Melbourne GPO.

Tags:   Melbourne GPO arches walkway corridor lane architecture heritage city

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Taroona today.

Tags:   Taroona boat sky water Derwent River Tasmania

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A kookaburra taking a break near my place.

Tags:   Kookaburra bird bird on a wire power lines Tasmania Taroona Canon 5DSR Sigma 150-500mm

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This is my annual yearly parting shot. What a year 2021 was - while 2020 seemed to drag on unrelentingly, 2021 kind of came and went like a race car on the home straight. This is my tenth yearly parting shot - more than a decade on Flickr. I feel like this should be celebtrated.

I'm not sure where to begin summarising this year. The rise and fall and rise of the global pandemic. Well the rise and rise maybe. I had hoped that by the end of 2021 we would have seen the worst of it, but it seems that the worst is yet to come. Please stay safe wherever you may be.

Between lockdowns, I managed to visit Melbourne with my eldest son in April. A big highlight of the year for me. No travel was possible throughout the rest of the year, apart from work trips within the state.

This image is from Bruny Island in February. I visited for a work trip with my second eldest son Lloyd - we took some time out to explore and this image from Adventure Bay was one of many, including some of my most popular images i've uploaded on Flickr. This is the day I can pinpoint as a definitive turning point in life. The day we made an offer on our current house - I took the phone call that our offer was accepted on the ferry trip on the way home. Our new home has been a sea change for us - i've even noticed the change in photographic imagery in my Flickr stream from bush to water. Fortune favours the brave.

This year was also a year of age milestones. I am now half a century young. My eldest son is an adult. I am trying to behave like a mature grown up now.

I retired officially from the sport i've played since I was 11 years old - underwater hockey. I played my first nationals in over a decade in the Tasmanian masters team in April. It was my last. My last ever game was the grand final in the local A-grade club competition which we won. A wonderful finale to what has been an extraordinary personal journey and a lot of fun along the way.

This year saw me return to sailing. I used to sail as a child through to my early 20's. Career and family life put that on hold until my kids expressed an interest. Now this has quickly become a big part of family life here. Being able to watch the Sydney to Hobart yachts race their final length of their race from our house in the last few days has also been wonderful!

Photography has been sporadic this year. Bursts of creativity inter-disbursed between the busyness of life. I always keep an eye on my Flickr stats - I am approaching 18-million views as the fireworks of 2022 approach. I remember the excitement of reaching 10,000 views way back in 2011 not long after I started this Flickr journey.

There have been all sorts of highs and lows this year. A year I will never forget. I am looking forward to 2022 with nervous optimism and I wish you all the best for the new year.

Keith.

Tags:   Bruny Island Tasmania beach shore shoreline coast coastal sand waves clouds cloud

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A woman surfer making the most of the conditions.

Tags:   surfer woman Clifton Beach wave weather

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