Somewhere Else

Being travel writer/photographers, we buy cameras more often than most people – but we really give them a workout. A few days back we bought a small, cheap camera to slip in a pocket when we are hiking, cycling or travelling overseas. We are always amazed at the tricky ideas that manufacturers build into cameras. Obviously that tiny computer chip inside the camera can do much more than just take photos.

This camera has seven special affects modes, including Fish-eye and Drawing. So what does Drawing mode do? It captures the colour image, turns it into a line drawing, and then stores both versions on the memory card. The effect could be achieved in Photoshop, but it’s a whole lot easier just letting the camera do the work. Here are some sample images taken in Fremantle. That’s the town hall above and the Roundhouse lockup below. This mode seems to work very well on buildings, almost making them look better than the real thing.

During our travels we often stop to admire impressive courthouses in Australian country towns. They seem to be the local equivalent of cathedrals and stately homes in Europe, and undoubtedly say something about Australia’s history as a penal colony. The one above is in Goulburn, New South Wales and the one below looms ominously over the small town of Berrima.

One of our more enjoyable New Year’s Resolutions was to try out more cafes this year than usual. So during our recent visit to New South Wales, we concentrated on the coffee shops.

The one shown above was one of the best that we found. It had good coffee, and the cake du jour was almond and orange cake with both whipped cream and icecream. Totally decadent, and totally delicious. And the view out the big windows was out of this world, literally. Yes, it’s the Dish Cafe at CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope.

Continuing our unofficial capital cities tour of New South Wales, we came to Scone – the “Horse Capital of Australia” where horses reign (or should that be rein?). There were horse studs along the highway, horse floats on the road, and plenty of horse sculptures and other horse motifs scattered around the town.

Another capital city that we visited in New South Wales earlier this month was Tamworth – “The Country Music Capital”. Tamworth has the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame and Big Golden Guitar, and we enjoyed seeing the sculptures of famous country and western singers in Bicentennial Park. That’s Buddy Williams (left) and Tex Morton.

Heading east from Coonabarabran, the Astronomy Capital of Australia, we came to Gunnedah – the Koala Capital of the World. But where were the koalas? We asked at the visitor information centre and were recommended to try several places, including a tree lined street and Porcupine Reserve on a hilltop overlooking the town.

No luck in the street, so we went along to Porcupine Reserve. There were great views across the town and the surrounding plains, and not a porcupine in sight. But on the hilltop walking trail, we spotted the koala below – looking even cuter than the one on the sign above.

Last week we also visited Coonabarabran – the “Astronomy Capital of Australia”. The town deserves this title for a variety of reasons, including the fact that Siding Spring Observatory (below) is nearby in the Warrumbungle Mountains. At the observatory you can see Australia’s largest optical telescope.

During our visit to New South Wales last week, we went to five different capital cities. No, they were not administrative capitals like Sydney and Canberra, but capitals of specific items. The first was Young, which is the self-proclaimed “Cherry Capital of Australia”.

There were no cherries for our visit, since it is late autumn. But we noted that Young might also be the “Milepost Capital of Australia”. These concrete mileposts outside the Lambing Flat Folk Museum were originally along the Young-Bribbaree road.

There were quite a few teardrop caravans at the Vintage Caravan National Meeting in Cowra, New South Wales last week. They always get a lot of admiring glances, with their tiny, streamlined profile and amusing outdoor kitchen inside the rear hatch. The 1950s Sportsman teardrop above belongs to Maurie C and was towed by an FX Holden (GM) convertible.

This strikingly sporty rig belongs to Sue G and was the youngest rig at the event. The MG and teardrop are both recently built replicas, but look convincingly retro. And we also liked the leadlight windows in the teardrop below.

At the Vintage Caravan National Meeting in Cowra, New South Wales last week, we noticed that vintage caravans like to park next to their own family members. The photo above shows two Don caravans, and the vans below are both Olympics.

We also liked this pair of Sunliners. Well, to be more accurate it’s a Gracemur (left) and a Sunliner. But Gracemur vans are basically Sunliners that were built in Queensland.