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

It is well into an Irish winter now and, as much as I am looking forward to festive time with family, I am missing that deep, dark water off the coast of south-west Kerry.

Here, with Richie and John, we are exploring the terrain off Doulus Head, out from Cahersiveen. It’s dark and it’s deep and it’s cold down here – but what a wonderful way to spend our time.

Irish winter, and its storms, will probably keep us land-locked for now, but soon enough we will all get back down deep again.


#scuba #diving #kerry #Cahersiveen #monochrome #torchlight #DoulusHead #Ireland

A black-tipped blade broke through the smooth water ahead. The gently rising fin soon became orca – like a submarine breaching the surface. Unlike the submarine, the orca’s body surged forwards and down again as it slipped once more beneath the calm water.

When the ocean is almost millpond-flat, any disturbance on the water is accentuated by the calmness around it. A blast of whale-blow mist, the rise and fall of a distant humpback or the smooth lift of an orca fin all become centre stage in the surrounding vastness.

While not the excitement of other whale encounters, these solitary moments brought their own quiet joy.


#Norway #Skjervoy #orca #fjords #travel #OrcinusOrca #ocean #sea #cetacean #MarineMammals

A breathtaking moment in the presence of the ocean’s greatest predator – or was it?

When I talk about being in the water surrounded by killer whales, I’m often asked, “Were you scared?” or “What if they changed their mind about the menu?”

I can honestly say that not only was I completely comfortable swimming with these magnificent creatures, but every pass and every moment of curious scrutiny filled me with such joy that even the icy cold of the Norwegian fjords felt warm in their presence.

There are two significant subspecies of orca: Orcinus orca ater, or resident orca, and Orcinus orca rectipinnus, or Bigg’s orca. Bigg’s orca have become infamous for their brutal attacks on marine mammals and, to my mind, they truly are the ocean’s greatest predators. Resident orca, on the other hand, live symbiotic lives with a single fish species – in this case, North Sea herring – and seem to enjoy far more complex and richer social lives than their brutish cousins.

So whenever I’m asked what it’s like to swim with killer whales, I light up, beam a grin from ear to ear, and say, “It’s something quite special, and I can’t wait to do it all again.”


#Norway #Skjervoy #orca #fjords #travel #OrcinusOrcaAter #OrcinusAter

There is action below as the orca dip, dive, and circle. For every orca seen on the surface, there are two or more below—herding, corralling, and reining in the herring, keeping them packed in a tight ball like some giant underwater salad bowl.

It’s too late in the day to get into the water with the whales this time. It’s too dark to photograph. It’s too dark, really, to even see what’s going on. Instead, with the sun lingering on the horizon and catching the sea spray, giving texture to the churning water and illuminating the misty orca plumes, we contented ourselves with the view as the herring salad was consumed.


#Norway #Skjervoy #orca #herring #fjords #AnimalBehaviour #travel #feeding #baitball

Eighty years ago, a large whitewashed “80 EIRE” sign was cut into the rock at Malin Head on the Inishowen Peninsula, Ireland’s northernmost mainland point.

This sign, along with more than 80 others around the Irish coastline, was created to warn Axis forces that they had entered neutral territory and to serve as a navigational aid for Allied pilots.

Today, many decades after World War II, most of these signs have fallen into disrepair, with fewer than a quarter still visible. Malin Head’s unique position—and its long-standing role in maritime history, weather forecasting, and more recently, tourism—has ensured its upkeep and continued visibility.

If you find yourself on the Inishowen Peninsula and the weather is clear, make your way to Malin Head. Walk out onto the rocks, pause by the old marker, and reflect on 80 EIRE and what it represented all those years ago. Then get back to your car quickly, before the weather changes its mind and blows you halfway back down the peninsula.


#Ireland #InishowenPeninsula #TinyPlanet #MalinHead #Eire80 #travel

Some encounters on the water unfold quietly, almost before you realise you’re witnessing something special. Most of our humpback whale sightings began the same way: a sudden, explosive blow, that familiar hump rising into view, and then only the drifting mist of exhaled droplets hanging in the air.

