Picasa web album for public viewing...musings on the art & craft of photography!!!

Hello all,

Go to http://tinyurl.com/4hvwqn to view a selection of 99/243 pictures taken on our recent holiday.
Creating the album and putting it on the web was fairly intuitive, and, like everything else, things will improve with practice. I find I am very very critical when it comes to photos; I am easily displeased with either my own or other peoples pix. Conversely, when a picture appeals to me and stands out of the pack then I heap praise on it. I like pix that have plenty of subject matter and that are well composed and balanced. Pleasing to the eye.
I am not a fan of my own image on photo, but they say that the camera never lies. On one trip on the Docklands Light Rail in London I was interested in the camera techique of an American tourist who said that he often got better pictures by just vaguely waving the camera at the subject and pressing the button...that is to say he did not use any viewfinding to set the picture up. I must try that technique, because often, in attempting to compose a picture, I still cannot escape that lamp post sprouting from someones head or the pile of food and plates in front of the group of people. I also believe that the professionals will take dozens of photos of the same subject and sort through them for the best, so that by sheer weight of numbers they will come up with that 'perfect' photo.
There must also be room for those posed studio shots that I find in my family history studies; wonderful family groups in their best or borrowed clothes, with a backdrop screen behind and those rich sepia or black & white tones. My family history studies leave me in perpertual awe of the fact that those shots were taken and have survived...but how important it is to know the who, what, when and where of the subject matter!!!
Enough for now...I am pleased to have posted the album!

Back in Canberra

Well folks, the show is over. Lynne & I arrived back into a cold Canberra at 2100 last night after a good 24 hours of travel from the door of the Ibis Hotel in Charles Street, Manchester to home in Canberra. It was indeed a grind through the fatiguing hours of flying, then the hassles of transferring between planes.
We started off at about 0600 on Monday morning, well organized to get a minicab [Somalian driver] to the departure terminal at Manchester Ringway airport. We had not read the ticket properly, and found ourselves at the wrong terminal!! Luckly, our early start meant that there was good time for us to transfer on the free shuttle bus; later, once on board the jet and sitting on the tarmac, the departure was delayed an hour...not a good start!
Service was impecable from the Singapore Airlines cabin crew; who kept us fed, watered and amused for the 12 hours across Europe and then Asia, through a day and night, before we landed at Singapore Changi airport in a tropical dawn on Tuesday. En route there were glimpses of the Black Sea coast and Caucasus Mountains behind Georgia.
Only a few hours on the ground there, including a free transfer on the automatic monorail shuttle trains, before we were on our way to Sydney through the daylight hours of Tuesday. The transfer bus at the tired looking Sydney Mascot airport was $11.00.
After a few hours wait at T2 we boarded the Virgin Airlines Boeing 737 for the short flight to Canbera and so to home.
Canberra has a springtime feel, with grass, trees and weeds bursting out of their winter hibernation. Daylight saving started on the weekend, so we are now GMT +11 hours. A huge blue sky and a chill wind; swallows dipping to and fro and on the nearby pond proud parent black swans with their two downy grey cygnets. The resident magpies lost no time in realizing that we were back and so came down for their usual feed of bread.
Before winding up this blog I plan to download all the pix we took and create a Picassa web album; I also want to do a check of all the gear I packed to go away with that I did not use as well as note the favorite gear of the trip. The only souvenirs that I came back with were about seven maps and two scarves... more details later.

PSD

Manchester City 2 Liverpool 3

On a sparking sunny autumn day, after 12 hours of overnight rain, Manchester has delivered a magnificent finale to our holiday. Steve, Lynne & I had bought seats for the Premier League match Man City [10th on table] v Liverpool [2nd on the table]. The match was a sellout with 45000 vociferous fans in the City Stadium. The match was a thriller with all five goals scored at one end, the end where we were sitting, in line with the penalty box and just a few rows back from the sideline!!! I bought a Man City sky blue scarf as a souvenir and a practical one at that to keep out the chill.


We are staying at an Ibis chain hotel in the city centre and after a last supper with Steve we fly out for Oz tomorrow morning. We have been away four weeks and it feels like four months... a sure sign of a good holiday.
Thanks Reg & Linda and also Juliet for blog comments.

