Surprises in the City

My favourite place to be is either down the coast or in the city at Circular Quay. I think Sydney is such a beautiful city with the harbour, bridge and Opera House. I also love all the different sorts of people it attracts, from local Sydney-siders to tourists and buskers. With the gorgeous warm weather we have been having I can’t wait to enjoy a glass or two of champagne near the harbour somewhere soon.

These first few shots were taken during the day as I walked around the city enjoying Hyde Park.It was such a beautiful day. I was in the city to see Louise Hawson speak about her photography work ‘52 Suburbs’ and at the end of the talk someone called out my name and it was a friend I did honours with and then worked with at the Attorney General’s. It was great to see her after being out of touch for a while.

We chatted and walked down to Circular Quay and enjoyed the views of the harbour from City Extra and had coffee and a catch up together. I always love when days go from being great to being fantastic! I hope you enjoy these photos.

After I said goodbye to my friend and as the sun started to set I took my camera out to see what I could capture. I hadn’t taken a tripod with me but I was really happy that I still managed to get some good shots because the light was particularly lovely that night.

The Opera House is one of my favourite places to photograph. It has such interesting angles and comes up so well in black and white. I can spend so long just wandering around this fascinating building, seeing something new each time. 

I hope you have all had a wonderful week. Thanks for all the lovely comments. Have a great weekend wherever or whatever you are up to.  

Kiama

This past week has been quite a difficult one, with Father’s Day and also the loss of a friend of my mum’s to cancer last Thursday. My mum was meant to be going into the city for a weekend with a choir she is in but felt it would all be a bit much after the news of her friends passing so we decided to go down to Kiama for the weekend and stay in a friend’s caravan.

I always love the south coast but this weekend seemed to be more vivid than other times. To know that someone had just had their time cut short seemed to make everything we did so much more meaningful.

Mum and I generally spend most of our holidays drinking coffee, sitting in the sun and reading. This weekend was no different, but it felt like such a privilege to be able to do these things and to share them with someone I love.

It really is the simple things in life that make you the happiest. It is a shame that it takes such devastating events to remind us of how lucky we are in the everydayness of life. I hope you enjoy these photos that come from a very special weekend.

On the second night in Kiama I went out to take photos of the area, and as always I just felt so excited to have this lovely camera to experience the world through. Dusk is my favourite time to take photos-the light is just so beautiful. Just when I think I have ‘got’ a shot, 10mins later when I look over my shoulder the light has totally transformed the subject- it really is magical. These are some photos of the lighthouse at the blow hole.  

  

I didn’t use a tripod for these shots which was definitely pushing it but I just love the colours that came up in these beautiful buildings. I think these photos actually looked better than what the buildings actually looked like in real life.

  

The next morning we went down to the beach to have a wander and I just laughed my heart out watching this man ‘flipper’ into the surf. I don’t think anyone could do this gracefully!

 

I highly recommend the coffee chocolate shop in the main street of Kiama. Their little chocolates were amazing, especially the orange chocolate, such a great combination. Great coffee too. What more could you want.

                                   

I hope you have all had a wonderful week. I would like to dedicate this week’s blog to my Dad and Helen- thank you for being part of our lives, you are definitely thought of and missed.

Missing the South Coast

I recently went down the South Coast for a week and have been craving going back already. I love the South Coast. We started at Berry and tried a different cafe, ‘The Stuffed Olive,’ very cute and great coffee. 

 

We then drove further south to Bermagui which was to be our home for the next week. I thought I hadn’t been there before, but as soon as I saw the beach I remembered that when my family and I were travelling to Victoria years ago we stopped in Bermagui for a swim. It was an exciting feeling to think I was rediscovering this place as an adult.

The weather fluctuated from hot and sunny, to sometimes pretty cold, and it was surprisingly very very windy, but apparently that’s pretty normal. I loved Bermagui and the cute cafe and being so close to the gorgeous beaches. Each afternoon the sun seemed to pop through, no matter what the day had been liked, so we would take our books down to the beach and enjoy the rays of sun. 

My family have always had Boxer dogs so when I saw this little guy on the beach with his family, needless to say I was smitten. He was the cutest dog and so well behaved. He is going to be a big boy though, check out this paws!

We spent a day at Bega which was a bit disappointing, particularly the cheese factory which was very commercial, but we did find this little treasure in town and spend many hours flicking through magazines and drinking coffee. It was a really alternative, arty type cafe that would have been well suited in Newtown or Glebe, so I loved it.

I was so excited that it was cold enough to light the fire a few nights. Is there anything better than sitting in front of any open fire. Simple delights.

I loved this town and can’t wait to get back there.

A truly gorgeous day- My Creative Thinking Space

I was tired when I woke up but couldn’t resist the short drive to my local beach to enjoy the sun and a stunning morning tea at a cafe that sits right on the pavement overlooking the beach.

 

A latte was an obvious choice, which was served in a cute oversized egg cup. The last time I was at this cafe I had seen others eating fresh muffins which looked amazing, so I caved and ordered an orange and passionfruit muffin and it was mmmm mmm lovely!

I have a favourite rock at the beach that overlooks the water and it is the best place to let go of ‘life’ stuff, gain some perspective, and to enjoy the sun and the breeze. A great place to think over future plans and goals and get the creative juices flowing.

 

I hope you have all had a lovely week so far, and been able to get out into the sun and nature. Check out what others have been up to this week at Kootoyoo.

Yay for Spring

Today I decided to take a drive through the National Park and spend the day at Bundeena. It was such gorgeous weather and so fantastic to spend the day at the beach. God it felt good to have my feet in the sand again and sitting by the water and reading the Saturday paper. I am so grateful for Spring and it gets me even more excited for Summer and more days at the beach. Ah what a day…

 

My Creative Space- Its great to be back

It has been well over a month since I last posted…where did the time go? My project this week was to bring together the things I have been doing in this past month and finally make a posting.

During this last month I was lucky enough to spend some time down in the South Coast, mostly Milton and Berry but also day trips to Huskisson, Kiama, Mollymook and Ulladulla. The South Coast is one of my all time favourite places to relax and unwind.

While I was away I had fun doing some water colour painting…

Indulging in a long loved art- nature photography…

I stumbled across, quite accidently, my new gorgeous red boots! I have been on the lookout for red boots this Winter but no luck until I was lured into a shoe shop in Milton. The smell of leather inspired in me hope- hope that my long awaited boots might be in there. Sure enough they were sitting waiting for me, as was another stunning pair of black lace up boots. Is there nothing better than finding treasures when you aren’t even looking… 

 

I have done small amounts of entertaining in my home and enjoyed cooking my new favourite dish- Chilly, Cumin, Vegetable and Slow Cooked Beef Curry.

I have also made a few pieces of jewellery…

If you love hearing what people are up to creatively, check out Kootoyoo…

A Few Special Days in Canberra

Autumn was calling…my memories of Canberra at this time of the year inspired a short visit to see some good friends and spend some time soaking up the atmosphere at my favourite cafes. I happily sat with my laptop writing in Satis, Tilley’s, All Bar Nun and Beyond Q loving every bit of it.

My friend and I also had the opportunity to suss out Shop Handmade in Civic which is totally adorable. This is the little guy I bought to sit next to me when I write and just to make me smile. He is technically a pin cushion but I am doubtful I will be able to stick pins in him…

He was made by Red Stitch Designs, lovely.

I also got to stay in the lovely O’Connor with a good friend and enjoyed taking a few photos of the gorgeous Autumn leaves. This is by far the most beautiful season.