Pretty pleased in Patagonia

The start of my Patagonian adventure began with a night bus (13hrs) to Bariloche, the chocolate capital of Argentina. Bariloche is a picturesque and extremely charming town reminiscent of a Swiss ski village based in what is known as the Lake District. It’s situated on the shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake and is surrounded by the National Park, bearing the same name. It’s well known in Winter for its excellent skiing but I was there in Summer to take advantage of its wonderful trekking, bike ride tracks and scenery… And to eat vast quantities of chocolate, obviously. I actually went to Bariloche twice in the space of a few weeks.

Views from the lake shore in Bariloche

Yoav posing in Bariloche. This was the second time I visited Bariloche (a few weeks after my first visit)

Yoav and Noah in Bariloche. Also from my second visit

As is the way when you’re traveling, I was sitting in my hostel and in walks a beautiful English couple who I had just met in Mendoza, Andrew and Becky. We organised to meet and hike Cerro Catedral together. We met the next day and caught a bus to the bottom of the mountain, ready to hike to Refugio Frey. The hike was meant to take 6hrs (return) and the weather seemed lovely so we were hoping for a nice relaxed stroll up in the sunshine, a perfect beginning to my South American trekking plans. Sadly, it just wasn’t mean to be. I started the walk in my long trousers and a few fleeces and within minutes I was stripped down into running shorts and a sports bra and I was dripping sweat. Fortunately, I always pack for all weather as I hate being cold. The start of the hike was outrageously pretty, passing lovely streams, quaint wooden bridges around waterfalls and flowers dancing in the breeze. Sadly, it became quickly apparent that the weather changes quickly in these parts, a good lesson to learn early on. In a matter of minutes I was throwing on layers quicker than I thought possible and then the heavens opened and down came the rain. As we were hiking higher and higher, the rain gradually turned into snow. An interesting concept after blazing summer sunshine only a few hours previous! We eventually arrived at Refugio Frey, soaked through and freezing cold. Luckily they had a boiler inside and a stove so we unpeeled our wet clothes and wrung them out and then hung them up to dry whilst sipping on a well earned and needed cup of coffee. The weather didn’t improve so eventually we dragged ourselves away from the glorious warmth and redressed in our still soaking wet clothes and trotted off down hill at super speed. Being freezing cold and hiking in the pouring rain is a seriously great motivator to get a move on! So much so, we managed to get up and back in just 4hrs which was impressive considering the hideous weather conditions. Of all the trekking I’ve done to date, this was by far and away the wettest and most uncomfortable I’ve ever been. There was not one part of me that was dry. I couldn’t have been happier to see a hot shower.  Even frozen to the core and drenched, the hike was still wonderful and well worth the effort, the only down side was that we didn’t get to experience the stunning views of the lake at the top. There’s always next time!

iPhone photos from the damp hike including drying off at Refugio Frey.

More wet Cerro Catedral iPhone pics

Cerro Catedral, a quick break in the weather meant I could attempt some photos of Refugio Frey

I organised for a group of us to hire a car and check out the Los Siete Lagos (Seven Lakes) drive. It was so much cheaper to hire a car and do it ourselves than pay for an organised tour of which you would have no control over. This day trip made me fall hopelessly in love with the Lake District. It is absolutely breathtaking even in the pouring rain! The lakes are so enchanting and the scenery in between the lakes is a gorgeous combination of windy roads, lush forests and sweet little villages. It was my first time driving on the wrong side of the road for many years so that added to the adventure! Fortunately, we completed the circuit in one piece and the car survived sections of hideously bumpy and unpaved roads. I actually returned back to this section of the Lake District a few weeks later with some other friends and fortunately got to view the lakes again, but this time with no rain and a pretty sunset, what a difference nice weather makes!

Los Siete Lagos, slightly damp!

A small break in the rain along Los Siete Lagos

Los Siete Lagos, lakes galore

Los Siete Lagos, mountain views everywhere

Los Siete Lagos

Los Siete Lagos, picture perfect even in the rain

I’m clearly a tree addict!

