Sunshine Coast Daily Photo: alexandra headland

Saturday, 30 January 2010

Trying his luck.

Off to see what's biting.

Alexandra Headland.

Rockpools
skywatch reflections

The rock pools at Alex at a murky time of day. Overcast, high humidity and late afternoon combine to ensure that if you wear red, you will stand out.

A murky Skywatch at 90% humidity and 30°C.

Well they can't be CHIPS, because for starters we aren't in California, and we aren't within cooee of a highway. If you have to be a patrolling officer, then this would have to be one of the fun parts of the job I reckon.

Alexandra Headland

Minding the stuff

A beach bag waits patiently.

Alexandra Headland

HMAS Brisbane
a Skywatch at Sea

The monument to the HMAS Brisbane sits on the top of Alexandra headland, and features one of the original arials from the ship. If one sights between the mast and the bow of the ship, and imagines a spot five kilometres off shore, one can pinpoint the location of the hulk.

From Wikipedia:

Brisbane was sunk as a dive wreck off the coast of Queensland. Her bridge and one of her 5-inch (127 mm) guns were removed and preserved at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, which were incorporated into the post-1945 galleries, which opened in 2007.

Brisbane was sunk approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) off the coast of Mudjimba, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, 31 July 2005 in 30 metres (98 ft) of water. Brisbane was filled with approximately 200 tonnes of concrete, and 38 small charges were detonated to breach the hull, the activation of which was performed by Queensland State Premier Peter Beattie. Brisbane sank in two and a half minutes. The top of her funnels can be seen lying just three metres below the water at low tide. A 2009 study of the value of protected areas found that the wreck had contributed AU$18 million to the Sunshine Coast economy.

I was high on the hill above Alexandra Headland on that fateful day, 31 July 2005, and took the following sequence of shots (from about seven kilometres distance on the old point and shoot!)

10:15 am

Charges are detonated. Each has been positioned so that when the ship is breached it will fill and sink so that it lies upright on the bottom, to maximise it's value as a dive wreck.

10:17 am

Smoke still wafts gently from the interior, but nothing seems to be happening.

10:18 am

and she begins to slip away.

10:19 am

All that remains is a throng of spectator craft and a fleet of helicopters, all moored outside a one kilometre exclusion zone.

We leave with a strange feeling; we've just seen a warship sink.

Alexandra Headland

Don't forget to check out other Skywatch photos today, and please note that although I have not participated in the City Daily Photo blogs "best photo of the year" theme today, there are hundreds of spectacular photos to be found should one care to follow this link.

Surf Craft

Just as has happened for generations, life skills are passed down from father to son, from grandfather to grandson. There are no finer skills to be learned than those involved in catching a wave.

Mandy's Mural
another Watery Wednesday presentation

Right there on the top of "Alex" is a public convenience. I wonder about the term "convenience" as these things are usually hidden in the most obscure places, difficult to find, difficult to get to, and then when one does they are often locked.

This one however, is quite convenient. It's buried into the slope to make it reasonably difficult to find, but if one approaches it from altogetherly the wrong direction, the entire wall is covered in a seascape.

This is a representation of the view from the loo! (See yesterday's photo for the actual view.)

I'm fairly sure that "Mandy" is actually Mandy Shadforth a local artist who has been responsible for a number of bright and cheery transformations in the Mooloolaba-Alexandra Headlands area. I'll try to track her down for more information.

Oh! This of course is Watery Wednesday as well!

Alex - not quite sunset.
My first Skywatch in quite a while!

The sun has an hour or so in it, but the deep shadow is cast by an enormous storm front coming over. Two or three kilometres away, the buildings below Alexandra Headland are still in the clear, and seem quite unconcerned.

As there are every week, there are hundreds of links to more Skywatch photos at Skywatch Friday.

© Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

My Hat!

No, it's actually not mine, but I do have one like it.

Even late in the afternoon it's great for keeping those nasty rays off, but sometimes in the evening breeze it needs a steadying hand.
© Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Rockpool

There's a storm coming, yet one cloud illuminates the beach and reflects in the rockpools.

I think I could spend a year photographing them without becoming bored.

© Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Splash

It looks like a great way to cool off, and on the face of it it's harmless enough, but the ocean claims many souls by sweeping them away off the rocks on the Australian coastline.

Thankfully, accidents here are rare, and I'm pleased to relate that no rescue was necessary this time!

© Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Small Boy

When our children were small, we'd wait till late in the afternoon, and wander on the beach for an hour or so before sunset when the crowds had gone home and the sting had gone from the sun.

With Mr Three yesterday, all those warm and fuzzy memories came flooding back.

© Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

The Glasshouses
6 of 6 - What Tibrogargan Sees

There's no doubt that even through the winter haze, the mountains don't have a bad view of the coast. The jumble of civilisation on the horizon is the urban centre of Maroochydore, Mooloolaba and Alexandra Headland. From this viewpoint it all looks a little.... unnatural, I suppose it is.

This photo once again puts the residential density of our city into a rather more focussed perspective than the photograph. We really do have a lot of open space around us.

Mooloolaba
Maroochydore
Alexandra Headland

© Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

We are presently on the road again without a reliable internet facility so this blog is being updated by a machine. You can keep tabs on our wherabouts here!

Going Home

All good things come to an end, eventually Mum calls one home to tea.

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Watching

For every person in the water, there is at least another one on the shore watching the action. Alexandra Headland provides an amphitheatre for just that purpose.

Alexandra Headland

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Decisions Decisions Decisions

Sometimes, there are a whole heap of decisions that need to be made before one goes into the water. There's always a moment of intense hesitation.

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Cutback

When the wave comes, may as well wring the most out of it!

Alexandra Headland

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Waves in short supply.

On a day when waves are small, there can be a queue of surfers, but it's a pretty pleasant place to queue.

Alexandra Headland

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Collapse

The next gust destroyed this umbrella, it just imploded on itself and it's hapless owners. I've seen plenty of umbrellas turned inside out, but not just give up. By the time it happened the heavens had opened, and I was standing under a fire hose, trying to keep my camera dry.

Alexandra Headland

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Gales

Once the sunshine returns it's hard to come to terms with the fact that just three days ago, severe gales were lashing the coast. The world was an almost monochromatic grey-green and for the first time in years not a solitary surfer was to be seen.

Maroochydore from Alexandra Headland

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia