Grrr. I just realised I haven't posted to The Smirkonian for an entire year. This will change. I have some great photos from the pst 12 months to share and an exciting overseas adventure coming up later this year.
Stand by to be amazed!
Regards, Andy.
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Today I spent a few moments looking back through the photos Id taken on my iPhone over the back 10 months. Here’s a few I picked out and posted to Instagram.
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I’m not a fan of Facebook. I find the platform rather annoying. I resisted for many years but peer pressure won over. Most of my friends, particularly at work, were regularly conversing about someone’s post and I’d be in the dark and feel left out. One positive was I found long lost friends so all in all it’s a love hate relationship with FB.
On a daily basis I see people participating in these personality posts. Most are a load of rubbish. I’ve posted a few to FB but usually I just take a screen capture for my own amusement. Here’s a selection, hopefully not too revealing.
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Explored the Westmorland Falls track in Tasmania’s Great Western Tiers region just south of Mole Creek. The walk was quite spectacular, however the falls are still showing signs of flood damage from last season.
Location and mapping details at the foot of this post.
From Mole Creek, travel about 6 km south along Caveside Road to a T-junction. Go right into Wet Cave Road, which is unsealed. The Wet Cave reserve is soon reached straight ahead and you take the left turn and continue on until you reach a small car park on the right with a sign Mole Creek Karst Conservation Area and Westmorland Falls. Large rocks mark the track entrance. About 10 minutes drive from Mole Creek.
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Found this unusual image of Launceston hidden in my great grandfather’s photo collection.
Taken around the early 1900’s, it’s unusual to see an image of this perspective as long lenses were not around in those days. I’m guessing the image has been heavily cropped from the glass negative.
Probably taken from the Launceston suburb of Trevalyn, the foreground shows shipping berthed at Kings Wharf and the North East River and Lower Charles Street behind it. In the town centre is the clock tower in Cameron Street and the top end of Elizabeth Street. In the background is the Ben Lomond mountain range, these days a national park.
I’m assuming the photo is by Charles A Hart, my great grandfather who was a founding member of the Northern Tasmania Camera Club.
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I really look forward to voting in Greeka’s annual photo contest. Such creative photography in a land I like to visit occasionally. This year it seems I’m ineligible to vote. A rule change means I have to upload and be part of the party. Oh well, maybe next year.
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Panorama view of the Great Western Tiers near Mole Creek, Tasmania.
Viewed from Engadine, a quiet rural property with a cosy B&B and spectacular views. Located above Mole Creek in the Mersey Hill area.
The panorama features the Great Western Tiers, the mountain range seen in the distance, with snow falling on some peaks.
iPhone sweep-pano with a small amount of Lightroom processing.
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In late August Tony and I visited Tasmania’s stunning east coast.
The feature of this road trip was Freycinet National Park.
The view of Freycinet National Park from Apslawn.
On the walking track down to Wineglass Bay, Freycinet National Park.
A walking party on Wineglass Bay,
Hazards Lagoon, Freycinet National Park
Entering Hazards Beach, Freycinet National Park
On Hazards Beach, Freycinet National Park
Sunset on The Hazards, a feature of Freycinet National Park in Tasmania.
Boardwalk at Cape Tourville, Tasmania.
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Around late July, Tony and I visited Tasmania’s rugged west coast.
An overnight stay in Strahan and a wonderful ride on the West Coast Wilderness Railway following the King River.
Lake Rosebery from Mackintosh Bridge, Murchinson Highway, Tasmania
Clearing rain shower at sunrise. Strahan Harbour on Tasmania's West Coast.
Capturing the early light spilling on tranquil Strahan Harbour.
What remains of the old Regatta Point wharf at Strahan
Train tracks at Lower Landing station. West Coast Wilderness Railway, Tasmania
Rainforest walk at Dubbil Barril. West Coast Wilderness Railway, Tasmania
King River viewed from Dubbil Barril Station. West Coast Wilderness Railway, Tasmania
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He is not of course the first visitor to be electrified by Greek light, to be intoxicated
by the white dancing candescence of the sun on a sea with blue sky pouring into it.
- Lawrence Durrell, The Greek Islands (1978)
~~~~~~~
It’s one of my favourite quotes. I’ve been to the Greek Islands a few times and read many books in my philhellenic research.
This week the first episode of The Durrell’s premieres on Australian TV. The series follows younger brother Gerald Durrell’s account of his time growing up on the island of Corfu, as outlined in the tele-movie My Family & Other Animals.
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A few weeks back Tony and I stay with our good mate Michael in his Gold Coast apartment. Six days of winter sun. Here are a some photos...
Sky point Tower viewing deck
Dusk view of the beach taken from Michael’s balcony.
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Back in June of 2012 I took this photo from the car park at Brady's Lookout in the Tamar Valley. At the time there was a volcanic ash cloud circling the planet’s lower hemisphere, originating from Chile's Puyehue volcano. I remember flights to Tasmania were cancelled for several days.
