A beautiful few days in the always amazing Tasmania. Couple of nights camping in the Walls of Jerusalem followed by a quick solitary dash up Cradle Mountain in perfect weather.
Too many old boxes….Wish I could find the negative for this one. Only found the small poor quality print, moisture damaged. Just scanned with no subsequent editing / filters or enhancements. The memory still etched into the mind like this last departing light across the Swiss alps, one evening almost 4 decades ago. Climbing in Bernese Oberland 1984.
More mountain musings..even further back in time. Thanks for the memories Daryl Webb. We were a pair of rookies testing ourselves in the giants of the NZ southern alps. 1985 traversing Hochstetters Dome - Mt Aylmer. Elie de Beaumont swirled in the enveloping cloud which closed in concealing the monstrous exposure below the cornices. Vivid days mellowing with the mist.
Digging around old slides. Scanning doesn’t fully capture the quality and colour. Got to love Kodachrome 64. This was El Capitan, my first day in Yosemite Autumn 1989 (Alex Honnold would have been 4yrs old!). No filters except the UV on the SLR lens.
Winter, Sydney eastern CBD from the ‘Cadi’ (Botanic Gardens). An impressive urban skyline.
From Sydney Tower (‘81) & Seidler MLC (‘78) at left to 3XN Quay Quarter (‘22) at right. Visiting silver gulls scavenging, no doubt being doing the same for many thousands of years.
Exactly 70 yrs ago today, 29 May 1953, 2 men first stood on the summit of Everest. Only a few hundred meters lower, waiting (alone) to help them down after carrying their camp the day before was my father, George Lowe and further down the mountain the many more who had worked collectively for months to get the chosen few a chance to make the summit. You will see the first ascent of Everest endlessly credited to only 2 men, there were in fact 13 western climbers and over 25 high altitude trained sherpas, not to mention hundreds of porters who carried tons of supplies for over a month to get to the base of the mountain. Also the numerous others who worked tirelessly the prior 6 months of intense planning and preparation. There were 8 other expeditions over the previous 3 decades prior to ‘53 that had 'paved the way' in terms of knowledge and experience. It was a monumental team effort, a far cry from the current 'commercialisation' of Everest today. But the true legacy of '53 was in what all the members of that team did after Everest ‘53. Many devoted their lives to using their modest celebrity from being the fortunate group on an 'iconic' event towards the improvement of lives and opportunity of others. When the slopes ahead seem insurmountable you are always in my heart with a guiding hand, thinking of you today Dad (George) and Grandad (John).
Finally time for our own Head of State. I have reluctantly put up my (ungloved) hand and took the #*!$*#g Oath (mate). I also drank wine and ate bread, consider me invested.
Official regalia, some very old indeed.
Crown - symbolising the Ozzie omnipresent religion…Food.
Robe - well… it’s a robe, keeps you warm in winter, woven from finest synthetics in China.
Orb - symbolising abeyance to ritual of tea drinking. A colonial life is inconceivable without tea.
Sceptre - Wooden spoon for ‘stirring the pot’, metaphorical and literal….representing mind and body.
Warrumbungle(ing)
Spiritual place of the Gamilaroi, Wiradjuri & Weilwan custodians.
Grand High Tops hike is stupendous, a national treasure.
The stunning spires are remnants of geological activity between 13-17 million years ago of a volcano estimated to have reached 50km diameter and over 1000m high.
The rock formations of trachyte are magma plugs, vents and fissures that have survived the aeons of erosion.
Gives perspective to human existence.
Shout out to @alex_kibble & @tkdarchitects for the excellent visitor centre. NPWS need some further assistance with furniture selection and placement.
