Congrats Tray and Pete on your new milestone! Was great to see everyone even though we arrived super late 
And just where does time fly when you’re having fun!! Looking forward to brekky soon!
Tray and Pete’s House Warming BBQ
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Category Archives: Australiana
Harbour Cruise on the Rocks Rythymboat
Last Friday we all had an amazing time at the ITD Harbour Cruise. Not only did Sydney put on a great weather and totally clear blue skies but even the lead up to the Harbour Cruise has been such fun with anticipation and the cruise in itself was amazing. We truly couldn’t have asked for a better night to do this and to have such great company and lovely band playing as we cruised back and forth along the gorgeous Sydney Harbour! Big thank you to everyone who was involved in making the Harbour Cruise a success and an even bigger thank you to the in-house ITD Band — The Groove Party (Colin, John and Chris)! You know for sure you’ve had a good time when you feel a little rotten the next morning right? 
[quote style="boxed"]Don’t blame it on sunshine
Don’t blame it on moonlight
Don’t blame it on good times
Blame it on the boogie![/quote]
Carriageworks at Wilson St, Eveleigh
Carriageworks is the new home for contemporary arts and culture in Sydney. It is a multi-venue centre focused on the creation and presentation of contemporary art and culture. Thanks to Melissa for this great little find, we went there for a little walk the last week during our lunch break and was pleasantly surprised how inviting the place was. Had John and Peters Canteen been open we would surely have stopped for a spot of lunch… but alas! That blood orange campari really sounds so devine. Hoping to try it soon.
Yesterday however, D & I were coming back from a scrumptious lunch at The Pie Tin when we realised as were approaching this Urban meets Bauhaus meets Contemporary convergence in down-town Eveleigh. D quickly swerved to the kerb and screeched to a halt* in the quiet tree-lined boulevard of Wilson Street Eveleigh. Went jumped out for a quick gander, the rest is obvious…
* Not quite but you know it a little drama doesn’t hurt.
Eryldene Historic House at Gordon
Eryldene Historic House at Gordon: view of the house from the entrance on 17 McIntosh Street, Gordon.
On Saturday last weekend we went up to visit a beautiful historic house in the leafy green suburb of Gordon. Eryldene — the now (since 1981) historic house was designed by a visionary architect William Hardy Wilson for Professor E G Waterhouse who created its internationally acclaimed camellia garden. The pathway along the garden and back of the house is paved with blooming camellians and azaleas. There is a little garden cafe at the back where tea, coffee and pikelets are served. You literally walk through a bed of camellias as you head toward the back garden. Eryldene Historic House had an open day last weekend and is due to have an open house again on the 10th and 11th of September 2011 and a twilight Jazz festival on the 12th of March 2012. More details is available on the Eryldene website.
Eryldene Historic House at Gordon: Flowerpot
Kookaburra
Kookaburra perched on a tree at Clontarf
Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 1/160 sec, f/3.5, 200mm, ISO 1000, Bias: 0 EV
Kookaburras are large terrestrial Kingfishers native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. Very typically known for their loud call that somewhat echoes a human laughter. There is more on Kookaburra at Wikipedia. This one in particular was rather fearless and after our BBQ.
Hope you all had a lovely Australia Day!
Queensland Floods
Our hearts go out to all our friends and loved ones in Queensland. As you prepare for the floods peaking today please take care and stay safe and look to reach for higher grounds.
It was only a few weeks back we caught up with Kel and Mark and went to Lamington National Park and had such a ball. All those lovely areas we drove through would now be under water and cut off from the rest of the living world. Brisbane is facing its worst ever flooding in more than 100 years, with officials warning almost 20,000 homes in the Brisbane city alone will be flooded by early tomorrow morning. Our thoughts and well wishes are with you and those you love.
Offspring
What a great roller-coaster Channel 10′s ‘Offspring‘ has been. I love it. And now having seen the season final last night I miss it already. Who doesn’t like a good family drama. And don’t we all go through our own, growing up, and even when grown up . We all have a little drama queen in us waiting to leap out in all glory at the weakest of times. Offspring catches these juxtaposed raw tender moments of truth impeccably well with striking highs and lows in a somewhat hilarious and awkward moments of family faux pas concocting a labyrinth of twists and turns. Who said life was meant to be simple.
What made it special even more is the fact that we’ve been to a few of the cafés and walked those very spots when in Melbourne with Robyn and D a few times. Who ever knew they’d be make a movie trailing our path…. but jokes aside I have come to love the Offsprings technique of story-telling… the psycho-analysis of Nina’s fantasy world, Billie’s high combustion character looking for minimal oxygen to explode yet with a huge heart for her sister and family — probably my favourite character… oh I could go on but much rather you see the real thing. I’ve really enjoyed the show… very satisfying to watch something that’s directed so beautifully and choreographed with passion. Or maybe just the thought of enjoying another family go through emotional hell from the comfort of our cosy lounge. Now thats pure evil but you know it makes smokin’ telly!
Leura Gardens Festival slideshow
Here are some photos from our trip to the Leura Garden Festival 2010. I suggest using a decent browser like Firefox, Safari or Google Chrome. You’d need the free Flash Player for the slideshow.
