On the waterfront, Bunbury, Western Australia

On Friday I went down to Koombana Bay in my lunch hour. It was lovely to get away from the office and go for a walk on the beach with my camera.

 The water was at it's sparkling best, and I wished I could have stayed and enjoyed it longer. In these pics below you can see some of what I saw, clockwise from top left -
A man rowing out to his yacht (lucky him!), a lady with her fishing rod encouraging her dog to have a swim (her dog seemed to be enjoying it), this person was snorkeling along the edge towing a container (he was wearing ear muffs, who knows what he was doing!), moored yachts looking over waterfront restaurants and apartments (beckoning their owners to come and play), the sailing regatta control box (empty today, waiting for the weekend regatta), people at the beach side restaurant (I wonder what they had for lunch), some men measuring something at the beach volley ball ground (measuring what?), a man swimming laps (something I should do), I saved this Dutch visitor from poisoning himself with the huge Nor-West Blowie he had just hooked (lucky I was there when he asked for help, and that I could recognize it! - I must have learnt something along the way), and in the middle a couple enjoying the solitude and sun (hope they eventually remembered the slip, slop, slap, wrap!). 

and a man walking and the seagulls just sitting (perhaps the man was enjoying the beach in his lunch hour too)

At Koombana Bay you can visit the Dolphin Centre or go on a dolphin cruise or be at the beach when the dolphins come in close. Sometimes when we go out in our boat the dolphins swim up around us. So beautiful.

Adjacent to Koombana Bay is the Inner and Outer Harbours. Here are some boats at the marina at the Outer Harbour, dreaming of sailing away some where. You see all sorts of craft from old wooden boats to sleek new cruisers. You can see some of the port facilities in the background of these image. 

Also at the Outer Harbour you can see this three tonne crane that sits at the start of the old timber jetty. It was built in 1911 by Sir William Arrol who designed and constructed amongst other bridges the Tower Bridge in London and the gantry which housed the Titanic during construction. I love photographing these old coggs and wheels.

Sadly the old timber jetty is being dismantled as it has fallen into disrepair and was breaking up despite years of intensive fund raising and lobbying. When Bunbury was first settled goods and passengers had to be transferred between ships and the shore in boats. In 1864 a jetty was built out into the bay and was extended nine times due to silting.  By 1957 it was 1,677 metres in length. As the port became busier and more modern methods were used to load and unload vessels the harbour developed away from the jetty, which ceased to be used commercially in 1982.   

 How about a coffee or lunch at the waterfront cafe

A view over the Outer Harbour from Marlsden Hill.  You can see the old timber jetty to the right, and the land-backed wharf on the left. 

Bunbury is certainly a beautiful place to live, and proudly calls itself the "city of three waters" as it is surrounded on three sides by the Indian Ocean, Koombana Bay and the Leschenault Inlet. To learn more - please click on the link here - Visit Bunbury

Also click here to see more info about Bunbury from travel writer Jo Castro over at Zia-a-zag, and check out her numerous posts about Bunbury - a great read -  Interesting facts about Bunbury

I don't have far to go to enjoy the water during my lunch time. I don't do it often enough. What do you do in your lunch hour? 

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week.
I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday and Travel Photo Thursday.  Please click on the links to see the work of other photographers around the world. 

Want to see some more of Bunbury? You might also like - 

A walk around Bunbury's history
Cappaccino at the Grand
 Heritage architect in Bunbury
Bunbury - city surrounded by water 

Can clouds enhance your landscapes?

“So fine was the morning except for a streak of wind here and there that the sea and sky looked all one fabric, as if sails were stuck high up in the sky, or the clouds had dropped down into the sea.”
― Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse 

Do you look up at the sky and see the clouds? Do you use them to enhance your landscape images?
This months project for my Photography group is clouds. Clouds can add drama or enhance a scene. And we all know how glorious a sunrise or sunset can be when there are clouds - especially over the sea.

What glorious colours the sky can be - these images in my collage below were taken between lunch time one day, and 5pm the next afternoon. It was an interesting project and the results were quite amazing to see the changes over the two days. 
In the top LH corner lunch time the sky was blue with a few clouds, then that evening there was beautiful pink colours in the late afternoon sky, threatening clouds next morning (middle R), rain at lunch time so all cloud (the lighthouse pic), and the next afternoon driving home, a glorious sunset.
What an ever changing colourful pallet the sky has! And the clouds certainly allow the colours to come through.
These images are all totally straight out of camera.

Blood red sunrise on Anzac Day last April.  When we saw this on our way home from the Anzac Day dawn service last 25 April, I felt like it signified the flowing blood of those who have lost their lives fighting to keep our country and families free.

Sunset at Coral Bay. We had gone to the cliff top to have sunset drinks. The sky was completely clouded so we thought is was going to be a none event. But the evening was beautiful and the view superb - and then this -

Below we see sunset at Denham, Shark Bay, with the colours of the clouds reflecting on the water, sunset at Hopetoun on our south coast, and sunset down the street from my house.  The first one, at Denham, we had rented a beach front cottage and I was standing at the kitchen bench cooking tea, when I saw this sunset, so I dropped everything, and ran down to the beach with my camera, leaving my husband to finishing cooking tea. (he is used to me doing this by now)

Late afternoon at my sister and brother-in-law's farm at Bruce Rock in our central wheatbelt. This is their front paddock. You can see the view from the house looking east. I never tire at looking at this view when we visit. Isn't the tree magnificent! It is a salmon gum.

 I love taking photos of clouds out of airplane windows when we fly. This image I call my Himalaya sunrise - you can see the mountain peaks thrusting up through the clouds. Taken on a flight back from the UK somewhere over Asia.

This one taken at Bluff Knoll in the Stirling Ranges in our south west with the clouds obscuring the view reminds me of Wuthering Heights.

And at days end - I saw this sunset starting to happen when I left work late one afternoon last year. Instead of driving home I went to the beach, took off my shoes, walked down onto the beach and took some shots. The moment was certainly a gift.

Do you look up and take photos of clouds? Do you notice how they change over the day? 
Do you see how the rising or setting sun reflects off the clouds making them glow glorious colours that change every minute? Do you use clouds to enhance your landscape images?

I know I have other cloud photos in my collection. I still can't decide which cloud photo to use for my Photography Group submission next week. What would be your choice?

Have a wonderful week, and thank you for stopping by.

I am linking up with other wonderful contributors at Mosaic Monday - and Our World Tuesday - and -  Travel Photo Thursday    Please click on the links to take a look around the world. 


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Dryandra woodland in early morning light, Western Australia
Flying high with my camera 

 

Do you carry two cameras while travelling?

A couple of weeks ago I posted an article - Which camera will I take with me?   (you can click on the link if you missed it).  Yesterday I had a classic example of the argument for carrying TWO cameras. 

I had been asked if I had some images from along the walk trails in the Yalgorup National Park which is located on the western edge of the Swam Coastal Plain between Mandurah and Bunbury in Western Australia. It protects a series of ten coastal lakes, swamps and tuart woodlands and is significant for waterbirds and recognized under the International Ramsar Convention. 

One of Yalgorup's crowning jewels are the millions of year old Thrombolites at Lake Clifton. We were returning from a weekend in Perth, and Yalgorup was an achievable detour. Within minutes of reaching the Thrombolites my DSLR camera had a hemorrhage and stopped working completely.  You can see the evidence in these two images - the shaft of "light" in the first image and the black band in the second image.

Our trip would have been totally lost if I didn't have my high-end Point and Shoot with me. Yes the photos could have been better and we really shouldn't have been at Yalgorup in the middle of the day, but timing can't always be at the magic hour, and at least I got some photos.  The trip would have been wasted if I didn't have a back up camera with me.

A viewing platform protects the Thrombolites at Lake Clifton. 

Walking along the five kilometre Lakeside loop walk trail at Lake Clifton.

