This will hurt me...

Lots o' dogs. Howrah Beach, as seen from Little Howrah Beach. March 2012. Another Watery Wednesday and today, we pop down to Howrah Beach and enjoy a canine afternoon delight . Naturally, these evenings I usually find myself in a state of extreme concentration, the task being that of ensuring that some stray furious accumulation of muscle, sinew and enormous set of jaws on petite legs pit bull does not snap and make a meal of one of my children...

Watery Wednesday and I have opted for an afternoon delight ! Because, you know, my motto has always been ‘when it is right, it is right’. Why wait until the middle of a cold, dark night when everything is a little clearer in the light of day? And you know that the night is always going to be there any way. Yes, most of my day-to-day decisions are delegated to the Starland Vocal Band.

Bridge over troubled reasonably placid water. Richmond. February 2012. This Watery Wednesday to the almost-still Coal River in Richmond (a far cry from the raging torrent that we visited back in June last year ). Yet is not so much the water as the bridge itself that has got me thinking... It says something about a country when your oldest bridge still in use - the heritage listed Richmond Bridge - only dates back to 1825. As you can see on the bridge itself, the foundation stone was laid in 1823 and the thing itself was constructed using convict labour (the sandstone was quarried nearby and hauled to the site using hand carts) until it eventual completion one hundred and eighty-seven years ago. All this is a far cry from some of those other bridges that you might have visited, like the Kapellbrücke (1333), the Charles Bridge (1357), Si-o-se Pol (1602), or the good-as-new Alcántara Bridge (106) [!!!] All of a sudden, 1823 doesn't quite seem that far away.

Watery Wednesday again and I revisit a pleasant swim that Henry and I had at Little Howrah Beach a few weeks back. Yes, the water was a bit nippy and a reasonably heavy cloak of smoke - from the fires raging the in Valley of Love - hung in the air, but events conspired for some halfway decent photographs...

Just prior to lathering myself in pig fat... Little Howrah Beach, looking west over Hobart. February 2012. What I like to do on a Watery Wednesday is knock off from work, stick the swimmers on then get my hands on a big jar of pig grease and do a couple of laps around the Derwent Estuary with the wife and kids...

The onion field. Table Cape, Tasmania’s North West Coast. February 2012. This Watery Wednesday I reflect on the fact that pretty much everywhere I have live, an expanse of water has been nearby. By nearby, I mean within sight . I’m not sure what the psychological effect is, but I am reasonably certain that if denied that precious view of H²O, I’d struggle!

Bass Strait. Somewhere up the path from Table Cape Lighthouse, Table Cape, Tasmania’s North West Coast. February 2012. This Watery Wednesday I must confess that I do like a nice cliff an expanse of open water. Very soothing. Very peaceful. We need more of it! I had thought that I left the world of interminable meetings behind. Alas, I was wrong. Note to self: must book more meetings to avoid more meetings.

Grapefruit in the bay. Kangaroo Bay, Bellerive. February 2012. Each Watery Wednesday must feature all sorts of flotsam and jetsam. I am not sure whether today's grapefruit constitutes flotsam or jetsam . The romantic in me would like to think that it was an intriguing bit of flotsam , making it all the way to Bellerive via the great Southern Ocean current after a Chilean fruit tender struck a rogue squid or something or other. It is of course more likely to be jetsam , cast aside by some foolish rapscallion as part of some sophomoric prank. BAH! [Of course, maritime law seems flotsam as floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo . Conversely, jetsam is part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is purposefully cast overboard or jettisoned to lighten the load in time of distress and that sinks or is washed ashore .]

Looking over Bass Strait. Table Cape, North West Tasmania. February 2012. This Watery Wednesday features a snap taken during our very recent jaunt up to my old stomping grounds up in the North West of our fair State. The great thing about the North West is that, whatever town you're in, there is a fair chance that should you turn and face north, you'll catch a glimpse of Bass Strait, the sea strait that separates Tasmania from the Australian mainland. Probably because of its limited depth, Bass Strait is notoriously rough, with many ships lost there during the 19th century. Because of that, you'll spot an awful lot of lighthouses dotting the coast. This photo - taken after a particularly rough Sunday night - was taken right next to the Table Cape Lighthouse. Table Cape itself is a rather spectacular flat-topped promontory - geologically speaking it is a large volcanic plug - with a sheer drop to the sea. Right in front of me here there is a very steep embankment that falls...

The morning sun over Storm Bay. Calverts Beach, South Arm Peninsula. January 2012. Watery Wednesday today and we celebrate with a Watery Wednesday today and we celebrate with a shot of the lovely (slow rising) morning sun over the water as it starts to burn off the cloud. This one was taken down at Calverts Beach, and you can see Storm Bay out to the south of South Arm Peninsula. I understand that it got its name when Abel Tasman was forced by a storm to take his ships out to sea before they could anchor back in 1642. No storms on this morning though!

