This will hurt me...

An attempt at HD. A look out over Norfolk Bay. Historic Coal Mine Site, Saltwater River, Tasman Peninsula. August 2013. The Lady in the Lake , Raymond Chandler: It was okay, if a bit 'paint by numbers'. C . The Unguarded House , Heinrich Böll: a.k.a. Haus ohne Hitter or Tomorrow and Yesterday , this was probably regarded as the first of Böll's 'classics'. Utilising a shifting narrative voice, this is a moving novel that explores the ways in which members of different generations assess their pasts and their collective futures and get on with living. Set in Germany and written just a decade after World War Two, this is a harrowing portrait of learning to deal with the ghosts of the past and the uncertainty of the future. I really loved this one and couldn't recommend it more highly. A+ . Norfolk Bay, Tasman Peninsula. August 2013.

Men in a boat. The Derwent Estuary, as seen from Shot Tower, Taroona. May 2013. Theme Thursday already an the theme is 'LETTER'. Today's letter is... V .

Fallen tree. Russell Falls, Mount Field National Park. April 2013. Wordless Wednesday. Flowing water. Russell Falls, Mount Field National Park. April 2013.

Just beneath the surface. Errol Flynn Reserve, Sandy Bay. April 2013. Chopin's Move , Jean Echenoz: Very French. I didn't like it much. F . The Day of the Triffids , John Wyndham: Another bleak novel from Wyndham. I hadn't read this since high school, but for some reason had the urge to revisit it. The story rollicks along easily enough, even if it never quite manages to convince... C+ .

Summer is coming to an end. Primrose Beach, Primrose Sands. February 2013. Wordless Wednesday. Wordless Wednesday, Primrose Sands, beautiful water, lovely sights, Hobart in the Summer, Primrose Beach, boats,

Note the lobster claw in his hand and the crafty seagull eye off said claw perched atop the rock.

Good snorkelling. Bicheno Beach, Tasmania's East Coast. January 2013. Sunday Top Five ? Okay. See the picture above? How about Five Things That I Saw While Snorkelling Around In Bicheno (Despite The Very Cool Waters And The Distinct Lack Of A Wetsuit)! Macrocystis pyrifera Oligoplites saurus Latris forsteri Sepioteuthis australis Cheilodactylus spectabilis

Jen and Hen risk life and limb down on Opossum Bay...

Steel springs. Steel springs. Steel springs. Steel springs. Steel springs.

Bathing beauties? Opossum Bay, South Arm Peninsula. December 2012. The weather forecast holds mixed fortunes for our planned Christmas brunch right here on Opossum Bay beach. Fingers crossed. Here, have one of my favourite poems... After Making Love We Hear Footsteps , Galway Kinnell For I can snore like a bullhorn or play loud music or sit up talking with any reasonably sober Irishman and Fergus will only sink deeper into his dreamless sleep, which goes by all in one flash, but let there be that heavy breathing or a stifled come-cry anywhere in the house and he will wrench himself awake and make for it on the run—as now, we lie together, after making love, quiet, touching along the length of our bodies, familiar touch of the long-married, and he appears—in his baseball pajamas, it happens, the neck opening so small he has to screw them on— and flops down between us and hugs us and snuggles himself to sleep, his face gleaming with satisfaction at being this very ...

Just to continue on the hermit crab theme for one more post...

RUN!

Boats on the Derwent. Just off Tranmere, as seen from Sandy Bay. August 2012. Father's Day? Sunday Top Five? I have an idea! My Top Five Interesting Dads In The Animal Kingdom ! Lions . Greedy and lazy buggers, lion fathers. They occupy most of their time lying about in the shade, waiting for one of their wives to bring home dinner. Female lions do pretty much all of the hunting and almost all of the parenting. Of course, this bugger likes to eat first, and is happy enough in lean seasons to let everyone else starve to death rather than go without a feed... Emperor Penguins . You probably already know this, but this dedicated dad holds his missus's eggs on the top of his feet, covering them with his belly for two months in the frigid Antarctic... without eating! Where is is partner? That's rights, she's off shagging and eating! Grizzly Bears. These bears like their own space, they really do. They also like to eat. A lot. Which means that if mamma bear doe...

No smoke on the water. The River Derwent, Sandy Bay. August 2012. Two books this week. First up, The Death of Grass by John Christopher. This is a neat little post-apocalyptic novel that centres around the human response to a virus that kills off all forms of grass. While the swiftness with which society reverts to savagery strikes me as perhaps a little off, there is great power in the descriptions of man's culpability for the disaster. Indeed, this one is a very prescient book. Recommended. Second up is The Dying Animal by Philip Roth. For a book that is ultimately about sex, it wears out its welcome reasonably quickly. A couple of imaginative paragraphs aside - Roth can write, after all - you can't help but think to yourself, 'get over it, you filthy old bugger!' Only for the keen.

Water. The Derwent Estuary, as seen from Battery Point. July 2012. I've decided to cancel today's Sunday Top Five and go to the beach instead. Probably a bit too cold to swim, but not to have a stroll.

After dealing with the Ruskies, Ezra makes his way to Székesfehérvár...

Young love... Ain't it grand?

John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row is one of the revered books of the American canon and takes its name from a street lined with sardine fisheries in Monterey. The novel revolves around the lives of its inhabitants: Chinese grocers; bums; bouncers; prostitutes; the local marine biologist (!) and other assorted chancers and ne’er-do-wells. As much a series of vignettes as a coherent narrative, the book does a supreme job reconstructing a certain time and place that seems very distant from the world today. As such, it is a masterpiece. It is incredibly funny, yet surprisingly poignant. As ever Steinbeck does a superb job recreating both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. This really is a fantastic book, one of the best I’ve read in a while. Extremely highly recommended! Second up is something a little different, Philip K. Dick’s Time Out of Joint . First published in 1959, the book captures a lot of Dick's recurrent themes concerning the nature of reality an...

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 ...

Henry discovers where all of Tasmania's trams eventually went...