Black Mountain
For a mostly quiet city, Canberra does have its share of attractions. One of them is the Telstra Tower (formerly known as the Black Mountain Tower) which sits atop Black Mountain, and overlooks the Capital City complex, and Lake Burley Griffin. Its offers a somewhat space-age design of the 70s – futuristic, yet retro. The [...]
An Afternoon at the Rocks
Something of an iconic location for Sydney, the Rocks is the birthplace of Australia’s biggest city. Beyond the myriad of places to go an eat at, there lies a public area where tourists and Sydneysiders alike choose to take some quality time in to relax, and watch the world go by, while seated in the [...]
Good Morning from Melbourne
City skylines are commonly seen from the ground, but are truly appreciated when seen from the air. Planes are good, helicopters are even better – but there is nothing quite like a balloon ride over Melbourne on a crisp autumn morning. Pictured above is the skyline of Melbourne, with the streets of Parkville, North Melbourne [...]
The perfect view
Melbourne is the #1 city in the world. Today, I have to express a huge thank you for the opportunity to savour it from a vantage point that I have always wanted to – from a hot air balloon while floating over the Melbourne suburbs. Melbourne is one of the few cities in the world [...]
Melbourne from St, Kilda
Something from a little closer home for a change – the St. Kilda marina has several attractions, and is one of the best maintained piers along Beaconsfield Parade. The pier has a breakwater at its end, which forms a shelter for fairy penguins which come in at sunset. If you choose to turn right [...]
The Antipodean Capital
Understated, yet classy – Canberra is perhaps one of the most underrated places in Australia to visit. It sets itself apart from any other capital in the world as it is far smaller than the two commercial centres of the nation – Melbourne and Sydney – and lies somewhere between the two. Laid out [...]
The Senate
The Upper Hopuse of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the Senate is the pink room in Canberra’s Government House. It is here that Senators who are elected for their term (typically of six years) take action to either pass or block legislation that the Government may have initiated. One of the most liberating things [...]
The House of Representatives
In our nation’s democratic system, we have two houses – the House of Representatives is pictured here from Parliament House in Canberra. It is the lower house where Members of Parliament haggle over what their constituencies want of them in a political process that we embrace known as democracy. With the Government on one side, [...]
Sunrise over Sydney Harbour
Sydney Harbour’s two major draw cards are the Habour Bridge, and the Opera House. Both are most accessible on foot from Circular Quay. As all photographers would know, the best times to shoot, are at Sunrise, and Sunset. There are specific vantage points where you will get the best views – and these require a [...]
Sunrise at Brighton
I was down at Brighton Beach this weekend, taking in a crisp autumn sunrise. Truth be told, I spent about an hour and a half watching the sun come up as I shot a series of time-lapse sequences for a project that I am working on. These iconic bathing boxes which are symbolic of Melbourne, [...]
The cost of freedom
Today is ANZAC day in Australia (and New Zealand), commemorated every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The day also more broadly commemorates all those who served and died in military operations for their countries – [...]
Circle, Square, Circle, Square
Sometimes, the feature is just above you. This is the ceiling of the Queen Victoria Building. I took this shot while lying down on my back on the ornate floor directly below. This view looks up through three levels of this building to a stained glass dome. This shot is something that appeals to me [...]
The Opera House from the Rocks
The Rocks are where Sydney was founded. It is on the North Western edge of Circular Quay. A trip to Sydney would be incomplete without taking a walk along this area. Along this stretch of historic waterfront lies the Park Hyatt on the Rocks – where rooms go typically for around $700 a night, and [...]
The Map Room
One of the great things about travelling is the chance to be able to discover new things, especially stores that are quaint and would tease the curiosities of every traveller. Take this place for example, tucked away neatly in an upper level of the Queen Victoria Building in the heart of Sydney. It is called the [...]
The Sydney Aquarium
I’ve been to several different aquarium installations all around the world – they all have draw-cards of their own, and mostly tend to have the same set of creatures in their tanks. Sydney Aquarium gives you a sense of what a real aquarium is really like. Their major draw-card is, without a doubt, the Great Barrier Reef [...]
Easter Sunday Morning in the Sydney Underground
Bright and early, I awoke, to catch a train to Circular Quay from St. James Square on an Easter Sunday morning. Sydney is the quintessential global city that the world is made up of – yet in a nation where people work very hard during the week, it is only to be expected to find that the [...]
QVB
Sydney has a lot to offer to tourists, with something for everyone. Shoppers, sightseers and photographers alike will be able to appreciate the Queen Victoria Building on Market Street, just a couple of blocks down from St. James Square, and across from the Town Hall railway station. This building is exquisitely decorated in Victorian opulence (the term “New-South-Welsh [...]
Sacrifice
Sydney’s ANZAC War memorial is in keeping with the many war memorials that are around Australia. The centrepiece of this pink marble and granite structure is this sculpture by Australia sculptor Rayner Hoff called “Sacrifice”. The monumental bronze sculpture of a deceased youth, representing a soldier, held aloft on his shield by a caryatid – three [...]
The Coat-hanger at Dusk
Sydney is home to the largest natural harbour in the world. There is little wonder why it takes so much time to get around the harbour. I discovered that the best way to cover the harbour is by using the state-run ferries that operate from Darling Harbour and Circular Quay to a range of destinations, [...]
The coat hanger and the armadillo
Sydney has several major drawcards – but no two are more well known than the Harbour Bridge (the Coat Hanger), and the Opera House (which looks a bit like an armadillo). Both icons stand on either side of Circular Quay and are the centrepoint for all tourists, who can catch a ferry from here to [...]
The Three Sisters
The Blue Mountains are quite easily accessible from Sydney. It turns out that there is a direct train that will get you from Sydney’s Central Railway station to Katoomba, the centre of the Blue Mountains National Park, from where one can comfortably hop on and off the local tour bus operation. Now, it isn’t the [...]
The Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour
This was literally the high point of my day yesterday – from one of the highest points in Sydney. Cahill walk on the Sydney Harbour Bridge gives one some of the most spectacular views of Sydney Harbour. The challenge can be keeping still (the bridge vibrates as vehicles pass by behind you), but with a [...]
The Windows by the Staircase
I’m in Sydney over Easter. While many may well believe that Sydney is the most beautiful city in the world to live in, I am still going with Melbourne when it comes to quality of life. Nonetheless, Sydney has its fair share of attractions, and not the least of which is a building in the [...]
Sunrise at the Jaws of Death
The last few days have been a bit gloomy here in Victoria. We’ve had an awful lot of rain, and I just felt that there is a good case to post something cheerful – like the perfect sunrise on a Christmas morning photographed at the Balconies at Grampians National Park in December 2010. Sometimes, life [...]
