Just because.....!

Do you ever put a picture up just because there's something about it that grabs your imagination and for an instant transports you out of your everyday reality.. Walking along St. George's Terrace in search of a 'facade' image for July's theme, passing London Court (super link), hugely popular with tourists as well as a handy shortcut through to the Hay St. Mall for office workers on the terrace looking to do a bit of shopping or have lunch. Glancing up through the court the contrast between the suited gent walking away from me and the man walking towards me seemed worlds apart, the light appealed to me too. I hope that you enjoy it also, and that you have a wonderful weekend..take care.....

Getting to know me.....!

You would think looking at the shot above that a mega storm was about to plummet down on us at any minute. Sitting 'alfresco' :) in a cafe in Forrest Place very early yesterday morning it was a little like looking at a parallel universe, to the left above the sky was ominously 'brewing' while below to the right blue sky peeking through puffy white clouds..within a short while even they disappeared and it was blue skies all around, in fact it got to 20C with  21 forecast for tomorrow..not too shabby for the middle of winter oui!

If you look to the centre of the top shot you'll see the City of Perth information booth where you can find out about all the fabulous things happening in Perth, most of them free. The booth is attended by a team of wonderful volunteers who love Perth a much as I do, I bet if you check out the latest 'get to know me' video you'll recognize quite a few Perth City sights that have featured here over the last two years. I hope the skies are blue in your part of the world today, enjoy..take care and stay safe.. Click here to view all participants of Skywatch Friday

 

Trap, Neuter, Return..........

It has become appallingly obvious

 that our technology has exceeded our humanity..Albert Einstein 

This sad but shamefully true quote could apply to so many situations around the world today but here it is used by Cat Alliance of Australia to highlight the dire situation regarding feral cats in Australia. CAA wants to bring Australia in line with the rest of the world with the 'trap, neuter, return' solution to the cat overpopulation. While I was researching this post the Atlantic City Boardwalk Cats Project made me so happy whereas the story of Little Tom (scroll down) made me weep. Walking along the mole on Monday, we saw at least ten cats..some huddled together to keep warm, others disappearing into the cracks and crevices of the rocks. The CAA  feels that an effective program of TNR as well as shelters, rescue organizations and local councils working more effectively together could bring about a solution for a happier life for these wee creatures. It would be wonderful if people would do the right thing by not abandoning their pets when they get bored with them, but the human element can at times be extremely distasteful oui! Sorry about the rant, but sometimes you just have to put it out there :) Yesterday was one of 'those' days, hoping for a better one today..take care.....

A lighthouse moment.....!

I caught up with a friend yesterday and while sitting snugly inside Spinnakers Cafe (excellent for coffee and outlook, not sure about the food) we watched as yet another rain shower came straight towards us. For anyone who enjoys lighthouses as much as I do, this excellent link to the Bedout Island Lighthouse explains how its 1909 original lantern house, refurbished and recycled came to be sitting here 24 metres above sea level atop Hillary's Boat Harbour lighthouse (above) throwing it's beam 12 nautical miles out into the Indian Ocean! Lighthouses..functional, life saving and yet a wee bit romantic also, or is that just me :) Happy Wednesday, take care and stay safe.....

Too cool for school.....

It wasn't that easy to get the perfect shot down in the cellar but I'm going with 'it's jazz man' there's nothing straight about jazz :) The Corner House Jazz Band have been playing together for...a long time, they groove along as smoothly as the 1929 Denis Fire Engine that they own and drive in street parades. The audience ranged from mid twenties through to seventy +, the majority believe it or not being the former.  It was fantastic to see so many young people swing dancing to the traditional style jazz. While googling the buzz :) I found this short video where Roy Burton (trombonist) tells us how The Jazz Cellar came about, lateral thinking at it's best! I can see now why it's so popular..and yeh, we will be digging it again.. Hope your week has started well, little bit of rain here in Perth but not enough..happy Tuesday, take care and stay safe.....

Superman? Not even a glimpse.....!

