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Adri’s Shop
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tomorrow’s
Sunrise words: Kayleen Bell Images: Elaine and Col Costin Each morning, while most people in Australia are still sound asleep, Elaine Costin has left the warmth of her bed, camera in hand, poised to capture that morning’s sunrise. This has been her daily routine, come hail or shine, for the past seven years and she has no plans to stop doing so any time soon. Elaine first began photographing sunrise in her late fifties, when as an ‘empty nester’ she had the luxury of a daily lie in. One Sunday back in 2007 that all changed when she decided to get up early with her husband, Col, to watch the sun rise.
“Sunrise was gorgeous that morning and the first seeds of capturing it were sown. I wondered what I had missed out on all these years and how many other people might never catch a sunrise either.” Without any formal training and just a Sony Cybershot camera in hand, Elaine started getting up early to photograph sunrise; every morning, no matter what the weather.
“Regardless of how dark and rainy it is, I go out and capture something each morning.”
Avoca
Avoca 12/6/14
A local primary school teacher, who jogged past her whilst taking photos in Darwin, was also so inspired by Elaine’s passion and dedication that she told her students all about it. The next day, many of them rose early to watch the sunrise and made drawings of what they saw. Elaine was delighted to hear about this, especially since the teacher told her that getting up earlier allowed the children time to eat breakfast, something they didn’t usually do.
“The teacher told me ‘your dedication to capturing every sunrise is having an impression on the children of Darwin’ that really made me smile.” No matter where she travels Elaine is convinced that Australia produces the most photogenic sunrises. She regularly scouts for new locations, but says her favourite location is Avoca Beach on the Central Coast.
“Avoca is a great place to take photos; there are plenty of sheltered spots when it’s windy, I get beautiful mirror pictures when the lake is still and of course the rolling, sometimes thundering surf provides stunning effects.”
Avoca 1/6/14
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Avoca 29/4/14
Sydney 18/5/14
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“My mission is to photograph every sunrise, every day. No matter how your day goes, starting with a sunrise makes everything else seem less important.” Elaine is also deeply grateful for the unfailing support of her husband, Col, a former surfer and retired builder. Married for 43 years, with three grown up daughters, and seven grandchildren, she says Col still treats her like a princess. He often waits in the driveway with a cup of tea to greet her after her morning photo shoot.
“Col has been there to support me in all of it. I need to be in the office for hours writing blogs and editing photos each day. He sits around patiently waiting for me to finish so we can go and do something.”
Col says he loves supporting Elaine, because she is doing what she loves.
“I don’t mind getting out of bed a little earlier now; it is the best time of day. I just follow her around and do what she is doing. She has taught me a lot about photography.” Despite his own difficult battle with bladder cancer in late 2013, Col has just received the all clear from the doctor. In the past month, the couple has travelled through Outback Australia to Darwin, Bali, then across to the north coast of Queensland. To travel in comfort, Col fitted out their Hyundai iLoad van – fondly nicknamed the Hyundai Hilton - with everything they need – it even has a pullout stove!
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Cadney Homestead 29/4/12
Darwin
“While on the road, as soon as we have taken the photos, we drive somewhere beautiful, pull out the kitchen and I go inside and start editing while Colin is out the back cooking bacon and eggs.” When it comes to editing, Elaine says she keeps it to a minimum. She makes sure the images are an exact representation of the colours she photographed, that’s why she likes to edit her images straight away. Col waits patiently after cooking breakfast for a walk around town. Elaine exudes a contagious enthusiasm whenever she talks about sunrise; like the excitement of a child waiting for Christmas morning. She says she can’t wait to get to bed each night so she can see the beauty of the following morning unfold.
“I will capture sunrise until my bones won’t let me move anymore. I will continue to do it, every day of the week, every day of the year. I have a great life, it is wonderful, and I can’t wait until the next sunrise.”
Avoca 19/5/14 To find your special sunrise go to Elaine’s website:
www.capturingsunrise.com
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learning the luthier’s trade Photography by Tim Brand
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Luthier is the rather lovely name given to a maker of stringed instruments, nowadays often most readily associated with guitar making. It’s a craft that has changed little over time, at least with acoustic guitars, and one that has a definite romantic appeal for many. If you wanted to learn this traditional craft of making string instruments, or lutherie, you might think you had to travel some distance to do so, yes? You certainly wouldn’t think of going to Erina. But as of June this year the Coast has its own branch of the Australian Guitar Making School. Under the tutelage of local luthier, Martin Taylor, students can learn all the skills necessary to take various pieces of timber and metal and make a beautiful instrument from them. Martin plays the guitar but certainly doesn’t claim any great skills with it. But he is one of those intrinsically musical people. Raised in a musical family and as a chorister with St. Andrews Cathedral Choir, Martin grew up singing and dabbling with various instruments including the piano which he played from an early age.
