Sunday, 25 September 2011
Fiona & Sam
A couple of weeks ago I went down to Geelong to photograph Fiona and Sam's wedding. The ceremony was at the Carousel along the waterfront and in between rain storms we managed to sneak outside for a few wedding party photos. Here's a little sneak peek. Thanks Fiona and Sam!
Chandala Mine Tiwest
For the first time since we moved to Melbourne almost 3.5 years ago, I finally made it back to Perth! Andrew is there for 3 weeks for school and work and more school so I decided to make my way over to him for my semester break. We got pretty ordinary weather while I was there (I must have brought it with me from Melbourne... sigh) but it was really nice to spend some time with Andrew and to be back in Perth. While we were there we caught up with some friends who I hadn't seen in years which was really nice. We had a lovely, uber delicious Mexican feast with Claire in Freo, had drinks with Brian at the pub and caught up with Christine and Naomi and their families at King's Park. It was so nice to see everyone again!
Andrew and I also went back to our old stomping grounds in Tuart Hill to see the little unit we still own but now rent out over there. It was really weird but wonderful at the same time to go check out and inspect the old place. Walking in the front door, I was hit with a rush of memories from my early days in Australia and it was really cool to be back in our first little house together. The current tenant has kept up the place really well but we heard a pretty funny story about our previous tenants. Apparently, the 2 students that used to live there after we moved out weren't all that fond of gardening. They were asked to pull out the weeds to make sure the garden stayed looking nice and when the agent came back to check the request had been met, she found that all the weeds were lovingly cared for while all the plants had been pulled out! What? To make it even funnier... when asked to still pull the weeds and replace the plants and flowers the tenants planted plastic flowers. Who does that? Needless to say we're glad we've got a new tenant who has taken good care of the garden.
While we were in Tuart Hill we also got to go back to Cafe Bellini, a delicious, quaint little Italian place down the street from the unit where we had our first date almost 6 years ago. Awww so romantical. Love it.
One of the highlights from the trip, although rainy and grey, was going to an Open Day at Chandala Mine in Muchea. I think this is probably the closest I'll ever get to seeing what Andrew does and what work is like for him when he's out on a mine site. This site was only about an hour out of Perth so is much closer to civilisation than most of the mines he's at, but it was pretty cool to be there! Of course I didn't understand half of what they were saying... talking all science lingo on me... brought me back to year 10 Chemistry with Ms. O'Reilly which was NOT my strongest subject by any means (who are we kidding... I was the one who was in early before class and had to stay late after class for extra help just to pass the class!) but I plugged along with Andrew for a few hours trying to learn what I could. Anyway, all the talk about Ilmenite and Zircon (I think they was the main minerals?!?!... don't ask me what they do/are used for because I couldn't tell you) got to be a bit much for me so I grabbed my camera and snapped a few photos.
We had to wear high res safety gear when we went on the walking tour of the plant. Don't we look sexy? Love it. I totally get why all these site workers wear boots and high res gear because well for one thing, it's a safety issue but by the end of the 40 minute tour my sneakers (mesh sneakers I might add... not the best selection for a rainy day) were soaked and muddy as were my jeans!
Inside the plant it's just how I would have imagined it... lots of pipes and other technical stuff I don't know the name of. It was loud and I will blame my lack of knowledge not on lack of understanding sciency stuff but on the fact that we had to wear ear plugs and I couldn't hear what the tour guys were yelling over the noise of the machinery. That's a good excuse right? It looks kind of cool though with all the pipes and yellow glow of the lights!
Andrew and I also went back to our old stomping grounds in Tuart Hill to see the little unit we still own but now rent out over there. It was really weird but wonderful at the same time to go check out and inspect the old place. Walking in the front door, I was hit with a rush of memories from my early days in Australia and it was really cool to be back in our first little house together. The current tenant has kept up the place really well but we heard a pretty funny story about our previous tenants. Apparently, the 2 students that used to live there after we moved out weren't all that fond of gardening. They were asked to pull out the weeds to make sure the garden stayed looking nice and when the agent came back to check the request had been met, she found that all the weeds were lovingly cared for while all the plants had been pulled out! What? To make it even funnier... when asked to still pull the weeds and replace the plants and flowers the tenants planted plastic flowers. Who does that? Needless to say we're glad we've got a new tenant who has taken good care of the garden.
While we were in Tuart Hill we also got to go back to Cafe Bellini, a delicious, quaint little Italian place down the street from the unit where we had our first date almost 6 years ago. Awww so romantical. Love it.
