Robert’s Ramblings

The first public performance for any new band can be a nerve wrenching experience, or so I have been told, and told and told again during the lead up to last Sunday’s gig at Littlewood Agapanthus Farm.

Even for my amazingly talented wife, being her debut as lead singer, it took ‘anxious’ to a new level.

All those nerves however evaporated in an instant when these six accomplished musicians launched into the first song of their set and confidently introduced ‘Talk On Corners’ to us all.

For a solid 75 minutes they rocked and sang and entertained us. They got us tapping, they got us singing along and they might have even got some dancing, a fact I can neither confirm or deny.

Congratulations Sara Sizer, Nick Carroll, Jennifer Liston, Peter Franche, Christine Morphett and Robbie Lennox on an awesome debut performance.


#livemusic #performingarts #jenniferliston #talkoncorners #littlewoodagapanthusfarm #thecorrs

Diving under the old Rapid Bay Jetty is often just like catching up with old friends, mostly good fun but sometimes leading to unexpected and beautiful surprises.

Normally divers avoid currents, the biggest risk being swept off a dive plan and getting lost. Diving with a reference like a reef line or jetty pylons can restore safety in even moderate currents although you have to work for it. So it was last Thursday evening as I entered the water and was quickly carried by the current from the new jetty to the old where I began my dive – and that’s when the magic started.

The water was alive with light! There was so much light I didn’t even have to turn on my torch. From the sea floor to the surface every jetty pylon was flashing with fairy sparkles. It was like walking one Christmas evening through a suburban street where all the houses were competing for Christmas-light bragging rights.

That supernatural underwater light show was produced by large quantities of bio-luminescent algae from the nutrient-rich gulf waters being swept out with the ebbing tide. As they jostled and swirled around pylons and other structures they sparkled with tiny outbursts of light.

As I swam under the jetty northward every object twinkled. Every pylon shimmered with flashes of mostly white mingled with yellows and the occasional reds. Streams of fairy dust swirled off the pylons and streamed in the current.

Even my own progress through the water was showered in this magic – specks of light erupted all around my camera, flowed up my arms and swirled around my mask before disappearing behind me.

This was the most amazing display of marine bio-luminescence I have ever experienced. What a pity I was only prepared for macro photography and could not capture the spectacle. So it was I arrived at the jetty’s T-section, reluctantly turned on my torch and banished the fairy lights into the darkness.

So back to macro photography and old friends, this nudibranch (Ceratosoma brevicaudatum), a Rapid Bay regular, appeared right on queue for our regular catch-up.

Wow, what an amazing evening. One I will never forget.


#nudibranch #seaslugs #Ceratosomabrevicaudatum #bioluminescense #creatures #critters #scuba #diving #rapidbay #night #ocean #southaustralia #underwater

Anyone who as taken a flash photograph while it is snowing would know just how annoying those fuzzy white blurs of light can be.

It’s like the physical world is conspiring against you. You see your subject fine through the rain or snow yet in the captured image the main even is upstaged by a flurry of bright white fuzzies, back-scatter.

Back-scatter is a very real problem for those of us who dive in turbid water. It is caused by the light from our flash or strobes hitting tiny particles in the water closer to us than to our subject. The result is usually white fuzzy mess.

There are techniques used to minimise this effect such as moving strobes or flashes well off to the side or far back behind the camera lens. At the end of the day however, removing back-scatter usually becomes a tedious post production activity. A necessary evil of underwater photographic post-production.

I have removed most of the back-scatter in this squid image leaving just enough to remind that dive conditions, especially for photography, are never perfect.


#animals #cephlapods #chromataphores #creatures #critters #diving #edithburgh #juvenile #night #ocean #scuba #sea #sepioteuthisaustralis #southaustralia #squid #underwater

As beautiful as my last dive was I was a little disappointed that I was not able to find and photograph more critters.

What else could I photograph while on the last of my air? A selfie or something way more interesting? My dive watch!

So here it is buckled to an unsuspecting ascidian. Not so fishy.

And yes it really is just after midnight!


