Robert's Ramblings

The chaos which began last Sunday, resulted in thousands of people in Ireland without water, electricity or any means of transport from where they had been snowbound. Some even slept in their cars on the Dublin to Cork motorway until they could be rescued.

We were snowbound too but lucky enough to have all we needed to be comfortable at home.
By Tuesday the snow had begun to recede but the temperature drop which followed turned the thawing roads into un-navigable glaciers of sheet ice. By Friday the temperature rose, the ice thawed and normality returned.

Despite the chaos, and putting aside the personal hardship borne by many, it was beautiful time all the same.


#Ireland #mallow, #now #winter #thaw #tinyplanet #aerial #ice #evening

Just before that wintry blast from the North that covered half of Ireland in snow, bringing many counties to a standstill, we had an amazing clear night and starlit night.

The following morning every kind of frost imaginable adorned leaves, grass, and ground cover. Even old flowers holding on from Autumn were transformed by amazing jewels of ice, refracting light into all of the colours of the rainbow.

The grass was just amazing too; just not the part lying down to capture it.


#Macro #frost #grass #bokeh #refraction #winter #abstract

Such a sight to see that silver sliver emerging from the new moon. Almost always near the horizon, that silver is deceptively hard to capture.

With my eyes I could clearly see the full circle of that dark orb. A trick of our brain making us think we can see the dark and light of the moon at the same time.

With the right setup of bracketed images maybe I could reconstruct that image of my minds eye. But again it would be same trick our brains already do so well.

So to keep it simple with a single image, this silver silver is all the camera could perceive.


#crescent #moon #toenailmoon #astrophotography #waxing

Even in the depths of winter Ireland’s coastline is beautiful. Despite the rain and the icy wind, Inchydoney Beach beckons and a few fortified souls are happy to be in the midst of it.

I’ve been told there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Still, you had to be prepared and so today we were content to play cat and mouse with the rain and just enjoy the day and the beach as we found them.

Still, I think I’ll end up preferring these Inchydoney tides without the hordes that will descend on this beach come the next summer holidays.


#clonakilty #cork #inchydoney #landscape #seascape #beach #ireland #aerial

With the last light of the year’s penultimate afternoon nearly gone we headed west out of Baltimore following a simple little signpost labelled ‘Beacon’.

We were hoping for a sunset, or maybe a quiet vantage out over the wild Atlantic. No sooner had we reached the Beacon than it seemed half of Baltimore and their dogs chose to join us.

They did not stay long. Maybe it was the biting wind, or the sun lost in cloud, the fading light or maybe it was the lure of a warm pub back in town.

I took a moment to capture this Beacon of the Wild Atlantic Way with the twinkling lights of Baltimore in the distance and then we joined them.


#baltimore #westcork #cork #ireland #wildatlanticway #beacon #thebeacon #seascape #landscape #aerial #coastline

Lying on the floor and looking straight up is the beautiful vaulted ceiling of Dublin City Hall.

Beneath me, Dublin’s Coat of Arms reminds all who can read Latin, that "the obedience of the citizens produces a happy city".

The irony was not lost on me in that it took just a little bit of civil disobedience to create this image.

… facimus quod faciendum est.


#Architecture #dublin #cityhall #dublincityhall #ceiling #windows #mandala &abstract; ireland

In Ireland now it’s winter, it’s cold, the light is low and the ocean’s grey scorn has about as much appeal as hiking in mud. Still I miss her.

On some dives the visibility is poor to the point of blindness. On some dives the green haze of plankton is disorients like deep fog. On some dives it’s so dark it is hard to believe the sun even exists. Still I miss her.

Some dives are like exploring caverns that have never seen daylight even thought the surface still exists somewhere above. Still I miss her.

It’s lovely when the water is clear, the sky is blue and the sun shines with a vengeance but only a diver really gets it down here and feels how amazing this dark and gloomy world really is.


#scuba #diving #kerry #portmagee #kerrysubaquaclub #gloom #dark #deep #monochrome

Back in September we found ourselves in Kilkenny and unexpectedly in the middle of the final stage of the of the 2024 Rás na mBan.

Here at the start I found a moment and a place that really captures the feel of the event. It’s no surprise that none of the visible riders placed at the finish line but in my image at least they have pride of place.

#action #cycling #ireland #kilkenny #racing #roadcycling #sports #womenscycling

Something old, something new, something borrowed and a hint of blue. So what has any of this got to do with a dropped pin? Nothing actually.

Some time back a friend and I set ourselves a little project. Drop a pin somewhere on the map, go there and be creative with a camera while taking inspiration from a photographic master of the past.

