Waterfalls and Striped Possums

Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, 11 August 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

In our third full day in Atherton Tablelands, we first headed off to Mount Hypipamee National Park. Here we are walking the Dinner Falls circuit.

Falls on Barron River near Dinner Falls.

Dinner Falls.

Next we walked on to the Mount Hypipamee Crater.

This is of course a volcanic crater.

From the viewing platform, there is a drop of 130 metres to the lake which is then a further 73 metres deep. It’s a long way down.

I was intrigued by the patterns on the surface of the lake.

These are partly natural and partly created by people who frequently throw rocks down into the lake. (Personally, I’d prefer it just to be natural).

Panoramic view.

After that, I decided to head off to Zillie Falls again. I had carelessly exposed my images there at high ISO the previous day so thought to try again. This image is from a viewpoint on the way.

Zillzie Falls.

In the late afternoon I was shooting into the light and I didn’t bracket enough, so there is no detail in the sky.

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I decided to head back via the bird hide at Hastie’s Swamp. That meant a long trip on the back roads, late in the afternoon. I can’t show you much of what we saw because often the light was fleeting and the narrow winding roads often meant nowhere to pull over.

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At Hastie’s Swamp I took some more photographs of the plumed whistling-ducks in challenging low light conditions of the late afternoon.

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This is the opposite shore, which about 200 metres away.

Back with the night life where we were staying, the sugar gliders were there initially but when one or two much larger striped possums turned up, they made themselves scarce.

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Here you can see the elongated fourth finger with a long hooked nail that it uses to extract insects and caterpillars from bark and cracks. In this it is similar to the very weird Aye-Aye from Madagascar. They are not related though. The Aye-Aye is a lemur and a very primitive primate whereas the striped possum is a marsupial found mainly in New Guinea and West Irian but also in coastal North Queensland.

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Rainforest and Sugar Gliders

Nov6

Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, 9 August 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

On our second full day in the Atherton Tablelands, we first headed to Malanda, which was not far. We discovered a wonderful coffee bar near the Visitors’ Centre with great coffee and perhaps the best muffins I have encountered. The owner told us he is a chef and made the muffins himself, whereas most places purchase premade cheap frozen muffins, with a corresponding cost in taste. Creeping Americanisation perhaps.

Krefft’s turtle.

We walked several trails in Malanda Falls Conservation Park on both sides of the road. We were hoping to encounter a tree kangaroo in one of a number of locations in the Atherton Tablelands but this was not to happen. However, there was lots more to see.

There were a number of these turtles swimming round near the bank at a particular location in the North Johnstone River.

I think there may have been a description of this symbiotic flowering plant in the Visitors’ Centre but I did not record it so I can’t tell you what it is.

Grey-headed Robin (Heteromyias cinereifrons).

North Johnstone River.

Funghi by the path.

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Red-legged pademelon (Thylogale stigmatica) moving quickly through the bush.

Funghi by the Path.

Millaa Millaa Falls.

Next we visited the waterfall circuit at Millaa Millaa.

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Zillie Falls.

With a bit of a scramble, I found a good location for the Zillie Falls and also took some studies of water and rocks.

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Ellinjaa Falls.

I also had in mind to visit Crawford’s Lookout, North Johnston Lookout Track, Mamu Tropical Skywalk, Innisfail and Babinda Boulders but we would have needed an extra day for that.

Returning to our accomodation at Chambers Wildlife Rainforest Lodges, we were able to experience nightime observations of sugar gliders (petaurus breviceps longicaudatus).

A Striped possum (Dactylopsila trivirgata) briefly appeared.

And then it was back to the sugar gliders again, feeding on the sap of a tree.

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Herberton and Tully Gorge

Oct30

Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, 7 to 8 August 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

Cairns/ Atherton Tablelands Road.

This is a view from the road from Cairns to Atherton Tablelands. I posted an infrared view from the same spot in the previous post.

Curtain Fig Tree.

In the previous infrared post we saw images of the Cathedral Fig Tree. This is a different one, close to Yungaburra where we stayed on the first night. the Curtain Fig Tree.

This tree started out as a seed dropped in the branches of a host tree, presumably excreted by a bird. Over time, the fig strangled the host, causing it to fall over against another tree and the fig roots reached to the ground, creating the curtain you see.

Over more time, the host rotted away, leaving just the fig tree. It is nearly fifty metres tall and you can get a sense of the height of the roots from the people on the platform near ground level at lower right. It is believed to be around five hundred years old.

