Malcolm Halliday and I are being joined by; hopefully by a host of willing helpers to set up at the Bermagui Surf Club building tomorrow.  It runs then 10 to 4 pm until Sunday Closing at about 3 pm.  For the last few years David and Malcolm have been the organisers but David tragically is fighting an aggressive prostate cancer that was discovered just before Christmas last year and has thrown the family into a spin. This picture was taken of the two of us before all the drama at Dave's birthday last August. We are both wrapped up 'cos its a bit cold in Bermagui mid winter'

Quite apart, this summer has been weird. Long spells of heavy rain interspersed with very hot days which have continued into our Autumn. We are blessed with a sea breeze though being so close to Bass Strait it tends to turn into a wind storm by mid day. Now we're hoping again for rain as we've had many days of around 30C. and people are worrying that we might get late bushfires.

Since I last wrote I've had a series of equipment problems and ended up spending more money than I had planned on for a new printer and computer. Cost apart, I'm delighted with both. The photographic muse has deserted me for a while now. I've focused on sorting out and culling my 90,000+ images down to a more manageable 50,000-. I hope I haven't trashed anything important! There has been an ongoing problem with the Lightroom plugin that I use to upload  to my gallery at Zenfolio. In desperation I contacted the programmer, apart from an acknowledgement I heard  no more, but this morning it was working - Yipee.  In the meantime I've printed 3 images for the exhibition. 2 from our WA Trip last year and one black and white, a panorama of Wallaga lake. I'm reasonably pleased with them. No more than that.

Recent picture of Tina on the left shows how much she's improved from the traumas of the last few years. I think she's the fittest of the lot of us lately.

The pics below are the ones I've done for the exhibition. You may recognise the Uluru and Bungles ones from earlier posts but the black and white is new.

I'll try not to leave such a long gap before my next post. Stay healthy everyone.    PeterC

My apologies to those of you that were hanging out for the last post of the Kimberley trip. Life got in the way here for a while but just to make up for it here are some pictures from that final spell.

We went out to Geiki Gorge NP from Fitzroy Crossing and had a short cruise on the river into the gorge. Perhaps not the most spectacular of the gorges on our tour but interesting for all that. The flood levels were certainly impressive. They were shown in the NP hut and also on the walls of the gorge. You could see the similarity of the rock types between here and Windjana particularly the white Devonian period rock with its caves and holes. The weird and familiar shapes in the cliffs were notable particularly the one that looked like Richard Nixon's profile. There were a few freshwater crocks basking in places as well.

The other port of call was to the Prison tree just out of Derby Town. A giant boab with a hollow centre which would house prisoners awaiting transfer to bigger centres and facilities. In the same area were lots of strangely shaped boabs often accompanied by termite mounds to match. Nearby is a huge long water trough used to water cattle and horses after muster.

A big slab of the day was taken up with the drive into Broome. We were one of the first to be dropped off at our hotel and spent some time sorting ourselves and our luggage out for the trip home late on the following day. We weren't flying out until about 6pm so we had a lazy day in Broome. We had had 2 days in Broome a few years back.

And so, here we are and its Christmas day in a bright sunny and windy Fairhaven.

In the intervening months there has been much to do including producing these intermittent posts. Enjoying and learning from a U3A Life writing course and trying to take advantage of a second U3A Bowls class which unlike the first was confounded by the weather. Health matters were attended too including my ENT specialist telling me that he didn't want to see me again unless something dramatic transpired. The Urologist telling me that I didn't have prostate problems and to keep taking the pills. The eye specialist looked into my eyes with various devices and declared my melanoma dead but not shrinking much, its a long term thing and "get that cataract fixed before I see you in six months time".  Unfortunately my brother David has not been so fortunate, being diagnosed with an aggressive Prostate cancer and has started a course of treatment that will go on well into the new year and hopefully provide him with some relief. I will go and collect him to join us for Christmas lunch which will include lots of prawns and oysters and other good things. I will try and slip out to check on the Imperial blue butterflies who have started the hatching/mating rituals very early this year. It was February last season but weather conditions have been so crazy this spring/summer that it's not surprising that they are confused. I will try my hand at making a movie of this event this time although it's not something I'm experienced with.

         So its time to wish all my friends around the world  

                A Very Merry Christmas  

   and a 

Happy New Year

PeterC

Only one more day to go before we return to reality, but today we head to Windjana Gorge, which we are told is a very special place. We've left Mount Hart and will end the day at Fitzroy Crossing.  On the coach we watch "Fight for Freedom", a movie that tells the story of the 3 year fight by the first peoples, trying to repel the invasion of white settlers who were bringing livestock into their lands.  There is a well balanced story on the Kimberley tourist page:    http://www.kimberleyaustralia.com/story-of-jandamarra.html. The movie had quite a profound effect on us

When we arrived we saw a black wall of sharp rock with trees in impossible crevices. On closer inspection some of these turned out to be boabs. I'm not sure why I was surprised as we'd seen these trees in every sort of landscape. Once more braving the dry grass tussocks and with a sharp eye for movement, I led the way to get a better view. Photographically speaking, the very harsh near midday light wasn't my choice but I made the best I could of it. To my delight I found some Kimberley Rose bushes in almost approachable positions in the rocks and started climbing. We had all been warned that much of the rock in this area was razor sharp and, of course, I proved the point, even with uncustomary caution. I managed to get within 90mm macro lens range  of the flowers and they proved to be at once both beautiful and weird, growing straight out of apparently dead branches.