Our first attempts at a random dropped pin led to impossible places, like the roofs of factories or inaccessible private property. My final attempt, a little more forgiving, consisted of dropping a random sized circle on the map and then allowing the choice of anywhere on that circle.

My random circle luckily intersected with a cool and quirky cafe in Cork called Lab82 where I found a porcelain skull in the window. My muse for the project was the 20th century visual artist Man Ray, who with his partner Lee Miller accidentally developed the photographic technique of solarization. Finally I had my subject, my muse and my vision.

Rather than using any photo editing tool I came up with my own interpretation of the style. From there I’ll let you decide what’s old, what’s new, what I’ve borrowed and if there really is any blue.


#Droppedpin #abstract #art #lab82 #cork #manray #solarisation #surrealism

If there ever was any doubt of winter’s coming, then Wednesday’s snowfall across half of Ireland put that to rest. I never got to see how the early flurry affected towns and cities or even the south western coast. We got our own personal show rendering us snowbound and going nowhere.

Soon the images started to appear, from the icing topping of the Cliffs of Moher to country towns rendered silent white. For some of us lucky (or not so lucky) to be able to work remotely it was pretty much business as usual. Even so, I still managed to sneak out for a little white winter bliss.

#abstract #aerial #dji #snow #winter #ireland #christmas #tinyplanet

Yesterday we had our first decent snowfall for the year and it’s not even winter yet.

With a good 10 cm covering the surrounds it was easy to imagine we had gone to sleep in one country and woken in another.

Once the snow had finally stopped falling it was time to go out and play!


#abstract #circle #footprints #snow #winter

Rossnowlagh beach is famous for its kilometers of open sand, walking, surfing, swimming and a popular driving beach for doing donuts or simply enjoying the novelty of driving on sand.

It’s also a great big open space for flying a drone and capturing coastal scenery. Except this time the camera was pointing the other way just in time to capture the few moments of sunset and an opportunistic flyby.


#Aerial #dji #rossnowlagh #sunset #goldenhour #portrait #flyby #drone

There's a hidden spot on the western side of Doulus Head, County Kerry, that you could easily sail or motor past without a second glance. Like much of this rugged coastline, the jagged cliffs and seawalls don't exactly invite closer inspection - getting too near could mean being dashed to pieces on the rocks.

So it was with a mix of surprise and apprehension that I found us heading straight toward a fissure in the rock, into shadow and then darkness. Darkness, that is, until our eyes adjusted to these unexpected surroundings.

A little way in, the rocky ceiling rose dramatically, expanding into a high, vaulted roof. We had entered the inner sanctum of what locals call 'The Cathedral.'


#Ireland #doulushead #boating #scuba #diving #InbhearSceineKerrySubAquaClub #caves #seacaves #thecathedral #kerry

A visit to an old church always demands reverences but here in Youghal, St. Mary's Collegiate Church held a deep magic that almost brought us to tears.

At over 800 years old, the care with which it has been maintained tells everything about its importance as a place of worship, ceremony and social cohesion for the people of Youghal and its surrounds.

We lingered here for a few hours trying to get a sense of all that had taken place here. As the expression goes, ‘if only these walls could talk’.


#Youghal #StMarysCollegiateChurch #churches #architecture #ireland #travel #cork #sacred #churchofireland

It’s not often that such an opportunity to admire a backside as beautiful as this presents itself out on the streets, Kilkenny or otherwise.

The purists would say that if it has no cylinders then it’s not worth their time but I disagree, sometimes I am happy to judge a book by its cover, or its backside.


#Ireland #bmw #kilkenny #i8 #coupe #automobile #bmwi8 #car #eyecandy

Credit to the Dubliners for the title but this jar of whiskey is in the cellars of Midleton, county Cork
And just to confuse you even more, it’s a jar of Redbreast!

The story of whiskey in Ireland is fascinating, and Midleton’s story even more, so I invite you to research Ireland’s Uisce beatha (water of life) in any responsible way you see fit.

As for me, ...

Musha-ring dumma-do-damma-da
Whack for the daddy-o
Whack for the daddy-o
There's whiskey in the jar


#Ireland #midleton #whiskey #readbreats #cellar #cork #whiskeyinthejar #dubliners

Diving off the Kerry coast I am starting to become familiar with ‘the locals’, or as we would have said back in South Australia, ‘the usual suspects’.

The lesser spotted dogfish is now on my local list of ‘usual suspects’ and is always a welcome sight on any of my dives, ‘dog day’ or otherwise.


#lesserspotteddogfish #dogfish #scyliorhinuscaniculus #ireland #scuba #diving #underwaterphotography #fish #portrait #wildlife #kerry

One of Ireland’s most impressive sites of medieval architecture, The Rock of Cashel was once the seat of the kings of Munster.

