After a busy start to the year, my plans died down somewhat in March with only one photography adventure, but what an adventure it was. With Out Doors Inc we journeyed to the Great Ocean Road (GOR), staying in a Scout camp in Brucknell Park for four days on the 16th of March. If you’ve never been to the GOR before there is a plethora of activities to do in the area and in local towns along the way. On the way to our accommodation, we stopped in Colac for lunch, then another stop for afternoon tea in Timboon where I walked along the river for 40mins. The next day we visited the 12 Apostles, The Arch, and The Grotto, with lunch in Port Campbell.

Sandstone monoliths and cliffs stand up out of the ocean. Some are eroding or have eroded. — Twelve Apostles. Image by Teague Leigh.

The ocean can be seen through a sandstone arch. — The Grotto. Image by Teague Leigh.

On Wednesday we walked around Griffiths Island to see the Port Fairy Lighthouse, had town time in Port Fairy (once upon a time known as Belfast, of all things), and had lunch at the Port Fairy Coastal Reserve. On the way home on Thursday, we stopped by the delightful Timboon Trestle Bridge where we discovered a little hidden waterfall.

A white lighthouse sticking up out of black rocks. — Port Fairy Lighthouse. Image by Teague Leigh.

A large wooden trestle bridge looms out amongst greenery. — Timboon Trestle Bridge. Image by Teague Leigh.

Lots of personal events happened at the end of March. Michael and I had a “not wedding party” to celebrate love with the humans in our lives. The directly after we flew to Adelaide for a few days to scatter my ma’s ashes at Kingston Park with my siblings and aunt. So many highs and lows that I ended up coming down with a chest infection whilst in Adelaide.

On the 8th of April my support worker and I ventured to Queenscliff. I really like this part of Victoria. We started out at the white lighthouse (Queenscliff also has a black lighthouse) then journeyed to the beach and walked around to the pier. I always forget where my West is when I look at a map for sunset adventures and this time, I got it completely wrong. The sky popped, but in the opposite direction of the pier, so no groundbreaking images for me on this trip.

A wooden seat leads the eye to an orange building at the end of a white pier. — Queenscliff Pier. Image by Teague Leigh.

Then I had the pleasure of working the Trans Book Festival on the weekend of the 18th April. Saw so many great speakers and was honoured to photograph some of my trans heroes, such as Sasja Sÿdek and Amao Leota Lu. What a fun weekend and I hope to be offered the job again next year – please sponsor them and donate so that they have the budget to offer fine panels and workshops again next year.

Sasja Sÿdek smiling at the camera. — Sasja Sÿdek at Trans Book Fest. Image by Teague Leigh.

I then took myself on a refreshing two-night trip to Benalla on the 22nd of April. I do these little trips to cleanse my palette after working so hard and refresh my soul. I try and get to Benalla for the Street Art Festival every year and this year I went after the festival had occurred so that I could see all the pieces completed. This trip I also went walking through the little local forest, something I’ve naught done before and was pleasantly surprised, especially when I came across water silos towering overhead.

Street art on a wall with industrial bins in front. — Street art in Benalla by Krimsone. Image by Teague Leigh.

Next up was a trip to Arthurs Seat with my support worker on the 27th April. We parked up the top where the Eagle (gondola) is, then walked to Seawinds Gardens, walked around there for a while where we saw two eagles, three gang gangs, a kookaburra, and a plethora of other birds and a slew of kangaroos. Then we set off to Kings Waterfalls. We knew the falls would be dry, but it was an adventure that turned into an 11.5km hike over 3hrs. I rolled my ankle an hour in, but fortunately it only started hurting the last 45mins of the hike; my support worker took my camera bag on the way back which was a relief – I do not think I would have made it back if they did not do that for me.

Orange and red leaves with rain drops on them. — Seawinds Gardens. Image by Teague Leigh.

Finally, on the 30th of April, I headed to Harcourt with brilliant artist Jessie Ngaio and lovely assistant Flynn Smeaton to photograph the hero image for an upcoming Melbourne Fringe Festival performance (Dirt Church). What a great day it turned out to be in a fire ravaged location. To see the charred stumps of trees was heartbreaking but to see the renewed growth forming was heartwarming. Due to embargo, I cannae show you the images of Jessie, but I have included outtakes. Go see this collaborative show by Jessie when it comes to Naarm for Fringe.

A face sticks through green renewal on a burnt out tree. — Flynn Smeaton at Harcourt. Image by Teague Leigh.

During all of this I finally got my new tattoo from Lee Stain. It’s exactly how I wanted it and it looks spectacular.

A greyscale blue banded bee atop 3D red and blue honeycomb. — Blue banded bee and honeycomb by Lee Stain. Image by Teague Leigh.

Question of the month: Where is your favourite place to go away?

Be kind to yourselves, each other, and the planet.

T.Leigh

Like a locomotive, the months picked up steam

Summer is a busy time!