I attended the Australian Cycling Track titles during the week in Sydney. I had to play with the settings regularly to get consistent results. I need a much faster tele lens!! Current Olympic mens sprint champion Ryan Bailey (racing in black) was in action. Sprint_Racing
Unfortunately, he had a dramatic crash.  Champ_Crashes
There was plenty of great close racing taking place with spots for the Beijing Olympic Games on offer. Here_I_Come Looking_Ahead
The Teams Pursuit is also a favourite event of mine to watch. Two teams line up on opposite sides of the track and race each other. The race can be won if the last rider of the other team is caught by the pursuing team, otherwise it is determined over a distance. The lead rider leads the team for a lap and then he swings up high on the bank before rejoining the end of the train. NSW_Pursuit_1 WA_Pursuit
I particularly enjoyed the AWD tandem class (Athletes With Disabilities). The rear cyclist is blind and is guided by the lead cyclist known as the Pilot.
Tandem_Pursuit

Eurythmics said something like this, a while ago

"Sweet dreams are made of these
Who am I to disagree?
I traveled the world
And the seven seas"

and I discovered Australia, first the Frenchman Bay 1,  2 and Godee Beach  1,  2 in the Western part, then the Elephant Rock and Noosa National Park, on the other side of the continent  1,  2 and  3. Since then, my sweet nights are made of  this.

From a trip to the Wild West Coast (of Tasmania) recently (Mollie couldn't come, it's National Park)
South Cape bay from creek
Lion Rock
Rock formation
Sooty Oystercatchers
Into the ocean
shapes and shadow

Having enjoyed so many fantastic photos and entertaining stories it's time to say Hi all!  & share something in return - however, at this stage still testing... As you are heading into fall, it's  Spring here in Oz!
::  Here's one of my old favourites Peaceful cove with bird (this was scanned from a print)  Hope it works!

Day i got my cam got a bit excited running around darling harbour in sydney taking photo's of just about everything that got in my waycentrepointTower chinaTown Kookaburra SydneyTownHall Sunset2

I thought i'd post a few sunset and sunrise photo's i have taken over the past few years. This first one is a sunrise in my home town of Newcastle in Australia.
Lonely_walk was taken at a place called 80 mile beach which is just south of Broome in Western Australia. The tide goes out about 2 miles here and comes back in that 2 miles twice every day.
Bahrian_dawn was taken in Bahrian one morning as the local Dhows were coming back from a nights fishing.
island was taken from a friends boat whilst we were sailing around the islands of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Finally Seal_Rocks was taken at dawn. Seal rocks is a popular fishing spot on the mid north NSW coast of Australia.

This was a swimming hole in Australia. The locals assured me there were no crocs...just logs.

I was Hiking on Bathurst Island off the coast of Australia, when some Tiwi Aborigine kids wanted to do some tricks for my camera.

I live in tropical Australia where we have a wide range of exotic plants and animals. Lots of neat bugs as well.

These are a few of the native orchids I have found in the area. None of my pictures are ever edited in any way. What you see is exactly (when the camera is being nice) what I saw through the lens.

Rabbit Orchid Bird Orchid Butterfly Orchid Clit Orchid Dark Orchid Traveling Fairy Orchid Jumping Jack Orchid Orange Orchid Pink Orchid Purple OrchidRed Orchid Tiger Orchid Worm Anther Orchid Yellow Orchid

Not alot to say about this apart from I hope you like it. It wasn't taken in Cuba, rather Sydney, Australia.

I took this photo of St Helens Beach in Tasmania, Australia, last time I took a trip up the coast.

I would love to hear your comments. Thanks, Amy

On a recent adventure to one of the biggest cemeteries in New South Wales, I couldn't resist taking some very cliched shots. This decapitated statue was hauntingly gloomy, and this annually cared for grave looked like it hadn't been touched in years.
Visiting this church was the highlight of my day though. A very gothic beauty.

Our Australian Tree FernFern before it came in for the winter.