(Camera) Light

I made some tiny advances (like really basic) in understanding the new Fujifilm X-T3 this week - and decided to try for some low light, more moody shots to test out my exposure compensation functions etc (so many function buttons to get familiar with!).

Front window view at 5.45pm (cloudy day) on April 4...….. and a dusting of Autumn colour on our Hassett Park trees.........

 Apartment interior view same time of day ........

 Just testing focus capacity in dim light (it's pretty good I think!) .……...

 I wanted this shot to look really moody! .........

 We've had a very social week with lots of lunches, (French) movies, and coffee outings too. It culminated last night in another dinner out at the Kingston Foreshore to celebrate Maddie L's 22nd birthday.

This is not my favourite part of the Foreshore - but I thought it looked very pretty last night in the dusk light (6.30pm) looking back towards the Carillon in the distance. Well done Fujifilm X-T3!

 Two gorgeous sisters: Maddie the birthday girl and Sophie just a few hours off leaving for Vietnam on her ANU study tour.

 Group shot at Le Rustica Kingston Foreshore - not bad for such low light!

 Happy birthday Maddie! - glad my camera was up to capturing your birthday celebration last night.

Turning 21

Turning 21 is not quite the milestone it used to be, but it's still a great excuse for celebrating being a proper "grown up" at last - especially when the grown up is as special as our young Maddie L.

We've known this gorgeous young woman all of her 21 years (and Sophie all her nineteen years) and her Mum Judy and Dad Jurgen, even longer than that.

The family birthday dinner was at Belluchi's last night. Phoebe and Thomas drove down from Sydney for the occasion. 

Cutting the cake (made by Maddie as part of a family effort) was celebrated after, at home.  The Dad speech is always a lovely part of big "grown up" birthday celebrations. Jurgen's are always very dignified and loving....... as you would expect.

We've been very lucky to be included in lots of big occasions in Maddie's life, and watched your grow and evolve into the smart, funny, spirited individual we all know and love today.

 And she's a great cake maker too!

 Just so you can see what 21 years looks like .......this is Maddie with big brother Thomas way back in 1997.

 I took the pic below of Maddie and Thomas in early 2000 at the vineyard dam at Murrumbateman.

 Sweet Maddie aged 5 and a half ..........

 Maddie and the family spent a term at school in SW France in 2005. We stayed with them for a week and saw a lot of that beautiful part of France with them .....

 Maddie, aged 9 in 2006 at Rosedale.

 And a year later aged 10.....

 Maddie aged 15, with Maggie the Jack Russell.

 Aged 16 and all dressed up for the Year 10 Formal.

 Sweet seventeen .....

 .... and aged 18 at Kirra Beach, Queensland.

 And aged 20 at Christmas drinks at the Hyatt.

Here's to many more happy birthdays Maddie and thank you for including us in so many good times over the past 21 years.

Birthdays here and there

We're enjoying a birthday bonanza here (and there) this month .........
Last week there were three reasons to celebrate. There was Sophie's birthday on the 14th ....

With a gorgeous cake made with big sisterly love ......

 It all reminded me of a sisters' picture I'd taken a few years ago (11 to be exact) - they really haven't changed all that much have they (still gorgeous)? 

Judy's birthday was next (on the 15th)...... and then ...... on St Patrick's Day in Melbourne it was time to celebrate James's BIG (ending in a zero!) birthday.

The venue was the Union Club Hotel on Gertrude St in Fitzroy (Offspring territory) - Richmond Tigers territory too!

 The Canberra mob was well represented...

 And all James and Fiona's gorgeous family were there .........

 Bib zero birthdays call for funny speeches from the kids .......................

 James and all the family are the fiercest supporters of the Richmond Tigers!

 Happy birthday dear James!

We had to say goodbye yesterday morning in Fitzroy after a wonderful breakfast together. The pic below is special to me .... probably the last time I will see James and Fiona and their lovely family in Melbourne together for quite a while (they're New Zealand bound!). 

We stayed on in Fitzroy for the weekend, loving being in the centre of this lively, hip and happening part of Melbourne. We headed out to St Kilda Beach yesterday afternoon - drinks at the Stokehouse on the beach and then back to town to enjoy fabulous Japanese food at Ichi Ni Na Na on Brunswick Street. This is a wonderful city!!

To Hikkaduwa

The popular beach resort town of Hikkaduwa is only a bit over 20klm from Galle so it was a short drive yesterday morning before we were travelling through the small fishing villages that line the coast - and catching a good look at these ginormous water monitors, scavenging the fishy remains from the day's catch in the boat harbour.

The beaches along this coast are home to marine turtles and exotic fish, but the turtles in particular are under real threat because so few of their eggs survive. We visited a small scale turtle hatchery which is doing a great job in addressing some of the challenges, but probably too little in the grand scheme of things.

These little cuties had only been hatched a day. They will be released in the sea when they're not much bigger! 

We saw a very rare albino turtle.

This area was devastated in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Over 20,000 lives were lost in Sri Lanka and 12,500children were left orphans. We talked to a number of villagers today in the process of visiting little makeshift museums and memorials who'd lost whole families (as well as all their possessions) on that terrible day.

There is a very humble memorial to this earth shattering event, by the beach ......

This much larger one was built by the Japanese government. Both memorials commemorate the over 1,700 fatalities that resulted when a crowded passenger train (families heading for a day at the beach!) was struck by the second wave of the tsunami (estimated at 7.5 - 9 metres high).

After this sobering experience it was a complete change of pace to arrive at our Hikkaduwa accommodation - the beautiful Villa 46. It's a boutique hotel on the beach - only four bedrooms so it feels like home - but with a number of very well trained staff and our own chef. It's owned by the Sri Lankan cricketer Marvan Atapattu. Beautiful!

I've never met a palm tree I didn't like and the sound of crashing waves is bliss to my ears.

We had to catch the sunset over the Laccadive Sea ........

After a sunset walk this is what awaited us back at Villa 46 - the table set for dinner (which was wonderful) and Moon River on the playlist! Does it get any better than this?