We just spent a very nice weekend in the Blue Mountains. On Friday we flew to Sydney, where Carol and David picked us up at the airport. Together we drove up to Leura where we had rented a holiday house for the weekend. We expected it to be fairly cold and packed accordingly but were pleasantly surprise how nice the weather was on Saturday.
We started off after breakfast at the Toy and Train Museum.
The museum belongs to the Evatt family (former Federal Opposition Leader)
There are lots of Railway buildings and trains on the property
Note to self: Must take up Smoking
Fountain in the garden
Then we went to Sublime Point for some stunning views over the mountains.
The Blogger at work
Finally we visited the Everglades for morning tea including a delicious French Pudding. Followed by a stroll through the autumn-leaves.
These two were getting ready for a sprint.
On Sunday, we went to Blackheath and Govett's Leap lookout.
We've been to New Zealand a couple of times before, but never to the Otago region in the south-east. It was time to correct that.
We flew to Christchurch, exactly five years to the day, after the devastating earthquake ruined this beautiful city. Slowly the place is being restored to what it once was. But there are still a lot of damaged buildings everywhere.
Still lots of damaged buildings in Christchurch
But interesting renovations
On the second day, we hopped on the new TranzAlpine Express that goes daily from Christchurch to Greymouth. The brand new panoramic carriages offer great views over Arthurs Pass. We left the train at Moana as we had been to Greymouth on a previous trip. We took the opportunity to re-visit the town's only cafe for lunch.
The Station Cafe at Moana overlooking Lake Brunner
After lunch we boarded the returning TransAlpine Express, back to Christchurch
The TranzAlpine Express has new carriages with bigger windows providing great views
The following morning, Diane's blogging friend Marja and her husband William. picked us up at the hotel and took us to the airport where we picked up a hire car. We had ordered a little Mazda and were pleasantly surprised when they upgraded us and gave us a near new Holden Malibu at no extra cost.
With our new friends we drove to Akaroa for the day. Akaroa is a wonderful tourist area with lots of bays. Akaroa has a French connection. It was settled by French colonialists in time gone past.
Overlooking Akaroa and one of the many bays.
A pebble beach outside Christchurch
We left Marja and William and headed south towards our final destination. But we did stop at the
Moeraki Boulders at Koekohe Beach on the way. These boulders are an attraction to photographers all around the world. Unfortunately it was very overcast and the lighting conditions were not very good.
I refrained from the cliche shots everyone takes, making the sea look milky and unnatural, that's not my cup of tea. I prefer the natural realistic look.
Moeraki Boulders at Koekohe Bach
After a night in a B&B in Timaru, we drove to Dunedin where we had booked into a B&B on the Otago Peninsula. To get there we had to drive on the dangerous Portobello Road following the Bay. It is a very narrow and unprotected road and local told us that at least one car a week drives off into the bay. What I couldn't understand is the authorities marked it as 70km/hr when it should have been 50km/hr. No wonder people lose control and end up in the drink.
The view from our bedroom at the B&B
On Friday we were booked on the Taieri Gorge Scenic Railway from Dunedin to Pukerangi.
This is one of the best rail journeys in the world. See a one minute video below.
The famous Taieri Gorge Railway
The historic Dunedin Railway Station
While on the Otago Peninsula, we also visited New Zealand's only castle, Larnach Castle and Gardens. The castle was built by William Larnach, a Scottish merchant baron and politician, for his first wife Eliza. The castle is still privately owned by the Barker family.
Larnach castle on the Otago Peninsula.
On the last day, we drove to the end of the peninsula, with the road getting even more dangerous the further we went. At the end is the Royal Albatross Colony and Centre. It was getting on dusk, and i was able to capture an albatross returning from a day's work out at sea, to feed it's chick.
A couple of weeks ago when we went to the movies, I saw a trailer of this gripping film so we went to see it yesterday. Spotlight is based on a true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local catholic Archdiocese, shaking the Catholic Church to its core.
The Plot
In 2001 The Boston Globe newspaper hires a new editor, Marty Baron (Lieve Schreiber). Meeting with Walter "Robby" Robinson (Michael Keaton), Baron discovers that Robby heads the "Spotlight" team, a small group of journalists whose articles are investigative in nature. When Baron reads about in the paper about the pedophile priest John Geoghan, and a lawyer who says that Cardinal Law, (the archbishop of Boston) knew that Geoghan was sexually abusing children and did nothing to stop him, Baron urges the Spotlight Team to investigate the story.
