Photos of Melbourne trip

Once you have been away, even for a few days, there seems to be so many things to catch up on! I have only just managed to get around to working on my photographs of my visit to Melbourne - many needed major correction due to the distortion caused by the height of the buildings. I will make another post soon to show how the corrections were acchieved.
Not all my pictures are here - I still have the pictures I took on a walk along a few of the city streets to upload. However there are quite a few here that should keep you entertained for a while!
I was very lucky with the weather when in Melbourne - only on one day did it rain and that was when I spent the day wandering around the Tutankhamen exhibition (truly magnificent and something I will treasure in my mind for years) and then in the company of friends.
So let me take you to see Melbourne through "my" eyes!
AJ

Melbourne in August 2011

If you wish to see the pictures as a slide show, After clicking on the picture in this blog, click on "slideshow" above the collection of photos. When the first picture appears change the length of time from 3 seconds to 5 so that you can read the captions.
If you press F11 you will fill the screen with the pictures, removing the menu bar at the top of the screen. Remember to press F11 once the slideshow has finished to restore the menu bar. Esc. (the keyboard key top left of your keyboard) will stop the slideshow.
When you make Google your email account you too will be able to share lots of photos with your friends in this way - and have a blog page too. Google gives this all to you FREE!

An architecture day

Today was a great day for my camera – sun and a few small clouds made photography a pleasure! To begin with I started at Federation Square with its unusual shapes and angles and a real shortage of people. I understood that this area was teeming with people but I think I was either too early or else it was too early in the week (Tuesday!). Whatever the reason I was able to enjoy myself taking photos without having to wait for people to move out of my way! I did see what looked to be a group of photographers being taken around Federation Square under the wing of a “more experienced’ photographer. The shots he was encouraging his student to take were not the sorts of angles that appealed to me so I actually wonder just how experienced he actually was!

Here is one of my shots of this unusual place.

Across the street from Federation Square is a very well known railway station, Flinders Street Station. I can remember sending a postcard to my parents back in the dim dark ages when I first arrived in Australia that had a photo of Flinders Street Station on it so this was one landmark I just had to take photos of!

I crossed the river and walked along Southgate taking photos as I walked and wondering why I had taken a coat with me that morning. The day had turned out so warm that I was too hot – but it is easier to wear a coat than carry it! I had to take a photo that showed the river – the Yarra River. It is jokingly called the river that runs upside-down! The water is brown but I don’t think it is as dirty as it actually looks! The central business area is in the background.

The is a huge contrast of styles of buildings in Melbourne from ultra modern to very old. Here is one of the modern looking creations.

And this is the City Baths. I think you would agree that these are fairly historic? The power lines and rails are for the trams that run around. This building is on Swanson Street, for those of you who have visited Melbourne.

 Tomorrow I fly back to the Gold Coast where there are no buildings as old as the Flinders Street Station or the Melbourne Baths. I have really enjoyed my short visit here and I hope you have enjoyed seeing a few of the shots I have taken.

AJ

To Ancient Egypt and Back

After a typical Aussie Breakfast of toast and Vegemite I left my hotel in a taxi for the Melbourne Museum (a ten minute walk away!)

 outside the front entrance to the museum

Mary is not quite so sprightly as I am and would not have been able to walk that distance – hence the taxi. Today we were to visit the Tutenkhamun Exhibition (I had been brought up to spell the boy king’s name Tutankhamen – with an E – but it has changed, as has the pronunciation)

No photography of any kind was allowed in the Tutankhamun Exhibition but since photos of the exhibits are in many books that I already own there really was no sense in trying to sneak snap! The exhibition was in dark rooms with spotlights on the exhibits so after two hours of reading and admiring these awe inspiring treasures, my eyes were really tired. It was almost overwhelming to be able to stand so close to these wonderfully preserved and intricately detailed ancient burial items. The audience were able to walk all around each of the exhibits and see them from every angle.

After a normalizing cup of coffee we wandered into the rest of the museum. The animal section was interesting because of the huge number of stuffed animals and the way they were displayed. One exhibit of possums appealed to my “photographic design” way of looking at things!

I just HAD to take a photo of the Tasmanian Tiger – this stuffed beastie was the very last of its kind – they are now extinct. It was in captivity before it died. The tigers were destroying sheep so were exterminated. Then it was realized that the species had been wiped out completely.

Another shot I tried (all, in the museum, were taken hand held with slow shutter speed and no flash) was of a rather magnificent stain-glass window. I am not sure of the reason of its presence in the museum but it is rather lovely. The lower part of the window did not have lighting behind it so I only aimed at the top two “panels”. remember that if you wish to see any of my pictures larger, click on them. Click the "Back" arrow to come back to this article.

Museums have really changed since my earliest memories of them – they are now far more interesting places to go into. I love the way that modern technology is used to further enhance the information about the exhibits. There was even a diorama that included two robotic dinosaurs (that I have taken video of to share with the littlies back home) they look quite real!

Coming out of the museum the weather had taken a nosedive – it was raining! It had better dry up by morning – I have another day of photography ahead of me!

AJ

Into the City

My morning was spent teaching my host computer techniques – nothing new in that activity! I always seem to find someone who needs some help with one program or another. Today it was video editing. The program I had brought with me did not work on the computer so I downloaded a freebie which is actually very good for someone just starting out. For anyone wanting more control over the sound (this free program will only allow the entire sound track to be made louder or softer) this program will not do – so I hesitate to recommend it. It is much better to start with a program that will do all that is required and learn how to use it than to get a program that you will end up feeling it is inadequate.

After lunch the clothes were tucked back into the suitcase and Mary and I were taken into the city where we booked into the Mantra on Carlton. This will be our home for three nights.
I just have to share a picture of some of the old buildings - these are very expensive and very small homes.

After the mandatory cup of tea (Something I just HAVE to do when arriving at any new place!) I took my camera for a walk because across the road from the Mantra I could see a park and beyond that the Exhibition building.

The sun was still out and the clouds made the sky very pretty so this afternoon was perfect for taking a few pictures. Off I went and was soon in the park and opposite a magnificent fountain. There were lots of couples taking photos of each other with the fountain behind them but I chose to have my fountain on its own!

Walking around the fountain I noticed there was a rainbow so I turned the circular polarizing filter until it was the most colourful and this is the result.

Then I walked around to the sunny side of the building and took a shot from there.

Next door to the Exhibition building is the Melbourne Museum. This is an amazing looking building. I wandered all the way around it and took lots of photos.

After I am back on the Gold Coast and with my regular laptop, I will put the photos I have taken in Melbourne into a web album and share the link to it.

This evening I am off to have a meal at a “posh” Indonesian Restaurant. I have put on my glad rags! Wanna come?

AJ

day one in Melbourne

My first day in Melbourne is now a memory, the sun decided to stay hidden for my introduction to this southern capital but my host for this first day, Barbara, was able to take me around the bay south of the city and show off some of the beauty of that coast line. Of course I was told that on a sunny day that you could see right across to the point on the other side and how beautiful the city looked from here! The imagination had to do! On this day the city was a blurry blob of grey shapes masked by grey haze.

It is such a long time since I came to Melbourne that it is like coming to the place for the first time! Driving from the Airport past new city buildings was thrilling. The straight up and down style of functionality has been replaced by curves and dramatic extrusions and exciting architecture.

There is a dog in the home I am staying and being a doggy person it is difficult to fathom why this little schnauzer is keeping me at paws length. I just had a mini cough and the wretched thing barked wildly! I feel on the outer!

This morning the sun is making an effort to shine – there is blue sky and a few clouds that do look as if they could get thicker – but I will keep my fingers crossed! I love the sun!

No photos to share just yet but I intend to do something about that very shortly!

AJ

Back with the birds!

The Chestnut Breasted Finches are coming in again - they must be nomadic because we do not see any for months at a time. They mostly come in a group - I have never tried to count them. Maybe you will manage to from this video!
Click on the title (top left) and see the video in Youtube - the blog cuts off both sides of the video, unfortunately.

They are rather fun, don't you think!
AJ

Bollywood song and dance

As promised, here is a taste of the talent of the Bollyfunk Dance troupe from Brisbane.
Click on the title at the top left to be taken to Youtube where the video can be seen properly.
AJ

India comes to the Gold Coast

I saw a small advert in the free paper that told of Bollywood coming to Mudgeeraba (my home town) and wrote it on my calendar. The days went by and I heard nothing more until one shopping day I spotted a leaflet pinned to a notice board.

So it really was "on". I rang a couple of people to see if they would like to join me but they both had other engagements - Tuesday evenings are usually free for everyone! So Colin and I went on our own. we were not disappointed.
The evening was a travel presentation by "Mudgeeraba Cruise and Travel" from our shopping centre, Mudgeeraba Village, about a rather special trip to India they were organising. The evening began with an AV presentation of the trip that is within the "Golden Triangle" of India's most notable cities.

Following this presentation came the dancers - three very talented Bollyfunk Dancers from Brisbane under the leadership of a vibrant and ever smiling Andrea Lam. I will include a video of the dancing in a second blog.
What a wonderful display of the diversity of dance that comes out of India! We all did so enjoy it.
Then it was the audience's turn! We were encouraged to come out and learn a few moves! The magic of the dance seems to be in the hands and fingers - the pattern of the fingers and positions of the hands is wonderful to see. Although we all tried our best we still did not manage to look so elegant!
When the evening came to a close we were all presented with a bag of goodies.

Expecting to find a travel brochure inside we all peered into the bags and were astonished to find it filled with several glossy books on different regions of India as well as three DVDs. On our arrival to the evening we had been given a thick book containing wonderful images of cultural events and places in India so this bag of interesting material was in addition to that.

Now I must take a look at the video I took of the dancing and then take you to India with music!
AJ

Dolphin video

As well as taking photos of the dolphins as they were being fed by visitors to Tangalooma Resort I attempted a little bit of video using the Nikon D90.
Here is Amanda getting wet - she's the one with the long hair - she held on to her fish in an attempt to keep the dolphin with her!

Click on the title to see the video in Youtube or on the four-way arrows to see it full screen
AJ

Remembering Morton Island

Although today has been taken up with the everyday activities of home life I have just been looking back through my photographs taken over the weekend and my fascination with wildlife shows through them. Among all the scenery and sunsets there are plenty of records of the birds that have become friendly - thanks to the regular feeding of the dolphins.
Morton Island - and in particular, Tangalooma, was the site of one of the largest whaling stations in Australia. The average number of whales killed in 12 months was 600 and most of these whales were taken from the waters just in front of the resort in which we were staying. An old newsreel video recording - the sort that used to be shown before the film when us "oldies" went to the cinemas "way back when", showed how the whales actually swam and showed off around the whaling boats  - just as they do for the tourist whale watch boats. The whalers would estimate the size of the whales and pick out one that was over the set limit and harpoon it with massive explosive harpoons until they killed it. The waters were red with the blood of these huge intelligent (but in those days quite stupid and unsuspecting) whales.

I took a photo of one of the harpoons - the explosive spear head has been put back on the end (less the explosive, of course!) and the plaque gives more of the gruesome story. The number of whales is climbing back up again - the wanton killing reduced their numbers almost to the point of extinction, I wonder if later, once the numbers are considered too great, that commercial hunting will recommence.
There are no larger marsupials on Morton Island and the possums and other small mammals are quite secretive and difficult to spot so I had to content myself with the local bird life!
Kookaburras hang around the resort because there is a regular feeding time for them. As long as feed is put out at the same time every day it is quite easy to coax our native birds to come close.

