Archive for the 'Sydney' Category

I spend my nights with the quilt on,
Trying to keep warm.
Summer should be here right now,
But it’s not been at all.

It’s supposed to be,
Hot and sunny every day.
We should be at the beach,
Or sweating, or sweating, in the shade.

Where did the sun go?
Did you put it on a train?
Did you leave it in Bris-bane?
Or down in Mexico?
(repeat)

I wanted to go for a walk,
Or maybe a bike ride.
It’s raining once again,
Another day inside.

Sometimes the beach it calls me,
And the park it calls my name.
Says “don’t forget your brolly”,
‘Cause it will prob’ly rain!

(saxophone solo)

And the kids are going crazy,
Stuck inside all day.
I wish it would stop raining,
And let them run and play.

Where did the sun go?
Did you put it on a train?
Did you leave it in Bris-bane?
Or down in Mexico?
(repeat)

(sung to the tune of Wham’s “Where did your heart go?” – originally by “Was (Not Was)”)
(for anyone not in Sydney, Mexico = Melbourne)

We had a little birthday party for Andres today – we invited a few friends and family around to help us celebrate his first birthday.

After a cool start to the day, it turned out to be a glorious afternoon and we had afternoon tea out on the back lawn.

Leanne out-did herself with creating decorations for the back yard (with a lot of help from her sister, Bron). But the best part was the cakes Leanne made – one was a plain cake iced in the shape of the map of Colombia, and the other was a pair of chocolate cake logs placed together and iced to look like the Colombian flag.

Andres's birthday cake - map of Colombia (in Colombian flag colours) with a candle marking approximately where Cali is

Andres's other birthday cake - chocolate log cakes iced in the colours of the Colombian flag

Andres looks a little bewildered by all these people singing to him

We woke this morning to a strong smell of dust in the air – but we were not prepared for what we saw when we got up and looked outside!

One of the worst dust storms in Sydney’s history – soil blown in from the inland deserts and western farming regions on strong westerly winds. The early morning light on the dust gave it an eerie red glow, with visibility down to less than 100m at times.

I grabbed the camera and jumped in the car to go and take some photos before it cleared.

Sydney @ 7am - dust storm!

Warringah freeway @ Willoughby Rd overpass - 7am

North Sydney @ 7:25am

Sydney Harbour Bridge from Blues Point

ABC TV crew prepare to go live at Blues Point to talk about the dust storm

Jimmy, a friend of mine from Queensland was in town for work and had a free afternoon – asked if I would like to come do some landscape photography with him.

He picked me up and I directed him up to Kuringai Chase National Park where we drove around looking for the ideal spot to take some sunset photos.

We had to be a little careful, since they close the gates around an hour after sunset and it can be very costly to get someone to come out and unlock them.

After taking some photos at West Head, we drove back and walked down to America Bay and stopped to take photos of the sunset over the water.

Jimmy let me try his 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens which I had never used before, while he tried my 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS lens. I was quite impressed with the quality of the shots taken with the 70-200 … but then I would want to be – this is considered one of the best zoom lenses that Canon make and is more expensive than my 100-400!

Jimmy taking photos at West Head

Small yacht powers up the Hawkesbury

Barrenjoey Head as taken from West Head

Moon - taken handheld with Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens (image cropped)

Seaplane lands on Pittwater

Sunset over America Bay - Kuringai Chase National Park

Sunset over America Bay - Kuringai Chase National Park

Sunset over America Bay - Kuringai Chase National Park

Sunset over America Bay - Kuringai Chase National Park

Leanne’s parents are staying with us for a few days – we took them out to Kuringai Chase National park and did some walking around West Head and other nearby walking tracks.

This is quite a spectacular area of Sydney, with the mouth of the Hawkesbury River and many inlets and coves forming an intricate maze of waterways to explore. The scenery is amazing just about any way you look.

At West Head, the north-easterly most part of the national park you get views out over the Hawkesbury towards Woy Woy, and across Pittwater to Barrenjoey Head and Palm Beach.

Looking across Pittwater from West Head - Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

Looking across the Hawkesbury to Lion Island from West Head - Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

Barrenjoey Head seen from West Head - Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park