Club Meeting, 'An Australian Odyssey' - Tuesday 2nd April 2024.

    

Morpeth Camera Club met on Tuesday 2nd April with a special evening organised by Chairman Peter Downs. Our
mystery Guest Speaker turned out to be our own Glyn Trueman with a presentation entitled "An Australian Odyssey",
or Opportunistic Photos from ‘OZ.’ Glyn and his wife Hilary had spent six weeks travelling and learning about Australian
life. Staying initially in Albury, which lies between Melbourne and Sydney, they wanted to acclimatise to Australian ways,
register with their healthcare programme and generally to meet the locals who, Glyn explained, seemed to use language
based on a shortened version of words and names.

He went on to describe and illustrate their itinerary, starting in Melbourne where they left on a cruise ship, in rough seas,
which took them up to Eden, an old whaling port. A visit to the museum showed catching and processing methods from
the past and we also saw examples of the traditional architecture of corrugated iron roofs and verandas. Their next stop
was to Sydney with its Harbour Bridge, warships, defence forts and its many colourful ferries. Although some streets lie
in the shadow of the high rise modern architecture, we enjoyed seeing examples of colourful wall art and shots of some
Aborigine street musicians and dancers. Images of the Sydney Opera House exterior with its scale-like tiles provided us
with dramatic abstract lines and curves while in contrast the interior was mainly Brutalist in style. We enjoyed seeing the
cityscape lit impressively at night time as seen from the river.

        

Their journey continued with a visit to Morpeth, New South Wales, with its original buildings, that included St James’
Church, an old railway station, and hotels dating back to 1838. They then went on to the upmarket town of Terrigal
with its striated sandstone outcrops, its flora, and birdlife and beach scenes. They had been advised to visit Forresters
Beach where Glyn showed images of sweeping panoramas and huge rolling waves being enjoyed by surfers.

Aboard a very affordable train system they arrived back at Melbourne and we enjoyed seeing buildings, old and new,
heritage trams and St Paul’s Cathedral with its beautiful stained glass windows and tiles and also posters apologising
to the first nation for their treatment in the past. Then onto Queen Victoria market with its array of street food, exotic
fruits, shop signs, wall art, sculptures and musicians. During his return trip to Albury they visited the site where the
restoration of the DC-2 aircraft was taking place and he filled us in with stories about the races between Europe and
Australia which were the pioneer flights before becoming the main routes that we know today. Anzac Day was taking
place and we saw parades commemorating Australia and New Zealand’s contribution to World War Two.

    

Following on we saw colourful birds and parrots at the Botanical Gardens, a visit to a Nut Festival to celebrate the nut
harvest, with craftsmen, wool spinners and musicians. A visit to HMAS Otway, a submarine in Holbrook, also colourful
pubs, the Station Masters’ House and stories about the different gauge railway lines system at the border, concluded
Glyn’s presentation. Together with information throughout about Australia’s health care system, its rail network and
general way of life, this made for a very interesting evening at the club. Club Chairman Peter Downs thanked Glyn for
showing us not only the well known landmarks but the everyday life in Australia, after which refreshments were served.

Steph.