One of the highlights from the trip, although rainy and grey, was going to an Open Day at Chandala Mine in Muchea. I think this is probably the closest I'll ever get to seeing what Andrew does and what work is like for him when he's out on a mine site. This site was only about an hour out of Perth so is much closer to civilisation than most of the mines he's at, but it was pretty cool to be there! Of course I didn't understand half of what they were saying... talking all science lingo on me... brought me back to year 10 Chemistry with Ms. O'Reilly which was NOT my strongest subject by any means (who are we kidding... I was the one who was in early before class and had to stay late after class for extra help just to pass the class!) but I plugged along with Andrew for a few hours trying to learn what I could. Anyway, all the talk about Ilmenite and Zircon (I think they was the main minerals?!?!... don't ask me what they do/are used for because I couldn't tell you) got to be a bit much for me so I grabbed my camera and snapped a few photos.
We had to wear high res safety gear when we went on the walking tour of the plant. Don't we look sexy? Love it. I totally get why all these site workers wear boots and high res gear because well for one thing, it's a safety issue but by the end of the 40 minute tour my sneakers (mesh sneakers I might add... not the best selection for a rainy day) were soaked and muddy as were my jeans!
Inside the plant it's just how I would have imagined it... lots of pipes and other technical stuff I don't know the name of. It was loud and I will blame my lack of knowledge not on lack of understanding sciency stuff but on the fact that we had to wear ear plugs and I couldn't hear what the tour guys were yelling over the noise of the machinery. That's a good excuse right? It looks kind of cool though with all the pipes and yellow glow of the lights!
I did take note that in the picture above the steam stack there is a long, large rusty kiln which gets heated up to 1100 degrees and is on a 2 degree slope from left to right. When the minerals are put in at one end it takes 9 hours for them to travel to the other end and inside the fiery kiln, which one guy described as hell on earth, it's basically just coals that heat up the minerals. There are 10 pumps around the outside of the kiln that just constantly pump in hot air to keep the temperature stable. The tour guys said that if the kiln stops rotating for more than 30 minutes it would just implode on itself because it's so hot. Yikes!
I probably butchered some of that information but whatever, we all know I'm not a science expert. I think I'll stick to photography and leave the mining and metallurgy to Andrew. :)
Friday, 26 August 2011
Mossman Gorge, Kewarra Beach and Goodbyes
On our 2nd to last day with Twinnie and Drew up in Queensland, we decided to drive up to the Daintree Rainforest to visit Mossman Gorge. Although none of us had on sneakers (heck, I didn't even pack any to bring up there) we "hiked" (more like walking and climbed around on rocks) for a couple hours looking at the beautiful rainforest. And thanks to a lovely stranger, we also got the first of only 2 photos of all 4 of us together during Krissy and Drew's visit.
While on our wanders, we came across a bridge (also wobbly like the treetop walk) where we stopped to take some photos. I had the bright idea to jump around on the bridge during the photo Krissy was taking of Andrew and I but we didn't take into account the fact that she was also standing on the wobbly bridge so when we jumped she wobbled and the photo is all fuzzy. But it's pretty funny and you can tell we're smiling. It gave us some laughs for sure. Thanks for trying Krissy!
Here are a few more photos from our "hike" through Mossman Gorge. There were tons of big trees, gnarly roots and fun river rocks to play on.
After lunch at Daintree Village, we made our way back down past Port Douglas and onto Kewarra Beach Resort where Andrew and I stayed for our last night and Krissy and Drew are staying for the remainder of their holiday. We passed some beautiful scenery on the drive including sugar cane fields and banana trees.
When we got to Kewarra Resort, which is beautiful by the way, there was hibiscus iced tea waiting for us. Our luggage was taken to our rooms and then we were free to explore before dinner. It's a gorgeous resort and I was so jealous that Twinnie and Drew got to stay for another 4 days!
After a quick nap and unpacking we headed down to relax on the beach before the most delicious dinner ever! Tomato risotto... OMG. Yummo to the max. Anyway, Krissy and I got to the beach and saw this super cute photo op of the Andrews sitting together chatting away. We both looked at each other and said how awesome it is that our husbands genuinely like each other and enjoy spending time together. Not to get all mushy, but we are two very lucky girls to have two really great guys. We also enjoyed a bit o' frisbee! Brought me back to my days at Elon. Yay Ultimate! And at one point I turned around and saw my shadow next to Twinnie's an grabbed a shot. Now looking through the photos I realise that it's the only one I have on my camera of the two of us. I know Drew got some on his camera though. Way to save the Day Drewseph!