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With a successful career in corporate design and branding he also has an appreciation for quality and beauty and an interest in processes. It’s perhaps not surprising that he decided to try his hand creating guitars. Having no local option at that time Martin took himself to Melbourne where he was able to spend time with an extrememly experienced luthier intensively learning all he could. Martin returned enthusiastic about his newly acquired skills and began making guitars to sell and launching his business, Martin Taylor Guitars. Clients loved his instruments and many were also interested in the process, so when the opportunity arose to open a Central Coast branch of the wellrespected Australian Guitar Making School, based in Toronto near Lake Macquarie, he grabbed it. The school is designed around the idea of classes rather than courses, creating a fun and collaborative atmosphere. Classes are offered two days and three evenings a week, so budding luthiers are able to be flexible with their learning and go at their own pace. It also means there’s no start of term. You can start creating whenever it suits you.
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A positive side effect to this lack of timetables is that students are often at different stages of their build and so able to see each other’s progress and get a better overall picture of the process. No experience is necessary, Martin says you don’t even have to be handy. And you can definitely be female - Martin says the school is no man-cave and classes are attracting women as well as men. The school is fitted out with all the tools and machinery necessary and Martin can help you choose your materials.
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MUSO’S REPAIRSHOP is an authorised Maton repair and service centre. Contact Jeff on 0448 559 947 www.musosrepairshop.com.au
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The proposed development on the Gosford waterfront, Marina Cove - Gosford Broadwater, promises to be a drawcard for locals and tourists alike, bringing people back to this often overlooked part of the Central Coast. The area proposed for the development is a slim tract of land between the roundabout at Dane Drive back to the train line, across Brian McGowan Bridge from the Stadium. Currently this area is home to struggling grass, which costs council money to try and keep it alive. It’s a little accessed area of the waterfront except for the cycle path linking Gosford and Woy Woy and has been earmarked for this novel development planned to bring instant life and vitality to Gosford’s beautiful waterfront. Gosford Councill’s CEO, Paul Anderson, is a keen advocate, having seen a similar development in Christchurch bringing people back to the city’s waterfront after the devastating quakes. Part of the appeal of this development is timing. While we have quite a few years to wait for the bigger vision for Gosford, this area can be up and running around Easter 2015 and start pulling people back to the water. Erina development company, CommercialHQ has been granted the lease on the land currently two consecutive five-year terms with the option of a third - and have submitted their vision. For General Manager Tim Gunasinghe, this is very much a project with a personal angle.
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Tim grew up in Point Frederick and has fond memories of a childhood spent on Brisbane Water. He loves our waterway and desperately wants to see locals, and visitors, using it more. Currently Gosford’s waterfront is a stunning stretch of lawn that most of us only drive past or plant our behinds on for New Year’s Eve fireworks. The Marina Cove development, while based on the Re:START development in Christchurch, has some significant differences. The original idea was to utilise
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shipping containers that have become hot property worldwide for pop-up style buildings. Despite seeming like an ideal ‘green’ reuse project, when Tim’s team looked into it, it wasn’t the most viable or the most environmentally friendly option. The better solution turned out to be using local company Living Green Designer Homes, a specialist in sustainable, low impact buildings. Purpose-built modules with slightly better dimensions, and without the need for modification, will mimic the look of shipping
container developments, but with the added advantages of utilising a local company and improving environmental impact by using 100% recycled and renewable materials. The area will consist of five main buildings. These will each house two eateries and again, the integrity of the development is quite sound. The leasing of the eatery spaces is being stringently controlled by the developer with a well thought out range of cuisine including Japanese, Mexican, Spanish, French, Asian Fusion, Seafood and
New York-style, plus a gelataria, dessert bar and two cafes (one of them organic). There will be no fast food or franchises. Existing local businesses will effectively be opening satellite eateries with rents being purposefully kept affordable to enable these select businesses to get going. The added advantage of inviting established, quality businesses to be a part of the development is that extra staff and stock are on hand to deal with busy times when the waterfront is hosting events.
