Robe weekender

Robe is a quaint little town on the South East coast of South Australia - well known for its beach, fishing and 4WDing.  I like it because of its cute character, its very eclectic ice-creamery, and now, Mahalia coffee.  I've been to Robe twice, and loved it both times.  Once prior to kids, and now with kids in tow, literally.  One on a trike and one on a scooter.  We down beautiful, strong Mahalia coffee in the mornings, get the adrenalin pumping on the tracks of Little Dip Conservation Park, and then chow down on Vic Street Pizzeria pizza in the evening.  One night, the Big 4 Caravan Park put on a disco for the kids - Belle, my two year, wanted to go.  It made my heart sing.  A little two year old head banging, clapping and spinning in circles with all the big kids to Top 40 music while a disco light and coloured lights scatter beams of light all over the floor.  So worth all the drama throughout the day, and trying to get them to sleep.  Needless to say, she went to bed fine that night.  Here are some pics... [gallery link="file" columns="2"]

Sydney weekender

[gallery link="file" columns="2"] We went to Sydney for the weekend, to visit my cousin.  It was a different weekend, full of contrasts, beauty and ugly.  First off, the train from the airport out to Parramatta.  The rails felt greasy and sticky, I didn't want to touch them.  But I did enjoy the people watching, all the different cultures boarding and disembarking.  I saw mums and grans trying to keep babies happy, a mum trying to keep a toddlers face clean, teenagers bopping to headset music, businessmen sitting awkwardly, and most heart warming of all - two strangers helping a lady with a pusher off the train.  It was so nice to see that people still care and respect others - not only just in little country towns, but in Sydney.

I wouldn't normally base myself in Parramatta for a weekender, but it was an interesting area to explore.  I'd only heard negative through the media, so when I came across Church Street and all of it's cafes and restaurants with delicious food, it was a yummy surprise.  We ate very well at two fabulous restaurants, eating Turkish for lunch (at a cheaper price than what we could get in Adelaide, go the lunch deals!) and an ultra amazing Lebanese meal later in the evening.  Much later, like 10.30pm - very unusual and new for me, eating at that time.

The ferry ride into the Rocks gives a great glimpse of Sydney, and the changes in social structure and wealth as you head closer into the city.  The houses hugging onto every inch of down to the waters edge, where residents can keep watch of their yacht bopping up and down, makes me feel both envious and also invaded.  Each looks into the neighbours backyard and windows. Well, a lot of them do.

Another surpise was the Kirribilli toilet block.  We walked over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to check out the markets, and found this little toilet block in the train station.  I haven't seen plumbing that old for a while!  And back over the bridge, a world apart it seems, is The Argyle's amenities - very modern with individual toilet stations, automatic drop down basins in the centre and illuminated mens urinals at centre back stage. Wow.

Sydney put on awesome weather for us, arriving in 27 degree heat and departing just before the showers come on Sunday.  Good work and thanks goes to the rain gods for keeping it dry.  Thanks also to Qantas customer service who got us on an earlier flight, no questions asked.  Another act of kindness I don't normally expect involving aeroplanes, airports, and asking to change things.

Belle's little brother Ashton...

10 days overdue - and still not ready to meet us.  Time travel back to May 30, and I am in Flinders Medical Centre to get little Ashton to make a move on.  And move on he does, after having my waters broken.  After just two hours of labour, he is here, at 12.30pm.  Finally!  In the six or so weeks since then, he has had lots of love and cuddles from his big sister, mum, dad, and everyone else who has visited.  Ashton is not one to say no to a cuddle or two.  He has also come out on quite a few photo shoots with me - libraries to landscaping worksites and land fills.  Yikes!  He's also spent a day in the city with Grandma and Aunty Mary while I worked at Uni SA City East campus.  He certainly does get about.  Today, he's having a good sleep in his own little bed...[gallery link="file"]

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

[gallery link="file"] I thought I'd share with you some fun pics I have taken over the last few weeks... the beauty of iPhones and taking pics on a whim in my lounge room for my best friend.  I like the fun of just taking pictures with the iPhone, where all control is gone, and you only have to take the picture.  Getting back to basics - if only for a moment or two.

Daily photos continues...

So, I am trying to continue with my daily photos.  There have been a couple of days missed, some days I have made up for them, and sometimes, they have just been swept under the mat.  And then, other days, I have just taken a photo for the art of it.  I'm still enjoying it, and today I made more of an effort to find something different, rather than just looking around a 5 metre area from where I am standing. This week (or so) I have been 'told' to photograph...

food . fruit . texture . my backyard . life . old .

Hope you enjoy them!

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Daily pics...

