The Road To Bourke - 23 June 2008

We left Wellington under cool & cloudy skies, although the weather bureau was saying that weather would clear by the afternoon. After refueling at Dubbo we continued our journey west towards Nyngan. The countryside really flattens out in this part of NSW & it is because of this that Nyngan became famous due to the devestating 1990 flood, in which the Bogan River inudated the town & caused a massive airlift of the towns population.

After a quick lunch, we turned north & headed the 200klm drive towards Bourke. Now this drive is a fairly remote trip, with only the 3 townships of Girilambone, Coolabah & Byrock along the way. However, each of these towns have their own beauty that is worth exploring, especially Byrock.

Byrock has been a township since around 1884, when the railway arrived enroute to Bourke (& which ironically was closed in 1990 after sustaining considerable damage during the flood) , however the Aborigines have held the rock waterholes as a special religious place for 1,000's of years prior to white mans arrival. The granite waterholes are worth visiting & are located west of the Mulga Creek Hotel.

As we stopped in Byrock, the weather finally cleared & at last the true colours of the Australian outback came to life!

Wellington Views - 21 & 22 June 2008

Well our 2008 holidays were basically confined to NSW, due to time & money constraints, so it was imperative to ensure that we value added & made the most of our time on the road this year. Wellington was the start of that trip.

One of the problems of holidaying in late June can be the weather & if travelling out through western NSW it is not uncommon for it to even snow! So it was under lowering skies that I loaded the into the Kia, the Canon EOS 400D, Jude & our clothing (not necessarily in that oder) & headed for Wellington to stay at Jenny & Dave Whitings farm located on the banks of the Macquarie River.

We arrived in early Saturday afternoon & although it was cold, it wasn't miserable. It has been 5 years since we were last in Wellington & in that time Dave & Jenny have built their beautiful new house (with in floor heating!) on their dream block of land. So the rest of the day was spent catching up with the Whiting clan & reminicing about old times ... a great day!

We awoke to a foggy start on Sunday which is usually a good portent for fine weather later on, however, sadly that was to prove not the case. So it was up up early anyway, grab the camera & go for a walk down to the river (the Macquarie River is a significant waterway in NSW which flows basically from Queensland, through the middle of NSW to Bathurst). I was able to capture some interesting shots of the river & its surrounds from that foggy morning walk. Later in the day we done a bit of sight-seeing from the Japanese Gardens, the Wellington Caves (we didn't go in this time), Mt Arthur & to Woolworths Liquorland.

Unfortunately during our brief stay at Wellington the fog early & then the low cloud made photography a real challenge, but making the best of the limited opportunties was what it was all about, not every day can we have perfect light.

Our Working Harbour

One of my favourite pastimes in Newcastle is to grab the camera, grab a few dollars (so I can buy a proper coffee) & head down to the harbour for a couple of hours.

People keep saying to me 'haven't you already enough pictures of coal ships?'

Perhaps

But everytime I go down there, I see that something different is happening. E.g. the picture taken above shows two coal ships, the one leaving is the Matsuura & the one entering is the Shin Sapporo Maru. Now I've never seen two coal ships, with the six attending tugs, using the port simutaneously. It was a real credit to all, including the two attending ships pilots*, that this was done without incident!

The picture below shows of of Newcastles fishing fleet returning back to the marina, accompanied by a flock of seagulls (birds, not the music from an obscure '80s band!) & pelicans. I watched as performance continued all the way up the harbour & until the boat berthed ... it was just amazing.

So even on what started as a misty Newcastle winters morning ended turning into a beautiful sun drenched afternoon, full of surprises. It made the 6hr walking trip around the harbour well worth the effort.

(* the pilots are from Newcastle Port Corp & they take control of all heavy shipping in & out of Newcastle Harbour.)

Junior Footy In June

Oh brrr, one of the less joyous responsibilities of being a Grandparent is having to stand around on windswept footy fields & watch our Grandkids go out to do their best for us! Don't get me wrong, I love watching the kids doing their chosen sport, but sometimes I wish that they had a penchant for ten pin bowling or darts! Oh well, perhaps I'll be able to convince them of the joys of these two sports as they get older.

These are pictures of Josh competing against the Blue Haven Raiders. Unfortunately on this occasion the boys lost, however Josh did get to score a try for his frozen Grandparents.

Better luck next time guys :)

Winter In The Hunter

Well winter has now set in & it is difficult to motivate oneself to get out with the camera to take some shots. However, last Sunday with the weather closing in, outside it was looking cold & miserable, Jude & I headed into town to catch a movie. Luckily I grabbed my trusty companion & threw her onto the back seat (my Canon camera, not Jude!). After the movie, with Jude & the camera in hand, we strolled down to Nobby's Beach to remember that it was 12mths since the Pasha Bulker came aground & became an instant tourist attraction. Although the weather wasn't brilliant, some of the shots I got that day were! As you can also see I'm still playing around with different borders using Photoshop, a time consuming task, but as I keep using the programme Iam getting better & I hope the results are starting to show

'Baby Face' - by Heidi

This is Heidi & her rendition of Baby Face. This is my 2nd attempt of using my camera phone to capture video. Hopefully with further practice my abilities with the video format with get better.

The Darling Bub Of May

Well Mick, Kate & Heidi finally returned from Queensland last week, so last weekend was the first opportunity to go down & see them. Luckily the weather, was sunny, although it was chilly out of the sun. After spending so much time in the car during her holiday with Mum & Dad, you'd think Miss Heidi would be glad to stay away from the car for a while ... but no! At the first opportunity Heidi was in the car again & off on another adventure!