Culture and colour

Talk about an overload of fabulous scenery! I am exhausted from looking and shooting! Of course I should not be tired at all because I am sitting in air conditioned comfort as someone else does the driving! I just get so excited when I see the different landscapes and the different wild flowers that are here in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia that I want to preserve everything I see. Of course I cannot but that does not stop me from trying!

After our breakfast at Halls Creek, in the Kimberley Hotel, we were taken out to see the “Old Wall of China” which is an agate outcrop that does look very much like a wall that has been built from white bricks. Unlike most of the group, I clambered down into the gully to get a different viewpoint. One of the other women tried to follow me down and slipped over on the rocks – they were covered with small lengths of dry grass which rolled under her feet making the surface feel like it was covered with slippery ice. She did not hurt herself, fortunately, but it shook her up a bit.

A small waterhole was around the corner from the Agate wall so I just had to take half a dozen shots of that too!At each of the places we have stopped the rock formations are different, the colours are similar – rich nuggety red from all the iron in the ground – but the contours are so different.

The service stations in Halls Creek had run out of diesel fuel so Firie (my son and our coach driver) was delighted to see the fuel road train pulled into one of the service stations as we drove back into Halls Creek. Without fuel we would not have been able to do the distance we have covered today, from Halls Creek to Fitzroy Crossing. While the coach was being filled we passengers explored the town. It is only small but interesting and at the Information Centre there was a statue that commemorated one of the early characters of the gold rush days, Russian Jack. He brought a sick “mate” in a bush made wheel barrow from the gold fields to the closest medical help at Halls Creeks, a distance of 300 kilometers.

I am sure you will laugh when you see the sign I found outside the butcher's shop. I could not help myself, I just HAD to take a photo of it! This is typical of the humour of the people here.

When we clambered back into the coach we were told that we were returning to both the Old Wall of China and to the Kimberley Hotel. When Maria had slipped on the rock when out at the Old China Wall, she had lost her gold watch. Fortunately that beauty spot was not far out of town and it took us hardly any time to return to it – and Fran with her eagle eyes managed to find the missing watch almost immediately she reached the spot Maria had slipped. We must have walked right over the top of it without seeing it when we climbed back out of the creek bed – and so must other sight-seers. Then we went back to the hotel where one of the hotel staff had found money lying on the grass in front of one of the rooms - $100 no less! How honest is that? So a sheepish Peter went up to the Reception and was given the money back in an envelope.

We then had a fairly long drive to our next stop, a private school for indigenous children. The young principal had been at the school for quite a few years and in that time had married (a white girl) and had recently increased his family to three children, two boys and a girl.

The principal – Nick Try – was our host for an hour and told us of the way the community worked together and grew together, we were shown through the “Laarri” art gallery where there were lots of bright acrylic on canvas dot paintings. I wonder why this style of art has been adopted? I am sure the aborigines believe it to have been handed down through generations – but it hasn't, it is a fairly recent style from around the 1950s. Anyway, it is now a style that is recognised as being “typical”of the Australian Aborigines.

From this school we then drove for two hours with the coach DVD playing part two of the story of the Durracks, “Kings in Grass Castles” as we scooted past never changing countryside. The movie finished just as we arrived at Fitzroy Crossing but although we passed the hotel we were to stay in, we drove another few kilometers to where we were to board a couple of punts so we could enjoy an hour sailing down the Geike Gorge. The sky was strangely cloudy but that meant that it wasn't unpleasantly hot, however the light was not really all that brilliant on the unusual colours of the cliff faces.

Our punt guide was hoping to point out the abundant wildlife but the wildlife was in rather short supply. We did manage to see two fresh water crocodiles from rather a long way away. This sighting caused quite a lot of excitement! We had been warned about crocs in all the waterways of the north and this was the first time we had actually seen one!

The trip along the Geikie Gorge was slow and leisurely and the scenery gorgeous. The white area of the limestone cliffs is where the flood waters after the summer “wet season” scour the iron staining away. Floods here are a regular occurance. Where the high water swirls and tumbles the limestone has been cut into fantastic shapes and the calm waters reflect and enhance the formations.

So! Another amazing day in this part of Australia. Every day has been perfect.