They soon discover that it was not just about this one priest, who was moved around several times by the Catholic hierarchy, children abuse was endemic by Roman Catholic priests in Boston. The Spotlight Team discovered that about 90 priests had been involved in child abuse in Boston, over a number of years.
Spotlight was shown 72nd Venice International Film Festival. It has a stellar cast in Mark Ruffalo as Michael Rezendes, Michael Keaton as Robby Robinson, Rachel McAdams as Sacha Pfeiffer. The film was written by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy and directed by Tom McCarthy.
This film can be well described as Gripping, Compelling, Remarkable. It is by far the best film I've seen so far, this year. Here is the trailer -
Our neighbour Rob called in this morning asking us if we'd like to join them on a visit to South Bank where there was a food festival in honour of Australia day advertised in the Courier Mail. Well, we had nothing better planned, so we agreed. We never miss a chance to go out for lunch. Rob and Kathy picked us up around 11am and we drove to the Hyperdome at Loganholme, where the 555 express bus starts for Brisbane City,via South Bank. From the bus station we walked down to the river, where an area was fenced in with a handful of food tents. There wasn't much action yet, so we walked over the Goodwill Foot Bridge over the river to the QUT campus.
There were just a handful of people waiting at the food tents
As with every Australia Day Celebration, there was quite a large Police contingent everywhere including officers on horses at the southern end of the Goodwill Bridge.
Mounted Police at the Goodwill Bridge
The City Hopper ferries people from one side of the river to the other.
The sky looked ominous and we were not sure if we were getting a soaking. But we carried on over the bridge.
Dark sky over the city
A City Cat passed below us
The Goodwill Foot Bridge leads under the Captain Cook Bridge, the main arterial road into Brisbane.
Captain Cook Bridge above us
I had to change the memory card in my camera, so I took the opportunity to try the new card on a pair of feet.
Typical Australia day attire, Thongs (Flip-flops in UK)
Again there was a police present on the northern side of the bridge, cops on bikes.
Are they looking for new recruits? Sorry, lady, too old.
The sky was getting darker, so we trundled back over the bridge looking for a place to eat.
Mangroves on the bank of the Brisbane River.
Back at the other end, time for a pose with the horses
By now the crowd was getting bigger. We checked the food tents but nothing took our fancy.
In the end, we decided to walk down to the Plough-Inn, where we found a table on the upstairs terrace for a nice lunch.
Then we walked back to the bus station where a 555 bus was just arriving to take us back to Loganholme to pick up the car for home. A nice day out for the Romans and the Bohlens.
We were told about this film as it was shot entirely in Switzerland. So we went to see it. It is a very unusual movie directed by Paolo Sorrentino who won an Oscar for "La Grande Bellezza".
Youth
Youth is about a couple of elderly gentlemen, Fred, a composer played by Michael Caine (80) and Mick, a director and screen writer, played by Harvey Keitel (74) who, while on holiday in a luxury Swiss Hotel, reflect on their lives. Also along the ride is Rachel Weisz (44), wife of Bond star Daniel Craig, who plays the composer's daughter (Caine) and 60s sex symbol Jane Fonda (78) who plays the movie director's ex-wife (Keitel).
Composer Fred (Michael Caine)
Fred is visited by his daughter and personal assistant Lena, who is fraught by an imminent divorce. Mick is co-writing a new movie with several passionate youngsters, a film he considers his testament to cinema, and which he hopes to make together with the actress he helped make famous. But the passing time makes each decision harder to stand.
Mick (Keitel) and Ex-wife (Fonda)
Some people might find this movie a little weird, but I did enjoy it very much. The Swiss alps make the perfect backdrop for this emotionally packed scenario. It's easy to see why Sorrentino is an Oscar winning director.
Every now and then you come across a fabulous book. At the airport on Wednesday, while we were waiting for our flight to Sydney, I strolled into the book shop next to the coffee shop we were sitting in. There it was:
THE SHORT AND EXCRUCIATINGLY EMBARRASSING REIGN OF CAPTAIN ABBOTT by Australian columnist Andrew P Street.
Just the sort of funny book I like while away from home. I started reading as soon as we were off the ground and was hooked by the time we got up to cruising speed. Now, I have never been a fan of Abbott so maybe, just maybe I am a little bit biased against this bloke who has absolutely no nous for politics, why else would he knight the Duke of Edinburgh.
Andrew covers just about every gaffe and blunder the Abbott government committed during their short turn.