Los Siete Lagos, heading back to Bariloche

Pretty rivers everywhere

Los Siete Lagos, mountain views

One of the lakes along the route

Jumping for joy

Just outside Bariloche

Los Siete Lagos, heartbreakingly beautiful vistas

iPhone snaps

The 7 lakes at sunset from my second visit to Bariloche

The Circuito Chico is a 26km loop that is often done by bicycle to get yet more stunning views over the area. I’d heard that it was something not to be missed. Before hiring bikes, Alex, Stefan, Emily and I caught a bus to climb Cerro Campanario which also has absolutely amazing vistas of the area. Apparently it’s classed as one of the worlds top 10 best 360 degree views, I can see why. It was a fairly steep hike up but only took around 35 minutes and it was well worth the effort. We were so fortunate with the weather and could see all of the distant mountains and lakes. My legs were so sore from hiking Catedral that it was easier for me to run downhill rather than walk. In the process I managed to get hopelessly lost. I actually got myself into a total state and panicked as I was alone and completely stuck. The one thing that saved my ass was an iPhone app which works as a type of GPS and compass. Luckily after 20 minutes of panic and scrambling through thick forest, I managed to find the trail again. I absolutely bolted downhill as fast as my legs would take me, filled with adrenaline. I had completely completely come to terms with the fact that I would be spending the night lost in the forest and was stoked that I had heaps of water and food with me! Luckily I didn’t have to worry about it. From that slight disaster we headed to the bike rental company. The loop was absolutely gorgeous but sadly, as is my luck, it poured with rain pretty much for the entire 3hrs. I was absolutely drenched but the views were just outstanding. Around each corner was another beautiful vista, magical. The ride itself was pretty challenging especially as the two guys I was with were ridiculously fit and I was completely unfit! Poor guys had to wait for me around each hill climb! We finished the ride off with a very needed hot chocolate. Yet again, I was totally soaked through. This circuit is one of the most popular activities to do in the area and we were the only ones on the road in the downpour, proving that the weather really was that bad (or that we were really determined!). I suppose it all adds to the adventure.

Cerro Campanario, iPhone snaps

Cerro Campanario views and another near death experience where I tried to do a ‘plank’ on top of a fence and fell off. This is how I caught myself!

Stunning lake views

Circuito Chico views

Circuito Chico views

Circuito Chico. Photos of us before the rains came and also a quick snap of crackingly good ice creamSaint Bernard dogs are the mascots of Bariloche and I couldn’t help giving one a big cuddle

El Boliche de Alberto restaurant in Bariloche. Famous throughout the Israeli backpacker community for its outstanding steaks. Wowzers, my mouth is still watering

Heres hoping you enjoyed the read! I’ll be posting again soon

Chilling in Chile and red wine heaven

Viña del Mar is a beach side resort town around 20 mins bus ride from Valparaiso on the Pacific coast. Sabrina, Christopher and I headed down there one sunny day to check it out and decided to take a walk along the coastline to find a patch of beach that wasn’t crowded with people. It was harder than it sounds. It’s quite amazing how busy the beach was on a weekday but to be truthful, we just wanted to stick our bodies in the sun, so it didn’t matter that much. The beaches were quite nice but nothing to get too excited about; i’m afraid that I’m fairly spoiled living in Australia! I busied myself with reading and watching stray dogs play in the water, day dreaming of my dog, Sam and knowing how much he’d love to be playing with all the dogs! The water was clear but cold and I shied away from getting in (old habits die hard!). We ate a ridiculously overpriced, average lunch on the beach front and then made our way back to Valpo. I was quite pleased that I hadn’t decided to stay in Viña longer as it was really quite unimpressive compared to my dear Valpo!

The pretty coast line of Viña del Mar

Chilling out in Chile

The next destination was going to be Mendoza in Argentina. I had been told that the bus journey was one of the most spectacular in all of South America and that I had to do it during the day. I was also under strict instructions that I had to get the top, front seat in the bus to afford me with the best views driving through the Andes. Obviously, being the good girl I am, I did as I was told. Firstly I had to head back to Santiago, (a short two hour bus ride) to then get a connection bus to Mendoza which was going to take another seven hours. This was the beginning of my love/hate affair with bus rides which would continue all the way to the very end of my trip. You cannot go to South America and not collect war stories of long, arduous and sometimes very funny bus trips!

Well I wasn’t disappointed. Driving through the Andes is quite the sight. This awe inspiring bus journey seemed to fly by in an instant. Unusually for me, I managed to stay awake throughout (I have a great knack of nanna-napping in any form of transportation!). The Andes are the  longest continental mountain range in the world and the mountains are enormous. There were picturesque dusty red rivers running down in the valleys filled with boulders and gushing water. The bus thankfully clung to the windy roads which were constantly going up, down and around the mighty peaks. The contrast of colours made for a picture perfect setting, all from the comfort of my bus seat!

