Entries by Robert

Experiments with Qik

Qik is a little piece of software that enables you to stream videos directly from your phone to the Web. Use it to stream engaging videos to your friends in Facebook, Twitter, etc. or as your camcorder to capture entertaining and special moments.

With Qik you can stream engaging video live from your phone to the world or use your phone like a camcorder to capture entertaining, interesting and special moments. Go LIVE with your life by streaming anytime, anywhere—right from your phone. Be an eyewitness, capture those first steps, or whip up your own streaming video blog. There are just a million and one uses of Qik.

This is one of the coolest Web things I have played with in a long time. Let me know what you think.



... Robert

I can remember when I was 5 years old and had formulated a theory of how electric motors worked. I got as far as electricity, currents and forces but how the forces "knew" what to do was a mystery to me! So began a career in electronics. In the last 23 years I have been involved in product development, embedded software design, engineering management, technology and innovation management, marketing and business development.

In short it has to date been a rewarding and fascinating time. As a self confessed techie, I love being involved in the latest and most interesting innovations, especially those impacting our everyday lives

... Robert

Edithburgh Dive Weekend 17/18th June '06



















Edithburgh Dive Weekend 3rd September '05


















Jennifer & Myself Diving 'The Lumb', 5th June '05


















Andy & Myself Diving 'The John Robb', 4th June '05

















Whyalla Cuttlefish Weekend, 15th May '05

I have been a SCUBA diver for more than 18 years now and in that time have had the opportunity to dive extensively throughout South Australia. I've dived elsewhere and yes, tropical water is wonderful but my soft spot is for the dramatic offshore waters of Australia's Southern coast. It may be cold but the dramatic scale of walls, caves, ledges, kelp, dolphins, seals, reef fish, oceanic pelagics and the odd rather too large for comfort predator make for what South Australian diving stands for!!

My favorite dive location is Allthorpe Island off the coast of South Australia's York Peninsula. My favorite shore dive is Chinaman's Hat, again on South Australia's York Peninsula.

I wish I could say how many dives I have done but for 10 years I kept no record of my diving, an oversight I now regret, many hundreds I'd say at a pinch! I now teach others to dive and my enthusiasm for the salty realm is as strong as ever.

... Robert

I have been involved in this mad sport for nearly 20 years now and can be found at the bottom of the pool on a regular basis. We play weekly at the Adelaide Aquatics Centre with formally organised teams and games. After the game you will almost certainly find us continuing the proceedings at a nearby watering hole!

Underwater hockey is very similar to field hockey in the way it is played with 6 players in the game per side and 4 players as interchange. We use a puck which, although looks like an ice hockey puck, is made of plastic coated lead. The hockey stick is very short, about 20cm long and is held in one hand. The entire game is played at the bottom of the pool while holding your breath!

Underwater Hockey started in England in 1954, but it was not until 1984 that the first World Championships took place in Chicago , USA where Australia made a clean sweep in Men’s and Women’s winning in both team events. Australian Open UWH Championships were held in 1975. The Women’s UWH Titles commenced in 1981, with the Junior UWH Championships commencing in 1990.

... Robert

I could could tell you a bit about who I am but I'm afraid the story would be obsolete before you get to read it. So let me give you a little of who I am at the time of writing this text. I am having a rich and adventurous life, full of "life experiences" as they say and it is my intention to keep things that way!

I presently live in the quiet city of Adelaide in South Australia. Adelaide may be quiet to some but believe me, there is plenty here to keep anyone thoroughly engaged, enthralled and occupied! You might just have to put in a bit of effort to find it sometimes!

My most recent passion has become the pursuit of excellence in teaching scuba divers. For me it has been a wonderful experience in bringing the brand new uninitiated into a world I have had many privileged years to be part of. Such a stark contrast from my previous life in the world of electronics, technology and computing.

That all being said I am still a technologist at heart and keep my ears to the ground and my eyes out for the latest, the greatest and most fun new things to play with. Today's new ideas may seem like fun and folly for the early adopters but history has shown that the future depends on us. If it were not for our insatiable appetite for ever new and more complex things to fill our lives with then I'm sure we would all still be living in caves and wondering "is this all there is!!".

... Robert

I was originally photographing a gorgeous Outer Harbour sunset when I happened to looked behind and saw this.

#Cosco #shipping #outerharbour #southaustralia #aerial #drone #goldenhour #landscape #containers #ship

It's while after sunset now. The iPhones with their attention spans long since turned from sunset to social no longer observe the western sky.