Who could forget Treasurer Joe boldly declaring that poor people either don't have cars or don't drive very far. Who could forget Kevin Andrews boldly declaring his support to the government of Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard. Or who could forget Senator George Brandis making a statement that people had a right to be bigots.
The book is written exceedingly funny. Andrew rightly points out that it is very difficult for a leader to find people who will tell him that something is "a really bad idea". With this in mind, Andrew guesses a possible conversation between Abbott and an imaginary staffer:
ABBOTT: So anyway, I've decided to confer a knighthood on Prince Phllip. IMAGINARY STAFFER: ...I'm sorry .. Prince Philip? ABBOTT: Yes. IMAGINARY STAFFER: As in the husband of the queen? That Prince Philip? ABBOTT: That's the one. IMAGINARY STAFFER: Oh. [Pause] And, um, why? ABBOTT: What do you mean, why? IMAGINARY STAFFER: Well, you look at the other people who are getting honours--- like co-Australian of the Year Rosie Batty, who's been a tireless campaigner for domestic violence reform in Australia, or Professor Denis Wakefield for his lifelong work on ocular immunopathology. You're giving him an Order of Australia. ABBOTT: Yes, and...? IMAGINARY STAFFER: Well, I'm just curious as to what Prince Philip has actually, y'know, done. Especially as a British citizen of Greek descent who has been in the country, what, half a dozen times? ABBOTT: Well, he's the prince! IMAGINARY STAFFER: ...And? ABBOTT: And it's about time he got some recognition for his life of service. IMAGINARY STAFFER: Recognition? ABBOTT:Yes. IMAGINARY STAFFER: Prince Philip? Abbott: Yes. IMAGINARY STAFFER: He's already a prince, you realise? ABBOTT: I do realise that, yes. IMAGINARY STAFFER: And he is the Duke of Edinburgh. ABBOTT: Yes. IMAGINARY STAFFER: And he is also the Earl of Merioneth, Baron Greenwich, Royal Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. Extra Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Member of of the Order of Merit, Grand master and First and Principal Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Additional Member of the Order of New Zealand, Extra Companion of the Queen's Service Order, Royal Chief of the Order of Logohu, Extraordinary Companion of the Order of Canada, Extraordinary Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Canadian Forces Decoration , Lord of her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Councillor of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Personal Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty, Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom, right? ABBOTT: Yes. IMAGINARY STAFFER: And he needs to be given some recognition, you think? ABBOTT: Look, just send the damn email. IMAGINARY STAFFER: Rightio then. Anything else I should know about? ABBOTT: Well, I'm also thinking we should make Queen Elizabeth a dame. IMAGINARY STAFFER: Let's save that one for 2016, maybe. ABBOTT: Eh, fine. hey, how's about Pope Francis? IMAGINARY STAFFER: Well... oh, my phone's ringing, I really have to take this.
This is just a great book describing a very embarrassing period in Australian politics. Let's say about 55% of the Australian population will find it very funny while 45% of the population may not, but at least cringe, one hopes.
We needed some landscape pictures for our session on Monday at the camera club. Although we have plenty in our archives, we decided to take a walk along the recently refurbished riverwalk from New Farm into the city. About 4 km. So we drove to New Farm Park and set off for our hike.
The Blogger checks her camera
We walked past some expensive mansions on the way to the river walk
Someone goes to great length to keep burglars away, ha ha, the RSL actually
About half way along the river walk, we veered off in search of a coffee shop. We didn't have to walk far. We found one in Moray Street, called The Moray Cafe.
The Blogger left her back pack there, so we'll have to go back there
Back on the river walk
The previous river walk was floating, rising and falling with the tide of the river. However a couple of years ago, Brisbane flooded and the current was too strong for the floating walk and it floated all the way down into Moreton Bay. The Brisbane City Council replaced it at great cost to a fixed model, hopefully strong enough to withhold any future floods.
The remodelled river walk
There are lots of residential units along both sides of the Brisbane River.
The Story Bridge joins the River City.
There are also old buildings on the river in the city
When we arrived in the city, it was just past lunch time, so we joined the city workers in one of the many river pubs for a delightful lunch and a few glasses of refreshing water. YES - WATER!
After lunch we hopped on a City Cat back to New Farm Park.
The City Cats provide easy transport along the Brisbane River
Toward the Story Bridge, we passed the Kookaburra Queen on a lunch cruise
Passengers get on and off at the many stops
Finally we arrived back at the New Farm Jetty
It was an enjoyable day out and we got our landscape (or should I say waterscape) shots for Monday.