On our way south, we dropped into the Hastie’s Swamp Bird Hide. These are plumed whistling-ducks, in the reeds near the shore.

Great Egret, in non-breeding plumage.

We next spent a few hours at Herberton. This is a grevillea in flower at the side of the path..

One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Herberton was the graveyard of old cars, which we will see more of in a future infrared post. The is a 1942 UK Austin, ex Forestry Department.

Time takes its toll.

This small bird is a Chowchilla, the southern subspecies orthonyx melasmenus with a longer beak.

Dodge emblem. The text says Dodge Brothers and is probably from the 1930s.

1936 Pontiac Flat head 6.

I don’t think this one would make a good getaway car, given that it has wooden stumps instead of rear wheels.

1934 Buick Straight 8.

The cornering ability of this one is probably suspect.

No identification for this one.

Since it has no wheels, maybe it was intended to fly.

Perhaps the front of an engine housing.

Gone full circle.

Different view of the same grevillea. I realised my shutter speed had only been 1/10 sec so retook it, but need not have worried due to image stabilisation on the lens.

Inside Elderslie House, home of J.Newell, Founder of Herberton.

Herberton was established by John Newell in 1880 for tin mining. In late 1880 it had a population of 300 males and 27 females. The Historic village opened in 1973, on the edge of the actual town of Herberton. It was created by Harry Skennar and includes buildings and artefacts from nearby and further afield. There are probably forty or fifty buildings including historic shops.

Coach House.

Day’s Garage.

The Dispensary or Chemist.

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Dispensary window ledge.

Driving on further south towards Tully Gorge, we visited Big Millstream Falls near Ravenshoe.

Tully Gorge Lookout.

That bare patch in the lower mid right is where Tully Falls was when it was the largest waterfall in Queensland. The free flow of the Tully River was stopped in 1960 by the construction of the Koombooloomba Dam, so now the falls only flow during a big wet season. The road to Tully Gorge Lookout has been sealed for only a couple of years.

A stream flowing by the path on the walk down to the lower viewpoint.

Cliffs and trees from the lower viewpoint.

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A closer view of the Tully River above where the falls used to be and might be again from time to time.

Looking down also at the Tully River, downstream of the falls, now only occasionally fed by the waterfall.

Canberra to Yungaburra (IR)

Oct23

Canberra ACT to Yungaburra Queensland via Cairns, 7 August 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

These images from a plane journey from Canberra to Cairns and then by road from Cairns to Yungaburra in the Athertion Tablelands.

These are all infrared images. Since my previous post was about processing IR images in Capture One and I also mentioned processing in Lightroom and Photoshop, I indicate how I processed each image. PS is Photoshop, with modifications before and after in Lightroom, LR is Lightroom and C1 is Capture One. Not that that really tells you much except that you can get a whole range of results from any method.

10 mins from Canberra. Not clear exactly where. (PS)

I have been producing colour infrared images on and off since the early 1980s, which of course was at that time on film (and printing Cibachrome). I like the wild range of possibilities from the radical to the subtle. There are many other approaches to infrared images and I do not expect mine to be to everyone’s taste.

However, I showed these images to a visiting friend on my large computer monitor and he exclaimed “These are paintings!” and compared this image and two later from the Cairns/ Atherton Road to images by Sydney Nolan from the Red Desert series. Not something I had considered or was even aware of.

Make of these what you will. I make no claims and have no expectations. They are for me a creative challenge and a different world.

Lake Dalrymple below (west of Mackay, Queensland). Lake Upstart National Park in far distance. (LR)

Everything looks so different from the air.

Magnetic Island and Cape Cleveland. (LR)

Antivaxxers and Libertarians tell us you can’t believe any media, government or institution. Isn’t it a terrible thing that no-one tells us about the nuclear accidents that boil the land and turn the seas red.

Cape Pallarenda and Magnetic Island. (PS)

Day and night happen at the same time, as the sun turns into a moon.

Palm Islands (Esk Island, Brisk Island, Eclipse Reef, Great Palm Island). (LR)

It looks real but is it really?

Hinchinbrook Island (foreground) and Brook Islands. (LR)

The pastel shades of the released imagination.

Gould Island. Garden reef in front. (PS)

If I’d taken video footage from the air I could have made a blue movie.