AJ

Visit to the coast itself

Although my home is only a handful of kilometers from the sea I vary rarely go to see it. The proximity to the coast gives us a wonderful climate year round so I am fully aware of the sea - but I tend to look more at the country places, the mountains and the farming areas. But that changed yesterday, There was word of high winds and big seas on the way and my eldest son mentioned that he spotted whales breaching while he was driving home from work. So with a sunny afternoon and a couple of hours to spare I dragged my ever willing husband into the car along with my camera, tripod and two lenses and off we went to Tweed Heads.
From the headland we could see the splash as whales hit the surface of the sea - but they were so far away that we couldn't actually see the whales. Into the car we clambered and off we drove to Fingal Head. This is on the other side of the Tweed River from where we had been standing, and, since the opening of the wide and fast highway to Byron Bay, had managed to be "cut off" from too many travellers. The short drive out to Fingal Headland is past riverside homes that are prone to get their feet wet in times of exceptionally high tides and full river flow. It is a pleasant drive - and we seemed to be the only car on the road. As expected, when we arrived at the little carpark we discovered that we were not the only car on the road! Typical!
The walk through the coastal woodland over loose sand got our blood flowing faster and we emerged at the bright white painted lighthouse.

There were not too many people on the lawns after all, we could see a few family groups but they were scattered far and wide. Following the direction they were looking we too could see the activity way out on the Pacific Ocean. There must have been a group of three or four whales in one place and another pair in another. The sea was positively churning with their activity! Again, much too far away for either of my lenses but interesting enough for us to sit down on the lawn and watch them.
Spotting a sea eagle I changed lenses but that was the only sighting of it, I never did get a chance to take a photo! However with the 55-300mm lens I was ready when a pair of dolphin cruised by.

The sea was a most glorious aqua blue and the sky a rich cobalt. Such a perfect day to be out here. The sea was not rough and the threatened strong winds did not even rustle the leaves. It was calm! Since we needed to have an early evening meal we didn't stay too long so made our way back along the boardwalk to the sandy track that lead us back to the car.

In an area that is a mecca for tourists from all over the country and the world it is amazing that we can find places like this that are free of crowds and have so much to offer.
AJ

The Little Wattle Bird

Again the Little Wattle bird has been singing out to be noticed and this time I had the foresight to put on the 50-300mm lens so that I could get a bit closer to it.
Mind you, I do get rather frustrated when the bird keeps to the opposite side of the tree to me! When I am gardening it is right above my head and bold as brass. It just doesn't want the camera!

Now as I said in a previous article, I cannot see a "wattle" maybe it is hidden under feathers! I love the way the bird is stretched out and alert on the top of the garden stake! It had seen another bird in the garden.
AJ

In full feather

A short while ago I wrote about and showed photos of a very under-feathered cockatoo. Well, we have had a few really cold mornings with quite heavy frost on the lower levels so I would expect that we will not see that poor creature again. So to show you the true beauty of these wonderful wild creatures I was happy to be able to get outside this morning and capture a few shots of these visitors to my veranda.

f/ 4.0  1/800  ISO 160   85mm

I might have told you how I usually chase the birds away because they can be very destructive if they think they can get a regular feed and then find the feed dish empty. As a result of this the birds are quite skittish when I open the door to come out with the camera!
I first noticed the birds on the feed dish cage when one of them had his head thrust between the bars and going his hardest at cleaning out the seed dish. He initially looked as if he was stuck! When I slid the door open he had to wriggle to free himself without removing his neck feathers!
I had seen the birds through the window to start with so changed lenses so that I had the 70-300mm attached. I wanted both birds in the shot first and when one flew off (the one that had managed to get at the seeds) I zoomed in!

 f/ 4.0  1/800  ISO 160   100mm

Don't you just love "back lighting"! Of course I have had a little help from Photoshop to lift the shaded area on the birds front (Select the bird, Ctrl+J to duplicate, use levels, mask and tidy using a soft brush, smart sharpen and merge down) There is rarely a photo that I do not use Photoshop.

 f/ 4.8  1/800  ISO 160   200mm

Zoomed right in for this shot and if you click on the picture to enlarge it you will have the surprise I did - I did not realise that cockatoos had brown eyes! I thought they were black!

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The bird was very suspicious about my activity - many birds think that a big camera is a gun! So it wasn't long before he flew into the tree a little distance from the veranda (We have had a tree lopper in so the branches of the tree available as perches are further away!) This is where I prefer to see the cockatoos! They are beautiful birds but they have been endowed with huge voices that only another cockatoo could love!
AJ

Sign of Autumn in the Sub-tropics

This morning when I should have been tucked up in bed I was delivering my tour driver son to where he was to pick up his coach for his next trip. There was a reward for me when we got there. Just as we turned in the drive I noticed the most gloriously coloured tree!

Naturally, I dug out my little camera and took a photo. Such a colourful sight is not seen too often among all our lush greenery!
I walked closer to admire the tree - such a perfect shape! - and just had to take a photo of the leaves beneath it. When I lived in the UK such a sight would barely make me look twice!

I can remember that as a child I would kick the fallen leaves, heap them up and jump into them and take great pleasure in throwing them up into the air! I think my son would have disowned me if I did that today!

