In the ‘vision splendid’ of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin’s planned bush capital, Canberra was to embody the principles of a garden city: blend the human and the natural; bring the beauty of nature into the daily life of the community.
Continue reading “Blending the human and natural at the National Bonsai & Penjing Collection of Australia”
As spring comes to Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Lives and Times: Writing on the World Around Us, visits the historic gardens to experiment with a Canon EF-M 28m Macro lens.
Continue reading “Macro Flora at the The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney”
Under the waters, in the skies, how many shades of blue can be seen in the Ría de Aldán? On the ridges and in the shallows, how many greens? Continue reading “Light and Life on the Ría de Aldán”
Lashed by winds, cursed with salt, pummelled by wave and current, the Alentejo and Vincentine Coast is the archetype of an Atlantic environment. Marking continental Europe’s western-most extreme, this natural park in Portugal’s Algarve offers the traveller one hundred and twenty kilometres of immense beaches backed by towering dune systems, of lonely headlands receiving the brunt of the ocean’s energy Continue reading “Atlantic Explorations III: The Elements of the Algarve (Photographic Essay)”
Blue, green, and all shades in between, that is O Morrazo, a Galician peninsula formed by the three estuaries of Vigo, Pontevedra and Aldán, wedging into the hills of Morrazo to create this landscape of pines and eucalyptus, of capes and coves. The images below were taken in my first two months living on the peninsula. Continue reading “The Seascapes of O Morrazo – (Photo Gallery)”
“In Jerez”, a wine-maker once told me, “we live with our backs to the vineyard…” In Jerez, he went on to say, fame is attached to the urban wineries, the bodegas where the alchemy takes place. In other wine-producing regions, harvest and production take place on the same terrain, but in Jerez the sun, soil and salts of the earth which give birth to the wine are often forgot. Continue reading “The Landscape of Sherry (Photo Gallery)”
In Spain’s south, Cádiz province offers the nature lover all that s/he could wish for. Dunes to the south, wetlands to the west, and in the interior hills, mountains, and valleys to wander, conquer, and descend. It has two national parks to explore; the Sierras de Grazalema to the east, and the Alcornocales National Park toward the south. The photos that follow are taken from some of my trips through these hills.
Continue reading “Exploring the Mountains and Valleys of Cádiz, Andalucía (Photo Gallery)”
Thirty-six kilometres of dirt track winding around and up and down the hills of the Sierra de Grazalema, this is the Vía Verde de la Sierra, Cádiz. Continue reading “Coasting through Cádiz, Spain: The Vía Verde de la Sierra (Photo Story)”
The Holy Trinity of Andalusian cuisine and culture – the grape, the olive, and the orange – has long had a home at Zahara de la Sierra, Cadiz, perched up on the northern borderline of what is probably the province’s single most important natural asset: the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park. I went there to Zahara to take a walk around and up and down. Continue reading “The Grape, the Olive, and the Orange: Zahara de la Sierra, Andalusia (Photo Story)”
