Weekly Photo Challenge : Angles in the garden

Shane Francescut is the guest host this week. His challenge, photograph a person, or a piece of fruit, or a toy — any stationary object — and experiment by photographing it from different angles. While there is no minimum — and you’re always welcome to adapt every photo challenge to meet your needs — I challenge you to choose three of your favourite shots and post them in a gallery on your blog.

So I’m going back in the garden for my WPC inspiration this week.

Can you see Elvis

The staghorn fern loves tropical rainforest conditions and is a native of Tropical Northern Australia and many other tropical areas around the world. Platycerium is a genus of about 18 fern species in the polypod family. I also like how the fronds are shaped like deer antlers and grow at all angles from the kidney shaped shield.

Behind me I could hear a raucous racket going on in next door’s bottlebrush tree. Look what I saw.

I could only get the one shot before this Lorikeet flew away, but he is certainly at an angle to get a feed.

Weekly Photo Challenge : Dialogue

“Dialogue is an engaging conversational exchange.

When it comes to photography, dialogue can be perceived as a consensual interaction between two images.

Placed next to each other, each photograph opens up to meanings that weren’t there when viewed alone.

Each composition reveals the photographer’s specific sensitivity to certain content or visual elements.”

Hmmmm…

This is certainly a new concept in photography for me. I’m finding it rather difficult to comprehend the meaning of photographs “talking” to each other.

I thought about it as I made breakfast. I continued to mull over it as I washed the dishes and did some house work.

Then I thought of the interesting and modern architecture I had seen in New Acton, an inner city suburb we explored this week (another post about this place coming soon).

This is my interpretation of this weeks WP photo challenge.

“LIVE AND LET LIVE”

As I walked past the towering buildings I noticed the sunlight filtering through the last of the Autumn leaves. Then I noticed the sculpture of the tree trunk supporting the weight of the building. The real tree seemed to be bending and sympathising with the entrapment of the sculpture.

Around the corner another sculpture, carved from wood, hovers between the living tree and the metal sculpture.

Do you hear what they are saying?

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Then there is the more conventional interpretation of dialogue.

These two are clearly in love…

Sharing a bottle of wine on a sunny day

Of course it is also a great place for people watching…

Weekly Photo Challenge : Twist

Palm fronds

Palm fronds

 

Crunch through the leaves and watch for that vine

Jack admires the beauty of the rainforest

Track through the rain forest

Sculptured by man

 

Plants are not stationery, they are constantly growing, moving and twisting toward the light.

“When you enter a grove peopled with ancient trees, higher than the ordinary, and shutting out the sky with their thickly inter-twined branches, do not the stately shadows of the wood, the stillness of the place, and the awful gloom of this doomed cavern then strike you with the presence of a deity?”
–   Seneca  

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This week, share a photo of something that says “twist” to you. It might be that perfect ice cream cone, a yummy bit of liquorice, or something unexpected that surprised, shocked, or startled you.

Weekly Photo Challenge : Work of Art

The word and world of “Art” is huge. It can be interpreted in so many ways. Just the recognized meaning of art, as in paintings, has many different styles.

 When travelling and staying in new places for short periods of time one of the challenges is to fit in and find new friends. That is why this theme is so appropriate for me this week as I have just found a new group of friends.

New friends, notice the intense concentration.

I haven’t done any painting for a long time, I’ve occasionally sketched and been inspired to pick up the pencil again by Lisa over at “Zeebra Designs and Destinations” who challenges us to take time out for art. (Take a look at her art it is truly amazing.) But the last time I attempted painting was back in the 1990’s.

So back to the present. I love art both created and the wonderful art of nature. I try to capture nature’s art with the camera and could post many photos I have taken. But this time art has a very different meaning for me. It is connection, it is sharing, it is attempting to recreate what you are looking at and it is a new bunch of people who were strangers, but now we share a common interest and slowly get to know each other.

Jim and Jack. Jim is giving a helping hand to another new comer to the group.

Jim is our teacher and inspiration, he gives freely of his time to encourage and help. Art is his life and he has so much knowledge and patience as we all struggle to create our own works of art.

Take a look at his art here <www://facebook.com/jimcentsart>

So every Friday we will join this group to enjoy the company and the immersion into the world of our art.

I try to capture the colours of nature.

Jack and his Aboriginal themed art

From 9am to 1pm there is plenty of time to chat.

Geraldton has a special place for the senior citizens. The Queen Elizabeth II Seniors & Community Centre provides seniors activities that promote healthy ageing including a lounge, free cuppa, library, free internet access. The centre is also available to the community for hire. Citizens groups also use the centre for indoor recreation eg bowls, exercises, dances and their meetings.

In all our travels this facility would be the best we have ever come across. Every day there is a diverse number of activities to join in. Not only have we joined the art group, but Jack strums along on his ukulele with another enthusiastic group, while I attempt to keep up with a lively bunch of line dancers.

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There will hundreds of different interpretations of art this week, click here to check them out

WordPress Photo Challenge : Monument

This may not be a monument in the same category as the Taj Mahal or Eiffel Tower but it is a monument to the power of the wind and how nature can adapt and still survive.

