Mel Brackstone Photography

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2010-10-27T11:16:00.000+10:00

Roadtrip cont....

2010-04-26T19:46:00.001+10:00

We left Narooma early, and dropped by Tilba Tilba, where Scott had hoped to see some nice woodworking bits and pieces. Sadly, we arrived too early, and nothing was open. After taking a walk up and down the street we jumped back into the car and headed south. Tilba Tilba had a large population of cats....

Leaving NSW (where all the flashing signs were telling us that there were double demerit points on offer) we entered Victoria with a hope that we'd make it to Bairnsdale without falling asleep. The signs on the side of the road kept telling us to take a snooze....seriously, they were MAKING us tired!

Point of interest, not only were we gypped by motel owners who told us they had wireless broadband, my mobile phone network was also very much missing in action for a good part of the way! Scott and I are both with the same network, and yet sometimes he had a service and I didn't, and vice versa....once again, thank goodness for maccas free wifi!

We eventually found a motel in Bairnsdale, which was also advertising wifi! We checked in, and took our computers up to the computer room, where they had told us we could log on....this time, they said the room was too small for TWO people, but we were lucky enough to be able to use the motel room across from the office for a short time, so we logged on, downloaded our email, and hightailed it back to the maccas nearby.

Parking was fun....backing into the carpark was the best way, for us....although next morning we had to wait till the lady with the trailer packed up and left....

From Bairnsdale we headed towards Melbourne, where we had planned on staying at the Hotel Windsor for a couple of nights...a little touch of luxury before the end of our trip together. The Hotel Windsor was everything we'd hoped for, and more. Wonderful room, bed, and service, we couldn't have asked for better.

The Roadtrip!

2010-04-24T16:20:00.023+10:00

Had to test out the new cars capabilities, so what better way than to drive it to Victoria and back! We left on Dec 28, taking the coast road...which was a BAD move! Everyone seemed to be on the coast road that day, so we hit peak hour traffic through some of the tiny towns along the way.

First night was spent in a flea pit outside Newcastle - Motto Farms Motel....the front door was rotting from the dripping water, there was a refrigerated truck parked outside with the compressor loudly running, and the bed was like a quicksand sump.....we couldn't leave fast enough. I do love Newy though, and will visit there as often as possible.

From there we drove down to meet up with AdrianaG! Lovely shopping for me, and also caught up with Cordelia and Alan Kwok, as well as his gorgeous lady Sam. Adriana and her family welcomed us into their home for the night, what a beautiful experience that was, especially considering to our previous night!

Our next night was Woollongong, Scott chose the motel closest to Clifton, so we could shoot at dawn without a long drive. This motel was very comfortable, sadly its corner position meant that the traffic light pedestrian warning sounds were a constant companion. We were lucky enough to catch up with the wonderful Juilee Pryor for morning tea! Great to meet up again!

New Years Eve and the next day were spent with the lovely TOTS and Adrian, with visits to the beach, the horses, and a couple of lovely sleep ins.

Then we started the road-trip proper....heading south to Narooma for our next night. Eco-Motel means mis-matched coloured towels and organic cleaning products, but the bed was large and fairly comfortable, and the position was quiet.

We started to see a pattern though, the motels seem to be happy to show off signs saying they provide wireless broadband, however none of these we found seemed to have strong enough signals for us to connect. Narooma people said we needed to sit outside the motel room, that didn't work, even sitting on the stairs directly outside the office didn't help!

Needless to say, I was not in touch with the net as often as I'd like throughout the trip!

2009-07-02T19:52:00.006+10:00

2007-10-10T08:24:00.004+10:00

Yay, started to set up my first photo book yesterday, and today it's all finished.

On Oct 29th Scott and I are back off to New Zealand, as a 25th wedding anniversary present to ourselves. I suggested we take a weekend in Sydney, Scott decided NZ was a better option...who am I to argue!!!

Don't forget to take a look through my latest Redbubble offerings, there's quite a bit of new stuff up there now!

Thanks all for reading!!

Mel

2007-05-25T12:22:00.002+10:00

Orchard near Cromwell
Blue Pool at Bathans
Glacier Ice - Franz Joseph

Kayaks on Doubtful Sound
Shed near Queenstown - Infrared
Observatory on top of the hill behind Lake Tekapo - Infrared
Mount Aspiring Station - Infrared
Shotover Canyon - Infrared
Bridge over the Hooker River - Mount Sefton in the background

2007-05-20T08:17:00.003+10:00

My father died on Friday night, around the time I was thinking of emailing my brother in Moscow to warn him that Dad's time was close. I decided to not email, but ended up having to find his number on Saturday morning to ring instead. My father refused sustenance and medical intervention for the last two weeks of his struggle with lung cancer, so that he could stay in his own home, in his own bed. Mum did what she could to make him comfortable, and once he knew she was safely by his side, he drifted away from us. His birthday was April 25th, he was 83. Love you Dad, you're not suffering now.

2007-05-14T12:52:00.003+10:00

I've joined the community of Red Bubble, run from here in Australia, in an attempt to sell my photos. Feel free to look through my portfolio, and order what you want! There's links to get to the other artists on Red Bubble too. There's so much to see and do on this site you could be lost for awhile!! Hope you enjoy! This is an ice cave we saw on our heli-hike on Franz Joseph glacier, in New Zealand

The Red Bubble!

2007-05-10T17:12:00.003+10:00

Kingston Flyer
Glenorchy beach
Glenorchy shadows
The Beech forest at the headwaters of Lake Wakatipu
Water movement over the rocks
Lake Pukaki

2007-05-06T11:14:00.003+10:00

Beech forest in late afternoon sunlight
Doubtful Sound patterns
Beech forest and river at the head of Lake Wakatipu
Arrowtown Arcade

2007-05-04T22:25:00.003+10:00

Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo
Lake Wanaka
Lookout at Lake Pukaki
Cromwell orchard - lensbaby

Shadow play - lensbaby

More shots from New Zealand

2007-05-02T07:53:00.003+10:00

Lensbaby shot of some leaves.
Doubtful Sound, Fjordland, NZ
The improbably named Lollycake beach, mainland NZ.

Godzone tour

2007-05-01T12:58:00.002+10:00

Sunset over the Remarkables, Queenstown
Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown
Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown
Moeraki boulders, Otago province
Lake Tekapo at sunset.
Gondola at Mount Pleasant, overlooking Christchurch.
Church of the Good Shepherd, at Lake Tekapo
Dunedin Station, Dunedin
Clyde River, Southland
Christchurch cathedral
View over the lake looking towards Mount Cook. Nice place for a picnic
The walk into Hooker glacier allowed this beautiful view.
Beautiful Lake Wanaka, and the fantastic autumn colours you can find there