Wisemans Ferry

85 km from the centre of Sydney is Wisemans Ferry, a cable ferry named after its founder, Solomon Wiseman, a former convict. It crosses the Hawkesbury River connecting the old Great North Road. The ferry crossing has been in use since 1829, making it the oldest ferry crossing still in operation in Australia. Until the opening of the Peats Ferry Bridge across the Hawkesbury River at Brooklyn, Wisemans Ferry was one of the main road routes north out of Sydney.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 70mm f22, 1/30 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 200mm f2.8, 1/1250 sec

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Wisemans Ferry Park is located on the banks of the Hawkesbury River adjacent to the Ferry, it has walking tracks, electric and wood barbecues, picnic areas, children’s playground, public toilets and there is also a Kiosk on site. Dogs are permitted on leash in the park.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 70mm f22, 1/15 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 70mm f8, 1/60 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 200mm f2.8, 1/2500 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 200mm f8, 1/60 sec

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A 'Laughing Kookaburra' (Dacelo novaeguineae)

Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 200mm f2.8, 1/2000 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 200mm f2.8, 1/320 sec

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Winter Sun

Walking in the sun on a winters day means dressing appropriately and hot coffee in the sun. Of course if you are a dog it's more about sniffing around, checking out the other dogs and exploring.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 90mm f2.8, 1/125 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 200mm f2.8, 1/640 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 200mm f2.8, 1/400 sec

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Water Birds, Patterns and Party Animals

Interesting patterns form in the reflection of a wire fence in the water, also these I discovered when processing these images the cormorants had bright emerald green eyes.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-f5.6 @ ISO 200, 18mm, f3.5, 1/125

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-f5.6 @ ISO 200, 18mm, f5.6, 1/200

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Don't know where this bloke came from but was obviously left behind and in a no parking zone :-)

Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-f5.6 @ ISO 200, 18mm, f3.5, 1/100

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Blackwattle Bay

Blackwattle Bay was named in 1788 from the mistaken identification of a yellow flowered tree which grew on the slopes of the bay at that time.

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f8, 1/250 sec

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The Chinese Garden in Darling Harbour

The Chinese Garden in Darling Harbour Sydney was designed and built by Chinese landscape architects and gardeners and the local Chinese community to share their rich cultural heritage and celebrate Australia's 1988 Bicentenary, the Chinese Garden is the result of a close bond of friendship and cooperation between the sister cities of Sydney and Guangzhou in Guangdong Province, China.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 200mm f2.8, 1/60 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f2.8, 1/13 sec

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The garden scenes are all constructed to be best viewed from a pavilion but on paths windows are used to frame garden views which provide multiple layers of scenery and create a sense of the infinite in the finite, artfully distant views are incorporated into the whole scene. Screen walls often have moon shaped (round) doorways and small windows in the shapes of vases and apples.

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f2.8, 1/60 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 16mm f2.8, 1/80 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f2.8, 1/20 sec

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Chinese Classical Gardens are a place for the contemplation of nature and the design should provide a place for to connect with nature. Chinese gardens are built not planted. The essential elements in a Chinese garden are a wall surrounding a pavilion, a pool, and a mountain with a tree.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 70mm f8, 1/10 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ ISO 200, 82mm f8, 0.4 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f22, 1/10 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 16mm f2.8, 1/400 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 16mm f2.8, 1/50 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f3.5, 1/60 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f2.8, 1/50 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f3.5, 1/200 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f3.5, 1/200 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f3.5, 1/500 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 13mm f2.8, 1/500 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f8, 1/250 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f2.8, 1/125 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f22, 1/10 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f2.8, 1/1000 sec

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Keeping it Organised

I organise my wine cellar with 'The Uncorked Cellar' wine cellar software, it's PC based (doh!) and I have yet to find a Mac cellaring program that I like. So you can run it on a Mac using Parallels Desktop or every new Mac lets you install Windows XP and Vista and run them at native speeds, using a built-in utility called Boot Camp. (info HERE)

I have an old PC Notebook which I run The Uncorked Cellar on until I find a viable Mac alternative. The Uncorked Cellar is essentially a database and wine information system.

THE INTERFACE (Click on image for a larger view)

Its great because you can see your wine ageing potential and tasting notes provided by the winemaker. This way you know when your wines will be at their very best. You can also configure a virtual rack display that looks just like your rack (or racks) which makes them easy to find. You can also view a range of graphs and reports of your wine.

2005 PENFOLDS 389 MATURITY CURVE (Click on image for a larger view)

Currently it has over 329,000 wines in the database from Australia NZ and all over the world. I have yet to fin a wine it does not recognise, but if you do you can submit it to the web site for consideration for inclusion.

ALL WINES MATURITY TIMELINE (Click on image for a larger view)