Monthly Archives: July 2009

On the Road

Posted on July 30, 2009 by admin

Near Balcanoona in the Gammon Ranges.
(Google Maps – Balcanoona South Australia)

Posted in Gammon Ranges, On the Road | 1 Comment

Morning Glory

Posted on July 26, 2009 by admin

Not many of us can walk out their front door in the morning right into a
spiritual experience.

It’s the upside of living in the country despite drought, flood, fire
and Telstra.

Not the easiest shot to get, particularly when the camera’s nowhere
handy.

The trick though is to expose for a piece of the sky that’s not part of
the bright sunlight.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

In Loving Memory

Posted on July 26, 2009 by admin

There are cemeteries like this dotted all over the Outback. The
headstones make interesting reading – in some cases a record of whole
families who came to these parts more than a hundred years ago.

I always notice the young ones, the teenagers, the babies, the young
women who died in childbirth, the stockman drowned in a flooded creek.

The inscriptions underline the fact the people in this part of the world
then were very gutsy.

Whatever the reason they are buried here, I have to reckon they are
lucky. Better  to be out in beautiful country like this than in a city
cemetery, lost among the many thousands and dug up after a few decades
to make room for some other poor bastard.

Here, at least people come, read the inscriptions and take with them a
little better understanding of life in the bush.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Steel Snake

Posted on July 26, 2009 by admin

Just on three kilometres in length the Leigh Creek Coal Train is quite a sight by anyone’s standards.

It’s the longest train in Australia pulled by locomotives at one end. (A coal train with locomotives front and back operates in Queensland and is longer). Three locomotives coupled together pull around 160 wagons laden with coal 250 kilometres to the Port Augusta power station every day. (Google Maps – Leigh Creek)

The Mine has been operating since 1943 so an enormous amount of brown coal has been moved south since then.

The train travels at no more than 80 kilometres an hour and because of the temperatures in summer does the round trip at night because the intense heat of the day sometimes buckles the tracks.

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Afternoon Delight

Posted on July 26, 2009 by admin

It’s about nine kilometres from the front gate to the homestead at
Worumba station. It can take a while when you get scenes like this to
photograph.

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Just Add Water and a Touch of Tolkien

Posted on July 24, 2009 by admin

This waterhole speaks for itself – ‘beautiful’, “peaceful”, “idyllic’. All of those things – but how about “Enchanted” too.

When I find something as beautiful as this to photograph I don’t rush things.

It’s on the Worumba sheep station about 25 kilometres east of the town of Hawker in the Flinders Ranges.

I can vouch for the Shearers Quarters which are a great place to stay.

A visitor from Liverpool in Britain was looking though my work to print and take home with her and she selected this photo.

When I picked up the large A1 size print for delivery , the printer, David Hobbs who does all my work, asked me who the person was in the photograph. I had no idea what he was talking about as I’d been at the waterhole all afternoon and had seen nobody.

“Come and have a look at this”, he said.

You can’t see it in the photograph at this size, but when printed large there appears to be a man standing in the picture wearing a blue hooded robe and carrying a long stick.

A trick of the afternoon light I would say.

But when I questioned the owners of Worumba, they had no hesitation in suggesting it was Old George, a station manager who worked there years ago and stayed in touch until he died.

Apparently Old George is seen around the station from time to time.

Posted in Gallery Photo, Waterholes | 2 Comments

Uncontrolled Air Space

Posted on July 22, 2009 by admin

How startled Galahs don’t end up in a pile of mid-air collisions beats me.

Posted in Fauna, Gallery Photo | 1 Comment

Flight Control

Posted on July 21, 2009 by admin

A male wedge-tailed Eagle, which looks like it’s just reached early adulthood uses a stiff headwind to make a soft landing.

I believe he’s young because he’s showing signs of inexperience.

I have scores of shots of these eagles and generally they’re flying away or just small birds in the frame.

They’re very wary and will take off once you reach a certain distance from them.

My lens, a 300mm Canon zoom, usually doesn’t quite get that close.

This one threw caution to the wind and in doing so gave a wonderful view of the feather patterns on its wings.

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On The Road…..Oversize

Posted on July 20, 2009 by admin

Oversize? A bit of an under statement.

One of the many pieces of equipment that are heading into the back blocks of South Australia where mining operations are working around the clock.

There’s uranium and coal mining, oil and gas exploration and hot rock power generation. All requiring masses of supplies and equipment which are being hauled in by vehicles similar to this one.

An hydraulic failure caused the tray and the load here to lurch into this precarious position….no doubt a bit of a heart stopper for the driver.

Much to my surprise some hoses and hydraulic fluid were soon on the scene. The collapsed section was back in its normal position in a couple hours. Then the truck and its companion, complete with police escort were heading north once again….the only evidence of the drama a long piece gouged out of the highway.

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Perfect the Next

Posted on July 17, 2009 by admin

It’s hard to believe this is the same waterhole as yesterday’s posting . Arkaroola Springs taken the next morning.

Even though I had what I thought was a pretty good image of the Springs, it’s been my experience to look at all the angles before packing it in.

You’ve got to remember too that there hasn’t been more than a spit of rain around here since last December so the opportunity to photograph these beautiful places with water is getting rare.

Another 4 am start and a 90 minute drive paid off though.

Completely different light, that magical grade of colours from the sky down the range into the background and the rock face on the right made it all worthwhile.

Absolutely peaceful and just perfect.

Posted in Arkaroola, Gallery Photo, Waterholes | Leave a comment