The last 3 weeks.....

I went back to work yesterday after 3 wonderfully relaxing weeks off.  Back to the grind of 12 hour shifts and nightwork....... sigh....... 

BUT.....

I did have 3 great weeks off.

We didn't have much planned.  The only definite was my father in laws' 90th birthday bash.  That was a great family get together in Springwood in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.  Ken is doing alright for that age; hope I am that good when I hit my ninth decade!  Springwood is about 2.5 hours drive from home and we decided that on the way home we would detour and spend the night at Bondi Junction in Sydneys' east.  The shopping....OMG...the shopping!  There is a huge shopping mall at Bondi Junction plus all of the shops in the surrounding streets.  We did not have the time to browse them all unfortunately but, I did learn that there are at least 4 camera shops in that area; heaven!  Definitely be revisiting there for a longer stay next time!  We had a great view of the city lights in Sydney from our apartment.

Once arriving home the agenda was to catch up on some of those small jobs that are always lurking around the house.  This was done successfully in between reading a book that my daughter Kassandra had given me as a birthday present the week before.  I have done a lot of Sci Fi reading but had never read Isaac Asimov - 'I Robot' before; although I had seen movies based on the book.  I really enjoyed it; it has been a long time since I have simply chilled out reading a book.

I went on a few Photo Safaris.  The first safari was to the Munmorah State Recreation Park.  It is about an hours drive south of where we live.  It is a national park and has many walking tracks all over the place.  Sheer cliffs and rocky points make for some great scenery.  I will have to plan an overnight camp there though; the park opens after sunrise and closes at sunset.  For any photos during those times, I will have to already be inside the park!

For my next daytime safari, I got up before sunrise!  Yes, I know........ who gets up before sunrise on their holidays?  Well I did have a good reason; I drove into Newcastle and got some great photos from the rock pools at Bar Beach.  It was such a still morning and the water in the rock pools was smooth like a mirror.  From there I went up to Nobbys Beach and walked down to Newcastle Beach.  Not much action on Newcastle Beach; the surf was flat was more like a lake than a popular surf beach!

That afternoon I arrived home to find Kim and Rhiannan had gone out shopping.  I figured I would make the most of that time and took off for Redhead Beach.  There is a bluff at the northern end of the beach that is accessible from a small park and it gives a great view of the entire length of the beach. The sunset was at a right angle to the beach and unfortunately I didn't get any of those lovely golden colours in the sky or reflections off the wet sand but it did create some lovely long shadows across the beach.  I did check the Photographers Ephemeris however; mid December will be the perfect time to revisit the bluff as the sun should be setting down the length of the beach.  Better make a note on my calendar for that!  

I also did some film photography over the break but that will have to wait for my next post.  That will be interesting though; I put an Ilford PANF Plus 50 through my Pentax 35mm SLR.  Hopefully the film will be ready tomorrow for pick up!

Well that's it for this post.

Remember!  Take the time out to read a book!

Jordy

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City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Wybung Heads & Frazers Beach.  Munmorah State Recreation Park, NSW, Australia

Flat Island from Snapper Point.  Munmorah State Recreation Park, NSW, Australia

Sunrise over Bar Beach, Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Rock Pools at Sunrise, Bar Beach, NSW, Australia

Nobbys Beach in B&W, Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Redhead Beach from the bluff, Newcastle, NSW, Australia