Tag Archives: DPchallenge

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: Future Tense. I can feel it coming…

This is going to be huge, I just know!

This is going to be huge. Somehow I just know!

Right, I’ve got a start. Now I just need a few characters, a setting, a plot, some kind of theme… Add a bit of dialogue and away we go!

ACT ONE, SCENE ONE.

HOUSE LIGHTS FADE.

CURTAIN OPENS AND THERE ON STAGE WE SEE…um… IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STAGE WE SEE…

It’s about time for a cup of coffee. Back soon.

(Thanks to Daily Post for a tricky Weekly Photo Challenge.)

STOP PRESS: Thanks too to all those helping with ideas in the comments section. Keep them coming. This has Tony Award written all over it!

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Filed under Writing

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – my best and worst ever lunches

Peter Gilmore's salad of yellowfin tuna. Those things that look like baby tomatoes are made of fish.

Peter Gilmore’s salad of yellowfin tuna. Those things that look like baby tomatoes are made of fish.

This WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE has the title ‘Lunchtime’. I’m sure I’m not alone in having a computer clogged with never-to-be-looked-at-again food shots.

Let’s start with the good news. The most memorable lunch I will ever have in my life was at Peter Gilmore’s Quay, regularly named by those more expert in the field as Australia’s best restaurant. The food included the dish pictured above, though the fine dining was overshadowed by Mevrouw T and I being surprise parents of the bride. For a full report on the event (and more food shots), CLICK HERE.

Unfortunately there are many contenders for my worst lunch ever, though one in Friesland, Netherlands, was a standout.

We did a hard morning’s cycling to reach a small village where a kaatsen tournament was in full swing. It’s an intriguing local Friesian sport, so we stopped to watch. And ate the following…

The fries on the right weren't bad, but were more than cancelled out by the sheer nastiness of that 'gehaktbal' - a meatball.

The fries on the right weren’t bad, but were more than cancelled out by the sheer nastiness of that ‘gehaktbal’ – a meatball.

For the full story, including news of how we repaired the internal damage with an excellent Friesian dinner, CLICK HERE.

As you would expect, there was a price differential between the two lunches. The meatball wasted a couple of my hard-earned euros. The meal at Quay, including wine, was paid for by somebody else. Thanks!

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Filed under travel photography

PHONEOGRAPHY CHALLENGE – My neighbourhood, where the coffee is real!

Okay, it's a little fuzzy, but so am I at this hour of the morning. What matters is that the coffee has some colour in it. Take note, all ye would-be baristas!

Okay, it’s a little blurry, but so am I at this hour of the morning. What matters is that the coffee has some colour in it. Take note, all ye would-be baristas!


For once I’ve done this Weekly Photo Challenge strictly according to the rules. The instructions were to depict the delights of your neighbourhood as seen through the hole in the back of your phone.

So armed with nothing but an iPhone 4, out I went into the streets of Marrickville, Sydney, NSW, Australia. First stop was the Post Cafe – the old post office now converted into something far more useful early on a Saturday morning. Continue reading

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Filed under travel photography, Travel-Australia

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – lost in details (in Claude Monet’s garden)

Monet may have liked this one too. The pointillism was all done for him.

Monet may have liked this one too. The pointillism was all done for him.



This Weekly Photo Challenge asks us to think about picking small details out of larger scenes.

Last year I was fortunate enough to visit Monet’s famous garden at Giverny, France.

Naturally we couldn’t entirely avoid the obvious. I took as many shots as everyone else did of the bridges and waterlilies. Continue reading

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Filed under Art, France, travel photography

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: FORWARD

He's never had so much interest shown in his cycling technique.

He’s never had so much interest shown in his cycling technique.

We stood by the roadside in our thousands, wondering who would be first out of the tunnel when the Tour de France arrived at our vantage point.

The peloton was led by an unknown rider who’d somehow strayed onto the route on his way to work.

I applaud his efforts and offer him as my entry in this Weekly Photo Challenge. Continue reading

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Filed under Cycling, travel photography

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: BEYOND – hmm, tricky…!

It's all go at Tyangboche Monastery, Nepal. But wait, what's that I see through the break in the cloud?

It’s all go at Tyangboche Monastery, Nepal. But wait, what’s that I see through the break in the cloud?



I didn’t find this an easy Weekly Photo Challenge. Usually I’m trying to focus my camera on the main subject, consciously avoiding distractions in the background.

Then I thought of this…

After a solid day’s walking we were pleased to emerge at Nepal’s Tyangboche Monastery, just under 4000 metres high.

It was Trekker Town, crowded with yaks and mules, Sherpas and Germans. The gongs and vuvuzela-like horns from the monks provided the soundtrack. The bakery provided real coffee. Tenzing Norgay, Sir Edmund Hillary’s fellow climber, was born in the Kumjung region and studied at this monastery.

All very interesting. Then suddenly the clouds parted, and there was Mount Everest beyond.

Need I say that the trek itself was one of the best I’ve ever done. To read more about it, CLICK HERE.

14 Comments

Filed under Himalayas