As the whales travelled, this pattern repeated itself with a steady rhythm, five or six breaths, each one spaced out as they moved along before diving and slipping out of sight for a few minutes.

It was always their final surface appearance that drew us in. First the blow, then the curving hump, but this time they lifted their magnificent flukes high into the air before dropping straight down into the depths below.

And in one of those fluke moments, the sun, the whale, and its rising tail aligned perfectly, turning that beautiful fluke into a brief, magical, shower of gold.


#Norway #Skjervoy #orca # GoldenHour #fluke #travel #fjords

There are so many compelling reasons to travel beyond the Arctic Circle in winter. Our reason was clear from the outset, orca, whales and their winter feeding on North Sea herring. All else is a bonus.

On our first night in Norway, we travelled by ferry from Tromsø to Skjervøy, and that's when the northern light show began. For the hours we braved the cold on deck, we were enthralled, first with the lights of Tromsø shimmering over water, and then by the ethereal green curtains of light that seemed to emerge from nowhere, dance across the sky with abandon, then disappear without a trace.

On and off all evening, from the ferry and then in the sky above us in Skjervøy, the light show continued.

No single image could ever convey just how dynamic the Northern Lights really are. They dance and sweep and shimmer to their own rhythm. Sometimes the lights lingered. Sometimes they swept fleetingly across the sky. Sometimes they were like storm clouds shedding veils of ethereal rain.

We came for the orca, the whales, and the herring, but that bonus of witnessing the aurora borealis will always be a light show to remember.


#Norway #Skjervoy #aurora #AuroraBorealis #travel #fjords #FishEye

Every day we headed out into a world different from the previous one.

Some days blessed us with a beautiful sunrise or sunset; some were cold, grey, and drizzly. Some days the sea was rough and unwelcoming, while others were like being on a millpond. Most days were ultimately a mixture of all of the above.

Regardless of the conditions, we only had eyes for that now-familiar tall dorsal fin or the tell-tale signs of whale blow on the horizon.

In those moments when it all came together at once, orca, sunshine, and a quarrelsome sea, we knew we had found Norwegian gold.


#Norway #Skjervoy #orca #GoldenHour #whale #MarineMammals #travel #fjords

From the corner of my eye I caught some movement not too far away and heard a loud slap as I turned toward the disturbance. There was white water thrown into the air, but not the mist normally accompanying a surfacing whale.

Then up rose the magnificent fluke of a humpback whale. It lingered high above the water for a moment or two before coming back down again with an almighty slap, sending sea spray everywhere.

I watched for a few moments, just taking in the spectacle, as the whale flapped and slapped some more, not thinking I had time for any photos. I was expecting this wonderful display to be brief, but a minute later the exhibition continued. Out came my camera and I got plenty more flaps and slaps before the whale gave one last slap, proceeded to roll around on its back for a while, then descended below the surface.

A moment later the whale broke the surface with that familiar plume of exhaled mist before heading off on its way.

There are all sorts of reasons why humpback whales slap their flukes, but this time around I am sure it was just for the fun of it.


#Norway #Skjervoy #TailFlap #HumpbackWhale #Whale #MarineMammals #AnimalBehaviour

On this occasion, I’d free-dived quite deep and found myself looking up toward the surface as mother and child swam into view.

Noticing my strategic position below them, I’m sure I had just become the subject of that day’s lesson in playful showing off.

As the two approached, the mum rotated as she glided by and continued swimming upside-down. The youngster, swimming tail-to-nose in front of her, followed her lead, and together they drifted down to me and then alongside.

At first, I thought they would simply swim on, bringing an already beautiful encounter to a close. But then something unexpected happened. In a movement worthy of some exquisitely choreographed ballet, the young orca completed a full turn, circling back around its mum. The pair spiralled around each other up toward the surface before slipping off into the blue beyond.

How humbling, if only for a moment, to feature in their awareness, to be the focus of their attention, and to witness so playful a gesture.


#arctic #fjords #MarineMammals #norway #oceanlife #orca #Skjervoy # OrcinusAter #mother #baby

While in northern Norway, we experienced the northern lights almost every night the sky was clear.

On this occasion, a small group of us climbed to the top of Stussnesfjellet, hoping for a spectacular view. Sadly, the aurora disappeared for most of our time up there, teasing us with just a few glimmers of green above the fjords.

On the trail back down, and without warning, the sky above us lit up from horizon to horizon, a blazing green river of dancing light. From here there was no other view, just the aurora above. But wow, what a sky!

We’re blessed with extraordinary solar activity right now, and images of the Merry Dancers, the Fyrialjus, and the Tahu-nui-a-rangi are appearing from all over the world.

Friends in both Ireland and Australia are witnessing the Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis from places where they’re rarely seen. I’m so glad that so many of us are able to experience this beautiful sight without having to travel so far.


#Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #NightSky #Skjervoy #Norway #Travel #FishEye

I was following an orca down deep when a flash of white caught my attention to my right. Below me, gliding gracefully toward the surface, was one massive belly belonging to Megaptera novaeangliae, a humpback whale.

This giant was heading straight for the surface, and I was directly in its path.

What a rush of emotions and conflicting instincts followed, self-preservation urging me to move, curiosity urging me to stay still and take it all in, and the photographer in me desperate to frame the shot. The photographer won that fleeting contest as I captured the whale’s ascent.

This distended part of the humpback is not actually its belly, but the ventral pleats, long folds of skin and blubber that run from chin to belly. When the whale takes in a huge mouthful of herring and water, the pleats expand like accordion bellows. Moments later, the water is expelled, leaving behind a tasty meal of Norwegian herring.

There are more frames to share as the gap between us closed, but I’ll leave those for another post.

Once again, I’m so grateful for the opportunity to experience such an extraordinary place.


#arctic #Norway #Skjervøy #humpback #whales #HumpBackwhale #feeding #WhaleWatching #MarineMammals

When we weren’t out on the water with the whales, we spent our time in the beautiful town of Skjervøy, in the heart of Northern Norway.

Most days, we’d return around 3:30 in the afternoon, just as the sun and the light slipped away, leaving us in celestial twilight. From afar, the lights of Skjervøy would shimmer into view, growing brighter until the whole town looked like something straight out of a Christmas card.

I’m told they keep their lights on here 24 hours a day to create a sense of warmth and life, to ward off the doldrums of the long, dark northern winter. The result is a place that feels cosy and alive, no matter how cold or dark it is outside.

It’s such a beautiful town. I only wish I’d had more time to explore it, next time, I will for sure.


#arctic #Norway #Skjervøy #lights #twilight #dawn #ChristmasCard #travel #WhaleWatching

How can I describe what it’s like to float in a Norwegian fjord, with 200 meters of inky-blue water below me, as the ocean’s greatest predator glides into view?

Despite the orca’s fearsome reputation, I feel no fear, only delight, joy, and awe.

Watching these wild and beautiful creatures move with such grace, agility, and power is a rare and humbling experience, one I feel deeply grateful to witness.


#arctic #fjords #Norway #OceanLife #orca #Skjervoy #MarineMammals

We had just dropped our divers into the water. There were so many orca circling and cavorting.
We all thought, “There must be herring below,” and were ready for the orca to feed.

Suddenly, there was a great spray of crimson-red water from the middle of the orca action, a sight terrifying in what it might mean, with four of our guys in the water among them.

With that event, and hoping the worst hadn’t happened, the orca all went into a frenzy of agitated behaviour, leaping over one another in a chaotic dance. Still, the two of us tending our boats on the surface had no idea what was happening below.

Then there it was, a newborn orca, pushed up to the surface by its midwife team for its first breath.

Later, with the help of the Norwegian Orca Survey team, we started piecing the story together. The crimson-red sea had been the placenta, ripped to shreds at birth, and the frenzy began as the mother and her midwife entourage worked frantically to push the newborn to the surface.

It took quite some time before the baby truly became animated, but about twenty minutes later, the orca pod and baby left the birthing site and headed off together at a healthy few knots, a sure sign of a successful introduction of a newborn orca to the fjords of Skjervøy.


#arctic #fjords #Norway #OceanLife #orca #OrcaBirth #baby #Skjervoy #AnimalBehavior

We watch in excitement as a small black tip rises out of the ocean beside us. Like a blade slicing through the water, it catches the golden light of an all-day dawn sun.

A moment later, the magnificent body of the orca bursts from the surface with a blast of air and spray before gliding gracefully back into the depths. Seeing these beautiful creatures swimming alongside us feels like pure magic, an experience both humbling and deeply privileged.

Our first day out on the water in Skjervøy was filled with similar encounters: orcas, humpback whales, and even the elusive fin whales, the second-largest creature on Earth. This is a truly special place, both breathtaking and unforgiving, and I feel so grateful to be here.


#arctic #fjords #Norway #OceanLife #orca #Skjervoy #travel #GoldenHour

It’s a beautiful, cold but calm evening here in Skjervøy. The whales played coy all day, only deciding to join us in the late dusk, just when photography was no longer an option for my old equipment.

The sky, however, lit up on our way home with a rising moon set against snow-covered mountains, and a playful orca followed us back.

Here, the view across the Reis and Kvænangen fjords toward the island of Haukøya and the mountains of Finnmark is rounded out by a touch of the northern lights. Perfect.


#arctic #fjords #norway #oceanlife #orca #Skjervoy #Travel #aurora

Seven years ago, a good friend invited me to, and introduced me to, one of the most extraordinary places on Earth I’ve ever experienced: Skjervøy, Norway. This place, well into the Arctic, is as brutal as it is beautiful, and full of life.

My first experience of the Norwegian fjords around Skjervøy was filled with the wonder of humpback whales, orcas, shared experiences, and new friendships. On returning to Australia, I knew I’d be back.

Well, here I am again, with new Irish friends, a new plan, and already the Norwegian welcome from the marine locals has been amazing. Even though the days are very short here, only a few hours, we’re spending time with humpback whales, with the orcas, and with each other.


#norway #skjervøy #fjords #orca #swimmingwithwhales #humpbackWhales #marinemammales #oceanlife #arctic #travel #adventure

The drive between Mallow and Portmagee might be long, but it never fails to delight. On this day, a disappointment had a silver lining and reminded me to always bring a camera, even when I think I won’t use it.

We had finished our first dive of the day off Portmagee, but the conditions were less than ideal. For most of the dive, I could just about make out my buddy’s bright yellow fins a meter away.

It was a more than sensible decision to cancel the second dive, and I now found myself looking forward to driving home in the daylight and getting home early.

Just before Glenbeigh, I took a notion to detour left, head up over the mountain, and drop down to Rossbeigh Beach via the scenic route. Wow, this countryside is stunning, and the high vantage point provided a breathtaking view of Dingle Bay and the beach below.

Remembering that camera I’d brought “just in case,” I launched it and sent it far out into the bay to capture this extraordinary Irish landscape.


#ireland #aerial #dinglebay #rossbeigh #landscape #skyscape #weather #ocean #kerry #rossbeighbeach #wildatlanticway #ringofkerry

Flip Flap Green Green Bath

Just before getting into the water for my Edithburgh dive, we spotted this super-cool Australian sea lion basking in the shallows next to the jetty.

You can tell from this image that even though the water looks clear, it is actually very, very green, which didn’t bode well for being under the surface rather than just looking across it.

On entering the water, I swam to where this guy had been bathing, but alas, he had moved on. Sea lions are happy to interact on their terms, but not usually ours. Anyway, he found me later under the jetty and performed the classic “scare the living daylights” manoeuvre by sneaking up from behind. I’m sure they get a real buzz out of panicking divers.

The visibility, as expected, was not great. The destruction of the marine life was heartbreaking, and I didn’t see a single fish under the jetty. Still, the presence of sea lions here gives a glimmer of hope that we might yet see an end to the green, green bath.


#australiansealion #edithburgh #southaustralia #scuba #diving #yorkepeninsula #algalbloom #sealion

The first time we came here, twenty years ago, I had to make do by taking aim with my camera, just as any would-be plunderer of the twelfth century might have, from ground level.

