Wynyard Tulip Festival

Most people would associate Tulip Festival with the Dutch kind, but there are other similar festivals elsewhere in the world. One such place is Wynyard, a town in north-west Tasmania.



Held in October (that'll be spring in the southern hemisphere), Wynyard hosts the annual festivities with plenty of celebrations and fun. There will be parades, games, food - the town literally becomes a carnival. There'll be plenty of children all around, either joining the parading floats, or lining the streets watching the fun. There is even a game competition, called the Tulip Tossing competition! The person who throws a stalk of tulip furthest wins the competition! Who'd have thought of that?



In the surrounding countryside of Wynyard, there're a number of tulip farms. However, the year I went, spring was late, so we didn't get to see the full bloom. Nevertheless, it was still quite a pretty sight, and definitely worth a road trip! Especially if you love flowers in bloom!

Tasmania

For those who love scenics, landscapes, the outdoors etc, Tasmania is hard to beat. Not just one type, you actually get to see many types of landscapes...

From mountains


to meadows


There's rocky coasts


and sandy beaches


See forests


and nice streams


You can see it all!
This is best achieved by self-drive though. The roads are generally easy to drive and the tourist information over there is excellent, so do not be afraid to try! For my planning, I used this website alot : http://www.discovertasmania.com/
For photographers who love shooting landscapes (like me), its a dream destination!!

Dramatic weather

Dramatic weather, like storms & lightning, makes wonderful photography! I still remember an incident......

Location : Coles Bay, Tasmania. Was hoping to catch the sunset, but the dark clouds look evil. The winds are screaming strong too, as the waves crash angrily onto the rocky beach.

I felt drops of water hitting me, from the rain or the sprays from the waves, I dunno. The winds showed no signs of stopping and the clouds are looking more ominous by the minute....

I cursed as my camera got wet. Should I go back to the car to get my ziploc bag to protect my camera? Ziploc bag?? The winds seemed to laugh and blew even harder. The setting sun shone hard, trying to break through the clouds, and the clouds danced and raced forth, aided by the howling wind.

Perhaps the sun, the wind and the clouds were having such a ball of a time, the rain decided to join in. I threw caution to the wind (pun unintended) and continued shooting....

As the sun dipped over the horizon, it seemed to signal the end of a game as the wind blew the dark clouds away. Like a child sticking to the mother, the rain clung to the clouds and dispersed as well. I stood looking at the stark contrast of the scene in front. What a rush!

Dramatic weather gives dramatic photos. For those who are afraid that your cameras may get damaged by water, you can always pack a ziploc bag with you which can act as a raincoat for your camera. Also, the scenes just before and after a storm may be well worth waiting for. After the above display, I waited/rested in the car for a while as it was evening time, where the light is best. At the same time, I did some emergency cleaning of lens since it got wet. What followed is one of the most beautiful, serene, and magical scenes I've seen in Tasmania.