Sorry I haven't been around much the last two days, we went out on Friday night and I had one glass of wine too many and suffered the consequences the next day :)) It was so worth it. Aimee's been telling us about The Jazz Cellar for a while and on the spur of the moment we decided..let's do it! We figured it had to be something really special as the booking arrangements were 'unusual' to say the least. We were advised to get there early, 4.30 ish, even though the band only started playing at 7.30.. with the capacity for only 100, tickets sold out fast. This has to be one of the most eclectic queues I've seen anywhere, I'm not sure who looked the oddest, it could have been P and his brother in their jackets haha!.....

The phone box 'opened' at five, and this was the scene that awaited at the bottom of the stairs. When I was researching links for this post, I read one review that said The Jazz Cellar was such a cool gig, way too cool for Perth...well you know what I say to that oui!  Get out there matey and you'll see there are many such cool spots in Perth...
Once we'd secured our table by paying the entrance fee, taking our glasses and placing them on our chosen table, I did say it was a bit offbeat, we left in search of dinner and returned around seven to find this sign on the door..phew thank goodness our table was safely booked and waiting for us to take in the show. I'll show you tomorrow what all the hype is about and end by saying a guy playing a brass instrument whether he be twenty or seventy will always be a seriously cool cat :) Hope you had a fab weekend and are ready to face a new week, I learnt one thing this weekend..two glasses of wine is my limit, pathetic huh! Take care.....

Charles Bukowski hates you, or.. l'importance de pain!.....

You'll have to look for this one..give you a clue, to the left! At first I couldn't think who Charles Bukowski was, but on reading some of his quotes I found I did recognize his unique (?) style of writing. Anyway this post isn't about Mr. Bukowski it's about l'importance de pain! True story..when I was in France a few years ago with my French amie Marie, we were sitting one morning around the breakfast table with her family and friends, moi being the only 'personne non-Français'. During a heated discussion most of which I didn't understand the words le pain, le pain came up several times..after a while I looked up from my croissant :) and asked, have you really been talking about bread for the last half an hour? With a classic French shrug she replied  'Ah oui, le pain est plus important n'est-ce pas?' Everytime I pass by a boulangerie I think of that moment and smile. I hope something makes you smile this weekend, enjoy and take care.....

High time.....!

I wish I'd waited and taken this shot an hour later! Where were you.. at ten past two, has a  much more poetic ring to it than where were you.. at ten past one :) The Scarborough Clock Tower was built to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first European settlement here in WA and the 75th anniversary of Rotary International. It's a little utilitarian for my liking, but it does suit it's location and is an easily spotted rendezvous marker. In the background the top of the ampitheatre and on the horizon..that's  the Indian Ocean, nice! Click here to see other skies around the world. TGIF for sure! Happy day, take care and stay safe.....

Fremantle encore et fini.....!

A few last shots from Fremantle before we head back up to the city. Leaving Victoria Quay after our visit to the Maritime Museum we passed the Southern Crossing Statue, depicting an anxious arrival off the ship not realising his first encounter would be with a dingo :) and a lofty 12ft bronze statue of C.Y. O'Connor, the very man responsible for the harbour itself, not to mention the astounding Goldfields Pipeline which is still in use today. It wasn't until after I downloaded that I realised the placement of Mr. O'Connor could have been a little more 'comfortable' for the new arrival.....

With one thought in mind, coffee..well ok maybe two thoughts....and cake :) we made our way up Essex Street passing along the way Angel's House, which on Googling I discovered was originally three terraced houses built in 1880 and now a trendy 'heritage listed' cafe!

Continuing up onto South Terrace known as the 'cappuccino strip we found excellent sustenance, exploring builds the appetite right..or is that just me :)  If you want 'character', Fremantle is bursting at the seams with cafes, bistros, restaurants and hotels housed in heritage listed buildings, there are those who prefer to stay in Freo and visit Perth when they come to WA, which would you choose, old or the more modern? Blue skies again today so it'll be out into the garden for moi, it's a bit like a jungle out there! Happy Thursday, take care and stay safe.....

Festival of the Solstice..earth, water, wind & fire.....