The spectacular Andes mountains from the comfort of my bus seat using my iPhone

Mendoza, for those of you that don’t know, is famous for both olive oil production and wine making. In fact, the area surrounding Mendoza is the largest wine producing area in the whole of Latin America. Both of these facts, if you know me at all, should make you question why on earth I decided to visit! If you don’t know me that well, I shall inform you that my most hated foodstuff in the universe is olives (the devils fruit) and i don’t drink or more to the point, enjoy wine. However, many people told me to visit and assured me that I’d be able to have a great time regardless. So, When in Rome (yes you’ll hear this a lot!) I signed up for the “Wine and Bikes tour”. Fairly self explanatory really, it’s a self guided, bicycle tour of the wineries. Armed with possibly the worst map of Maipu, Kate, Amanda (two lovely Irish lasses) and I headed to Tomasso, the oldest winery in the region where we had a short tour and a tasting. Along the way we managed to get nicely lost on board our seriously crappy bikes! The wine was ok, but I’m a hard audience to impress! Next was Tempus which had a bit of a self guided tour, here we bumped into a few other people that were biking around. Onwards we cycled to a small organic vineyard where we tasted wine and began to think of ourselves as wine connoisseurs, trying to establish, we thought with great conviction, the Malbecs from the Shiraz and the Cab Savs from the Merlots. Hilarious really for me, the least likely wine drinker on the planet! The sun was blazing and the wine was flowing and by this time, we were all slightly inebriated! Our tour took us next to Chocolates and Liqors. All you need to know is chocolate, dulce de leche liqueur all washed down with a bit of absinthe. As you imagine, the day started to go a bit pear shaped from there on in! I’ll admit to the fact that this was a solid 18hr drinking binge and yes, I am old enough to know better! A sterling effort on my behalf, if I don’t say so myself. Mendoza continued to suck me in with great company, superb food and funny nights outs on the town. I met so many lovely people from my time there and had far too little sleep. What a place!

It’s wine time! How very grown up

Tomasso winery, very pretty indeed

Playing in the vines

Where the magic begins

Sober Danielle, but not for long!

At Tempus Alba

At Tempus Alba winery

Kate and Amanda. Wine experts!

Olives being grown. Not my favorite!

Chocolate and liqueur, fairly decent combo if you ask me

Absinthe and dulce de leche liqueurs. One was slightly nicer than the other

Evil absinthe

A few large nights out in Mendoza and my first stunningly perfect Argentinian steak

Culinary wonders of Valparaiso

Valparaiso is a stunning, gritty city located about 110km north west of Santiago. In the 19th Century during the gold rush years, its port was one of the main stopovers between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and therefore made Valparaiso an important and wealthy City. When the Panama Canal opened, it practically killed trade through the port but fortunately its now making a turn around and is still being used today. Wikipedia describes Valparaiso: ‘Built upon dozens of steep hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Valparaíso boasts a labyrinth of streets and cobblestone alleyways, embodying a rich architectural and cultural legacy. Valparaíso is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site’. And what a city she is. Bursting with character, street art/graffiti, cool cafes and bars and an edge that you only get when there’s a dark side to a place. (Sadly there are parts of town that are serious no-go areas to both gringos and locals and I avoided them like the plague).

Around the port and main sqaure of Valparaiso

Towards the dodgier end of town

Navy boys keeping watch

I joined an outstanding free walking tour of the city as soon as I arrived which fortunately informed me of what areas to steer clear of and also equally importantly, introduced me to what would become one of my favorite snacks for the next few months, the magical Alfajor; a stunning combination of two chocolate biscuits stuck together with dulce du leche. Now what is dulce du leche I hear you cry? Well it’s only Manna from heaven. Its a South American delight and obsession, up there with football; A caramel made from milk and sugar and used on nearly everything and can be found EVERYWHERE. Strangely enough, it’s also spread on bread for breakfast, which quite frankly, is fine by me, they say, “When in Rome, do as the Roman’s do…”. The guide showed us around the wonderful funicular railway system (called Ascensores) which were quite incredible and staggeringly steep and certainly beats climbing up the hundreds of steep stairways which are littered all over the city. I’ve never seen so many stairs. I can’t imagine how terrible it would be if one of the Ascensores broke down near your house and you had to carry your groceries up the stairs, I think I’d rather starve! The tour turned into being quite the culinary experience as I tried my first Pisco Sour too which, for someone who doesn’t drink, was actually oddly nice and slightly moorish! Both the Chileans and Peruvians have been arguing for decades over who actually created the famous Latin American drink. I was just happy to be trying it! Incidentally, its a lemony, frothy cocktail. On the tour I met a lovely Swiss couple, Sabrina and Christoph who became my play mates/food buddies/drinking partners for the next short while and so when our guide also suggested we go out and try two other things whilst in Valpo (the nickname for the City), we decided to hunt down the right restaurant and go together. The first thing was to share a Chorrillana for dinner. Basically it’s chips with meat, fried onions, egg and melted cheese on top, all mushed together. Sounds horrendous and in hindsight, was extremely average! The same restaurant was also famous for The Terremotto, Spanish for earthquake. A giant canister of alcoholic colourfulness! Aptly named because if you drink one it makes the earth shake and the second makes you fall over. It’s a wine based drink with grenadine and pineapple sorbet. Again sounds horrific but unlike the Chorrillana, tasted pretty good. It’s lethal though, not for the faint hearted or light weight drinker like me!

The Ascensores (furnicular) are still used daily by the residents who live in the hills. Much more civilized than taking the stairs

The outrageously steep stairs of Valpo

A beautiful old building, in need of repair but being used

Views of Valparaiso

Such steep and narrow hills require some interesting shaped houses

The house of the most wonderful hand-crafted Alfajores

Graffiti galore

The many colours of the city

Lovely views

Sabrina and the unsavoury Chorrilliana, The Terremotto and night views over Valpo. All taken with the trusty iphone

We took a tour of the harbour to check out Valpo from another perspective. It really is quite beautiful. Valparaiso’s port was full of container ships, fishing boats, a submarine and naval vessels a plenty. However my favorite thing was finding dozens of sea lions lazing in the sunshine on many of the small boats moored in the harbour. They smell terrible but they are so cute and I went slightly snap happy with my camera!

Valparaiso’s lovely harbour

Valparaiso’s harbour

Sea Lions lazing around on the harbour boats

Stunning sea lions hanging out

Sea lions lazing in the sunshine, cute but smelly

Sea Lions galore

Naval ships, spot the sneaky submarine

Sneaky, sleepy sea lion

Shipping containers, proving that Valparaiso is still a working port

My new foodie friends, Sabrina and Christoph

You’ll see I have also added a photo of me in a sexy elf suit. I was gifted this by the lovely woman in the photo who spoke not one word of English but took a liking to me one night in a bar and through her boyfriend (who was our translator), told me she wanted me to have it. Apparently she made them by hand and thought I’d need one for my travels! Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love fancy dress so I promised her that wherever I was on Christmas Day, I’d wear it and send her a photo!

Sexy christmas elf outfit. Photo with the donor!

One can’t describe Valpo without talking about the immense amount of artistic graffiti which is everywhere. It seems not one surface is unusuable or sacred. Even roof tops get a makeover so that when you are looking over the city from high up on the hills you can appreciate the art from every angle. I absolutely adore this bohemian city, it really is quite different from anywhere I’ve ever been and if you are ever in the area, it would be a tragedy for you not to visit.

Stunning graffiti and a sleepy dog

Incredible street art, no surface is missed as an opportunity to impress

Incredible street art. The picture on the right is so cool and clever. It says, You have problems? and theres a wire noose hanging down next to it! Harsh, but clever.

Graffiti everywhere

Beautiful bougainvillea

A little bit of Jewishness in Valparaiso

Stunning valpo artwork and a strange guy hanging out of his window

Strange how things work out…

 

Well, my plans to live in Indonesia sadly went thoroughly pear-shaped in March 2012. I was left stranded with no real idea what to do with myself so I decided to take the bull by the metaphorical horns and try to turn a bad situation around. I had already made the hardest decision, which was leaving my work behind so I thought what better time to do a spot of traveling? I had wanted and dreamed about ‘doing another big trip’ before I eventually thought about settling down to be a ‘real grown up’, whatever that means (?) and South America had been on my to-do list for as long as I can remember so without any lingering ties to Australia, I packed my outrageously large and heavy backpacks (around 35kgs in total!) and hopped on the next flight to Santiago, Chile, with no concrete plans and a fairly loose time schedule.

