Intersection With Apologies to Jeffrey Smart 1 of 4

I could never aspire to be Jeffry Smart but as I was passing this bridge, the absence of traffic and he weird evening light reminded me of some of his work.

I'm curious to discover if others see similarities, or was it just my medication kicking in again!

Please note I'm back early from the wilds, in the face of Cyclone Hamish, so I guess we'll go away next week!

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Yellow Meanother view of visual pollution

Of course the colour of the sky helps, but I think I'll go off in search of more during the year. Signage as a positive contributor to the built environment? Well they pay big money for art which isn't as graphic!

Kawana

Please note I'm currently off in the wilds, well away from internet access, so apologise if I've been even quieter than usual, will be back next week.

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Me Tooanother view of visual pollution

There's always a side to a sign which can be quite pleasing if you can find it.

Kawana

Please note I'm currently off in the wilds, well away from internet access, so apologise if I've been even quieter than usual, will be back next week.

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

It's about MEanother view of visual pollution

Signs start to get out of hand. Of course "me" is the operative bit of "home" which is the operative bit of "home centre" which I would have thought would have been all that was necessary to tell me what goes on there.

Alas this is not the case, every tenant competes for a bigger share of the visibility quotient, but it does lead to some interesting photographs. I hope you don't get bored over the next few days.

Kawana

Please note I'm heading off into the wilds today, well away from internet access, so apologise if I become quieter than usual, will be back in a week and a bit.

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Skywatch with Boats

It won't be long until warm sunny skies start returning to those cooler parts of the globe, so I thought I'd get in one more clear sunny sky before we all have them!

Find links to lots more Skywatch images from around the world on the Skywatch Portal!

Golden Beach

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Water with Boats

Just one more I promise.

They looks so pretty you see.....

Caloundra Classic Boat Regatta
Golden Beach

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Felix

Without wanting to get too technical, a cat rigged sailing boat is one with its mast well forward, and usually unstayed, and boats rigged like this are called cat boats. (Not to be confused with catamarans which are altogetherly different.)

Felix is a cat boat.

(Get it? Slaps forehead and moves off-stage....)


Caloundra Classic Boat Festival
Golden Beach


Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Wooden Boats

I suspect that no description is required!

Caloundra Classic Boat Festival
Golden Beach.

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Sailor's Lunch

A sailor seems well enough provisioned for a day pottering around in the sunshine!

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Glass

A sunbather reflects under the watchful eye of the Surf Rescue Patrol.

Did I need to mention the sunbathers sunglasses, the lifeguard's glass binoculars or the glass in the window itself?

I didn't think so.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants in this month's theme, "Glass".

Mooloolaba

Nambour Station

Nambour Station has two platforms, and while some of Platform One is under cover, even as the storm abates and the sky begins to lighten, one would get very wet indeed if one had to go to the far carriage.


Nambour

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

After the Storm Today's Skywatch from the Sunshine Coast

Looks can be deceiving; Mid afternoon, in full sun, temperature more than 30°C.

We'd just had 40mm of rain in less than an hour and the storm was abating, soon the sky would be blue again and the lights turned off until the evening.

Nambour

Find links to lots more Skywatch images from around the world on the Skywatch Portal!

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Red Reeds 3 of 3

It's almost as though someone has tried to obliterate the photo with a red crayon!

University of the Sunshine Coast
Sippy Downs

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Red Reeds 2 of 3

The red "planting" works nicely with the copper and blues of the art gallery, to say nothing of the matching sky.

University of the Sunshine Coast
Sippy Downs

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Red Reeds 1 of 3

In one of the forecourts at the University, there is a simple steel sculpture. A kinetic piece reminiscent of a giant clump of grass.

I don't know what it is called, or even if it has a name, but it has a presence which cannot be argued.

Perhaps someone will be kind enough to leave a comment, filling in the details?

University of the Sunshine Coast
Sippy Downs

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Gnome

A genuine English garden gnome I think, and like so many of his visiting countrymen, glowing bright pink after too much time in our rather unforgiving sunshine!

Dicky Beach

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Pedal Boats

Pedal Boats in the evening shade, waiting for a customer, I've never seen anyone actually hiring them, so can only surmise about how their owner makes a living!

Sunshine Plaza
Maroochydore

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Reflections

One single window reflects the building opposite, which in turn reflects the sky.

I'm confused, and I was there at the time so I'm not sure what others will see here, but to me it's as if the building is wearing a piece of colourful jewelry!

University of the Sunshine Coast
Sippy Downs

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Mt Coolum SkyWatch

In the first ten minutes after the sun goes down, the world glows an eerie blue that only the camera seems to see.

Find links to lots more Skywatch images on the Skywatch Portal!


Mt Coolum
viewed from Pt Cartwright

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Waiting for dinner

A much happier bird than yesterday's!

This little bloke is one of a family who fly in for a feed each night at our friend's place. For those who don't recognise him, he's a Kookaburra, the largest of the Kingfisher clan, famous for their distinctive laughing call.

One of the great sounds of the Australian bush.

Yandina
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Road Kill

Life is short.

Remember: always look both ways before crossing!

Beerwah

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Sunset Shadow

Sunset on Campus

University of the Sunshine Coast
Sippy Downs

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Seating

Some seats, some liriope, some grass, and some sunlight.

University of the Sunshine Coast
Sippy Downs

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Zebra Crossing

I'm not sure what the shade structures over the median are actually there for, but they do reflect the pattern of the zebra crossing rather nicely.

Dicky Beach

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

ReCycle

I'm not sure what came first, the bike rack or the recycle station, but I thought it a delicious play on words.

University of the Sunshine Coast
Sippy Downs

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Bats Skywatch

Sometimes skywatching is more about what's in it than the sky itself. These flying foxes or fruit bats as they are known roost in the mangroves by day and had their sleep disturbed by something. In the evening, they can be seen heading off in their hundreds in long silent columns, towards their feeding grounds.

Ann's Sydney Meanderings featured a much closer view of a single flying fox two weeks ago, but these are over a rather wide stretch of water, so it was not quite possible to get closer!

Find links to lots more Skywatch images on the Skywatch Portal!

Mountain Creek

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Sago

The Sago, Cycas revoluta.

Very commonly referred to as a palm, the Sago is actually a Cycad, one of a species of plant that are one the oldest survivors on the planet. They are very common in landscaping because unlike many of their kind they are relatively fast growing.

This yellow part is a cone in the centre of a male plant.

Edit - as Annie has commented, this plant has high levels of toxins and should not be confused with the true Sago Palm which provides a staple food source. More information here.

Dicky Beach

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Surfboards

Surfboards racked on the footpath, ready for the next wave of customers.

Dicky Beach

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Broken

The "T's" may have been crossed, but someone forgot to dot the "I".

Sunshine Plaza
Maroochydore

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

I can't explain

I'm not sure if there was something in the mushrooms I'd had for breakfast, but I was sitting on my little river bank having a quiet sandwich when I heard a noise.

Perhaps it's all due to global warming, I have no other explanation as to how a gondola found its way to the Mooloolah River, nor how it came to have a motor.

Mooloolaba

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Sofa

There's a great little Restaurant in Moffat Beach called "Bucket and Spade", and there you will find this sofa, just quietly waiting to welcome you.

Moffat Beach
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Water Dragon

There's a little play area near the beach at Mooloolaba, which was originally intended to be a water play park, but presumably because water is in rather short supply from time to time, it's never functioned in that way, at least in the seven years we've lived here. Kids don't seem to worry though.

This dragon only sees water after rain, but it seems to be quite happy about it.

Mooloolaba
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Mondrian Skywatch

I wonder if the Red and the Silver were intended as the perfect foil for a clear blue sky when viewed through the void in the building facade?

Of course on a dull day, I'm sure one could find a sky that matched the building exactly, but not today!

Skywatch through a teensy hole in the building fabric! A painting that could have been created by a descendent of Mondrian!

Find links to lots more Skywatch images on the Skywatch Portal!

University of the Sunshine Coast
Sippy Downs
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Unishade

I noted yesterday that "Some of the Architectural detailing in the University Buildings is restrained, and beautifully resolved in it's sub-tropical environment."

