RedInk

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3

Art Deco
2007-11-11 13:44:00
Where   : Turramurra, Ku-ring-gaiWhen    : 1-40pm, Wednesday 7th November 2007Weapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Two buildings in contrast, both situated on the Pacific Highway at Turramurra. The art deco building on the left was originally owned by the Commonwealth Bank, but is now a spa and beauty salon for the blue rinse, pearls and 4711 (who remembers that perfume ?) set of Wahroonga and Turramurra. Some of the old biddies coming out of here look, by their eyes, that either they are in a state of permanent surprise and amazement, or they have just done a couple of rounds with Henry Cooper. Next door, is a great example of late 19th Century Australian colonial building - this two storey edifice was built around the same time as the North Shore railway.Next door, ironically, are the rooms of the local optometrist and an occupational therapist. Incidentally, Turramurra is an Aboriginal word meaning 'high hill’ or 'big hill'. When the railway was o...
More About: Deco

Going Potty
2007-11-10 08:02:00
Where   : Terrey HillsWhen    : 2-30pm, Saturday, 10th November 2007Weapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Decorator pots - every style, shape, size, texture and colour - for gardens and indoors up to foyer quality. This is my wife's favourite potty place. It's an amazing collection of imported glazed and unglazed pots in sandstone, terracotta and some ceramics. There's also a selection of above ground pools, 1/2 wine casks, classical garden statuary, whimsical fauna and some interesting water features. End of commercial. "No, I do not have any interest in this business !" I am however grateful to the helpful management at Decorator Terracotta on the Mona Vale Road at Terrey Hills, who allowed me to take a few photographs.  Thanks girls.
More About: Goin

Who's a Pretty Boy
2007-11-09 12:40:00
Where   : Turramurra, Ku-ring-gaiWhat    : Sulphur-crested CockatooWeapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 This sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) landed in our bird-feeder this morning. It's a large white parrot, measuring 45cm - 50cm (that's a lot of parrot), with a near-black bill, yellow crest and wash on the underside of the wings. They are VERY aggressive and noisy, emitting a distinctive loud screech, and can live for up to 70 years. They feed on berries, seeds, nuts and roots and anything a rat might eat - including electrical cable ! Sadly, they are susceptible to a widespread viral disease known as Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD), which causes the birds to lose their feathers and grow grotesquely shaped beaks. We have one of these in this flock too; the other birds treat it as a leper, which is very sad as without a beak, eating some foods is difficult.
More About: Pretty

The Sphinx Down Under
2007-11-08 07:18:00
Where   : Turramurra, NSWWhen    : Wednesday, 7th November 2007, 2-20pmWeapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 This is "The Sphinx", carved out of the surrounding bush sandstone by 5756 Pte. W. T. Shirley as a memorial to fallen A.I.F. comrades.  The Sphinx is approximately 1/8th the size of the Great Sphinx, located on Egypt’s Giza Plateau. Private W.T. Shirley of the 13th Battalion was severely gassed in WWI, and while a patient at Lady Davidson Homes in Turramurra, in Sydney, he carved this monument in remembrance of his friends who died in the conflict. With the added complications of a tuberculosis infection, it took him 18 months to do the work The ailing William Shirley died in 1929, leaving an unusual legacy in stone to be contemplated by the many bush walkers who today enjoy the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. There is an inscription that reads "To my glorious comrades of the A.I.F by the late W. Shirley No 5756 Pte. 13th Battalion ...

Nothing Like a Dane
2007-11-07 08:42:00
Where   : Cowan, NSWWhen    : Wednesday, 7th November 2007, 4-30pmWeapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Here we have 3 MZ class diesel locos bought recently secondhand from Denmark by Independent Railways of Australia (ex Lachlan Valley Rail). These 3 old girls (MZ 1429, 1427 and 1443) are hitched in tandem, pulling a long container train with no empty flat-tops.  The train is parked at the siding at Cowan, 30 kilometres north of Sydney, presumably waiting for an evening slot after the rush hour and curfews kick out, before coming down into Sydney through Hornsby.  I guess it needs three locos to pull a train like this up the steep hill from the Hawksbury River. The MZ locos are ancient, built in 1972 – they are antiques - 35 years old. These are MZ Series III, 20 Cylinder Diesels, Co-Co wheels, 2865 kilowatt rated for 165 kilometres/per hour (that’s a joke on our tracks, they’d be lucky to get to 100 kilometres/hour) and 121-126 tonnes, so that'...

