Sydney Vivid Festival 2013

The Vivid Festival was amazing again this year. I went with Sue, my annual Vivid partner in crime.

Windsor Junk Yard

This was part of a photography trip to Hawkesbury including Windsor Junk Yard, Ebenezer Church, Richmond and autumn leaves

The junk yard in Windsor is a veritable treasure trove of the widest assortment of junk you can imagine. Old appliances, bicycles, pots, bottles, signs, wheels and whatever else you can think of.  Whoever started this place had a serious case of squirrelitus.  It was fun to take photos and peruse all the old items, wondering at the stories they could tell if they could only speak.

  

 

 

Ebenezar Church

This was part of a photography trip to Hawkesbury including Windsor Junk Yard, Ebenezer Church, Richmond and autumn leaves.

Richmond

This was part of a photography trip to Hawkesbury including Windsor Junk Yard, Ebenezer Church, Richmond and autumn leaves.

Autumn colours

This was part of a photography trip to Hawkesbury including Windsor Junk Yard, Ebenezer Church, Richmond and autumn leaves.

Favourite memories with Dani

2012 Memories

• Meeting in Kiribili pub (I forgot to pay for the drinks, talking for ages, driving her home.)  
• Breakfast in Waverton and taking Dani home to meet Mack.
• Our first big date, going to a fancy restaurant for scollops.  Apple cider exploding. Holding her when we shared an umbrella.
• Going roller-blading and holding hands for first time, then going to cinema to watch Prometheus and eating at Nando's.
• Friday night dancing steps
• Govindas (Marigold Hotel) - and holding hands.
• My first time at Cremorne Orpheum to watch The Sapphires.  
• Our first kiss after watching Alien and Aliens. She laughed!
• Sending flowers to her work day after.  "Hope your day is as radiant as your smile."
• Sydney Olympic park to watch The Footie. (end Jun)
• 2 Creeks Hike - then Mexican restaurant.  (end June)
• Dee Why while Dani house sitting Natalie's house  (Jul)
• Writing Dani a letter.
• Chorus Line
• To Natalie and Andrew for lamb dinner and having so much in common with Zac.
• Whale watching (Aug)
• Walks around Sydney along coast (fortifications & nude swim, Middle Head)
• Ice skating at UTS  (Aug)
• Evening with Brendan
• Blue Mountains weekend away (key in the dark, two hikes, Italian restaurant, Leura)  (Aug)
• Her letter to me before South Africa.
• Texts while I was in South Africa plus Skype chat.
• Dani's 40th - picnic at the park in Kirribilli.
• Zac's birthday dinner - meeting her mum and dad.
• Fancy dress in Blue Mountains for Dani's 40th - and walking.
• Frisbee in the park
• Radical Reels (Nov)
• Matthias Klum for my birthday.  (Dec)
• Getting Xmas presents for her family (mum & dad a book, chocolates for Andrew & Natalie, helicopter for Zac, toy for Sally)
• Her wonderful Xmas gift of a slow cooker.
• Our roadtrip (Farm, birds, Waterfall Way, Cathedral Rock,  Koala place,  Dubbo, NY eve, Mudgee)

2013 memories

• Dragon boat racing
• Flowers "Just because"  She Facebooked it.
• Game of Thrones,  Breaking Bad
• Getting me into Walking Dead
• University student art exhibit  (Mar)
• Showing me old photos (Cambridge)
• Hunter Valley  (Mar)
• Ocean Festival  (Mar)
• To Shelly Beach for snorkelling.
• Port Stephens  (Apr)
• Shopping for DVD.
• Shopping for clothes.
• Into the city for Chinese - wrong park!
• Sailing on the harbour (Apr)
• Kayaking Clontarf to Manly and trying out Honu (Apr)
• Sirius Cove with Mack (Apr)
• To pub in Mosman with friends for birthday.
• Banff Mountain Festival (May)
• To friends for dinner (chef)  (Jun)

Rituals

• Doing my little dance before bed
• Evening texts
• Paddling on Saturday mornings
• Phoning after paddling to decide what we'd do
• A big hug when we greeted
• Greeting her at her door to her apartment
• Macedamian nuts on her table and the crusher
• Driving her to station in morning (before work)
• Watching her get dressed (always up first)
• Showering together
• Thai take-away
• Washing up by rinsing and leaving.
• Mocha and newspaper in bed on a Saturday morning
• Saturday markets (Paddy, Kirribilli)
• Couch surfing (reclining), watching TV, hand on leg
• Finding parking outside her house (often difficult)
• Mocha - mutual love
• Listening to work updates (Mark) and giving support.
• Listening to paddling politics.

Things I loved about her

• Holding hands in movies
• Hand on leg in movie, car
• Love of all things French
• Sporty and her sporty clothes
• Love of Science fiction, disaster and apocolyptic movies
• I'll have to do my happy, happy, joy, joy booty shaking victory dance!
• Her lovely bottom
• Sportiness and sporty clothes
• Her wonder for wildlife, especially whales, dolphins, penguins
• Love for paddling (her meditation)
• Her belief in girl power
• Sentimentality (still had everything in her cupboard, including her soft toys)
• All her medals and necklaces
• Pride in her car - scared to park in roofed parking
• Her lovely smelling hair
• Her love of hugs
• Playing with Sally. 
• The way spoke about friend's babies.
• How amazing she looked when dressed up.
• Unexpectedly stabbing my mouth with her tongue when kissing
• The thoughts that went into her gifts (to me, Xmas presents for the family)
• Fear of creepy children and clowns (in movies)

Expressions

• G-lishious
• G-Force, Delilah
• Oooh, La lah!
• Woo hoo!!
• Giddy Up
• Ending texts with "hugs"
• "You're so funny" (with my navigation)
• How was your day?
• Mmmmmm.

Cinema

• The Marigold Hotel
• The Saphires
• Radical Reels
• Banff Mountain festival
• Contiki
• Les Miserables
• Ocean Festival
• Life of Pi
• Samsara
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Argo
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Prometheus
• Skyfall
• The Great Gatsby
• Beasts of the Southern Wilds  (director was there!!)
• The Hobbit
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

DVD's

• Breaking Bad (S 1- 4)
• Funny Face
• Game of Thrones (S1 - 3)
• Jack Reacher
• Limitless
• Looper
• Pretty Woman
• Ruby Spark
• Searching for Sugarman
• Second World
• The Apartment
• Vertigo
• Welcome
• 21 Jump Street
• Drive
• Hall Pass
• Hunger Games
• Man on a Ledge
• Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
• This Means War
• The Five Year Engagement
• The Hunger Games
• The Separation (Iranian)

Restaurants

• Fancy restaurant (Scollops)
• Thai restaurant (hers)
• Nandos (Chatswood, Neutral Bay)
• Mexican (Two Creeks)
• Italian (Blue Mountains, both trips)
• Chinese (Blue Mountains)
• Pizza (Blue Mountains)
• Hunter Valley (desserts)
• Hunter Valley (pizza)
• Nepalese
• Spanish Tapas
• Radio Cairo (then to 80's party)
• Into the city for Chinese - wrong park!
• Thai (Neutral Bay)
• Thai (Waverton)
• French (Anniversary)

Cooking

• Tiramisu 
• Belgian Waffles
• Her delicious Irish stew from her deep bowls.
• Lamb we made for Xmas
• Roast beef with garlic pushed in.
• Cooking for her (steak, Ossu Buccu, dinner party with Sue and Alex, spag bol)

Related

• More photos

A penguin love story

By Joanne Boting, photographed at Boulders Beach, Cape Town.

What a beautiful boy

Lovely photo, Jo.