Sand Sculptures

 I visited the township of Windsor, to see the inaugural Hawkesbury International Sand Sculpting Championship. The theme of the competition, which ran from 11th to the 29th January 2012, was Mystical Creatures.   

Jino van Bruinessen (Blue Mountains, NSW)

Hawkesbury River, Windsor

Windsor is a historic township around 50km north-western of central Sydney. The setting for the competition was a park next to the Hawkesbury River. 

Cliven Abben (Rye, Victoria) - Rainbow Serpent

Peter Redmond from Victoria sculpted this winged horse and foal.

 

I was amazed at the strength they can achieve in these sand sculptures. They use the same sort of sand that bricklayers use. This is mixed with water and compacted in tiered layers within timber forms, before the sculpturing begins.

Although the sculptures are coated with a protective water resistant (biodegradable) spray, recent rain had caused damage to some sculptures, which required repair.

The event was run by Sandstorm Events.      

Susanne Ruseler (Netherlands) - Gorgon Sisters

Jaap Tichler (Netherlands) - Second Life

The winning sculptor, Jakub Zimacek is from the Czech Republic. I wasn't happy with my photo of his Sea Serpents, due to the dappled lighting. 

  

Location map

Blue Gum Swamp

This letter box attracted my attention as we walked along Whitecross Road at Winmalee, to begin a  walk to Blue Gum Swamp.

The walk in the lower Blue Mountains, is also popular with mountain bike riders and bird watchers. It could be done as a circuit of around 9Km, or shortened to return along the same path. As it was a hot day, we did the latter.

 

        Yellow drumsticks (Isopogon anethifolius)

 





















The map above was near Whitecross Road Winmalee. We caught a 692W bus from Springwood Station to Winmalee then walked a short distance to the start of the walk.

My thanks to Judith, who led us on this pleasant walk towards the end of last year.