace area and to me this was a real bonus. I had been wanting to photograph King Street in Raymond Terrace for some time, not only for it's time capsule streetscape and 1850's feel, but it was also used as a location for the current Australian movie "Tomorrow, When The War Began". So utilising my lunch break, I was able to wander around King St and the Hunter River, photographing one of the most wonderful film locations in the Hunter Valley.


So that was a week of my winter wanderings at work ... now I can't wait for Spring! 

When The Rain Is A Pain That Can Drive You Insane

As I mentioned in my last blog 'A State Of Origin Story'  about the troubles I had when trying to photograph around the North Sydney area during a torrential downpour, well that didn't stop me from at least attempting to capture some of the essence of Australia's number one city.


My walk started around the North Sydney area and would you believe there is a James Barnett designed North Sydney Post Office, completed in 1888 at a cost of  £4,500 (that was the cost for the Post Office only, today that would be around $4million!) sitting on the corner of the Pacific Highway and Mount Street , it is now swamped by the larger office towers. Now what is also interesting is that the clock tower wasn't added until 1895, when Walter Liberty Vernon was the NSW Government Architect and so if you look closely at the clock tower you'll notice that it is not of the same design of the main building, showing a more 'baroque' architectural style, than Barnett's original 'Italianate' design. The cost of adding that clock tower was £965 (around $800,000). Also prior to 28th August 1890, North Sydney was known as St Leonards (now a suburb located further up the Pacific Highway) and so it will, or should be, celebrating 120 years of service to the good citizens of the area this year. 


The Post Office wasn't the reason for my photographic adventure, although it did it did prove to be an interesting diversion. My walk continued down to Lavender Bay, which has wonderful views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge from the west and then around to the iconic Luna Park. It was here that rain was pelting down so hard that I didn't even bother to photograph that wonderful Sydney landmark, I just ran for the relative cover of the Sydney Harbour Bridge approaches at Milsons Point.



Now if you are looking for one of the best vantage points for trying to photograph the Sydney CBD skyline or the Opera House, I would suggest there is no other better spot than just at the park located under the pylons of the bridge at Milsons Point, even during a torrential downpour, the shots are spectacular.


Unfortunately as the weather became worse, with the wind starting to blow the rain horizontal and making it even harder to do any photography without damaging my Sanyo S1275 camera, I reluctantly gave up. Also, by this stage I was utterly soaked through, especially the shoes and socks, so with discretion being the better part of valour, I headed towards drier destinations.


I will definitely be heading back to that area of Sydney, to not only to photograph some of Australia's most iconic structures, but also to check out some of the history of the area, such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

I just love it.

             

Storm On The Water

The 8th June 2007, will live long in the memory of Novacastrians, because that was the day the Pasha Bulker became grounded on Nobbys Beach in one of the worst storms to hit the region . That storm, which claimed the lives of 10 people, over a 36 hour period inundated the area with over 400 mm of rain, with recorded wind gusts of over 120kp/h and caused the worst  flooding in the area since 1971.   

So we are getting pretty used to the odd bit of temperamental weather that can be thrown our way.

The past week, while nowhere near the scale of the 2007 storm, the stormy weather has provided the keen photographer some wonderful photographic landscapes to capture.

This is a view of Nobbys Beach just as a huge rainstorm was about to hit Newcastle. The intrepid surfers were still out on the waves and the  Surf Lifesavers were still out practising in the rough, choppy swell. I don't whether they are brave, or mad ... perhaps a bit of both!  

Even with the storm clouds brewing to the west, the coal ships aren't disrupted. Although the weather looked frightening, there was surprisingly little wind and as result no swell. During extreme weather Newcastle Harbour will usually only shut when the swell makes it difficult to navigate through the channel, which isn't often.

A series of nasty thunderstorms brewed up around 4pm and continued hitting Newcastle until 10pm. The storm photographed here was taken looking west across Queens Wharf towards the Islington/Carrington area and graphically shows how hard the rain fell for those few brief moments.  

Prior to the storm cells that moved across the city in the afternoon, for a brief period the clouds concentrated the sunlight and gave Newcastle such a wonderful warm glow. This picture is looking east, back across Queens Wharf, along the The Foreshore, to the iconic Observation Tower

Although I would never classify myself as a 'stormchaser', with these series of shots, taken with the Sanyo S1275 camera, I was able to stand at the edge of some powerful weather fronts and take some wonderful photos without putting myself or my equipment at risk. 

