Tag: Word of the Day Challenge

Gnarly Adventures

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One of my favourite things to do in Australia is to go on a bush walk. I love communing with nature and getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Everytime I go bushwalking I am reminded of my childhood and weekends with my family. We would spend hours exploring different areas with dad pointing out and explaining even the smallest detail. Gnarly trees were always special and we would often stop and study them. I found them fascinating. The knots and growths of the old trees often looked like the tree had a face and was trying to tell us something. It is interesting how a group of people can look at the same gnarly tree and see completely different things.

The following gnarly tree photos were taken whilst on a long bush walk at Bundanoon in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. The walk was one of many in Morton National Park and didn’t disappoint.

Thanks to Cyranny for today’s Word Of The Day Challenge inspiration – Gnarl

Interestingly in Australia gnarly is also a slang word that has been used since the 70’s to mean very good.

Colourful memories

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One of my favourite things when we visited St John’s Newfoundland was its colourful houses. They popped up everywhere, matching in style and blending in colour. Also known as Jelly Bean Row houses as their varied colours match those of jellybeans. It is said that the original reason the houses were painted in bright colours was because the sailors coming home from a long stretch at sea would like to look up from the harbour into the hills to look for their homes. As fog is a problem in St John’s the houses during these times the homes all bleneded together. So by painting them bright colours they could easily find their home.

I have no problem believing this as growing up I could see my home from the train. It was easy to pick out as it had a very large brick wall in front of it making it stand out from the surrounding houses. 50 years later I still look for my old house whenever I am on the train to Sydney. It’s an old habit I have no need to break even though its nearly 25 years since my mother moved out of my childhood home.

Thanks Kristian for your inspiring word today – matching.

Lavatree

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I love it when I find something really quirky on my travels. This lavatree marks the entrance to the sewerage treatment works at Dorrigo, New South Wales. What a memorable way to use old toilets. I also love the name.

The lavatree also serves another purpose as from memory you could easily drive past the entrance as it was a little hidden on a bend.

Some people might say only in Australia. Have you seen old toilets used in any other fun ways?

This post was inspired by Word Of The Day Challenge – Quirky Thanks Kristian.

Remembering Benjamin

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Do you recognise the animal in the photo? For most of you I guess the answer is no because it has been extinct for 85 years. It’s a photo of Benjamin the last Tasmanian Tiger (Tasmanian thylacine). The photo was taken at Hobart’s Beaumaris in 1933 by Australian zoologist David Fleay. Originally in black and white the footage was colourised and released by the National Film and Sound Archive on National Threatened Species Day.

National Threatened Species Day is on 7th September each year as a tribute to Benjamin the last Tasmanian Tiger. It was the day he died back in 1933 and the species was declared extinct. I am so grateful to be able to see Benjamin in his true colours 85 years after his death.

This post was inspired by the Word Of The Day Challenge – Tribute. Thanks Melanie.

Yarn Bombing

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Last week as I was walking around my local area I found this yarn bombing event. As I had never seen one before I was intrigued. Why? What was it all about?

For anyone like me who doesn’t know what yarn bombing is – it is a form of street art, like graffiti often connected to activism in some way. Another point of yarn bombing is to mitigate the severity of barren, cold public places.

This particular laneway I agree prior to the yarn bombing was boring, desolate and barren. I would walk down Devonshire Lane twice a week last year on my way to work and it had nothing going for it. The addition of the Deafblind Connect yarn bombing event has definitely brightened up the area. The colourful event has also brought attention to the Hunter’s Deafblind community. When I looked closely at the tree coverings I noticed many different textures especially designed for the blind to enjoy.

The event occurred during Deafblind Awareness week 21st -27th June as part of a global initiative in 22 countries across the world. What a fantastic idea to bring the community together.

Inspired by Word Of The Day Challenge – Mitigate

Wondrous Sea Jelly Spectacular

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The sight before me took my breath away. The room was filled with circular tanks of over 1000 sea jellies. I never realised that there was so much variety in them. The Sea Jelly Spectacular was taken to the next level by specially selected background music and neon lights. Together they emphasized the amazing pulsations of the jellyfish. The experience was so wondrous I still remember it with a smile nearly a decade later.

If ever you are in Hong Kong spend some time being memorized by these amazing creatures at the Sea Jelly Spectacular at Ocean Park.

Inspired by Word Of The Day – Wondrous thanks Cyranny

Awesome Figures

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I love Lego. The creativity and inspiration used to design these amazing models is unbelievable. Last year in Newcastle we were lucky enough to have an exhibition by Brickman. He is one of only 14 Lego professionals in the world. This display was titled Awesome. It included 37 models, took 5000 hours to build and used over 2 million Lego bricks. Each model was an example the first, the biggest, the deadliest or special in some other way.

Each model had a story board next to it which describes the build, giving

  • The facts of the model
  • Information about the designer, how long it took to make including the number of bricks used
  • The designers notes about build it including frustrations and problems
  • And lastly, Why It Is AWESOME.

The first big model we saw was the first full size Harley Davidson motor bike. Apparently in non Covid times to public like could sit on it. Even the electricals worked. AWESOME.

This Caterpillar 797 dump truck was the largest ever build. I loved it.

I was also fascinated to see the impact of a model of a single Lego brick. Definitely Awesome. From memory it took over 6 000 bricks to make.

One of my favourite things was the attention to detail hidden in and around each model. It really brought each model to life. Having previously traveled on the Shinkansen (bullet train) we smiled at the memories it created for us.

As an added bonus Brickman hid Mr & Mrs Awesome many times throughout the exhibition asking the children to look for them and enter a competition telling him how many they found. These special Lego figures were fun to look for that encouraged a much closer look for everyone.

These copies of original movie posters looked amazing.

Simple Pleasures

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In New South Wales, Australia at present Delta has everyone terrified. Nine weeks ago it started in Sydney. Eight weeks ago all of Greater Sydney was locked down but the regions were free. Then suddenly last week the virus escaped Sydney. People doing the wrong thing brought it to Newcastle my home town and we were instantly locked down. Delta was free and there is no stopping it. Everyday another part of regional NSW or Australia is infected and instantly locked down as we work at containing it.

Because of the health orders in place our lives are very simple. Stay at home unless you are allowed to go to work, are exercising or attending medical appointments. For me this got me rethinking my priorities in life. While I am currently appreciating what I can’t do, I am gaining joy from the simple pleasures I can do. For example creating a meal from scratch, being more mindful, reading, walking and getting back to my blogging. All of these activities I had lost focus on as my life got “too busy.”

Today while walking for my essential shopping I stopped in my tracks as I walked past a house. I smiled as I remembered seeing the same chalk board last year during lockdown.

Such a simple idea and I love the fact that the kids had invited the community to join in. For me it was also personal. When my father was very sick in hospital as a family we also created a joke of the day on his white board. It gave us something simple to focus on and share with the nurses and doctors – many of whom added a joke of their own.

Big Picture Festival

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In early October Newcastle held it’s inaugural Big Picture Festival. 14 international and local artists created big, bold murals transforming the city’s buildings.

Last weekend the lure of the murals got too much. I finally went to investigate. What great job they did. Each mural tells a story and shows the artists style. Personally, I think my two favourites were by Jordan Lucky (below) as I loved the colour involved in them.

I’m in two minds as to whether I would have preferred to have seen the artists creating them. In some ways I like the wow factor of the completed mural. Although seeing the techniques used to create the lady behind glass above would have been fascinating.

I love exploring the hidden details of street murals and I am sure next time I walk past them I will find other hidden surprises I missed the first time.

Inspired by todays Word of the Day Challenge: Lure