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Big seas on the coast south of Sydney. We went to Austinmere Beach north of Wollongong to join a protest against coal seam gas extraction. People made the letters for the ABC TV helicopter.
Stanwell Tops a little further north is a popular spot for hang gliders, and big waves.
Up there, floating in all that space. Wonderful.
Kim
Sydney is very lucky to still have huge national parks on its fringes – Kuringai to the North, the Royal National Park down south, and Lane Cove and the Blue Mountains to the west.
These images were taken with the old Nikon D40x and the older 18-135mm lens. The outfit weighs next to nothing, which makes it great for hiking, and I don't think there's anything wrong with the image quality. Just click on the images to see a larger file.
Unlike the images in my last post, which were taken in the Southern Highlands two hours' drive south-west of Sydney, seasons aren’t very pronounced by the sea. The bush doesn’t produce much in the way of autumn leaves, and the colours are much more subtle than the striking leaves of that Nyssa Sylvatica in Kangaroo Valley. There are exceptions though, as you'll see.
Often, the starkest colour is the black of tree trunks burnt a year or two ago when the drought had the country in its unrelenting grip.
What I love about Sydney is the closeness of bush and harbour, or even bush and beach. This shot was taken from the road to Westhead, looking across the Hawkesbury River toward Brooklyn and Ettalong. A tricky shot this, but it came off.
Last Sunday was a perfect, soft autumn day for bushwalking, so we followed the dirt road down to the Basin, the popular camping ground on Pittwater a short ferry ride from Palm Beach. There are tame Wallabies here, lots of them.
And here’s another native:
Some banksias produce vibrant orange candles, and they really stand out.
Angophoras can also be striking for their colour, and their twisted branches.
From the Basin, we took the ferry around to mackerel Beach (opposite Palm Beachstopped for lunch there and then climbed up on the ridge above on our trek back. The views were worth the effort.
There's so much to see in Sydney, and most of it's just around the corner.
Kim
Who says we don't get seasons down here?
The Southern Highlands are less than a couple of hours drive from Sydney. Kangaroo Valley is an oasis, and Berrima is an historic town. Autumn gives extraordinary colour to these places, captured here with my old Nikon d40x and the venerable 18-135mm lens. Please click on the images to see a larger file.
Nyssa Sylvatica, an American native in Kangaroo Valley
And that's the view from underneath
Close-up
Closer upper
Berrima
Berrima
The Eschalot at Berrima - great food and service
Last light