Through twilight, the sky transitions through layers of orange and yellow and green before a deep blue heralds the first evening stars.

This is a special time when seabirds skim the border between sand and sea to their night time roosts and just a few witness the end of another perfect day.

#twilight #sunset #goldenhour #ocean #gulls #seabirds #silhouette #seascape #beach #sea #grange #southaustralia

It's been a few weeks now and I am starting to miss being under one of my favourite bits of blue.

Digging back through my underwater images there are a few I'd like to work on but they will take time.

In the mean time here's a little bit above the blue.

#aerial #Isolation #jetty #photography #rapidbay #southaustralia

A few weeks ago we visited the Jam Factory, in Seppeltsfield, and took our time enjoying the work of the various artists and craftspeople being exhibited.

Time and time again I am drawn to glass. I love the way light plays on and through the medium.

Unlike the colours of a painting or sculpture I love the way colours in glass seem to be projected out from somewhere magical place inside.

These hand blown bottles, titled ‘Transition’ by Australian artist Eileen Gordon, were presented so beautifully I felt I had to at least try and capture some of that magic.

Sadly you had to be there!

#Jamfactory #seppeltsfield #art #glassware #glassblowing #eileengordon #gordonstudio #craft #barossavalley #bottles

How would you feel if a face like this emerged from the darkness late into the evening where a gathering had come together to celebrate a ritual rite of passage?

Actually we were all pretty impressed by this amazing cake as we celebrated Rachael’s 21st birthday.

Happy birthday Rachael!

#Dragon #icing #birthdaycake #cake #birthday #medieval #creature

Just an hour’s drive south of Adelaide is a dive location which evokes adventure, mystery, wonder, danger and awe!

Arguably the location of Australia’s most famous shark attack survived by Rodney Fox back in 1963 and the subsequent fatality of Jonathon Lee in 1991.

I have dived here many times and just a little anxious respect precedes each dive. However the rewarding moments I have had exploring this incredible reef structure will always be worth it and are experiences I treasure.

So it was with that same anxious respect we headed down to ‘The Dropoff’ a few weeks ago. After a while motoring back and forth over the reef precipice we finally chose to anchor on top in 6m of water allowing us to both get to the bottom quickly and to shape our dive profile for safety.

Wow, wow, wow! Bluethroat Wrasse and Herring Cale everywhere as well as Queen Snapper, Blue Devils, Longsnout Boarfish and Port Jackson sharks. Gorgornian corals adorned ledges and swim-throughs while huge sponges at 20m dwarfed the ones normally encountered on other local dive sites. Lush dense kelp smothered the entire top of the reef.

At one point in our dive the visibility opened out to more than 12m and the sight from the sand at 20m of the reef reaching up to near the surface face was breathtaking.

We spent over an hour underwater before retreating to the sanctuary of our little boat. Full of exhilaration from this incredible dive I’ll still admit to being just a little relieved being back in the bot again!

#Aldinga #aldingadropoff #scuba #diving #southaustralia #seascape #gorgonian #coral #ocean

Finally the days are getting long enough for me to capture some of the images on my daily commute.

Through winter I drive home in the dark. And well mornings, they’re too focused on other things for me to get my head into it. So now I have light a time on my side my travel home has become so much more enjoyable.

Here’s just one of my favourite spots, the Gilman Wetland windmills.

#Gilman #GlimanWetlands #goldenhour #landscape #silhouette #sunset #wetlands #windmill

That ‘pot of gold at the end of the rainbow’ might just be more than a myth in this freshly watered desert landscape.

The rain now over, snippets of blue appearing in the north and then a beautiful rainbow as the weather’s parting gesture.

It would all be dry again soon so we took note where that rainbow ended so we could head off in search of that gold.

#southaustralia #bush #outback #camping #rain #flood #drought #landscape #flindersranges #rainbow

“I’ve been coming up here most weekends for the last 8 years”, he said, “and I’ve never ever seen any water in these creeks!”.

What are the chances, we all thought? The one weekend we chose to camp out here in the rugged outback east of the Flinders Ranges is the one where 8 years of drought came to an end with 70mm of rain in less than 24 hours.

Our tents got flattened in the strong wind, we were woken at 4am to the roar of a wall of water barrelling down the main creek while another stream flowing under my tent turned it into a water-bed. After a morning spent attempting to dry everything the afternoon brought tent flattening winds again followed by a burst of torrential rain and hail. Another wall of water came down the creak again and hour or so later.