I packed light when it came to the technology department. Only my Nikon D200, my 2.8 24-70mm, iPad and more memory cards and flash drives than you can shake a stick at. As time went on through the trip (especially visiting the Galapagos), I was desperate for a 70-200mm and a x2 converter and a flash but sadly I was stuck with the basic set up.

I had planned on updating my blog regularly (and kept a decent diary so it would make blogging easier) but when it came down to actually getting stuck into it, too many factors got in the way. Not having a laptop was the biggest issue, together with downright terrible wifi connections and me not making the time each day and as time passed, it slipped my mind and became like a monkey on my back. I promised myself that once I had decent internet and a bit of time i’d share my stories, but mainly my photos as so many of you have asked to see them. So here I am, in front of a laptop (not mine, mind you, so I still don’t have Photoshop to play around with my images) writing a retrospective blog and sharing some of my many thousands of images from my wonderful 7 months in South America.

Some images are taken from my iPhone and it was usually when it just wasn’t safe enough to pull out my SLR. Amazingly, I managed to not get my camera stolen, which was a god send, but I wasn’t so lucky with my iPhone, that got pick-pocketed in Cusco whilst I was busy taking photos, but more about that later…

So, the trip began in Santiago. I picked this as a starting point simply because I managed to get a direct flight from Sydney using my Frequent Flyer points, thanks very much Qantas! I didn’t pull out my camera much here as I was super nervous, so these pics are a mix of the trusty iPhone and my Nikon.

The Mapocho River runs through Santiago. The city is surrounded by the Andes mountains and it is the cultural, political and financial centre of Chile

Santiago didn’t blow me away in any which way. It’s not the worst city i’ve been to yet it’s certainly not the most inspiring either, which was a shame and maybe too harsh a call when I was only there for less than a week. Meeting fellow travelers throughout South America, many people seemed to feel the same as me and weren’t that impressed by the city. It’s clean, with wide, tree lined avenues, jacarandas everywhere and a dirty brown river running through the middle! Santiago is fairly organized, has vast quantities of stray (but friendly) dogs walking the streets and has some lovely old buildings and parks, but in my opinion, not much soul. It’s highlight is the stunning mountain backdrop which encircles the city. The best place to visit is the bohemian Bellavista district which is nice, colourful and packed with both tourists and locals, both day and night. I took myself off for a free walking tour of the main sights which was really quite informative and interesting and where i managed to get most of my photos taken (safety in numbers!)

My most favourite tree from Australia follows me to Santiago. The ever-so-pretty Jacarandas in bloom

Plaza de Armas, the main square

Around Santiago

Bellavista and yummy nut vendors in the streets

Jacarandas galore, reminding me of Australia in Spring

Street dogs and drunks

Around the city with San Cristobal Hill in the background. A very nice but sweaty walk up in the blazing sunshine!

Views over Santiago from San Cristobal Hill

The first hostel I stayed in on my trip and some excellent street art

San Cristobal Hill, the candle and prayer area

More prayers and candles being lit

The candle area near the top of Cerro San Cristobal

The Blessed Virgin Mary statue sits at the top of San Cristobal Hill overlooking the city. Me looking like a mess after walking up the hill in the humid Chilean summer

Another pretty view over the city and my first ever empanada! They are basically a stuffed pastry which are either baked or fried and usually filled with meat, chicken, vegetables or cheese or a combination of all of the above. They are usually the perfect snack. This one was a long way away from perfection!

Around Santiago

Mapuche Statue, Plaza de Armas

So that’s it for the moment from Santiago, from here I went to Valparaiso. Come back and visit my blog shortly to see this incredible city with more soul and gusto than it knows what to do with!

Let’s get Wiggling!

More updates for you guys to read.

Tracey Spicer was the Ku-Ring-Gai Australia Day Ambassador. I photographed her at her home with her beautiful kids, Taj and Grace. A gorgeous family!

With all the rain this Summer, I went out on one of the only dry sunny days to get photos of kids enjoying the sunshine. I headed down to Wahroonga park and met some kids who were really keen to have some fun in the sun! Here are a few that I thought were especially cute.

Ben & Jerry’s, my most favourite ice-cream brand ever has appeared in Chatswood, in the new Concourse complex. They were giving away free ice-cream all day and there were queues all day. Nick Avramides and Grace Sainsbury decided to try all of the flavours on the menu. They queues up and once they got their new flavour, they joined the back of the queue to get the next one. I think they were there for over 2 hours eating ice cream! Good on them. I wish I had that much time to kill just eating ice-cream!

