Flowers

Silky Leaf Grevillea

Calotropis; Kings Crown

Calytrix extsipulata; Turkey Bush

Solanum Cunninghamii

Starflower Shrub

White grevillea

Hibiscus Leptocladus

A few more of the endless range of flowers

THE WET

Evidenced in all our travels in the Kimberley was the effect of the Wet of 2010 / 2011. This had been one of the biggest in years,

The recent Wet season in the Kimberley region of Western Australia has caused Australia's largest (in area) freshwater lake, Lake Argyle, to overflow. 

The dam has reached more than its capacity of 10,763 gigalitres (it was 170% capacity at its peak ) and water was flowing 37cm over the spillway and at a rate of 58 cubic metres per second.

That's enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool every 43 seconds, or Sydney Harbour every 12 hours  And it hasn't stopped! Unfortunately the water runs into the sea and there is no plan to send it anywhere else, due to costs.

We stopped to look at the Ord River flowing over the Ivanhoe Crossing. 

The road is the Old Wyndham road and now not a main highway, but a route to popular fishing. Well not this Year! This flow has continued all year since the rain stopped and it will not be opened this year!

Stating the obvious for the not too bright!

The river in full force, been running since February!

 Ivanhoe Crossing, built in 1954 on a rocky outcrop to cross the Ord river, was featured in the film Australia when Lady  Sarah Ashley is brought to Faraway Downs station. 

The crossing is close to where the Duracks constructed the Ivanhoe Station homestead.

The Ord river is enclosed by the Argyle Dam and so it is the outlet from the dam.

As a result there are flowers in abundance everywhere!

Mulla Mulla

Kimberley Heath

The Kimberley

Cockburn Range Near El Questro

I have always planned to return to Halls Creek in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, where I worked for two years 1970-1972. And this year it happened.
Celia and I went on a trip to the Kimberley from Broome. We flew directly to Broome from Melbourne (only two direct flights a week) on 6th July and stayed there 2 days before joining a tour with Kimberley Wild. http://www.kimberleywild.com.au/kimberley_explorer.htm

Celia on the East Beach at Cape Leveque

Manning Falls

We planned a 3 day trip North West from Broome to Cape Leveque, and then a 9 days loop up the Gibb River Road to Kununurra, then down to Purnululu (the Bungle Bungles) and on to Halls Creek, Fitzroy Crossing and back to Broome.

The legendary Gibb River Road, a 660 km dirt track right through the wild heart of the Kimberley, that leaves the main Northern Highway past the turnoff to Derby was created for cattle stations to transport their cattle and was never intended as a tourist road. It's reputation as a tough route has attraction for the adventurer today. The trip is still touted as one of the last serious adventures in Australia, a drive through a very remote area where all sorts of dangers loom, an undertaking that requires guts and four wheel driving experience... well maybe not really, but lots of 4 WD take up the challenge.

Conditions depend on the time for year, and the completion of maintenance grading work. Travel is only recommended once the roads has been graded after the wet season (around May) until end of October. Most of the winding sections of road passing over the ranges are bitumenised, and nearly all the creek and river crossings have concrete bottoms, but it is  a rough road of corrugations.

Ivanhoe Crossing,Unlikely to be opened at all this year!

This year the Wet season was one of the heaviest and the longest with water still pouring down the creeks and crossings. All along the road are side trips to waterfalls and gorges. To which we made several side trips

Jazz in Melbourne

The Melbourne Jazz Festival Program was in a coffee shop a few weeks ago so I decided to check out a few performances.
One I chose was with Yvette Johanson as the support act at the Recital Centre so went with that.
The main act was Chris Botti who outside jazz circles, was largely unknown when he played St Kilda's National Theatre last winter, but after that gig, word spread like wildfire and the word was you have to hear him play the trumpet. I admit I was not expecting anything too exciting, I mean how varied can a trumpet be but WOW!! He is great to look at as well.

Chris Botti

The whole concert was fantastic. He is America's biggest-selling jazz instrumentalist, and has worked with the best Sting, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell. In 1991, he performed with Paul Simon in New York’s Central Park as part of the The Rhythm of the Saints tour. The performance was commercially released as the Concert in the Park CD. While on tour with Simon, he met saxophonist Michael Brecker, which led to Botti producing the Brecker Brothers’ Out of the Loop. The album won a 1995 Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Performance. His own touring band is awesome and on the road for almost 300 days a year. Don't know how they do that!   http://www.chrisbotti.com/home.html

Another event was at the Forum Theatre still a great looking place but the sky and stars have gone!

3 Cohens

The second act was the 3 Cohens (siblings), tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Anat Cohen, trumpeter Avishai Cohen and the soprano saxophonist Yuval Cohen — originally from Israel and now all part of  the the New York jazz world. 