Arriving at the tunnel leading into the gorge, way behind the rest of the folk, we entered an enchanted world of creamy white devonian period limestone, with trees forming a picturesque archway over sand.

The rock is pierced with tunnels and caves and forms the most grotesque forms. On the other side of the path we had glimpses of water and moving ahead noticed a large freshwater crocodile basking on the edge of a large sandbank. Moving on we were greeted by an amazing scene of dozens of crocks basking in and out of the water. What supports such a population is a mistery to me.

A much wider view revealed itself; rocky outcrops in the sands and more water. Our companions were returning toward the exit and back to the coach, much to my disappointment; this was somewhere I could spend much much longer, but Greg one of our group had been designated Tail End Charlie with the task of herding up the stragglers, so much to my disgust we turned around.

It's no wonder that "Pidgeon - Jandamarra" led his forces so successfully against what was a full blown colonial army in the end, with this hub at his back. It was only treachery by one of his own that led to his defeat in the end.

Tunnel Creek was the next stop for the adventurous among us. Tina and I didn't fit the criteria and stayed behind with the coach. On their return it was all aboard for Fitzroy Crossing and our last night under canvas. This campsite is one of the ones owned by the new owner of the tour and is quite extensive with excellent facilities. The layout is worth a mention, as the camp radiates around an extensive ablutions block.

As I found out later in the dark, if you start off in the wrong quadrant you can get totally lost, with the only option being to return to the hub and start over. A bit disconcerting in the early hours of the morning. I paid more attention the second time!  It had been a long day and so we missed walking around the town and settled for a shower and cold beer.

I will combine tomorrows trip to Derby and on to Broome with our last day in Broome as by then we were ready for a day of and readying ourselves for the long trip back home via Perth and Sydney.

At Last a picture of the Kimberley Rose that does it justice. There are several more on the Flower and Alice to broome Galleries.

I 've since found out that it was a barking owl and that it is relatively common in the northern tropics of Oz.  Pretty, if thats the word for a predatory bird, but of only passing interest photographically as it was, apparently, asleep. Eyes shut.

We headed off for breakfast and noticed the sun catching the lovely pink flowers on a tree just outside of the Bar.

Some pics this time.  At breakfast Jamie announce that anybody interested could join him for a short trip to a waterhole for a swim. We opted out and on returning to our tent found that the owl had moved and was now look down with disdain at us. This time the camera came out, & in short order it was captured digitally. 

It was one of our fellow guests who mentioned seeing a rather unusual bower.  We found it between a couple of disused sheds and partly concealed by a bush, It was similar to our southern bowers except that instead of the usual blue adornments we expected, the entrance was piled up with little white rocks. No occupant at this stage so I went off to get my tripod and 10M extension cord for the camera; framed the picture and spent a very uncomfortable hour hidden behind one shed pressing the remote every minute or so. I figured that the bird would be back within that time and indeed it flew off rapidly as soon as I reappeared. It turned out that there were two. The results were less than spectacular, but I'm not sure I could have done any better, without being able to see what was happening.  Bright sun was catching the foliage around and above. The bower was almost black in comparison and the white stones didn't reflect into the bower. What threw me though was that the bird was grey, not the jet black male I expected or the lighter female. I've learned a lot more about the northern species since. The result is here for what it's worth after a lot of rescue work in Lightroom.

After lunch I took a stroll with the camera (of course), attracted by the Kites, both whistling and black, which are so numerous everywhere we've gone on this trip. Never did get a good shot of the black ones, but got the odd pleasing shot of the whistling, but nothing of great note. I did come across this sign from the time when Mount Hart was a stop for the fledgling airline business on the way to Europe. The airstrip is still there, but the traffic is confined to the tourists and Station business flights, I assume.

Time to get on a smaller coach and head up hill to a vantage point to watch the sundown. The view from here gave an elevated vision of the surrounding plains and Mount Hart, the twin hills that give the area its name.

The coach returned with the rest of the gang. We drank champagne and chatted and watched the sun kiss the nearby ridge. Tina and I got on the first coach trip to return, and I was rewarded by the remaining light picking out some trees and dust as the coach went for the rest.

Dinner and an early night, ready for the trip tomorrow out to Windjana Gorge and on to our last camp at Fitzroy River Crossing.

