Tom's Photos

While most of us walk around not seeing the urban graffiti scrawl Tom is photographing it.

Manly Beach and Beyond

Paul and Karola on Manly Beach

We got the chance to catch up with Paul and Karola at North Steyne on Manly Beach on Sunday. It was a gorgeous blue sky sunshine filled Sydney day. Tom surfed with the grommets and we paddled at the water's edge while Paul went in to the still quite cold water for a swim.

Macquarie University Open Day

Governor Macquarie's Corps
Hurdy Gurdy player

The Blacksmith

Audience at the Magic Chemistry Show

Tom on stage

Olive python and friends

Flying fox bat

Eclectus parrots

Walking down the avenue under the trees

We went to the Macquarie University Open Day. I am an Alumni. I completed my Bachelor of Arts degree there in 1991. The campus has changed much since then, with lots of new buildings and research centres. Some of the old sightlines remained like the trees in the main courtyard and the central walkways. I took the kids to the Magic Chemistry Show and then to the Biology Labs. In the courtyard was a wildlife display and free fairy floss. There are a lot more ways into university now than when I attended. It is possible to study at TAFE, attend other courses connected with the university and then switch over into an undergraduate program. The emphasis on postgraduate studies now also gives graduates a lot of options re their future work.

The research Drs and Professor running the Magic Chemistry Show had a lot of fun with the audience as they dazzled us with alchemy and explosions. Tom took part in a segment creating a mirror finish in a bottle.

A Walk to Middle Harbour

Wave House
Looking to Seaforth

Alex and boatshed

Yacht at anchor

The patterns in the sandstone

The shoreline

Nick running between the row boats

The path back

It was after school on a Monday and I said to Nick and Alex "let's go on a walk". "It's too good a day to go home yet." So we drove down to the end of the Crag and walked to the point. We went past the Wave House which is designed to reflect the fractal curves of the native plants and the sea around it, down the sandstone steps to the boatsheds on the channel. The air was calm and the sun and clouds reflected into the surface of the water. We ran around the stone steps and footings at the bottom of the path and viewed the boats in the distance.

Avalon Beach

Avalon Beach under the pines in Summer - today the beach was overcast with pounding six foot swells coming in from the south east with surfers catching them across the beach to the north.

Margaret Hutchings - Owner of Bookoccino - the best bookstore in Sydney

Taking Pittwater Rd through Newport up past Bilgola Beach and down the hill to Avalon Beach Shopping Village, Nick, Alex and I stopped for lunch at IBIZIA and then visited Bookocinno to view the stacks and browse the children's literature. Of course we couldn't leave without a walk over to the beach to watch the surfers in the waves. Till next time in Avalon....

The beauty of Balmoral Beach

Bather's Pavillion
The Balmoral Rotunda

Where Megan and Mark were married

The sweep of the beach where swimmers can be found year round

View of North Head

Dog walkers paradise

Boats in the distance

Schnauzer

Looking from the pier

The baths

Into the deep

Balmoral Boatshed

Boats at anchor

View from the other end of the pier

Bather's Pavillion across the beach

If it is sunny but still a little cold then a walk at Balmoral Beach is the perfect antidote. Here are my pics from a recent walk there on Tuesday this week, the last official day of Winter.

The Marion Project

It's been on my mind for a long time. Marion Mahony Griffin. Australia does not have a physical memorial to her work. Other than the City of Canberra and the community structure of Castlecrag. In 2013 we celebrate both the centenary of Canberra and the centenary of the joint collaboration of Burley Griffin and Mahony Griffin in Australia. In our village we have a bust of Walt. However apart from the brass footplate at the Amphitheatre we don't have any mention of Marion. To this end I will put together a research document of significant places and events to do with her life and a project goal of commemorating this with a physical monument to be placed with Walt's bust in the Village. There will be a fund raising component to this to be begun at the Castlecrag Fair next year. What I know so far is that the Griffin Society holds a lecture in her name each year in Canberra and that the Legislative Assembly in the ACT passed an Act which requires the joint naming of her on all documents and archives that have survived for the creation of the City of Canberra.