227 replies to this topic

[Shane V]

Shame it's being shut off...would have loved to have seen it for myself. Cool shot Jon.

[Mystic]

interesting shot and location. Agree with Shane that it is bummer it is being fenced off.

[Cascade]

Team Bubble Tea, on 23 January 2012 - 05:30 PM, said:

Covered in ceramic doll faces, with extra ceramic plaques detailing mythical and mundane creatures. Hard to get good colour with a flash.

It doesn't look much in that pic but someone or some people spent their own time and presumably money to create this.

Jon TBT

If you pull the brightness down a little and reduce the Gamma you can actually see more much definition in the doll faces.

Nice coverage of a part of Hobarts hidden history... Typical bureaucratic attitude.. Lock it away... Probably all about preventing liability claims.... But it wont stop those determined to continue going in there.

On the other hand they pay an "Artist" some $300,000.00 to go in and deface part of the South West track near Mellaleuca with a representation of aboriginal heritage or some such idea... I will post some pics of what I personaly consider vandalism, and probably as would the Governmet, if some one had just gone in and done it without any permission.

Sorry TBT didnt intend to highjack your post......

[Team Bubble Tea]

Hi Shane, Mystic and Cascade. Hopefully they'll allow tours down there in the future. But I suspect, and as you've mentioned the potential liability and hence insurance is huge. We live about 200m from the Hobart Rivulet up near the brewery, and when it rains you can almost feel the rumble of the water. Underground I noticed flood debris on ledges twice my height...

Feel free to hijack away Cascade, we love "full and frank" discussions around here .

Week 34: More pics from the Hobart Rivulet, that we found on our camera. We wouldn't have gone back there before it got fenced off because that would have been wrong .

We're off to Victoria for a bit, so if we can get a good connection we'll post our pics otherwise see you in a few weeks.

Cheers
Jon TBT

[Cascade]

There ya go.. TBT.. You had em all the time...

Enjoy your overseas trip...

[Mystic]

Some great shots there Jon. Enjoy the overseas trip, and hopefully we will still be able to keep in touch even though you are headed for a third world country

[Shane V]

Very nice pix Jon...particularly like the first shot. Have a fun trip

[Team Bubble Tea]

Week 35: Melbourne and Maffra ghost signs.

Putting these pics here because they don't really fit under the Tasmanian Ghost Signs thread. The few country towns we visited in Victoria weren't full of ghost signs as I expected, in fact the only one we saw was the Nestle' sign in Maffra.

Maffra's claim to Ghost Sign fame.

The rest of these are in Melbourne.

"Sam's Music House"?



"Abbots Lager"?



The relatively well known "Exford Hotel: Victoria Bitter" ghost sign. This and most of the other pics were taken in Chinatown and alleys nearby.



""something" Press"






"Brasso"



Long shot of sign



Closeup: repainted a few times it might have said "church"? at one stage. This is on the side of one of three totally burnt-out buildings in back alleys in this area. A local I spoke to said he used to eat there and "no-one knew how the fire started".



Who would leave a door unlocked in a big city like Melbourne?

These next ghost signs are really good, but very well known and almost "reproductions". We knew of this spot and as we passed it on the way to the ferry in the very early morning we stopped and took some pictures. They're on the side of a trendy eatery in Lygon St.

Cheers
Jon TBT

More holiday snaps to follow including some great tourism-like pics taken by Mrs TBT of the Spirit of Tasmania 2.

[Cascade]

Some good captures there TBT... Welcome home... Hmmmmm, reproduction ghost signs.. That's gotta be right up someones alley.

[dave]

well done indeed........some very good shots!

[Mystic]

Love the perspectives on quite a few of those shots. Welcome back and looking forward to seeing more of your holiday 'snaps"

[Shane V]

Very nice shots there Jon ...looking forward to your other 'snaps'

[Team Bubble Tea]

Hi and thanks Cascade, Mystic, dave and Shane!

Week 35.1. Mushroom Rocks etc.

Mushroom Rocks were excellent. Unfortunately, the weather was just like Tassie so it was hard to feel "Wow, this is different". But having said that the rocks were enormous and despite having radios we kept a close eye on the TBT kids. It would be very easy to get lost in there.

