Silent Sunday – 6/11/22

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Wordless Wednesday 2-16-22

photo by Corina Carrasco

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Wordless Wednesday 9/23/15

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Simple Beauty

Pacific Ocean sunset. Gotta love it. (Seaside, Oregon)

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Apollo Bay–Australia

On our way from Melbourne to Port Campbell, via the Great Ocean Road, we came upon a couple of small, quaint towns.  One was Apollo Bay where we stopped for a potty break then decided we would eat there, too.  We found the bathrooms in next to the park in one of the Information Centers and while I waited for Tony, I walked around the park and explored.

Australia is really big on parks.  It seems like one can’t travel for more than a few blocks without finding a park.  They aren’t cookie cutter parks, either.  Each one is unique.  The one shown below showcased local materials and local artists.  We found a number of beautifully handmade park benches on which to sit and enjoy the deep blue skies.  I also was captivated by a mosaic drinking fountain (shown below).  It appeared to be made entirely of recycled glass and broken tiles.  The water came out the spout and any that wasn’t caught by the drinker’s mouth spiraled down the length of the fountain and into a drain at the bottom.  There were also a number of wooden sculptures, all pretty abstract and probably aboriginal in design.  One sculpture, much less abstract, was of local seals.  You’ll see that one below too.

It was truly a beautiful little town in which to enjoy lunch and even more, had we had the time.  If you’re ever in Australia on the Great Ocean Road, remember the name Apollo Bay.

The bay at Apollo Bay.

Some of the abstract sculptures.

A closer view of sculptures.

Handmade park bench uses local trees.

Sculpture featuring local sealife!

Spiral mosaic drinking fountain.

 

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Split Point Lighthouse–Australia

On our way to Port Campbell, we came across a lighthouse.  At least we could see it in the distance so I asked Tony to stop so we could see if we could get a closer look.  We found a sign directing us to Split Point Lighthouse.  It had been very rainy during the day so the road, a dirt one, was quite muddy but we gave it a try anyway.  We made it to the parking lot, barely, without getting stuck in the mud and then we had to walk to the lighthouse.  It was probably a half mile walk which is not bad but remember that it was very muddy and it was sprinkling off and on and to top things off, it was extremely windy.

However, it was worth fighting the elements.  We got a beautiful look at the stormy ocean and skies.  Although the lighthouse has an observation deck which one can climb for an even more spectacular view, there was no way either of us was going to try to climb a narrow staircase to the top of the 111 foot lighthouse.

Here are some pictures I took.  If you click on the links above, you can see some pictures of what it looks like in sunny weather.

Split Point Lighthouse against the cloudy sky.

Pathway from lighthouse to ocean view.

Tony on path from lighthouse to ocean side.

View from lighthouse cliff.

Stormy skies.

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Parliament — Melbourne

Today I’m just posting pictures with little commentary because I have had a bad case of the blahs today and I cannot seem to concentrate.

Victoria Parliament in Melbourne pictured below:

Parliament of Victoria, Melbourne, AUS

Lighting fixtures outside of Parliament building. Note the crowns.

Across the street in one direction is the Hotel Windsor, Melbourne’s oldest surviving hotel.  Now privately owned, it is truly a “grand hotel”.  Notice how this 1880’s building is set in the middle of modern buildings.

Hotel Windsor

Across from Parliament in the other direction is the Princess Theatre, an ornate theater dating back to the 1850’s.  There have been numerous ghost sitings at the Princess.  Today it is still a theater.  I believe Jersey Boys was playing there when we were in Melbourne.

The Princess Theatre in Melbourne

Detail of the front of the Princess Theatre:

Gold angel and lions atop Princess Theatre, Melbourne

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Tomorrow…

Tomorrow...

I aim here only at revealing myself, who will perhaps be different tomorrow, if I learn something new which changes me.

~

~Michel de Montaigne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo taken by me at the top of Haleakala volcano on Maui, Aug. 2004

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The Dawn Patrol

I’ve been looking at photos of hot air balloons posted by Robin and Ron on their respective blogs and it has kind of made me homesick for the Sonoma Valley.  I dug up one of my photographs of one of the most exciting parts of a hot air balloon festival– the Dawn Patrol.  The Dawn Patrol goes up before dawn to test the conditions such as winds and temperature.  It is a stunning sight to see them light up in what is called a simultaneous burn, as shown in the photo below, when all three of the Dawn Patrol balloons light up,  just before they take flight.

The Dawn Patrol prepares to take flight at the Windsor Hot Air Balloon Classic in Windsor, California.

The second picture is one of my favorites that I have taken of hot air balloons.  I love the entire process of unpacking them, unfolding them and then inspecting them for rips, tears, and weaknesses.  Then they are filled, the gondola is attached, then they are uprighted, passengers loaded, and away they go!

Balloon being filled. This one is almost ready to attach the gondola and upright to go way up high!

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Let There Be Light

I don’t have any inspiration for a blog post today but I committed to participating in NaBloPoMo so I have to make a post every day in the month of November. I thought I might find a picture to post and call it a day but I had a problem with my portable external drive on which I have almost every picture I have taken in the past ten years. So I had to scramble to find this one…

It’s the sun breaking through the clouds at the end of a rain storm. I felt it appropriate because we’ve seen quite a bit of rain in the Portland area over the past week but today the sun came out to remind us all that it’s still there!

I hope you like it. I’d take some pictures of our Oregon rain but I don’t go out much in it!

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