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Besides eateries, the development will feature an exhibition space to feature local creatives’ work and a playground that includes equipment suitable for children with disabilities. Each eatery will have a capacity of 40 seats and there will be general outdoor areas where you can sit with your coffee or gelato and take in the stunning scenery. In his bid to woo people back to the water, Tim Gunnersinghe is also adding kayaks, paddleboards and bike hire to the site and is currently exploring clever ways to integrate these into the development. The development is set to be an impressive sight. Just as the quality of food is controlled by the developer, so is the fit-out of each eatery. Again this has the twofold purpose of ensuring a quality result as well as keeping things affordable for the individual businesses. Each double module has two modules as a second storey. These have the possibility of being utilised down the track but for now they add visual drama with giant lightboxes in the front. The sides will feature graphic black and white designs. Tim hopes to involve the community, potentially local school children, in the design of these black and white skins and then plans to have hidden LED lights creating a subtle, coloured lightshow on the surfaces, similar to the displays that are part of Sydney’s VIVID. There is one issue that both Council and CommercialHQ freely acknowledge - the foreshore wall will have an extra layer of sandstone added to minimise water spray
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Brisbane Waters PICTORIAL
Brisbane Water dominates much of the lower Central Coast. It’s a stunning estuary around which many of our towns huddle. Brisbane Water starts with Narara and Coorumbine Creeks and ends some 18 kilometres later with Broken Bay and, eventually, the Tasman Sea.
The total catchment area is an impressive 165 square kilometres, with beaches, inlets and bays making it extremely accessable. Brisbane Water features stunning views and is ideal for a range of leisure activities. This summer, why not get out and explore this prisine and beautiful waterway? Photography by Tim Brand Rileys Bay
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Over 110 bird species have been recorded within Brisbane Water. Some 2277 hectares of the estuary is classified by BirdLife International as an important area due to its isolated populations of at-risk species.
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Brisbane Water is quite shallow, with an average bed level of between five and three metres, and a tidal impact of +0.4 metres.
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The oyster industry worldwide has taken a major blow with Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome, which has been detected locally. Brisbane Water is a significant producer of Sydney Rock Oysters which aren’t affected by the disease.
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Early morning at Koolewong
Originally known as Sorrento (after a large boarding house in the area) Empire Bay gained its current name, along with a Postal Receiving Office, in 1908 for the simple reason that Sorrento, Victoria also had a post office.
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Empire Bay
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Ship building was a major industry here with three brothers from the Davis family (hence the name) establishing successful building firms in the latter part of the 1800s.
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Davistown
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Brisbane Water was once the heart and the highway of the Gosford area, with an extensive ferry network connecting villages. You can still hop a ferry from Woy Woy to Saratoga, Davistown and Empire Bay with Central Coast Ferries, and Starship Cruises run scenic tours from Gosford on the Lady Kendall.
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Sunset at Woy Woy Channel
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The shallow, landlocked nature of Brisbane Water makes it perfect for smaller pleasure craft. There are many picturesque jetties and moors about the shore, both private and public, and beautiful inlets like Cockle Bay and Woy Woy Bay to explore.
After coming through the narrow neck under the Rip Bridge, Brisbane Water opens up at Blackwall. One of the Davis brothers, Rock, moved to Blackwall and built an impressive 163 vessels here between 1863 and 1904.
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Blackwall
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Saratoga is a peninsula surrounded by Brisbane Water on three sides and features a public wharf popular with fisherman. It’s also the home of the Saratoga Sailing Club. The area features stunning views across the breadth of Brisbane Water.
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Saratoga
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A long slim finger pointing north, the Broadwater heads towards the Brisbanes Water’s source, Narara Creek. The Broadwater is home to Gosford Sailing Club and hosts public events, such as New Year’s Eve, on its grassy shores.
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Storm brewing on the Broadwater
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Pretty Beach doesn’t face the ocean, its a delightful village hugging the banks of Brisbane Water, with Bouddi National Park behind it. Next door is Wagstaffe, where the Palm Beach ferry stops, then the mouth of Brisbane Water opens up at Half Tide Rocks and into Broken Bay beyond.
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Pretty Beach
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thank you for reading!
Look out for Issue 12 in Nov