On the way up.



At the Mushroom rocks. You can see them looming in the mist.



A tortoise we "rescued" off a road.





Sale "Swing Bridge" If you can find it it's great. Volunteers swing it open on Sat/Sun at 3pm. It's like a big clockwork, you wind it open and shut.







Bairnsdale Courthouse. Someone had a "few too many" designing this courthouse.

We really noticed a lack of info on this trip. For example, we heard of the swing bridge but couldn't find out where it was until we came across it by accident. The next snaps are more nautical.

Cheers
Jon TBT

[Team Bubble Tea]

Week 35.2: The Wreck of the Trinculo (wrecked 1879)

On a lee shore on 90 Mile Beach the Trinculo foundered with a few crew, the captain, his wife and young child. A courageous seaman swam ashore with a light line and they were able to rescue all hands.

Taken with Holga Toy Lens.



Taken with Holga Toy Lens.

TBT's own nautical adventures/mishaps up next.

Cheers
Jon TBT

[Shane V]

Gorgeous shots Jon. particularly like the perspective of number 3 and the holga shots. thanks for sharing
Really like th atmosphere in the Sale shots as well.

[Mystic]

Great sets there, must check that bridge out when up that way one day.

[Cascade]

A couple of great sets there TBT, excellent exposures on your Holga shots. They reminded me of the time a couple of eons ago when I had my own darkroom and I was making and playing with pinhole cameras.

[Team Bubble Tea]

Hi & thanks Shane, Mystic and Cascade, glad you liked the pics .

Week 35.3 Sugar Beets and Sunshine.

Here at TBT we can't afford a boat of our own. We haven't got the room and we haven't got the money for what is essentially a hole in the water that you throw money into. So every few years we hire one. 34ft Clippers are ideal, they fit a team of four, you don't need any formal skills and, as we discovered they can take a hell of a beating with only a few cosmetic blemishes.

The Gippsland Lakes in SE Victoria are enormous. There are three big rivers you can cruise up and they have beaches you can just drive the boat onto, put down a ladder and go walking. There are also several National Parks that are only accessible by boat unless you want a few days hike.

But, check if there's a current blue/green algal bloom because this can turn those safe moorings into spots you wouldn't like to put your toe in the water let alone swim or fish.

There are several companies you can hire motor boats and sail boats from. We choose Metung Cruising. They have a single 34' Clipper "Sunshine" that is nicely outfitted in wood. Mrs TBT saw others and said they looked plasticy.

Port of Sale



TBT kids at Barrier Landing, very popular and in a National Park, you just drive your vessel onto the beach and tie up (this is near a rather exclusive private island resort with it's own airstrip).



Rotamah Island. It's great, an abandoned house, a 2-story-high bird-hide and more bird life that you can believe. It was simply deafening the number of squawking, honking, hooting and whistling birds.



Rotamah Island.

We were stranded here. Despite moving the boat into the best position for a North to North-West strong-winds warnings (as advised by the BOM) the storm came from the SW as the locals later told us it would.

We abandoned the vessel at 7:30pm and took refuge on the balcony of the bird-watching house. And when we say storm we mean storm. It wasn't possible to stand upright on the jetty the wind was that strong. "Sunshine" was secured as best we could, but when a she broke off a jettty pole we decided dry land was better. We spent most of the night on the island.

Mrs TBT questioned my priorities when, after getting the kids to take warm clothes, sleeping bags and water I only took the rum .

Next morning with the owner and a chap from the local yacht club help we managed to get Sunshine off the damaged jetty and into deeper water. Despite looking like she wanted to jump onto the jetty "Free Willy" style she was fine. Apart from the mess inside...

Eagle Point. Toilets and hot showers just a few meters away onshore.



Lime Stone Cliffs up the Tambo River



Tambo River



Tambo River



Tambo River



Barrier Landing

Cheers
Jon TBT

[Mystic]

Some great shots of interesting looking locations there Jon. thanks for sharing the info and pics You left the rum until last?????

[Team Bubble Tea]

Thanks Mystic. We thought a full week on a boat would be too long but it wasn't. Although we needed to resupply as we ran out of a certain bottled dark liquid during that storm .