North Sydney
2007-11-06 08:59:00
Where   : North Sydney When    : Tuesday, 6th Nov 2007, 1-00pmWeapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 This is the north shore of Sydney, right opposite the CBD and Opera House. North Sydney is also a prime business area, with a concentration of high rise buildings cascading down to overshadow a cluster of Victorian cottages on the foreshore. This is the insurance and I.T. head office district - a great place to work. Of course it is Spring here - you can see the Jacaranda trees in flower. Sydney is dressed in purple at the moment. I have two Jacarandas in my garden, but they won't flower for 2 weeks - I'll put a photo of our trees up in a few days - if the flowers survive the current downpours.There is a miscellany of architectures here, from the newest reflective glass facades of the 1990s and this Century, back to the masonry styles of the 1960s to 1980s. Moving closer to the water, we can then see the brick houses of earlier parts of the 20C and then finally...

The Amazing Hornsby Water Clock
2007-11-05 10:00:00
Where   : Horn sby, SydneyWhen    : Monday, 5th Nov 2007, 8-30amWeapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 This was my lucky day - the clock is working ! The Water Sculpture in Hornsby Mall was created in 1993 by sculptor Victor Cusack. The sculpture and barge unit weighs 20 tonnes and stands eight metres tall. Often the clock is out of action, being a target for the local vandals who seem to think it's funny to add washing powder or pink dye into the pool. This seems to stuff the mechanics of the action. The artwork incorporates three ancient water clock designs :- a Greek Clepsydra Clock ; a Pendulum Clock; and a Chinese Water Wheel.
More About: Amazing

Brooklyn Fishing Fleet
2007-11-04 11:32:00
Where   : Brooklyn , Hawksbury RiverWhen    : Sunday, 4th November 2007, 6-00pmWeapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 This is Brooklyn, on the Hawksbury River, about 20 minutes from my home. This is a top spot, with a small marina ... not a lot of tourists here, but a few ferals, bikies and day-trippers. Locally, there are lots of market gardens up river on the flats and lots of mangrove stands (more than 10 sq kms) and important prawn, oyster and other molluscs in the lower reaches. This is NSW's third largest oyster producer. Brooklyn still has its awkward, rather primitive, run-down Australian charm. Today, there were 3 or 4 fishing boats tied up, with their nets out to dry, slung over the rails of the jetty. I think these must be estuary fishermen, as is it's a fair way out to sea from here. Fishing is good here on the river for bream, snapper, whiting or flathead. It is very bright and yes, the water really is that blue in this sunshine.
More About: Fleet , Leet

South Pacific Cruising
2007-11-03 09:30:00
Where   : Darling Harbour, SydneyWhen    : Saturday, 3rd November 2007, 3-00pmWeapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Here's the Pacific Sun, tied up and waiting to get on with its Summer cruising program. This is a reasonably big ship, some 46,000 tonnes, built in 1986.  She carries 1900 passengers and has 9 decks. The Pacific Sun is a modern, luxury liner of the P&O Line. I came to Australia on the SS Britanis.  She was built at Massachusetts as the Monterey in 1932, for the Matson Navigation Company and was 17,000 tonnes.  She later became the Matsonia and later the Lurline.  Finally, the ship was sold to Chandos Lines and became SS Britanis, making many trips to Australia full of assisted migrants, like me. We sailed to Australia the long way round, via the Cape of Good Hope, as the Suez Canal was closed due to the Gulf War. Departing on July 4th 1971, the journey took us from South ampton to Las Palmas, Dakar, Capetown, Fremantle, Ade...
More About: South Pacific

Banksia Serrata
2007-10-31 13:21:00
Where   : Bobbin Head, Cowan CreekWhen    : Wednesday, 31st October 2007, 7-55amWeapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Banksia Serrata (after Sir Joseph Banks and the Latin meaning "saw edged"), also known as "Old Man Banksia" for unknown reasons, may reach 15 metres in height in favourable conditions. Prolific in suburban Sydney, it is often only 5 metres or so, forming a gnarled and stunted small tree with blackened rough bark as a result of surviving many bush fires. The wood is a beautiful red colour and the thick rough bark allows it to regenerate by sending out epicormic shoots from beneath the bark a week or so after the fire has passed. In exposed coastal areas the plants may develop a prostrate habit of growth and these forms generally retain that habit in cultivation away from the coast (eg Banksia serrata "Austraflora Pygmy Possum", a form from the south coast of New South Wales).