Hoe he'e nalu down south. Calverts Beach, January 2012. I thought that this Watery Wednesday I'd share an image that demonstrates just how much Hoe he'e nalu has taken Tasmania by storm. If you're not familiar with Hoe he'e nalu - or stand up paddle surfing for those of you who don't speak Hawaiian - it is an ancient form of surfing, and for a time was the preserve of surfing instructors to keep an eye on large groups of students. Now it seems that every bugger and his dog are in on it! Some claim that the Hoe he'e nalu craze can be explained by the ease with which beginners can master the art, and the excellent inner core workout that you get from all of that stand up paddling. However, I remain unconvinced by these explanations. My own theory is that in standing up, one’s legs and arms are not dingling and dangling in the water, tasty little treats for any passing Great White. Moreover, if you do happen to spot a roaming monster of the deep – which ...

The storm after the calm. Geilston Bay, January 2012. Watery Wednesday today, and we celebrated a day early here in Hobart as the storms kicked in yesterday evening bringing both a few boatloads of rain and breaking the mini-heat wave that we'd had the previous few days.

A kelp forest. Calvert's Beach, South Arm Peninsula. January 2012. A merry Watery Wednesday to all on this cold and grey Summer morning in Tasmania! In order to avoid the dismal truth that what should be the sunniest season is looking like a damp squib today, today's photograph harkens back to a week or so ago and a beautiful morning of a balmy 22°C - at 8am - as we rounded the cliffs at Goat Bluff.

Water water everywhere! Kayakers on the Derwent, as seen from Alexandra Battery, Sandy Bay. January 2012. Another day, another year and another Watery Wednesday . Living by a river estuary – as we do here in Hobart – one is never short of a photograph or two of water. Above you can see two keen kayakers taking to it like ducks to… erm… water . Maybe this will be the year that I get my own kayak. Maybe. Just maybe.

Hobart in the summer. Our front yard, Geilston Bay. December 2011. Today's photograph is an appropriately wet one for Watery Wednesday . Taken last Monday at (about) 4:04 pm, you can see how a sudden deluge saw our front lawn flooded. For a while there - as the waters rose and Henry and I were hustling as many animals as we could find (which amounted to some grasshoppers and a bunch of ants) onto a makeshift raft - we were quite worried. Then the rain stopped. Aside from a bit of pine bark that floated away and a bunch of rocks that were pushed downhill by the stream of water, there was not much to show of the whole affair,

WATCH OUT! Underneath the Tasman Bridge, as seen from the western shore on the north side. November 2011. Watery Wednesday , and I very nearly captured a tragedy here. I can neither confirm or deny whether or not this intrepid crew of marine security services foiled a plot devised by a ruthless cabal of shags - on the rock broken pylon in the centre of the picture - to blow up the Tasman Bridge and sever connection between Hobart's eastern and western shores.

Grumplestiltskin. Little Howrah Beach, Howrah. November 2011. This bird is grumpy now that she has found herself featuring on a Watery Wednesday post rather than her preferred option of Avian August , Silver Gull Saturday or indeed Larus Novaehollandiae dies Lūnae Foul look or not though, she tasted lovely .

Looking south. The Derwent Estuary, as viewed from Rosny Hill. October 2011. Watery Wednesday again and what an awful lot of water I have for you today. I took this photograph while precariously perched atop a rock at Rosny Lookout (a lookout with the view almost completely obscured by tight bunches of ugly shrubs). Looking south, you can see Taroona, Kingston and probably Blackmans Bay further down south. Now, locals will tell you that this particular stretch of H²O is called the River Derwent , but I would argue that at this point the Derwent has ceased to be a river and would be more correctly referred to as the Derwent Estuary . Some have claimed that this estuary forms the the deepest sheltered harbour in the Southern Hemisphere, but I’ve been unable to confirm that even using the magic of the Internets. Suffice to say, at this point the water is incredibly deep and unreasonably cold.

The wave comes in on the southern side of Clifton Beach. Clifton Beach. November 2011. Me: Guess what? You: What? Me: Today I am embracing a new meme. You: Embracing a new meme you say...? Me: Yes, a new meme! You: What kind of meme is it? Me: Well, it is a new meme that will let me showcase a photograph in new and innovative ways. You: Does it involve furries dressed up like My Little Ponies? Me: No, it's Watery Wednesday , an exciting new opportunity for me to feature a photograph that focuses on water or a water-themed subject each wee! You: ... Me: Hey, where are you going? What's wrong? You: ... ... ... ...