A classic example of going with the flow.

Windswept trees of the Greenough Plains

The information about the trees

We noticed these trees as we drove to Geraldton. Greenough is only 20 minutes south of Geraldton and is a small historic settlement, so we will be coming back to explore this area after we have settled into our new home. 

In the meantime I would like to present these trees as my interpretation of this weeks WP Photo challenge

  

Weekly Photo Challenge : One : A Tribute to Matilda

Matilda has been our transport, accommodation and trusty companion  for 4 years as we travelled 70.000 kilometres around Australia. Slowly trundling up and over mountain ranges, across the outback and along the coast, coming to rest each night in iconic Aussie places. The beach with the sound of waves peeling  on the shore to lull us to sleep. Alongside mighty rivers or dry river beds. In the outback the Mitchell grass plains stretching to the horizon and at night the sky a blanket of twinkling stars. The bush and rainforest each with their distinctive smell and sounds as the birds serenade us and unseen creatures scuttle in the undergrowth.

Freedom camping right on the edge of the beach

Camping in the outback

Near the beach in the rainforest

In a field of dreams

Crossing borders

Every place different and a joy to experience.

There are memories of campgrounds. Sharing a glass of wine, swapping stories and briefly befriending a stranger during happy hour, that unique time on the road to relax and meet many other travellers.

Cooking over a camp fire, learning the art of camp oven cooking and sharing a meal with new friends.

Stop for a cold one in a country pub

Freedom camping on the banks of the Robe river

Relaxing at the end of the day

Camp fire with friends

Another day another camp fire

More new friends

Sunny days and the solar panel is out

Very relaxed

Matilda has given us the freedom of having no set timetable, no rigid plans. Being able to stop at the many freedom camping spots or parking in a back yard to couch surf in the city.

It has been a marvellous 4 years that has flown by so quickly. With thousands of photos, the memories will never fade.

Possibly the most memorable event when camping in a National Park and a cassowary came visiting, and I had my camera at the ready…

Waking to a misty morning in a freedom camp all on our own.

 

Long dusty outback roads

Fording creeks in National Parks

Camping under Boab trees

Northern Territory Boabs

Among the Mitchell grass and spinefex

Another border to cross

But now our life style is changing, we are ready for a new adventure.

We have already trialled the world of house sitting and loved the experience, it is another way of travelling. Staying in new places, meeting new people and their pets, this will keep my gypsy soul happy. Exploring an area in-depth and getting to know it like a local and sleeping in the same bed each night. No more rolling up our bed and moving on each day.

So now it is “Goodbye Matilda”, You have been number one in our life for 4 years creating so many wonderful travelling memories. I hope her new owners appreciate her as we did.

Goodbye Matilda I am going to miss you.

Just one of the many sunsets we saw

 

 

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The WP Photo Challenge this week is ONE. Matilda has been number one in our lives for 4 years. No other way could we travel on a pensioners budget and see so much of Australia. We could stay in free camping areas, cook our own meals and travel slowly savouring all the beauty that is Australia.

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A big thank you to all my regular followers and also those that drop by occasionally, I love all the likes and comments you leave and the WordPress community I am part of. I’m looking forward to 2014 and the adventures it will bring and keeping in touch with you all through the world of WP blogging.

Weekly Photo Challenge : Grand

The 45th floor of the hotel we are staying in has a roof-top balcony that looks down on the Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens and across to the harbour. A grand view. But better still it is only a 5 minute walk and we are in the Gardens, the green, living heart of the city.

The grand view. Royal Botanic Gardens, St Mary’s Cathedral and the harbour, all within walking distance.

13th June 1816 at 1 pm a gang overseer reported to Macquarie that the road was finished (the overseer and his gang of 10 men were provided with five gallons of spirits with which to celebrate the occasion) and this is traditionally observed as Foundation Day for the Botanic Garden, one of the oldest botanic gardens in the Southern Hemisphere (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew opened to public in 1841 (click here to read the fascinating history of the formation of the Royal Botanic Gardens)

What foresight and vision these early pioneers had to create this grand monument to nature and plant the trees that today spread majestically across the park.

Can you see Jack?

 

Jack hugging a tree

 

What a grand place to have on our door-step

This is a well-loved park and we saw people enjoying it in all these ways. Here is a gallery of a walk in the park.

The domain is surrounded by the hi-rise buildings of Sydney

People are walking

What is this woman doing?

Quietly reading out loud to a baby in the pram

Red hot pokers create a splash of colour

A group of mothers enjoy a get-together

I don’t think she will catch this bird

sun dappled palms

Strange fruit

This needs a closer look

Winding paths lead you on

Reading under a shady tree

A splash of red

People are running

Yoga in the park

Sturdy buttress roots

This one definitely needs a hug

A calming, refreshing place to walk

Even the birds enjoy these gardens

Another thought-provoking challenge from Cheri of the WordPress team. Very timely for me as I am in Sydney a GRAND city. Lots of grand things to choose from. I am passionately interested in gardens and all things of nature so the Royal Botanic Gardens are my choice this week. Check other entries here.