This week I  had some fun, taking a few minutes (literally) each day to pull a theme out of my lucky dip pot, and photograph.  Here are some of the images that I have taken... The themes this week were

- looking down

- ground

- red

- ugly

- glass

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Working my creativity

For the last six weeks I have been doing a creativity course at WEA in Adelaide.  A course that works on getting everyone, as artists, unblocked.  Through the course I have decided (after procrastinating for months) to attempt taking a photo every day.  So as not to take the easy road out, I wrote down on bits of paper, and put in a box, lots of descriptions - things, emotions, textures, movement, colour.  Each day I lucky dip a theme to photograph, and photograph that with whatever camera comes to hand. Along with writing a (near) daily journal, meditating and reading and writing affirmations and gratitudes, I've found it very helpful.  It has lifted a heavy cloud off me, a cloud that had been lingering on my creative juices and passion.

Whether the photos are good or bad, it doesn't matter.  It's more about the process of taking a photo, and thinking through different ways of getting to the theme.

This set of photos is brought from randomly taking pics of wherever I am, and the themes 'packaged food' and 'light'.  By no means am I trying to say that Tiny Teddies are making us fat, it's just what I had!  The article does go on to say though, that the amount of packaged food that we eat is one (of many) cause leading to our obesity crisis we have in Australia.  Can you believe that our Aussie kids are fatter than the American kids now?!?!?

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been there done that

I've just stumbled across a great little book for travellers, and people that like to have goals and plans for the coming year.  It's a fab book called 'been there done that' -  a small book where you can tick off everywhere that you have been, and write where you want to go.  Note down where you want to go, what you want to see, what you want to do - and tick it off as you achieve it.  And, with a spot for holding your passport, it's never going to be too far away.  Check it out at http://www.haveyoubeentheredonethat.travel/en/index.html .

Vision Boards and Bucket Lists

Late 2010 I had a weekend away with a friend of mine, where we worked on what we want in life.  One of the most fun activities we did was thinking about our 'dream' life, making a bucket list and a vision board. My bucket list included lots of things, ranging from seeing a real life shark then cage diving with them (I have to see them first to make sure I'd want to actually hop in the water with them, even if there is a cage between us) to cruising tropical islands on a personally chartered yacht.  I even have some way out things on there, like meeting Richard Branson - you never know!  And then I've got simple things, like having a lush dinner party, going on a weekend spa retreat, learning to meditate... There's no end, so whenever I think of something else, I add it to the list.  And then, each year, I am going to attempt to cross off at least three things.

My vision board is similar to my bucket list, but is my ideal life.  The type of house I want to live in, the life I want to have, the things I want to do, the places I want to go.  There's a lot of travel and adventure inspired pictures on my board - where as I'm sure, many would have the luxury car and mansion on theirs.  It's just not something that jumps to mind with me - sure I'd like a nice car, but have none in mind that I really want.

I put these in my office, so I can see them every time I go in, to really make my mind believe they can happen.  Plant the seed...

Have you done yours bucket list and vision board?[gallery link="file"]

The Power to Help

I now donate a percentage of all my paid invoices to CARE, a fantastic organisation that helps women and children in third world countries.  I've also recently donated photography to Bali Kids and The Leukaemia Foundation.  I think it's important that we give back, to those who are far less fortunate than us.  Sometimes I wonder, how it has become, that we can drive around in our new shiny cars, build dream homes, and buy all the new mod cons while there are others in our world that are struggling to survive through lack of basic necessities like food, water and shelter.  We have the option of sending our children to private schools, where some families don't even have the option of sending their children to A school.  Instead, children have to stay home and earn money for the family.  And what about the children that are sick, and have no access to medical supplies or doctors to help them. I recently read an article on photographer, who worked on a project that helped raise awareness of the poverty on the land in the USA, and one of her photographs struck me to tears.  It was an image of two children, walking down a dirt road hand in hand, their hut in the background, the little child's legs bowed by disease.  Having a daughter myself, I could not imagine not being able to afford treatment or help, to improve her life.  I could not ever imagine having lost her to illness, or at childbirth, as happens many times in the developing world.

We all need to step back and see what's important, and feel what's important for us.  If we could all donate a little extra to help these people (and forgoe the updated car/entertainment system/lavish holiday), it would be of so much benefit to the people that really need it.  Time or money can help.  'Voluntourism' is on the rise, where people volunteer their time to help in a community for anwhere from a week upwards.  We can donate to a number of charities (and some great ones I've donated to include CARE and Bali Kids) and we can also buy 'gifts' to give to people, where your money goes to real aid in someone else's life.  No more duplicate toasters, socks and jocks, and other unwanted items that inevitably end up lost in landfill or in the dark of the back of the cupboard.