Friday as predicted.

The rain thundered down through the night and we were warm and cosy in our little caravan park cabin while a few hardy souls just across the lane-way from us were cowering under canvas after setting up their camper trailers. After showering and taking note of the conditions outside I persuaded Colin to come with me to the Living Desert Park again – but with raincoats and umbrella “just in case”. It was much brighter and it looked as if we might have a window of opportunity to go and see the wildflower garden part of the park.
To get to this area we had to drive past the entrance to the area we had visited yesterday when we went up to the Sculpture Symposium site. This morning there was a “road closed” sign on the entrance. The way in to the flower area is sealed and there are no gates so on we drove.
Fantastic! Not another person in the place so I could enjoy this park as if it were there just for me!
We donned our rain jackets and I slung the camera case over my shoulder so that I would have somewhere to stow the camera if the rain started. I also put on a pair of walking sneakers with heavy tread on the soles. We had barely reached the shelter in which there was a display of pictures when the clouds released their load! Down it came.

I took a photo back to where we had left the car in the sealed car park and when I looked around at the pictures in the shelter, there was a photo taken from almost the same place when the country looked like it did the last time Colin and I saw it back in the 70's – dry.

I took a photo of this picture so that I could show you two things – how the conditions change when rain comes and also how the park was started – with plantings and waterings. You can see the trickle irrigation water lines on the ground.
The rain did ease and although it was still falling lightly we set off up the slope and enjoyed the sight of a landscape that was quite unique.

The sky and weather were not really suitable for photography but still I managed to take a few, this is a colourful one of more Sturt Desert Peas among other native plants.
We returned to the Information Office to take back the key to the Reserve and were reimbursed our $20. I had not realised that the $20 was a bond and was quite surprised to be given money! Stepping outside the rain was falling again and from the shelter of the overhanging roof I took a photo of the wonderful red bottle brush and, across the road, a display of early mining equipment.

You can see how wet it was!
After shopping for parts for the broken brakes on the trailer we returned to our cabin and almost immediately the rain fell in earnest and the wind rose to gale force. It looked as if we were to be trapped indoors for the afternoon.
But that wasn't the case, as soon as the rain stopped I bullied Colin into the vehicle again and we drove up to the top of the “lode” to see the Miner's Memorial up close. I managed to get some interesting shots from the car as we drove up to the restaurant and information office – but getting out of the car and into that building was an adventure in itself! The wind was incredible up on the top of that rise! I nearly lost hold of the car door as I opened it – fortunately didn't! And then struggled against the wind to open the heavy door to the building!

I could not stand upright outside to take any shots of the town that was laid out below us so I took this shot of the rain clouds over Broken Hill from the window of the restaurant. We felt that we deserved a coffee and enjoyed one that was made by someone else for a change! I did enjoy it – and managed to feel a lot warmer as a result – I think the top temperature today is only 17 degrees.

Colin is now fixing the brakes on the trailer and replacing the windscreen wiper blades that must be dried up – the old ones made such a noise! He is quite happy now doing HIS thing!
AJ

From Cobar to Broken Hill

There had been a fair bit of rain overnight at Cobar but it had cleared by the time we packed the vehicle and trailer again. Our night in the motel had worked wonders for Colin, he had not slept the night before and was able to catch up – he was asleep from the time we unpacked in the afternoon until seven in the morning with a few moments awake to have a meal!

It was a glorious run through the most incredible scenery I have ever seen – I had left home determined to see the desert in bloom and here it was; even better than I had hoped.
I will not bore you with too many flower photos – but I could! I had a wonderful time and the Nikon was dug out of hiding and the Samsung relegated to quick snaps! The first blue photo is of the Paterson's Curse – a rather toxic weed that is not good for sheep and cattle – but it creates a most dramatic and eye catching display. This area of desert country had rains – very heavy rains – early in the year and as a result it no longer looks like a desert. There has been so much follow-up rain that the grass and wildflowers have continued to grow.

I didn't manage to get any photos of them but the area is alive with feral goats. We saw plenty of them and they all look very healthy. They were in all goat colours – from one colour to multi-colour. No wonder there was an advert on the place-mat in the Bowls Club where we had our evening meal for a goat buyer!

It was a huge distance between Cobar and Broken Hill and even though we used the sub-tank on the Nissan four wheel drive we still needed to use one of the jerrycans of diesel to make the distance. Since I was out of the vehicle I couldn't resist recording the event!

We arrived at Broken Hill just after three in the afternoon and booked ourselves into one of the caravan parks – in a cabin – for two nights. Heavy rain was forecast for Friday. We went down to the Information Centre and asked about the Living Desert Park and a very helpful lady urged us to take a key and go straight away because rain was expected later in the afternoon and we might be able to get an hour in before it started. The key could be kept until midday tomorrow so if it was fine in the morning we could go out there again.

