amongst the coastal rocks

Kayla, Ari and myself were returning to the Mazda after an early morning photoshoot–a rockpool— along the coast near Kings Beach Rd. A photoshoot was a break from being more or less sitting in a front of a computer working on the Fleurieuscapes exhibition at Magpie Springs. The opening is on Sunday January 17th.

The tide was low and it was overcast so I could access some of the coast that was not possible during the winter. I had explored this part of the coast whilst on a poodlewalk yesterday morning and I decided to go back this morning, if there was some cloud cover.

2 poodles
2 poodles

People are still on their holidays along the southern coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, so there are plenty of runners, walkers, trail-bikers and dog walkers on the coastal path between Petrel Cove and Kings Beach in the early morning. It is still cool at this time of the day and, as the coastal winds have eased, it is pleasant walking. Continue reading “amongst the coastal rocks”

picking up the threads

Suzanne returned home last Friday from her 9 day walk on the Larapinta Trail plus some sightseeing at Kings Canyon, then Uluru and Kata Tjuta. She has a a few days at home in Victor Harbor, then she is off to a 4 day Heysen Trail camp at Deep Creek Conservation Park over the weekend.

I’m starting to pick up the threads of my photography which dropped away whilst Suzanne was in the Northern Territory. I have done little scoping of photography shoots during that period:

Maleko, Hayborough railway line
Maleko, Hayborough railway line

Most of my effort at the moment is devoted to preparing for the abstraction exhibition at the Light Gallery during the SALA Festival in August, which includes a SALA portfolio.
Continue reading “picking up the threads”

along an old railway line

I’ve accepted the constraints of walking three standard poodles on my own whilst Suzanne walks the Larapinta Trail, and I just go with the flow. It is easier to go with the flow rather than be frustrated by the chaos.

Our early morning walks are along the old Victor Harbor railway line in Hayborough. Maleko and Kayla can play their crazy chasey games in and around the old Port Elliot-Victor Harbor railway line, Ari and I stroll along, my feet stay dry, and I can take a few photos.

railway line, Hayborough
railway line, Hayborough

It’s better than the beach, which is where everyone is walking in the early morning with their dogs. If I walk on the beach most of my time is spend minding the dogs and preventing them from getting up to mischief with other dogs and people.
Continue reading “along an old railway line”

taking it easy

During the recent week of rain and wind we mostly walked around the Victor Harbor township in the morning and along back country roads in the afternoon. I’d badly damaged my back when walking around Wellington and I had great difficulty in walking, due to the pain.

I needed easy walking terrain whilst my back was slowly beginning to heal. So no stairs or steps and no climbing over rocks on the foreshore.

 gums +Maleko
gums +Maleko

I couldn’t walk for that long so I just explored the afternoon light on the roadside vegetation. Maybe I could use my limited mobility to uncover some  photographic possibilities amongst a landscape of  pasture and scrubland left after the clearing during the white settlement.Maybe I could reconnect with this body of work.
Continue reading “taking it easy”

a fading autumn

Winter is fast closing in. The clear, still, sunny autumn mornings are fast becoming a memory.

We have had a week or so of strong winds, storms, on and off showers throughout the day, lots of cloud cover  and the occasional sunny period. So we have increasingly avoided the southern beaches in our morning and evening walks in order to seek shelter from the incessant wind.

Kayla
Kayla

The poodles love the bush for it is full of fresh animal smells, but I find it extremely difficult to photograph the chaotic messiness of the bush or woodlands whilst we are walking through it. It is almost impossible to try and impose strict visual order upon this subject matter  since  the clear visual patterns  are  not really there.

Continue reading “a fading autumn”

cruising along

Most of the early morning walks these late autumn days are with Ari and Kayla and are are in and around the Victor Harbor Beach area or along the Hayborough beach. It’s easy. There are few people around, there is very little junk food, dead birds or decaying fish, the wind is low and the sun rises onto the beaches at sunrise.

Kayla, Granite Island causeway
Kayla, Granite Island causeway

There is not much photography taking place on these walks. Only a few pictures of the ongoing version of the sand dunes around Hayborough, but this does not effect any of the holiday homes as they are on the cliffs above the beach, and there is a railway line between the beach and the base of the cliffs.
Continue reading “cruising along”

contained walks

Suzanne and I have started looking for ways in which  one person can walk the three poodles together. It is a question of avoiding the beach where Kayla and Maleko go into their crazy chasing games,  and looking for contained areas that are full of smells so they forget about their mad play.  This often becomes destructive and  is beyond the control of one person.

We have found one–a back country road near Encounter Studio which has very little traffic. Halls Creek Rd is an area  where the poodles can walk freely off lead:

Kayla
Kayla

Halls Creek Rd  is bounded by fences and, as  it has a number of kangaroo crossings,  the poodles spend their time checking things out.  Continue reading “contained walks”

on Sellicks Beach

After dropping off an Edgeland’s catalogue to The Arts Centre at Port Noarlunga I drove to Port Willunga to photograph the cliffs I’d scoped a few days earlier. It was pouring with rain so I drove onto Sellicks Beach and waited in the car for the rain to pass. We then walked the beach whilst I scoped the sandstone base of some of the cliffs bordering the beach.

Maleko, Sellicks Beach
Maleko, Sellicks Beach

We walked to the end of the sandstone cliffs but the rain returned about halfway back. As we’d walked past the caves at the base of the cliffs that would have provided us with some shelter from the rain, we were in the open on the beach and got wet. Once again there were 4 wheel drives whizzing up and down the beach and parking is allowed on the sand.   Continue reading “on Sellicks Beach”

spring time on the coast

The weather on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula coast during Spring is turbulent. There are days of strong south easterly winds, hot days with a strong northwesterly wind, broken by cold southerly winds with a plunge in temperature. Generally its blustery with a few calm days. This year there has been very little rain.

The landscape is becoming drier. I would hate to have to exist on rainwater tank given the predictions for much less rain for southern Australia.

Ari + Maleko
Ari + Maleko

Often the light during spring can be quite eerie.

starting out in the city

Yesterday evening’s poodlewalk was Maleko’s first walk in the city. We had just returned from a week of walking and playing on the beaches in and around Victor Harbor in the morning and evening.

Encounter Bay
Encounter Bay

We walked along Sturt St to Whitmore Square, then back along Wright Street to the townhouse. Maleko was a little unsure of himself, as there was so many strange happenings and sounds on the city streets compared to the coastal quietness of Encounter Bay in the early morning.