Not being fully prepared, there were some miserable moments in those 24 hours but in hindsight I feel very privileged to have been there and so grateful to witness such a life giving event.

#southaustralia #bush #outback #camping #rain #flood #drought #landscape #flindersranges

The MV Seawolf lies in 20 meters of water just off the South Australian coastal town of Port Noarlunga; its resting place for the past 18 years.

I love the ironic twist of fate that this Japanese fishing trawler has become a home for local reef fish, a host of other marine life and an underwater haven for divers to explore.

Last weekend’s conditions were still pretty gloomy following the recent heavy rains and runoff but the flat sea, blue sky and slack tide made for a sensational diving adventure all the same. Thank you Andy and Jess for being my buddies for this one.

The Noarlunga artificial reef system including its two wrecks is a vibrant dive site full of aquatic life and surprises. It’s worth the effort to get out there.

#Wreck #scuba #diving #seawolf #noarlunga #southaustralia #blackandwhite #underwater #oceanscape #ship #sunk #artificialreef

From gentle white sand through to dark sinister waves. It would seem the life of the beach captured in a single image.

What’s missing are the people, the runners, the bathers and the sun lovers. I don’t blame them. It’s cold, its winter, and the wind is blowing a chilly gale.

Perhaps life is a beach but never in a single moment.

#beach #waves #winter #windswept #grange

There’s something not quite right about Whyalla’s amazing new jetty. There’s no one on it!

To be fair it’s pretty new, having been completed in the midst of COVID-19 lock down. Apparently the council is concerned about social distancing but after a dinner evening at Whyalla’s Westland Hotel I am not convinced that social distancing is the issue.

So what’s really going on? There are no ladders, and no safe way to assist anyone who might fall into the water!

Local community members are concerned and on raising the issue have been told by the Whyalla City Council that a safety ladder would encourage bad behaviour like jetty jumping! That’s like saying we wont install airbags in cars because it might encourage reckless driving.

I’ll speculate that someone just forgot and is now red faced making excuses while it remains closed until the safety issues have been resolved one way or another.

#whyalla #jetty #sunset #goldenhour #safety #ladders #southaustralia

Far up into South Australia’s Spencer Gulf, in the rocky shallows of Stony Point near Whyalla, is a very special place where once a year, in the depths of winter, our Giant Cuttlefish congregate to mate and renew.

The ongoing struggle between fishers demanding their right to catch and the divers, the snorkellers and environmentalists, ebbs and flows with the seasons. In recent years the plans for a local desalination plant have been derailed though the ever present spillage risk of the Port Bonython Fuels facility on the Point Lowly peninsula remains.

This place is special because the cuttlefish have chosen a location so shallow and so accessible that even snorkellers (as long as you are not afraid of the cold) can enjoy the mating rituals, the male melee brawls, the shapeshifting subterfuge and their absolute aquatic grace.

This, our first visit back here in nearly fifteen years, shared with a couple of life long friends, was a wonderful chance to renew my fascination and awe of these beautiful and intelligent creatures.

#cuttlefish #sepiaapana #molluscs #critters #wideangle #stonypoint #whyalla #pointlowly #scuba #diving #southaustralia #marinelife #giantcuttlefish #sunburst

Head out onto the seagrass beds on a Port Noarlunga Night dive and there will be crabs everywhere.

At first they will hold their ground, threaten with claws and appear stalwartly menacing.

Get a little closer and they will scurry away to stand their ground again from a safer distance.

The challenge is not one of getting chomped but simply getting close enough for a photo.

#crabs #critters #macro #portnoarlunga #reef #scuba #diving #southaustralia #crustaceans #marinelife

If I had to choose two words for the wavy grubfish they would be ‘inquisitive’ and ‘opportunistic’.

Move a bit of weed to one side and out will come a wavy grubfish to see if you have dislodged some tiny morsel.

Lift a rock to carefully peer underneath and quick as a flash a wavy grubfish will be there to investigate with you.

Anything you do which might drive some tiny critter into unprotected territory is what the opportunist wavy grubfish seems to be waiting for.

Simply rest motionless on the bottom for a minute or two and you will soon find at least one or two coming to check you out.

#WavyGrubfish #Parapercishaackei #critters #macro #seacliff #reef #scuba #diving #southaustralia #fish #marinelife

The ocean calls and calls and calls.

