03 December, 2015

2015 Excellence In The Environment Awards

The winner of the Louise Petchell Memorial Award for Individual Sustainability was Kelly Williamson - Campbelltown City Council!
Kelly was given recognition of the change she has facilitated across the organisation in regard to sustainability at Campbelltown City Council, and the resulting positive impact on both the organisation and environment. She has overseen many projects, including energy savings via the installation of photovoltaic systems, solar pool heating systems on all of Council's aquatic centres, sustainable products in building upgrades as well as organising committees and funding sources within Council!

Louise's parents were also attending the Awards, and here they are with Kelly
And here is ALL of the award winners from the Excellence in the Environment Awards 2015
(With thanks to Eventpix, for the photos to share...)

Hoo roo for now...
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01 December, 2015

NSW LG Excellence in the Environment Awards

Louise
Well, its been another year since the NSW Local Government Excellence in the environment Awards...

This year, I again was invited to judge the 'Louise Petchell Memorial Award for Individual Sustainability" Award, and then, present the award to the recipient.

This year, the event was held at the Dockside Function Centre, Darling Harbour; in 33c heat!! YAY, we ALL know how much I HATE wearing a suit and tie, right!!

Lunch was impressive, and I had the 'Seared Salmon Supreme, Almond Crusted with aged red wine sauce, caramelised vine ripens tomatoes & asparagus tip (which I left of course) on a bed of mash...

Seared Salmon Supreme, Almond Crusted with aged red wine sauce, caramelised vine ripens tomatoes & asparagus tips


For dessert, I had the Mango & Raspberry sorbet cake, with a seasonal berry compote with a passionfruit coulis...

Mango & Raspberry sorbet cake, with a seasonal berry compote with a passionfruit coulis


At the conclusion of the event, all of the awardees had an official photo taken, below, I will be sent the pics hopefully tomorrow, so I will update then with another post etc...

Awardees of the 2015 LGNSW Excellence in the Environment Awards


I would like to thank all those associated with the Awards, and making Louise's memorial even more important today, 6 years after her passing...

Hoo roo for now...
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21 November, 2015

Re-blogging again VERY soon...

Cobwebs and Dust

Hey - remember me??

Well I have not forgotten about blogging, though post history would suggest otherwise hey.... lol

BUT, from the beginning of December, you can expect more posts, and perhaps a new layout, we will see.... Stay tuned!

Hoo roo for now...
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17 December, 2014

14 - Today we'd be wed 14 years...


Hoo roo for now...

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10 September, 2014

Wordless Wednesday No. 92 - Steel Wool Sparks

R Y A N - Steel Wool-2

I KNOW it has been a while since posting, but I have been, somewhat busy...

Here in this pic, my friend from Brisbane, is 'twirling' steel wool, that is in an old whisk... When lit, and then twirled, it offers a spectacular result!!! Enjoy

Hoo roo for now...

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07 June, 2014

The Dish - Parkes!

Remember that classic Australian movie, The Dish? Well, tonight, after dinner, I managed to get out to have a look at 'The Dish' and get some photos....

Now I had thought it was pretty big, huge even, but I actually thought it may have been bigger than it was!!! But, I was still in amazement with its sheer size!! I will want to go back in the daylight and have another look at it though!

We also managed to get some more Milky Way shots as well!!!



Hoo roo for now...

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02 June, 2014

Vivid Sydney 2014

YES, its THAT time of year.... AGAIN! Its Vivid Sydney, and lots of late nights and colour!

This year though, I am doing things slightly differently. So far, I have done the Opera House sequence, and the Bridge from Blues Point. Tomorrow, hopefully, I shall try something a little different, and do a time-lapse and some of the installation in Martin Place, but for now, enjoy this little slide show!

So, expect a couple more posts from Vivid 2014!

Hoo roo for now...

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13 May, 2014

Wordless Wednesday No. 91 - Brisbane

S T O R E Y - B R I D G E-2478

This is a 'not quite so' wordless post, sorry! But, the other week, I was up in Brisbane, the Capital city of Queensland. It is a nice enough city, and I was there for the Sydney Swans v Brisbane Lions AFL game, which we (Swans) won easily!

