Liz Jakimow Photography

Author: Liz Jakimow Photography

Liz Jakimow is an amateur photographer, who likes to spend her weekends walking or travelling around the Queanbeyan region, enjoying the scenery and taking photographs. Most of Liz's photos are taken in nature. So trees, birds, animals and landscapes are well represented in her portfolio. But there are no limits to what might make a good photo - she once took a photograph of a MacDonald's cup in a car-park. Liz is also available to take photos of families or events. Liz's approach to portrait and event photography is casual and friendly. She produces high quality photographs without the big price tag or the feeling that the photos are too 'staged'. Candid photographs that capture the relationships between people are what she aims for in her portrait and event photography.

Ancient rainforests to soothe the stress away…

Monga National Park, located between Braidwood and the Clyde Mountain, is filled with ancient rainforests, peaceful picnic spots and calming rivers. As my partner and I had both been stressed lately, this was exactly what we needed.

I was still recovering from a broken toe, so unfortunately a walk on the Corn Trail was out of the question. However, I did manage a nice easy (and wheelchair accessible) walk at Penance Grove. Penance Grove is filled with moss-covered stumps and tree trunks, and it feels like you’re walking in a fairytale. I half expected a giant to come walking through the trees, although a nice little gnome kept us company through signs along the way.

Afterwards, we stopped for a picnic at Mongarlowe River picnic area, then finished up looking at the river at Dalrymple Rest Area. Surrounded by greenery and the call of birds, my worries seemed to just fall away and I left feeling a lot more relaxed than I had when the morning again.

I will definitely return once my toe is better and I can manage a bit more walking.

To find out more about Monga National Park, check out the NSW National Parks Website.

The first thing I noticed when I got to the Sugar Pine Walk was not the trees, but how many people were there. I thought, what’s the big attraction? They’re only trees.

Yes, they’re only trees. But they’re gigantic, majestic trees. While the walk itself may be short, when you look upwards, it feels like those trees go right on up to heaven. It’s the kind of place where nature makes you feel really small – in a good way.

Walking through the trees is a bit like walking through a fairy-tale. I half expected a giant to come lumbering through at any moment.

This was definitely one of my favourite places to take photographs. While I ended up with quite a lot of photographs that looked fairly similar, I could have continued to take photos there all there. I particularly enjoyed laying down on the carpet of pine-needles and pointing my camera upwards.

Definitely worth the visit!

Sugar Pine Walk is at Bago State Forest near Laurel Hill, between Tumut and Tumburumba. The Arboretum nearby is a nice place to have a picnic afterwards.

A festival of multiculturalism that will delight all your senses

One of my favourite events on the Queanbeyan calendar is the Multicultural Festival, held at Queanbeyan Park. It has all the fun and gaiety that you would expect from a multicultural festival, without having to squeeze through tightly-packed crowds for ages to find what you want. It’s like a more relaxed, friendly version of some of the bigger multicultural festivals around – just the way I like it!

Despite its smaller size, the Multicultural Festival continues to attracts the crowds. And it’s easy to see why. It has everything to delight the senses, from the sights and sounds of the performers, to the smell and taste of delicious food from around the globe – and for a more tactile experience, there’s a variety of activities to keep your children (and you) entertained.

To eat, I chose the dumplings – which were very yummy!
My favourite performers on the day were the Russian dancers – probably because I did Ukrainian dancing as a child, and they connected me with my Ukrainian heritage.