We were lucky to see two kangaroos. They jumped along the path in front of us, then stopped at the edge of the path. I walked slowly forward to take these pics before they jumped away. This one looks like a doe (female) as her distended belly seems to indicate that she had a joey (baby) in her pouch. There was another young kangaroo close by. Even though I have seen lots of kangaroos in the wild, I never tire of seeing them in the wild when we are bush-walking.

Further south is Lake Preston. There is a 4.5 loop Heathlands walk trail that takes you down to Lake Preston. It was a very hot day so we only walked about one kilometre to the look out.  Along the ridge line there are limestone mallee (Eucalyptus petrensis) and Fremantle mallee (Eucalyptus foecunda). Unfortunately I do not know which variety is the one in my image, and my P&S doesn't take very good macro shots.

There are better times of day and year to explore the Yalgorup Lakes.  These wildflower images were taken in spring along the six kilometre Lake Pollard trail. The Lake Pollard walk trail takes you out to a bird hide from where you can view water birds. It is a lovely walk, especially in spring. The 6 year old handled it very well, though we did sing on the way back to keep the momentum up! There is a picnic area and camp ground so you can camp overnight and enjoy the walk trails. You can read more about it by going to the link at the bottom of my post.

Below are images of the Thombolites at Lake Clifton, taken at that "magic light" hour late afternoon.  You can certainly see the difference between my image taken around 1pm yesterday and these taken during the magic light hour a couple of years ago.  I might be back to talk about that another day!

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed my post today. 
Have you had a situation where your camera has died on you? and what did you do? did you have a backup camera?

ps - I took my camera to a camera repairer today and the shutter is broken inside the camera. Evidently it is fixable, but the sensor may be scratched. I am waiting to hear more. Thank goodness for special risks insurance! and a back-up camera!

I am linking up to Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday  and Travel Photo Thursday - please click on the links to see the offerings of wonderful contributors from around the world 

Would you like to read more about walking in Yalgorup National Park? Go here - A walk in Yalgorup  

Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company

Last year I  started Spanish Flamenco dance lessons at the Sol y Sombra Spanish Company & School of Dance - a group of dancers with ages ranging from early 30s to 70 who love to dance. On Saturday night, along with other cultural groups, we performed at the free family concert at the Bunbury Multicultural Festival (Western Australia). The Multicultural group is a wonderful supporter for people of other nationalities coming to live and work in our city and the night is a fabulous evening of entertainment which showcases the diverse multi-cultural environment in which we live.  I love hearing the music and seeing the dances of other nationalities.

I danced in one of the three dances that Sol y Sombra performed. It was my first full scale public performance. Flamenco is certainly not easy to learn and I sincerely thank the ladies and gent at Sol y Sombra for their amazing support to me as a newbie dancer. Sol y Sombra put on a fantastic  performance of three different types of Flamenco styles which were well received by the crowd.                               'Fantastico'

When I was a child I wished I could go to ballet and tap classes like my friend Anna. And now many years later I am going to dance classes. Sometimes it takes a while to get the things you wish for.
Here we are at dance class in the dance room at the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery - 

Below are two mosaics of images from rehearsal last week when we were practising on the stage where we performed - that is my teacher Nicole in the second set of images. And yes Pete does dress up for the performance. The red lace skirts and gold collars are stunning. 

All these images were taken with manual settings on my camera - another new skill I have just started to learn!

Below is an image from Saturday night. When my teacher saw the pic on Facebook she asked me how I managed to get a camera on stage. LOL. This pic was taken during the first dance which I wasn't a part of - the Overture from Carmen - very dramatic. I was sitting on stage as one of the "cafe" people stage props. Tricky to get a snap when you are trying to not be noticed doing so!

And a quote from Ruth Tearle - 

"Harmony is about being with people who play your kind of tune".

Have you taking up a new skill this past year? Do you like to dance? 
Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed this little look into dance practise. I look forward to hearing from you.

I am linking up to Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday and Travel Photo Thursday - please click on the links to see the wonderful work of other contributors

Have a wonderful week. 

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Spanish dancing
 A weekend of lunch, gardens, music and dance