Anzac Day.....

A Tribute to ANZAC Day

With their hair a little whiter, their step not quite so sure
Still they march on proudly as they did the year before.
Theirs were the hands that saved us, their courage showed the way
Their lives they laid down for us, that we may live today.

From Gallipoli's rugged hillsides, to the sands of Alamein
On rolling seas and in the skies, those memories will remain.
Of airmen and the sailors, of Lone Pine and Suvla Bay
The boys of the Dardenelles are remembered on this day.

They fought their way through jungles, their blood soaked desert sands
They still remember comrades who rest in foreign lands.
They remember the siege of old Tobruk, the mud of the Kokoda Trail
Some paying the supreme sacrifice with courage that did not fail.
To the icy land of Korea, the steamy jungles of Vietnam
And the heroic battle of Kapyong and that epic victory at Long Tan.

Fathers, sons and brothers, together they fought and died
That we may live in peace together, while at home their mothers cried.
When that final bugle calls them to cross that great divide
Those comrades will be waiting when they reach the other side.

Ken Bunker

The State War Memorial above is the venue for the Dawn Service, the beginning of a full program of events (see link) planned each year on the 25th April for Anzac Day..It'll be an early start this morning, around 4.30am, watching the sun come up over the city while the bugle plays The Last Post followed by a silence and the Reveille and joining thousands of other Perthites to honour the Anzacs is a memorable experience..and thankfully it won't be raining, just 'dewing' heavily :) Have a good Thursday, take care and stay safe.....

Jamie's in the house.....!

Thanks so much for the good vibes, I think I'm just about ready to 'go out on a limb' for that certain shot again :) and to celebrate this, plus a successful result to a difficult work project for P and even though I missed it on the day, my two year bloggaversary last week, we went into the city on Monday to experience the Jamie Oliver phenomena that hit Perth a few weeks ago. Jamie's Italian, only the second to be opened in Australia so far, the first being in Sydney natch, but pretty chuffed that he picked Perth for the second, is going down a treat with Perthites as you can see from the queue above, this was at 6pm on a Monday night..CRAZY! Thankfully we got there early and walked straight in, I'm not a fan of queuing no matter how good the food is. Check out that chandelier below left, fabulous!..

The food was excellent, locally sourced in season fruit and veg, freshly made pasta and to start, the 'planks of antipasti' (below left) that are a Jamie specialty. On the right 'honeycomb cannelloni '.. mine, pukka tucker!

My sister on returning from the 'ladies' said 'get in there with your camera quick before it gets busy'..a few odd looks later and with a grin on my face I came out with the two shots below, how very Jamie, ever the  joker and so very British haha!

Don't you love it when you can look into the kitchen of a restaurant and see all the action going on? To cope with the volume coming through thick and fast this kitchen was amazingly organized, with smart, stripey aproned waiters at the ready to whisk delicious dishes off to eager diners. All in all the evening was a bit of alright, the dogs bollocks as they say in ye olde Motherland :) Perth is in love with Jamie and I think when he sees those queues he'll be well pleased! Looking forward to catching up with what's been going on in your part of the world today, happy Wednesday, take care and I hope you've all stayed safe.....

Purple haze.....

I took these 'blue' shots when we were having dinner at Hillarys Boat Harbour on Wednesday evening. Such a wonderful time to catch the light as the sun slips down below the horizon and gives off that magical glow.. I'm not feeling the 'magical glow' myself right now, I may have to take a short break for a day or two to pull myself together :) Hope you're having a good weekend, take care and catch you soon..

Disappearing skyscrapers.....

This is what Aimee saw while walking across the Horseshoe Bridge from Northbridge into the city on her way to work early (7am) on Thursday morning, the shot below is from her office on the 13th floor, the tops of the skyscrapers were mysteriously enveloped in a thick blanket of fog, caused by the higher than usual humidity levels, somewhere in the 90% range at that time according to the Bureau of Meteorology, seriously uncomfortable! Thanks for letting me use these super shots Aimee. Hope you have a good weekend, it's a busy one for me here in Perth..thank goodness for painkillers haha! Take care and stay safe. p.s. thanks so much for all the anniversary wishes :)

Inside out....!

We had a bit of an 'anniversary thing' on Wednesday and after showing Bella Fonte from the outside looking in last week we decided to see what it looked like from the inside looking out. We arrived just as the sun was going down and caught some quite nice 'blue' shots, show you tomorrow. Looking out at the marina from the verandah on a warm balmy night was not so bad :) couldn't resist playing a bit, the same scene below with a bit going on! 

The food was excellent, a bit pricey, but for a 'once in a while' and that view it was worth it.. I had Tasmanian Salmon with a leek sauce on a bed of garlic mash and broccolini below, yum. Aimee had gnocchi and P chicken parmigiana, I always think that's a rather old fashioned dish but I guess it's just typically Italian....

As far as I'm concerned dessert is the best part of any meal and it's always difficult to make a choice, so we did the only sensible thing and ordered three different desserts and had a taste of each, the sticky date pud below, glistening with caramel sauce was tops for me, but the chocolate mousse and the icecream sundae weren't too shabby either. The trouble with eating all that food and not being able to exercise because of the 'bad back' issue, there's only one place for that sticky date pud to go..I think I may be sitting on it right now haha! Happy Friday, take care.....

Location, location, location.....!

When you, by a stroke of luck, manage to catch one of the smaller, quicker birds in your lens you can totally understand the thrill of the dedicated birder. I'm not sure if I could be that committed, but it certainly was a buzz to catch this pair of Singing Honeyeaters when I was taking yesterdays shots .. there it was perched on the highestbanch of the bush singing loudly, sweet! Talk about location, location, location. This pair were nesting in a bush along the sand dunes, surrounded by a plentiful supply of berries, small insects AND the perfect lookout! Btw that blue blur in the background is the Indian Ocean, so add a fabulous view to the list of pluses :) Happy Thursday, take care and stay safe.....

Over the rooftops.....

You might wonder what this shot is all about but if I tell you that the outline on the horizon (you might have to pull it in a little closer) is Rottnest Island and that the island is approximately 25 km offshore AND it was a cloudy day, I'm well pleased that I could even see it at all through my new 75 - 300 (150 - 600) lens..yes I couldn't wait, so it's baked beans on toast for the next month haha! I took this shot above yesterday looking over the coastal suburb of Hillarys...and below from the coast road, the yacht was barely visible to the eye, I found it while trying to catch the helicopter. Once again yesterday the world awoke to the tragic news of another senseless act of violence, this time in Boston USA, things like this really shake one's confidence in the superiority of the human brain, when I end off everyday with take care and stay safe, I sincerely mean it..Happy Wednesday, hope it's a good one.....