I’ve taken my inspiration for this Sunday Stills challenge (Backs of Things) from the sea. Come to think of it, it’s remarkable that I’ve been doing this blog for five weeks and not yet inflicted any tall ship sailing photos on the unsuspecting denizens of WordPress!
The back of the sails on the foremast, and the back of a bosun’s mate. (Tenacious, the Atlantic Ocean, 2006)
The back of the masts, the back of the yards, and the backs of the crew who are harbour-stowing the main course. (Lord Nelson, the Indian Ocean, 2013)
About these ships:UK-based Jubilee Sailing Trust owns and operates SV Tenacious and STS Lord Nelson. They are the world’s only tall ships designed to be sailed by a crew of mixed physical ability. If you live in Australia, New Zealand or Halifax (Canada), you can catch Lord Nelson on her epic round-the-world voyage. Click here for dates and locations.
This post is my first entry in Cee’s Which Way Challenge — and, sneakily, it’s also my second entry in Travel Photos Monday. Two challenges for the price of one! All the photos are of signposts I came across while ‘rambling’ — a delightful English word for putting on walking boots and getting close to nature.
The Cotswold Way: quintessential English countryside.
Coming down from Beachy Head, on the way back to Eastbourne in the distance.
The ‘Lost’ Gardens of Heligan: not so lost any more!
A lock near Stratford-upon-Avon. I was living in London at the time, and the train took a lot less than the 85 hours this sign says it would take by canal boat!
Shades of Blue, I muttered. Blue sky, blue sea … no, something new, I thought. But what else is blue??? Yes, dear reader, I admit it, I sought inspiration in the demon drink. And when I opened the cupboard, I saw the purest, cleanest Shade of Blue.
Untouched, unedited, unPhotoshopped: lens against the bottle, and snap. Absolutely.
Well, that takes care of that, I thought! But I was heading out, and it was cold,
so I reached for my scarf — and noticed those gorgeous swirling Shades of Blue.
Thanks again to Noel for inviting me to participate in Travel Photo Mondays. My photo blog has been up for only a few weeks, so I have no travel-related posts yet – but I certainly have no shortage of travel-related photos, and I’m always glad to share them! (Just ask my long-suffering family and friends.) Here are some images from a trip to Kochi (Cochin) and Kerala, India, in April this year.
Woman washing clothes in a stream, Kerala backwaters
Man fishing from the bank, Kerala backwaters
Inside a factory where they turn clam shells into powered lime (by hand), Kerala backwaters
The window of a spice shop, Kochi
Men hauling in nets on a fishing vessel, Kochi
Goddess and oil lamps, Ginger House, Kochi
This poem is an installation left from the Kochi Muziris Biennale 2012, on a former warehouse in Kochi
I arrived in Kochi by sea, on a tall ship called Lord Nelson. We had sailed from Durban in South Africa,
a voyage of seven weeks through both storm and calm. As we passed this building,
I was moved by the sentiments of journey, loss and separation expressed in these few words.
Chinese fishing nets, Kochi
The waterway from the Laccadive Sea into Vembanad Lake,
around which Kochi clusters, is lined with these Chinese fishing nets, simple yet ingenious.
A net is lowered into the water and lifted again by a series of weights and levers.
I have gone for a “spirit, not rule” interpretation of this week’s challenge. It is, literally, “one shot, two ways”: one the completely untouched original, which is a colour, landscape orientation; the other a black and white, cropped, portrait version of the same file, altered in Photoshop.
The original: a group of people looking at something, two strange red pyramids, a lot of wood. Busy! Confusing!
The altered: A change of orientation, a deletion of the excess people, the loss of colour — and now the image has (I hope!) a sense of mystery: Where is the solitary woman going? Why are we spying on her through a broken piece of board? All heightened by the focus being on the wood grains of the upper board.
Note: if you have seen my post Echoes of Industry, you’ll recognise the black and white image. The photograph was taken at the Underbelly Arts Festival, Cockatoo Island, Sydney. What the people are looking at is a long table with sculptures made from candies!
This, my friends, is a glorious day. A flawless blue-sky day, with warm gentle breezes and temperatures of 23deg Celsius (73 deg Farenheit). A day to revel in! I can hear you Northern Hemisphere dwellers muttering, “In August? Big deal.” But let me remind you that I live in Sydney (the one in Australia), where it is deepest, darkest winter right now. Three days ago, the temperature didn’t get above 12deg C (54deg F) and it rained for more than 24 hours straight. But today … ah, today is the sort of day that makes people line up to take out Australian citizenship. And it’s the weekend!
So, come walk with me, along the coast from Coogee to Maroubra.
Coogee is blessed with three rockpools, swimming pools fed by the sea and carved from the natural sandstone that forms the cliffs along this coastline.
Keep an eye on the waves if you don’t want to get drenched!
Succulents with bright flowers grow along these inhospitable cliff-side paths.
Look back on our path: Coogee Beach in the distance and, below us, the third of Coogee’s rockpools.
Look down to the sea, and you may spot cormorants basking in the sun.
Look to the side, where cactus spines glow, backlit by the sun.
Another rockpool, just right for dogs.
Water pours from the top of the cliff.
If you know what these crazy plants are called, please leave a comment and tell me!
The perfect balcony for a watery Juliet. Though Romeo would have to be a very good swimmer!
A tantalising glimpse into a hidden world.
At Lurline Bay, let’s rest a while on the sun-warmed rocks and watch the waves.
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Wind and water turn sandstone into sculpture.
Our path beckons.
Not far from the end of our walk, and this is the perfect spot for a swim. Be warned, though: that water is cold!
Our walk ends at Maroubra Beach, where children have found a new use for a Rubik’s cube.
If you like this post, you may want to check out a similar post about Bronte Beach in winter.
