Do you want to meet the snubbies?

It’s no secret that the whale watching season buzz has commenced, as they travel between their feeding grounds of Antarctica and the warmer waters of Australia.

But in Broome, there is an all-year round abundance of wildlife, with one very unique and not so well-known mammal often taking centre stage.

Earlier this month, I was able to tick a special item off my ‘Broome List’ with an afternoon Eco Cruise to see the Snubfin dolphins of Roebuck Bay. I chose a Broome Whale Watching cruise for a few reasons.

Why Broome Whale Watching?

This local company has a strong focus on the ‘eco’ part of the cruise. Their commitment to keeping plastics out of the ocean by not using any single-use plastics in their food and beverage services was a fundamental part of their ethos and was supported by their on-board actions.

At the same time, it was also a great opportunity to ‘test the waters’ and try out the company for a future whale watching tour. I will be first in line when the whales arrive in Broome.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Going…going…gone

The joy of wildlife

Snubfin dolphins were first recognised as a new species only in 2005. They have a blunt rounded head, no beak and a small dorsal fin with a fin that is blunt and rounded.

Our cruise was abundant with marine life from the start, in fact the first part of the cruise was an all-sides viewing of dolphins (snubfin and bottlenose), 2 types of turtles and a hammerhead shark as well as various other bird and fish.

All you have to do is try and take a good photo. Easy. Photographing dolphins is a challenge which I am still working on, but I must admit the slower moving snubfins provided some exciting and fun opportunities to observe and capture a few images.

Sunset over Roebuck Bay

Broome is known for its sunsets and the cruise finished with a relaxed spin around the bay, followed by a hint of a tune as the sun set over the red pindan cliffs. As soon as it finished, I wanted to go out again. A good sign of a great experience.

To find out more about Broome Whale Watching, visit their website https://broomewhalewatching.com.au/

The ‘Broome List’

Before heading to my next destination to find work again, I plan to experience Broome to the fullest, for the next 5 months. I consider myself very lucky to have the opportunity to do this. I find myself as a strange combination of a traveller, with some local knowledge and that most definitely inspires me to make the absolute most out of this time. I’ve been doing a lot of research into different things to do and see – there are plenty of day-to-day experiences that I will be doing regularly – walking on Cable Beach, coffee at the General Store, visiting the Mango Place for a mango smoothie, watching the tides change at Streeters Jetty. That and enjoying the weather, the pool and the laid back lifestyle that makes me feel like I am on holiday..(well sort of)..

I’m all about balance. I am a Libran. I do it badly, but I strive for it always in my life, so the next 5 months will be trying to achieve some balance between work, future work and experiences. That’s the hard bit. The easier bit for me though, is coming up with my list of the 12 things on my Broome List.

I have prepared my list. 10 are brand new experiences and 2 are repeats from previous visits, that I would love to do again. There is one spot that is ‘flexible’ because I may not be able to financially achieve the option I have chosen for this spot. So here is a question for my readers. Do you have an item for me to add to the list as Number 12 – something the arm-chair readers would like to see – a view, a challenge or an experience? Add them to the comments if you do.

Pleasingly, I have ticked off 2 items already in May, so you will hear about them very soon in upcoming May blog posts. The rest I will have to start planning on when to do them and I will then reveal them in the blog over the next few months. Can’t wait!

Exploring Canberra in Spring

Crisp spring days, Informative locations and guides, wide open spaces and traffic paced down, for a relaxing break, my recent family holiday in Canberra provided an opportunity to unwind, take in the sights with a great selection of places to visit, without the hustle and bustle of the larger cities.

My favourite Canberra experiences

Parliament House
It seemed like a must see. Walking the halls of Parliament exploring the architecture, art and passing by the PM. Watching the theatrics and process of Question time as the parties go head-to-head on topical issues was actually quite an interesting afternoon.

DSC04148_ParliamentHouse — Heading down the steps of Parliament, just after a sighting of the PM on the other side

Canberra Lakes
We were lucky enough to have a permanent lake view of Lake Ginninderra from our Airbnb apartment, which had a lakeside walk, some restaurants and a park to enjoy.

The artificial lake, Lake Burley Griffin in the centre of Canberra was hard to miss, whether driving past on the way to an attraction, or walking through Commonwealth Park to its shores and the Captain Cook Memorial fountain and Robert Menzies walk.

P9110464_Lake BG.jpg

Lake Burley Griffin – Captain Cook Memorial Jet

The National Arboretum

The Arboretum was re-established and opened in 2013 after the site, which was mostly pine plantations previously, was destroyed by bushfires in 2003.

In addition to the Village Centre which houses information, a café and a shop, the Aboretum has a number of walks and wide open spaces to explore including a regional garden and an interesting collection of Bonsai and Penjing. A great place to walk, relax and unwind.

And if you are there on a Sunday…

If you are staying in Canberra on a Sunday, you really cannot go past the fantastic Old Bus Depot market. Locally produced and sold wares, spread out of two floors and washed down with coffee and the most delectable jam filled donuts. Open from 10am – 4pm every Sunday.

We stayed in a lovely Airbnb apartment in the up and coming suburb of Belconnen and used access to a rental car and Uber to get around and see the city.

Writing underway…month 1

I started my course with the Writer’s Studio – 10 month novel and script, at the beginning of the month and as I go into Week 4, its amazing how quickly you can make something a habit. I have not been able to allocate a single time of the day to write, but I have been able to allocate time on most days, either during a lunch-break or after work in my hour allocated TV free time.

I have just been working through the exercises and trying to be as open and unrestricted with my writing as I can. I get feedback from my tutor regularly, and so far she hasn’t said “Don’t give up your day-job” so I will take that as a positive (but seriously, the regular feedback and validation you are heading in the right direction is fantastic for me).

Today I did a few extra exercises to get a jump on this week’s tasks and for the first time I stopped in my tracks to think about whether I was getting too bogged down with a particular idea and maybe need to widen my thinking a bit more. I guess the idea is working for me so worth pursuing, but it was interesting the shift and the questioning that pops in every now and then. We have and are mainly dealing with structure this month, so haven’t started actually crafting the first draft, but it is going really well and I am enjoying the idea generation and the learnings that are coming out each week.

Looking forward to month two!

Telling a story everyday

Only a few weeks in and it feels like 2017 is going to be a busy year. I am planning three ‘storytelling’ journeys. The first one is paid, my role in a NSW State Government Agency in the Digital Communications area. As well as strategy and technology, storytelling is a key part of any project that involves communication I find. I love the variety, the research and the idea generation process that this contract offers.

The other two are personal projects I will be working on this year involving writing and photography. Not sure why I have taken on two projects, but they are both things I have been wanting to progress for a while and 2017 seems like a good time to start to develop them – well get started anyway. I’ll talk more about them both in the coming months as things progress.

My aim at the moment is to allocate the precious time that I need to be able to work on them, one day at a time – bit by bit. Sometimes I wonder if there are too many stories and ideas in my head. I am also aware that to keep up with everything I also need to have a healthy and active lifestyle and get plenty of vitamin B and vitamin ‘caffeine’.

As an organiser born or organisers, I am going to set-myself a task for each week and then check in on my progress, challenges or stories.

This week my task is to come up with a plan for increasing my reading and also allocate myself some of the recommended DVDs to watch to assist with the writing course. They say to be a good writer you need to read lots and write every day. I get started on this today.

My first read will be a familiar author, and also one from our suggested reading list – Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich. This seemed to be one of my more successful genre’s in my most recent course from the feedback and I enjoy reading this type of writing, witty, on the edge of comedy but a bit of adventure and romance thrown into the mix.

I have a few DVDs from the library over the weekend and also checked out desks and chairs to get the ‘writing desk’ set-up at home by the time my writing course commenced in March. Getting organised!

My photography Project for 2017

Each day spent near the ocean, involves a new motion, colour, shade and perspective of the day . The ebb and flow of life is mirrored by the waves, as they lap, race, flatten or charge. Some days they lay like a hung-over blanket, motionless, calm and drinking in the sun for life.

On another day, the wind whips up their passion and energy and the waves crash against the foreshore or the land, vying for attention and urging action and response.

My 2017 wave project, titled Ebb and Flow will see me explore the world of waves in even more detail than before. Processing some images from my road-trip last year and creating new images at the waters edge will be my focus each month , and each month I will feature a new image on my blog.

