Thank you for all the comments on my shearing post, I am glad you enjoyed it- as I said at the beginning of this year i want to celebrate ordinary people more.
Well today is the day we celebrate our nation- when Captain Arthur Phillip sailed into Botany Bay on 26 January 1788 and claimed the land in the name of the British crown thereby ignoring the fact that the land was inhabited. In the more recent years the focus has been on reconciliation and I must admit some of my recent thinking in terms of creating work has been along the lines of the the folly of early explorers, who could have laid the foundations for co-existence but instead chose to ignore indigenous knowledge and people.
As a new Australian i come to this land with mixed emotions- I love this land no doubt but I am not sure I feel truly Australian, however I also do not feel truly Dutch either- I am suspended somewhere and for me the place that makes me feel most at home is France- maybe it's the ancestry from way back that creates this affinity.
So this morning I took a walk along the foreshore in Geelong-I must admit I have only recently fallen in love with this part of Geelong- I knew it was there, passed by it for years, but never really used it, it seemed to outside my means to use it- but there is a park all the way along the foreshore for anyone to use- it's one of the nice things about seaside Australian cities/towns- most of the foreshores are public.And the last few days there has been a little romance on the shore with a wonderful hand built caravel in the 15th century Portugese/Spanish style, made from recycled timbers and named Notorious. It was built by Graeme Wylie and you can inspect it from today until March.
So this morning on the Geelong foreshore amidst set up operations for Australia Day celebrations....
A closer look at " Notorious"- the caravel is surprisingly small.
A carved detail on the front of the caravel.
Geelong's Bollards are a well known foreshore landmark- painted by Jan Mitchell
These sculptures are called "North" by Mark Stoner- they remind me of shark fins and have a very interesting patina though they are made of cement.
More Bollards outside the mussel boat- which I must try as I love mussels.
Well today is the day we celebrate our nation- when Captain Arthur Phillip sailed into Botany Bay on 26 January 1788 and claimed the land in the name of the British crown thereby ignoring the fact that the land was inhabited. In the more recent years the focus has been on reconciliation and I must admit some of my recent thinking in terms of creating work has been along the lines of the the folly of early explorers, who could have laid the foundations for co-existence but instead chose to ignore indigenous knowledge and people.
As a new Australian i come to this land with mixed emotions- I love this land no doubt but I am not sure I feel truly Australian, however I also do not feel truly Dutch either- I am suspended somewhere and for me the place that makes me feel most at home is France- maybe it's the ancestry from way back that creates this affinity.
So this morning I took a walk along the foreshore in Geelong-I must admit I have only recently fallen in love with this part of Geelong- I knew it was there, passed by it for years, but never really used it, it seemed to outside my means to use it- but there is a park all the way along the foreshore for anyone to use- it's one of the nice things about seaside Australian cities/towns- most of the foreshores are public.And the last few days there has been a little romance on the shore with a wonderful hand built caravel in the 15th century Portugese/Spanish style, made from recycled timbers and named Notorious. It was built by Graeme Wylie and you can inspect it from today until March.
So this morning on the Geelong foreshore amidst set up operations for Australia Day celebrations....
The "Notorious" docked with Cunningham Pier in the background- I love the moody early morning sky and the diagonals of the sails.
Hi s masters keeper obviously- this dog sits on the caravel all day and keeps an eye out for anyone inclined to try and wonder on the caravel- I think we surprised each other this morning because it was the first time I had heard the dog bark in all the days I have gone to admire the caravel and imagine swashbuckling stories.
A carved detail on the front of the caravel.
These sculptures are called "North" by Mark Stoner- they remind me of shark fins and have a very interesting patina though they are made of cement.
More Bollards outside the mussel boat- which I must try as I love mussels.
This fountain is at the Botanical Garden end of the foreshore- this fountain surely must date from the 1930's when the swimming enclosure opened
This plaque was attached to the fountain- I loved the textures on the rusted metal plaque.
So here is my Australia on this Australia day!
4 comments:
Oh Dijanne,
You are so lucky to have this splendid waterfront for your early morning stroll! What a wonderful way to start the day!
Do try the mussels straight off the boat - those with garlic and white wine are divine!
Happy Australia Day to you!
Regards
Wendy
I love Geelong, but rarely visit, sometimes we dont appredciate what we have under our noses. Lovely photos.
Happy Australia day.
This is a very good and informative article
very beautiful!
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