Moon

Here’s a trailer for a new movie called Moon. The score was done by the illustrious Clint Mansell with Carly Paradis (of Oceanship fame) on piano. It looks and sounds great!

End of an Era

In other exciting news, the Golden Giant Mine headframe was demolished over the weekend. It marks the beginning of the end of an era at Hemlo. How very sad.

Newie

In somewhat spontaneous fashion, Phil and I decided to spend a two-and-a-half day weekend in Newcastle. The lead singers of two great American bands, Against Me! and Hot Water Music were doing an acoustic solo tour of Oz with Sydney, Newcastle and Canberra on their tour roster. After deciding that we were tired of going to Sydney for shows and knew enough people from Newcastle to justify a visit there, our minds were made up. So on Friday afternoon we departed on a 6+ hour drive to the coast two hours north of Sydney. We arrived in Newie, checked into our hotel and walked to the pub where the gig was taking place. Apparently the Cambridge Hotel is legendary with a lot of great Aussie acts (including Silverchair) launching their careers there. We thoroughly enjoyed the sets although we were disappointed that we didn’t have time to eat before the show.

Tom Gabel

On Saturday we spent the day perusing Newcastle and its beaches. Like the crazy Canadians we are, we went swimming in the ocean despite the mild temperature (only 20 degrees!) and deserted beach. It was lovely. My camera has been giving me all sorts of headaches lately due to debris and scratches, particularly on the wide angle lens, so I made use of my macro lens for the first time in ages and had a great time exploring the patterns and textures of the beach.

Newcastle Beach

Newcastle

Newcastle is an interesting place. With a population of less than 300,000 it is a refreshing change from Sydney. It is an industrial city replete with coal mines, steel mills and shipping ports. It was also devastated by a large earthquake in the late 1980s which left the downtown core in poor shape. To this day, many of the buildings that were damaged by the quake have yet to be repaired or replaced due to their historic significance. It makes for an interesting visit to the CBD to say the least. Unlike Sydney, Newie has a very relaxed vibe and as with most coastal Aussie cities the sun, surf and sand permeates the atmosphere. We were keen to go surfing or perhaps even buy surf boards but ran out of time. If only we could live on the coast!

We wandered around the city, had a great dinner at a Thai restaurant and then caught the new Star Trek movie at one of the oldest theaters we have ever seen. It even rivaled the Marathon movie theater with its black pleather seats, orange velvet curtains and brown and orange checked carpet. It was so shocking that I took a photo with my phone but it does the place no justice.

Sunday was a day of driving as we had to go to Sydney to pick up a few things at Ikea before heading home. Next thing we knew it was Sunday evening and the work week was starting once again.