An oldie, but a good one. Every morning the roos come down to the beach at Cape Hillsborough Nature Resort, just next to the national park. The resort runs a shelter for orphaned and injured wildlife, and the local population comes out for a bite at feeding time.
In late summer, Mongolia’s famous ice canyon takes on a different meaning. Through July and August it is a place to see winter remnants in the dark corners that never see sunlight. By September, as the days are getting shorter, it’s just plain icy. We hopped out here for a quick look over the mountain scenery and 3 sprinted circuits of the cairn for luck.
Something about these toilets reminded me of trainspotting. We spent a couple of days here next to the White Lake (Terkhiin Tsagann Nuur) while waiting for the brakes to be replaced in the Land Cruiser. Dry air, altitude and no civilisation made for spectacular skies; yack bones, cold dumplings and vodka for dinner made for many trips to hell.
I took the opportunity to spend a few days in Fiji while traveling between Canada and Australia. I only had 3 nights, but wanted to head away from he big resort hotels in the Nadi area. Waya is the first point of call in Yasawa group of islands, so was an accessible alternative. Even after a direct hit from a cyclone the snorkelling and scenery didn’t disappoint.
With a public holiday on a Thursday, I had the urge to get out of town for a few days. I jumped in the car and headed West. Here are a few things I found along the way:
Nowhere does long, straight roads like rural Australia. I could never keep attention on the task long enough to measure any of the long stretches, but some go well past the horizon. This particular stretch was somewhere between Nyngan and Cobar on the Barrier Highway. One day I’ll have to check out 90 Mile Straight in WA for the ultimate in highway monotony.
I arrived in Broken Hill after dark, but not too late. Being ANZAC Day, however, everything was closed. I decided to push on to Silverton and without tourist information, phone reception or fuel to spare I made makeshift camp next to the road. I awoke at dawn to see this scene: a setting full moon, wispy clouds lit by the morning sun and an abandoned railway ticket booth.
This has got to be one of the most photogenic spots I have ever visited. A bit of a challenge to get to in the tiny Audi they decided to give me, but the National Parks guide said I could get to the first access point, 5km in, without 4WD. It didn’t tell me that recent thefts have caused them to move the registration box in another chunk. There’s something life-affirming about soft sand, a ridiculously inadequate car and one rule for 11km: DON’T SLOW DOWN. $7 successfully paid!
As the sun rises, Menindee Lakes reach their full splendour. There are spectacular images to be taken all around.
About 100 km southeast of Broken Hill, the Darling River spills into a chain of shallow lakes. Menindee Lakes are part of a catchment and irrigation scheme, which has left them ringed by dead trees and bushes. On still mornings they form a near perfect mirror.
The fractal nature of the natural world is on full display in Menindee Lakes and it can throw out all sense of scale and proportion.
Moments after sunset Menindee was turned golden by the last rays of the day. The water is absolutely still and a near-perfect mirror except for the multitude of slimy bubbles.
After sunset at Menindee Lakes, the full moon rose for the evening. The moon was a bit of a theme for the trip. So impressive (as it always is) in flat country, the near-full moon came up just after sunset to disappear around sunrise on the first couple of days of the trip. This was my walk through the desert scrub to get back to the car after taking photos of the lakes at sunset. Thankfully no snakes!
Yarrangobilly Caves are in a small, but dramatic region of limestone karst near Kosciuszko National Park. Here in Jersey Cave, one of the older ones in the area, everything is covered in layers of grey and pinky-orange flowstone and other speleotherms. It looked remarkably like Ghostbusters 2 slime (ectoplasm?). Wonder what’s at the top of the stairs…
Agawa Bay on Lake Superior
The Canadian winter can be difficult to photograph. For the uninitiated, great big fluffy flakes and majestic pines can be rare. Even around Christmas, there are many years when the snow cover is patchy, the days are short and the air is cold on exposed fingers.
Two fireworks displays in one week! It seems a shame to waste all the year’s fireworks within a few days, so taking inspiration from last night’s sunset, how about some natural “SkyFire”…
Canberra had a second weekend of fireworks, with the annual SkyFire event happening just 5 days after Canberra Day this year. I decided to get a few shots of these fireworks from the same vantage point as Monday night. The fireworks were great, but as we waited for nightfall the sky put on some natural fire of its own.
Australia is crazy for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the redefinition of the seasons. Sure, it’s the underside of the Earth so the seasons are opposite, right? Wrong! Australia was my first experience with seasons that start on the first of the month, rather than the equinox or solstice. Interestingly their isn’t much formal agreement on the matter anywhere in the world. Presumably the meteorologists and astronomers couldn’t believe the stupidity of each others’ point of view and we’ve agreed to disagree ever since!
It’s often hard to remember that crepuscular rays travel right across the sky. They’re always eye catching around the setting sun, but sometimes you turn around 180° and there they are “converging” on the anti-solar point. And yet, they’re all parallel; silly physics! That’s exactly what happened in this case. We were all concentrating on the sunset, but turned back around to the east to get in the car to see this…
