photography – Page 160

Clovelly Beach to Bondi

I began this popular cliff-top walk from Clovelly after taking a bus from the city (#339 ) to Clovelly beach. Walking down past a little cafe, the Seasalt Café and Kiosk, and public toilets which overlook the beach brings you to a footpath and the beach. A group of males were frolicking in the water in their budgy-smugglers, not sure who they are but they certainly had a few muscles between them 🙂

The walk from Clovelly to Bondi is about 4 km but there are quite a lot of steps and stairs on this route. Clovelly beach is a popular swimming and snorkelling spot and home to a fish called the blue grouper that is affectionately protected by the locals.

The Start

The time

Banksia

Coastal path

Where we are

Looking back to Clovelly

Looking forward to Bondi

My first stop was at Waverley cemetery which may boast the world’s most scenic location.

Bottlebrush

Stepping down by the cemetery

Bondi ahead – see the beacon?

Boardwalk at the side of the cemetery

Looks like up again…

More steps

Looking back to Clovelly and Waverley Cemetery

Then on to Bronte beach. The ocean pool is very popular with children as is the sea-themed playground.

Oushi Zokei – Twice Twist Bands

Now this would do me…

Beautiful lily found along the coast

Another seaside plant

The road leading down to Bronte beach

Surf at Bronte

We have arrived…

Still some way to go though

Baking at Bronte

The path continues across the beach to Tamarama nicknamed by locals as Glamarama because of the bronzed and buffed bodies to be found there. En route you pass crumbling apartment blocks and multimillion dollar mansions.

Continuing along the path

View back to Bronte beach

Ahead is Tamarama

Pretty wave patterns

Tamarama SLSC and Steps!

Tamarama beach

Not far now…

Just around the headland

Continuing along the very interesting sandstone cliffs sculptured by the sea and wind, you reach Mackenzies Point where there is a well-placed lookout point.

Anyone need some more exercise?

Or just chill out

…and admire the flora

before moving onwards

and upwards…

Mackenzies Point

The coastal path then continues down to the Bondi Icebergs Club, so called because members swim all year round in its saltwater pool. Climbing up the last of the steps brings you to the southern end of Bondi’s beach and a bus ride back to the city.

Another cool house

and not so cool problems

Yuck!

Lovely sculptured rock

I know how she feels!

The Icebergs pool and Bondi

Oh yes!

It’s been a long time since I could do this

The End

This is a classic Sydney beach experience. Think stunning ocean views, invigorating salt air and the opportunity to cool off in the salt water pools along the way.

If you enjoy a walk, short or long, then you may enjoy visiting Jo’s Monday Walk where you are in for a treat.

Seeking Angels

It was a Sydney blogger, Lignum Draco, who introduced me to the angels of Waverley Cemetery. And as an avid (photographic) collector of unusual and interesting headstones it was a place added to the list of “things to do in Sydney”.

And after a superb brunch with another infamous Aussie blogger, the loquacious Margaret Rose, I set off to find me some angels.

I didn’t find the ones LD depicted, but that is probably just as well because my images are nothing like the quality of his, but I did find some that I liked.

It is the final resting place for notable Australian poets Henry Lawson, Henry Kendall and Dorothea Mackellar who penned the immortal ode to Australia with the lines:

“I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!”

And I’m loving angels…

New Zealand Wrap-up #1

A new week, a new country and a totally new destination for me. For 10 days I will be in the ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’, and several smaller rounder ones. Staying near my son’s partner’s parents in the Waikato home to some of New Zealand’s most stunning landscapes. I may get to explore a little further, but I’m actually quite content to soak in the views from where we are staying and chill out with my new grandson.

Home Sweet Home

We are staying high above Ngarunui (Ocean) Beach. Located 5km west of town this wide expanse of black sand beach lends itself to lazy beach walks and picnics in the sand. It’s also a popular spot for surfing, bodyboarding and swimming.

Aqua

What transfixes me the most is the colour of the water – a cloudy, milky turquoise, possibly because of the black sand, which is the finest powder sand I have come across and glitters in the sun.