#Scuba #Diving #RapidBay #Jetty #Yema #Superman #bronze #watch #divewatch #Macro #Nightdive #Ocean #Underwater #Photography

Well it was more like ‘boo’ than ‘bump’ as this rough rock crab (Nectocarcinus integrifrons) stood its ground.

I am not sure who was more surprised as I swam past a pylon to find this guy, claws reared, and that unmistakable ‘do you want a piece of me!’ look in its eyes.

I am sure I could have taken on the beast if I was feeling belligerent but there would be blood in the water, my blood and I was not looking to invite an even bigger sparring partner this time around.

So I dipped my mask and swam by with a nice wide birth. Perhaps next time.


#Crabs #Nectocarcinusintegrifrons #Critters #Crustaceans #Southaustralia #Scuba #Diving #RapidBay #Jetty #Macro #Nightdive #Ocean #Underwater #Photography

The European Featherduster Worm (Sabella spallanzani) is an unwanted and feral guest in our South Australian waters. For the most part they are quite unattractive, living in silty conditions and lacking the vibrant rich orange fans of its native local cousin.

Anyone who has dived recently in Westlakes waterways would attest to the ugly mess they have made. Here however in the free flowing currents under Rapid Bay jetty they do not seem to have become too prolific and this one almost looks attractive in the night time strobe light.

Still I would rather this guest gone and our native featherduster in its place.


#Scuba #Diving #featherduster #worm #Sabellaspallanzani #feral #RapidBay #Jetty #Macro #Nightdive #Ocean #Underwater #Photography

It has been way too long since I have been diving. What with work, the weather, too cold, too wet, reluctant dive buddies and any other number of reasons it just simply has not happened since July!

Last Thursday night I needed to travel south for non diving reasons and decided that since I was more than half way to one of South Australia’s best jetty dives, Rapid Bay, I’d pack my gear and invite my usual dive buddies for a mid week night dive.

It rained all day along with an unseasonable cold wind blowing from the South. Things were looking grim, … again.

To cut a very long story short I finally got wet again (fresh water first from the rain) and once again found myself amid the familiar pylons of the old Rapid Bay Jetty.

Despite the strong southerly winds this was one of the most gentle dives I’ve experienced here. The visibility was amazing, at least 10 meters, there was no current and the rain created beautiful reflections from the surface above in the torchlight.

Even with the gentle conditions there was not a lot to photograph. My highlight of the evening was a chance encounter with an old friend Doriopsilla carneola who I’ve not seen in more than six years. We exchanged hellos, posed for photographs and then went on our ways.

The moral of this story is there is never really an excuse not to go diving! Even if it means a very, very late night!


#Diving #Doriopsillacarneola #RapidBay #Jetty #Hunting #Macro #Nightdive #Nudibranch #Ocean #Photography #Scuba #Sea #Seaslug #Underwater

Cuttle’s Last Stand

Impressive as his pose may be there is not much fight or life left in this big male cuttlefish.

Countless fights have fought for the reward of an intimate encounter. He’s still in one piece so there is a very good chance his progeny and genetic line will live on. That’s all that matters in the life of the giant cuttlefish who have congregated this winter at Stony Point near Whyalla.

Perhaps he will enter the fray one more time, perhaps he will become prey to some larger predator.

Regardless, this is probably Cuttle’s last stand.

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

Framed by curtains of rain, bathed in sunset gold, the sun peeks below the dark clouds of the receding winter.

Not since I was a child do I remember rain like this season has brought.

As if the curtains of winter were finally drawn back, this weekend was the first in weeks the rain has not taken centre stage making our plans its own.

The rain will be back soon but for now I am enjoying the sunshine of the coming spring.

#Adelaide #sunset #goldenhour #rain #winter #aerial #clouds #southaustralia

As we sat out watching the sun set on the distant Flinders Ranges and bathing the Waukaringa Hotel ruins in amber light, we were not alone.

Along side us, sunbaking on her own piece of ruin, this Bearded Dragon cared not for the visual beauty of the outback, only the last rays of sun keeping her warm.

#beardeddragon #dragon #lizard #outback #Pogonavitticeps #reptile #southaustralia #bush #desert #outback #remote #ruins #travel #waukaringa