voice in the ether

a cloudy day in cloudy bay

voiceintheether — Sun, 01 May 2011 13:29:06 +0000

Arrived in Hobart yesterday arvo, good fish & chips at Fish Frenzy on Elizabeth Street Pier for dinner. After a visit to the Hobart Showground Sunday Market this morning (where there were, funnily enough, a couple of treasures with my name on them), I headed south to Kettering to get the ferry to Bruny Island. Missed the 12.05 by a minute or two, so wandered a bit further south to Woodbridge & Flowerpot before returning in time for the 13.45 ferry. Disembarked on the Bruny Island side & drove to the south island & Cloudy Bay for a bit of schlepping & photography.

yellow thing on corner disguised as art

voiceintheether — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 10:52:22 +0000

No idea what this thing is…a fire hydrant? It’s metal, it’s yellow…it’s art.

a day for clouds

voiceintheether — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 13:51:22 +0000

Clouds make me feel good. Birthday today, but somewhat insignificant, really, in direct comparison to clouds…

new year’s day 2011

voiceintheether — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:16:18 +0000

the pufferfish look

voiceintheether — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 00:43:30 +0000

Drug manufacturers love Spring in Canberra, Hayfever Capital of Australia. Those of us who come from somewhere else, previously smug & safe in our hayfever-less state, are, upon arrival in Canberra, reduced to incoherent, weeping wrecks as our bodies (& minds) struggle with local & introduced pollens.

Just how much crap do I have to shovel down my throat before the sneezing & itching & headaches abate?! I am taking a phalanx of pharmaceuticals – antihistamines, herbal hayfever remedies, aspirin & eyedrops, plus echinacea, evening primrose oil, fish oil, & vitamins D & C. I am a walking pharmacy, & yet still I feel like crap. A car-wreck of allergic reactions.

The eyes are the worst – hot, dry & itchy, swollen to the point of looking like a human pufferfish.

What are these fucking super-pollens that are able to resist every hayfever remedy known to humankind? I’m an environmentalist, but if I could figure out which pollen is making me feel like a piece of shit I’d start a campaign to obliterate it. Actually, fuck the campaign. I would take to the land & kill it dead myself. I am under assault & justified in taking retaliatory action. Raze the stuff into oblivion. Habitat? There’s plenty of other habitat out there.

back to canberra

voiceintheether — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:29:42 +0000

Went to the storage space before leaving Melbourne on Saturday. What would a photo of the storage space reveal? A couple of thousand rekeds, boxes of books, a few occasional tables & a stuffed chook (Elvira). I did manage to find the Super 8 camera which means I may use some of the Super 8 film I have stashed in the storage space in Canberra (yes, sadly there are two storage spaces). The drive from Melbourne to Orbost on Saturday was fairly uneventful; no exciting op shop purchases or interesting cemeteries.

Left Orbost mid-morning & took the coast road via Marlo & Cape Conran. For sale in Marlo is the site of the ‘former cinema’. I visited that cinema in, I think, 1999 & it was still showing the occasional film. The owner showed me through back then, explained how the screen had tiny holes in it to stop it flapping in the wind (as they’d leave the door open in summer to allow the breeze in). The route the film travelled from one reel, through the projector & onto the take-up reel was fascinating (not as straightforward as you might think). Marlo is where the Snowy River meets the sea, & where the film The Man From Snowy River premiered. But gone now; the building is standing but the film-related murals (painted by local school kids) on the side are no more. Who knows its fate when it’s been sold, but not hard to guess.

Just out of Marlo heading towards Cape Conran was this sign that made me laugh a lot – if only all cemeteries were flagged with a sign like this! No more dodgy U-turns on the highway.

The view of French’s Narrows was lovely, but didn’t make me want to balance on the edge of the cliff. The sign obviously had the right effect. I am definitely coming back to explore the Cape Conran Coastal Park; the beach at Cape Conran looked cool.

Reluctantly started the trek inland from Cape Conran via Cann River & Bombala. Couldn’t help but stop at Nimmitabel Pioneer Cemetery, where I felt Spring was in evidence on this tree as well as in the air. Back in Canberra now, but the desire to get out of it more often has been renewed with a vengeance.

torquay beach 15 september 2010

voiceintheether — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 10:58:45 +0000

road trip (continued) – orbost to melbourne

voiceintheether — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:06:52 +0000

It took ten hours to do the 375 kilometres from Orbost to Melbourne last Saturday. There were more hours spent pfaffing about in op & antique shops & cemeteries than actual driving. But that’s the way it should be.

Both the Friends of Orbost Op Shop & the St James Trash & Treasure in Orbost were open. Found an old Focal Press book on photographic printing in one & a small-ish cardboard box in the other (one should not underestimate the value of a decent small-ish cardboard box).

Conscious of valuable Saturday morning op-shopping time slipping away, I indulged in only a quick schlepp around Orbost Cemetery, which was lovely in the sunshine. On to Lakes Entrance where all but one of the six op shops were closed by the time I got there, & nothing to be had in the one that was open. The Riviera Trading Post proved slightly more interesting. Found a worn old teapot with a chipped spout that purists may find offensive but will live on happily enough at my place.

Still enough time for a quick visit to the Lakes Entrance cemetery.

Bairnsdale Clocks on the Princes Highway is definitely worth a visit to absorb the constantly evolving soundscape of little mechanical whirrings & chimes…you get the sense that things are in a state of perpetual motion (which they are). I found the sounds quite soothing. They have many clocks (obviously) but I also managed to find some lovely pieces of marcasite jewellery.

road trip – canberra to orbost

voiceintheether — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:41:25 +0000

Cloudy Skies. Rain. Wind. Dennis & I make our way along the Monaro Highway, but driving & singing loudly are not the only things to do today.

Other than listening to music, the next funnest things to do on a road trip are op-shopping & taking photos in cemeteries. First stop Cooma. Quick visit to the Salvos where the rekeds are three for one dollar. How could I resist?

On to Bombala, where I find an Anglicare Op Shop on Maybe Street, but sadly closed as it is now 3:30. Opening times are conveniently posted in the window: Wednesday & Thursday 12:30 – 3.00; Friday 10.15 – 3.00. I love that it opens on Fridays at 10.15 rather than 10.00 or 10.30. Fab.

The cemetery is on the Monaro Highway just on the south side of Bombala. Not much time today, but a quick wander turns up this lovely statue.

Black cloudy skies & sheep with their lambies along the highway to Cann River. Orbost by dinner time. Melbourne tomorrow.

dennis achieves another milestone

voiceintheether — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:18:45 +0000

Not only is Dennis (Holden HT Kingswood, made in February 1970) 40 years old, but he also got to 200,000 miles today! I’m not sure that anyone working on the production line 40 years ago would ever have thought he’d still be going all this time later.

I wish I could be unsentimental about Dennis, it’s not good for the pocket or the credit card, but I just can’t seem to let him go. Eventually I may come around to the idea of recycling him into other people’s Kingswoods, but I need to hang onto him for now at least.

I am so impressed by my dear, recalcitrant, crappy old car that’s lasted 40 years & 200,000 miles!