Sydney for a Day

I went to Sydney today...

Got up at 3am

drove to Brisbane 1hr 45mins away

flew to Sydney

which took 1hr 20mins

Visited the US Consulate

for a multiple entry-long term visa

and had time to walk down Pitt Street

to the harbour

take a few pics on my iphone

before returning to the airport

delayed one hour because of high winds

flew to Brisbane

drove home to Noosa

~ What a long Day ~

But look at Circular Quay

the area of the Sydney Harbour

between the Sydney Harbour Bridge

and the Sydney Opera House

two stunning pieces 

of man made engineering

and architecture

we mingled with the tourists

walking the shoreline

near the very Bay

that Captain James Cook

stepped foot on 

way back in 1788

222 years ago

Cook sailed into Botany Bay

just south of Circular Quay

on the HMS Endeavour

The British planned 

a penal colony for Botany Bay

which in time became the first 

European habitation of Australia

 

 

 

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Tom Kristensen ~ Ukiyo-e

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Seagulls



Tom Kristensen 1962-
is an Australian

Conjurong Beach



a landscape designer by profession,
who is also a Sosaku Hanga artist

Currawongs


an avid collector
of Japanese art prints
and inspired
by the prints of Paul Binnie
he decided to teach himself
wood block printing

Dunes and Fence



and learned most of what he knows
from the internet!

Grass and Banksia



Like other Sosaku Hanga artists
he carves and prints his own work

Moonlight



Kristensen's images
are based on digital photography
which he has computer manipulated

Pigface



Whist his images may begin
in the age of technology
he uses traditional Japanese tools,
mulberry washi and mineral pigments

Post and Rail



most of these prints
are from a series titled:
Thirty six views of Green Island

Rock Platform

Although Kristensen has had
no formal training in art
and held no exhibitions

Flotsam



his work is greatly admired
and sought after
by lovers of Ukiyo-e




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Hot Stuff

Hot Stuff

on my walk

I noticed the ginger

flowering

 

Shell Ginger

is a clumping ornamental ginger

called Alpinia zerumbet

 

sometimes referred to as

Pink Porcelain Lady

 

The shell ginger

has sweet bell shaped

pink and white flowers

 

 with a bright yellow inside petal

showing red spots and stripes

 

The rhizome

is native to South East Asia

 

and grows well in this climate

 

The other ginger

the hot stuff

is also a rhizome

called Zingiber officinale

from the Sanskrit word siugabera

meaning shaped like a horn

In the early 1900s

ginger was planted at Buderim

a town one hour's drive

south of Noosa

on the Sunshine Coast

The ginger was used

for the domestic market

Up until that time

ginger had been imported

from China

 

During the war times

when supply was difficult

to obtain from China

a plantation was developed

and now the industry provides ginger

and ginger products

to 17 countries

around the world

The Buderim Ginger Factory

produces a range of ginger products

marmalades and jam

preserves

chutneys

toppings and sauces

beverages and confectionery

but my favourite

is crystalised ginger

which I love to eat

with walnuts

or almonds

 

 Ginger is one of man's earliest medicines

It first appears

in China's Pen Tsao Ching

a classic of herbs

circa 3000 BC

and is mentioned by Confucius

for its health properties

as a carminative

aiding digestion

It is also frequently mentioned

in Greek and Roman literature

Ginger was one of the original

Silk Road products

I like to use fresh ginger in Asian cooking

drop a few slices into a pot of tea

and

on a hot day drink ginger and lime cordial

or sip an ice cold ginger beer...

and of course

there are many

wonderful baking recipes

using ground ginger

Delicious hot stuff

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Humpback Whales

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Humpbacks at Noosa...

When I told my physio
yesterday
about seeing whales
he offered me his photographs
taken last week in his boat
off the Noosa Headland
and said
I was welcome to post them




Not only is he a Physiotherapist
extraordinaire
he is a very generous
and kind man





Humpback whales migrate
from the cold waters of the Antarctic
via the South Island of New Zealand
to the warm waters of Hervey Bay,
at the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef
about a two hours drive north of Noosa




They arrive late July for calving
and remain until November
giving birth in the sanctuary of Hervey bay
before returning to the Antarctic





About 3000 Humpbacks
make this annual pilgrimage
and although they are an endangered species
their numbers are increasing





While Humpbacks
are the size of eleven elephants
they are the most acrobatic
of the big whales
They leap and roll and breach
with amazing grace and power
Adult whales have been seen
to breach 20-30 times
within the space of five minutes




The humpback whale
is classified as a rorqual
which means that
he has a dorsal fin on his back
and ventral pleats running
from the tip of his lower jaw
to the navel area

Humpbacks feed on krill
which are small thumb sized
prawn like animals
and also crustacea




They can eat 1-8 tonnes of krill per day
but they only eat in the summer
in the feeding grounds of Antarctica
25% of their summer intake
is stored as fat
for the great winter migration





Mating and birthing
occur in the warm waters of Hervey Bay
Gestation takes 11-12 months
the calves are 5m long at birth
and weigh 1.5 tonnes




The cow's milk has a high fat content of 35%
and 600 litres is produced per day
by the mothers

Whales have the longest
and most varied songs
in the animal world
The sounds are made
by the movement of air
through the body passages




Sounds are organised into sequences
of 10-15 minutes duration
and repeated without pause for hours
The sequences are arranged in cycles
characteristic of each population of whales
so that all of the humpbacks in one area
sing only the local song




Only male humpbacks sing
and only in the breeding season




The songs evolve over time
and each year it is a little different
but every change is picked up
and incorporated into the current sequence




The songs may function as a sexual display
advertise the presence of a breeding mate
and keep the family group together
but the complexity of the songs
suggest that there is more to it than that...





This year
with my broken ankle
I saw no whales heading North
save for a distant glimpse yesterday




I am hoping for some good sightings
in November



One year I was out very early
at 5.30 am
with Beloved,
being put through our fitness paces
on a little rocky outcrop
overhanging a tiny bay
on the headland
when our P.T. noticed
a mother and calf sheltering
directly below us
in the shallow waters...




so I am hopeful...





~

Photographs by Peter Hogg
Information gathered from Discover Hervey Bay
HerveyBay.com.au





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Red Dust

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Red Dust...

Australia is known
for its red centre
But yesterday
high winds
swept tonnes of sand and soil
off Lake Eyre Basin
in the heart of Australia
and sucked it 3km into the sky

the dust storm
swept up through three states
dragging up millions of tons of soil
the plume grew to 1500km long
and 400km wide
and overnight it
painted Sydney red

Harbour and air traffic
came to a stand still
and road traffic
was severely compromised

By the middle of the day
the now lightened clouds
had travelled over 1000km
to my capital city Brisbane

At 3pm
in my home town of Noosa
120 km north of Brisbane
the hot North winds
were replaced by the South Eastern
dust laden clouds

This is a rare phenomena
but not unknown

Australia has experienced
the second driest winter on record
soils were loose
and flew off the land
at 140,000 tonnes an hour

We closed all windows
and taking these pictures
the dust filled by nostrils
and made me smell
and taste dirt
for the remainder of the day

it sent the Brahminy kites
into a bit of a frenzy

By 4pm the dust pall
had thickened

what can you see from up there

my views became
sepia coloured

overnight the clouds blew
over the coast
and out to sea

heading for New Zealand
I will ring my Mother later
and see if they arrived
as scheduled

today the skies
were pristine clear
and the ocean still
and gently glistening

It was a glorious day
to set out early for a walk
before the temperatures reached 29*C



It was a day of
whales
dolphins
a great grandaddy goanna

and dead batteries



ah well...
It was still a blessed day




Australia is certainly
a land of contrasts





the first four photos come from Ninemsn


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After the Rain

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After the Rain...

After the rain
the air is full of life,
the dust is washed away

and the park sparkles
in the early morning sun

the plants speak
their secret language of green

and the world
that I walk in
listens

both below

and above
are clear and bright











Hello
who have we here

up in the tree

an athletic young fellow
climbs through the gum tree
on the ocean's edge

hungry after
a noisy wet night

when feeding usually occurs

he is keen
to sample leaves

and goes out on a limb

climbing higher

do you think the juicy ones
are way up here...

maybe even higher...

he launches himself

through the tree

in search
of fresh green leaves

newly blessed
by the night's rain






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