We stopped at one point to view a range of one time mountains through a blue haze and have some morning tea. We were at the top of a long descent and I decided on a panorama as the only way of representing the view, when, peddling furiously, came a young cyclist up the hill, followed a little later by her partner. Both were fully laden and I marveled at their stamina. 

Quite happy to watch their exertions, we piled back on the coach and got to the parking area for the gorge just in time for lunch. By this time it was hot and we were very glad of the shelter provided by National Parks. As with so many of the places we saw, the grass was high and brown and we set off down an uneven path with assurances from Jamie that this was only a short walk and well within our abilities. The path got rockier as it started down and we crossed our first stream without any more than a cautious step on a stepping stone. The path was now rock strewn and we needed to watch our step carefully.

Another crossing was obviously a river bed at certain times of year but hardly wet now. Not far now, we were told and we started to get glimpses of water through the trees and greenery which brought us to the last drop and creek crossing. With far more care we made it into a rocky wonderland of pools big and small, the roar of an unseen waterfall and a huge rock shelf with precious shade on the high side where the younger, fitter folk were already set up. I got Tina settled, she was rather exhausted at this point.

Several of our group were already in the water and others joined them. I rock hopped hoping to get to the other side of the main stream, but with camera in tow I decided on discretion. There were after all plenty of wonderful pictures to be had in every direction. Back on the rock slab and joined by Tina, we walked up hill and toward the edge to be rewarded with the sight of a series of waterfalls rushing to the well worn course over and among the rocks. There in the pool at the bottom of the third fall were several of our hardier souls frollicking and enjoying the experience to the full.

There were boabs here, both alive and very dead. They made interesting studies, particularly one huge one where a few remaining leaves cast interesting shadows.  As always happens the time came to leave. We crossed the steps and started up hill when Eddie joined us and took over guiding Tina up the rock path. They were all talking so intently that we couldn't believe we were back on the high path and nearly up to the coach. There was the inevitable long queue for the girls Loo's but everyone was too relaxed to get annoyed. The blokes, of course, just wandered off, out of sight. 

Because of the range of pictures in this spot I will add some more at the end of this mail. And so to follow the timeline we'll continue our day.

Jamie had been letting individuals ride shotgun with him in the cab and this time it was my turn. The huge glass window in the front provided a great view, completely different from our usual seat in the coach. At one point both Jamie and I shouted "Snake" and the breaks were applied as a large king brown very reluctantly moved from his position sunning in the middle of the road and disappeared into the high grasses. Further on we passed 4wd's racing along in huge clouds of dust and as the sun got lower a road train thundered up to us and passed.  

We just stopped! there was no forward vision for a minute or two.  I'm sure I've mentioned before, that the evening light in the Kimberleys is absolutely beautiful and lasting well past the setting of the sun. Despite the lack of cloud the sky turns though a rainbow full of colour over the hills, ending up with an intense blue. We are having a day off tomorrow, but in the evening were being taken to a lookout point near Mount Hart to watch this phenomenon, aided by a glass of bubbly. That is as I said for tomorrow. 

More pictures from this day!

That's all folks - Don't forget that there is an album of all the photos fit to show in the gallery, which is being added to almost every day now. If you'd really like a copy of any of my work just click on the BUY button and follow the bouncing ball, figuratively. Nulab in Melbourne will print your request, take your money and credit me with a small sum. Their work is excellent.

Peter Cotton.

Word came through that we should head for Mount Hart station, missing Manning. We left the GR Road late in the afternoon at the Mount Hart sign.  It turned out that there was still quite a long way to go on this very basic road with lots of creek crossings and one quite large dry river bed.  It turned into a long day, not least for Jamie, our driver, but he got us safely to our destination at sundown and everything had been prepared for us.

Tina and I were allocated a luxurious tent with en-suite and massive double bed and, after a very welcome shower, we discovered the very welcome sight of a bar and restaurant dining room. Refreshed inside and out we caught up on the plans for the next few days. Tomorrow we were going to Bell River Gorge, to make up for missing Manning, and then back to our schedule with Windjana Gorge on the following day and from there to Fitzroy Crossing.  All the camping gear and staff, including the boss Colin, were on the way in the stations fire engine truck and would be with us again.

Given the disruption, we were all very pleased with the way the thing had been managed.

All for now - Peter

Having "done" the springs we headed for our coach and lunch before moving on to Chamberlain Gorge to meet up with our catamaran for the next stage of our tour. This was an easy cruise down the gorge with the now familiar cliffs rising on each side, and massive rocks like giants sugar cubes in the water. Once again we could see the high water marks from the wet season, these times must be so spectacular if one could stay dry at the same time.
At the end of this navigable section of the river we paused to get acquainted with the archer fish, who were happy to be fed and spit water at us to everyone's initial surprise and amusement.

Arriving back at El-Questro we witnessed the return of the local flock of Noisy Little Corellas, very well named, creamy white in colour like a small Cockatoo which screamed at each other from the tops of their roosting trees for about an hour before settling down. Dinner tonight was tempered by the thought that we were to pack up for an early start in the morning, heading for Manning Gorge and genuine bush camping under boab trees by a great swimming hole. Such was the plan.

