11 hours ahead of the UK, the New Year came to Oz.
Compared to the UK, a more refined affair out here in the suburbs since private firwork displays are banned. Even still there were two displays visible from where we are.
Anyway, at the stroke of midnight the three of us who were brave (or stupid) enough dived into the pool, OK for me used to UK temperatures, a bit chilly for Sheldon and Helen.
We’d planned to go out into the Blue Mountains, but our planned stops (Wentworth Falls and Echo Point) were far busier than the previous times we had been there. Finding nowhere practical to park we decided to go back down to the Megalong Valley for lunch at the tea-rooms.
Checking out a map, we decided to follow the Great Wetern Highway up to Mount Victoria and turn north coming back through the national park on a parallel route along Bells Line of Road.
The difference between the two routes is spectacular, the windy mountain roads of the Great Western Highway and Darling Causeway give way to farmland, orchards and ranches along the more northerly route and as you get towards Richmond, the panorama opens up across the low lands towards Sydney.
This route took us past Mount Tomah and the Botanic Gardens there, a pleasant break on the drive.
It’s A$10 to get to Sydney and back by train, but for an extra A$7 you can buy a ticket that gives you unlimited travel on busses, trains and ferry services throughout Sydney.
With this in mind we caught the train to Parramatta the furthest reach of Sydney Harbour and the ferry from there to Circular Quay (the part of Sydney Harbour that everyone is familiar with.)
The Parramatta river once polluted by industry is now clear and as we passed down the river we saw ibis, pelicans, egrets and most suprisingly a solitary penguin on the bank.
We were hoping to get down to the harbour for the new year fireworks, but having seen all the run up to it on the news it doesn’t seem like that good an idea.
Basically the whole of Sydney will be stuffed shoulder to shoulder with people. I remember a Billy Connolly monologue where he goes on about the stambede out of the shipyards at the end of the day and hoping that the rush wasn’t being led by someone heading for a cliff, this seems like the same sort of situation.
After a lot of contemplation I bought one of these to bring along with me to Australia. Initially wondering if it was worth the outlay to replace a perfectly servicable camera that I’ve had for years, especially for one that on the face of it is much bulkier than my previous ones.
Well so far on my journey, this camera has worked exceptionally well, shots that would have been a total blur on my old camera (shot from the back of a Harley or on a boat cruise) have with the aid of image stabalisation come out pin sharp, even when using the full 12x optical zoom.
I’ve found it rare to need the flash as the camera copes extremely well in low light and this undoubtedly is part of the reason that the batteries seem to last forever, my first set of alcaline batteries must have lasted well over a month (my old camera used to chew up a set of batteries every day even if you didn’t use it)
You can judge for yourself the quality of the pictures from the ones on this site (just about all of the pictures in my latest galleries are shot with this camera, usually without any editing other than dropping the size for the website). The 10Mp resolution does give you a lot of scope for cropping in to get a better framed shot than the one originally taken leaving plenty of room to enable it to be printed to a decent size.
The camera uses an SDHC card for storage, the one I have 16Mb will allow around 6500 photos at full resolution so there’s no worries about fitting all your holiday snaps on there.
One of the most intreaguing fetures for me is the Panorama function, taking three photos and stitching them together seamlessly. While a little difficult to see where the image lines up (you get the edge of the previous shot overlayed on theviewfinder) when you get it right the results are stunning and a lot easier than trying to fudge everything with Photoshop later.
The other big selling point for me is the burst mode, allowing you to take multiple shots of a fast moving echidna or patch of sea that you’re expecting a dolphin to emerge from in quick succession (if you drop the resolution you can get up to 13 shots per second) enabling you to save the best shot and ditch the rest.
The S1500 has a nice large LCD screen for lining up your shots, but as usual in bright sunlight, this is difficult to see, but with a press of a button you can switch to a traditional style viewfinder but with the advantage that it shows exactly the same image as the LCD screen rather than a view through a seperate lens.
