WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge – Horizon
This week we are asked to feature horizons – the space where sky meets the earth. For me my favourites are sky over water, but all can be beautiful. These are from my archives, but I don’t think any have been posted before. They were taken in the surrounding countryside and in Tasmania last year.
More from the Red Centre – King’s Canyon
I had a couple of helicopter rides while in the Northern Territory, the longest one over King’s Canyon before landing and walking along the canyon bottom. Those fitter than I climbed to the top and walked along the edge, but I was quite happy to have one of the tutors to myself for several hours of tuition – after all I had already seen it from above! The rock formations, dry river bed and ghost gums growing out of nothing were quite spectacular.
My apologies, these photos have not loaded in a logical order!
WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge – Silhouette
There has been no opportunity to take a silhouette picture, so these are from the archives. The second one may not fit the WP definition of the term, however it is one I really like, and was taken about a kilometer from where I live. The other is Devonport Lighthouse at sunset, shot when in Tasmania in April. The third one is an old post on the edge of my lake at sunrise. My apologies if I have posted them before.
A walk in the Australian Bush
A couple of days ago I was asked by a good friend to take photographs to show the range of native vegetation and trees which exist on her beautiful property. It covers many acres and is virtually untouched apart from the annual harvesting of some fallen timber for firewood. The land was burnt in the terrible bushfires of 1983, but it has never been commercially logged so there are some enormous old Eucalyptus trees still standing in all their glory. It is inhabited by many species of native wildlife, numerous species of birds, kangaroos, wallabies, and wombats to name just a few. A muddy and waterlogged den is pictured in the slideshow below.
For once it was a beautiful sunny day – a mixed blessing as the bright light and contrasting shadows made photography a challenge, but we spent a couple of hours wandering through it all. I took many, many photos planning to give her a disc of the best to use for her project, but she later found out that she only needed half a dozen…..so I’m posting some of them here instead! I hope that my overseas readers will enjoy seeing what the bush in this area looks like, I think the technical term for it is a Damp Sclerophyll Forest.
Devonport Lighthouse
I arrived in Devonport the evening before I caught the Spirit of Tasmania to come home, but the extra time was not wasted. I went to the lighthouse in the hope of catching a sunset across the sea, but the view was not sufficiently Westerly. I did manage to get some great shots of the lighthouse against the sun and then with an amazing pink sky behind it. The next day was spent exploring the town, visiting Home Hill, the home of Joseph Lyons who was once Prime Minister of Australia, and his wife Dame Enid with their twelve children. I also traveled to Sheffield to view the many murals painted on walls in the town, and to La Trobe an interesting town with old buildings, before returning to board the Ferry for a rough crossing of Bass Straight to Melbourne overnight.
Gordon River Cruise
This great cruise on the luxurious Lady Franklin took most of the day, leaving from Strahan early on a misty morning, we went out through Macquarie Harbour, past the pens of a salmon farm and the two lighthouses that mark its entrance at Hell’s Gate – so called because of the submerged rocks, rough waters and the powerful tides that exist there, making it dangerous and difficult to navigate. Turning around just outside in what is the Great Southern Ocean, the boat proceeded back down the harbour and entered the Gordon River. This is a most beautiful area of cold climate rain forest, an ancient wilderness with unique trees, and is a world heritage area. The still dark water provided endless views and amazing reflections of the shoreline. At one point we were able to go ashore and walk through a section of rainforest to see close-up its lush beauty, where trunks were covered with emerald green mosses, and trees festooned with hanging bunches of moss and lichen, while everything dripped around us. After this experience, we returned to the boat for a delicious lunch and a short trip back up the river, stopping at Sarah Island where we again went ashore to see the remains of the penal colony that was there from 1822 -33, and to learn the history of the island from an amusing and well informed guide. Despite the at times inclement weather, it was a wonderful day, and I would recommend anyone to take this cruise if you visit Strahan.
Strahan – Tasmania
After experiencing a couple of fairly ordinary motels on my trip so far, I decided that a little luxury was well deserved and chose accommodation in Strahan that overlooked the harbour of this lovely little port on Macquarie Harbour on the west coast. My room was on the top floor of the yellowish building with a great view from inside and the balcony, across the water and towards the town proper. In the morning that patch of grass was full of seagulls, ducks and geese making quite a din, all well used to being fed by the tourists. I had two days here, enjoying delicious seafood meals, exploring the area, watching the sunset on a beach facing directly west, with nothing between it and South America except miles of ocean, and you guessed it – taking many photographs.
Up at sunrise on the first morning for more photos before heading to the dock to join others for a cruise down the Gordon River to see the world heritage area for myself, and to visit Sarah Island, the site of a particularly harsh penal colony established in 1822, before Port Arthur, as a place for the worst sort of convict. It closed in 1833, and is well known due to Alexander Pearce, a convict to escaped with several others who tried to reach Hobart. Pearce alone was caught, and it is said that he had eaten his companions in order to survive. He escaped a second time, and did the same thing, eventually making it to Hobart where he was captured and executed for his crimes. Marcus Clark’s novel For the Term of his Natural Life is based on events which occurred on this island although his hero, Rufus Dawes is a fictional character.
Misty Morning on the Lake.
Taken just after sunrise on the lake behind my house. The light and the rising mists from the water made it almost magical.
Sunrise…..
Woken before dawn by bird song, and as it was a very clear morning, I decided to try a new spot for some sunrise photos…..these were taken near Woodend in the Macedon Ranges.
Even in the country it is difficult to avoid telephone poles and lines that might spoil a shot!
