Category Archives: On the Road

Crossroads

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

These photos need no explanation……same part of the world…different journeys.

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On The Road

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

I found this photo after a request for an image depicting the the Ridgetop Track at Arkaroola in the northern Flinders Ranges.

I wanted something that wasn’t just the usual shot of a Ridgetop tour vehicle going up Sillers lookout and I came across this,.

The Ridgetop tour has been running for over 40 years and many who follow the Sentimental Bloke will probably have been along this spectacular journey.

For those who haven’t, it’s almost a “bucket list” thing to do.

This photograph was taken in harsher times, in fact five years ago and I know there’s been an enormous burst of regrowth since the breaking of the drought.

I will be back here next week for a workshop and to shoot some new material.

Posted in Arkaroola, On the Road | 3 Comments

On the Road

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

The question is…what’s over the hill?

It all depends on which way you are travelling, but what ever is ahead, it will be a welcome sight.

If you can take your eyes of the road, there’s a vast ocean of green out there and it goes on for kilometre after kilometre.

Travelling down the Oodnadatta Track and through Anna Creek Station, the world’s largest cattle station.

It takes a bit of imagination to comprehend its size of Anna Creek but you could multiply this scene by 50 or 60 times and you’d be in the ball-park

Posted in On the Road, Oodnadatta Track | 1 Comment

On the Road

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

A big contrast to the summer photos of the last few posts. For the the last 48 hours or more a vast area of the outback has been inundated with heavy rains and there’s more to come.

I think it is safe to say that every road in the Flinders north of Hawker and Outback of South Australia is either closed, cut or in some way affected by the rain at the moment.

This is the Warrioota Creek near Beltana which is one of the streams that has isolated the town of Leigh Creek.

It was flowing a metre high and very fast for several hours yesterday then dropped so I could get home late in the afternoon.

However with more rain falling overnight and again today it cut the road once again.

Some very heavy falls have been recorded…perhaps the biggest at Depot Springs east of Leigh Creek where 270 millimetres (10.5 inches) have fallen in the last three days. That’s all of the station’s rainfall last year.

There always seems to be a good consolation though when caught at flooded creek crossing, and for me it’s an occupation hazard. Often there are interesting people to talk to who are also in the same boat (bad pun) as you are.

Posted in On the Road, Outback South Australia, Weather | Leave a comment

On the Road

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Peter MacDonald

With a couple of assignments for the R M Williams Outback Magazine on the go, access to the internet will be a bit haphazard over the next two and a half months.

I don’t want to steal the magazine’s thunder but there’s a lot of kilometres and some very interesting country involved.

However I will continue to put up new photos on this page wherever possible.

For those who subscribe to “The Sentimental Bloke” that’s not going to be a problem because each new photograph will come via an email.

For those who haven’t used this service, it’s pretty easy. Just put your email address in the box on the top right hand side of the home page. Your email address remains confidential and the service is free.

Too easy!

There’s also the RSS option, also at the top right of the page , for those who understand such things..

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On the Road

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Peter MacDonald

There are probably ten big creeks along this road but yesterday afternoon just two were flooded.

A not unfamiliar occurrence around the Flinders Ranges and the Outback which can catch out the unwary traveller or camper foolish enough to camp in a creek bed.

The actual downpour can be many kilometres away in the mountains, but a flash flood will have millions of gallons of water heading down from the mountains to nearby Lake Torrens.

It is all over though in a couple of hours.
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On The Road

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Peter MacDonald

Out here, it’s a long way between towns and roadhouses are few and far between….a lonely life for the long distance truckie.

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On The Road

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Peter MacDonald

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On The Road

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Peter MacDonald

The road leading into the hills and mountains of the Warraweena Conservation Park, northern Flinders Ranges.

The late afternoon sun from time to time, lights up the hills around here with a distinctive hue that starts off red and runs into purple.

Invariably it only last for a few minutes but you can see a touch of it in this photograph of the track leading from the old Sliding Rock mine to the Warraweena homestead.

f3.5, 1/100 sec ISO 100, hand held.

Posted in On the Road, Warraweena | 1 Comment

On the Road

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Peter MacDonald

The machine is an old Indian motorbike, Second World War vintage.

A beautiful old bike, unfortunately a little banged up.

Not half as bad as the rider though. The pair came a cropper on a dirt road in the central Flinders.

The rider got a broken collarbone in the spill.

And with the rest of the journey with his mates still to go, the prospect is a little daunting.

First they are heading up the Birdsville Track to Birdsville…no mean feat on a heavy bike like this over hundreds of kilometres of dirt and sand.

From there the group is before heading East and home to Sydney….a journey of many hundreds of kilometres.

That’s keen. But he did say he had plenty of pain killers.

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