Standing among the fallen leaves I gazed up into the tree, the morning sunlight was streaming through the leaves. It made me feel great to be alive on such a day!
As I walked back to the vehicle to drive home (leaving my son to drive off in the coach) I heard the distinctive call of black cockatoos. I looked up and saw three of them flying directly overhead, barely higher than the tree I had just left. I was looking into the sun so an in-flight shot was impossible. I continued walking up to the vehicle but could hear the birds still. I looked over the boundary of high bushes and saw them in the pencil willow trees in the next property. How I would have loved to have gone over there to get on the "other" side of the tree the birds were in. Knowing that the birds would fly away as soon as I came anywhere near I moved into a bit of shade and managed to take this shot.

The birds are chasing grubs that develop inside the heart of the willow and to get at these morsels they practically destroy the tree. The beaks on these birds are huge and so strong, they tear the soft flesh of the pencil willow and the branches then break and fall, you can hear the creaking sound as they go about there work!
I hope your morning was as eventful!
AJ

Another garden

I really enjoy wandering around Botanic Gardens and when a couple of friend suggest I meet them at the Gold Coast Botanic Gardens I jumped at the chance - and of course made sure that my camera batteries were charged and that I had a few lenses to play with!
These gardens are not very old - they have only been converted from parkland to Botanic Gardens in the last five years - but I really enjoyed my time exploring.

f/10 1/250  300mm  ISO200

The first image I am sharing is of a very common bird found in gardens everywhere in Australia. It is known by its common name "Mickey Minah". Not only do they enjoy nectar - here taken from a grevillea - but they eat all sorts of things and can often be found at picnic spots waiting for handouts to be tossed to them.

f/5.6  1/250  300mm  ISO200

The cormorant is not an uncommon bird either - this one is found all over the world. The Chinese have managed to train cormorants to fish for them in a rather novel way. They do not have a great deal of oil on their feathers so they do get water-logged and it is not uncommon to find them on the banks of waterways with their wings held out from their bodies to dry! This fellow was doing his brush and comb job before hanging himself out to dry.

f/5.6 1/250  300mm   ISO200

A black duck was trying to snatch forty winks in the sun when three camera wielding females noticed him! First the eye opened to see how close the danger was and then, since we wouldn't go away, he came awake and made plans for further action.

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He really had been curled up and comfortable, his beak had been tucked under all those glossy outer feathers and snuggled into the down!

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I couldn't resist including at least one flower! This one looks to be a member of the Tibouchina family.

f/5.6   1/400   300mm  ISO500

In a lovely shady patch under some Malaleuca trees (paper bark trees) at the edge of the lake were several water dragons of various sizes. It was a challenge to take this in an acceptable (to me) way because I do not like taking animals from above and since I was standing on an elevated timber walkway I had to get down really low and poke my lens through the railings and shoot from a slight distance. I like to have my creatures taken at "their eye level". There were eels and turtles in that same patch with the lizards but I shall have to return to that garden to take a few more shots!
Just a reminder - to see any pictures in my blog larger, click on the picture, then click on the "back button" to return to see other pictures.
AJ

The dragons of Queensland

Since I mentioned that Samson was a dragon chaser I thought I should show you what our dragons look like. Actually the dragons on our block of land are very timid - maybe that is Samson's fault - and I cannot get close to them so I have been to a wildlife park not far away where the dragons are very bold. They are wild creatures and are not in enclosures, they are exactly as our dragons are, they live in the bush near the waterways and run around freely.
These two photos are of the same handsome water dragon that I met on one of the walkways that meander around the wild life park.
One of the things I always advise people with a camera to do is to get down to the eye level of the subject. This works both for video and for still photography. If I had been standing upright and had the camera four feet from the ground this lizard would have looked very different - and you would have then seen him from above!
The trouble with getting older is that once you have bobbed down to get the shot you have to get up again without looking as if you are struggling (which is what you are doing!) Having a tripod handy is useful! Having a tree or a post beside you is even better! Fortunately for me this wildlife park is always empty of people - which is why I love it! So I could struggle up without worrying!
These days most tourists want to go on rides or see exotic animals such as white tigers (Dreamworld) or polar bears (Sea World) so Fleays Fauna Centre is off the tourist's list of places to go. I have taken many of my overseas and inter-state guests there and they have loved it. The animals are in large enclosures that look very natural so it is excellent for natural looking shots of Australian animals with backgrounds that look as if the shot was taken in the wild. Another plus is that the walkways are above the animal enclosures so there are no wires to get in the way of the shot - except for the more agile and possibly dangerous animals.
Some of the marsupials are impossible to get close to any other way than by visiting such a park. I know that I have never seen a tree kangaroo in the wild and probably never will but at Fleays I have taken some fantastic shots of one.
I did see one of these water dragons today though. It was resting on a branch of one of the trees over the water at the bottom of our block of land and it leapt into the water and disappeared when I pointed the camera at it! Grr!
AJ