Armchair Travelling 2: A Road Trip

Our eldest grandson was very excited about going on a road trip.  He might not have been so keen if he's realised that meant a lot of hours in the car!  We stopped off on the way to see the tallest tree in New South Wales.  It's in the Myall Lakes National Park.  It wasn't possible to get the whole tree in the photo! so you will have to imagine the top of it.

Next day we went on a mini roadtrip which took in a walk to Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse.

And on the way back, a stop to pick up the most expensive cherry pie ever!

We were staying at an amazing Airbnb place: Pondok Bambu.  The owners were extremely welcoming and allowed Crusoe to feed the chickens and visit the pig.

I tried really hard to get a good photo of this cockerel but he really had no idea what a photoshoot meant!

The final day of the road trip involved a long journey home with a stop off for lunch.

As you can see the weather was grey.  I can take photos of grey skies at home!!!

Our last day in Sydney and the weather still wasn't up to much.  After Roger, Andy & Crusoe had gone out to buy a 'garden' and planted it, we went off to the place in Botany Bay where Captain cook landed.

Botany Bay as it is now.  I don't think Captain Cook would recognise it!

The monument to the landing.

Thanks for joining me today.  I hope you have enjoyed a brief look at the first half of our holiday.
Bernice

Armchair Travelling 1

We have just returned from a visit to Australia to visit the Hopper Juniors.  We arrived in Sydney in time for breakfast and then took ourselves into the city on the train and on to Manly via the ferry.  I have lots of photos of Manly so didn't take any this time apart from this advertising hoarding.

Normal photography service was resumed the next day when we visited the Powerhouse Museum.  I have been pondering whilst away about how many photos I take and that I do nothing much with them afterwards so I tried not to be so trigger happy this time.  I only took 469 in the almost 2 weeks - that's a low number for me.

So there's a somewhat eclectic mix of photos for day 2.  This was our first visit to this Museum despite many visits to Sydney.

After the Powerhouse Museum we walked towards Darling Harbour where we popped into the Chinese Garden of Friendship which we had never visited before.

Darling Harbour is a frenetic place so it was amazing to find this oasis of calm in it's midst.

We walked up to Town Hall to get the train back to Rockdale.  I loved this anchor outside the church.

On day 3 I went to the ladies meeting at Hillsong with Naomi, Andy went to work and Roger went for a walk.  The weather wasn't much good in the afternoon so we stayed in and prepared for our road trip - planned for the next 3 days.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

Karen Stamper workshop

I signed up to do Karen Stamper's Online Course because I couldn't wait for the September workshop that I had invited her to do at The Studio in Solihull.  I have found it very beneficial to do both.

This is as far as I got with the online course.  I used a Khadi paper zigzag book.

At the Solihull workshop I used the recommended Seawhite concertina book.  I took photos of various stages. 

Using Seawhite inks in black and sepia

Posca Pen sky after adding a skyline

Adding foreground features

The inspiration was Venice although I have had a couple of comments about it looking like Marrakech!

Since the workshop I have tried to find a way of incorporating Karen's techniques with my preference to find a style that works for me.

This is only the first layer.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice