Entries by Robert

One of the most iconic images of automotive history, the Rolls Royce Spirit of Ecstasy, a symbol of opulence and wealth, carries with it a hint of another a story. A story of forbidden love and of tragedy.

Here she sits, no longer being driven, under a carport in outback Broken Hill. Her last steward, with us no more. I wonder what Pro Hart thought of her as he drove her around adorning his own Rolls Royce Corniche?

The work of artist Charles Robinson Sykes, she’s known as ‘The Silver Lady’ or ‘The Flying Lady’ and sometimes as ‘Eleanor’ after Eleanor Thornton, mistress of Baron John Montagu of Beaulieu. It is strongly believed that Eleanor was Sykes model and inspiration.

In 1913 Sykes created ‘The Whisperer’, styled on the ‘Spirit of Ecstacy’, to adorn the bonnet of Montagu’s Silver Ghost. The four inch tall figurine with flowing robes and a finger pressed to her lips belied the secret love affair. Tragically Eleanor drowned two years later when she and Montagu were sailing through the Mediterranean, their ship torpedoed by a German U-Boat.

I’ll never look at a Rolls Royce quite the same again especially one with the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ adorning her bonnet. That statement of wealth and opulence will always be there but now I’ll see a human story too.

#spiritofecstasy #mascot #ornament #charlesrobinsonsykes #rollsroyce #sculpture

There are no shortages of gorgeous sunsets here is Adelaide and tonight’s was nothing short of extraordinary as we enjoyed it from our garden.

I captured this beautiful image however from the Garden Island dolphin sanctuary last week just before we were sent into lockdown.

The mangroves, the yachts, the power station and the industrial skyline all lit in gold as I savoured the view.

#aerial #barkerinlet #Gardenisland #goldenhour #industrial #powerstation #sunset #torrensisland #twilight #yachts #mycommute

There is nothing like being out on the sea with an unblemished sky above and the mysteries of the ocean below. I love it.

Sometimes she’s calm and gentle, inviting, caressing.

Sometimes she’s indifferent throwing her weight around to remind me not to get complacent.

Sometimes she’s a real challenge, scary, pushing my limits, keeping me focused, rewarding my skill and attention.

And sometime she’s in such a fury you just don’t go there.

No matter her mood, I love the ocean.

#aerial #drone #boating #ocean #sunset #reflections #silhouette #semaphore #sea

The end of a perfect day.

The wind has calmed and the seas have smoothed at least for a while.

In a few minutes the sun will be gone and the azure blues of twilight will replace the golden glow of sunset.

Until then a fiery spotlight holds us in a silhouette as we gaze out toward the western horizon.

The end of a perfect day.

#aerial #drone #goldenhour #landscape #ocean #seascape #sunset #reflections #silhouette #semaphore

What could be more appealing to a dirt bike rider than a pristine layer of salt left from evaporation.

Like like fresh powder ripped to shreds by a back country skier, that veneer of salt never stood a chance as witnessed by the artistic aftermath.

#Gilman #aerial #abstract #dirtbike #patterns #texture #mycommute

Mexican artist Antonio Nava Tirado's sculpture, 'Bajo El Sol Jaguar' is just one of the beautiful works created in the Broken Hill Sculpture Symposium.

Here in the Living Desert Sanctuary, twelve sandstone sculptures share the sunrise with the birds, the animals of the bush and the sounds of nature while the sunset is shared with humans and the quiet chatter of contemplation.

#AntonioNavaTirado #sculpture #BajoElSolJaguar #sunset #contemplation #brokenhill #livingdesertsanctuary #brokenhillsculpturesymposium #newsouthwhales

The Pink and Grey Cockatoo, or simply 'Galah', is probably Australia’s most ubiquitous and well known cockatoo. They are not particularly revered for their intelligence however and being called ‘a galah’ is never a flattering gesture.

We first set out on our hike, in South Australia's ‘Deep Creek’ conservation park, with hands and arms free and everything in our backpack. After several missed photo opportunities I decided that the backpack was not the place to keep the camera!

I ended up carrying my camera for the next 4 hours as we hiked to the coast and back. Swapping the camera regularly from right hand to left to balance the burden did not make it any easier. It stayed heavy regardless but at least it as always ready.

I finally captured this pair launching themselves from the grass as we approached near the end of our long and tiring hike.

#birds #galah #cockatoo #Australian #deepcreek #wildlife #animals #flight #nature

When you turn onto the Arkaroola road out of Yunta you are greeted with several warnings about heading north-west.

Aside from reminding you about the dangers of heading into remote locations it proclaims the road being suitable for four wheel drives and heavy vehicles only.

Metal roads (from the latin ‘metallum’) with many creek crossings, require lots of looking after, especially after heavy rain. This road crew, with heavy grader atop a semi-trailer, has their work cut out for them keeping this 300 km stretch of outback road serviceable.

#Aerial #Arkaroolaroad #waukaringa #dust #truck #grader #semitrailer #landscape #sunset #goldenhour

Lefevre Peninsula

I really could not call this image anything else.

For years I’d driven up and down and around this north-south spit of land north of Port Adelaide and not realised how thin a strip of land the Lefevre Peninsula really is.

You’d think looking at Google maps or some other schematic description of the lay of this land would have given a sense of it but no, not even them.

It took the combination of two things, my daily commute and eye in the sky, to put it all into perspective and finally get a sense of this industrial transitioning to residential landscape.

To the left we have the Adelaide Submarine Corps, to the right the Pelican Point power station. With the stark white of the Viterra grain silos and the giraffe-like cranes of Outer Harbour, the row of Norfolk Island Pines on the western shoreline stand as sentinels of residential life.

This is indeed a dynamic, interesting and industrially beautiful part of Adelaide.

#Aerial #LefevrePeninsula #landscape #sunset #goldenhour #outerharbour #southaustralia #mycommute

Last Drinks at the Waukaringa Hotel

I wonder when that last call for drinks really was? I suspect that back in its heyday there never was a last call, just the ushering of patrons out the door.

Back in 1873 the discovery of gold here transformed an inhospitable region of the South Australian outback into a nearly 500 strong community resulting in the township of Waukaringa being proclaimed in 1888.

The Waukaringa Hotel first advertised itself the following year though perhaps had been operating unofficially from the early years of the discovery of gold here.

With the waxing and waning of other gold discoveries in the area in the early 1900s and the dependence on rain for the grazing of livestock, the town of Waukaringa declined then disappeared completely. After years of checkered trade the hotel ceased operation and was abandoned in the early 1960s.

As we sat out watching the sun set on the distant Flinders Ranges, bathing the ruins in amber light, we could only imagine what it might have been like having a drink at the Waukaringa Hotel.

#Desert #outback #bush #southaustralia #waukaringa #hotel #ruins #decay #goldrush #history #remote #travel

As we came up out of another creek crossing, Trevor with his eagle eye spotted this ancient eye staring back at us from atop a large flat rock.

The heat from the day radiating back out from the rock slab would make this a cosy Bearded Dragon resting place for a few hours yet.

This thorny scaled reptile might not be as old as any of us but in this ancient arid landscape it certainly looks the part inheriting its DNA from a time when dragons ruled all.

#Pogonavitticeps #beardeddragon #dragon #reptile #lizard #outback #southaustralia

Tucked in behind the Torrens Island Power Station with its two huge chimneys is a tiny new power station called the Barker Inlet Power Station.

At a glance you’d think it was part of the larger power station infrastructure but note the two brightly yellow lit stacks over to the right with their 6 stainless steel exhausts each and you realise that it’s an entirely different station.

For the geeks, the Barker Inlet Power Station’s 210MW capacity is powered by 12 Wartsila 50DF reciprocating engines. These reciprocating engines can seamlessly change between natural gas and fuel oils at full load and are significantly more efficient and versatile than the ageing gas turbines being decommissioned nearby.

This power play will take some time but I think we will eventually see the end of those iconic Torrens Island chimneys as South Australia moves toward renewables augmented with highly demand responsive generation plant like the Barker Inlet Power Station.

#Barkerinlet #powerstation #torrensisland #powerstation #gardenisland #SouthAustralia #sunset #goldenhour #clouds #twilight

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