The website owner is Dr Roger Welch, an accomplished Ophthalmologist (Eye Surgeon) with a practice on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Dr Welch has a wide range of spare time leisure and philanthropic interests when he is not at his busy practice. This website/blog reflects some of those.
Interests include:
Scuba Diving
Underwater Photography
Philanthropic Interests – Charitable Activities
Wild Flower Photography
Bush Walking
Climbing
Sailing
Underwater Environmental Concerns
Dune Care & Coastal Zone Management
Coastal Environmental Issues
Travel, especially adventure or the more unusual.
Gardens & Flowers
Marine History
Astronomy
To see photographic galleries please visit: http://beyondeyelevel.smugmug.com/
Roger writes:
Hello, and welcome to my blog. I am an Eye Surgeon by calling, but pursue some varied interests outside of my profession, and have decided to publish some of my work, and exploits to this blog. Both the development of the Internet, and advances in digital photography have made this possible. I think I have a story to tell, which hopefully will be enjoyed around the world, particularly by those who are unable to adventure as I am. For many who are ill, elderly, or housebound for other reasons, the Internet is a great vehicle for enhancing quality of life. My heart goes out particularly to those individuals, and I sincerely hope that what I create does help to brighten everyone’s day.
Scuba diving, and underwater photography have been interests of mine since the 1970’s when I was at medical school. In 2011, I succeeded in having two articles accepted for publication in the Australian Sport Diving Magazine. ( Slithery Beauties of The North Solitary Islands and Wakatobi Pelagian Dive). For your interest, I have put up on the blog these articles, others I have written, as well as galleries of images from some of my favourite diving locations. Each year I do several longer expeditions away, and will write about those for the blog. And, I plan a retrospective, with film images, which will go back to when I first started diving in 1972.
I have been trekking in the Mt. Barney area over the past eight years and have been ably guided by Innes Larkin of Mt. Barney Lodge. We have both become keen photographers of wildflowers. We started a wildflowers gallery for the Mt. Barney Lodge: www.wildflowersmountbarneylodge.com. My largest wildflowers effort is a catalogue of wildflowers in the Yuraygir National Park. I am especially proud of this work , which can be seen at www.wildflowersyuraygirnationalpark.com.
Sailing has long been a passion of mine, starting from early days in New Zealand, firstly in P-class, then Paper Tiger and Windrush 14 catamarans, and advancing into keel yachts especially with my parents aboard “Beyond II” our kauri-timber 40 foot sloop. In more recent years, I have chartered yachts at interesting places, and write about my experiences, in the British Virgin Islands, Croatia, New Zealand, and Australia’s Whitsundays, the Balearic Islands off the East Coast of Spain, coastal Portugal, the Aeolian Islands, and to the Caribbean.
As a sailing retrospective, I have Dad’s journals and old photographs from the 1940’s which I have transcribed his logs about his voyages to Tonga on the “Golden Hind” in 1937;and the Cook Islands on the “Wakaya” in 1946.
Coastal and environmental. Since acquiring lovely beach front properties at Wooli and New Brighton, New South Wales, I have been involved in activities to support and protect coastal communities. This includes a campaign in the Byron Shire to stop the spraying of roundup pesticide from helicopters. My major efforts have centred around the iconic coastal village of Wooli, where I helped to found the Wooli branch of the CCPA, Coastal Communities Protection Alliance; and, to this day, help to fund its activities: www.protectwooli.com.au. I wrote an essay in 2009 titled “The Fallacy of Retreat for Coastal Zone Management”, which was published on the , now defunct, Menzies House website. The Yuraygir National Park is a favourite stamping ground, and I have addressed aspects of Park access and management in the gallery.
Astronomy. This is a ‘when time is available’ activity, but one that is very current considering the rapid advances being made with the Hubble Space Telescopes and various large arrays, which are pushing out the frontiers, and leading us further in a search of habitable planets, and perhaps other life forms. We will publish a number of links for the readers interest. I am pressing on with my observations through my Celestron 13 ” telescope.
Charitable efforts. The main effort here is the Moree Eye Programme which I founded in 1996. Additionally, I support a range of other worthy community efforts.
I trust you will enjoy my writings and photographs.
This is fascinating and very interesting Dr Welch, and I congratulate you on all your achievements both with Opthalmology and as a humanitarian, a long way from the long ago days at the Wallace Block eye department! I remember you very well, with very kind regards, S/N Nicola Gilbert that was.