I picked up 1/2 tonne worth of vegetable garden mix from the local landscape place. It’s a mix of mushroom compost and soil. Not bad for $30 and we have plenty left over to go elsewhere. Better way of buying it than the bags at the hardware store.

Here’s a list of what has been planted from seedlings.

• Tomatoes – Dwarf Cherry
• Snow Peas – Bikini Dwarf
• Capsicum – Yolo Wonder
• Capsicum – Sweet Pimento
• Parsley – Afro
• Basil – Sweet
• Carrots – Little Fingers
• Chives

We’ve been watching this family of bowerbirds explore our yard lately. Their nest is in the neighbours backyard but they are always flying over to see what’s happening in our backyward.

Photos

Interactive Resource:

 ”It’s like a webpage but must run offline…”

Digitising Artwork:

 This was part of a lesson plan for uni.

Beauty Website:

 Started creating a website for a friend.

 

Here’s a video showing how I made a candle holder on the lathe.

Camera: Flip UltraHD
Music: Jason Shaw @ audionautix.com

Here’s a video showing how I made a little box on the lathe. It was inspired by this video.

Camera: Flip UltraHD
Music: Jason Shaw @ audionautix.com

So it has been over a month since I went to Fraser Island with Brendan and figured I better reflect on the journey for something to read in the future.

Wednesday

• Fly up to Brisbane from Newcastle
• Grab supplies from Woolies
• Crazy lady at Bunnings and $8 camping chairs

I flew up to Brisbane with Jetstar and ended up having a good chat to the guy next to me. He was heading to the Solomon Islands for a week, that explained why he boarded the plane in winter wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Brendan picked me up from the airport and we hit up Woolies to get stocked up on food for our trip. It became apparent that we needed some camping chairs so a quick stop at Bunnings had us sorted. We were greeted with this dear ole lass of a lady who seemed a bit over excited to tell us where the camping chairs were. We followed her directions and found the camping chairs. Although I have a dislike for Bunnings, I can’t complain about the chairs we picked up for $8 each… bargain.

Thursday

• Drive to Hervey Bay
• Get 4WD
• Maheno Shipwreck
• Setup camp
• Steak

An early start at 5:30am in order to drive up to Hervey Bay in time to organise our 4wd and catch the 12:30pm barge. Normally I would do my best to be sleeping at this hour but with the excitement of an adventure Brendan and I were packed and on the road after some oats for breaky. Surprisingly we almost ran over someone walking their dog in the early hours as we reversed out of the driveway. So Brisbane to Hervey Bay was an alright roadtrip of about 4hrs with some technology advanced road signs telling us we were tailgating. We passed an interesting looking pub and a giant Ned Kelly as we arrived into Hervey Bay. A quick lunch and we got the keys to our 4WD after watching a safety DVD. It was a Landrover Discovery with a 2.5L turbo diesel engine supplied with basic camping gear and a gas cooker.

Friday

• Knifeblade Sandblow
• Turrtles
• Didn’t quite make it to Champagne Pools
• Indian Head
• Backpackers

Brrrrrr…. It was a cold night. I didn’t sleep too good but today was our first full day on the island so after a few old man noises we were packed up and off to see some turtles in the wild at a freshwater lake. A quick stop at a lookout to see Knifeblade Sandblow offered a chance for a photo and some knowledge from the information board. Basically the island is made of sand, as the wind blows sand into the forests it kills anything in it’s path. These inland sandblows are created and are constantly moving throughout the island. As for the turtles, the guy we hired the 4WD from told us to “head out to this jetty and clap your hands, you’ll see a shitload of turtles thinkin you’re going to feed them!” Sure enough, there were about 20 turtles bopping their heads looking at what we had to offer them. It was a pretty cool sight.

We then headed back to the main beach and booted it north towards Champagne Pools. As we approached Indian Head there was a large group of 4wd’s that appeared to be getting bogged in the soft sand. It was time to test out the 4wd. Locked diffs, low range and plenty of momentum had us getting through the soft stuff without too much drama. On the other side of Indian Head we were stopped in our tracks as the high tide prevented us from going any further. We’d spent over an hour driving to get this far so we decided to get out and have a look around. Up the top of the headland the view was spectacular.

Nature put on a show for us as we were lucky enough to see a stingray from above and whales breaching out at sea. The quality of backpackers was also worth admiring. Cooking lunch on the beach is fairly relaxing when you consider it’s Friday and most people I know are usually working As we headed down south again we passed a plane parked on the beach on our way to another sandblow.

This place was surreal. A slight crust had formed on top of the sand as the sun had evaporated any moisture and there was plenty of underlying sandstone that crumbled easily. Strangely enough in the middle of what felt like a desert we stumbled across a small stream offering a chance to cool down a bit. The dunes were steep and we felt inclined to run up them for the sake of falling down them. It was worth it.

Another neat camping spot behind the dunes was found, complimented with a stunning sunset. We were in for another cold night so I upgraded to wearing two jumpers in my sleeping bag.

Saturday

• Airstrip
• Lake Wabby
• Lake Birrabeen
• Lake McKenzie
• Dingo Dinner

A few days without a shower and we started to smell pretty bad by this stage so the search for somewhere to swim began. Our first destination was Lake Wabby but there was a bunch of tourists so we powered on to find a disused grass airfield in the middle of the bush. There’s something pretty fun about driving on an airstrip, similar to an episode of Top Gear although it was only dirt and our 4wd’s 0-100km/h performance was nothing to rave about. As we battled the inland tracks Brendan managed to flip the esky upside down after hitting a few consecutive bumps in a row.