I never attended the Kookaburra feeding - but I enjoyed taking a few shots of these unique Ozzies in as natural a scene as possible.
Another bird that seems to love hanging around tropical resorts on island is the Curlew. These fairly large birds with long legs have a very strange call that sound a little like a baby crying. They sound very mournful at night - a little ghostly, in fact!

I tried really hard to get close to these birds but just as I thought I could take one step closer they would strut away a few more paces! They will permit you to come close - but not THAT close! At one stage I was sneaking up on seven birds at a time but once I crouched down to take my photo I would be left with just two! This one looks quite relaxed - but it was "growling" at me!
Thanks to the regular feeding of the dolphins every evening, there is a colony of cormorants that have taken residence on the small patch of beach next to the jetty (the viewing platform is along the side of the jetty). I suspect that there are fish scraps that are missed by the dolphins and these are harvested by the cormorants ("shags" is a common name given to these birds). feeding wild dolphins has become a tourist draw card in many parts of the world, Australia has some very strict regulations regarding the feeding of them (including "no touching") and yet, in spite of the restrictions, people just love the novelty of being able to hold out a titbit and have a dolphin swim right up to them and take it from their hands. In this photo, one of the resort staff is giving a snack to one of the dolphins - its a bit like saying, "here's one for now, the next you will have to earn".

The dolphin picture was taken at night with out the use of a flash, the jetty lights gave out a barely adequate illumination for taking photos - a slow shutter speed was mandatory - so the only shots that worked were the ones where the dolphin and the people were quite still.
Finally I am showing a shot of one of those black and white cormorants at work! This next picture was taken on Sunday morning. I walked onto the jetty (the same one that is used to view the dolphins) and watched the cormorants as they swam under the water and chased small fish. I didn't think that I would be able to capture this action but with digital you try anything!

The bird swims as efficiently as a fish! I was fascinated.
Now I will have to set too and put my photos together in a web album that can be shared with all my fellow travellers - and I will have to find something else to write in my blog!
AJ

Another day in the sunshine

Our last day on Morton Island at Tangalooma Resort was a very social day. When our Bombora tour group left the Gold Coast we were all strangers but over the three days we had cemented friendships that on this last day were further reinforced.
After a true "Sunday breakfast" of bacon and eggs I first took the camera out for some exercise and found some cormorants on the beach.

For a while I was able to get close to the birds but a young boy of about twelve years old, encouraged by his father, tried to catch one - which of course made them all fly away!

The sun was by now shining into the big concrete fish tank so I tried my luck at taking fishy shots - I used the circular polarising lens to cut down on the reflections from the nearby glass windows - but since the lion fish refused to come out to be seen I soon lost interest! I would never be any good as a scuba-diver! I fail to get excited at the sight of a fish!

As I said earlier, our Sunday was a very social day, Colin and I meandered back to our group and we all purchased coffees and sat chatting and finding out more and more about each other.
I spotted a group of quad bikes returning from their 25 minute "tour" - they run along the sands and play "follow my leader" up and down the sandy tracks near the beach and do figure of eights on the sand well away from the resort and generally "have fun". The quads could be heard returning so I timed my shot to get a couple of them in the clearings between the trees and get the yacht in my sights too.

Coffee time spilled over into lunch time and we were still seated and yapping! Since it was quite cool inside we all moved out into the sunshine and commandeered a couple of tables.
All too soon we had to collect our tickets for the boat ride back to Brisbane. Our cases had been left outside our rooms during the morning, to be transferred to the boat, so we didn't have to concern ourselves with them.
Outside the tour desk where the rubber waders that could be hired for the dolphin feeding - people who do not have wet-suits and still want to wade into the sea to feed the dolphins can hire them so that they can stay dry. I thought the sight of these waders looked rather comical!

It was time to leave. Our visit had been filled with lots of great memories of activities, food and friendships.
We had started the trip with smiles and we finished the trip with hugs and exchanges of addresses.

 However - I really enjoyed being in my own bed last night!
AJ