INDUSTRIAL STUFF

Posted on October 18, 2009 by splashingpaint

If you’re into over the top industrial hardware, then Western Australia sure is the state to visit.

These giant pieces of apparatus look almost organic. It’s hard to imagine someone sitting at a drawing board, under a cold fluorescent light, creating this sort of stuff. It looks so random and chaotic.

I hope you enjoy the photographs. It’s a dangerous business, standing on the roof of a landcruiser pointing a long lens over five strands of barbed wire. I’m sure I was viewed with much suspicion and, in a different country, would have probably been shot on site.

The sketches are done with a 0.4 Black Artline 204 fibre tip, a White uni posca fibre tip, Indigo watercolor and a tea bag

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0.4 Black Artline 204 fibre tip, White uni posca fibre tip, Indigo watercolor and a tea bag

0.4 Black Artline 204 fibre tip, White uni posca fibre tip, Indigo watercolor, Tissue paper and a glue stick

FREO

Posted on October 16, 2009 by splashingpaint

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Freo (West Australian for Fremantle) was the old, original settlement in WA, before Perth developed. Miraculously, many of the old buildings remain and have been well preserved.

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Not just individual buildings remain in tact, but whole streetscapes have been saved.

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In the downtown area there are beautiful examples of renovated Georgian and Victorian architecture .

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Great shops and lots of cafes and bars are scattered about the main part of town.

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Gothic picnic table lurking outside a Freo church

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One of the interesting features of “Freo” is the Little Creatures Brewery. Great beer and food in a fantastic waterfront location.

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They even hire out bikes for free to help patrons wobble home

STRANGE LOGIC

Posted on October 16, 2009 by splashingpaint

Fremantle Maritime museum is an impressive building , and so it should be. The taxpayers spent 35 million dollars on it. What a shame someone decided that a saving on outgoings of 3% could be made by not opening on Wednesdays! Why not close every day and save 100%?

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We visited an annexe of the museum dealing with shipwrecks late Tuesday afternoon. The woman at the desk suggested visiting the main museum tomorrow since there was an entry fee and we would not have time to see everything this late in the day.

We arranged to stay another night in Fremantle and next morning (Wednesday) drove in to the museum. The people on the door, with much embarrassment, frustration and apology told us about the money saving logic. I guess with that kind of thinking it is not surprising that the Shipwreck annexe doesn’t know when the main museum is open.

MONASTIC

Posted on October 10, 2009 by splashingpaint

NEW NORCIA

A couple of hours North East of Perth is the monastic town of New Norcia. Established by Benedictine Monks in 1846, the town is still centred around the Monastery and Church. At its peak New Norcia housed 80 monks and farmed almost a million acres. Sheep, cattle, pigs, goats and bees were raised and grain crops, grapes, olives, fruit and vegetables were grown. They still have a bakery, produce olive oil and wine, and sell the surplus from the orchard and vegie garden through the Museum shop. There are only 9 monks running New Norcia at present.

The museum gives a great insight into the early days of the town. The collection of religious art is fantastic and the Abbey Ale is heavenly.

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St Ildephonsus College

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Former Policemans cottage – looks like he must have been a really tall policeman but, for some reason, the wall is only 4′ high.

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St Gertrude’s College (back door)

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Finely hand carved and gilded wooden alter

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Monastery

Apiary hand made bricks, timber and tin

Device for processing honey

Inside apiary (panorama from mobile phone)

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Unidentified building with 1 hour late sundial on Northern wall

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Olive oil processing shed

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Old Wine Press

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Graves of 3rd & 4th Abbots – all the former Abbots are buried along a line running through the center of the town. This line forms the long axis of a cross on which the town is laid out.

Monastic beer tap pumping Abbey Ale (7+%) in the New Norcia Pub

Pub Verandah

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Monks wash basin

TIMBER, BRICKS AND TIN

Posted on October 6, 2009 by splashingpaint

GREAT NORTHERN HIGHWAY – Architecture

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The Great Northern Highway runs from Kununurra in the North of WA right down to Perth in the South. We rejoined the Highway at Newman and followed it south to just below Cue where we headed west to the coast.

There is some pretty impressive architecture along the way, particularly in the old gold mining towns. Here are some of the more quirky examples of buildings we encountered.

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Meekatharra open air picture theater.

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Ralph’s take away food – Meekatharra

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Sadly neglected example of asbestos sheeting at its best.

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Corrugated Iron opulence – Cue

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Thin House – Cue

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Great Fingall mine office – Built by Italian stonemasons in 1902 and abandoned in 1918

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Three horse stable, Cue

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Unfortunately, the old hospital at Cue has been left to crumble to a pile of rubble. This building was in use up until 1942. I guess the local councils don’t have the funds to maintain these old buildings and, unless the State or Federal Government can be convinced of heritage value , their plight is doomed. Amazing, the destruction that can take place in less than 70 years.

BIG FLAT AND RED

Posted on October 6, 2009 by splashingpaint

GREAT NORTHERN HIGHWAY – Landscape

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Once the Hamersley Ranges are left behind, the landscape flattens into arid, semi desert. Red sand ridges and low saltbush take over, broken by the odd small jump up or dry salt flat. After a couple of months of stinking hot weather it was a welcome relief to encounter cloud and a few heavy downpours of rain. The skys were spectacular, the colours were intensified by the wet and the smell of rain was fantastic. Ideal conditions for racing around taking photos.

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