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley"

Wednesday 24th, sunny and hot. We leave Bruno and crew to clear up camp at Mabel Downs while we board the coach for Wyndam on the Cambridge Gulf. We paused for morning tea on the way

Wyndam on the Cambridge Gulf. Funny little town. Lots of history, but with an air of abandonment. I've just looked up Wikipedias comments on the town and I quote them here.

"Wyndham is the oldest and northernmost town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, located on the Great Northern Highway, 2,210 kilometres (1,373 mi) northeast of Perth. It was established in 1886 as a result of a gold rush at Halls Creek, and it is now a port and service centre for the east Kimberley with a population of 800. Wyndham is split into two areas. The original town site of Wyndham Port is situated on Cambridge Gulf, while Wyndham's Three Mile area is the residential and shopping area of the town. Wyndham is part of the Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley"

Now that makes sense. We basically saw the wharf and the strip along side the gulf.

Its not the main town. The wharf infrastructure is quite impressive. There is a delightful little museum just before the wharf, a pub but not a lot else. There were very few people about.  We spent some time in the museum. The things that impressed me in particular were the copies of the Japanese surrender documents and a lot of wartime historical information. Naturally I suppose, Wyndam as much as Darwin, would have been in the thick of the defence and attack in those years.  How ignorant am I in my lack of knowledge of this country's history. Did the rest of civilian Australia have any clue what was going on up here?. Perhaps not!

We headed up to the Five Rivers lookout. A steep winding road to a remarkable lookout with views across the river flats out to sea, perhaps. There's a white tower up here. Its a radar tower owned by the Met. Office.  The view is magnificent  and I actually got to use my tripod, that I've carted around all this trip, for some panorama shots. Once this was done I joined the rest of the folk at lunch before we climbed aboard again to pose in front of the huge concrete Crocodile for which the town is well known.

We travelled the Gibb River Road on the way to El Questro.  I don't quite know what I had expected of this road. Everyone I spoke to implied it was a horror strip and certainly it was pretty rough in places, but no worse than the Bungle Bungles road. The volume of traffic was significant, not by city standards of course but it included road trains and lots of 4WD's. El Questro when we arrived was more like a park with large trees, green tended lawns and substantial main buildings. Bruno had us well organised with the tents all in place including the large dining tent. There was to be, we understood, a wedding here tomorrow and our tents were tucked away by the side of a creek and roped off from another group of campers. They had a fire going and were already well into the grog. We discovered later that these were in fact the advanced party of revelers for the wedding.

After organising our sleeping quarters we headed for the showers which were almost palatial after Mabel Downs. Next task was to catch up with the inevitable pile of washing and, after dinner, pegging out the clothes to dry. Dinner was as always excellent, and we retired to our tent, alongside the noisy neighbours, for a good night sleep, despite the racket. Tomorrow we are to visit Zebedee Hot Springs and have a cruise through Chamberlain Gorge.

"Situated in the heart of the Kimberley, Halls Creek is the gateway to a range of world renowned natural attractions, including the World Heritage listed Bungle Bungle ranges of Purnululu National Park. It is one of Australia’s iconic outback regions with a unique cultural and heritage environment. Predominantly Aboriginal populations live in a number of remote communities around the district and the town site of Halls Creek.

Covering some 142,908 square kilometres of predominantly desert and pastoral country, Halls Creek has something for everyone, from wide open spaces and magnificent natural attractions, to rich Aboriginal and European history and culture."

The day started bright but cold and with breakfast out of the way we climbed aboard the coach and headed off to "Old Halls Creek". On the way we learned that Halls Creek had once been a mining site in the goldrush days. It fell into ruin after the gold ran out and the new town was built during the second world war as a hub and to provide support to the airfields attacking the Japanese forces. Some of these airfields still exist and play a major role in our defence capabilities and ocean border surveillance. 

When we arrived at Old Halls Creek I wondered what we were here for. There was a large shed with walls of wire mesh, and in the distance on a hill the Cemetery and the remains of the hospital from the gold rush days. A few bits of rusted out vehicles and a small creek some 60 meters from the road and no path. It turned out that the shed housed what was left by the termites of the old post office; the shed is to protect what's left from the tropical "Wet". With my experience of the grasses in the Bungles I carefully walked down to the stream for a picture and found quite a pleasant view. I didn't explore too much, having a "Poms" fear/respect for snakes in the north or anywhere else for that matter.

Our next stop was to Caroline Springs, which turned out to be a delightful spot on a dry riverbed full of huge old trees and home to some very pleasant water holes with sandy banks. Many of our companions decided to take the plunge and I'm told it was very refreshing. Also present were a group of young Aboriginal boys and girls, a group supervised or just accompanied by a young lady who turned out to be from the WA dept of education. I was about to ask the youngsters if I could take their picture when they yelled out "Take our pictures, take our pictures" they were sitting on a 4wd in the creek bed and the group were there for a BBQ. Of course I did as asked, and got the teacher's email address so as to send them the pics after we got home. Which I have since done. Sadly I haven't had any acknowledgement but that wasn't the point.