Tull River. South Mission Beach in the distance. (LR)

The classic reddish colours of a Queensland autumn (though it’s actually winter).

Innisfail and Johnstone River. (LR)

As autumn fades, so do the colours.

Looking past Mulgrave River, Malbon Thompson Forest Reserve and Grey Peaks National Park to a distant view of Cape Grafton, Fitzroy Island and beyond. (LR)

We are getting closer to the tropics. You know the camera never lies so this is realistic colour.

Probably East Feluga/ Friday Pocket area. (LR)

And so is this. It’s not that I am wearing rose tinted glasses, the whole world has suddenly changed.

I think Maria Creek in the foreground; Barnard Island off the coast; Barrier Reef in the background. (PS)

The landscape is trying to turn into the Gambian flag. Perhaps we’re about to be invaded.

Just before landing at Cairns Airport. (PS)

Back to normal reality.

View from Cairns/ Atherton Tableland Road. (C1)

A desert landscape, maybe?

Cathedral Fig Tree (C1)

Needing some respite, I stopped for a while at the ancient Forest of Fangorn, not far from the Misty Mountains.

Cathedral Fig Tree (C1)

The weather was changing minute by minute.

Cathedral Fig Tree (C1).

The trees had much to say.

Cathedral Fig Tree (C1).

And dreams escaped to the sky.

Our welcoming committee to the Atherton Tablelands (C1).

And then our dreams were gathered up and returned to us by the Guardians of The Ether.

Processing Infrared Images in Capture One

Oct19

Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

Introduction

Capture One is generally thought to not be a very capable infrared editor though as I will show, this is not the case. I will also briefly touch on processing in Photoshop and Lightroom.

This is a technical post that is mainly of interest to those shooting infrared, or contemplating doing so, and also processing in Capture One, or contemplating doing so. Others might skim down to see the processes of image transformation without bothering to contemplate the details of how it is done.

I have more information on what infrared is all about in my previous post Introduction to Infrared Photography. Processing is particularly important to most forms of digital infrared photography, particularly where you are starting with a colour image.

Taking Infrared Images

The wavelength of visible light ranges from 400 nanomentres (nm) (violet) to 750 nm (red). At less than 400nm there is ultraviolet light and at more than 750nm there is infrared, neither of which we can see. Digital cameras however, record colours from around 350nm to 1,000nm, more than we can see, and usually have “hot mirror filters” to block UV and IR light in the interests of recording more accurate colours.

You can take infrared images using either a filter over the lens or a converted camera in which a filter allowing infrared light to pass replaces the hot pass filter. I have a camera with a 560nm conversion, which allows bright colours and includes both visible light and infrared. The most common filter (and maybe conversion) is 720nm which admits less visible light and more infrared and has reduced colours. An 800nm filter or conversion is infrared only and produces a black and white image only.

An image from an 800nm filter may require little processing. For lower-nm filters, it is possible to use a custom white balance and maybe be satisfied with that, though much more is possible. I aim to transfer the image in post-processing so I don’t bother with a custom white balance and to aid that process I also shoot RAW.

Processing in Photoshop and Lightroom

A few years ago, Photoshop was the primary method of post-processing (and probably still is for most people). A key part of this was channel swapping, for example, swapping red and blue channels to get blue skies. You might also make other adjustments using layers for hue/saturation, black and white (with luminosity blending) and selective colour, and even get really complex with luminosity masking or the Orton Effect.

Using Lightroom for infrared images required generating and using a camera profile to extend the range of colours Lightroom sees. If processing in Photoshop, I would first make adjustments in Lightroom including changing the colour balance to maximise separation of colours. and might also make other adjustments including in the calibration tab and curves adjustments by colour channel. Only then would I launch to Photoshop from Lightroom. What you got your starting image to look like would affect the range of possibilities in Photoshop.

A year or two ago, Lightroom introduced Profiles and it became possible to export LUTs from Photoshop to become channel swapping profiles in Lightroom. So it is now possible to do your processing in Lightroom, though there is more capability in Photoshop. Rob Shea provides information on how to make your own Lightroom channel-swapping profiles or buy some from him.

Processing in Capture One

Unlike Lightroom, Capture One already has a full range of available colours for infrared processing without the need for a custom camera profile. However, it been seen as a not-so capable processor for infrared. Not so, as I will show you….

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This is how you might start out, an uncorrected image out of the camera (appearance will vary according to infrared filter).