However, I had SUCH a good time up there, doing some photography (story bridge above), that I am again heading up in a weeks time! This time, I shall be doing some slightly different stuff to the 'norm' I have been challenging myself with...

I have been doing a few 'Time-Lapse' things later, and here is the Storey Bridge.

I've also gotta say, there a mighty fine bunch of friends up in Brisbane, and I will be happy to catch up and do some more photography again!

Hoo roo for now...

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15 April, 2014

5 Years on - missing you still....


Hoo roo for now...

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09 April, 2014

Wordless Wednesday No. 90 - Perth Sunrise Timelapse

Perth Sunrise-5394


click the HD 1080p for a better view


Hoo roo for now...

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02 April, 2014

Wordless Wednesday No. 89 - Belanglo State Forest Sunset

Belangalo Sunset-2300

The Belanglo State Forest in the Southern Highlands, is renowned for a lot of bad things... Except this; when coming back from a day trip to the Nations Capital a week or so ago...

Hoo roo for now...

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31 March, 2014

Oh hey, remember me??

Peace-2804 Twain

Oh hey, remember me??

Well, WHAT have I been doing since my last post, oh so long ago I hear you ask? Well, a lot of nothing really!! I have been busy, I have had friends in town, and showing them about, and I have had some travels, where I have been shown around as well!!!

But now, I am planning another trip, west this time, where I shall catch up with my nephew, as well as meet up with some new friends for a couple of days!

The Royal Easter Show is back soon, oh, and the footy season has started, so Go Swannies!!

I will now, recommence daily blogging as well, I PROMISE!

Hoo roo for now...

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03 January, 2014

A busy day of....

NOT much at all!!!

Well, not really... I actually got a fair bit done! Not huge things, just lots of small stuff....

The biggest thing of the day was that I finally got a new phone; an iPhone 5S! My old 4S had been playing up ever since I was in Vietnam!!

Other than setting it up, making sure everything was back on it, I then went out for a bit and did some shopping, and had lunch whilst out. When I came home though, I had grand plans of mowing the lawns, and/or vacuuming, instead, I had a wee nap... Oh well!

I then collected Bronty and we headed down to the airport, as a mate was leaving on a flight tonight, and I wanted to test my skills of the night panning photography... Only thing is, as the night got on and darker, the harder it all became, and I didn't get his at all, BUT, I did get some prior to his departure!



So, tomorrow it will be a matter of getting the lawns mowed, and putting some water about the place, especially on the rose garden, as i want some more blooms....

Hoo roo for now...

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02 January, 2014

Happy New Year!!!

Welcome to 2014!!!

NOW, apologies for not being a regular blogger towards the end of last year, but with being forced to take a 'voluntary redundancy' I have been sort of busy and also lost my 'mojo'...

I also hope that you've had a wonderful Christmas and a brilliant New Years Eve, and wishing you the best for the year ahead!

I wanted to do this post last night, but I have had difficulty in getting my head around the editing processes needed. You see, I got a GoPro camera for Christmas, and this is the first video (series) out of it. BUT, it is also a compilation! There are two time-lapse videos either side of a video, which is why it was hard to edit, but I got there in the end!





Hoo roo for now...
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Hoo roo for now...

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22 September, 2013

Looking around Oslo - in the fog!

Ok, I said that I would be a little more active with blogging… BUT, in my defence, I have not had much to blog about, and I have been unwell and suffering from a sore neck and headaches (migraines)!

Having said that, I flew from Sydney to London via Bangkok where I met up with a flicker mate for a quick dinner!

Uwe at Lvl55 BKK-1648
Uwe at LVL55 Bangkok
After dinner, I continued my flights to London via Zurich, where I had a quick transit to my last flight to London.

now, I was only in London for four days, and those four days were some of the most uncomfortable I have had in a long time; thanks neck and headaches! I barely managed to just get out and do some spotting (a mere 5 minute walk from my hotel). I did (just) manage to get into London on one day… :(

Then, It was 'time to fly' with my destination being Oslo, Norway! Here I caught up with a few old friends, and I have made some new friends as well!