After the wet folk had dried off we headed to the "Walls of China" a seam of white quartz that runs all the way from this district to near Darwin. Its impressive when you consider the scale but I doubt the Chinese would rate it. After the obligatory pic's we went back to Caroline Springs for lunch.  The BBQers had left and the sun moved around causing some interesting shadows from one tree in particular. I think this will make a picture with some photoshop action. I show it here, as shot, 'cos I like it.

Lunch over, we headed for town. That's the new Halls Creek. It's a bright cheerful looking small town. Government buildings, information centre. Shops mostly brightly painted but with a fortified sort of look to them? Is this, has this been a troubled community? I spoke to one or two young people, they were polite and friendly. I do hope they have a good future because they are certainly in an area with huge potential. One last arty picture for your viewing pleasure. That finishes todays reminiscing.

We parked in the Piccaninny car park with the domes and cones of rocks on 3 sides of us.  There is a shaded eating area here and for the first time in our trip we really appreciated all the warnings we were given in advance.  It was dry, hot, and without a trace of humidity.  Our group broke up into smaller ones with different plans.  We were told that, given our "fitness Levels - read Age", we could probably manage the track into Cathedral Gorge. This was shown on the map as a 2K return so I didn't hurry making pictures that were available all around the parking area. I made use, with kind permission of the owner, of a small flatbed truck, to get a better viewpoint, then returned to the shade to collect Tina and start the walk in. It was a slow walk as there were distractions everywhere.

Quickly we found ourselves reaching for our water bottles and I was concerned at how Tina would cope. As we entered the Gorge there was some relief from the direct sun and even occasional pools of water. Our quicker companions were already on the way back when we passed and Tina decided that she would wait on a bench in the shade and leave me to get further in. I didn't go much further as my watch told me we would need all the time allocated to get back.  After many more stops and no water left in our bottles we arrived back in the shade area in the car park.  We took on a lot more water before getting into the coach for the next leg of our journey.

This took us to another area of the park at the northern end, with a spectacular series of orange cliffs and more walks on offer.  Tina and I plus a few others declined this time and sat and talked or moved quietly around enjoying the beauty of the place. I noticed for the first time how long brown and dry the grasses were and was a little hesitant to wade into it to get the viewpoints I sought.  When I did I paid for the experiment with sharp seeds going through my light trousers, and I discovered later into my legs and thighs. Not easy to get out at all, and leaving very red raised spots which fortunately faded in the next few days. ITCHY!. Another lesson learned.

We returned to Mabel Downs once the walking folks returned and everyone headed for the showers.  Which were very welcome. Tea was in the big dining tent, while off to one side a fire roared in a pit, and a large group of tourist sat around on camping chairs sharing tales of the days adventures over some cold beers and wines. We shared a table with a couple who turned out to be a surgeon and anaesthetist husband and wife. They had been camping and walking in the Bungles and had come into the camping area for a clean shower and a good feed. Pleasant company. We didn't stay late though and soon headed for our tent. 

The following day we were of to Halls Creek for more adventures. - Peter.

Westpac.

​Once more financial we loaded the rest of the people, hitched up the trailer and were on the way to Mabel Downs station and campsite, our home for the next 3 nights.  Morning tea saw us in the area of the Argyle diamond mine, but we didn't visit and we got to Mabel Downs in time for lunch.  There is a strange regulation on Cattle Stations in the Kimberley and presumably the rest of WA. They are not allowed to promote themselves as caravan parks. With some careful wording the message is conveyed, but the weird thing is the set up has to be "temporary" and capable of being moved at a moments notice
The result was quite efficient with demountable toilet/shower blocks, offices, a huge heavy dining tent.

Just beyond these confines were 2 helicopter pads and the first rush was to the booking room for a majority of the guests.  Me included. I'd never been in a helicopter and light aircraft flights have been banned by mutual agreement between Tina and I, ever since we lost 4 good friends in a crash in North Wales in the UK in the 1960's, I was to have been navigating but was called in to work that morning and pulled out. However I'd promised myself this flight over the Bungle Bungles and wasn't going to be deterred. Booked for 4.30pm to catch the sun and long shadows of the late winter sun. Fortunately the booking was moved to 4pm. Even then the shadows were long and harsh. Tina saw us off. Myself and the young pilot in the front seat, fellow guests Maureen and another Peter in the rear.  The unanimous vote was for no doors and with my little LX7 camera gripped firmly in my hands we lifted off for a fantastic flight of a lifetime. It took 10 minutes flying time to reach the rocks and we spent another 10 over the domes and incredible forms of the Bungles. By the time we turned for the flight back I had a grin from ear to ear and a sore index finger from continuously firing the camera. Without the doors I had expected some buffeting, but no. It was only on the first occasion I stuck my firmly gripped camera a little further out that the speed of the plane and wind made me jump. I was much more cautious the next time.