Marcus Graham entered the TAFE NSW Clips competition with his film I love you, and received the Industry Awards runner-up prize.

Siblings, Fiona and Kevin Shen, have just returned from a chess championship in Melbourne where they did extremely well.

There’s obviously something in the golfing air at the moment. More holes-in-one. This one was even more amazing than the 90 year old’s great shot as these two holes-in-one happened on the same hole by two friends. One straight after the other. Apparently no-one has ever heard of this happening before – anywhere! David Freeman and Richard Davis are photographed on the par 3, 7th hole at Chatswood golf club.

Matt Newton didn’t turn up for his court appearance where he allegedly assaulted a taxi driver. He was represented by his lawyer Chris Murphy (Surrounded by the press).

Former politician Andrew Tink has written a new book called Lord Sydney. He was giving a talk about his book at Chatswood Library.

We were doing a story on it being the National Year of Reading so I had to go out a photograph numerous people reading in different environment. I got lucky with 2-year-old Imogen Westwood reading with her Grandmother Susan. You can’t get cuter!

I’m not a big Wiggles fan myself, probably due to the fact that I don’t have any children of my own, but as of February, I may have just become one! I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Greg Page, the original Yellow Wiggle. What an absolutely top bloke he is. I met with The Blue Wiggle, Anthony, a few years back, and he became my favourite, but that was until I met with Greg. For those without kids, or who have been living under a rock for the past 20 odd years, the Wiggles are a worldwide phenomena. They are kids entertainers on TV and have more DVD’s out than you can shake a stick at. Greg became ill about 5 years ago and subsequently had to leave the Wiggles to get himself better. Thankfully he is back in action and has returned to the group. I was photographing him for a segment that he was filming for Sydney Weekender at the restaurant Shanghai Stories in Chatswood.

Pip Coomes, 27, from Lindfield on Sydney’s North Shore has thyroid cancer. She is organising a ball at Luna Park on March 17 to raise money for the cause. I turned into the craft queen (and quickly cut out a butterfly as a prop) when I found out that the thyroid gland is shaped like a butterfly. I was so happy with how these shots turned out.

OK, I’m officially up to date with all my editorial pics for now. I hope you are all well and enjoyed my update
Dan

 

Meeting the REAL Santa

Salon client Adrienne Wilson was in Japan when the huge earthquake hit, she is asking people to fold origami cranes to show that goodwill stretches from Australia to Japan.

Professor John Watson (Neurosurgeon at SAN and Associate Dean of the Clinical School of the University of Sydney) is conducting the first ever remote access consultation with one of his elderly, visually impaired, movement restricted patients who previously had to travel for 13 hours on public transport to see him for her regular 15 minute check-up. The consult was done via Skype at the patient’s local GP’s clinic and the patient was so happy that she didn’t have to do the long haul trip. Technology is just amazing. This is one of the examples of what could be happening daily if we had better Broadband in Australia.

Helen Flory is a bus driver and could be seen driving around Willoughby in her seriously Christmassy decorated bus. This is a fairly good example of someone getting into the Christmas spirit!

It’s not every day that you get to meet the real Santa but me, being the lucky one, actually did. Santa came all the way from Lapland where he won the Worldwide Santa of the year competition. He competed in reindeer racing, a food eating competition, a present throwing task and many others. So it is clear, this is the REAL Santa. I was chuffed to bits! Here he was in Chatswood Westfield singing and talking to the kids – and me!

The battle of the sexes obviously continues. North Sydney Boys beat North Sydney Girls for the first time in over 10 years at the HSC. Photo with Alexander Peng, Max Stenstrom, Justin Lam and Scott Xu.

Eric Hong has opened a new art gallery/music school where he makes and showcases instruments.

 

The Harbour Bridge was closed for maintenance a while back and I was asked to get a shot of the bridge that wasn’t the ordinary harbour backdrop but it had to have cars in the picture. So I thought id take my life into my hands and practically climb out of my colleagues car window to get this pic.

I have very recently just lost my dear Grandad whom I adored. He was an avid golfer for the majority of his life and I’m sure it’s what kept him going to the ripe old age of 93. When I met with Frank Cutrupi, 90, it reminded me of my amazing Papa. Here Frank is celebrating a hole in one on a par3, the 6th hole at Northbridge Golf Club.

