Byron Bay beach bike .....

Welcome,

I don't know where he was going, or why he was going there.

It doesn't matter really -  this sort of sight is common here.

Taken a couple of years ago on Ilford HP5 in an old Nikkormat.

(for those who think that sort of thing is important)

Stay safe

Byron Bay streets .....

Welcome,

Some images from  Byron Bay. This is an area which is a major tourist destination. The Northern Rivers sub region of New South Wales last year had over six million visitors. Byron Bay accounted for a massive percentage of those visitors. This in a town which has just 9,000 residents, and just over 30,000 in the shire.

It is true that I enjoy sitting at my favourite cafe watching the passing parade. Some of the sights have to be experienced to be believed. However, it is not the touristy types that I necessarily like to watch. 

Among the locals in Byron Bay there is enough to see to keep one interested for long periods of time - if you enjoy people watching.  After a while you start to recognise individuals. I find the place fascinating. Compared to the town in which I live, just 27km away, it is a whole other world.

Here are some of the locals.

greeting

lunch?

dogs

Stay safe

Bader .....

Welcome,

Bader was about fourteen years old. He was the smartest cat I have ever known. In the end he became sick and was taken to the animal hospital where he was relieved of his suffering.

He will be missed for quite some time.

Bader. d 28 December 2015

Take care.

Ballina Nighthawks .....

Welcome,

There are no nighthawks in Ballina.



Not here,

and not here.

I'm sorry Mr. Hopper

Stay safe

Rain.....

Welcome,

It rained in Byron Bay today.

One should always dress appropriately for the weather.

Stay dry.

Rain

Stay safe

Ray .....

Welcome,

This is Ray.

He recently turned 90 and is one of those who saw action in World War 2.

I met him recently by chance and asked if he would let me do a portrait. I have a notion of photographing all the remaining veterans of that horror who live in the Northern Rivers area.

He agreed and I spent some time yesterday with Ray and his wife Betty.  He told me his story. A story which included growing up just north of Adelaide, losing a father shortly after the first world war, and then eventually concealing his true age and signing up with the Royal Australian Navy.

He served on H.M.A.S. Barcoo mainly on convoy escort duty around New Guinea.  

Following the war, he married Betty and spent 38 years as a professional fireman in and around the greater Sydney area.

He and Betty have been married for 68 years.  The last thing Betty said when I was leaving was " I adore him".  It seemed to me that he obviously adored her too.

It occurred to me that here was two elderly people, the sort you may see down any street, in any cafe, going about their daily business. How many of us, however, would consider that they have a story to tell. 

A life lived. A history written, if not on paper, then surely on the hearts of their loved ones.

Perhaps we ought not to just pass them by.  Perhaps we ought, rather, to say hello and maybe just listen for a while.  That generation is fast dwindling.  I think that maybe it still has much to offer.

Ray

Stay safe

Byron Bay beach art .....

Welcome,

Sometimes art can be found on the sand, ephemeral, temporary, individual, waiting to be washed away with the next high tide.

Sand art being created

Sometimes art can be a little more permanent, found on the skin of those who watch.

Skin art

Stay safe.

Life, love and loss.....

Welcome,

I walked through Byron Bay again today.

As usual the streets were alive, vibrant, noisy, colourful.

All manner of individuals were there. 

I met Liza who was walking around proudly showing her belt buckle.  She said that she has been "pulled over more than once by the cops".

I wonder why.

Liza

I met Joseph who was sitting in a corner trying in vain to sell his home made jewellery. He told a quite amusing story of trying to buy cigarette papers with an old 1968 dollar note - the kind that are no longer in circulation.  As no-one would take the money, he ended up using the dollar as the cigarette paper.  "It's made of hemp" he said. 

I don't know if it was or not, but the story made me smile.

Joseph

In the main street I passed a young couple who obviously had deep affection for each other and were not afraid to show it.  