I've only included two aerial shots this time as we drove into the Bungles the next day and there are just so many wonderful views from above  and at ground level that I'm setting up a dedicated gallery in my website.

We had a great meal in the portable dining room. But the porta shower/loos were a bit of a challenge in the dark. The night skies were wonderful and we switched to morning showers which solved that problem.

I was amazed to hear that the Bungle Bungles were only discovered by white people in 1982. Perhaps the cattle station owners knew, but weren't saying, as they didn't want to be overrun by tourists. These days they need the tourists to supplement their incomes in hard times. The first people, of course, knew them of old.

Cheers for another day - Peter.

We were passing once again through prolific farming country, heading for our next stop, Zebra Rock Gallery. This is a cottage industry which I knew nothing about, but lumps of strangely patterned rock in the pretty gardens gave some hint of what they were about. I'll quote from their own literature as it tells the story in a nutshell.  "The highly decorative banded zebra rock is unique to the East Kimberley region of WA. Deposits have been found at several sites adjacent to and within Lake Argyle. It is not found elsewhere in Australia or anywhere else in the world. For this reason, it is rarer than diamonds but not yet as expensive!  However, if  the water level of Lake Argyle is raised, as is planned for Ord Phase 3 irrigation, then all known sites of zebra rock will become inaccessible".

The gallery is well setup and the creations from the strange and beautiful rock are so varied that I wanted to take a lot home. The cost, although reasonable for unique pieces, was enough to keep a tight hold on my credit card.

Soon we were in the coach for our trip out to the Argyle Dam proper. I knew it was big but really once you clear the confines of the boat boarding area it seems to go on forever. Islands that were once the tops of mountains and hills dot the lakescape. Some of them supporting isolated survivors of different types of 'Roos and other beasties.  We were indulged with lunch and some of the braver souls took a dip in the relatively cold waters. I and the other photographers in our group took masses of pictures, but the reality is that most were the product of the new experience and have a sameness that will cause a big cull which I've already started. What turned out to be the most interesting part for me was the late afternoon. As often happens, as the sunlight drops away to the all too brief twilight this far north, there were several magical moments to reflect on and develop.  

It was almost dark by the time we boarded the coach, which negotiated the very narrow and steep track back up to the road proper at the top of the dam and off to our, all too short, home, back in the camp. A Chinese meal for tea/dinner, followed by introduction to Bruno who was joining Jamie for much of the tour.  Bruno, with great humour, proceeded to tell us that we were now finished with the luxury travel and needed some new skills for the days to come. Starting with setting up camp. Not that this proved to be too arduous, as he was setting up the tents. We were shown how to set up our camp stretchers. Making sure that we were in the right tents and an introduction to the Bat lights, which were the essential illumination for all nighttime activities. Another early night ready for an equally early morning and the start of a completely new stage to our adventure.

Thats all folks.

Peter.

Like all good things this part of the tour came to an end just below the Argyle Dam wall. On the left hand side was a mini power station, or rather it appears mini alongside the dam wall. It generates all the power needed to power the control systems for the dam.

Our coach was waiting for us as we said our goodbyes to the young skipper who had certainly looked after us well. Once the coach hauled up the service road to the top of the dam, we were greeted to our first view of Lake Argyle itself, and a lovely view back down to the Ord river.

One of the casualties of the flooding of this huge valley was the original homestead of the Durak families who pioneered settlement in the Kimberley’s.  To preserve this important bit of history the building was dismantled stone by stone, beam by beam and reassembled on a promontory not far from the dam wall. This was to be our next stop and we spent some time looking around and absorbing the atmosphere of the place.

In the same district, we stopped at the Argyle Lake resort and marvelled at it's infinity pool which seemed to hang in space above the flooded valley below.

Toward the end of the afternoon we returned on the coach to our home base in Kununurra for dinner at 6.30 and an early night. This was when we got the details of a trip hinted at for the following day. One of the optional extras for day 10 had been a $100 trip on lake Argyle to view the scenery and the sunset. It was revealed that Colin had done a deal with a friend that this trip would be made available for $15 a head and would include nibblies and champagne. How could you knock back a deal like that. Bring it on for an early start on day 10.                                                    Peter Cotton

We'd already seen kilometers of vegetables growing in the rich irrigated soil of the district. The pondage at Kununurra is only a small part of the overall project and serves many different masters. Power and fresh drinking water for the town, irrigation on demand for the large agricultural area. Drought proofing a large slab of the East Kimberley. Its prime purpose though would be flood mitigation. The figures for the amount of water captured in Lake Argyle upstream from here in a normal wet season are mind boggling. In a season described as a "Big Wet" even Argyle couldn't cope and the Ord/Kununurra dam comes into play enabling a controlled release of water, and giving a huge safety margin to boot. Just as well!

