Belair National Park

Cam & I went for a walk in Belair National Park, just about 1/2 hr from home. Neither of us have ever been there, but we've heard about how beautiful & huge this place can be, and were not disappointed.


When they say "Everything else" on this sign, they mean all the plants, animals, and rocks. There was tons of park and bushland in this national park. I just thought it was funny to put it on the sign...

Government house, a summer house for the governor, really wasn't as large as it appears in this image. We didn't go in (it was closed by the time we passed by after our hike), but they do have tours. The garden surrounding it was pretty nice, and there was a nursery that sold native plants next door.

"Walladar" is a word I made up to stand for looking out for koalas. Its a combination of "walla" short for "koala" and a shortened version of radar. Cam was smoking & found 4 to my 1, but then I came back for a final score of Cam 6 to my 5. We asked someone if they were looking at a koala just before leaving & she was convinced that the same one followed us & moved faster than us!

This view was a lookout near a "waterfall." Although we aren't in a drought, South Australia isn't really flowing with fresh water like Ohio. You never see a "creek" unless it is after a rain. The infrastructure of this lookout is anticipation of the flooding that occurs. Its feast or famine I guess.

The coolest part of this walk was this tunnel that you walked through to pass under a RR. The blackberries along the trail were daunting & over our heads on the approach. Ivy covered the other end, creating a mysterious exit.

Cam & I are enjoying Australia Day (celebrating someone coming on-shore near Sydney for the first time). We are listening to TripleJ and the "hottest 100" countdown of the best 100 songs of 2011. Its a sweet countdown that you can hear on-line. Check out

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/11/

On Line artile about newest exhibition

Check out this on-line article with some quotes from yours truly about the current exhibition at the Unley Museum...Silver Selection from our Collection. 70 people chose 70 things that meant something to them from our collection that is 25 years old.

I'm most proud of the photos! The article is on the bottom right.

http://www.indaily.com.au/default.aspx?iid=58714&startpage=page0000001#folio=010

Industry & Museums in New South Wales

Of course, what vacation of ours would be complete without a little archaeology, industry, and a museum or two?


Lets start with the first blast furnace to smelt iron ore in Australia! You probably can't read the sign, but this site was originally built in 1864 to create iron. The history of the operations were not nearly as successful as the WPF in NY, but there were similarities: huge stone foundations, salamanders the size of a desk, iron bolts a-plenty. I stumbled upon this place, which was adjacent to a car parking lot that interpreted and left open some of the archaeological remains.



Like many industrial complexes, this one was pretty substantial. The area is rich not only in iron ore but also granite to build the facility. The interpretation was very well done. Cam & I even picked up a little lunch and were yelled at by a security guard because we touched a sign while discussing the process.


Between Sydney & the farm is Goulburn and they boast at having a very powerful waterworks with in-situ original pumping engines and boilers. They rev them up each month and have a bit of an open house that helps to draw visitors. The town of Goulburn relied on this station from 1885 until the 1977.


There is an Appleby Beam Engine that transmits motion from the pistons to a crank. This engine was steam powered and later replaced by an electric engine.









These boilers needed to be kept going throughout the night when the beam was rocking. There is a small house that was built at the same time to accommodate the boiler - keeper and his family. Today a care-taker resides on the property. While we were there, the spot was very well-visited by the local youth as a swimming hole. I'm pretty sure that people have been swimming there even when it was the town's water supply.





Finally on our tour, I'd like to take you to an exhibit about "lace" in different forms. This wasn't your grandmother's lace, but thinking of patterns where the empty space is as important as the actual space.



This was at the Powerhouse museum and Cam, Lachlan, and I went there one afternoon. The web of iron and the aluminum shield were both amazing pieces, especially with the light. I could appreciate the movement of the pieces of material as they gently swayed with people walking by.



Lachlan wanted to see if his hair was going to stick up, but it didn't. All well, the trip was fun nonetheless.

Around Sydney - Town Dec/Jan

Cam and I really enjoyed ourselves over the Holidays & thought I'd share some shots with you of the festivities. Some of these are from our weekend of Michelle's graduation. Here is Cam, me, MaryEd, & Michelle at the Oaks, a fantastic restaurant that lets you cook your own food to your liking.







Marg, Tony, and Ian all were in Sydney for Michelle's BBQ party at the Harnell's house overlooking the harbor.





Cam, Michelle and I all went on a great little walk around the outside of the zoo.


The zoo was like a zoo with lots of people who were in town for the fireworks. We caught amazing views of the harbor, noticed a guy with binoculars staring into the boats, and accidentally ran into two groups of wedding photos. This shot clearly indicates the great trail, well maintained. The only problem: you can't bring dogs. Still a great walk if you are ever in Sydney with little to do...

Christmas 2011 (mostly in New South Wales)

Before Cam & I left for Christmas, I went to my office party. I was trying to think of home, but was much too hot in my outfit of the warm scarf my brother gave me for Christmas a few years back. I played my first ever lawn-bowls game. It was more difficult than it looks, but I held my own. I think we bent the rules a bit, but the winning team you see below came out on top.


We gave very small gifts to the Harnell kids who live in Bowral, NSW. We bought a card game called "skip-bo" by the makers of Uno, but I found it kinda hard. I think it would be better with more players.


The best part about new games is playing with them! Here is Amelia with Olive the Octopus very good at being a "hot potato."





Christmas dinner was shrimp (prawns here is the land down under), oysters (that I don't particularly like and don't eat), deviled eggs (ewww) and more prawns! Those were yummy & non-meat just like home.





I was lucky enough to capture Marg's expression upon receiving her gift from her two kids: Scott & Michelle. Its a Michelle original, but just check out her face! S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E!

Cam & I were pretty good this year because we got some sweet presents. We opened more presents at home (seemed silly to fly them across the country just to fly them back). The scarf & necklace are from Cam's parents, as is Cam's "Obamao" t-shirt making Obama look like Mao.

Early December & Michelle's Graduation

We celebrated Michelle's graduation from the National Art School by having a whole group of us go to her school. It is located in a former prison & the award ceremony was in a former "cell block." They've taken out all the floors (can you see the staircase on the wall behind the people?) and have a raised stage at one end. Michelle won an award (that is her in black receiving it).


Michelle's Dad came from the US for the occasion as well as her Mom, Cam, me, and a bunch of friends & other family. Here is Michelle with her Dad (originally a Canadian, now in CA).




Tony bought one of Michelle's originals: "Herb & Dorothy". Named after a couple on TV, these two convex & concave pieces look really fantastic when hung right next to each other. They live down at the farm now.



Michelle was the star of the photos posing with everyone! This is her Mom who came down from Cains. The red painting behind her was sold to a hospital in Sydney & should be gracing a hallway there this year! Michelle sold almost all of her pieces (2 did not sell, but she had 10+).

The whole group got a quick shot, except for Shawn who was buying some of Michelle's boxes. I love this shot with Michelle and her entourage!



Some final images to show you the rest of her paintings. She used similar techniques on all of them, but this blue one was the earliest I think. There was black, red, purple, blue, and green large paintings. Congrats on your graduation Michelle & getting into honors!