Travel – Page 21 – Nicci Carrera

November 18, 2013March 20, 2014 Nicci Australia, Travel

Bondi Beach Australia, sculpture walk, 1

We were in Sydney on the first day of this amazing outdoor exhibit. Combine a stunning location with these brilliant, mind boggling sculptures and you have a lot of photo ops and a very enjoyable, thought provoking experience.

I love this weight of the world one. The artist built it just for this cliff.

From this perspective it looks like a bunch of boards.

And here it is a life sculpture. I like the sense of movement.

This is granite! How did the artist do it? I have no idea.

This one is called World.

This one is called Multiverse:

November 17, 2013March 20, 2014 Nicci Australia, Travel

Street art of Sydney Australia

Can you make out what this is? It’s clear to me now but I couldn’t figure it out when I was standing close to it.

I moved further away and I could finally see it.

Further away and I could see it plainly.

Weird how that works. This was my favorite piece. As you can see, the tagger was respectful and wrote on the guard rail instead of on the painting.

This was my second favorite. I think it was commissioned by the owner of the venue.

Here’s the companion piece:

I didn’t like this one, but I thought it was amazing nonetheless:

A couple more.

November 16, 2013March 20, 2014 Nicci Australia, Travel

Charters Towers 3, the streets

Given that Charters Towers is inland (from Townsville), behind a mountain range and in the outback, I expected a desert city. The town is filled with trees, though, a lush oasis, though the outback in this area is also dotted with trees, filled with grass and fed by a huge river (the Burdekin River), so it is not quite right to call Charters Towers an oasis either. But the trees are larger and there is a wide variety of them.

The visitor’s center is open 7 days a week and the town has preserved its historic downtown.

I think my favorite thing about Charters Towers was seeing contemporary people living in this historic town — the mix of the old and the new. It is a charming place where I could well imagine living!

We parked across the street from the visitor’s center. This is looking down the main street. Our little white rental car is in the foreground on the right.

Another street shot:

Some of the historic buildings:

The bank:

The police station:

And every day life:

A tavern:

Modern stores in old buildings:

A pub:

An open lot with a park behind it, showing some of the trees.

November 15, 2013March 20, 2014 Nicci Australia, Travel, Uncategorized

Charters Towers, Australia, the florist

An interesting display in a florist and a reflection of the city and the photographer.

November 14, 2013March 20, 2014 Nicci Australia, Travel

Great Barrier Reef

You have to get up early to get to the reef from Townsville.

It’s a long boat ride, but it’s worth it! The dark patches are the reef.

The environment is very peaceful. I saw 3 big, kind of flat (vertical) fish hanging motionless in the water near the reef. They were so still! And there’s not much sound, just your own breath. Gazing down at the life below from the surface was really peering into another world.

The captain suggested I shoot some pictures through his polarized sun glasses. They allow you to see more deeply into the water.

November 13, 2013March 20, 2014 Nicci Food, Travel, Writing

The Last Straw world-wide release and a free cookbook

Dinner last night was vegetarian Thai curry. Half the vegetables came from our garden, which still clings to life despite cold nights.

We make this all the time at home so I submitted it for the recipe gift book my publisher does during the holidays. You can get the recipe on page 55 of the FREE Holiday Garden Gourmet cookbook at The Wild Rose Press. You’ll also find lots of other recipes from Wild Rose Press authors, all organized by type of recipe in a free, downloadable PDF.

While you’re there, if you would like my novella, The Last Straw, in another format besides Kindle (mobi), you can now get a PDF or epub version. Here is the link: The Last Straw.

Note: Last night we added tofu to the mix, which isn’t in the recipe, for extra protein. You can see the little white cubes in the second photo. Just toss them in at the end and let the meal simmer for about 10 minutes to heat the tofu.

Enjoy!

November 12, 2013October 26, 2013 Nicci Australia, Travel

The beauty of dead trees, Magnetic Island, Australia series, 5

November 11, 2013November 11, 2013 Nicci Australia, Travel

Lighthouses of Victoria, Australia, 1, Split Point

Leanne (of Leanne Cole Photography fame) took us to this fabulous spot. I must admit that at the time I was dizzy from travel and not really able to absorb everything. I mean Melbourne and The Great Ocean Road are somewhat overwhelming. Thankfully, it doesn’t take much mental alertness to point a camera and click. Now I can go back and enjoy some of the nuances of the experiences.

Looking at these photos reminds me of the feeling I had at this light house. The feeling was cozy. Some lighthouses feel lonely to me.

I wonder if you will get that feeling from the photos.