Last of the Big Danglers
2007-10-30 13:31:00
Where   : Hawksbury River, New South WalesWhen    : Tuesday, 30th October 2007, 10-35amWeapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Here's a shot of a local fisherman, recently spotted on the Hawksbury at Brooklyn. This breed of tough, hardened dangle anglers, local men of the fish, is dying out fast, bringing to an end a long history on the Hawksbury River. Note the wizened features, the working class hands that have only ever driven a pen, a mouse, a bottle opener and a fishing rod - the kind eyes, the cool dude glasses, the warm heart and the weathered face of a million dead catfish - not to mention the cheap Swatch watch bought from a Delhi street trader. Such are the features typical of the big danglers of the Hawksbury. There's a couple more below in the previous post.
More About: Angle

Boys Big Day Out
2007-10-30 12:29:00
Where   : Brooklyn, Hawksbury River, New South WalesWhen    : Tuesday, 30th October 2007, 10-30amWeapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Had a great day today - been out fishin'. My pal Max has scored a boat - so we went off at 6-30am this morning up to the Hawksbury River, which flows in part through the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. From my place, this is just 15 minutes up the F3, and there we are, launching at Brooklyn and on the water shortly after 7-00pm. Magic. Max is the driver and our Captain. Paul and I are the deckhands. Here's 2 of us ... not saying who is which, but they're a handsome couple. I caught 3 catfish and Paul got a small bream, so not a big catch !  We were out there until 2-15pm, so a long day. We chucked the catfish back - jeez, they're an ugly, slimy looking fish, with a nasty looking barb on the neck. This is a view from the back of Max's boat, looking up the Hawksbury River from the F3 Brooklyn Bridge. You wouldn't be de...
More About: Boys , Big Day Out

It's a Mad Mad 4WD World
2007-10-28 12:29:00
Where   : TurramurraWhen    : Saturday, 27th October 2007, 5-00pmWeapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Here we are in a leafy Northern Suburb of Sydney, late one afternoon this weekend. I was driving past my local shopping strip, it's small, maybe 6 or 7 shops only ... let me see ... chemist, butcher, green grocer, small supermarket, fast food chicken, grog shop and dry cleaners. 7 shops. There is some room for parking round the back of the shops, but just look what the local shoppers are driving.  There are six large 4WDs here and 2 AWD wagons ... not unusual I might add.  People movers, recreational vehicles, vans with CD players and everything that opens and shuts. I don't care what you call them - urban tanks. They're all here ... Toyota Landcruiser Mitsubishi Pajero Range Rover Subaru Outback Honda CR-V Nissan Patrol ... then there's the Mercedes, Porsche Cayenne, BMW and Volkswagon desert busters.  These are the vehicles that M...
More About: World

Death on the Doorstep
2007-10-28 02:32:00
Where   : TurramurraWhen    : Sunday, 28th October 2007, 11-00amWeapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 One of the compromises involving difficult decisions is that relating to family pets, and the consequences and responsibilities. Owning a cat in any environment comes with its own problems.  This is brought into stark reality perhaps once a fortnight in our family home, with the premature termination of the life of one of God's wild creatures.Last night, our cat "Mr. Kip" a fine, handsome, de-sexed, tatoo'd, tagged and warm icon of his marque, presented us with an innocent pigeon, at least I think this is what it was. We would rather it was a member of the local rat brigade, but too often it is a possum, lorikeet or lizard.  Oh dear - yes I know, bring in the dog and lock up the cat !   Don't go back.  Yakkety-Yak. Now, for the nasty bit - no shovel, two plastic bags - no guts, ugh, I hate this but not as much as the dea...
More About: Death