And some of it isn't. While critically acclaimed, I cannot for the life of me see any justification for this immensely complicated stucture. Although it appears to be serving a purpose in providing sunshade, it doesn't appear to be oriented in a direction which provides any real benefit.

Begrudgingly, I admit that it looks pretty amazing, it could have been built from pieces salvaged after the war of the worlds.

University of the Sunshine Coast
Sippy Downs
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Tropical Architecture

Some of the Architectural detailing in the University Buildings is restrained, and beautifully resolved in its sub-tropical environment.

University of the Sunshine Coast
Sippy Downs
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

University

Same building, round the corner!

University of the Sunshine Coast
Sippy Downs
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Art

The Sunshine Coast University Art Gallery sits comfortably in front of the main admin building. I don't pretend to understand the mesh grid covering the building, but it looks wonderful in photographs!

University of the Sunshine Coast
Sippy Downs
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Paths and Passages

The path along the Esplanade runs for several kilometres between the Mouths of the Mooloola and Maroochy Rivers. During daylight hours there is continuous throng of walkers, joggers, cyclists, dogs and baby carriages snaking along the waterfront.

Today's City Daily Photo theme is "Paths and Passages", click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Mooloolaba
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Ahh January!

January has gone, and with it the crowds. We no longer have to arrive at the beach at five am to find a vacant barbecue area, or at six to grab the last piece of sand.

This is a reminder of what it is like, just so we appreciate February, when business goes quiet, and we have the sand to ourselves.

Mooloolaba
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Southern Sky

The view from Pt Cartwright to Caloundra from the farthest vantage point in yesterday's photo, looking back at where I had been.

I'm always fascinated by the way the days are clear, but as the evening descends cloud builds up along the coastline, caused by the thermal effect of the moist sea air rising as it arrives over the land.

Find links to lots more Skywatch images on the Skywatch Portal!

Pt Cartwright
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Looking North

The view from Moffat Headland to Point Cartwright, fading into the sea spray and a strong northerly breeze!

Moffat Headland
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Rock Pools

There is something about a rock pool that brings out the child in all of us. I watched innocently from the top of the headland as this couple explored and frolicked in the pools, and it wasn't until I downloaded the shot hours later that I realised they were wearing underwear, and I suddenly felt that I had been something of a voyeur!

I trust their anonymity spares us all from embarrassment.

Moffat Beach
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Wave Form

My architectural training has left me with a mostly cynical view of designers who try to emulate natural forms.

This roof is close enough to the form of a breaking wave in Moffat Beach to get a rare tick from me though.

Moffat Beach
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Australia Day

Today is Australia Day, our national day, notionally celebrating the anniversary of the arrival of the first fleet of European settlers in 1778, but more recently it has become a celebration simply of being Australian.

Any excuse for a barbecue I suspect!

This little red car parked at the markets with it's stars of the Southern Cross and the blue and white tent in the background took my eye, only because it holds all of the ingredients of our national flag.

Have a great Australia Day, wherever you are!

Fisherman's Road Markets
Maroochydore
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Relax

The holidays are almost over, but that doesn't mean one can't relax under a shady tree. The colour of the grass highlights what little rain we've had this summer, just endless blue sky!

Moffat Beach
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Blue and Green

Blue and Green should never be seen, unless there's something in between, but the blue tones nicely with the sky I guess.

I'm thinking that a week or two of building graphics won't go astray in the coming months...

Moffat Butcher
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Storm

Golden Beach narrowly misses a summer storm.

Makes a nifty Skywatch shot, a pleasant change from all that blue in the last few days pictures and proof that it doesn't happen every day, just mostly!

Links to lots more Skywatch images can be found at the Skywatch Site!

Golden Beach
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Glider

An aerobatic glider strafes the headland, while out to sea a container ship punches silently into the wind.

Moffatt Headland
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Glider Pilots

On the top of Moffatt Headland, a trio of model glider pilots hone their skills in a stiff northerly breeze.

Moffatt Beach
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Fishing Tinnie

"Tinnie" is the name given to all aluminium fishing boats, and there are lots of them!.

Mooloolah River
Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia