Our Other Blog: Two Sisters and Two Points of View
by Taswegian1957 & Human59
I don’t consciously think about the rule of thirds when I’m taking pictures, but I probably do when I’m editing them as I often crop photos. I do enjoy looking at subjects that are a little off centre but every picture is different sometimes it’s fine to break the rules.
An old church in Dover, Tasmania
Today is ANZAC Day. I didn’t get up early to go to the dawn service or catch the bus to see the parade in Hobart but the above are some photos that I took of the 2015 march.
I don’t think of the march as a celebration of war so much as a day that we remember the fallen.
Years ago when I used to go Dawn Service and to see the march in Adelaide regularly I used to enjoy seeing the pleasure the veterans got out of seeing old friends that maybe they didn’t see very often and their determination to go the distance even though they were old and maybe disabled.
It was once felt that the ANZAC tradition would die once the men and women who served in the world wars were gone but instead it seems to have become bigger. Of course, we’re never going to run out of conflicts to lose soldiers in.
I just hope that young people are commemorating the day for the right reasons. Many young Australians like to visit Turkey and spend ANZAC Day at Gallipoli but it was not meant to be about rock concerts and selfies. It’s a time to be solemn, reflect and do our best to make sure that no more young men have to die in a war.
Here is a more cheery post than I’ve done recently. Today is the first day of the Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart. It is only on once every two years so I didn’t want to miss it. As I was not sure if the bus would be running from Geeveston I opted to stay an extra day with Matt and Ally and go from their place leaving Matt to doggy sit Cindy.
I got a ride to town with Ally who had to work and arrived around 11:30am. Of course, as it was the first day, not all the boats had arrived and many were making their way into the harbour when I arrived. The tall ships that are usually on display were not due until the afternoon and unfortunately, I was not able to stay to see them.
There were still a lot of very nice ones to see though. Some were quite old but a lot of the ones that I saw were built in the last forty years. I’m sorry but I have a hard time thinking of something from the 1990s as old.
I walked around for a couple of hours taking photos of the ones that I liked best. It was already quite busy although still easy to get a seat in the food area where I stopped to get a baked potato for lunch. At this point, I thought I should check on Cindy and messaged Matt. He said that she had been howling a lot and of course I immediately felt guilty for leaving her and cut my visit short.
I did manage to take more than 50 photos though. Here are some of them.
https://www.australianwoodenboatfestival.com.au/
I have not written an update for a day or two as I am now staying with friends near Hobart quite some distance from the bushfires.
In the Huon Valley, the situation is as bad as ever though. There has been no let up in the hot weather and fires are creeping closer and closer to the townships of Geeveston, Port Huon, Castle Forbes Bay, and Franklin as well as Glen Huon and Judbury and threatening some other places further south. All of my friends in the Huon have relocated thank goodness and we are all now just waiting for this to be over so we can go home and see what is left. So far I believe my house is OK but I worry for friends who live in more rural properties closer to the bush.
I’ve always been proud of the fact that the community here is very caring and in most cases this crises has brought out the best in people, first and foremost the volunteer firefighters but also those people who are volunteering at the evacuation centre, cooking for the evacuees and the firies and those who helped people relocate their animals to safer places until it became too dangerous to drive south to get them.
I also know of many people who have taken in not only friends and family but anyone who needed somewhere to go. One of my friends has three families staying with her and she is making food to send to the evacuations centre.
I also know of people who have taken on the care of any remaining animals for friends and neighbours. At times like this social media is at it’s best helping to connect people and providing information although of course, it can also be a hotbed of rumours, you have to be careful what information you take notice of.
Sadly there are a few lowlifes about who will take advantage of the situation but with so few people left in the area, neighbours are quick to notice anyone behaving suspiciously and report it.
No new pictures from me today. Just another reminder of what a lovely place the Huon Valley is.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-28/judbury-residents-door-knocked-over-fire-danger/10754640
A lot has happened since I wrote my update yesterday. On Sunday afternoon the winds picked up and in the early evening, the area where I was staying with friends was put on emergency alert as well.
It was unpleasantly smoky. My friends decided that we should go somewhere safer for the night. We piled into two vehicles with three dogs, Polly in her carrier, suitcases, and a heap of blankets and pillows and drove down to the foreshore at Franklin. It was not as windy or as smoky there and we had some fish and chips from a local shop before settling in for the night.
I have to say it was not the pleasantest night I’ve experienced. Cindy has been very upset and clingy since we left home. If she is not with me she cries. Each of us settled on a seat with a dog beside us and tried to sleep a bit. It was windy in the night and Cindy was restless. I had to get up once and get her some water but after that, she went to sleep.
At dawn, I got up to give her some fresh air, also Polly who was squeezed into the back with the luggage. She didn’t sound too happy and as I didn’t dare take her out of her cage I put the back up so she could at least get some fresh air. Under other circumstances, I would have been happy to be on the river at dawn as all the ducks woke up and a couple of swans drifted by with a flotilla of cygnets. My camera was buried somewhere in the car and my phone battery almost dead so no pictures I’m afraid.
From what we could find out the fire situation was no better but my friends decided to go back to their house for a few forgotten items. It was even smokier and I was frankly not that happy about returning to the house. As we discussed various accommodation options available to us I said that I would call my friends Matt and Ally to see if I could go to their place. They had offered to have me earlier in the week but I wasn’t able to get a ride out of Geeveston then.
I was very relieved that they were happy to come all the way to Huonville to fetch me and my friends drove me there about an hour later. I was very relieved to be on my way but worried about my friends who were talking about staying on at their home. I was very relieved when I sent them a message later in the day to hear that they had left to stay with a friend outside the Huon Valley.
This evening the situation in the Huon is still very bad. Geeveston was evacuated this afternoon and later police door-knocked in Port Huon to tell people to leave. At this stage, I don’t know if I will have a house to go home to but I’m safe, my pets are safe and all my friends made it to safer places even though I feel some of them left it too long to go. It’s also good to know that up to this point no lives have been lost. Let’s hope it stays that way.
As I have no new photos to share here are some favourite photos of Geeveston, Port Huon and Franklin.