One of most visited tourist attractions in Ireland, ‘The Rock’ was deserted this grey evening until a rent in the western sky let the sun stream in for our own personal experience.


#travel #therockofcashel #cashel #castle #sunset #silhouette #landscape #ireland #medieval #aerial

200m from the finish line of the 2024 Rás na mBan, Ireland’s premier women’s stage race, it could be anyone over the line first.

Here out in front is Netherland’s Noor Dekker. Hot on her heels is Great Britain’s Lucy Lee with Canadian, Anabelle Thomas on both their tails.

Three’s a crowd, and their can only be one winner. That final uphill 200m, to the finish outside Kilkenny Castle, was the crux of this race with Lucy Lee taking line honours.

Being here in Kilkenny for the final stage of the of the 2024 Rás na mBan was an unexpected surprise after coming here just to see an old castle.


#sports #cycling #womenscycling #RásnamBan #NoorDekker #LucyLee #AnabelleThomas #roadcycling #racing #ireland #kilkenny #action

Just under two kilometres north east of Skellig Michael is its smaller sibling, ‘Little Skellig’ or ‘Sceilig Bheag’ in the native Irish tongue.

I first laid eyes on Sceilig Bheag seven years ago and was introduced to the home of one of the northern hemispheres largest colonies of gannet, along with its incredible accompanying smell. There were six of us that day, my wife and four of our closest Australian friends. This time I was with a group of strangers who would later become good friends.

Not more than an hour after capturing this image, I got the chance to scuba dive below Sceilig Bheag’s mysterious waterline and glimpse just a little of what she hides from the rest of the world.

From this day I become hooked on Kerry diving.


#adventure #birds #crag #freedom #gannets #ireland #island #kerry #littleskellig #ocean #portmagee #seabirds #solitude #theskelligs #travel #aerial #seascape #landscape

Over the last 6 months I have come to know the County Kerry town of Cahersiveen quite well.

As this is the home port of the Inbhear Sceine Kerry Sub Aqua Club, we have departed from here for many amazing diving adventures off the amazing South West coast of Ireland.

On top of the incredible diving, we have stayed here, we have visited the cafes, restaurants, and pubs here, and we have made friends here.

Even if you have no intentions of getting wet, Cahersiveen is a wonderful base to explore the South West of Ireland. If you are a scuba diver, the Inbhear Sceine can show you some of the very best diving to be found in all of Ireland.


#abstract #aerial #ireland #kerry #Cahersiveen #tinyplanet #wildatlanticway #skelligcoast

Of my many different diving experiences here in Ireland, the most profound would have to be depth. My previous South Australian dives averaged 15 meters, now off the coast of Kerry, it’s more like 35.

With these depths come the loss of light, the loss of colour and the urgency of time. Below 30m, especially with turbid upper layers, the gloom becomes palpable, mysterious, teasing and inviting.

At 40 meters, and with lights, it is like night diving where the torchlight brings the underwater world to life in a video roll of incident light. There is security in that little bit of light but if you are game to turn off all lights, to hang out over deep water away from structures, and to let night vision do its thing, something magic happens.

I find it difficult to put into words that feeling of floating in a void of shadows and shapes. I seem to be aware of the bottom below and the structures around me but they have no substance, no threat, they are simply ‘there’. When the torchlight of another diver penetrates that void, the sharp relief of substance is both jarring and beautiful at the same time.

It’s been a long time since I really got to ‘feel’, diving. The magic of the gloom has brought that feeling back.


#Scuba #diving #kerry #ireland #deep #gloom #portmagee #InbhearSceineKerrySubAquaClub

No I am not about to stop diving with these guys, far from it, I plan on many, many more dives to come. I am imagining however that these may have been the words my camera might have uttered as it captured its last image.

Here we are on the east side of Puffin Island, Co Kerry and just about to descend on what would be my first camera-less dive in years. Yes, my camera started the dive, but never made it past a few meters before a catastrophic flood sent it off on and entirely different trip.

After 15 years of faithful service it was time to say goodbye to and old dear friend.


#Scuba #diving #inbhearsceinekerrysubaqua #ireland #kerry #boating #rib

We were diving very deep to avoid the surge above but even here below 30m we were tossed back and forth making photography tricky.

While capturing this edible sea urchin I waited for the leaf like red algae to be pushed down flat by the surge. It never was, I think it had gotten impaled on the urchin's spines.


#critters #diving #echinoderms #Echinusesculentus #edibleseaurchin #ireland #kerry #scuba #seaurchin #underwater #InbhearSceineSubAqua

I’d never really done much RIB (rigid-hull inflatable boat) based diving before coming to Ireland.

