Sightseeing in Australia - 8

I don't know why I spend so much time trying to photograph Australian gum trees - it's not as if we don't have plenty of the good old Eucalypts in New Zealand after all, but there's something special about them in their own Aussie environment; and they're so quintessentially Australian. Call it a challenge - and it is most definitely that. I have come home with hundreds of photos of gum trees and most have ended up in the delete bin. Turns out it's actually quite difficult to capture all those forms and shadows without it looking like...well.... a boring solid mass of trees. I was reasonably happy with this shot - taken one soft, sunny morning on a massive drive around the Fleurieu Peninsula, south of Adelaide in 2007. If you just happen to be travelling to Adelaide, I'd strongly advise you to pick up a rental car and make a day of it - better still a couple of days because there are plenty of wineries, beautiful landscapes and interesting towns to visit. The south of the peninsula also gives you access to Kangaroo Island. I love Melbourne's Flinders Street - that one mile long (exactly they tell me) stretch named after explorer, Matthew Flinders, that runs almost parallel to the Yarra River. It's where you'll find the incredibly busy Flinders Railway Station which is, in my view, just about one of the best people-watching places on the planet; and just across the road, Federation Square with its galleries, cafes, restaurants and events. I'm heading across the Tasman in a few weeks' time and you can be reasonably certain that I'll be spending an unnatural amount of time hanging out here with my camera. This is the very handsome State Library of Queensland in Brisbane, which is located in front of the Queensland Museum of Art. It opened after extensive redevelopment in 2006 at the hands of Australian architectural practice, Donovan Hill Peddle Thorp. In 2007, it was voted Australian Building of the Year by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. I spent half a day in both buildings back in 2008, on my way home from a wild adventure in the Queensland Outback. Brisbane, it must be said, seemed tame and very civilised by comparison. A perfect little building in the Victorian town of Malmsbury - little more than a speck on the map, with just 587 people (or thereabouts), 96km northwest of Melbourne. Gold was discovered here in 1858 and the town became a centre for diggers on their way to Bendigo and Castlemaine. I discovered it in 2010, when I hit the road in rural Victoria with a map, a camera and an assortment of drinks and snacks. From Woodend, an hour north of Melbourne, I headed north past Kyneton, and turned off the highway, heading for Malmsbury, then in a giant loop back to the south, and north again to Woodend. It was one of those magnificent days of taking ten hours to do a trip that would normally take 3-4 hours - stopping all along the way to explore and take photographs. My idea of heaven.

Sightseeing in Australia - 6

When I arrived in Adelaide for the first time 2007, I never expected to see pink spring blossoms and a bounty of lush green grass - South Australia after all, is one of the driest places in Australia. But up in the Adelaide Hills, things are a little different - cooler for a start - and just twenty minutes from Adelaide City, you'll find plenty of vineyards, wineries, farmlands and artist studios. not to mention cute little villages with names like Birdwood, Stirling, Hahndorf and Lobethal. I took this photograph in one of the small towns we passed through. This commanding tower belongs to one of the buildings of the University of Ballarat, in the city of Ballarat, Victoria. Founded in 1870, it's the third oldest centre of higher learning in Australia. Over 25,000 students attend courses in a number of different campuses. This building is right in the heart of the city and I was so busy walking backwards so I could fit the whole tower in my camera lens, that I tripped on a doorstep behind me and just about concussed myself on the massive stone wall of another old architectural beauty - of which Ballarat has a bounty. It was while I was driving to Ballarat in 2010, that I passed through the cute little town of Creswick, 18km north of Ballarat and 129km northwest of Melbourne. I HAD to stop. There were so many divine old limestone buildings begging to be photographed - many of them a legacy of the town's early wealth. Named after the three Creswick brothers, who started a large sheep station in the area in 1842, it was at its peak during the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s. It had a population of 25,000 back then.

I visit Daylesford often - every time I visit Victoria in fact, because it's not too far from Woodend (an hour north of Melbourne) where I usually stay with family. Daylesford is to Melbourne what Akaroa is to Christchurch, and Waiheke is to Auckland - the perfect weekend getaway, close enough to be convenient and far enough away to be 'of a different world.' Every weekend it's packed with incoming BMWs, Porches, Mercedes and the like and the many classy boutique accommdations and designer stores do a roaring trade. Today it's known as Victoria's Spa Town - which probably originated from the fact that nearby Hepburn Springs (a small village to the north), has long been renowned for its natural spring mineral spas. If you're visiting Melbourne, it's well worth making an overnighter to Daylesford as they also have great markets, cafes and restaurants. The photograph above is of one of their terrific old Aussie pubs.

