Weekly drawing 72: Camping in St Ives bushland

Anthony and I camping at St Ives, 1989

When I was 14, Anthony and I spent many weekends camping in the bushland at St Ives . We would walk down from Acron Oval to the Cascades and then along Middle harbour creek to our favourite sandstone overhang, were we would camp overnight. 

I felt a great feeling of freedom in the bush. I was relived to get away from the bland suburb of St Ives and it's ever growing shopping centre. At times while camping I would imagine how the local Aborigines once lived in St Ives, fishing in the creek and sleeping in the same sandstone shelter which we used for our camp site.

Unfortunately we couldn't enjoy the same simple pleasures because the creeks were now very polluted from urban and industrial runoff. So we had to carry everything we needed into the bush and ration our food and water for the journey. To conserve water and save energy we cleverly hid water bottles at certain secret places along the track (behind trees under leaf mulch) 

To me pollution doesn't mean it's all over and everything is destroyed. It just makes me think we need to clean up our act, so one day we can have clean waterways again. Imagine one day going for a walk in Sydney bushland and confidently drinking or swimming in the water, it would be awesome.

Weekly drawing 28: Stonemasons building the Papal Palace, Avignon

Stonemasons building the Papal Palace, Avignon

This drawing is based on a model I saw last year in France at the Palais des Papes (Papal Palace) in Avignon in southern France. I wanted to pay tribute to the highly skilled 13th century stonemasons who built this awe-inspiring structure. Their story isn't celebrated enough! With only simple tools and lots of elbow grease they achieved a monunental work of art.

13th century stonemasonry tools

Photos from our visit to Avignon in September 2010.

One night in Melbourne

Sounds crazy but it was a great way to get out of Sydney for the weekend. Leaving Sydney 7.00am Saturday morning and leaving Melbourne 8.45pm Sunday gave me the feeling of a full weekend away.

Long-Nosed Bandicoot spotted at Sydney Airport

My list of recomendations:
Degraves Espresso Bar baguette and coffee
City Basement books
Melbourne Open House Royal Exhibition building

Lord of the Fries I had a mini burger deal which was surprisingly perfect

The Roof top bar
The New International Bookshop
35 City Circle Free Tourist Tram
National Gallery of Victoria I have wished to see a Eugene von Guerard Exhibition for many years. Von Guerard was a colonial landscape painter, with a keen eye for the natural environment. Commissioned by many colonialists to paint their newly acquired properties. I love that he would often celebrate the original owners of the land. His work is a powerful celebration of Australia.