Back in South Australia, not including an inflatable hull boat I owned in my twenties, I could count my time diving from RIBs on one hand. Almost all of my boat diving was from off-shore equipped rigid fiberglass or aluminium boats.

Here diving in Ireland now for the last 4 months, the only diving I have been doing if from RIBs with guys and gals of Inbhear Sceine Kerry Sub Aqua club.

There once was a time when a nice dry cabin had its appeal but for its size nothing beats the seaworthiness of a RIB powering through moderate seas, its stability at rest and the ease of getting in and out. Try getting back up the ladder of an anchored rigid boat in big seas and you risk being smashed by the heaving transom, ladder or outboard. A RIB on the other hand is a delight in the same conditions where you can simply pull yourself up and over the buoyancy tubes and back into the boat.

Now that I’ve had a taste for rubber over glass there just might be a RIB somewhere in my diving future here or back in South Australia.


#inbhearSceine #kerrysubaaquacclub #rib #scuba #diving #kerry #skelligmichael #portmagee

What a strange sight among the graves of Cill Mhic Dhuach, a man in a hazmat suit power cleaning a tombstone with the precision of a dental hygienist.

Perhaps the cleaning is required as part of some study where researchers need unrestricted access to the stone surface. Perhaps it is part of some tourist beautification program. Or perhaps a family is paying respect by up keeping the grave of an ancestor.

Ultimately, lichens and their associated bio-communities will be the ultimate protectors of the stones and the stories they hold. I hope that to protect the past, the graveyard shift ultimately becomes a thing of the past.


#CillMhicDhuac #Kilmacduagh #countyclare #ireland #travel #journalism #blackandwhite

You could be forgiven for being confused by such an exotically named plant presenting itself so devilishly. The true beauty of this intriguing Nigella damascena is yet to emerge.

Very soon those green veined leaves will fold back, turn blue, and reveal themselves as the petals of a dramatic and exotic flower. The common name, love-in-a-mist, comes from the effect in full bloom of beautiful blue petals floating in a filigree mist of fine green.

This time of year the Burren, in Co Clare, Ireland, is awash with colour as wildflower adorn the ditches and rocky landscape in all directions. It is a very special place that rewards stillness with a great sense of belonging to the land.

The Burren is a place I recommend visiting and spending time in. You may or may not find something very special here but at least the wildflowers will not disappoint.


#Loveinamist #nigelladamascena #nigella #ireland #wildflowers #burren #flowers #burrennationalpark

Another beautiful jellyfish, the crystal jelly (Aequorea victoria), is normally almost perfectly clear but when disturbed it illuminates its outer bell in a blue-green glow using tiny light producing organs.

The light producing substance harvested from these guys is aequorin, a calcium-activated photoprotein used in medical research. The crystal jelly is also the very same creature who’s genes have been inserted into mice to make them glow green as their genetically modified bodies produce their own aequorin.

As the water here off the coast of Kerry is still getting warmer I’m looking forward to these guys being around for a few more months yet.


#crystaljelly #aequoreavictoria #jellyfish #ireland #scuba #diving #kerry #wildatlanticway #aequorin

Ireland’s Burren National Park, or simply ‘The Burren’ is unlike anything you would have imaged to be Irish landscape.

It is said that Oliver Cromwell, during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland circa 1650, when he first saw the Burren, said, “There isn’t a tree to hang a man, water to drown a man, nor soil to bury a man.”

Despite it’s stark almost sterile aspect from afar, up close the Burren is an oasis of life, abundant in flora, fauna and ancient human history. When we visited here a couple weeks ago it was awash with colour as wildflowers bloomed from every conceivable nook, crack and cranny.

This is a place to find solitude and feel the juxtaposition of wide open barren rock landscape with the rich colour of living things.

I first came here over twenty years ago and will always be back for more.


#Ireland #landscape #countyclare #burren #burrennationalpark #tinyplanet

Just for a moment I felt like I was back in the familiar waters of South Australia where our magnificent southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) is often found in caves and under deep ledges. However, in all my years of diving Southern Australian waters I have never seen our timid crayfish out in the open during the day.

Here below the imposing Skellig Michael, and unlike its distant Australian relative, the European spiny lobster (Palinurus elephas) seems absolutely at home out in the open. During our dive we found several crayfish perched on open drop-off walls or foraging under the kelp.

It was amazing observing these beautiful creatures out and about rather than having to peer in caves and under ledges. Unfortunately the same does not apply to lobster which do their best to stay out of sight.

I can only surmise that for the spiny lobster, here off the south west coast of Ireland, a lack of predators has lead to their boldness making them so photogenic.


#crayfish #spinylobster #europeanspinylobster #palinuruselephas #scuba #diving #skelligmichael #critters #underwater