Here in Sydney we have been released from our local government area and our five kilometre limit. Whilst we can’t travel outside of Sydney I could get away to the Blue Mountains for a little bit of time in the bush.

We had a lovely walk down the Valley of the Waters at Wentworth Falls, and then a gentle photographic morning photographing a northerly facing sandstone ridge. Orchids, Waratahs and Vanilla (Rush) Lilies dominated our finds. A few flannel flowers popped up here and there too.

Meeting people, socialising and going shopping were the furthest things from our minds. Instead finding some bush time was just so relaxing and refreshing. Getting the camera out somewhere that I havn’t walked nearly every day for two years is just so refreshing. I haven’t been in lockdown for that time. It is that I have been revisiting the same walks for that time now, a break is so so refreshing.

Brie Stockwell and I are launching our podcast latter today. It is ‘A Creative Affair’. Starting and having ongoing converstations on creativity. We are discussing creativity in so many artistic endeavours. Whilst Brie and I share a love for photography and mother nature. We also share a history of being flautists. Whilst I stopped performing duets in my early teenage years, having chosen a life of visual arts over music. (that is a long story and a short statement like that doesn’t do justice as to why I put my flute down). Brie went on study music and spend a period of her life performing.

Brie and I share a love for mentoring and teaching people. For hers revolves around life and creativity coaching, while mine is around workshops, teaching and mentoring. Whilst we are on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean we have the most fascinating discussions that hopefully many will enjoy listening too. We have so much fun recording them and both find ourselves learning so much from each other. I find it so inspiring.

As Brie says, ‘it’s a project still under construction’. It will take us a bit more time to get it sorted so that you can subscribe in your usual podcast reader or get it delivered into your email inbox. So if it all doesn’t work yet, please be forgiving as we sort though any technical difficulties. You will be able to watch it on youtube if that is your thing too. We will be publishing our first season fortnightly on Tuesdays.

https://www.acreativeaffairpodcast.com

You can also subscribe with your favourite RSS reader if that is your thing too. https://www.acreativeaffairpodcast.com/feed.xml

Lastly, the NSW Government is planning on raising the Waragamba Dam wall. The company that did the environmental and impact statements is incredibly dodgy. In fact they are so disreputable they have been banned from making reports and have been outed for corruption in other countries. The back story, from my interpretation and other environmentalists is that by raising the wall, further flood plan areas of Western Sydney will be available for developers. I personally believe that the capacity of the dam will also be eventually increased.

Many Gundungurra art, archaeological and sacred sites will be flooded in The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area whenever the waters rises because of this wall raising. This puts a huge area of wilderness under threat. I am flabbergasted that an area that is already listed as a World Heritage area can be so easily flooded by developers who are funding the state government’s campaign pockets with cash. As you can tell I am incredibly passionate about this. I ask you to write a letter telling NSW Government Planning Department about our concerns. There is a handy pro forma to make it incredibly easy to do. Please do.

https://www.giveadam.org.au/world_heritage_petition

You may even wish to put your hand in your pocket and help out the organisation with some funds. The campaign is called ‘Give a Dam’ and it is run by the Colong Foundation. The Colong Foundation is an incredible environmental organisation with a long and positive history in the Blue Mountains. In fact the organisation is of historical significance to getting the area to being gazetted a national park and into UNESCO world heritage status. Let alone its’ importance to the Australian conservation movement.

We already owe the Colong Foundation, and Myles Dunphy a dept of gratitude for what they have already achieved.

“The Colong Foundation, the successor to Myles Dunphy's National Parks and Primitive Areas Council, is Australia's longest-serving community advocate for wilderness. Its proposal for a Wilderness Act was accepted in 1987. To supplement this legislation, our Red Index audits NSW wilderness areas, identifies threats and formulates site specific protection remedies.” From their website https://www.colongwilderness.org.au/about

Photographs and text copyright © Len Metcalf 2021