The photo, taken at sunset, clearly shows the diffused light coming through the ash cloud.
Fast forward a year or so, I received a phone call one Saturday morning from a polite woman wanting to use my photo of Brady’s Lookout for a wine bottle label. She explained it was only a private label and would not be commercially available. Gladly I gave her permission for free use of my photo. As I’m not a professional photographer, I refused to accept any payment.
That was the last I heard of my photo supposedly being use for a wine label, until yesterday.
I’d told my sister in-law about it sometime ago, as she was doing a wine appreciation course on local wines. Yesterday she produced this empty bottle of wine with my photo on it. Well, what a surprised! There it was, and I must say I thought the photo did look rather elegant on the bottle.
I was curious as to how the Pinot Noir tasted. Well from the comments my brother gave, let’s assume it was a good thing the label stayed private!
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Narawntapu National Park is rich in both Aboriginal and European history and has an abundance of bird and mammal life.
The 2 hour return walk to Archers Knob begins from a track which runs between the lagoon and Bakers Beach.Towards the eastern end of the beach the track climbs steadily through coastal trees to the top of Archers Knob (114 m). From the summit there are views sweeping over Bakers Beach to Badger Head and beyond.
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Tasmania Zoo is located approximately 18km from Launceston.
Situated on 900 acres (360 ha) of old growth native bushland, it is home to the state's largest collection of native and exotic animals.
Exhibits include Tasmanian devils, wombats, quolls, emus, koalas, kangaroos, deer, reptiles and monkeys, along with a collection of 80 bird species. Conservation work carried out by the zoo includes a breeding program for Tasmanian devils. (via Wikipedia)
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Pine Lake - Central Plateau Conservation Area, Tasmania
Pine Lake is easily accessible via a 400m boardwalk, located on the Highland Lakes Road (A5) about 33km south of Deloraine.
The Pine Lake walk offers a rare opportunity to get close to one of Tasmania’s rarest trees without having to go on an extended bushwalk. The pencil pine is an ancient species that evolved before flowering plants and only found in the Tasmanian highlands.
Many of the Tasmanian conifers are unique to Tasmania. The pencil pine (Athrotaxis cupressoides), is generally restricted to sub-alpine areas above 800m. Like its relative, the King Billy pine, it can reach ages greater than 1200 years. Pencil pines are often seen around the shores of highland lakes and tarns, creating the unique ambience of these beautiful areas of Tasmania.
The Central Plateau of Tasmania is the largest area of high ground in Tasmania. It is bound to the north east by the Great Western Tiers, a large number of hydro electric schemes emanating from rivers that flow to the south - and to the west by Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.
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Narawntapu National Park became the first Tasmanian park to revert to an Aboriginal name. Narawntapu is the Aboriginal name given to the Badger Head and West Head area within the park.
Rich in both Indigenous and European heritage, Narawntapu offers a wide diversity of habitats for both plants and animals.
The coastal heathlands are a feature of the park.
Below are a set of images taken recently to celebrate my first use of my National Parks Pass!
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A sure sign of “must do better” my highest rating photo on Flickr for 2015 was this sweep-pan of Entally House at Hadspen taken on my iPhone. It’s #56 of my all time popularity.
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Probably not my choice but from all the images I posted this year this one scored the highest pulse and likes on 500px for 2015.
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Last week I joined a few other new volunteers from the Tamar Visitor Centre on a famil tour of accomodations in the lower West Tamar region. We also had time for a quick visit to the Tamar Valley Art Shack at Clarence Point to view the gallery and studio of Dan Villiers.
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Good news everyone! I’m now a certified Tassie Specialist!
The last three months have been a tough mix of emotions. My father passed away two days after my 55th birthday back in August. At the same time I initiated a new direction for myself by volunteering in Tasmania’s exciting tourism industry.
I'm volunteering my time as an Information Officer at the Great Western Tiers Visitor Centre in Deloraine and at the Tamar Visitor Centre in Exeter.
A few weeks ago I completed an online training course through Tourism Tasmania.
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Tasmania's Notley Fern Gorge is an 11 ha reserve and remnant patch of wet sclerophyll forest. The forest is dominated by large, old eucalypts with a rainforest understory. Towards the creek, a variety of fern species grow in profusion.
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Another view of Meander River from the other side of Westwood bridge, Tasmania
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A few weeks back a spent a chilly late afternoon out at Blackwood Creek near the mountain face to the Great Western Tiers here in Tasmania.. The constant changing light conditions and clouds blowing by made for a few nice photographs.
Below is a farmhouse in the Blackwood Creek area. Click on the picture to see more from the Blackwood Creek photo session.
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This morning I received the much anticipated email from Greeka for members to judge 100 images submitted to the annual photo competition.
I love doing this each year. Here are my top 20 picks for the 2014 contest.
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After rating the pants off my images using flags and stars in Lightroom, somehow these 20 images where the best I could do for 2014!
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Although the weather didn’t play nice, I was excited to attend the 2014 Stan Siejka Cycling Classic in Launceston on December 7th. Took my D610 along with me and managed to get a few decent captures out of about 700 exposures. I guess that’s a reasonable ratio when the shutter is set in a continuous shooting mode. I had to re-exposure some images in Lightroom as I’d bumped a setting somewhere that made them 2 stops underexposed. Anyway, follow this link for some of the better shots.
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Got some k’s on the car today. First stop, Devonport for the final stage of the Tour of Tasmania, a 30 lap criterium.
It’s my first time taking pictures of cyclists whizzing past the lens so they aren’t brilliant. Lightroom did a great job of polishing up a few shots with exposure and my ol’ favourite, the vignette.
See the full set on my Flickr
Later I drove to Beauty Point and met up with my family at the Port Dalrymple Yacht Club opening day. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the camera out of the car for this stop.
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With the Tour de France starting in Yorkshire tomorrow, I thought I’d dig out this photo of the York Shambles I took in 2010.
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Seven years ago this week I experienced one of the most exhilarating walks of my life, trekking through Samaria Gorge in Greece. From the White Mountains, it's a 16km trek that descends 1250m to the Libyan Sea on the southern coast of Crete.
Not only a national park but also a World Biosphere Reserve, the beauty of this gorge is its ever changing scenery, evident in the image sets I've recently reprocessed.
The most famous part of the gorge is the stretch known as the Gates where the sides of the gorge close in to a width of only four metres and soar to a height of 300 metres. Samaria Gorge is a refuge for the rare kri-kri (Cretan goat) as well as many species of flowers, birds and some amazing geology.
136 images now on Flickr
https://t.co/FQdriqP2Qu
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Last Tuesday I decided to grab the cameras (iPhone, Nikon AW100 compact and Nikon D5000 DSLR) and find a location nearby that I hadn’t photographed before. Useually this mean being around the Tamar Valley. So I didn’t take long before I found myself clicking away at Gravelly Beach and a few locations in the Swan Point/ PaperBeach area.
Here are some of the better images from the DSLR...
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Living at 41 degrees south, I've always wanted to know what the big deal is...
Why do maps always show the north as up? For those who don’t just take it for granted, the common answer is that Europeans made the maps and they wanted to be on top. But there’s really no good reason for the north to claim top-notch cartographic real estate over any other bearing, as an examination of old maps from different places and periods can confirm.
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Wow. I loved watching the Tour Down Under this week. With eight Tasmanian riders in the peloton, there was plenty to see and look out for over the six stage tour in Adelaide and the surrounding hills. On nearly every stage there was a Tassie rider out the front in the break. The highlights for me were Richie Porte’s stage 5 win and seeing Will Clarke consistently in the break and winning three of the six Most Competitive Rider awards.
Here are the final placings for the Tasmanians, also known amongst the riders as the TASSIE CUP.
(First placings followed by Tasmanians)
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 Simon Gerrans (OGE) 19h57.35
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4 Richie Porte (SKY) +10
20 Cameron Wurf (CAN +2.49
30 Bernard Sulzberger (DPC) +6.11
40 Nathan Earle (SKY) +9.13
63 Wesley Sulzberger (DPC) +21.25
122 Will Clarke (DPC) +50.53
125 Matt Goss (OGE) +53.06
128 Campbell Flakemore (UniSA) +1h04.29
KOM
1 Adam Hansen (LTB) 28pts
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3 Richie Porte (SKY) 24pts
4 Will Clarke (DPC) 20pts
11 Campbell Flakemore (DPC) 12pts
17 Cameron Wurf (CAN) 6pts
SPRINT
1 Simon Gerrans (OGE) 75pts
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9 Richie Porte (SKY) 25pts
12 Will Clarke (DPC) 19pts
31 Campbell Flakemore (UniSA) 5pts
19 Matt Goss (OGE) 13pts
40 Campbell Flakemore (UniSA) 5pts
YOUNG RiDER
1 Jack Haig (UniSA) 19h59.43
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19 Campbell Flakemore (UniSA) +1h00.06
TEAM
1 Orica-GreenEdge 59h56.16
3 Drapac +3.38
4 Team Sky +4.25
17 Cannondale +35.30
19 Uni-SA +43.41
COMPETITIVE
Stage 1 Will Clarke (DPC)
Stage 2 Will Clarke (DPC)
Stage 4 Cameron Wurf (CAN)
Stage 6 Will Clarke (DPC)
WORLD TOUR RANKINGS (as of 26 January 2014)
1 Simon Gerrans 144
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4 Richie Porte 66
For the record, Richie finish the 2013 World Tour Rankings in 10th position, the highest placed Australian.
Lastly, that a look at my Tasmanian Cyclists Pinterest page. There’s also a Cycling Tasmanians Flipboard as well.
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