A Merry Tassie Christmas...

I have to put up this little post to say Merry Christmas to all my followers, family and friends!  We will have Christmas in Tasmania this year at The Bay of Fires.  There is no "Shopping mall" here so I found myself doing Christmas present shopping at this great little place called "The Shop in the Bush"  where they have loads of souvenirs, old & rare books and collectables.  I have to say if there were a shopping centre I may not have found this charming little place so I am very glad there isn't!

The Shop in the Bush - St Helens

After wandering around the saturday markets we also stumbled on a santa at the IGA who was very patient being bombarded with my kids numerous Christmas wishes.  Merry Christmas everyone!

From the "Kellybillies"  xx

Kids with the IGA Santa

Summer landscapes in Tasmania

Tasmania is amazing.  I am still blown away by the abundance of wildlife and constantly changing weather!  I am presented with fantastic photography opportunities wherever I look.  So far we have traveled from Devonport - Launceston - East coast and the Bay of Fires.  I like Devonport, really like Launceston but LOVE the Bay of Fires.  Apart from the abundance of free camps here there are so many unspoilt beaches and plenty of birds and other animals around.  The weather is great, the temperatures are even better, I can see why all the grey nomads migrate here every year.

Here are a few of my fave landscape images of Tassie so far…

Mersey Bluff Lighthouse, Devonport 

Shelly Beach, Scamander

Swimcart Beach, Bay of Fires

The Gardens, Bay of fires

Bush Rangers & Benalla

Benalla seemed like a great little stop over on the way from Bright to Melbourne and we weren't disappointed.  Benalla is widely regarded as the 'Home of Ned Kelly'  so we had to go and visit the museum which also happens to be the information centre.  We just wouldn't be Kelly's if we didn't!  We also visited nearby Glenrowan where you can see the 'Big Ned Kelly'.

Wanted poster at Benalla Museum - vintage action with vignette added

We were really lucky to be in town the weekend of the "Benalla Festival" with fireworks and live music on Saturday night.  The kids loved it and we had a blast there.   I got to play with some night shots (always a favorite for me) and a few different perspectives.

Bridge at Benalla lit up for festival

Fireworks!

A different focal point made this image interesting I thought

Bright Shop Owner

We stayed 5 days at Bright, a gorgeous place with heaps of character.  My fave thing was this sign for Husband Parking.  I had a joke around with the 'lucky' husbands who were parked at the time I walked past.  "Work it boys!"  I love that they actually use the chair (and yep they were still sitting there when we had finished browsing with wives inside happily shopping).  Fantastic!

A Pony called Prada...

It looks like we will be saying farewell to Sydney today as we make our way south towards Melbourne so I thought I would put up one last Sydney blog before we hit the road again.  Yesterday we had an interesting day surrounded by horses at a horse show, the kids loved it and we got to meet the cutest pony foal "Prada".  The family were getting ready for their first Pony Showing.

My Kids "Helping" to get Prada ready for showing

Pony cuddles...

Street Photography…?

I seem to have covered a few k's since the last blog & now find myself in Sydney.  Blogging while on the road can be challenging especially when at unpowered sites & free camps!

I decided to try my hand at street photography as the busy streets of Sydney seemed perfect.  I think a smaller camera would have been a better idea as I ended up mostly getting pics of people looking stunned that I may have just taken their pic.  There were a couple of gems in there but overall I think you would at least need a more discreet camera and a lot of practise/patience.

Street Photography pic

Tourist shot of the Opera House

The station

Bluewater

About 30km north of Townsville is a great free camp at Bluewater where we stayed a few nights.  On arriving we were informed by one of our fellow campers that there was a snake guarding the wheelie bin and so of course I had to go and have a look with my camera.  One thing to be careful of when photographing a snake?  Other people who decide it would be a good idea to "Nudge" the snake with their foot while your head is inches away from it.  I kid you not. We also found a pretty Blue-Winged Kookaburra and a bunch of cheeky Possums. 

Mum & Dad arrived for a visit the night after we got there and Mum was a bit nervous to hear of the Snake visiting.  The backpackers who slept overnight in the open swag just metres away obviously weren't too worried though!

Cheeky little Possums trying to get into the annex

The wheelie bins were empty…wonder why?

Close up of Snake - anyone know what type of Snake it is?

Ash taking an "ankle dip"  in the fresh water