I will also be creating myself, for daily inspiration, a ‘wave wonder catalogue’ my internal resource of awesome photographers, influenced and challenged by the ocean and the waves. If you have any personal favourites to share, drop them in the comment sections and I will add them to the list 🙂

I will also be selecting one favourite image from the year and printing, framing and donating it to a selected charity in time for christmas. More to come on that later.

But for now, settle in and enjoy the amazing ocean with me in 2017!!

New month, new state of mind

The spectacular clifftop scenery continued as we made our way down the Eyre Peninsular with a few days to explore the coast and dunes at Coffin Bay a highlight. There are many tracks and locations missed due to challenging weather….still! We then travelled onto Adelaide for a 4 night stay and to complete the first loop of the trip!. We left Adelaide nearly 6 months ago now on this amazing adventure. After catchup with family, a movie night and a bit of shopping in the city centre while Priscilla got serviced, we then moved onto the beachside town of Robe for a few nights. More coast this time with a bit of walking and a few more waves on a travel day to Beachport. Lovely spot and nice and quiet.

We then headed to Victoria, crossing the border and spending a few nights in Port Fairy. Had a morning exploring Griffiths Island and the town centre before the rains returned for a dousing.

Yesterday we finally reached the Great Ocean Road and have visited a number of spots on the tourist trail including the 12 Apostles, very iconic landmark. Some amazing coastal scenery, but a bit overrun with tourists so not always ideal for ease of photographing (unless you have a selfie stick)..Some amazing stormy skies today, including a fabulous sunset sky from our accommodation as well.

With only a few weeks remaining of this big adventure, thoughts are now turning to the next chapter. Back in Sydney, finding work, place to live and then recommencing the savings so that the second part of the lap around the country can be completed. But before that, I get to spend my birthday travelling the Great Ocean Road and we have a couple more stops to enjoy that I will feature soon ☺

Nullarbor

After 3 nights exploring the beautiful beaches of Esperance, we have just recently completed the drive across the Nullarbor to reach South Australia. We broke the trip up with 5 night stays including 2 farm stays and a couple of roadhouses. We had a flat battery, which luckily happened at a morning tea stop at a roadhouse a power blackout for about 24 hours at Coorabie due to a light plane taking ut the powelines (10 passengers no injuries luckily). We also spent some time exploring the Bunda Cliffs and Head of the Bight along the Great Australian Bght. Amazing scenery, varied landscapes during each new day of driving and I was definitely in my element on the clifftops viewing whales and shooting waves! We have spent some time now in Streaky Bay (a second 30 hour blackout due to weather, and currenty Coffin Bay and the coastline has amazed and inspired me. Having lived in South Australia much of my life, there are some new photographic gems that have now been discovered and I definitely want to revisit the Eyre Peninsular with the camera again. We have continued to get lots of rain, with a spattering of perfect Spring sunny days, just to keep us on our toes. Next stop will be Adelaide in a few days time which will complete the first loop of the trip that we started when we left for the Fleurieu Peninsular on 31st March! Wow!!

Windmills have featured quite a lot, this was Esperance

Crossing from West to East

We have had a lot of rain in the South West part of the Western Australia mixed in with some lovely sunny winters days. Bit of a mixed bag you could say. We have based ourselves in 5 main towns along the way, Busselton which had some great coastal scenery and also included some time in Margaret River reigion with a day of tastings, Augusta which was coastal and river and we were right at the beach, Pemberton for forests and lakes, Albany for more great coast and beaches and now Esperance.

In the South West we have been exploring the coastline mainly, with a bit of forests thrown in at a place called Quinninump where we had a lovely place by the lake for 2 nights. Two misty morning on the lake were magic. Another highlight was Little Beach in Albany which had been recommended and didn’t dissapoint, we had some stormy skies as well which made for great photos and I added a few to my waves set, but I got a little drenched on the exploration.

We arrived in Esperence yesterday and hoping to do a bit more exploring of beaches here and also get ready for the next part of the adventure, the Nullarbor!!

Obsessed with waves

The moody skies wet and rainy days and high winds of the last few weeks have had one positive, they have fed my ever growing wave obsession. I love spending time at the shore or from the nearest cliff capturing the ebb and flow, the twists and twirls and the quest for the perfect wave curl. Here are a few of my recent efforts. I feel the call of the ocean again though..better wait for the rain and hail to stop first!