2024 - MY FLICKR REVIEW...

So, apparently, Flickr have a year in review... So I looked it up to see what happened!!

My shot of a United B747 was my top hit!!

Overall stas below.... Thanks to everyone who enjoys my shots!!

Hoo roo for now...

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Bernie

Stanhopea Orchids

After moving houses back in 2016, I had a couple of the Stanhopea nigroviolacea (Vanilla Orchid Upside Down Orchid) that didn't really survive. Theyre the sort of plant you can literally have in a basket, and almost literally do nothing much more... Or so I thought!

Anyway, I asked my father-in-law if he happened to have any he was about to divide, and if possible, could I grab a couple?? Well I got three, 2 were from a single basket that he divided, and the other was a singluar basket. You see, they have to be in baskets, with Melaluca (Paper Bark Trees) to hold in the bark/soil mixture as they are more of an epiphite type plant! He also told me that the divided pair may not flower as well...

To my delight, both visually and aromaticly, they ALL flowered!!! The divided pair one had three spikes of flowers (two flowers per spike), whilst the other had a singular, and the undivided one, well it had a total of ten, yes thats TEN spikes!!

These started mid December last year, and today, the last spike has opened, so over Christmas, I have had a lovely vanilla scent in the courtyard, wofting into the kitchen and dining area...

IF you can find these delicate orchids, I would recomend them!!

Hoo roo for now...

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Bernie

AUSTINMER BEACH & OCEAN POOL - PROJECT 52

I have wanted to get back into the 'Project 52' for a while, in many ways to challenge my photography and see new things and venure either to parts of Sydney Metro I have not yet been to, or to head further out of Sydney to see what is about...

So in this weeks edition, the first weenend where I will e posting this series, it was off to 'A' for Austinmeer along the upper Illawarra, before you hit Wollongong.

The afternoon before, I checked my Weatherzone app on my mobile, and saw that first light was to be 0510, WOW this was going to be an early start as it was just over an hour to get there! I pushed off at about 0330 just to be sure, and was a very pleasant drive south, windows down, music on, and the road ahead well lit up with the lightbar on the car! Arrived nice and early, and positioned myself atop of the changerooms for the beach, which was like that of a 'lookout' offerring up splendid view across the beach. I set up the camera, programed for a frame to be taken every 20 seconds, and whilst it did its thing, I simply chilled in my campchair.

The Austinmer Rock Pool, also known as ‘ocean pools’ or ‘ocean baths’, was first built in the early 1910s and then rebuilt or replaced several times at various locations along Austinmer Beach. You can still see the remains of the Children’s Bathing Pool at the foot of the steep cliff of Brickyard Point.

Here are some of the pics I got, along with the lifeguards Hut, in the middle of the beach, with the sun just tipping over the horizon of the Tasman Sea.

Hoo roo for now...

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Bernie

Sea Cliff Bridge - Best seen with a drone!

I have been here beofore with my old drone (DJI Phantom 4), but now with the replacement (DJI AIR 3), I am seeing things VERY differently!!!

I feel I have just more freedom with the flying, better camera(s) and the combination is just very picturesque indeed!!!

I started the day early, VERY early (thus no post last night) and had the alarm set for 0330; I woke at 0300! I was heading to a destination for tomorrows post, so after that, I went and revisited the old Sea Cliff Bridge. Opened in December 2005, and at 665 metre long, Sea Cliff Bridge is a highlight along the Grand Pacific Drive. A drive which takes in 140 kilometres worth of coastal scenery from the Royal National Park, Loftus down to Nowra.

HISTORY

Lawrence Hargrave Drive is a spectacular section of Coast Road just north of Wollongong NSW. The Sea Cliff Bridge was built to address geotechnical instability between Clifton and Coalcliff that would result in road closures, sometimes for months at a time.

The Sea Cliff Bridge was created after it was deemed the road that curved alongside the cliff face was unsafe due to rockfall activity that could close the road for months at a time.

The $49 million bridge braces against the Pacific Ocean, up to 70 metres east of the original alignment in places. It consists of a five-span, 450-metre-long balanced cantilever bridge adjoining a seven-span, 203-metre-long incremental launched bridge, sharing a common pier.

The goal of this ambitious project was to provide a fully available road with a design life of 100 years. The bridges incorporate two traffic lanes of 3.5 metres to 3.8 metres and a 2.5-metre shared pathway.

Lawrence Hargrave Drive is named after the famous aviator and the first Australian to fly at the nearby Stanwell Park.

Hoo roo for now...

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Bernie

Back to work it is then...

So today it was a 'back to work' day, not much really happened really there, all normal...

But, I was already planning what I can get with the dron over the weekend! I sort of want to do a post (I am thinking of a Sunday) where I will visit somewhere in the Sydney Metro (maybe even a little wider) and run through the alphabet as I go along... I mean, theres 26 letters in the alphabet and 52 weeks in a year, coincidence?? Maybe not...

So, on Saturday or Sunday I will go to somewhere, that starts with the letter 'A', where, I don't know just yet, so stay tuned there...

In the meantime, here is a pic when I tried this back in 2011, but there was just too many things going on, so I will PROMISE I will complete this, this year...

'Avalon' is on Sydney's Northern Beaches, and a fave of mine that I try to get to every summer, though I am now heading to a more subdued 'Inner Harbour' beach...

Hoo roo for now...

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Bernie