 

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge : Unexpected

I often wonder about fate and where the twisted path of life takes us. Are our thoughts, dreams and desires connected to what happens in life?

Last week I received an UNEXPECTED email that started me wondering along these lines.

Now to set the scene I will take you back to 2010 when we travelled around Australia in our faithful old camper van, Matilda. Of all the States we visited Western Australia was my favourite and I often wondered if I would ever visit it again. It is so far away, almost 4,000 kilometres from the Goldcoast to Perth. But WA lives in my memory and occasionally I would dream of revisiting it.

It is an amazing place. An immense, mostly uninhabited landscape, raw and wild the red rugged ranges pitted with deep canyons.

The road winds along the coast with the azure blue Indian Ocean beating against the shore.

I will never forget the image of the land awash with colour during spring as the wild flowers carpeted the land.

The sun setting over the ocean when the world seems to be on fire.

During the year spent travelling we couch surfed with a number of people (to see some of the places we stayed put couch surfing in the search box) and made new friends.

Now out of the blue, unexpectedly, one of the couch surf hosts has e-mailed us to see if we would be able to house sit for her from April to June 2014. She lives in Geraldton WESTERN AUSTRALIA…

Of course the answer is YES.

Now is that Fate? Did my thinking and dreaming of, one day, revisiting WA make the stars align to present this opportunity? 

We are also going to New Zealand, February and March, to visit family…

So suddenly from not really having any plans for 2014 we have the first 6 months planned.

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The “Weekly Photo Challenge” this week is UNEXPECTED. and this made me think how random and unexpected things and happenings can shape what you do and where you go.

Weekly Photo Challenge : Habit

When I am at home one of my regular habits is to walk around the garden every morning before breakfast. It is a visual treat.

I have been away for the 4 months of winter, house sitting in the warm tropical North Queensland area. (If you would like to see more of our time up north click here) Now I am home it is a pleasure to wander out into our patch of paradise each day. We have good friends stay in the house and look after the garden for us. It has been a dry and very windy winter and Rex and June have watered and nurtured the garden through this difficult season.

So come with me as I wander around…

Bromeliads and succulents love this hot dry weather

Jack created these ponds from 3 old bath tubs

 

Buddha sits and meditates

Matilda sits and relaxes in her corner wondering what the next adventure will be

 

I hope you enjoyed your wander around our garden, now it is time to go inside and have breakfast

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Michelle has invited us to show a part of our life that is a habit. It will be very interesting to see the habits of other people from around the world. Click here to explore other people’s habits.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge : Infinite

In the Australian Outback the road appears to stretch to infinity. The traffic approaches as if rising from a mirage as it floats across the endless Mitchel grass plains.

In 2012 we travelled through the outback to the Northern Territory. After years of drought two good seasons of rain had produced lush pasture, hay making was in progress, we saw the outback at its best. Now a year later it is once more in the grip of drought with no rain for almost a year since we travelled through.

The Matilda Highway

Vehicles floating towards us in a mirage

That winter we travelled to the Northern Territory to explore Kakadu National Park. Kakadu is considered a living cultural landscape. The Bininj  Mungguy Aboriginal people have lived on and cared for this country for more than 50,000 years. Their deep spiritual connection to the land dates back to  the Creation and has always been an important part of the Kakadu story.

The Aboriginals are the oldest living culture still in existence and their dream time stories say they stretch back to the beginning of creation, into the mists of infinity.

I felt privileged to have the opportunity to explore Kakadu. I felt it had an aura of the ancient Traditional Owners still lingering in the rock art and the tracks and bill-a-bongs that so many years ago the tribes had followed.  Aboriginal people were traditionally hunter-gatherers and moved regularly to   places where resources were plentiful. There were no permanent settlements, but   favoured camping areas were used for many, many generations. Among the temporary   dwellings the people used were stringy-bark and paperbark shelters near   billabongs, wet-season huts built on stilts on the floodplains, and rock   shelters in the stone country.

In the distance, looming over Kakadu, Arnhem Land is a place the present day Aboriginal calls his traditional home, a permit is needed for non-aboriginal people to visit here, it is like going back into the mists of time.

We walk along the tracks that the tribes have walked along for thousands of years

We rest near a bill-a-bong and appreciate the beauty and reflections in the fresh water

Be ever watchful as the crocodile is also a predator that has been around for thousands of years and will be waiting for the unwary

The track winds through the rocks formed when the world was young

The roots of an ancient gum tree have slowly, over many years, worked through the rock and clung to life in the surrounding rock

When the storms rage and the lightning flashes across the sky and the violent tropical rain falls the tribes can shelter under the ancient rock outcrops, safe and secure till the storm passes. Stories can be told of the culture passed down from generation to generation. Drawings immortalise the creatures the ancestors saw and hunted

The lightening man, a spirit to be feared

The rainbow serpent who created all things

Then the sun shines once more and the tribe moves on

Yes Kakadu is a very special place, a spiritual country of beauty. I feel privileged to have spent 6 days discovering it and learning more about the Traditional Owners that have lived here for so long. I hope that their culture and stories can remain into infinity and not forgotten.