Welcome to Life Images by Jill

Welcome to Life Images by Jill.........Stepping into the light and bringing together the images and stories of our world. I am a photographer, writer and multi-media artist.
Focussing mainly on Western Australia and Australia, I am seeking to preserve images and memories of the beautiful world in which we live and the people in it.

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Showing posts with label dragon boat regatta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dragon boat regatta. Show all posts

Monday, 26 May 2025

Pelicans & the Denmark Dragon Boat Regatta, Western Australia

 Hi all, I hope you and yours are doing well. We have drought here in southern parts of Australia, and floods in other parts that have devastated and swept away towns, businesses, homes and people in New South Wales on our eastern coastline, with lives lost, and more challenging weather forecast. 

But for us here in the south west of Western Australia, we have finally been enjoying some most welcome light rainfall this last week. 

Last weekend however we enjoyed beautiful weather when we travelled to Denmark on our south coast for the inaugural Wings on the Water dragon boat regatta, hosted by the Denmark Dragon Boat Club on the Denmark River right in the centre of town. 

Congratulations Denmark on ordering perfect weather and hosting a very enjoyable regatta. Clubs travelled to Denmark from Perth, Bunbury (our Bunbury club - the Forza Dragon Boat Club), Mandurah and Albany for the event which was two boat sprint match racing heats over 200 metres. Winner determined by the quickest time over the heats. Mandurah Vikings Dragon Boat Club took out the inaugural Dragon Fly cup. The day was followed by dinner at the Denmark Riverside Club. 

Mirror perfect water and looked spectacular coming down through the karri trees along the river. How perfect for Denmark training here every week! 




We stayed in our caravan at the Rivermouth Caravan Park only a few kilometres from Denmark town. Bordered by the Wilson Inlet, the Denmark River and the forest, it is a lovely quiet location, and an easy walk into town. We had a lovely spot just a short walk down the bank to the inlet. 



From here you can follow walk trails in a couple of different directions. We took the Mokare trail from the river mouth into town, and then back along the the Karri walk trail. The Mokare Heritage Trail is less than 3 kilometres return and an easy walk. Look out for the little houses! 


Then through the forest along the Karri walk - karris are one of my favourite trees. They can grow up to 90 metres tall. More about them later. 


And past the old carriages, remainders of the #3 railway station built in 1927, before arriving back at the caravan park. 

The Noognar aboriginal people have been around Denmark for 40,000 years. The Dutch explored the coast in 1624, and a British outpost was set up in Albany (54 kms to the east) in 1826. The Denmark region was first explored by European Dr. Thomas Braidwood Wilson, a surgeon, in 1829, and he named the town after his colleague Alexander Denmark.  The first white settlers arrived in 1895 - The Miller brothers who obtained a logging lease and set up a mill. 

Aboriginal people refer to Denmark as Koorabup, which translates to "place of the Black Swan"


There are many other walks - All Trails - Best river trails in Denmark


And yes the pelicans - daily they cruise out on the inlet and along the river and hang about at the fish cleaning shed at the river mouth hoping for a handout. There are squabbles if pickings are lean. 







And a few evening scenes which I took along the waterfront just down from our caravan. The water was mirror flat. 


That's it from me today. I hope you have enjoyed this little look at Denmark. We have been visiting Denmark every year for over 50 years as we have family there. I love it, though it has changed a lot over the years. It has grown and is very busy during the summer tourist months, and house and land prices have skyrocketed. But it is beautiful any time of year - just bring a raincoat and warm clothes!  

I hope to be back next week with some more from Denmark. 

For further reading - 

Denmark history

I have blogged about Denmark before - 

Denmark - Where the Forest Meets the Sea - 2016 

Denmark weekend - 2014

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

If you are looking for a translate button - it's there near the top on the right hand side. 


Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.
Until then, enjoy your day...Life only comes around once, be kind, do what makes you happy and be with people who make you smile. 

Sunday, 9 March 2025

Photographing action and Celebrating International Women's Day

 Hi everyone, I hope you and yours are going well. 