Leura Gardens Festival
UPDATE: Here are some photos from our trip to the Leura Garden Festival 2010. I suggest using a decent browser like Firefox, Safari or Google Chrome.
This weekend we’re heading off to the lovely Blue Mountains, well more precisely to the Leura Gardens Festival. This year its being held from the 2nd of October to the 10th. For the benefit of others who may not know where Leura is — the gardens of Leura is situated in the Blue Mountains approximately 100 kms west of Sydney and are famous for their magnificent displays of Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Dogwoods and Camellias, as well as flowering annuals, perennials and bulbs. The blaze of springtime colour in the gardens attracts visitors from all parts of Australia and overseas. There are big gardens and small gardens in the Festival and each garden has its own distinctive character. Link on the the following links to have a read on thes individual gardens. The list includes Shenstone, The Braes, Rustlins, Brabourne, Tandella, Greenheys, Elouera, Abbotsford, Everglades and Illion. We’ll be run off our feet literally, trying to do all that in a day, but it’d such be a welcome change.
A bit of history — The Leura Gardens Festival is a registered charity, the objective is to provide funds for medical equipment and patient care at the Blue Mountains District Memorial Hospital. There is more history to be found here. The proceeds go for a very worthy cause while promoting tourism and economy for this beautiful ecofriendly area. Heres hoping I’ll have one or 2 decent photos to share with you that do the lovely mountains justice.
Vivid Sydney Walk
In amongst other light shows through the year, Sydney puts on a festival of lights, music and ideas called Vivid Sydney every year in partnership with Energy Australia. The festival is made up of the Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House, Macquarie Visions, The Rocks Fire Water, Creative Sydney, X|Media|Lab Global Media Ideas & Song Summit. It celebrates the 200th anniversary of Australian visionaries Governor Lachlan and Elizabeth Macquarie –- the ultimate Sydney power couple.
Motion Trail
Back in November 2009 I’d done a little motion trail experiment with my camera. They’re basically timing experiments with exposure. On my way back from work thought I’d give it a quick whirl again. Not the finest shot in the world but the trails still look nice. Probably a longer exposure would have been nicer. If you like long exposure photos of traffic do visit this Group pool in Flickr.
Vaucluse House Garden
Green is such a powerful colour. Its the giver of life. It signifies growth, renewal, health, and environment. Green is the national color of Ireland and also has close associations with Islam. Because of all the green in nature the color is reminiscent of Spring and coupled with red it’s a Christmas color.
Robyn, D and I had been to Vaucluse House on Easter Sunday this year. It was quite a hot day but was nice to walk around the garden. I enjoy taking photos of when the sunlight plays on glass or in the trees. Hope you enjoy this series.
My Dalley’s walk
I’d mentioned about my Dalley’s walk last year and while most of the year round its pretty, it certainly outdoes itself in Autumn. We have been away for a while in Autumn this year and have come back to the tail of the magnificient season. Somehow having an overly hot summer this year and for a much longer time that usual and then suddenly dipping into cold weather has the autumn trees confussed. While the fall colour is out its not neat as strong as it normally would be. But what makes its really bright and saturated is a little gentle drizzle. The autumn leaves look more shiny and brighter and with an overcast sky the reds look redder. Luckily we’ve been having a moderate drizzle for the last 3 days and every place is blooming in autumn hue.
There was a speeding car whizzing past just as I shot the frame. Must have been running late just like me
Mt Tomah in Autumn
Here is a little respite in case you’ve been reading all the India stories for a while now. I’ll get back to it soon. This is just a short diversion.
Passing through Richmond Air Base
Most autumn, almost every autumn we make a short trip to the Other side of the Blue Mountains. The one that’s not so well-known to the tourists and in particular for a walk around the Mt Tomah Botanic Garden. Its a very peaceful drive leaving Sydney, going past the olde world charm of Richmond and then entering the Bells Line of Road which goes right up through Kurrajong Heights, the apple orchards of Bilpin and then on to the scenic Mt Tomah.
Mt Tomah Botanic Garden view from the Observation deck.
Picnic at Berry Island, Waverton
Berry island, Waverton
Easter Monday: 9am the skies were blue and the sun was shining beautifully. But an hour later everything changed! We had planned to go to Berry Island for a little picnic, luckily it didn’t rain but we did have these huge ominous clouds most of the day. It was still good to get out and about!
We’ve been to Berry Island a few times, well for me this was my second time there and as luck would have it when then the whole park was nearly empty except for a few small huddles… an extended family (well am guessing here) with three kids two wives/sisters and the two brothers/husbands came along and of all places they chose to sit right on top of us. What is with people not understanding the freedom of privacy and a little due respect for your fellow being? The whole family spread out along the shore and spun their fishing hooks and started competing on who got the biggest and best catch with absolutely verbose loud yelling which of course was their normal pitch of conversation. Then came the kids that had vocal cords that resonated at a frequency that could shatter glass and the constant jostling, running shouting, fighting, then crying then running again. When they got hurt they swore at each other and the parents just sat there without feeling the slightest bit offended that their noisy children could possibly disturb anyone elses well being? What was I thinking!