After we had toured around the mitigation dam we headed upstream at a brisk pace, through farming land which soon gave way to  impressive scenery, stark in many ways, crumbling cliffs of orange and brown, lush greenery along a wide band of the lake.

After a while we came to a junction between the lake and the river. We took the left turn into the river proper and all of a sudden we were in a different world. Rainforest along the river banks held in by substantial ironstone cliffs, many of which looked as though some giant had carved them and built them up from huge rectangular blocks. It wasn't long before the boat came to a quick halt and our captain pointed out an impressive freshwater crocodile. The animal was sunning itself along much of a dead tree lying partly in the river. It did get bored with the ooh's and aahs of us tourists however and quietly slid beneath the water. We saw several more later in the morning, but a lunch was planned for a little further up stream on a partly cleared bank well above water level. This turned into a gourmet picnic with something for everyone. Many of us spent some time here photographing the Kapok flowers which abound in this country. We also learned about the Kimberly Rose which seemed to grow in the most impossible rock clefts well out of reach of regular camera lenses, though I did get a passable shot further up the river where the cliffs closed in more.

This was after lunch and we passed through a section of river much wider and with mud banks frequented by all manner of  water birds. Egrets, snake necked darters, pelicans, " Jesus " birds which walked along on lily pads seeming to walk on water and many others. Most of which were not interested in posing for photographers. it was in this section that we met with some more croc's. 

One was pointed out to us, just submerged with just its eyes above the water. Almost impossible to see until with a massive swirl it leapt up and dived down to disappear completely. The other, in the same area was, like our first, basking. I think it was bigger than the first as well.

Already there are more pictures than I planned but what to leave out?

So, I've split this day into two posts and I do hope I haven't overdone it. Wouldn't it be wonderful to spend a week just doing this one area with your own vehicle, 4wd and boat. Even to do it again in the wet. 

Dream on - Cheers - Peter

Day 8 started cool but soon warmed up. We had a late start and a full breakfast. 9am saw us ready to go, heading for the WA border and the Victoria River crossing for an ice cream and comfort break. As with all good plans reality got in the way. We were just diverting to the Katherine river, low level crossing when I discovered I'd left my photo jacket at the at the resort. I let Jamie know and after a brief consultation with Colin the coach headed back. Fortunately it wasn't far to go and I recovered the garment and very sheepishly apologised to everyone as I returned to my seat. The crossing was quite pretty as you can see from the photo. During the wet season this is a raging torrent and you can see evidence of this quite high in the trees.

The trip to Victoria River was uneventful and we pulled into the roadhouse parking place and stretched our legs. I grabbed my camera bag and strolled down a narrow path hemmed in by tall reeds and grasses, stamping my feet for the benefit of anything nasty that might have been lurking. The path came out at the old low level bridge and provided an interesting perspective on the new high level bridge and the river which at this time of year was low and placid. The obligatory pics taken, I returned and wandered around the roadhouse area. The view across a paddock of cut and rolled hay and on to some rocky cliff outcrops made an almost pastoral scene in the bright sun and under blue skies. Snacks and Magnums consumed 

we headed of toward lunch at Timber Creek.

This was the last stop until we got into Kununurra and the luxurious Ivanhoe Caravan Village. Here we moved into our well equipped cabins. A hot shower a change of clothes and a cold tipple made the long drive from Katherine disappear. We were now into the Kimberley and looking forward to two and a half days of sightseeing around our fixed base. Tomorrow morning we embark for a cruise on Lake Kununurra. but we had more eating and socialising to finish of this day. Our large Dining tent had been assembled and Colin, the owner of this site was preparing wild caught Barramundi for dinner, Yum.

Tina has pointed out that I've dropped into present tense while writing, that's because I'm reliving it as I type. We are of course very much home in cold and wintery Fairhaven. But on with the story from Tennant Creek.  Wish it were otherwise!

An early 7am breakfast so we can be on the road at 8. Everyone is getting to know one another, with Tina the social leader of the Cotton contingent doing her part. Its to be a mainly travelling day, with a brief tea break at Renner Springs Roadhouse then on to lunch at Daly Waters. Daley Waters has a pub, an nice little park, lots of tourists and from our observations not a lot else but history. John McDouall Stuart named the place because of the natural springs in his explorations in 1862/2 and the Overland Telegraph reach it in 1872. Tina and I had quiet drink at the pub and a chat with some local characters. A nice lunch in the park and off we went again.

Our goal this time is Mataranka Thermal Springs in Elsey National Park which is roughly half way from Daly Waters and Katherine and we arrived well into the afternoon.  This is a chance for Tina to try out her new bathers which she put on under her clothes this morning. It was warm and the walk in wasn't far, so cautiously she lowered herself into the water and was soon wearing a smile. The water rushes into the pool from one end at 30.5 million litres per day and at a temperature of 34 degrees Celsius we're told. Very nice!