                               ".... Love, rising from the mists, 

                                     Promise me this and only this,

                                     Holy breath touching me, like a wind song, 

                                     Sweet communion of a kiss....." (Judee Sill, The Kiss)

The Kiss

I spent a few minutes on the beach.

Byron Bay, September 10, 2014

Normally the beach is crowded, especially on a day such as today.

Not today.  The beaches were closed. 

A few souls walked them, and most of those were not smiling or laughing the way that the beachgoers here usually do. 

No-one entered the water.

No-one other than the lifesavers patrolling on their jet skis.  Searching. Searching for the great white shark that killed a man just fifteen metres from this shore yesterday.

Byron Bay, September 10, 2014

Adjacent to the area where the attack occurred someone has planted some pieces of washed up trees.  I don't know if they are a memorial to the victim, but they weren't there last time I walked this way.  Knowing the folk of this area, one can be forgiven for thinking that it is a response to what happened yesterday.

A few individuals walked here today.  Some stopped at the spot and gazed toward the sea.  Who knows what their thoughts were? Who knows how the wife of the victim will find comfort in the coming days and years?

In time the make shift memorial will be gone, the warning signs will be gone and the people here will come and go; but that other world - the sea -  it will remain, and its waves will touch this shore as they have done for millennia.  The waves shall have their stories.  We shall touch them, and surely they will touch us.

Byron Bay, September 10, 2014

                               "..... While waters wimple to the sea,

                                       While day blinks in the lift sae hie ,

                                       Till clay-cauld death sall blin' my e'e ,

                                       Ye sall be my dearie..... "  (Robert Burns)

Stay safe.

Byron Bay faces .....

Welcome,

It never ceases to amaze me that someone will allow a total stranger to make a photograph of them.

Sharing a few minutes of time with them often is all that is needed for them to allow the camera to be used.

Here are a couple of interesting characters I met recently while walking around Byron Bay. 

Lester is a well known member of the local indigenous community.  He is the brother of the late Micky Kay, one of the most respected of the local indigenous elders who used to perform welcome to the country ceremonies at local events.

Lester

Dan was singing and dancing in the main street with a couple of friends. It was noticeable that a lot of passers-by would rather not interact with them.  Their loss.  We ended up having a great laugh.  I say suspend judgement, you may have fun.

Dan

If you are out walking around your home town try to make conversation with a stranger.  You never know what might happen.  If you carry your camera - all the better.

Stay safe

The Rails .....

Welcome,

Another day in Byron Bay.

The local police were doing a sweep along the main street and around the beach.

Ten officers and one drug detector dog enjoyed a stroll in the sunshine.

Apparently it happens the week before any of the big music festivals for which the area is renowned.

Next week is the 'Splendour in the grass festival'.

Exactly a week ago the local force marched with the indigenous locals in the annual NAIDOC march.

That march started in the park adjacent to the old railway station.

This week the force was issuing 'move on orders' to those same folk, in the same park.

Strange days indeed, mama, most peculiar - (apologies to John Lennon)

For others however, it mattered little.  Sitting in the 'Railway Friendly Bar' known locally as 'The Rails', some simply enjoyed the day. 

Byron Bay locals at the Railway Friendly Bar

Stay safe

Watching the waves .....

Welcome,

A stranger, watching the waves.

Sometimes in the ordinary can be found the awesome;

in the banal, the beauty;

in the mundane, the magnificent.

Sometimes all we need do is look and we shall see.

Stay safe.

Byron Bay black and white..... Jimmy

Welcome,

A couple of months ago I was walking around Byron Bay with a lens from 1977 attached to a camera from 1975.  Loaded with Kodak BW400CN film.

There is always music happening in this town.

Always.

As in, you can always hear it - unless you are deaf, of course.

With my wife I walked into a shop and there sat Jimmy, playing a black Stratocaster that usually hangs on the back wall of the store.

A couple of quick shots and we were gone.

His smile followed us through the door.

Great music, great vibe.

Stay safe