Hagar arrived quickly and safely from Norway a few weeks ago thanks to Ole. He’s holding up well and was very smooth to use. I didn’t have as much time to get out and about as I would have liked, so most of these shots are from a rushed afternoon zipping around a hot and hazy Brisbane town on my bike. I put three rolls of colour negative through Hagar; two of Kodak 160VC and one of 400UC – these were from my stash of 5 years outdated film that I got for next to nothing.
Firstly here’s our little place amongst the hills. We’re in a nice quiet valley about 40 minutes drive from Brisbane’s CBD. This was early in the morning when there are normally large screeching flocks of white cockatoos flying up and down the valley. Of course they weren’t co-operating the morning I took the picture...
Here’s the requisite self-portrait… This is a sculpture in a playground not far from home on my way to work. You can see my bike there next to me. A woman with some kids came along just as I was taking the picture. I explained that I really wasn’t a weirdo (even though I'd climbed up on top of a sculpture to point a funny old camera at the shiny ball...), and told her about Hagar and she thought it was a cool project.
I left Hagar out in my yard one night for a view of the southern hemisphere stars:
Some dead trees down the road:
He soon got to meet some locals both real and sculpted:
There’s some weird fogging/reflection in left hand picture, not sure what caused it.
Speaking of kangaroos, here’s a slice of Australiana not far from my place – a ‘roo road sign with a ute driving by…
Brisbane is the capital city of my state and is the third largest in Australia. The CBD isn’t that big, but the city as a whole is huge sprawling conglomeration of suburbs. Here’s a view from Mt Coot-tha; the air was hazy due to bushfires the whole time I had Hagar, but on a clear day you can easily see the ocean and some of the islands in Moreton Bay from this spot. You can just make out the sea on the LH horizon of this pic if you squint...
Brisbane is a sub-tropical city with a mild climate. The traditional house style is the “Queenslander” which is a high set timber home with verandahs and a corrugated iron roof. You can see a typical example in the foreground of this shot:
Here are some closer views of the CBD. As you can see, the meandering Brisbane river flows right past the centre of town:
The first shot is from the top of some cliffs that are very popular with rock climbers. Just near where I was standing was a friendly reminder sign saying, “Don’t forget your helmet”. Out of frame to the right of the second and third shots is the southern side of the city centre where the Queensland Cultural Centre (Museum, State Library, Art Gallery, Performing Arts Centre) can be found. Here’s a giant cicada sculpture in the middle of the busway at the Cultural Centre. The almost deafening call of cicadas is very evocative of a steamy afternoon in Brisbane:
Old and new architecture in the city - the old sandstone treasury building is now (appropriately?) a casino:
The inner city suburb of Teneriffe was formerly busy with industry and wharves. The old wool and grain stores and other buildings in the area have been redeveloped for high density residential use. The old powerhouse in the second shot has been converted into an arts centre (Brisbane Powerhouse); it retains a very industrial feel inside. The guys in the outrigger went past the powerhouse while I was admiring the river.
One more view of a different inner-city reach of the river city showing the Story Bridge, and then another Brisbane icon, the XXXX brewery, makers of our most popular local drop. Not the finest beer in the land, but a decent lager all the same.
I managed to get (most) of the Australian flag into one shot – a WWI memorial:
There’s so much more I wanted to show of my area, but wasn’t able to in this photo tour. Ah well, there’re plenty of other cameras for that I guess. I’d like to thank Mike R for starting Hagar’s travels and Mike K and Sandeha for fixing him up. It's been fun!
