day out

Having been couped up for months due to illness, bad backs, non-stop rain and generally having other things to do, we decided to plan a proper day out.

Jay got lots of yummy food for a picnic on Friday, we programmed the GPS (thats a story for later on..) and this morning, headed off to Araluen Botanic Park http://www.araluenbotanicpark.com.au.

Its about an hours drive from where we are, so its doable within the bounds of whinging children getting fed up and Jay’s bad back starting to complain.

The GPS was more of a hindrance than a help – taking us down more than one wrong turning, including a dead end.  Thanks a bunch,  If there’s one thing I hate, its going the wrong way.  Gah!   I find the GPS useful if I’m on my own in the car – if Jay’s there, she pretty much knows where we have to go anyway as she’s lived here for 20 years.

So, we arrived at 10ish and the place was deserted.  It was still a little chilly but the flowers were all out and we had the place to ourselves really.  Took the Holga, the Trip and the D300, so more than enough cameras really!  Got some (I hope) nice pics with the Holga as the sun was bright enough for the Velvia 100 film. The Trip 35 was in its element, making simple snaps a pleasure.  Only shot a few with the digital – I’ll upload any later if they’re any good.

Its amazing how many people had DSLR’s there – more than 1/2 the people there were toting some serious hardware and almost all of them standing back and taking shots on zoom or auto mode with the flash up.  *sigh*  how many of them will be going home and thinking they’re the best photographer since David Bailey (Trip 35 reference – he was advertising them in the 70’s – search for the video on youtube)