Category: coastal

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memories

One of my memories of the  early morning walks that I used to do  in the last months of  Ari’s life in 2017 was one where I ‘d walk with him along Jetty Rd. On these occasions Suzanne  would  take   Kayla and Maleko up and over Rosetta Head,  and I would walk with Ari down to the beach, then along Jetty Rd, which runs around the foot of Rosetta Head.

Jetty Rd  runs from Whalers Convention Centre to the little jetty at the northern side of Rosetta Head,  and as it is easy walking, it was suitable for Ari.    The jetty is a favourite of the recreational fishermen and we’d alway meet someone fishing from the jetty early in the morning.

cactus leaves, Jetty Rd,

It was a slow walk to and from the jetty, and Ari and I  would often hang around an  old palm tree and cactus on our  way back. I would take a few photos with the little Olympus XZ-1 that  we had purchased for Suzanne to use on her various  walks.  Continue reading “memories”

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Summer has arrived

Summer is here on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula coast in South Australia.

The  weather  has now settled into its normal summer pattern of  clear,  bright light; sunshine;   blue skies; and warm to hot temperatures.  Kayla and I  start  our walk  along the coastal rocks  early  in the morning in order to avoid the heat of the early morning sun.

We usually start  just after  sunrise:

Dep’s Beach landscape

On our  afternoon  walks Maleko and I  struggle with  the heat,   as the sun is still quite high  at 6pm,  and  there is little by way of open shade amongst the coastal rocks.   We   welcome the cool breeze that keeps the temperatures down and dread the hot, north-westerly wind.  Continue reading “Summer has arrived”

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clouds

The very changeable, early  summer  weather that we have been experiencing at Encounter Bay in South Australia,   has meant that there  has  been some good clouds along the coast.  We have had hot  days, cold days, sunshine, rain, lots of gusty wind from the south-west, calm days and striking  cloud formations:

storm clouds, Petrel Cove

We have been walking along the coast, rather than the Bluff, and we’ve  often we’ve been caught in the wet weather  whilst walking in the morning and the evening,  and I have had to find whatever shelter amongst the rocks that I could until the quickly moving squall  had passed.  Continue reading “clouds”

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wet weather

Cold, wet weather  that came in from the south-west replaced the few days of hot weather after my Sonex  flight along the coast of the southern Fleurieu Peninsula earlier in the week.   The temperature is  now roughly half of what it was  during that hot spell.

Suzanne and I got very wet on a couple of occasions on our walks  — we were caught in the fast moving rain  that swept in from the southern ocean whilst  out walking with the poodles.

granite, quartz, sea

There is little shelter along  the coast west of Petrel Cove.  On an afternoon walk  Maleko and I had  little choice but to continue  walking and  to get wet in the process.  At least it was not as cold as it would have been  in winter. Continue reading “wet weather”

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Aerial: The coast from above

I had the great fortune to  experiment with  some aerial photography yesterday. I was given the opportunity   to  fly along part of the southern Fleurieu Peninsula coastline,   courtesy of  Chris Dearden  in his yellow, homebuilt    Sonex aircraft– a Xenos motorglider.

It was the first time  that I’d  had the opportunity  to  experiment with  aerial photography and flying in a recreational aircraft was a blast.

Rosetta Head

We took off from Goolwa airport and  flew along the coast from the Murray Mouth near Goolwa  to Newland Heads in Waitpinga, then back again.  The above image  is a picture of Rosetta Head, Petrel Cove and Dep’s Beach, which is  where  we  do a lot of  our coastal poodlewalks.  Continue reading “Aerial: The coast from above”

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on The Bluff

Whilst Suzanne was away walking the Wilderness Trail on Kangaroo Island with her walking friends, I looked after, and walked, the two standard poodles twice a day.  That’s the daily  routine with hunting dogs.

Maleko + Kayla

These portraits of Maleko and Kayla was made whilst we were on an early morning walk up, over and down Rosetta Head  (or The Bluff). Ari had  just died a few days earlier, before Suzanne  went walking on  Kangaroo Island.

We were hanging about on the top of The Bluff having a bit of fun as it had been the first time I’d walked up Rosetta Head in the early morning for ages

Continue reading “on The Bluff”

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Spring time: explorations

During the recent couple of days of warm, sub tropical Spring weather on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula coast I was able to go on longer, coastal poodlewalks with Kayla and Maleko as well as scoping in the various cthat I would usually walk past, and photographing in my makeshift open air studio.

One of these longer walks was a return to exploring around the mouth of the Inmam River near Kent Reserve with Kayla to re-connect with the Fleurieuscapes project that I am working on.

Inman River, Victor Harbor

I was interested in scoping a way to photograph the site of the Ramindejeri’s burial ground in the sand dunes near the Inman River’s mouth. The SA Museum states that the Ramindejeri were a local group of the Ngarrindjeri but the public information the Museum has is pretty minimal

Continue reading “Spring time: explorations”

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photographer

By Thursday the cold south westerly and easterly winds that had been blowing for the past week had dropped away. By the late afternoon on Thursday it was very still and warm. There was cloud cover and soft light, the tide was very low, and there were no small flies. These were lovely conditions for both a late afternoon walk with Maleko and for me to do a bit of scoping about this place.

seascape

I went back on Friday afternoon at the same time of the day to this particular spot with a film camera and tripod. The weather conditions were very similar but I was dismayed to discover that the tide was much higher, and that it was impossible to gain access to this gap in the rocks.
Continue reading “photographer”

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portraiture

Kayla is still on restricted walks. Though the courses of anti-inflammatories has finished, she continues to be walked on her own both morning and afternoon to allow the ligaments around her knees to heal. I walk her in the morning and Maleko in the afternoon. Suzanne does the opposite. We are playing it safe. No rough chasing games.

This allows me time to continue to work on The Littoral Zone project. Some recent examples:– an abstraction; a rockpool granite rocks along the coast; and an open air studio images.

A portrait of Kayla at Petrel Cove:

Kayla

These solo walks will change tomorrow as I am off on a photo trip to the South Australia Mallee for 5 days, and so Suzanne will have to walk both dogs together. She will need to exercise her skills to prevent them from playing their mad chasing games, or chasing kangaroos.

Continue reading “portraiture”

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Kayla's restricted walks

Kayla recently injured her back legs when she racing down the side of Rosetta Head.Then she and Maleko spotted a kangaroo and off she went. Her knees are quite sore, and she is on a weeks course of anti-inflammatories and restricted walks along the local coast. She walks solo with me in the morning and then solo with Suzanne in the evening.

seaweed and granite

We move slowly along the coastal foreshore in the morning–usually along the Encounter Bay beach. It reminds me of walking with Ari along this beach in the last month of his life.

Continue reading “Kayla's restricted walks”