They were appearing with the Aaron Goldberg Trio "Boundless imagination, burning intensity, exquisite sensitivity and abundant soul -- Aaron Goldberg truly has it all. One of the most exciting, inventive, and lyrical pianists you will ever hear." Couldn't have put it better myself. The Cohens were amazing, especially Anet on the Saxaphone. All performers commented on how cold the venue was Aaron said it was hard to lay fast with cold fingers! Old venues have their drawbacks all the audience was rugged up gloves and scarves.

The other events I was interested in are on this long weekend and I am away so will miss them.

However there is a Winter Song Festival on at Aireys that I am going to with Nick & Kate; maybe they will see inspiration for their Sax playing.

Are you warm enough?

Maybe the hair cut has chilled him?

NGV Day 2

It was very enticing to go back and see what else was on.

View from gallery to the River activity

This time I focused on the Ian Potter Gallery and got a closer look at some of the "Live" pictures.

PUKARA by Maringka Baler

Corn  I think, but seeing it is not indigenous to Australia maybe it's called something else

Again there were a lot of children's art activity going on, as well as music, including this indigenous group outside the new Art exhibit.
I walked out along the river for  a space them over the Bridge marveling at what natural vandals young children are!
The security was kept busy asking mothers to prevent their children from rearranging the art works.
This design of stone of Fred Williams painting was a great attraction but look fairly original still.

Fred Williams. Pilbara Hillside

Out along the bridge I got a better look at the Living Art

This guy was very popular!

The picture standing next to him

This painting was one of the favorite 10 selected as well.
When I walked back he was in another pose seated!

Kids were trying to get him to look at them!

A Sargeant of the Light Horse

I didn't walk down to look at this one but it looked familiar.

NGV 150 Years

This weekend celebrates the 150th birthday of the national gallery Of Victoria. They had planned a huge weekend of celebrations,a nd when I arrived about 330pm there were kids adults and activity everywhere The themed Orange balloons were visible everywhere as the trail of activity led from Fed Square to the International gallery 

http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/ngv-150-party

It was 24 May, in 1861 that the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) was founded. But it was also the first public art gallery in Australia. There was a painting of Alfred Felton of Felton bequest fame established in 1904 who made his money supplying to those travelling to the gold fields. He had purchased art himself and  when he died left #338,000 (pounds not dollars) (invested) to the gallery. With that the gallery has  bought  $20million worth of more than 15,000 pieces!  Just paintings  includes some Rembrandt, Tiepolo, Monet, Cezanne, van Gogh, Turner and William Blake. as well as other types of art.

To celebrate the NGV’s 150th birthday, the gallery  unveiled 173 important indigenous works of art gifted to the gallery by the Felton Bequest. Since the NGV opened in St Kilda Road in 1968, the total collection has doubled in size to more than 60,000 works of art. 

The story of trying to build on the site is a story in itself and an engineering breakthrough that led the world.

They  ran a competition to name your top ten favourite pieces and the piece that was voted most popular in the competition.. John Bracks... Collins St 5pm

As well NGV Kids Space opened at NGV International; a dedicated gallery designed for children of up to 8 years old and their families. It is located just on the right of the main foyer .

Easy to find with all the pushers!

Featuring works from NGV collections and exhibitions, children and families can have fun together as they discover art, explore multimedia and hands-on activities while sharing new ideas. II came across some parents from the yacht Club who said they had been sitting for 45 minutes while the children explored; very restful they said!! t was an interesting space with lots of hands on stuff. The theme for the opening exhibit was Kaleidoscope of colour.

The figure is hidden by the Light Pole!

Along the walk from Fed Square to the International gallery there were balloons and cut out figures These were paintings from the Gallery with the Victorian College of the Arts' students in a life pose. At times the public were taken into the picture and draped in clothes to join in.

This was a picture of musicians

The Gallery was open till midnight with talks about some main pieces, musicians in some of the formal galleries. After 5 there was free champagne for the members, where I got chatting to a woman there who had taken advantage of the 2 for one membership offer.

In the great hall there had been kids doing art work on creating mosaics, and that was being cleared for the indigenous music concert planned at 5pm

Kids and parents at work Photo at 340pm

photo at 515pm Cleaned up quickly!!

The ceiling

My friend the Chocolate Cake

However I didn't stay round after 545 as I had come in early especially to get a ticket to the sold out My friend the Chocolate Cake concert, and as I had learnt from my thespian sister there are always tickets for guests etc. kept. 

They were on in teh Fairfax studio. They have released a new album and the crowd was a group of devotees as well as new new fans I expect. There were a lot of children in the audience as well; maybe students of violin or cello. The show was great as expected and good fun. David the pianist and singer was entertaining (love his voice)  and accompanied for 2 songs by his daughter (about 14 yrs I think)

A really great fun day and evening