I took these shots during the huge bush fires southwest of Perth in February 2012. Started by a lightning strike Perth felt the residue of nature's fury as the flames roared through thousands of hectares of bushland destroying everything in its path. With no hope at all of any rain the fight was left in the hands of the many brave firemen who worked day and night to put out the flames.  Five minutes away from me on the beach, the sun going down a fiery red, the sea breeze enticing the smoke up along the coast, the waves crashed onto the beach unaware! Looking down the coast below it's almost impossible to see the houses on the hill behind the point, it made me smile that despite everything the youngsters here were having fab fun in the surf. I sometimes wonder if disasters like this are Mother Nature's way of reprimanding us for our negligent treatment of our environment..c'est possible oui! Enjoy more Festival of the Solstice images here. Happy Wednesday, take care.....

Monster waves and Megamouths.........

Another shot of the ceiling design of the Maritime Museum in Fremantle, this time from the upper viewing level showing the tips of the sails rising to reach their counterpart above. Like the Australia ll, the adventures of Jon Sanders aboard the Parry Endeavour are probably the better known of the exhibits here in the museum. Setting off in 1986 he was the first person to circumnavigate the world three times in just under 2 years, not stepping on dry land for 658 days. Wonder how long it took him to get his 'land legs' back in working order after that :)

The two shots above were taken left from the above level and right from ground level, the explanation for the extreme angle is this... 'It was 3am on 20 Nov 1987, Parry Endeavour is approaching Cape Horn for the third and last time. A storm is building and Jon Sanders must go up on deck to slow the yacht down. He hoists his smallest sail, the storm jib and puts out a sea brake to control the speed of the yacht. While on the foredeck he looks aft and sees a wall of water towering behind Parry Endeavour. He clings to the mast as the freezing water smashes over him!' Dear lord please let me never see a wave like that coming at me :)

 ...and just when you think it can't get any worse, you discover there are these creatures swimming around under the sea! Never fear (?) the Megamouth shark is very rare and a vegetarian, although just the sight of it may cause an 'untoward' reaction :) From whaleboats to pearl luggers these are just a few of the many fascinating sailing vessels in the museum, it took a while but I'm well pleased that we have been in and explored this truly excellent venue. Hope your week has started well, take care...

'the Greek guy who helped me out'.....!

The first thing that strikes you when you walk into the Maritime Museum in Fremantle is the design. From the fabulous ceiling to the three tiered viewing levels. Architects Cox Howlett & Bailey Woodland (excellent link alert!) 'in their own words' describe the ethos of the museum so much better than I ever could. Home to Alan Bond's Australia ll winner of the 1983 America's Cup yacht race, I remember the dispute re the design of the infamous 'winged keel' and enjoyed the story that when Ben Lexcen was accused of stealing the design he countered with "I have in mind to admit it all to the New York Yacht Club that I really owe the secret of the design to a Greek guy who helped me out and was invaluable. He's been dead for 2000 years, bloody Archimedes". Laconic Aussie humour :)

That's it below, the controversial keel that had the yacht world reeling, personally I don't know what all the fuss was about, but then again I wouldn't know my keel from my boom haha! Just a few more bits and pieces to show you from the museum before I move on, hope that you're not getting too 'nauticaled out'! The weekend zipped by much too fast for my liking, how was yours? Happy Monday, take care.....

Maritime Reflections .....

I'm a little embarrassed to say that despite many visits to Fremantle over the years, we've never ventured inside the WA Maritime Museum, that is until Friday, it's seriously fantastic inside and out. I thought I'd start with the outside and head indoors tomorrow, and yes the sky really was that blue, there were no 'touch ups' at all. Below, the steps leading to the upper level viewing area, in the shot to the right you can see how the museum is situated on the tip of Victoria Quay, designed to look straight out to the entrance of the harbor with the two lighthouses on each mole.....

The museum opened in December 2002 and in 2003 won the 'best new tourism venue', you'll see why when you visit :) Even though the rounded structure of the museum isn't anything like the more spiky outline of the Sydney Opera House, the white against the blue, blue sky and water always makes me think about it..... 