Oh, am I glad we went out there! The scenery on the way is stunning and once in the park it is even more beautiful. The rock and hill formations are so glorious and the flowers. Swoon! There are two gates to unlock and pass through and after the first we were brought to a long standstill by the sight of a most amazing display of Sturt Desert Peas.

Rather than give you a close up shot of the flowers I am sharing a shot that shows the way the plant grows and spreads across the ground. The sky was very overcast all the time we were in the park so the shine does not really show on the bulbous black part of the flower – they are so glossy that the sunlight gives them a real sparkle.

I could have spent hours taking photographs along the track that led up to a sculpture park – a rather long story that I will not share here. Instead just one photograph I took. Again I would have loved to have spent a long time here but the heavens opened and I had to make a hasty retreat with the camera shielded as best as I could!

The rain is still falling. We are hoping that we will be able to explore more of Broken Hill tomorrow – but if the rain is as heavy as expected then we shall be exploring indoors! We have a broken trailer to get parts for! The brakes jammed on and we had to remove them.
AJ

Sunshine, where are you?

It seemed to take us ages to pack up the camper trailer. It wasn't that it was difficult, its just that we seem to have so much stuff to pack – and what goes in first and what is wanted out first are decisions that have to be made – and agreed on by both of us! As it was we managed to get things wrong! I had forgotten that rain had been forecast for this evening and I foolishly tucked the laptop under the mattress and put the sleep attire under the pillows and then we folded the camper tent down on them. Big mistake! When rain started to spit at 2.30 we found a place to pull off the road and we undid the tent and Colin crawled in to retrieve the laptop – but he couldn't reach our pj's. We packed the tent up tight again and almost as soon as we were on the road the rain started in earnest – and this story is being written in the comfort of a motel room!(which is why I wanted the laptop and pj's!) But I am starting the story of our day at the end.
We enjoyed our regular but simple breakfast – Colin has cereals and I have toast and home made marmalade – and I made a couple of sandwiches for our roadside lunch and filled a thermos with hot water
I slept well – but I can sleep on a barbed wire fence! Colin however complained bitterly about the bed being lumpy and uncomfortable – He should be OK tonight! Reminder … blow the bed up completely before using. That was the problem!
A few pictures from our drive today – they all seem to be around the one town. Nyngan. We stopped there briefly and I took the opportunity to run about with my point and shoot!

The first picture was just along the road somewhere between here and there – I spotted the train coming and although I did have time to drive across the crossing before it reached the road I decided to stop and wait – it was too good a photo opportunity! I shooed Colin out of the vehicle to use his camera and I used mine from behind the steering wheel! This is a crossing without warning lights (or barriers) so drivers have to look up the line to see if a train is coming.

A wall mural in the little town of Nyngan where we used their bathroom facilities caught my attention.

Bright and colourful and attractive.

I climbed onto the foot bridge over the railway line beside the old station and took a shot of the buildings I could see in the town when I looked back.

The last photo for today was taken as we drove out of Nyngan. Colin had taken the wheel to give me a break when I yelled for him to stop. Fortunately there was no-one behind us because he did come to a rather sudden stop! The sight of camels at the side of the road was just too good to not take a photo! One of the Visions topics for photos this month is “signs” and here were camels beside colourful signs - perfect for our topic!

The rain started to pelt down around three in the afternoon so we decided that we would book into a motel for the night. And this is where we are right now. We are at Cobar which once had the largest copper mine in Australia. Copper lost its value after WW1 and Cobar shrank from a population of over ten thousand to less than one thousand after the mines closed.
The entry to the town is very different – huge slag heaps stretch beside the road. Left overs from the mining times.
AJ

Day one of our trip to Central Australia

Well! We are at last on our way to see the wonders of Central Australia.

When we left home it was drizzling rain and it made us all the more determined to reach the sun and blue skies of the interior. It took us a little longer to pack the vehicle than it should have done but eventually we were on our way with two very forlorn dogs gazing after us from the inside of the gate. They certainly know how to make us feel guilty about leaving them behind!

The first photo I am showing was taken through the windscreen as we drove through the ranges on Cunningham highway. As soon as we came down the other side the skies began clearing and only minutes later there was our blue sky!
The rain that has swept through Queensland this year has turned the country into such a beautiful landscape. There is so much grass around that the cattle barely have to move!

And colour! I know that Western Australia is the place for wild flowers but Queensland is making a supreme effort at the moment. There are acres of yellow flowers – don't know what they are but they are everywhere through the trees and by the roadside.

There are also sweeps of purple and blue. At our afternoon stop I was able to take a few pictures of the blue flowers – they are like little stars! Very pretty!

