Barwon Heads - The House

This is the cottage. Why call it a cottage? Simply because there is no insulation. The interior is a mish-mash if various types of furniture brought together in such a way that it looks like a Canadian cottage. The owners of this house, John's school friends do not use it in the "winter". (John is Richard's older brother)

I started the fire an hour ago AND I now have an electric heater beside me. Sadly my fingers are still numb. Next blog will be interior pics so you can see what life is like on the colder side.. da da daaaaaaaa



More pics of the sleepy town of Barwon Heads.
It looks quite suburban but the main drag with post office, grocer, surf shop and gourmet food shop/cafe are on the next street over. The locals feel there are too many cafes. If only I drank coffee I could rotate spots and keep warm all day!






























Low Tide and a view of the bluff. The drop to the beach is roughly 200'. From the house to the beach is a 10 minute walk, passing the golf course and the middle of town on the way.





No star fish or sea urchins yet....I guess the antarctic waters are too cold.



















Surfers- not sharks.

The State of Design - Melbourne Design Fair

Hi Everyone,

I have finally got around to loading some images and starting a blog. Last weekend, like every weekend since we've been here (an entire 3 weeks) we zoomed into Melbourne to seek a bit of indoor heat and attend the design fair. For some reason the links are not active so simply copy them to take a look at the various projects....

State of Design Festival 2008

http://www.stateofdesign.com.au/designforeveryone

The design festival in Melbourne last weeked proved both inspiration and enlightening with regards to local and national design ideas, trends and global vision. After a series of lectures on Thursday I took a quick look through the exhibition building and discovered a collection of local designers who are creating really great products.

First I'll give you an overview of the highlights of Thursdays lecture series:

Oki Sato from Nendo
He is a Japanese designer who is both humorous, modest and bursting with creative ideas.

http://www.nendo.jp/en/works/detail.php?y=2008&t=122

The diamond chair on the link above is worth a gander

The cabbage chair he designed with "left over" paper from the pleating of Issey Miyaki's fabrids
http://www.nendo.jp/en/works/detail.php?y=2008&t=111

The Drawer house
http://www.nendo.jp/en/works/detail.php?y=2003&t=1

The Book house
and inside out library- fantastic idea
http://www.nendo.jp/en/works/detail.php?y=2005&t=2

A graduate from Berkeley who became disenchanted with the commercial world she had just entered started a design firm with the mandate to improve the lives of others through design. They collaborate with Architects without Borders...
Project H Design

http://www.projecthdesign.com/
An idea of the type of project that drives them is the Hippo Roller used to transport water.

I'll post the craft and industrial designers in the next couple of days once I figure out how to activate the links so you do not need to copy them.

ciao ciao

Barwon Heads - Downtown central

This is the main drag in town. As you an see it's a charming little town, pretty much a surf mecca as the waves are coming directly from Antarctica. That sounds so strange to me. Lately we've been suffering from coldish temperatures combined with antarctic winds...none of those Canadian blizzards noooo, its simply high winds, big waves and rain. Rain, well its not really that much as there is still a drought level 3 or 4 which means the reservoir is so low that people cannot water lawns or wash their cars; only what is totally necessary.

Melbourne Calling

BARWON HEADS, VICTORIA

This is the beach at Barwon Heads. The tide is high. High tide is currently at 8:30 in the morning. Typically there is absolutely no one on the beach. I've been taking a walk down to the beach daily and each time it's a different experience.























The loop consists of a pass by the charming Victorian inspired golf club which is on the header of the blog, followed by the beach and then back into the village. The house below, located on Stephen's Parade, is 500 yards from the coast and parallel to the coast, is constructed of rammed earth. Pretty much meaning what it says....earth rammed.