This is what it looks like after moving sliders for colour temperature and tint to maximise colour separation, and after clicking Auto Adjust for levels.

(Click on images if you need to see more detail).

I have created several Editor presets in the colour editor, using a method as shown in this article. To create a red/blue colour swap preset, you make a selection for the red sector of the colour wheel. Then you change the hue four times by -30° for a total change of -30° (out of 360). That’s for the red shift. For the blue shift, you select an appropriate blue segment and move it four times by 30° to shift it to red. Then you save it as a custom preset. Once you have the custom preset, you can select it for an instant effect.

The red/blue colour swap works OK for this image. The equivalent of a Photoshop channel swap requires combining the red/blue colour swap with a cyan/yellow colour swap. These Color Editor presets also work on layers so it is possible to have different colour swaps or channel swaps on different layers and combine them using layer opacity.

The easiest way to create such custom presets is off an image of a photographic colour wheel. You use the colour picker tool in the Colour Editor (tiny yellow tool on the black background to bottom right of the destination colour wheel), adjust hue, unclick, reclick and repeat. Then you can see the colours change as you go. Its’s best to have only one colour change selected at a time or the results can get confusing.

I had to adjust the orientation of my colour editor segments a bit due to colour inaccuracy in the image I was using. Red and cyan should align around the horizontal axis, and the other coloujrs around the vertical axis.

So this is what I get after next clicking on my red blue swap preset in the Advanced tab of my Colour Editor.

Now the next thing is I want to change the yellow-green colour in the landscape. I could use the incremental change method as above but there’s an easier way.

Now we go to the Skin Tone tab of the Colour Editor. Use the picker to select the colour you want, in this case the foliage of the landscape. Adjust this if required. In the menu for the Colour Editor, select Create Masked layer from Selection. That creates a new layer with the foliage part of the landscape selected.

Now in the new layer just created, we go to the Skin Tone pane in the Colour Editor again. (We are going to change the “skin tone” of the foliage). The critical thing here is to have the Hue Uniformity slider all the way to the right, as shown. Then use the picker to select the desired colour again (in this case, the landscape foliage). Next, drag the selected segment in the colour wheel around to expand it from say 20° or 30° to nearly 360°. There’s a small handle, opposite the unselected segment and in this case at the bottom-left of the colour wheel. You can grab this and rotate the colour wheel, changing the colour to whatever you want. Since we are on a layer where only the foliage is selected, only that colour changes.

Note: Sometimes the mask on the new layer will have more than you want selected. If so, you may be able to erase the unwanted parts of the mask. If that doesn’t work, instead create a new filled layer and use the iterative hue-shift approach on the Advanced tab of the Colour Editor.

Now we have the landscape foliage colour changed.

The last thing I wanted to do was to change the colour of the foreground foliage of the small trees against the sky. I created another layer, copied the mask from the initial layer, erased all of the mask except for the small trees and then changed the colour. There were a number of ways I could have done this and I just used colour balance.

So this was the final image, also cropped a little further. I may have also made some other minor adjustments not specific to infrared.

There are many styles of infrared photography and if you are using a different filter or conversion to me, your range of possibilities may be quite different. I could also have processed this image in Capture One for quite different results.

I have related a few techniques here that may be useful for people using Capture One to interpret in their own way. Most people opt for a limited range of colours and perhaps minimal processing. All approaches are valid; it’s only what you end up with that counts no matter how much or little effort you put into it.

The next post will include twenty infrared images with a wide range of very different interpretations. They include the image from this post and are variously processed in Photoshop, Lightroom and Capture One.

Monochromes from Chania and Rethymnon

Oct16

Crete, Greece, 12 October 2018.

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Links go to colour posts (with information and historical context). If an image does not have a link, the preceding one applies.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size, if you are on a PC or tablet at least.)

Looking across Chania Harbour.

Chania Harbourside.

Giali Tzami (Mosque of the Seaside).

Street musicians.

Elegant harbour-side transport, with a female driver aged maybe eight.

Chania lighthouse.

Near our lodging on the first night.

On the Streets of Chania.

Main hall, Archaeological museum of Chania.

Archaeological Museum of Chania.

Roman mosaic featuring Dionysus and Ariadne.

The mosaic further on in the main hall.

Remains of a Venetian lion.

The Presentation of the Virgin Mary Holy Metropolitan Church.

Streetscape with cat.

On the Streets of Chania.

No. 27.

