Category: Trip

Long Exposure

January 9, 2014

Bernard and I took a trip to Caves Beach yesterday for some more photography:

Bernard’s using special filters and long exposures to remove the motion in the photos. This makes the water misty or invisible and the photo quite ethereal. He should post examples to his blog.

That’s two shots of the biggest cave, obviously from out and inside. The tide was very low when we were there, and every cave (there are many) was accessible. I found no monsters…

That’s one of the smaller caves. Can you see Bernard outside?

The rest of the day was spent visiting several other places, including our old uni here in Newcastle and Civic Park, where I saw a Roc’s Egg:

At night we had dinner with my uncle Peter and his family. Here’s a shot of brother and older sister:

We ate at Wests, which is a club here in Newcastle with a dazzling array of poker machines. Here’s a lucky shot of Bernard at the moment of a win:

I won myself! A total of $0.86 😉

Walkabout

January 8, 2014

Yesterday, with Sue (it was her birthday!) and her kids, I visited an animal sanctuary called Australian Walkabout Wildlife Park.

It was a strange sort of animal park. It’s mostly open (and mostly uncultured bushland) with scattered enclosures. Many roos and wallabies and emus walk freely throughout the park and (the large ones at least) are surprisingly unafraid.

We could pat (but not feed) them. Their fur is surprisingly soft, almost in some cases like velvet!

The emus on the other hand are terrifying, especially to the kids who were smaller than the birds!

We noticed a small wallaby (or perhaps pademelon) sitting in the shade who didn’t hop away like her ilk. We quietly approached and were amazed to see a little head peep out from her pouch:

There was also one kangaroo that was particularly friendly. I think he thought he was someone’s pet:

Amongst the other animals on display were quolls…

And Tasmanian devils:

Both were being fed kangaroo parts, which was a bit ironic and grisly. The circle of life, I suppose!

I’m a big fan of kangaroos and enjoyed the park quite a bit. While it was smaller and less flashy than a place like Featherdale, I think it’s a better (and less busy) place to see the animals in a more natural environment.

That’s dad with a dog, which was taken later in the day. The dog belongs to an old family friend who was in the nunnery with mum.

In the afternoon, I became a photographers assistant while my brother took some long-exposure neutral density beach photography. Expect results on his blog…

Here’s dinner; a burger with beetroot and carrot on it:

Delicious!

The Master At Work

January 7, 2014

Yesterday I spent the morning catching up with my old friend Kirsten. Much laughter ensued 🙂

Later in the day Bernard and I visited Pizza and Pinball, the restaurant not too far from where mum and dad live.

Of all the games I played, Judge Dredd may have been best. But the one above – an ‘indie’ pinball made in Newcastle in 2013 – was certainly the most memorable. I think I’ll have to go and play it again before I leave.

Here’s what Bernard had for dinner: a fish salad sandwich (with beetroot):

Here’s his five word review: “It was good, no, ok”.

I gave dad my phone and he took a few snaps. Here’s his best selfie:

And a shot of Bernard and I watching the cricket while eating ice blocks:

Bernard’s working hard on our game. Later today I plan to start the graphics and ‘monster design’. We regularly talk about the core mechanics and the scoring. It will be playable online when complete. Here’s a code preview:

It’s going to be awesome!

Robot Claw