Surfing

Raglan is a small surfer town on the coast and boasts the world-famous surf break Manu Bay. The long, peeling left-hand break, said to offer one of the longest rides in the world, featured in the 1966 surfing film Endless Summer. Situated on the West Coast of New Zealand’s North Island, just a 45-minute drive west of Hamilton or a two-hour drive south of Auckland, Raglan offers stunning scenery, beautiful beaches, inspiring arts or simply a good old cup of coffee.

Surf Shop

Typical weatherboard house

Te Kopua Beach

Raglan Roast Coffee

Shops

Aqua Water in the Harbour

Golden

You may have eaten Kiwi fruit, but these are golden kiwi fruit and taste SO much better. Sweeter and without that odd chemical reaction that I and many others have when eating the green fruit. I am becoming addicted!

Christmas Trees

The pohutukawa tree (Metrosideros excelsa) with its crimson flower has become an established part of the New Zealand Christmas tradition. This iconic Kiwi Christmas tree, which often features on greeting cards and in poems and songs, has become an important symbol for New Zealanders at home and abroad. It is just about to flower so I hope to capture some good shots of trees in full bloom before I leave.

Happy Days…!

Home and Away

Palm Beach is the northernmost beach suburb of Sydney. A mere 2 hour bus ride from the CBD brings you to the location of the Aussie soap opera “Home and Away” known as Summer Bay.

I first came here 16 years ago, pretty much to the day, with my daughter and her partner when we visited Sydney for the first time in order to attend the christening of my first grandchild. It is a breathtaking location.

On my first visit we took the trail up to Barrenjoey lighthouse which was quite a clamber up the cliff. This time I looked for the road – then very rough and bumpy – now resurfaced.

Cockatoo

Before I headed up to the lighthouse I treated myself to lunch at the Boathouse, a restaurant on the edge of Barrenjoey beach on the Pittwater.

The food is expensive and not all that great, but the glass of Sauvignon Blanc and the view more than made up for that and I was celebrating my daughter’s birthday, even though, disappointingly, she wasn’t with me this time.

Walking along the shoreline was like walking in bath water, it was so warm, in contrast to the windier surf of the Pacific Ocean.

The road wound its way up the rocky outcrop to Barrenjoey lighthouse, with the views I was looking for. Unfortunately the lighthouse is under renovation so I was unable to go inside, but I felt a sense of achievement having got to the top once again!

The boathouse from Barrenjoey lighthouse

The views from the top are well worth the effort it takes to climb up there, even in extreme heat.

and on the way back to the bus stop I was incredibly lucky to see a kookaburra sitting on a pole posing for photographs.

If you enjoy a walk, short or long, then you may enjoy visiting Jo’s Monday Walk where you are in for a treat.

PhotoGRAPHy 101: Week 4

Treasure

The Botanic Gardens in Sydney are lovely with lots of native flora – but these delightful Gazanias are from Southern Africa. They are also known as the Treasure flower so I figured they were appropriate for the challenge.

Glass

This week I have had a delightful trip south to meet up with Meg from the blogosphere who very kindly took me all around the Eurobodalla region. This interesting mirror was in a perfectly preserved heritage village called Tilba in the south of New South Wales.

EDGE

Interesting edges in this art installation at the National Gallery in Canberra. The installation is called “Skyspace” and is by American artist James Turrell.

Double

Two Wallabies at Potato Point, south NSW. I would have liked to have got one with a baby in its pouch, but sadly not.

Triumph

My triumph was actually making it to Potato Point this week to meet up with a fellow blogger who I became friends with over the year. A walk on the beach revealed these beautiful shells.

Finished up in Canberra where my eldest Granddaughter lives and it has been wonderful to spend time with her (and her boyfriend). Lovely to see her in her own environment.

It has been an exciting week and so lovely to be shown places that I don’t know about by a botanical expert and a friend. Once virtual now for real. Thanks Meg for a great week and for putting up with me 🙂