Glen Innes Hailstorm

Thanks to my Inverell correspondent for this shot of the aftermath of a severe weather on the Northern Tablelands.

Linking to the Skywatch Friday meme

T is for Transmission Terminated

This week the analogue television signal was turned off in Northern NSW, so its over and out for my old black & white telly. TV began on the North Coast in January 1965 with the commercial channel NRN 11 broadcasting out of Coffs Harbour and the government owned ABC on Channel 2 in June of the same year. It wasn't until 1991 that we had more channels, making it 5 in total. Now we have 20 plus free channels now exclusively broadcasting in digital.

Linking to the ABC Wednesday meme

Little High St Op Shop - Yamba

Linking to the Our World Tuesday meme

Mural On Borrowed Time

In Jan 2011 I featured the colouful  toilet block at the South Grafton Marina surrounded by swirling flood waters. The Clarence River Council have recently announced they are going to demolish it and replace it with something more modern, it is old and smelly but I will miss the vivid scenes of early European  life on the Clarence River.
If you are reading Red, the facilities have a killer view of the river and there is an excellent bakery nearby.

Linking to the Monday Mural meme hosted by Oakland Daily Photo.

Warragai Creek Bridge

It is a small ordinary bridge on the Summerland Way from Grafton to Casino but it is very special to me as my dad built it in 1967 for the Department of Main Roads. Like everything he did in his life, it was built to last.

Linking to Louis's Sunday Bridges meme.

Sunset on the Clarence

Linking to the Skywatch Friday meme

S is for Southgate

Southgate is a hamlet slumbering between Grafton and Lawrence. Once it was a real village with a public school, hotel, hall, butcher shop, general  store and post office; today it is just a small collection of houses. Pictured is the Southgate Hotel that closed in 1956 when the license moved to the Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour and the now decrepit hall that was probably last used in the early 1970's.

Linking to the ABC Wednesday meme.

The Coastal Emu

Dromaius novaehollandiae or the Emu is a fairly common bird in inland Australia but on the coastal plains they are extremely rare. Once they found all along the Eastern Seaboard now they are confined to a very small location in the Clarence Valley. Despite their rarity I often see one or two in the cane fields from Tyndale to Maclean. They seem to prefer freshly ploughed fields and being quite a drab bird it makes for a very 'brown' and uninteresting shot.

So I was in a bit of luck to find one in a green paddock and therefore produce a reasonable shot. I wish I could pass on a bit of luck to these birds as they face many threats: dogs and foxes prey on the young chicks, they are hit by cars and housing development is constantly encroaching into their habitat.

Linking to the Our World Tuesday meme

Linking to the Wild Bird Wednesday meme

The Meandering Macintyre

The Inverell Art Society celebrated their 50th Anniversary in 2012 and to leave a lasting legacy a vast mosaic has been created  along an entire block of historic Evans St. It depicts the flora and fauna that lives along the beautiful Macintyre River.
 

Mistletoe and Dicaeum hirundinaceum the Mistletoebird

While taking some shots of this incredible piece of work I met one of it's creator's, the delightful Bert Makepeace. He and everyone involved should be congratulated on such an epic task. The Inverell Times suggests it could be the longest single themed mosaic footpath in the world! 

On my many trips to Inverell, my local correspondent has  talked about the vast numbers of Black Swans you can find on the Macintyre River but whenever we go to look there aren't any there, however, thanks to the mosaic footpath I can finally say I've seen some!

Linking to the Blue Monday meme

Linking to the Mellow Yellow Monday meme

Linking to the Monday Mural meme

Turners Beach Reflection

Linking to James's Weekend Reflections meme

From Angourie to Yamba

From Angourie to Yamba across a benign sea: Green Point, Green Point Beach, Dump Beach, Flat Rock, Pippi Beach, Lover's Point.

Linking to Dragonstar's Weekend in Black and White meme

Inverell School of Arts

The glorious Inverell School of Arts was built in 1906, today it is part of the Inverell Art Gallery. Can you see William Shakespeare at the centre of the pediment?

The building has a number of bas-reliefs that show cherubs enjoying life. When the School of Arts was built as well as being a library it also included a billiard hall, I like the humorous reference within one of the reliefs.