Sitting on a slipway built to service submarines during WW2 gifted to the museum in 1998 is HMAS Ovens (if you scroll right down you'll see her sitting here in her new home), one of over 160 submarines served from Fremantle, making this port the biggest allied submarine base outside Pearl Harbor, did you know that? I didn't! You can have a guided tour inside the sub but due to my claustrophobic tendencies that wasn't an option:) Do you find that since you started blogging you've discovered so much more about the city you live in than ever before? Hope you're having a good weekend, wee bit chilly here in Perth, take care.....have a look here for more Weekend Reflections.....

One hundred and ten years on......

Oh how I wish I'd taken this shot before last month's theme day :) Below, the Green Lighthouse on South Mole and if you look closely in the distance you'll see the red lighthouse on North Mole. If you scroll down on the link you'll see what the harbour entrance looked like in 1903 when the lighthouses were first built, interesting to see that the basic structure hasn't changed much. The buildings by the lighthouse are the remains of an observation post used during the war.. anti submarine nets were lowered by steel cables to let ships into the harbour and then winched up again, hard to imagine what it must have been like in those times. Hope that you're all set for a wonderful weekend, I'm hoping for a quiet one, catch up today. Take care and stay safe.....

BR, before ROA ...!

The original graffiti artist. The Great Southern Roller Flour Mill built in 1922, heritage listed in 2008 is more often than not referred to as the Dingo Flour Mill, a familiar sight to regular visitors driving along the coast road into North Fremantle the four storey high sign comes with a wee bit of history. Rumored to have been painted by Alan Bond, a signwriter pre 'tycoon' days, it was actually painted in 1940 by artist Les Nash who according to wiki was a British racing driver, hmm! sounds a bit iffy to me :)  The sign was painted over during WW2 (a target?) leaving just the faintest outline and later repainted, the whole mill was restored beautifully in 2010 with the dingo now getting a fresh coat of paint monthly, seems a tad excessive, but I guess it does get the brunt of a full salty sea breeze! Happy end of the week, take care..p.s. so ROA wasn't the first to paint oversized wild animals on buildings...interesting oui! 

Mechanical giraffes.....!

Where there's two there's usually a herd grazing nearby n'est pas? We went down to Fremantle for lunch yesterday so it's possible that a 'nautically' themed week may lie ahead :) Fremantle Harbour is the busiest port in WA and these 'giraffes' were poised and waiting to unload the many sea containers that come into port every day. Even though there was a long line of ships waiting in Gage Roads there was only one ship actually in port..haven't heard about any strike action so I'm not sure why that was. Btw the weather forecast for yesterday was rain with the chance of storms...I rest my case, the weather is definitely being 'outsourced' :) Happy Thursday, take care.....p.s. isn't that a great spot to sit and read in the bottom shot!

Life is a lot like jazz...!

Who hasn't had the hankering to play a musical instrument of one type or another, and no the comb doesn't count, although this video did make me laugh out loud :) I love a band with a lot of brass, whether it be an upbeat Ska band like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, or a more traditional big brass band, I have a soft spot for the sounds of the big shiny brass and my fantasy would be to play either the saxophone or the trombone, I have been told I'm full of hot air, it could work haha!! How about you, what instrument would you like to, or can, play? Perth is alive with the sounds of 'winter festival' music right now, tres cool! Happy middle of the week, take care..... 

9 - 18mm view.....

On the way home from an appointment in Subiaco yesterday I pulled in at Lake Monger to test out my new wide angle M.Zuiko 9-18mm lens (exciting much!) Looking south across the lake to the city I took the first two shots before changing to the 12-50mm to catch a closer look at the city reflections in the smooth surface of the lake.....

I was hoping to catch a shot of one or two of the black swans that inhabit Lake Monger but this time had to make do with a pair of old Coots :) ducking and diving for food in the shallows! Btw it IS winter here in Perth, I don't know what it's like in the eastern states, but just check out those big blue Perth skies..just saying haha! Hope you had a good weekend...happy Tuesday, um! what happened to Monday :) take care.....