When The Drought Breaks

Although it may be a bit premature to declare the drought broken, my trip to Tamworth (NSW) this morning was greeted by a steady soaking rain. Hopefully it is a sign that the current drought  is breaking and maybe give our farmers some hope that 2010 will be a year when the stock is fattened and the headers are are full.

But, I think I'll just let Henry Lawson put my pictures into words;  

Rain In The Mountains

The valley is full of misty cloud, 

It's tinted beauty drowning,

The Eucalypti roar aloud,

The mountain fronts are frowning.

The mist is hanging like a pall,

From many granite ledges,

And many a little waterfall,

Starts o'er the valley's edges.

The sky is of a leaden grey

Save for where the north is surly,

The driven daylight speeds away,

And the night comes o'er us early.

But, love, the rain will pass full soon,

Far sooner than my sorrow,

And in a golden afternoon,

The sun may set tomorrow.

- Henry Lawson (1889)

  

We Love A Good Southerly ... but

Summer in Newcastle can be brutal at times, such as last Friday & Saturday when the mercury topped out around 45° centigrade (around 114° f), making it hardly conducive for outdoor activities, such as photography!


However, around 6pm yesterday, a good old southerly buster blasted its way into Newcastle, dropping the temperature 15° in a manner of minutes.


Now while this relief from the blistering heat was much welcomed, it did throw the plans of the Newcastle Sundance photography group (http://www.flickr.com/groups/sundancers/) into jeopardy. We had planned to celebrate the 1st anniversary of this informal Flickr group with a sunrise photo shoot at Redhead Beach. So on Saturday night I had a last look at the weather radar, hoping to see whether our gathering was going to be greeted with clear skies to photograph a spectacular sunrise.

The prognosis didn't look good.


I woke at 4am & as predicted, even in the early morning darkness, I could see that the we would have leaden skies, however it wasn't raining, which was a bonus. So remembering back to New Years Eve, where I had a wet start to the day & the photographic opportunities I was able to use, I packed my Canon 400D & headed out to Redhead.


To say I was disappointed was an understatement, however along with around 20 other hardy photographers , we assembled at 5am, under a cloudy sky  & waited.


We waited & waited & waited. Dawn, 5:41am, nothing. Sunrise, 6:08am, nothing.


Then when all seemed lost, at 6:18am, a brief gap in the low cloud appeared & a sliver of the sun greeted us hardy souls with a glimpse of a wonderful Newcastle sunrise.


So while the southerly change was most welcomed, the cloud & showers could have wrecked our 1st anniversary meet, however, we at Newcastle Sundance accepted the uncertainty of the weather  as part of the challenge to our passion & persevered.


Actually this is now the 3rd time I've woken in the pre-dawn to photograph the sunrise & it is the third time I've had cloudy skies to contend with ....  please weather gods, give me a break!

When The Country Comes To The Coast

A severe weather phenomena swept over NSW today, bringing winds that were gusting at over 100 kph, whipping up dust clouds from central Australia & dumping around a 1,000 million of tonnes of topsoil all over the NSW coastal regions, giving the skies an eerie, almost martian orange glow.

So making sure that I didn't miss out on this unique event, I grabbed the trusty Canon 400D & headed out into the wind to photograph this rare weather event, concentrating my efforts around the Newcastle Foreshore precinct.

To be honest I have never seen anything like this before & even from Queens Wharf you couldn't see the Stockton ferry wharf, a distance of only 700 mtrs, due to the dust! The wind & lack of visibility was making life a miserable experience for anyone that was forced to work outside & away from a sheltered environment. The conditions were even bad enough to close Newcastle Port to shipping, however, our intrepid Stockton ferry kept of ploughing through the wind & the muck, thanks to its excellent radar systems & the skill of the ferry captains & crew. Takes more than a bit of wind, to to deter a tough Novocastrian!

I also went down to Nobbys Beach to check out the conditions on the coast & was met by the same terrible conditions, Nobbys was totally obscured by the dust & Fort Scratchley was only just visible

from the beach. Not a good day to be power walking along the beach front!

The whole of Newcastle was blanketed by this enormous dust storm & although the pictures do look like they were shot through a red filter, or manipulated through colour saturation, what I've downloaded is the actual view. I did sharpen & straighten a few of the shots, but basically this is what I was looking at.

Yes, today the country really did come to the coast & was driven by some of the worst weather conditions to hit Newcastle since the 2007 Pasha Bulker storm. Luckily I was there to capture the moment.