Today though, we went to the Nes Church Ruins. This was a church, which went through some modifications over several centuries, only to be struck by lightening in 1854

Nes Church Ruins-3554
Nes Church Ruins-3553
Nes church ruins-3534

Next stop, was the Trandumskogen which was the site of one of the first discoveries (May 1945) of German mass graves in Norway. The German executioner Oskar Hans was the officer in command of the unit performing the executions. In total 173 Norwegians, 6 British citizens and 15 Russians were executed in Trandumskogen. Many had been sentenced to death by the German occupation forces, but there was also a great number who were subject to arbitrary executions. After the Second World War, Norwegian citizens sentenced for treason, and leading members of the Norwegian national socialist party Nasjonal Samling were forced to open the graves and exhume the bodies of the executed prisoners. On 10 October 1954, the memorial in Trandumskogen was unveiled. H. H. K. Crown Prince Olav stood for the ceremony. Per Palle Storm (1910-1994), artist and sculptor and professor at the National Art Academy had carried out the artistic part of the work. The memorial is carved of light Granite (Iddefjordgranitt). To the south side an inscription is carved in Norwegian. The same text translated into Russian is cut into the east side and in English to the west side. The memorial is located south of the burial ground. The memorial lists the names of those who were executed there. The memorial has status as a Norwegian national memorial.

Trandumskogen-3590
Trandumskogen-3584
Trandumskogen-3598
Trandumskogen-3595
Trandumskogen-3591
Trandumskogen-3593

Tomorrow, we are going down to the Fjords, a ferry across to Sweden, and then back home to Oslo - should be fun!

Hoo roo for now...

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12 September, 2013

Flying away to another land, far far away...

Well, come Sunday, I will be leaving on my trip…. And WHAT a trip it will be… I still have a few things left to do though!! I have a house sitter, so the house will be occupied whilst I am away and the 'fur-kids' will be well looked after… But, where AM I going I hear you ask?? EVERYWHERE!!!

Flight List & Hotels
Flight List & Hotels
Miles to be flown (GC Mapper)
Flight Miles
ETS Trip map
Flightpath

I have a conference to go in Monte Carlo, about the middle of the trip, and I have meetings along the way in Europe mainly… I have also set up a meeting in Brazil! BUT, one spot I am REALLY looking forward to, is the visit to St Maarten in the Dutch Antilles. It is like the 'Mecca' for 'spotters' to go to, and I am really looking forward to it!! NOW, I am getting there from a different routing than everything else I have seen; most arrive from Paris or Amsterdam (AF/KLM) or from Miami (any of the major carriers). Where as, I am routing in from Saò Paulo Brazil!!

Anyway, its ALL booked now, and I am ready to go… All I have to do now is pack!! haha

Earlier in the week, I was wanting to do some more 'macro' photography, some close-ups. The old Passionfruit is in flower again, so I grabbed a shot of a flower on it…

Passiflora "Ned Kelly"
Passiflora spp

Hoo roo for now...

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04 September, 2013

Wordless Wednesday No. 88 - Melbourne

St Kilda Beach Sunset
Melbourne CBD

Hoo roo for now...

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26 August, 2013

A New 'Dawn' begins...

Ok, I have not 'disappeared' nor have I fallen off the planet, I have just been busy and also not particularly in the 'mood' or 'zone' for blogging… As you may know, there has been an 'air' of uncertainty at work, well that 'air' has now gone, and I am now, as of TODAY, unemployed! The environment at work was such that I am now, happy to be OUT of it! I had asked a management person for a 'personal' reference, and gave him a dozen or so point to form one up. I also said that I felt 'uncomfortable' and it was 'inappropriate' for me to wrote my own for his signature! His reply not only left ME, but also another manager, gobsmacked, as he STILL wanted me to form the 'personal' reference for him to then 'personalise'! Can someone please tell me how this is a personal reference?? BUT, this is how he rolls, and I am happy to be free from him and the environment to which it has become, as the 'heart and soul' has not only gone from what once was a great place to work, but its been ripped out from within! So, now, its onwards and upwards from here...

So, whats been happening? I have been busy with photography, I have a news lens, and I am about to head overseas for a conference; and I will be heading to the 'spotters mecca, St Maarten in the Dutch Antilles! My car purchase is on hold, in fact, my current car is in for a service now!! I am off to Melbourne on Thursday for the opening of a friends exhibition as well, so busy days ahead before I leave in three weeks!

Hoo roo for now...

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