It fills our dreams,
it nurtures our souls,
it pushes busy elsewhere,
it draws the world of nature close.

Where ever we go or choose to live the ocean will never be far away.

… always calling.

#Goldenhour #sunset #ocean #silhouette #seascape #halletcove #southaustralia #aerial #drone #coastal

Sunday’s dive on Seacliff Reef had some of the best visibility I have seen here in our local waters for months. There was almost no need for the sounder as the bottom was perfectly clear 12 meters down beneath the boat.

I wished I’d brought a wide angle setup for this dive as the underwater landscape across the reef was just wonderful with schooling old wives, leatherjackets, dusky morwongs and silver drummer, to name just a few of the usual suspects.

Here atop a sea sponge outcrop, a community of blue throat ascidians (Clavelina australis) with mouths agape relish in the clean cold waters of the incoming tide.

They almost look like they are singing.

#Bluethroatascidians #Clavelinaaustralis #ascidian #critters #macro #seacliff #reef #scuba #diving #southaustralia #sessile #benthic #marinelife

How do you describe the moon rising above the mangrove swamps of Garden Island behind the silhouette of the Torrens Island transmission towers?

A ‘3M’ moment perhaps!

Or perhaps just the three things I captured in the frame.

#Moon #pylon #mangroves #silhouette #evening #moonrise #fullmoon

I recently spotted a marketing slogan for Adelaide that went something like ‘where the sun sets on the sea’. Funny how I never think of it any other way.

I find it oddly disturbing anywhere else to experience an ocean sunrise or worse, a sunset that can't quite make up it’s mine who’s side it’s on.

The evening golden hour and Grange Jetty, with its sun setting on the sea, feels the way it should be.

#Sunset #goldenhour #grange #jetty #grangejetty #silhouette #winter #seascape #ocean #southaustralia #aerial #drone

It might 12 degrees in the water but winter diving in South Australia is worth a little chilly inconvenience.

Today we headed out to the wreck of ‘The South Australian’, a.k.a ‘The Dredge’ and pretty much had the wreck all to ourselves.

Visibility was very good at 10 meters, as it often is in winter, giving a great sense of presence in seeing so much of the wreck at once.

My mission for this dive was to pay attention to the sessile marine life attached all over the decaying structure. My overwhelming experience was colour, colour, colour! So much beautiful marine life to take in that’s not even swimming!

One of the many highlights was this spectacular Western Longspined Sea Urchin on top of the deck on our way back to commence our ascent. It amazing how a little critter like this can completely take you mind of the cold. At least for a few moments!

#seaurchin #thedredge #thesouthaustralian #scuba #diving #sessile #critters #centrostephanustenuispinus

At least once in the meanderings of experimental imaging, a photographer will stand or even lay in the middle of a train line to experience one of the most cliched forms of visual perspective, vanishing tracks.

The more adventurous might even have waited for an oncoming train to provide both context and action. The sensible ones will have used a tripod and a radio controlled shutter release just to be on the safe side.

I’ve visualised this shot for nearly 8 years from when construction of the Onkaparinga Valley Bridge construction commenced. As cliched as it is, I never thought it would ever be realised.

#Viaduct #onkaparinga #river #bridge #trains #tracks #railway #perspective #vanishing #electric #aerial #drone

Tidal creek mangroves cast elongated shadows across the low salty marsh of Garden Island in the last light of the day.

These salty rivulets, now full during one of the highest tides of the season, will in a short time begin draining back out to sea.

#aerial #goldenhour #landscape #mangroves #marshes #nature #pristine #salt-marsh #southaustralia #torrens #torrensisland

It’s cold in the water down down here but there is no shortage of colour on the hull of the Seawolf and every reason to keep on diving through the South Australian winter.

One thing the cold does is to keep our dives quite short. Not long after reaching the sand and beginning the swim around the hull I’m already starting to check my time. Not checking my time in case I’ve been down too long but hoping I’ve been down longer than I think.

The cold aside. Cold water is full of life and the colours on our wrecks and reefs are just amazing.

#ascidians #diving #portnoarlunga #scuba #seascape #Seawolf #shipwreck #sponges #wreck

I wonder the leagues of ocean she’s traversed.
I wonder the storms she’s braved.
I wonder the lives transformed through her employ and the goods she’s delivered.
I wonder the crews she’s kept safe at sea.
I wonder if she still sails in dreams.

#santiago #shipwreck #southaustralia #dolphinsanctuary #Gardenisland #highkey #wreck