At our uber delicious last dinner together I asked one of the staff to take a photo. I'm glad I did because I think it's super cute and it's a nice memory for all of us to have of our time together.
Twinnie and the Andrews and I met up for breakfast the next morning and spent our remaining time together chatting and relaxing down at the beach with our books (or Ipad in A1's case.)
And then it was time to leave. Sad face. It was really hard to say goodbye because we had such a great time together and it's so rare these days to be able to spend that amount of time with any of my family and it's especially hard because we don't know the next time we'll be back in the U.S.. Not having a date is always hard. The ride to the airport was quiet and teary (which didn't help my already stuffy nose) but at least the flight home (although we were again surrounded by babies, one of which was screaming at the top of her lungs in the seat in front of us for an hour which set of the baby in the seat behind us and the one across the aisle from us... sigh) left us some beautiful sunshine to make me smile.
Twinnie and Drewseph, I know it was a long flight and a long way to come and we are SO glad you were able to come over for a visit. Thanks so much for your efforts to come over and see what our life is like here. It really means more than I can say. We had a blast with you and I hope that you enjoyed your holiday. I'm sure you've had a wonderful end of your trip up at Kewarra and I hope you found it relaxing and fun. We miss you already (particularly me... although I think Andrew enjoyed having a guy around to watch footy and cricket with) and can't wait til the next time we see you. Thinking of you guys! Love and miss you mucho.
While on our wanders, we came across a bridge (also wobbly like the treetop walk) where we stopped to take some photos. I had the bright idea to jump around on the bridge during the photo Krissy was taking of Andrew and I but we didn't take into account the fact that she was also standing on the wobbly bridge so when we jumped she wobbled and the photo is all fuzzy. But it's pretty funny and you can tell we're smiling. It gave us some laughs for sure. Thanks for trying Krissy!
Here are a few more photos from our "hike" through Mossman Gorge. There were tons of big trees, gnarly roots and fun river rocks to play on.
After lunch at Daintree Village, we made our way back down past Port Douglas and onto Kewarra Beach Resort where Andrew and I stayed for our last night and Krissy and Drew are staying for the remainder of their holiday. We passed some beautiful scenery on the drive including sugar cane fields and banana trees.
When we got to Kewarra Resort, which is beautiful by the way, there was hibiscus iced tea waiting for us. Our luggage was taken to our rooms and then we were free to explore before dinner. It's a gorgeous resort and I was so jealous that Twinnie and Drew got to stay for another 4 days!
After a quick nap and unpacking we headed down to relax on the beach before the most delicious dinner ever! Tomato risotto... OMG. Yummo to the max. Anyway, Krissy and I got to the beach and saw this super cute photo op of the Andrews sitting together chatting away. We both looked at each other and said how awesome it is that our husbands genuinely like each other and enjoy spending time together. Not to get all mushy, but we are two very lucky girls to have two really great guys. We also enjoyed a bit o' frisbee! Brought me back to my days at Elon. Yay Ultimate! And at one point I turned around and saw my shadow next to Twinnie's an grabbed a shot. Now looking through the photos I realise that it's the only one I have on my camera of the two of us. I know Drew got some on his camera though. Way to save the Day Drewseph!
At our uber delicious last dinner together I asked one of the staff to take a photo. I'm glad I did because I think it's super cute and it's a nice memory for all of us to have of our time together.
Twinnie and the Andrews and I met up for breakfast the next morning and spent our remaining time together chatting and relaxing down at the beach with our books (or Ipad in A1's case.)
And then it was time to leave. Sad face. It was really hard to say goodbye because we had such a great time together and it's so rare these days to be able to spend that amount of time with any of my family and it's especially hard because we don't know the next time we'll be back in the U.S.. Not having a date is always hard. The ride to the airport was quiet and teary (which didn't help my already stuffy nose) but at least the flight home (although we were again surrounded by babies, one of which was screaming at the top of her lungs in the seat in front of us for an hour which set of the baby in the seat behind us and the one across the aisle from us... sigh) left us some beautiful sunshine to make me smile.
Twinnie and Drewseph, I know it was a long flight and a long way to come and we are SO glad you were able to come over for a visit. Thanks so much for your efforts to come over and see what our life is like here. It really means more than I can say. We had a blast with you and I hope that you enjoyed your holiday. I'm sure you've had a wonderful end of your trip up at Kewarra and I hope you found it relaxing and fun. We miss you already (particularly me... although I think Andrew enjoyed having a guy around to watch footy and cricket with) and can't wait til the next time we see you. Thinking of you guys! Love and miss you mucho.
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