landscapes around Geelong

from w
The dinner is cooked and I have fifteen minutes while the adults are drinking Fiji kava with visitors and the children are playing basketball in the backyard. So I can put some sketches on this blog. I added a bit of light pastel to these pictures I made when we had a barbecue in the You Yangs and another time drove in the Barrabool Hills.

Exploring the Youyangs

from w
These hills rise out of the plain and are in a national park reserve but visitors are allowed - if they keep to the tracks and picnic grounds. After the rains of winter everything is lush and green and ten of us in two cars spend much of yesterday there - as a Father's Day outing - a day early - with a barbecue and a hike up to the top of Flinders Peak for eight of us. A delightful day.

Playing with the mouse and photo-edit

from w
I'm tired of sorting junk and chucking out so have taken a 20 minute break to lay with the computer mouse and muck about with some of my drawings using photo-edit. Okay, okay, calm down, some of you don't like this at all! The original pics were drawings in the Youyangs, Fyansford, an shells, the latter part of a turtle story.

View from Youyangs

from w
There is a picnic spot among large rocks at the Youyangs - a few hills that you see from the train from Geelong to Melbourne. This area overlooks the flat lands towards the sea. I was tidying a cupboard and found this watercolour painting that was made some time ago. We occasionally go to this spot for a bit of a walk and a picnic. It's a quiet place to get away from the noise and activity of the provincial city (though they do call Geelong 'sleepy hollow' at times!)

The picture here is altered a little from the original because I scanned it in as 'Illustration' rather than 'Photograph'. How the computer decides which parts to alter I do not know!

Tom Hanks coming to the Youyangs

from w
About twenty minutes drive from Geelong the Youyangs hills rise from a flat plain. It's a good place for picnics and climbing and a National Park. However it's going to be invaded soon by a film crew and our nearby hills turned into a Pacific island!
I drew a sketch while on a train to Melbourne last Friday.

from Melbourne Herald Sun:
Spielberg's Pacific solution
April 24.

BIG-wig producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have a huge job ahead of them as they embark on filming in Melbourne and country Victoria. Confidential believes Hanks and Spielberg are planning to shoot some of their new HBO mini-series, The Pacific, in the You Yangs of all places.

Turning the humble mountain range in winter into a Pacific island will be quite a challenge, but luckily they have $150 million to make it happen.

The 10-episode series, a sequel to Spielberg's World War II epic Band of Brothers, is being touted as the priciest mini-series ever.

Pre-production for the filming is believed to be under way, with crew gathering in Melbourne from around the world. Filming will take place at the Docklands studios, as well as the You Yangs, until early next year.

Speculation in the industry is that Spielberg has booked the Melbourne Central City Studios for up to four years, with other projects on the agenda. Apparently, LA-based film execs are attracted to Melbourne, not just for the cheap rates, but for our quality cafes and restaurants. Everyone loves a good coffee.

On Monday there was a twister over the Youyangs and many motorists took photos on their mobiles. Here is one from Brendan Tyrrol that was in the local paper.