Linking to the Sky Watch Friday meme 

Viking Boat on the Clarence

Linking to Lesley's Signs meme

R is for Rockfishing

Rockfishing is the most dangerous sport in New South Wales, on the average around a dozen people die a year from being swept off the rocks and drowning in the sea. Although it was a calm day at Green Point near Angourie, rock fishers always have to be on their guard for a rogue wave and should never turn their backs on the ocean.

Linking to the ABC Wednesday meme

Linking to the Water World Wednesday meme.

Time to Have a Seat

Linking to the Our World Tuesday meme.

Coffs Harbour Farmers Market

Every Thursday a farmers market takes place in City Square, Coffs Harbour. Besides loads of fresh produce there often events such as "Show Us Ya Dish", an amateur cooking contest like Masterchef. 
The 3 contestants looked to be making great dishes.

Linking to the Blue Monday meme.

Rememberance Day

The 3rd Australian Division Memorial on the hills above Sailly–le–Sec, department Somme, France.

The Old Boarding School

In 1885 the Sisters of Mercy opened a convent school in Grafton. The Boarding House was opened in 1929 and closed in 1987. It is still used by the Sisters as self-contained residential units.

Linking to Dragonstar's Weekend in Black & White meme.

Spooky Beach: Angourie

Linking to the Skywatch Friday meme.

Colourful Yamba Shed

A little while back the old shed that had stood forlornly on the road into Yamba was transformed with a colourful mural, a wagon wheel and some old bones. It certainly is eye-catching!

Linking to Lesley's Signs meme.

Q is for Queen

Sara Filewood is Grafton's Jacaranda Queen for 2012. Here she is pictured upon her royal float drawing the adoration of all loyal Graftonians in the annual parade.
Thanks to 'junior' for this shot.

Not sure if any of these ladies were the Queen of the Inverell Sapphire City festival but they were wearing tiaras.

Linking to the ABC Wednesday Meme.

"Switching You Through Now"

The old red phone booth in front of the Grafton Courthouse could do with some TLC, but I guess in this age where public phone booths are being rapidly removed, it's chances of survival are pretty slim.

http://www.worldpayphones.com/units/unit-uk-AB.htm

I found this picture of an old NSW payphone that was in use until the 1980's in a rural area. The inside of the Grafton booth is that same speckled green but of course it contains a much more modern unit.
The old manual telephone in the picture reminded me that until 1990 I used to call friends to the north of Inverell by phoning the Wallangra exchange and asking Lola to put me through to "Two Four", that's only 22 years ago!
I also remember as a child going from phone booth to phone booth with the neighborhood gang pressing Button B in the hope that it would spit out a 20 cent piece that some poor soul had forgotten to retrieve if their call didn't go through, we rarely hit pay-dirt, collecting and returning cordial bottles was a much more lucrative business.

Linking to the Ruby Tuesday2 meme.

Linking to the Our World Tuesday meme.

Back to the Future

For that ultimate retro holiday, pack up the Vauxhall Velox, hitch up the caravan and head for that friendly park by the sea.

Linking to the Blue Monday meme.

Bushfires

The last few months have been very dry on the North Coast and New England areas. After many years of good rainfall the forests are full of very dry fuel and there have been a number of large blazes. The biggest is in a wilderness area between Armidale and Kempsey and has burnt out nearly 500 square kilometres.

Jacaranda Avenue - Today & Yesterday

The Jacaranda Festival began in 1935 in Pound St Grafton. Initially it was a folk dancing festival with the citizens of the town gathering under the trees to watch children present a pageant. The following night the adults merrily danced  to an adapted version of the Cornish Floral Dance.

These days Jacaranda Avenue plays no part in the festival.

Inverell Fly Past

Folks at the Sapphire City Festival held at Inverell were treated to a number of spectacular flypasts during the afternoon. I was told the planes were Russian.

Linking to the Skywatch Friday meme.

November Theme Day - Water's Edge

On the first day of each month the City Daily Photo Community shoots to a common theme, for November it's the Water's Edge. Click here for more shots from around the globe.