Yet again, my Pommie ignorance get’s in the way! I met and photographed Jon English without having a clue who he was. I had to ring up the trusty boyfriend to get the low-down on him before he arrived! He is performing in the Rock Show at the State Theatre and The Rock Revolution at The Concourse. He was actually a top bloke.

That’s it for now

Best wishes

Danielle

Sisterly love

Emma and Chloe bring a new meaning to sisterly love. These two girls were just an absolute delight to photograph and it was so much fun that I completely lost track of time. The photos were taken at Bateau Bay and we were so lucky with the weather as it was the one and only decent blue skied day that we had all week. The girls had come down from up North near Newcastle and had a great afternoon playing on the beach.

I hope you girls had as much fun as I did!

Ray Martin’s still my number one!

Hi guys, whilst I have a bit of time to spare I thought I’d be productive and write my editorial posts and get myself properly up to date.

Killara High School took it upon themselves to try and break the Guiness World Record for the most people simultaneously taking part in a multi-stage fitness test, also known as the bleep test. It was great to watch so many of the kids get involved.

Ray Martin, one of my most favourite faces on the North Shore, spent time talking to Willoughby Historical Society about the importance of proper research when writing about family histories. Here he was talking in the art space of The Concourse in Chatswood. Ray is such an engaging and interesting speaker. I’ve met him many times and if you ever get the opportunity to hear him talk, it’s well worth it.

Michelle Beets murder trial ends with a guilty verdict and Walter Marsh will be sentenced next month. These photos were taken outside NSW Supreme Court of family and friends celebrating the guilty verdict.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you’ll already be aware of my love for photographing fires… sadistic I know. I only like them when they are controlled mind you! These photos were taken of a hazard reduction burn in West Killara at St Crispins Green, Albert Drive.

My love of Jacaranda’s grows each year. I love looking at all the petals falling and creating carpets of purple of the pavements and cars. I’ve decided that I’m going to plant one outside my house!

One of the biggest Power lifting championships, Matti Tikka Challenge was held at Iron Grip Gym with some of the top lifters in the country competing. A stand out for me was watching World Record Holder, Mary Macken who is literally my size (i.e. very small) lifting some seriously heafty weights. Unbelievable!

Super sweet Sienna

The oh so gorgeous and well behaved Sienna, cute as a button and then some!

Did you hear the one about the pigeon racing Minister?!

OK, so now that I’m seriously over two months behind in my editorial photography updates I thought it was about time that i pulled my finger out and started uploading some pics. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed shooting them.

Michael Crichton is an Anglican Minister at St Albans Church in Gordon. He’s also an avid pigeon racer and breeder. I never knew the ins and outs of pigeon racing as I had never really spoken to a hobbiest, now that I have it doesn’t sound anywhere near as odd as I had once thought. In fact, I think I could make a pigeon fancier if I had some more spare time!

Liane Moriarty has a new novel. Her book What Alice Forgot has been included on Oprah’s summer reading list.

This next story I have remembered and recounted to many of my friends. Teacher Beck Myors decided to train to run from Darwin to Coober Pedy for charity. This meant running around 60km per day for 2 months straight. She teaches at Lane Cove public school. This woman is an absolute inspiration and proves that people can do whatever they want as long as they put their mind to it and put in the hard yards. Congratulations to Beck for being an amazing woman and to Lane Cove public for having such an inspirational teacher!

Stuart Hannagan is Vice President of Getty Images and is on the judging panel of the Grab Photo competition. I really enjoyed this photo shoot and love how the reflection shot turned out.

Anne Ferguson is a well-known artist who has a piece of work in the sculpture by the sea exhibition. She is photographed with another one of her bronze sculptures as her exhibited piece was already on show.

Natasha Duarte was one of the winners of the 2011 National songwriting competition held by the Australian Childrens Music Foundation. Check her out on YouTube.

Kelly Doust is launching a book called Minxy Vintage at Eryldene House. She is photographed here wearing and showcasing some Vintage dresses from her collection.

This next photo just goes to show how behind I am with my blog… it’s a Movemeber story – yikes! Holidays afloat at Brooklyn took part in Movember and raised money for charity. This was taken at the start of November so the boys had to improvise with their taches!

I haven’t seen this much Lego in a long while, if ever! Richie Dulim is a model train enthusiast who has a legoland layout which will be on show at an exhibition in Hornsby. This is an absolute work of art and shows what you can really do when you have a bit of time to spare and one or two lego kits!

Ok that’s it for now. Another update will be on its way ASAP. Best wishes to you all!

Danielle