Montague Island Day One

Montague Island, New South Wales, Australia, 8 to 11 November 2019

We spent a weekend at Montague Island, off the coast of New South Wales near Narooma, organised by NatureArt Lab, based in Canberra. We also went with them to Sabah and this time it was mainly with artists rather than photographers. I also went there in 1987 when I toured around Australia taking photographs of lighthouses for the book From Dusk Till Dawn.

We needed to drive down from Canberra and be at the wharf for the boat at 11:15 am, so to eliminate the risk of misadventures we drove down from Canberra the night before. Late in the afternoon we discovered Handkerchief Beach, south of Narooma. This is a picture of Montague Island from there (actually properly spelt Montagu but that is a losing battle). We would be staying near the lighthouse in the lighthouse cottages.

The lagoon at Handkerchief Beach.

It appears it gets windy at times.

A nearby pelican next morning as we are waiting to embark.

From the boat, underway but still inside Narooma’s Bar, a cormorant is drying its wings.

Humpback whale going down.

We were lucky to be escorted by a mother and her calf for most of the journey to Montague.

There are many seals on the rocks by the sea.

And we encountered quite a few lounging around in the water.

At some distance, sitting on his favourite rock, is this white-bellied sea eagle, in this case with a full crop. He does not live on the island but flies out every day from the mainland.

The seals are either Australian or New Zealand Fur Seals. The New Zealand Fur Seals are smaller and darker and climb further up on the rocks but they are very similar and I’m not going to try to tell them apart.

Launching into the sea.

The New Zealand Fur Seals have been recently renamed Long-Nosed Fur Seals (in Australia) because people may have thought they were not native to Australia though they live in both places. They were called New Zealand Fur Seals because they were first described in New Zealand and are still called New Zealand Fur Seals in New Zealand. This renaming seems to me like pointlessly kowtowing to ignorance so I will continue to refer to them as New Zealand Fur Seals.

Great Cormorant and Crested Terns, still from the boat.

A colony of Crested Terns, from the road to the Lighthouse.

In the late afternoon, we were hit by a huge storm with high winds.

A little later, walking back from Cottage 1 to Cottage 2 at the back of the cottages, I was blown along by a wind so strong that it was pointless to try to walk against it.

Some of the terns relocated from the more exposed side of the island to the relative calm in the lee of the cottages and the island.

Then an hour and a half later, it was clear and calm. This is a sacred aboriginal initiation site at the end of the island, not accessible to the public. The rocks represent the whale, the shark and the tortoise.

(Trivia note: There are now more than 15,000 images in this blog, not counting the links to nearly 11,000 live music images, and also more than 350,000 words, equivalent to several books).

Red White Amber and Blues Festival 2019

Nov24

This is the first Blues Festival in Canberra for over twenty years, taking place over three days and nights on a weekend at the end of October. Here is a selection of images, and links at the bottom to more.

Under the performers, I’ve added YouTube links to their music.

On Friday there were five performers, playing acoustic.

Then it rained heavily, while Lloyd Spiegel was still playing.

Phil Manning.

There was eight bands on Saturday.

Marji Curran, Marji Curran Band.

John Gwilliam with 19-Twenty.

Kane Denelly with 19-Twenty.

Milena Barrett.

Ali Penney, Ali Penney and the Moneymakers.

James Southwell with James Southwell Band.

Marshall and the Fro.

Steve Edmonds, Steve Edmonds Band.

Kevin Borich, Ken Borich Express.

On Sunday, there was another seven bands.

Rebecca Davey with Dreamboogie.

Darren Jack.

Sammy Owen, Sammy Owen Blues Band.

Lachy Doley, Lachy Doley Group.

Shane Pacey with Bondi Cigars.

Bondi Cigars.

Matt Taylor with Chain.

Phil Manning, Chain.

Dirk du Bois, Chain.

John Creech with Russell Morris.

Russell Morris.

Russell Morris Band.

There are many more images. On the Other Blues Festivals Page . you will find links to images from this Festival. Links include top 100 images, selected monochromes and one for each of the 20 bands.

Alternatively, there is also a direct overall link to all Red White Amber and Blues Festival 2019 images in JAlbum (with overview images and images by band organised by folder). There are 362 images in all.

For other images of a particular band I may have taken since 2006, see the Musicians and Bands Page .

Cuba Monochromes 4 of 4 Last Days in Havana

Nov17

1-12 September 2016, Havana, Cuba

Links go to posts with the colour versions of the images (where there may also be more information and context). If an image does not have a link, the preceding one applies. (Click on any image to see it larger).

Great music in a late night jazz bar.

Havana – An afternoon and evening.

1953 Oldsmobile – our taxi ride back to the hotel.

Passing train.

