Sawmiller's Wreck

Situated in a beautiful, secluded spot in McMahon’s Point, Sawmiller’s Reserve is a great place to spend a few hours reading a book in the sunshine or playing with the dog. It is also a great spot to see another of Sydney’s shipwrecks. The wreck is of what appears to be a transport barge, one of the many vessels who would have delivered timber to the site when it was an operating mill (it ran from the late 1800s until the 1980s). There are ruins of the mill itself elsewhere in the park and the council has done a great job in integrating the modern with the historic to create a wonderful environment for people to explore. Well worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Taxidermy

I find the whole topic of taxidermy a very interesting one, both the art form itself and the divisive response it tends to get in society. As a practice (the idea of preserving deceased animals) it goes back thousands and thousands of years but the modern ideal of taxidermy first started to appear in the 1700s.

In the past, the taxidermy process involved the stuffing of the animal’s skin with sawdust and rags. However, specimens created this way would quickly rot and so the process evolved, adopting resin, foam or even wire forms onto which portions of the animal’s preserved skeletal structure (skull, horns, claws etc) are placed. The taxidermist will usually then build up layers of muscle on the form using a putty which can help to convey varying expressions in the animal. Finally the tanned skin is placed over the form and portions of it are painted and/or stitched to create the life-like appearance.

Aside from the usual, traditional form of taxidermy there are also two other subsets; anthropomorphic and rogue. The former was extremely popular during the Victorian era and features animals dressed up as people (you can see examples of some of this here) while the latter involves using parts of real animals to create mythical or extinct ones or even other things like doll’s houses (seriously).

I guess the problem most people have with taxidermy is that it is seen by many to be a promoter of hunting and while I understand there is a large portion of the taxidermy market dedicated to trophies, there is also just as large a portion dedicated to the production of museum and educational examples. Examples designed to help people understand, study and learn from these animals, which was the primary use of taxidermy during its hey-day in the Victorian era.

I took the photo attached to this post at the St Petersburg Museum of History in Russia.

The Lithgow Blast Furnace

A few weeks back I spoke about Joadja, a mining ghost town in the Southern Highlands and today I’m going to talk about another ghost of Australia’s mining past; the Blast Furnace Park at Lithgow. Built in 1886 by William Sandford it was where the first iron and steel were cast in Australia. The furnace continued operation until the mid 1920s when the work moved to Port Kembla and the site was abandoned.

What is left of the blast furnace (now just ruins of the pump house and the foundations of the furnaces) has been turned into a park for anyone interested in exploring this part of Australia’s history and is well worth visiting if you are in the area.

The Warrumbungles

We have spoken a few times about the feeling one gets when investigating abandoned buildings and alike; that haunting, eerie feeling if you will. Well, in today’s post I’m going to talk about one of the times that has occurred to me out in nature, in this case during a visit to the Warrumbungles. For those who didn’t know, the Warrumbungles are a rather unique looking mountain range in outback New South Wales, about 7 hours drive from Sydney.

The place is interesting in that it features several towering rocky outcrops that dwarf the surrounding hills and bushland. There they stand, like silent sentinels, surveying all that surrounds them and when you're driving or walking through the park you cannot shake the impression that you are, indeed, being watched by them.

I remember once reading a quote from famed movie critic Roger Ebert that discussed the idea that in Australian horror one can reliably call upon nature to play the role of a villain. This was due to the fact that there is something otherworldly and ethereal (unfamiliar) about our landscape that further serves to unsettle travelers passing through it, drawing them even further out of their comfort zone. And I can tell you, even though it never felt eerie, it was strange driving through the ranges.

Wreck of the Minmi

Continuing my series of posts about visible shipwrecks around Sydney, today I’m talking about the wreck of the SS Minmi, which is still visible at La Perouse. Built in 1927 in Scotland, the Minmi was used to transport coal between Newcastle and Melbourne and was returning to Newcastle in 1937 when it struck Cape Banks (pictured above in the bottom photo) which is on the northern headland of Botany Bay.

It promptly broke apart and a rescue effort was mounted with only one life lost. The ship was salvaged (with salvagers living in caves on the headland while they worked) but there is a section of stern still visible (although deteriorating quickly) on the headland. The site itself is a little tricky to get to, so I would recommend doing a bit of research on Google Maps before heading out there, however you will be greeted by some interesting sights such as the tree pictured above and an old bunker.