Although a little bulky, a lot of the features on this camera (especially the level of zoom) are things that you’d only usually see on the far bulkier SLRs at a much higher price. No doubt someone who is interested in the “art” of photography will find flaws (although there is scope to alter all the settings that true photographers will bore you with) if you want to take great photos with a minimum of fuss, this camera will be hard to beat.
Rather damp here, the remains of Cyclone Lawrence that hit the North West coast last week has brought a constant rainshower for Christmas day.
We’ve been to Helen’s parents up in Faulconbridge and even with 16 of us there we still didn’t make it through all the food, the ham had to be seen to be believed, not the usual Sunday joint we get back home but geting close to half a full grown pig! The sort of thing that Obelix used to carry around as a light snack in the comics. One thing I’m going to have to remember to make when I get back home is the balsamic cherries, a great alternative to cranberry sauce.
Even with the rain it was still good to go swimming at 11pm, although the local residents were considering it (at 24°C) a bit chilly.
Since Sheldon and Helen had some last minute Christmas shopping to do, we hijacked the kids and set off for Sydney.
WildlifeWorld and the Aquarium are next door to each other in Darling Harbour and showcase the animals found in and around Australia.
WildlifWorld’s newest attraction, Igor a 4.8 metre long crocodile (one of the longest in captivity) had only arrived the day before and had been the focus of much media attention in the days running up to it’s arrivial.
WildlifeWorld
Sydney Aquarium
Dashing through the bush,
in a rusty Holden Ute,
Kicking up the dust,
esky in the boot,
Kelpie by my side,
singing Christmas songs,
It’s Summer time and I am in
my singlet, shorts and thongs
*
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia
on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
*
Engine’s getting hot;
we dodge the kangaroos,
The swaggie climbs aboard,
he is welcome too.
All the family’s there,
sitting by the pool,
Christmas Day the Aussie way,
by the barbecue.
*
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia
on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
*
Come the afternoon,
Grandpa has a doze,
The kids and Uncle Bruce,
are swimming in their clothes.
The time comes ’round to go,
we take the family snap,
Pack the car and all shoot through,
before the washing up.
*
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia
on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
Featherdale Wildlife Park, lined with abundant native plants and trees, is home to over 2000 animals which showcase Australia’s unique fauna.
As usual, I was at a bit of a loss when it came to Barbara’s Christmas present, however, she’d commented in the past that she’d always wanted to ride a motorbike.
Since we’d be in Australia this year and I vaguely remembered flyers for Harley Tours last time we were here I did a bit of research and came up with http://www.wildride.com.au/
At the appointed time there was a growl as the two Harley Davidson’s rolled up outside our front door. A brief chat, a couple of photos and time to get kitted up in leathers and helmets and we climbed onto the pillion and were on our way.
The start of the ride was a bit of a baptism of fire as we made our way up Old Bathurst Road, a steep and twisty road through the bush. Neither of us had much experience of biking, so it took a short while for us to get our confidence.
By the time we hit the Great Western Highway, that had all changed and I felt confident enough to get the camera out and start taking shots as we went along.
Eventually we crossed the railway tracks and started our descent into he Megalong Valley (Not as it turns out the usual Aussie attempt at stating the obvious but derrived from the Aboriginal for “Valley Under the Rock”) going from forrest to rain-forrest and back again on the way down – I’m not sure I can tell what the difference was, but I’m assured that this was the case.
A short stop at the tea-room at the bottom of the valley, and then it was back on the bikes again and heading off to Govett’s Leap waterfall overlooking the Grose Valley (two and a half times longer than the Grand Canyon but not quite as deep)
Finally our last stop was at Lennox’s Horseshoe Bridge on Mitchell’s Pass, part of the original Great Western Highway and the oldest stone arch bridge on the Australian mainland.
Even with the extra padding that I’ve got, riding pillion isn’t the most comfortable way to travel (I’ve got a few aches and pains), but to see the sights and for pure exhileration biking has got to be the best way to get out into the wilderness.
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