Sightseeing in Australia - 4

I'd hate to count the number of hours I've spent walking the streets of inner city Melbourne with my camera. I visit at least once a year and regardless of the weather, I find endless inspiration in the people, the buildings, the colour, the movement - it never stops. It's easy, it;s familiar - yet at the same time, different enough from New Zealand to be endlessly interesting to me. I usually stay at the small commuter town of Woodend, an hour north of Melbourne on the main train commute. From there, I either train into the city, or I leap in the car and drive for miles and miles and miles, around rural Victoria, exploring the many small towns and villages along the way. Some days, when Victoria winds up the temperature, it can be an arduous business - but nothing air conditioning or a wound-down car window can't fix These Aboriginal shields were part of a stunning display at the Museum of South Australia in Adelaide. I spent a long time here and had time permitted, I would have made a return visit.

I photographed this local couple outside the Eulo Queen, an old hotel in the tiny town of Eulo in the southwest Queensland outback. I was on my way to the opal mines at Yowah and stopped off for a short sprint around town, a natter with a few of the locals and a peek inside this historic hotel.

Sightseeing in Australia - 2

Interior: The Eulo Queen, Eulo, Outback, Southwest Queensland, 2008.

One of my best Aussie adventures yet, took me to the Outback region of Southwest Queensland - ten days of unbridled madness and fun. Outback life is raw, rugged and rough - a fantastic place where people pitch together in their battle against the trying forces of nature. Snake-handler. Kyneton, Victoria, 2008. For New Zealanders, there is a wonderful familiarity about a lot of Australia, yet that's always offset by significant differences - like snakes for instance! I took this shot at the annual Kyneton Country Fair, the equivalent of our A&P Shows I expect.

Bendigo, Victoria, 2009 I drove up to Bendigo one day when I was staying just north of Melbourne. It was - or is normally - a two-hour trip but I stopped at every little town and village I passed along the way. And the closer I got to Bendigo, the hotter it got, so that when I finally arrived around midday, it was 39-degrees and I was sweltering. But I adored Bendigo. It was one of Australia's richest cities during the gold rush and that early wealth is reflected in much of the astonishing architecture.

Adelaide Hills, Adelaide, South Australia, 2007.

I flew over to Adelaide with a photographer in 2007, on a writing mission for Air New Zealand's magazine, Kia Ora. It was a brilliant 5-6 days spent exploring the city, nearby Adelaide Hills and the magnificent Fleurieu Peninsula. I'd heard a great deal about Adelaide in the year's prior, mostly that the city was designed by the same urban planner who designed the layout for Christchurch; and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. I'd move there in a heartbeat.

Sightseeing in Australia

Brisbane, Queensland. 2008

I Love Australia!

Every part of it.

Everything about it.

Castlemaine, Victoria , 2009.

Tired of long haul flights to Europe and North Asia, I have, these past four or five years, devoted at least one trip a year to some part of Australia. I've visited many times prior to that of course, but I see it differently now - not just as a quick jaunt across the Tasman to something familiar but as a vast country that most New Zealanders (and many Australians) never see anything but a minute portion of. So I have been making it my business to move beyond the obvious east coast cities and venture out into the wider country. Suffice to say, that in the last five years, I have already amassed thousands of photographs taken in various parts of Australia - there are even more thousands on slide film that I have yet to digitise.

Cunnamulla, Outback, Southwest Queensland, 2008. Melbourne, Victoria. 2009. So, rather than leaving them tucked away in my computer files, I've decided to give some of them an airing in a new blog series "Sightseeing in Australia." It's going to be a mixed bag. People, places, the weird and the wonderful. Consider it a mini sightseeing trip. And it begins here. And if anything interests you, click on the location in the index line below the blog, because I guarantee you'll find more.

Reflecting on Melbourne

It's that time again - when my thoughts turn to Melbourne.

Sadly, I have to wait a few months before I can return, but I've been pottering about in my Melbourne photo files again and here's a few of my favourite cafe and restaurant windows.

Windows, graphics, reflections - always a big attraction for me.

Above, Flinders Station reflected in a pub window.

A whispy set of reflections at the classy Spanish restaurant, Movida Coffea at the Queen Victoria Market

Highrise reflected in the Negroni window

Ito in Chinatown

And some of Ballarat's terrific architecture reflected in the Grand Hotel window.

I still shudder when I remember how baking hot it was the day I visited Ballarat. I fell in love with the place - mostly with its architecture - because certainly the heat just about killed me.....as did missing my footing and falling over and whacking my head on one of those historic stone walls! The stuff of good travel tales.

More From the Corrugated Iron Files

Having written about architecture for assorted magazines for many years, I often find myself fantasising about the sort of 'ideal house' I would build for myself given an endless budget. I invariably come back to three key elements - trees, water and wood. More recently, corrugated iron and the the simple, pleasing forms of rural architecture have conspired to test my passion for the former. Now I'm thinking of building two houses - it seems the only way. Because at this point, a corrugated iron barn with a wooden interior, suspended in a tree hanging over water seems a stretch - even for me.

And so I continue to photograph corrugated iron buildings new and old. These shots were taken near the small Victorian town (as in the state of Victoria) of Woodend, an hour north of Melbourne, in Australia. I love the mismatched, patchwork nature of many of the old corrugated farm buildings. It's a durable material that lends itself to re-use, over and over again, and farms in both New Zealand and Australia offer a constant parade of that sort of inter-generational material economy. I'm just home from another road trip around New Zealand - two months on the road - and I'm already regretting the number of farm buildings I sailed past without stopping - all good fodder for my lively imagination and my dreams of building the perfect house. (I've written about corrugated iron on this blog a number of times. If you're interested in reading more, click on Corrugated Iron in the label line below).

A Bird in the Bush

Meet Dacelo leachii - The Blue-Winged Kookaburra

Not to be confused with Dacelo novaeguineae, the Laughing Kookaburra, which is bigger.

Both of course, one of Australia's iconic 'emblems.'

I photographed this little guy on my last visit to Melbourne - in February - in the small Victorian town of Woodend, an hour north of the city.

Spaces Between - 21

It's been a while since I brought you one of my Spaces Between shots.

So here's the latest - taken in one of favourite small Victoria towns, Kyneton, which sits about 1 hr and 15 minutes north of Melbourne.

When Coffee is Your Life

I enjoyed these coffee graphics at Twigs Cafe in Trentham, Victoria (Australia) recently. They come courtesy of Grinders Giancarlo Coffee - a company established in Lygon Street, Melbourne in 1962, by two Italian coffee roasters, Giancarlo Giusti and Rino Benassi. They now operate out of a modern factory in Fairfield, Melbourne. Their beans are served in top cafes throughout Australia and they also back up their bean business with the supply of coffee-making equipment. www.grinderscoffee.com.au

Small Cafe Big on Style - Rural Victoria

Every year when I return to Melbourne and the many rural Victorian towns and cities that surround it, I like to return to my favourite cafe haunts. I also love to discover something new. As I passed through the little historic town of Trentham on my way to Daylesford, I noticed a new fashion/design store/cafe combo - TWIGS - had opened its doors on the main street. I felt bound to investigate.

Inside, the little slither of a store bulges with goodies - homemade produce from the Hepburn Spa and the Macedon Ranges regions, beautiful woollen garments, accessories, superb food and cookbooks and much more.

Everything about the place - right down to its very attractive website - oozes terrific presentation, so they won me over instantly. I like a business that goes that extra mile to create something original, attractive, creative and different; and nowhere is that more important than in the highly competitive cafe/restaurant trade, where (for this reviewer) 'average' is often generous terminology. Too many businesses seem to equate creativity with expense but in this case, what could be simple and less costly than playing around with twigs? It's a winner in my view and I'm very pleased I stopped long enough to indulge in their superb lemon tart. www.twigsonline.com.au

The Iconic Australian Shot

I snapped this sign at Trentham Falls in Victoria, Australia.

History In The Bank

Kyneton, Victoria, AUSTRALIA Nov. 2008. Ajr

When I was visiting Melbourne back in November, I spent quite a bit of time in the small Victorian town of Kyneton, just over an hour north of Melbourne itself. It’s Victorian by location and also by history, as it was at its peak during the Victorian period. Historic Piper Street particularly, is filled with wonderful old Victorian buildings, many of which have been restored and colonised by classy restaurants and boutique stores. One of my favourites is the chunky bluestone building of the Kyneton Museum, which began life as the Bank of New South Wales in the 1856. It was purchased by the Shire Council in 1969 to serve as a folk museum with exhibits drawn from the gracious homes and old farms of the Kyneton district. www.kyneton.org.au

The Spaces Between - 18

Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia. Nov. 2008. Ajr

It was 37-degrees the morning I rolled into Castlemaine, a couple of hours north of Melbourne. The sky was impossibly blue and made all the more so by its striking contrast to the many old brick buildings that give the town so much architectural character. It's a great little town but I find that searing heat hard to take. For others in this series click on Spaces Between in the label line below.

Festive Flavours

Shelf display, Woodend, Victoria, Australia. Nov. 2007. Ajr

Christmas Puddings

Waiting for a Pot

And Hungry Australians

Resting in Peace

A Quiet Cemetery Scene

Woodend, Victoria

Australia

Nov. 2008. Ajr

A Sign For Sunday

Kyneton, Victoria, Australia. Nov. 2008. Ajr

Arrrhhhhh....the dilemma of choice!

Victorian Vines

Hanging Rock Vineyard, Woodend Victoria, Australia. Image Supplied.

I love this view of the sun-burnt grape vines at Hanging Rock Winery, near Woodend, where I stayed recently. As unrelenting and brutal as the sun can be in Australia, I do love the deep blue skies that come with it. And it's got to be good for wine production. Hanging Rock Vineyard is close to the Macedon Ranges, one of the coolest grape growing regions of Australia and they produce an impressive array of award-winning red and white wines. http://www.hangingrock.com.au/