Lake Birrabeen was like an oasis. This place was purely awesome. The water was crystal clear with the white sand below. Whilst the temperature was a little chilly, we didn’t care as we frolicked around like it was the first time we’d seen water. I didn’t have my glasses on but I was certain I saw an eel so it was time for some photos and a quick chat to some German tourists. A few minutes drive down the track and we came across a vehicle that was stuck on a tree root. Our Landrover looked like a monster truck compared to this city slicker softroader. Brendan and I were able to give him a push to get unstuck as he scraped the undercarriage of his vehicle. It wasn’t long until we caught up to him as he was driving more cautiously and powered on to Lake McKenzie.

The water in Lake McKenzie had the same appeal as Lake Birrabeen but it was ruined with commercialisation. Whilst good for families with kids, disabled people or the elderly who need a dunny close by. The timber boarding, planted trees and walkways just didn’t do it for me. I felt like we almost had to pay for parking. A quick photo, a glimpse of any talent and we were out of there to visit Central Station as the sun was setting. Central Station is an old loggery village housed within the tall timbers of the rainforest. The scenery was different to the rest of the island with huge trees, ferns and vines. It was starting to get cold and we needed to find a campsite, off to the main beach to scout the dunes.

Our last night on the island. Dinner included a mix of everything that was left and surprisingly turned out really good. So good infact that the local Dingoes were onto us before we’d finished setting up the tent. At first it was a bit alarming… until I got my camera out of the car. The island is known for the Dingoes and it was quite a memorable way to spend our last night watching this guy forage around our campsite. As tempting as it is to feed them, it’s stricly prohibited and can lead to attacks. He seemed more intimidated by us as we moved closer to shut the door and left us alone. It was another cold night, I think I went to bed with 3 jumpers and 2 pairs of pants. I really need to invest in a sleeping bag for winter.

Sunday

• West Coast
• Mud crabs
• Rainforest Walk
• Barge
• Drive back to Brisbane

Brendan’s Dominos skills came in handy as he made Dampa with honey for breaky. Fantastic. A little tired but we had to make the most of our last day on the island so we hit the inland track to visit the east coast. We arrived at this old timber jetty and slipway for a boatshed. You can see that we were on an island from the sheer drop into the water! It was a nice sunny day to be out exploring. There was an abundance of mud crabs between our toes.

After some messing around we had a bit of time to walk the boardwalk through the rainforest at Central Station before boarding the barge to return to the mainland.

Overall it was an awesome trip.

According to an online quiz, this illustrates my personality and relationship with the internet. They got the geeky glasses right…haha.

3360 x 1050 Wallpapers

More photos in the gallery –>

Ok well ITAP (I Took A Picture) is an acronym from reddit pics. It really bugs me that I did not complete the weekly photo challenge last year and I got so close. Towards the end of the year things just got too hectic and I find I can only take good photos when I’ve got time to relax and be creative. I’ve changed to ITAP so there is no pressure to upload a weekly photo but I still get to showcase any cool shots that I take in the same format.

Here are some Australian kookaburras hanging out on our “hills hoist” clothesline. I haven’t heard or seen them in the neighbourhood for some time so it was nice to see them back laughing at us.

This house in Emu Plains goes nuts with the christmas lights throughout December. I would have liked to photograph some more houses but felt a bit weird pulling out the big camera in peoples frontyards if there wasn’t a crowd around. Getting some decent shots without a tripod was a little tricky but I was surprised at how well the ISO1600 images turned out from the Pentax KX.

At the start of December we decorate the house and put up our christmas tree. We always take a photo of the family putting the star on the tree

For a simple shot there’s a bit that goes into it. Setting up the tripod, framing to fit everyone, setting the white balance and I’m triggering the camera with an infra red remote with a timer delay on the camera. Sneaky.

Impulse buy of the year. David and I were at Hayden Pies in Ulladulla and the idea of getting a catamaran popped into our heads again. Using the 4 bars of HSPA and our trusty Android phones, it wasn’t long till we had the eBay app loaded and sourced a boat that went off in about 4hrs. The conversation went something like “should we bid?” … “hmm it looks good” … “should we do it?” …. “hmmm I dunno…” … “YES, do it!” “go for it!?!?:” hahahahhahaa. So yeah, we ended up with a catamaran. I chose this picture not for it’s photographic value but more or less a reminder to how amateur we are at sailing… in the backyard. It took us many times to figure out how to actually rig it up and this was a victory moment. Our maiden voyage was another story in itself but we basically overloaded it, mildly sunk it and had to get rescued.

A revisit to Flat Rock at Wentworth Falls. Some guys were smacking golf ball into the abyss. The low clouds and high cliffs created this eerie contrast with a mystery as to what lies below.

Sometimes you simply just have to look to the sky for an interesting photo. All you have to do is look up and click. The cloud photos were taken at the top of Big Bit Lookout down the south coast. It was a sunny day with storm clouds rolling in the distance and the cloud formations were impressive.

Firstly… would you believe this photo was taken with my Samsung Galaxy S mobile phone! I thought that all of my weekly photos would be from my Pentax K-X but the camera in this phone is impressive and having it in my pocket all the time is handy to capture the moments. Lara did the the MS ride from Sydney to Wollongong. A 90km stretch to raise funds. I would have liked to do it but needed to be focused for an exam at uni. Anyway, we stayed in Wollongong and got some takeaway Thai food and found this bench near the Flagstaff Hill Lighthouse on sunset. The beach looked awesome, but there’s something not right about a giant polluting steel works on the waterfront at Port Kembla. Time to go down the South Coast where the landscape is untouched… hopefully the water isn’t too cold.

I’m a little behind on the weekly photos and have just started sorting through my 2010 gallery. I’ve come across a few great photos that should be included in the weekly photo challenge that got left out at the time. This is our TV remote and with an LED torch and a slow shutter speed, the results are pretty impressive.

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