Catapults and siege engines would have made short work of that lofty fortress, but somehow the Kilmacduagh Round Tower, near Gort in County Galway, has endured. To this day it remains one of Ireland’s best-preserved round towers, rising from the quiet monastery ruins like a sentinel from another age.

There are all sorts of theories about how this thousand-year-old tower has survived unscathed. Most point to the high entrance, several metres above the ground, as clever defence against the Normans and other marauders. But perhaps the truth is simpler, as Kilmacduagh’s remote setting may have spared it the attention of both invasion and ambition.

This time around, my arsenal of “siege engines” is a little more advanced, and I was able to capture a view any twelfth-century plunderer would have thought nothing short of magic.


#Kilmacduagh #RoundTower #IrishHeritage #Ireland #Galway #WildAtlanticWay #Travel #Gort

On yet another heartbreaking beach walk, I came upon many pipefish, weedy whiting, and tubemouths washed up and dehydrating in the sun. This one, identified by Janine Baker, is a tubemouth (Siphonognathus argyrophanes).

Tubemouths are almost impossible to see in their natural habitat when diving among seagrass beds. Perhaps I’ve captured them before, but never an image worth sharing.

This is not the place I would have chosen for my first image of a tubemouth, and I am sad to share it in this way.


#Beach #Death #SouthAustralia #GulfStVincent #AlgalBloom #Coastline #FishKill #Tubemouth #SiphonognathusArgyrophanes #Odacid

No underwater images this trip, as my camera gear is all back in Ireland, so the vista of our little boat off Troubridge Point, anchored on the wreck of the Clan Ranald, will frame my post.

Yesterday, the universe brought tide, wind, weather, and opportunity all together at the same time. Despite early rain and ominous clouds, Jennifer and I motored out from Edithburgh and made the 18 km trip around the coast to the site of the wreck of the SS Clan Ranald in perfect sea-going conditions.

Despite our smooth run out, I was dreading this dive.

The day before was my first dive under Edithburgh Jetty since the algal bloom, and what I experienced left me devastated. My once beautiful undersea world, a world of life, colour, sound, and movement, was all but dead. Colour had turned to grey. The crackling sound of benthic life was barely audible. Ascidians, soft corals, sessile scallops, and algae were gone or dead, and not a single living fish remained under the entire jetty.

As I descended on The Clan, the green, murky water was uninviting, and I had to will myself to keep descending. Twenty metres is not deep, but with only 2–3 metres of visibility, it felt like an eternity. Finally, dark shapes loomed around me, and the bottom lurched from nowhere to greet me. I have never been so delighted to see a common sweep swim out of the gloom to greet its unexpected visitor.

The wreck was clearly not healthy, but there was still plenty of life. The large schools of yellowtail whiting were absent. There were no bullseyes hovering under ledges, and most of the colour was gone. Again, the poor visibility and minimal light did not help. What delighted me, however, were three large blue grouper that followed me the entire dive, fleeting glimpses of sizeable queen and red snapper hovering at a safe distance, a foxfish or two, and a few longsnout boarfish.

There were gulf gurnard perch all over the wreck, cowfish, zebrafish, bluethroat wrasse, and leatherjackets. I eventually found bullseyes hiding deep inside the wreck structure. Of particular note was that most fish appeared to be mature adults, with only fleeting glimpses of juveniles.

I surfaced from yesterday’s dive mostly relieved, but still sad to see one of South Australia’s most revered dives in such a poor state. It is always a privilege to dive on the wreck of the SS Clan Ranald, and despite its condition, it remains a very special dive.

I pray it survives this environmental disaster, and I long for its recovery.


#scuba #diving #wrecks #aerial #SouthAustralia #GulfStVincent #TroubridgePoint #ClanRanald #algalbloom #coastline

I finally got back out on the water in Adelaide after a long hiatus. I’m looking forward with both anticipation and dread to my first dive in the gulf since the algal bloom extended its toxic grip.

While out beyond West Beach, I encountered a small pod of dolphins. One showed off by breaching with delight, another circled my boat and eyed me intently, while a more solitary dolphin kept its distance until I left.

I hope seeing them is a sign of healthier times ahead.

#Adelaide #westbeach #ocean #dolphin #lonely #sea #calm