Havana – Botanic Gardens.

1949 Plymouth, just about to leave I think.

Havana – Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis.

(From the taxi).

1950 Plymouth.

Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis.

View from Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis.

At night after rain.

At a small outdoor art area.

Last Day in Havana.

Castell de la Real Fuerza.

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales.

Street performer.

Art market at the waterfront.

The old loco was just outside the art market.

Street scene with El Capitolio under repair in the background.

Street at night after rain.

So that’s the last post from Cuba. Santo Domingo from the Dominican Republic should be next but first there will be some more recent posts, one from a Blues Festival and a few from Montague Island off the South coast of New South Wales.

Cuba Monochromes 3 of 4 Havana Streets

Nov12

1-12 September 2016, Havana, Cuba

Our horse and carriage driver.

Havana – Street Photography from a Horse and Carriage.

Waiting for the bus.

Tuk tuk driver and El Capitolio in the background

Havana – Artifacts and Cars.

Waiting for assistance.

Musicians playing in the park outside our hotel.

Just passing by a very interesting curio shop.

Havana – Red Cars and Street Views.

Havana – Fusterlandia.

Locals around a mosaic mural featuring Hugo Chavez and the flags of Venezuela and Cuba.

1958 Ford Edsel Pacer convertible.

1950? De Soto convertible.

Havana – An afternoon and evening.

1958 Cadillac convertible.

1958 Chevrolet?

Elegant street view.

Rebuilding a street in the traditional fashion.

Maybe not much in the way of pollution controls.

Cuba Monochromes 2 of 4 Trinidad and Cienfuegos

Nov3

1-12 September 2016, Trinidad de Cuba, Cienfuegos, Cuba

1954 Chevrolet, still in Havana.

Havana to Topes de Collantes.

On the road…

1957 Plymouth.

Trinidad de Cuba.

Local gallery and hostal or B&B.

Local band.

1954 Chevrolet,

Not everyone drives cars …

Trinidad de Cuba was founded in 1514 and Cortes recruited here and left from here on his conquest of the Aztec Empire.

On the road again…

Cienfuegos.

We are now in the outskirts of Cienfuegos.

Catedral de la Purisma Conception.

Seafront exercises.

Heading for Havana; military truck and horse & cart.

On the street in Havana, after dark.

Return to Havana.

1947 or 48 Chevrolet on the left.

Havana – Artifacts and Cars.

Buick V8, 1953 or 54..

Musee de Arte Colonial (or the Colonial Art Museum).

A view of the Cathedral from the museum.

Cuba Monochromes 1 of 4 Havana

Oct27

1-12 September 2016, Cuba

People in a bar.

Arriving in Havana.

Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis.

Early Morning in Havana.

“Quiltrin Legitimate Cuban Fashion”.

La Catedral de la Virgin Maria de la Conceptión Immaculata de la Habana

Waiting for Godot perhaps?.

The door is probably a side entrance to the Cathedral.

Havana Stroll.

Simca 90A Aronde 1955-1958.

A rare occasion of a nubile young women carrying a large fork and riding a rooster.

The car is probably a 1946 Oldsmobile.

Havana Cars.

Oldsmobile, probably 1954..

1957 Ford Fairlane 500 convertible.

On the road towards town.

Afro-Cuban art of Salvador Gonzáles Escalona.

Callejón de Hamel.

Big Band performance.

Big Band in Havana.

Early morning Havana view.

Relics of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Ballistic Missile.

MIG 21.

Cannonballs at Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabana.

Havana from the fort on the north side of the harbour.

1953 Chevrolet.

René Peña.

1950 Chevrolet in the foreground; Fidel in the background.

Returning from dinner at night.

1953 Chevrolet.

More Havana Cars.

1951 Pontiac Continental.

Gran Teatro de Habana, or the Havana Opera House.

Havana to Topes de Collantes.

View from Opera House.

Foyer of Opera House.

Last Day in Havana

Oct21

Havana, Cuba, 12 September 2016
.

On our last day in Havana, after breakfast, we first visited a small outdoor art area not far from our hotel.

We then visited the Castell de la Real Fuerza. Here is the entrance from a few posts ago.

It was built in 1557, replacing a earlier fort that had been destroyed by a French privateer.

However, it was too far inside the harbour to be effective and was also too small. It was effectively replaced by the Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta at the entrance of the harbour and became the residence of the Governor of Havana.

It is considered the oldest stone fort in the Americas and these days houses a maritime museum.

This and the next three images are from the Museo de Arqueología.

This and the next image are from the Salon of Mesoamerica and Ecuador.

Next we visited the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, the residence of the Governors in the eighteenth century, now the museum of the City of Havana.