Peter

The Davis Expeditionary Force back from France

Hello folks,
Our five day excursion across the Channel to France was another amazing episode in our holiday. Rachel & Kevin got up early last Sunday morning to get us to Victoria Coach Station. There we boarded the Eurolines coach, destination Antwerp, with Lille as a stop off. On a sunny and very hazy day we drove through Kent to the white cliffs of Dover, then a one hour ferry crossing on dead calm seas. From Calais it was a one hour drive on the autoroute through the northern French countryside to the sprawling metropolis of Lille.
We had checked in to the modern All Seasons Hotel in the middle of the Lille centre for one night but ended up there for the four nights. The very small bedroom was more than compensated for with comfortable beds, spacious lounge & dining area and sumptuous continental breakfast. The location was also very convenient.
From the centre of town a vast network of buses, trams and metro stretches out across the Lille conurbation, right to the Belgian border, where we visited Armentieres. Our plans to cross the border to visit Ypres in Belgium did not eventuate, but as always we took a path of lesser resistance and opted for a day trip to Dunkerque. In a howling gale we at least saw the edge of the beaches from which the famous evacuation took place in World War Two.
Lille is a bustling young city; there is a huge university population. Immigrants of various complexions crowd the street, the latest and very obvious arrivals are the swarthy Romanian gypsies living in broken down caravan campsites on various industrial wasteland sites.
The Moslems in town, mostly Moroccan, Tunisian & Senegalese celebrated the end of Ramadan. The city is dirty, smelly, broken down and decaying; at every step you are plagued by smokers and cigarette butts. There are very obvious beggers and homeless derelicts.
For all that a great visit and my French worked wonders.
Back now in a cold and grey Manchester before our return on Monday. News from our son Jeremy is that he and Claire are expecting a child, and that will make us first time grandparents in the new year!!!!

See you all soon back in Oz.

In South Woodford with Rachel & Kevin

Hi there folks,
All is going well here in suburban NE London from where we can strike out using our all day travel passes to quickly get to Central London and beyond. Last weekend we arrived to the best weather so far this summer, with warm sunshine drawing out huge crowds to attractions such as the London Eye. That was where we made rendezvous with two second cousins, born Brenda [1947] & Irene [1941] Snusher. Their father & my grandmother were brother & sister. My brother John was there, as well as Rachel & Kevin. Pic shows Brenda, me, Irene, John & Rachel.
After that John & I went out to have a few beers and I ended up at his place in Downham on the very south side of London. He then took me on a trip down memory lane as we revisited homes & schools that we had lived & studied in. I then went on to the Imperial War Museum, bus to Euston Station and then home via Shoreditch.
Lyn & I are booked to go to Lille in France next Sunday for four days.

In the West Country

Have been out of internet range for these last few days, but am doing this update from an internet cafe in Minehead, Somerset. Last Saturday we picked up our hire car from Europcar in Manchester, a brand new Fiat Punto 5-door hatchback manual. It has been a delight to drive. On the first day we got from Manchester to Somerset in easy time. We have stayed at first Dunster, then Wheddon Cross and now Porlock. Weather cold, grey and damp. So much to see and do in this amazing and picturesque part of the world. Petrol is at £1.25/litre, £35 to fill the tank. Luckily I have been able to switch my brain over to pounds stirling and simply forget about the conversion rate!!!
The bed & breakfast accommodation has been sumptuous, and most days the breakfast has been a full cooked English bacon, eggs, sausage, baked beans, mushrooms & toast. That has kept us going for the rest of the day; for evening meal we have been going to local pub or restaurant.
Today Lynne has gone by bus to Lynmouth and I have come here to Minehead from our base at the Rose Bank B & B in Porlock. Tomorrow we will head of to the east of the country to Cambridgeshire, spend Friday there and get to London on Saturday morning.
Love to all

In Manchester

Yesterday [Wednesday] was our first full day in Manchester; I went for my usual early morning walk. Went along the length of Oxford Road into the city centre, then got a bus back to Fallowfield. After breakfast Steve drove us out to the big sports complex on the East side of the city; while there we bought tickets for the FA Premier League match Manchester City v Liverpool on Sunday 05 OCT.
Some morning rain sent us inside, but then it fined up for us to all go for a walk along the banks of the Mersey River on the edge of Manchester. Everywhere boggy & saturated under foot after weeks of rain. Had a lovely pub lunch in the Jackson's Boat hotel on the other bank of the river in Cheshire.
I went out in the evening to the local pub the Wecome Inn; Lynne & Steve watched a video. I am off now for my morning walk; more rain forecast.