The lock of a door.

On the street.

Old door.

Passing by an old façade.

Ottoman Mosque of the Sultan Ibrahim Han, formerly the Catholic Cathedral of St Nicholas.

Rethymnon Fortezza.

Councillor’s residence, possible mausoleum and Mosque of the Sultan Ibrahim Han.

The square openings in the walls were presumably emplacements for cannon.

Cannons not currently in use.

The remains of a series of food storerooms and water cisterns.

Ottoman era. I suspect these are tombstones.

The old Venetian harbour and lighthouse.

Monochromes from Western Crete

Oct9

Crete, Greece, 12 October 2018.

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Links go to colour posts (with information and historical context). If an image does not have a link, the preceding one applies.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size, if you are on a PC or tablet at least.)

An olive tree, 2,000 years old.

Gortyn.

The Church of Agios Georgios Phalandras.

Phaestos.

Road and remains of adjacent buildings, ancient Minoan “Palace” of Phaestos.

View of the plain below Phaestos.

Northwest Courtyard.

Another of the wonderful miniature roadside shrines.

Matala to Hora Sfakion.

A distant church on top of a hill.

The harbour, Hora Sfakion.

Inside FrangoKastello.

FrangoKastello to Sougia.

Looking up inside one of the towers of FrangoKastello.

A view from the road from Chania to Sougia.

On the walk from Sougia to Lissos.

Sougia to Lissos.

A view from the walk from Sougia to Lissos.

Roman tombs in the necropolis at Lissos, on the far side of the valley, from the walk in.

Remaining walls and mosaic floor, Temple of Asklepios.

Ancient olive tree.

Ancient wood.

Small ruined chamber in Roman Necropolis.

Panagia Chapel.

Inside Panagia Chapel.

Captain George arrrives to take us back to Sougia.

Ancient city of Syia, on the outskirts of Sougia.

Sougia and Syia.

A distant church on a remote peak.

Sougia to Chania.

A house and a small church, with a man, a utility, a small flock of sheep and very small village in the background.

A duplex half occupied and half ruined.

A church overlooking an ancient coastline.

Villages on hard times.

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Monochromes from Eastern Crete

Oct5

Crete, Greece, 12 October 2018.

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Links go to colour posts (with information and historical context). If an image does not have a link, the preceding one applies.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size, if you are on a PC or tablet at least.)

Venetian Harbour and the Koules Fortress. (First night in Crete).

Thira to Heraklion.

An ancient building below our hotel room, with the roof in need of repair.

An old ruined boat fenced off beside the harbour.

South House.

Knossos.

Large pithoi (storage jars), South Propylæum, Postpalatial Period (1450-1100BC).

Octopus fresco, in situ.

The Throne Room.

Surprisingly, it’s an elaborate jug.

Heraklion Archaeological Museum.

The “Snake Goddess”.

Large jars with impressive decorations.

Burial in a wide-mouthed Pithos. Neopalatial period 1700-1450BC.

Fishing Nets.

Thira to Heraklion.

Night concert.

The Orthodox Church of Agia Fotini.

Heraklion to Zakros.

Paralia Tholos.

House B in Block Beta, Palaikastro Minoan Town.

Minoan Palace of Zakros.

Zakros.

Rear of Lustral Basin with base for a column.

Nisida Kafali and Nisida Kavallos.

Zakros to Matala.

Paralia Mazida Amnos.

Roadside shrine.

A couple exploring the historic caves of Matala.

Section of Citadel wall, Acropolis of Gortyn.

Gortyn.

Church of St Titus in Gortyn, from the Acropolis.

Largest remaining citadel wall, Gortyn Acropolis.

Landscape with ruins and olive trees from Gortyn Acropolis.

Rethymnon Fortezza

Oct2

Rethymnon, Crete, Greece, 20 October 2018.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size, if you are on a PC or tablet at least.)

After spending some time in the morning at Chania, we drove back to Heraklion for the plane the next day. On the way we stopped at Rethymnon. We didn’t really visit the city, but we did spend some time at the Fortezza.

At the north side of the Fortezza, overlooking the modern town.

There has been settlement here since neolithic times and the Minoan settlement didn’t fare well with the tsunami from Thera. The hill on which the Fortezza is built is thought to have originally been an island connected to the mainland by a narrow spit but is now part of the mainland. It is also thought to be the site of the acropolis of ancient Rithymna including the temple of Apollo and the Sanctuary of Artemis, but this has not been proved archaeologically. Rithymna was most important in the 3rd and 4th centuries BC and declined afterwards. The Venetians arrived in Crete in 1211, after the 4th Crusade occupied Constantinople, and subsequently decided to build a harbour here which led to the revival of the city.