When we were driving into Narabri I searched the GPS for camp sites and it brought us to a lovely quiet place far enough from the highway not to hear it – the name of the park is Blue Sky Caravan Park! We have taken an unpowered site but I think next time we will pay the extra for power – I am running this laptop from an inverter that is hooked up to the deep-cycle battery that powers the fridge and that is not all that satisfactory!
The amenity block is rather a long way away from our camp area so I shall go over and have a shower this evening – but in day clothes – I am not wandering that far in my night attire!!!! Had phone calls from both our sons – perhaps they think their aging parents “can't do it”!
AJ

Sunless Sunday

The week end has been Abysmal - the rain so heavy that we found it impossible to pack up our camper trailer and the thought of putting up a tent in this weather has made us re-think our travel plans. Now we shall leave a couple of  days later - and even the weather in the interior will be better.
So this morning we were able to have our customary bacon and eggs breakfast (our once a week special breakfast!) accompanied by some of our home grown mini tomatoes stewed with a sprinkling of veggie stock powder.
When washing up our friend Twisty Beak came to the window and tapped on the window. Unable to resist him Colin went out with a small dish of diluted raw sugar. Rather than put it down on the table as we normally do, Colin held it and Twisty hopped onto his hand.
Always ready with one camera or other I dropped the tea towel and took a shot of the happy couple!

I wont add any shooting details for this picture because it was taken with the point and shoot, Samsung. This is purely automatic so the shutter and aperture are not really applicable to SLR use. You can see that the sky is pure white - the famous blue skies of the Gold Coast have left us for a while.
I have isolated part of the photo to show the strange beak that this little bird has had to cope with.

It looks as if a second beak has grown inside the loose first lower bill. This will be why Twisty has been able to eat - and survive. If you look back at the top photo (this second shot is a cropped selection of the first) you may see Twisty Beak's mate in the little tree behind Colin.
Referring back to the story and pictures of the kookaburra and the baby. I can understand the concern over the little one's hand being so close to the bird - it has such a nasty looking beak. To be honest I don't think I would have put the child quite that close! However, the kookaburra had been offered bits of biscuit earlier and we had see how placid it was - no snapping of the beak or lunging out at the proffered tit bit. Steven was confident that the bird would not snap but would have been more likely to take flight.
AJ

Laughter in the rain

The birds are looking for company, I think! We are having so much rain for this time of the year and I think that the birds are as tired of it as we are. Where is our beautiful sunshine?
Today a kookaburra flew in and perched on the railing of the veranda. We do not encourage these meat eating birds - they are more than capable of snatching a finch for a snack - so to have one visit is a rarety. We were all out enjoying a cuppa on the veranda while Steven (known to many as "Firie") held a friend's baby. I had been babysitting while bub's Mum was at a job interview but hot tea and wriggly tots is not a good combination so I handed my job to my son - and Steven is great with kids.
The kookaburra sat quietly on the rail so Steven stood up with Samarrah and took her over closer. He - and we - expected the bird to fly as he got closer but even when Samarrah reached out it didn't bat an eyelid!

f/6.3  1/60sec  ISO 400  30mm

Then Steven held his hand under the bird's chest to see if it would stand on his fingers.

f/6.3  1/60sec ISO400 75mm

The bird climbed on his fingers briefly and flew off - but returned to the veranda. The second time Steven held his fingers out the bird climbed on and stayed there.

f/6.3  1/60sec ISO 400  39mm

After taking a good look at his admirers our kookaburra friend flew off.
It is amazing that a wild bird should be so approachable. Not all kookaburras are this quiet. If it returns again we will probably shoo it away. I don't want to encourage it to hang around.
AJ

Welcome back!

We had a very pleasant surprise yesterday. While having breakfast out on the veranda - the weather is warmer now so the temperature is very pleasant outside at eight when we have breakfast - a familiar piercing whistle made us look up to the railing.

We haven't seen Twisty Beak in quite a few months and had assumed that she had either died or else some well meaning person had captured her and put her in a cage. So it was exciting (more like exhilarating) to see our feathered friend again.

"Come on down" I coaxed and dug out a spoonful of marmalade. That was what she wanted! Quick as a flash she was on the table by my hand and happily licking the soft jelly off the orange peel. She doesn't like the lumps! All the while she was calling out and a few minutes later her mate flew in. Much more timid but still encouraged to get closer by Twisty Beak.
Because I was looking across the glare of sunlight on the glass table I handed the camera to my son who kindly obliged me by taking lots of photos of the birds as they came in close.
The two birds returned again this morning but only for a very short time. Its good to know Twisty Beak is still healthy - that handicap of a deformed beak has been no handicap at all.
AJ