If you are interested, there is also a series of photos available of Flickr, showing the Minmi at the time it was wrecked.

Fujiflex

When I was in Vegas last year I visited one of the galleries of Peter Lik, a photographer I greatly admire. Lik obviously goes to great lengths in the presentation of his work and the printing process and acrylic laminating (also known as face-mounting) he uses really brings the pictures to life and inspired me to want to learn the secrets behind this process.

While Peter Lik’s exact printing process is impossible to discern (and for good reason) it is clear he uses a silver halide paper and after much research I found one of the best types of paper you can get like this is Fujiflex Crystal Archive, from Fuji Film. This paper isn’t really paper at all but rather a polyester-based material which delivers remarkable tonal range and colours which, when combined with an acrylic face mount, really bring pictures to life.

I have recently been preparing an entry for this year’s Blake Prize and wanted to combine elements of a traditional landscape oil painting with a modern landscape photo. So, I had a picture printed on Fujiflex (by the brilliant team at CFL) and then had it face-mounted on acrylic before being mounted in an ornate gilt frame. I was very happy with the results and will share them with you here shortly.

WW1 Photos

I often get a lot of emails from people through my Lest We Forget website, asking if I have (or know where they can get) a photo of their loved one who served in WW1. Although I would dearly love to help everyone out, the truth of the matter is that despite just about every soldier having their photo taken, very few of these have survived, those that are identifiable at least.

Your best bet is to try a search on Trove, which now includes the Picture Australia and War Memorial archives, try searching by their full name as well as their initials (e.g John Smith, John Bob Smith and J.B Smith). It is also good to try local library resources (as well as State Libraries) as well as family history societies in the towns they were from.

Another great resource (especially if your relative is from Sydney) is the Sydney Mail. This paper featured lots of headshots of soldiers who were wounded or killed during the war. I have several hundred of these cut out and stuck into an old folder (pictured above, the handiwork of an interested party at the time of the conflict) as well as several hundred more in a suitcase, but Google News has an archive you can browse through.

Writer's Edition

While I think spending thousands on a pen is a little exorbitant, some people do and I guess if you’re going to do this then you’re going to want the best and you can’t get much better than Mont Blanc. Now, before you start thinking it, this isn’t an ad for Mont Blanc, although I do use one of their regular pens. Instead, I wanted to make you aware (if you weren’t already) about their series of pens inspired by famous writers because I think they are simply amazing little works of art in their own right. These highly collectable writing instruments are inspired by literary heavyweights including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Agatha Christie, Hemingway, Poe and Jules Verne with each pen’s design drawing inspiration from elements from the authors work and style to create its own unique work of art. Certainly worth checking out here.

Middle Head

The Middle Head Fortifications were originally built in 1870 to defend Sydney Harbour from attack, the position being chosen because from the headland you have a perfect, unobstructed view of the entrance to the harbour and so any ship that wanted to enter would have to go past the fort. Amended, updated and expanded until 1911, it is part of a series of fortifications around the harbour, many of which are still in place and well worth exploring. Of particular interest at the Middle Head site is the engine room which contains a series of tiger cages that were used to train Australian soldiers heading off to Vietnam how to survive being tortured.

Most of the tunnels linking the various portions of the fort are closed but occasionally the National Park will open them for tours, so keep an eye on their website for details.

Homebush Wrecks

I love shipwrecks, but not being a diver I can’t really see a lot of them, what with them being under the ocean and all. However, there are a few shipwrecks dotted around Sydney that you don’t even need to get wet to see and over the next few weeks I’m going to detail a few of them, starting today with the shipwrecks at Homebush.

Now Homebush isn’t exactly the first place that comes to mind when you think of shipwrecks but, there are quite a few out there. Why? Well there used to be a ship-breaking yard at Homebush Bay in the 60s and 70s and when it closed several ships (or portions of ships) were left to form natural reefs in the area. If you visit the site today you can see the remains of four major ships; the Ayrfield (which is some 70m long), Mortlake Bank, the Heroic and Karangi. There are also the remains of several smaller ships, barges and alike.

The council have built a few viewing areas so you can easily see the wrecks without having to traipse through the mangroves, but some of them are a little hard to find, rewarding the intrepid explorer. Still, a quick Google map search will reveal the locations of the main wrecks.