Yesterday, 8 March was International Women's Day. This year I didn't do anything specifically to celebrate International Women's Day, however I have I decided to share a few photos of women I have taken over the last month at some events where I was taking photos. I've also included a few links further down to International Women's Day events I have been to in the past. 

The first was on the 16th February where I, and other members of the Photography Group of Bunbury were asked by the Bunbury Triathlon Club to take photos at the Bunbury City Classic Triathlon. We have done this for the last few years. It was a hot morning, and I was lucky to get myself a spot under the shade of Norfolk Pines on the road into Bunbury. 

Competitors were young, old, the very fit and the newbies. All having a go. 



I took all my photos on sports mode on my camera. I really need to practise panning. Sports mode seemed to freeze the action - which was good - but also the background - which I really wanted blurred.  However my panning shots were all blur. Definitely a skill to practise. 


The next event was 22 February where I again went down with the Photography Group of Bunbury to photograph the South West Multicultural Festival in Bunbury. This is a wonderful yearly event of music, dance, food, and culture. I have been going to this festival for a number of years. I have even danced there in the past with Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company. Unfortunately they didn't dance there this year. The first time ever I think. 



I really enjoyed the Roztiazhka Ukranian Cossak Dancers with their vibrancy and smiles, and the Narthanalaya School of Indian Classical Dance was elegant. The Taiko On Japanese Drumming were fantastic. This lady you see below here was amazing. 


Unfortunately none of my photos of the Ngaru Pou Maori Haka and Cultural Dance Group turned out, but this young group, who are on their way to a competition in the Pacific were fantastic. It was evening by then and I needed to use a different setting for low light on my camera. I will try to remember next time to boost the ISO. 


On Saturday afternoon 8 March my husband and I were on-water-control-safety boat at the Forza Dragon Boat Club annual match-racing twilight regatta in Bunbury. Our family has been involved with dragon boat racing in Bunbury since in the first regatta in 1990 and our two sons still compete.  Being in a boat on the water put in in an ideal place to take photos. Below here you can see some of the women's racing - 20 paddlers plus a drummer on front and a sweep at the back steering the boat. The pink team you see is Amazons Dragons Abreast Perth - part of an Australian and international organisation for women who have had breast cancer and their survivors. Truly Amazon women. 



There have been many biographies and books written about remarkable women. I would also like to recommend a couple I have read in the last 12 months of so. 

The Librarians of Rue de Picardie - by Janet Skeslien Charles - based on the true story of the CARDS (American Committee for Devastated France), and in particular Jessie (Kit) Carson (1876-1959), who came from the New York Public Library to Blerancourt in war torn France in 1918, to help rebuild devastated French communities just miles from the front lines. Jessie turns ambulances into bookmobiles to reach isolated villages and trains the first French female librarians and revolutionisers French libraries by welcoming in women and children, not just scholars. The story also tells of the aspiring writer Wendy Peterson in 1987 who becomes consumed researching Jessie and the CARDS.   
www.jskesliencharles-behind the book and American Libraries Magazine - Remembering the American Librarians of post WW1 France. 
Also published as - Miss Morgan's Book Brigade. 

  • The Art of Breaking Ice - by Rachael Mead -  This fictional novel is based around the true story of the Antartic adventure of Nel Law - artist and wife of Antartic expedition leader Phillip Law, Rachel pulls together what little is known at Nel Law to write this fictional account of Nel's trip to Antartica - the first Australian woman to set foot on Antartica in an age when the lives of wives were defined by their husbands. Mead says she was inspired by Nel Law’s courage in defying expectations and gender stereotypes, and the constant scrutiny of the men.  Some characters were created - ie Dr Harris McCallum who commissioned her to draw penguins for his research paper.    wikipedia.org/wiki/Nel_Law 

Thank you so much for stopping by. Did you do anything for International Women's Day? Here are four previous posts you might enjoy  - 

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.
Until then, enjoy your day...Life only comes around once, so do what makes you happy and be with people who make you smile.