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RuthsArc

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Monthly Archives: July 2016

Changing Seasons – July – Mid winter with a hint of spring

31 Sunday Jul 2016

Posted by RuthsArc in one with nature

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

beach, flowers, seasons

July has shown winter in all it’s guises.

Snow on the hills. Mount Wellington, overlooking Hobart has had snow on the summit for over a week now.

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Beautiful skies, beach walks, calm days or strong surf, days of rain, showers and rainbows.

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Warnings on the tv weather reports have included gales, floods, wind warnings for coastal areas and inland lakes, road warnings for ice and snow, warnings to farmers and graziers, warnings to bush walkers and trekkers. This is just one page, sometimes there are three pages of potential weather hazards.

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July has hosted a general election, queues at the polling station and cardboard polling booths. July also held more Mid Winter Festivals and unique events.

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There are hints of spring with blossom on the almond trees, magnolia buds, yellow wattle blooms and bright daisy like flowers.

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This is the 12th month of my changing seasons series. I guess I know what to expect with each month now, although on occasion I still have to stop and think.…..

A “spring newsletter” in September??? Oh yes, that’s right.

Weekly Photo Challenge – Narrow

30 Saturday Jul 2016

Posted by RuthsArc in weekly photo challenge

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

photos, trees

Narrow walkways on the swing bridge and tree top Tahune Airwalk in Tasmania.

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Tall narrow tree trunks.

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A narrow length of barbed wire.

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Narrow

Wildlife along The Great Ocean Road

29 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by RuthsArc in one with nature

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

animals, Australia

Our Great Ocean Road adventure ended at Logan’ Beach at Warrnambool where there is an extensive whale watching platform. Whales and calves are often spotted close to shore from this beach, whilst the mammals migrate between Antarctica and warmer waters. There were no whales for us unfortunately.

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We did see more koalas and emus and horses taking an early morning walk along the beach and shallows.

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We took the inland highway back to Melbourne and the overnight ferry back to a snow covered Tasmania.

Cape Otway Lightstation

28 Thursday Jul 2016

Posted by RuthsArc in photography

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

Australia

Cape Otway may not be the oldest lighthouse in Australia, but it claims to be the most significant. It sits on the cliffs where the Southern Ocean meets Bass Strait and where hundreds of lives had been lost in ship wrecks in the decades before it was built in 1848.

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Cape Otway was the first sight of land for thousands of immigrants as they sailed from Europe and North America to new settlements in Sydney and Melboure.

The wooden door at the base is in need of repair. But the metal door at the top leading out to the walkway, looks sturdy enough. A suitable contribution to Norm’s Thursday Doors.

 

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The light was originally fuelled by whale oil, then kerosene, then electricity before being decommission in 1994. The huge lead crystal lens sending a light out for forty five kilometres.

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Great Ocean Road – Day 2

27 Wednesday Jul 2016

Posted by RuthsArc in one with nature

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

Australia, beach

The second day of our road trip took us along one of the world’s most spectacular tourist drives.

The Great Ocean Road was built by returned World War 1 soldiers between 1919 and 1932, in honour of their fallen comrades. As such, it is the world’s biggest war memorial.

Famous for the “12 Apostles” rock stacks offshore, there is so much more to see along this “shipwreck coast”.

We spent the day jumping in and out of our car as we stopped and explored various look outs, coves, outcrops and bays.

Gibson’s Steps

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12 Apostles

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Loch Ard Gorge

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London Bridge

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Grotto

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Bay of Martyrs

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Bay of Islands

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Such an amazing day in an amazing part of the world.

Great Ocean Road – Day 1

26 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by RuthsArc in one with nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

animals, Australia, birds

The first day of our road trip was as delightful mix of coastal views, beaches, wildlife, benches, a golf course and a lighthouse.

We drove out of Melbourne before dawn and stopped at Torquay for breakfast and a walk around the coastal town. The day started with cloud cover where the sky and sea merged on a blurred horizon.

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After watching surfers at Bells Beach we searched out the kangaroos at Anglesea Golf Club. A mob of Eastern Greys live on the fairways, ignoring the golfers.

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Split Point Lighthouse at Airey’s Inlet is one of several lighthouses built along this rugged coast in the late 1800’s.

 

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Along the road we noticed areas where bush fires had burnt last Christmas Day. Fortunately no one was injured but 116 homes were destroyed.

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At Kennett River the local wildlife came to check us out. Parakeets, cockatoos, kookaburras were all curious about the human visitors. And as I’ve already posted, wild koalas wandered around and sat in the trees.

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We stayed overnight at Apollo Bay which has a nice family beach and small harbour. Our motel room looked out over the ocean.

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24 hours in Melbourne

25 Monday Jul 2016

Posted by RuthsArc in days out

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Melbourne

The purpose of our trip to the mainland was to travel along the Great Ocean Road. I was excited to finally be visiting somewhere that has been on my bucket list for thirty years. I’ll post about our road trip in the next few days when I have sorted through several hundred photos.

I was surprised when Aussie Mate suggested we stay overnight in Melbourne. He is a Sydney boy and had never been to the city until three years ago. However, we wanted to visit some art galleries, explore the street art and try to find the hidden bar.

Melbourne has it’s own unique character with it’s trams, the Yarra River, iconic architecture.

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It did us good to have a “big city fix”, to experience the hustle, the traffic, the crowds and the high rise buildings that we just don’t get in Tasmania.

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I’d forgotten the idiosyncratic traffic rule of turning right from the left hand lane. It makes sense when you see it in action, so cars don’t queue across the tram tracks, but it feels strange at first.

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We packed a lot into the twenty four hours, travelled on the free trams in the central zone and walked over twenty thousand steps according to my fitbit!

I wish I could have met up with blog friends who live in or around the city, but I just didn’t have the time. Apologies. The trip was squeezed in between work commitments. Hopefully we can meet in person, next time we head over Bass Strait or whenever you visit Tassie.

WPC – An angel walked by

24 Sunday Jul 2016

Posted by RuthsArc in creativity, weekly photo challenge

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

art, Melbourne

This week’s photo challenge is “cherry on top”. “Share a photo that makes a good thing even better”.

Yesterday we strolled the lanes and enjoyed Melbourne’s Street Art. An added bonus was seeing this silver angel walk by.

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Cherry On Top

Through the bookshelf

23 Saturday Jul 2016

Posted by RuthsArc in creativity, days out

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

architecture, doors, Melbourne

We came from Hobart, to Melbourne, to find a bar that we had read about in a Sydney newspaper.

A hidden bar, where the entrance is disguised as a bookshelf. You have to move the correct book to open the door.

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As you walk downstairs you hear the noise of voices before you see the bar below.

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Such a cool place.

The door at street level is impressive too.

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I hope this post is not too late as a contribution for this week’s  Norm’s Thursday Doors.

Bells Beach

22 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by RuthsArc in one with nature

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Australia, beach

How do you start your day?

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For many Aussie’s, it’s checking out the surf.

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This is Bells Beach on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria. The surf was good and lots of guys and girls were out on their boards. I always think if surfing as a young person’s game, but it is a lifestyle and people of all ages participate.

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Bells Beach is the home of the world’s longest-running surfing competition – the Rip Curl Pro Surf & Music Festival, an annual event which began in 1961.

The final scene in the 1991 film Point Break starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, is set at Bells Beach, although the scene was not actually filmed here.

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