In 1571, the pirate Ulu Ali attacked Rethymnon with forty galleys and sacked it, demonstrating the inadequacy of the fortifications. Consequently, the Venetians built the Fortezza with supposedly more than 100,000 “volunteer” Cretan labourers, finishing it in 1580. They had promised the inhabitants of the city they could all come and live within the walls but that proved not to be the case and it was in any case much too small for that, so it became a place of refuge for the population instead.

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In 1646, Rethymnon fell to the Ottomans. The Venetian Cathedral of San Niccol became the Mosque of Sultam Ibrahim Han and additional houses were built for the Ottoman garrison and administration. By the turn of the twentieth century, the fortezza was filled with residential buildings but these were cleared out after the Second World War and ancient buildings restored.

You can see that the angles for the gun slots are pointing down rather than out.

In 1897, the Great Powers decided to occupy the island and Rethymnon was occupied by the Russian Army until 1907 (Putin was not yet Tsar at that time). In the Second World War, the city was bombed by the Germans and many buildings destroyed. The Germans sent paratroopers in to occupy the city in 1941, thinking it was not defended. but there were two Australian and two Greek battalions as well as armed local Gendarmerie, and the Germans did not fare well here. At one stage, the Allies had captured panels requesting resupply and were able to persuade German planes to drop guns and ammunition to them. In the same way they were able at one point to direct the Germans to drop bombs on their own troops. However, they were unable to receive the general order to withdraw and the Australians and one Greek Battalion had to surrender when they ran out of food and ammunition, while the other Greek battalion, mainly Cretans, was able to disperse into the countryside.

Walls and gun emplacements.

The city was very poor after the war but it is much more prosperous now, with main income from tourism as well as agriculture such as olive oil.

This is the Ottoman Mosque of the Sultan Ibrahim Han, formerly the Catholic Cathedral of St Nicholas. The base of the former minaret is on its left side.

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I presume this is a small mausoleum but I’m unable to find a description online.

Councillor’s residence, possible mausoleum and Mosque of the Sultan Ibrahim Han.

The Councillor’s Residence.

The Rector, or Governor, ruled with the aid of two Councillors, one of whom lived here.

The square openings in the walls were presumably emplacements for cannon.

Corner gun emplacement.

You can get a glimpse here of the task of gunners firing down to repel invaders and preserve the Fortezza. The Fortezza was said to be vulnerable both due to its small size and because it was not surrounded by a ditch.

I understand that the Greek Government is unlikely to be willing to supply these cannons to the Russians in Ukraine (though they would only be a danger to anyone trying to fire them).

The remains of a series of food storerooms and water cisterns.

The storeroom archways divided the storerooms into smaller spaces and supported the roof.

Underneath are mysterious passages, perhaps storerooms,

I seem to recall this was once used as a prison….

One of the “tubes” was filled with relics from the Ottoman era.

The Ottomans were less than sympathetic to the local population and all Moslems were thrown out in 1923. (There are some now in the more tolerant era of today).

I suspect these are tombstones.

There may be an interesting story to be told if I could read Arabic and understand the iconography.

The ceiling of the Ottoman Mosque of the Sultan Ibrahim Han.

The mihrab, unfortunately defaced by graffiti.

An ammunition storage depot, with a pyramidical roof, perhaps to help cannon balls bounce off.

A southern part of the wall.

The city and the port.

Inside the church of Agios Theodoros Trichinas.

Getting in closer….

The souvenir shop, located inside an old Venetian enclosure.

The old Venetian harbour and lighthouse.

That was the last post on Crete, apart from three mono posts to come, and maybe a live music one. There have been 18 posts, nearly 500 images and close to 12,000 words in commentary. It has included visits to Minoan, Greek, Roman, Venetian and Ottoman sites, artefacts from a couple of museums, views of often remote landscapes and street scenes. You can see any of these posts from links in the Itinerary, which I have just updated.

Next posts will come more frequently than usual for a couple of weeks. Then I will start posting on my recent trip to North Queensland and much later get back to rest of the trip that included Crete, with Andalusia, Barcelona, Oregon and Washington.