On the ground in Manchester!!

It is mid-morning here in Manchester at Steve Archer's place in Fallowfield,Manchester. A slow steady rain is falling from a miserable grey sky, but we have been given a warm welcome by Steve who met us at Manchester Airport after the 13 hour non-stop flight from Singapore. From Sydney Airport right through to Manchester all flights with Singapore Airlines were on time and up to high standards. I am surprised by how 'normal' Lynne & I feel despite an obvious night of broken or no sleep. From door to door was about 30 hours.
The Airbus 380 flight was an awesome experience; the big plane was smooth & roomy. Cabin service and food was excellent. 8 hours non-stop to Singapore, then an hour or so to change onto the red-eye special leaving Singapore at midnight and arriving Manchester at 0630 local time.
Right now we are just unwinding after the flight & catching up with Steve before we decide what comes next & in what order.

On our way!!

Up and away on schedule from home. Canberra Cabs failed to deliver again, so we were rescued by our good neighbour Ian, who drove us to the Jolimont coach station. Canberra was cold, sunny and pink (plum blossom) as we left exactly on time and pulled into the Sydney International Terminal three hours later at 1200. Check in and security were both routine; we had a bite to eat as we watched Serena[?] Williams win the women's tennis final in New York.
I am using the free [and rather slow] Optus internet terminal in the departure lounge. No sign yet of our Airbus 380. Nine hours to Singapore will be about the time I was on the operating table for my cancer surgery. Then will come the red-eye special non stop to Manchester.

Plans are developing

Well, we have now passed T-48h and check-in on-line through the SIA website was a breeze. So we now have our allocated seats for both legs of the flight to Manchester. We have been following the English weather at the UK Met Office website, but of course all that counts is what we get when we arrive there. In any case, I expect that the early autumn weather will be favorable...and we are not going for a beach party!!
Tks Kevin for your comment; we are firming up in favour of the option of spending the last week in Flanders Fields. Ferry to Calais, then stay somewhere in the area to visit localities between the Somme and Yser Rivers,from Amiens in France to Ypres in Belgium. Everywhere there are placenames burnt into the Australian psyche in the First World War. We will also experience the attractions of the area; I am keen to try Belgian beer & sausages, there is the glassworks at Arques and no doubt innumerable museums, galleries & cafes.
I would like to walk from Ypres to Menin if there is a suitable and safe track...that road was said to be the most dangerous place on earth during the third battle of Ypres in 1918.

PSD

Car hire in England

A quick search via the web throws up the attractive option of renting a small car through Europcar. Seven days for about 200GBP. Especially interesting is the fact that there are Europcar depots in Manchester City and airport to pick the car up and one at Woodford Green, London, to drop the car off, close to Rachel & Kevin. Anyone have any experience of car rental in UK?

Back of envelope itinerary

Below is a rough outline of our travel plans.

• Week 1 Manchester :Leave Sydney, Australia on Monday 8 SEP ; arrive Manchester, England on Tuesday 9 SEP. Flying Singapore Airlines SQ 222 [Airbus A380] dep SYD 1525 arr SIN 2140; SQ 328 dep SIN 2355, arr MAN 0645. In & around Manchester with Steve Archer, Tuesday 9 to Saturday 13 SEP.



• Week 2 Somerset: Hire car & drive to Somerset [probabaly take two days for the drive]; visit and stay at or near Dunster, Saturday 13 SEP to Thursday 18 SEP



• Week 3 London: Drive to London on Friday 19 SEP; stay one week in and around London, staying with Rachel & Kevin in S. Woodford 19 to 26 SEP . Catch up with John & Helen & Alex. Maybe see Auntie Gina. Meet up with Brenda Pavlou [Brenda Gladys Snusher b 1947, my first cousin once removed]



• Week 4 France: Go to France [Paris?] for four or five days. [Perhaps Friday 26 Sep to Wed 1 Oct]. Return to Manchester ready for departure Monday 6 OCT. Flights with Singapore Airlines SQ 327 dep MAN 0950, 06 OCT 08, arr SIN 0605, 07 OCT 08; then SQ 233 dep SIN 0700, arr SYD 1720. Arrive back in Sydney & then Canberra Tuesday 7 OCT.

PSD