There are some wonderful colourful birds in Australia. Here are a few taken at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney last week.
A beautiful Forest Kingfisher flashed by. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Such a gorgeous colour!
and finally another picture of the cheeky female Electus Parrot (apparently the males are green).
Now hopefully that’s brightened up your day 🙂
Today (Friday 21 November) was forecast to be one of the hottest November days in Sydney. 40 degrees centigrade. Fortunately it didn’t peak that high, but at 10 am it was 38 degrees and warm enough. By 3 pm I was fed-up of being indoors so set out for the beach at Dee Why, a mere 5 minute walk away. I took a book and headed for shade near the sea swimming pool at the south end of the beach. After an hour, I decided that it was cool enough in the breeze to head off for a walk along the beach. Walking on the sand is very good for rough heels. 🙂
I kept to the edge of the surf as I headed towards the metal pole featured in my previous post, stopping occasionally to see if I could spot a surfer. At the post I headed up into the sand dunes which were apparently once 20 metres high, and found a trail that led to the lagoon, once home to black swans, but sadly no more. Within moments the roar of the ocean was left behind and only birdsong could be heard in the stillness surrounding the lagoon.
A trail leads around the lagoon to Long Reef Beach where a couple of weeks ago I watched school-kids learn to paddle surf. When the sea is cut off from the lagoon, as today, you can walk over to a boardwalk and up the Dee Why headland for 360 degree views. I opted to give this a miss and made my way back to the edge of the surf to walk back along Dee Why beach back to the Strand, letting the sea breeze caress my skin.
It did occur to me to put my sandals back on and also keep an eye out for snakes. I have no idea if there are any around here, but since Australia has the most poisonous snakes in the world it makes sense to be careful.
I’m still amazed to see so many Aussies lying out in the sun without shade. Hardly anyone wears a hat, even children! I feel like a right tourist in mine!
‘Slip, Slop, Slap! It sounds like a breeze when you say it like that Slip, Slop, Slap! In the sun we always say ‘Slip, Slop, Slap!’
Slip, Slop, Slap! Slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat Slip, Slop, Slap! You can stop skin cancer – say: ‘Slip, Slop, Slap!’
What happened?
Has the ozone hole healed up?
It certainly doesn’t feel like it.
Perhaps they need to reinstate this advert!
Arrived back to a very warm flat, but a nicely chilled New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that I had popped into the freezer before I left.
If you enjoy a walk, short or long, then you may enjoy visiting Jo’s Monday Walk where you are in for a treat.
Whilst in the city last week I couldn’t help but be attracted to the angular shapes formed by the modern high-rise buildings in the CBD. Everywhere I looked, shapes and angles and colours and reflections beckoned. Not to mention the various angles I had to use to capture these images.
(please click on an image to scroll through and enlarge)
Oh, and can you have curved angles?
As you travel around the suburbs of Sydney at this time of year your eye is drawn to the pop of colour amongst the greenery. The beautiful Jacaranda tree is full of fragrant purple flowers during the spring-time. I fell in love with this tree on first sight in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg 40 years ago.
Those who follow my blog will know that I am very keen on architecture. Old, new, entire buildings, small details – I love architectural images. So what to select from my week in Sydney? Something old? Something new? The challenge asks you consider shots that will translate well in black and white. I think these two shots do because a) the clock has such a striking pattern and b) the modern building is practically monotone anyway. See what you think.
A couple of unexpected moments occurred this week whilst out walking. Although asked to experiment with blur and movement I had no time to do that with the wren as it just literally flew in front of me – I am surprised that there isn’t more blur! As for the kookaburra he was so still that I thought at first he wasn’t real, until he turned his head to look at me. Anyway, these were such special moments I wanted to share them with you.
Today’s challenge is to look at things in a great number. As a rule I tend to avoid places where there are a lot of people, but the streets of Sydney’s CBD are pretty busy – pedestrians AND traffic! So far I haven’t been bothered by swarms of flies. The corks are working a treat 😉 So how about a swarm of little life-savers on the beach at Dee Why? Cute eh?
A year or two ago I would not have classed myself as a landscape photographer. My main focus then was close-up shots of flowers with the odd bit of architecture thrown in. But I have been seeing the beauty of landscapes from other photographers whom I admire, so now and again I’ll have ‘a go’ especially when visiting the US National Parks which is where I first started to consider landscape photography.
This is Palm Beach – the location for the Aussie soap ‘Home and Away’ and the furthest most northern beach suburb of Sydney (it takes about 2 hours to reach here by bus). To get this view I had to climb up to Barrenjoey Lighthouse, 350 feet above sea level, on a rather warm day! I hope you all appreciate the efforts I go to to get a photograph! On your left is the Pacific Ocean and Palm Beach, on the right is Pittwater and Barrenjoey beach. The ocean side was very windy, the right was like bathing in bath water – well the first few feet were anyway. I wouldn’t mind living here 🙂
Well, that’s it for another week. A very warm week here I have to say, and some of my explorations have been cut short because of the extreme heat. This poor English rose has wilted badly!
Last week we took a train from Sydney up into the Blue Mountains Region. It didn’t look very promising as we set out from Central Station amidst grey skies and high humidity. As we passed the soulless western suburbs of the city seemingly full of business parks and car lots, it struck me how awful arriving in any city by train can be. After an hour though we started climbing and then went through the more picturesque suburbs of Emu Plains, Warrimoo and Bullaburra – you have to love the Australian names. Arriving in Katoomba we found the bus to take us to Echo Point and The Three Sisters lookout. As we stepped out of the bus the cloud broke and the sun pierced it’s way through and the full weight of the heat struck us.
After admiring the views for a while I decided to head off on one of the bush trails past Kedumba View which looks out over the Kedumba River to Mount Solitary. It was too hot already to contemplate the longer, more arduous boardwalk you can access from over at Scenic World, but I think you’ll find that even on a shortish walk (40 mins one way) there is a lot to see.
I continued along the trail which would lead to another viewpoint, before retracing my steps. The views were amazing, but I was also interested in the flora alongside the trail, much if looking like the fynbos found in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.
The path became muddier and less easy to traverse with short steps along the route, but the joy of discovering different things to see every few yards made me continue until I reached Lady Darley’s Lookout.
Where I found the most wonderful views, and a group of French youngsters posing for photos on the edge of the overhang! What makes people do this? Do they not realise that one false step and they are over the edge? Looking at my options of either the ladder going down (and the steps in the distance to the next viewpoint at Katoomba Falls) and the steep staircase going up to the Cliff Drive, I decided that this would be my turnaround point. By now that sun was hot too!
and a final few photos of the flora…
The following day there were severe bush fires in the Blue Mountains – a common occurrence and one which must put fear in the hearts of those people who live in this vast ‘bushland’.
(Why are the Blue Mountains blue? The distinctive blue haze is always present. The phenomenon is known as ‘Rayleigh Scattering’ and caused by scattering rays of light coming into contact with the fine dust particles and droplets of oil dispersed from the eucalyptus trees in the valley.)
If you enjoy a walk, short or long, then you may enjoy visiting Jo’s Monday Walk where you are in for a treat.
TRAVEL WORDS 