Now onto Katherine. We were to inspect the "We of the never never" Elsey Homestead, but time had got away from us. We arrived at the Knotts Landing Resort, with its very comfortable Cabins and facilities. We were very pleased to settle in for a hot shower and a change of clothes before sitting down to a welcome meal. Colin joined our table for the meal and and was very good company. In the morning we head out for Kununurra where the real fun starts, we are told.

This post took a bit of extra time as I bit the bullet and upgrade my system to the new Windows 10.  The automatic upgrade went smoothly but configuring it to my liking will take some time. So far, and it is early days, I'm very impressed. No doubt it will draw more comments as I progress with it.

All the best PeterC

The coach was large enough for 36 people including staff and turned out to be very comfortable. Towed behind the coach was a large support trailer which carried our cases. Once we were all on board, Jamie introduced himself and gave us some background on where he'd come from and why he was now our guide. He is from an original station family, and was involved with tourism as a buffer against the vagaries of the cattle industry. Quite fascinating and he commented further as we headed up the highway toward morning tea and comfort stops at Aileron Man roadhouse. 

Like Jamie, the owner of the cattle station had been looking for ways to encourage travellers to stop at the road house and had hired a sculptor to produce a huge aboriginal figure that was to stand behind the facilities. That the roadhouse was there in the first place was a tribute to the ups and downs of the cattle industry and the need for extra income. We met our first stationary roadtrains here. Cattle trucks and petrol tankers 3 compartments long. The cattle were being sprayed with I presume, water to ease their long travel and the increasing temperatures. Morning tea time over, we headed for Wauchope and the Devils Marbles Pub for lunch which was prepared by Jamie and Co.

The Devils Marbles Pub and Roadhouse, was a welcome site, clean and friendly and stopping off place for some more impressive road trains. Jamie advised us to make the most of the facilities as they would be the last before we got to Tennant Creek for the night.

Now to the Devils Marbles.  My perpetual complaint, not enough time, wrong time of day, light too harsh. Despite all that these rock formations are quite spectacular and I made some quite reasonable pics even if they are much the same as thousands of others.  

The main memories of the drive from here to the night stop over were of vast flat plains, small odly shaped termite mounds and black kites of the feathered variety. It was still light when we arrived at Tennant Creek. The Eldorado Motel room was clean and comfortable and we sorted ourselves out before heading to the entertaining area to chat with the other guests before heading into the dining room. Here, there was a sense of chaos, it seemed to me that they were not used to everyone turning up at the same time. Once that was settled we had a very nice meal and retired for an 7am breakfast the following morning.

That's the lot for this day. Tomorrows tale will be of the trip to Katherine. 

Cheers - Peter.

I digress, The Information centre managed to get us booked into a tour to the Desert Park which was due to start in a short time.  Though they couldn't find a tour to the West Macdonnell Ranges which we really wanted to see. No tours going out that way on the Monday apparently.  

So we skipped lunch and strolled over to the sandpit which is how I would describe the Todd River; took a couple of pics just to say we'd been there, by which time our bus was due.  Several buses came and went but we were getting nervous about 30 minutes later when ours turned up. The driver was a cheerful chap, and we soon forgave him his lateness even when he disappeared into the suburbs to pick up his last client. Desert Park turned out to be wonderful. It covers quite a large area and represents the various environments of the territory, including the animals and birds that alive in them. We wondered again about our ability to walk the various tracks, but they were mostly sealed and the highlights were sensibly spaced.

I was very impressed with the Nocturnal house which had very subdued lighting and live exhibits lit by coloured light chosen for being least visible to the various beasties, very well set up and with guides that were passionate about their charges. By the end of the afternoon we headed for the Raptor display where we were treated to the amazing sight of untethered birds being let out in the open air auditorium  to alight, in some cases, on the gloved hand of a National Parks lass who would feed them treats.

She only had to ignore them for a short time when they'd fly off and the next contender would appear. The only failure, just to prove the point perhaps was the Wedge Tailed Eagle who did a fly by then flew into the surrounding hills. Unfazed the presenter talked on and the eagle reappeared much closer, then off again. This was to happen several times and although she didn't come to hand we all got to see her quite well. Great display!  Back then to the cafe to catch up on lunch and then it was time to return to the coach which was waiting to drop us off at our various hotels.

Thinking that it was unusual, in a tourist town, for there to be no available tours to places that had been recommended by everyone we spoke too, we asked at reception once more and after a few phone calls got booked for the following day. Feeling pleased with ourselves, we headed for the bar and had a delicious counter dinner and retired for the night. Early in the morning the phone rang. "Sorry to ring you so early but you've been booked on a tour by mistake, it's not until tomorrow!"   Expletive deleted, we're on the way to Tennant Creek tomorrow!  Not happy, we gave ourselves the day off and watched movies on the TV.

In the morning we had breakfast at the bistro (pub again).  Tina saw a dingo briefly but it had vanished by the time I looked. It was bright and sunny with some light cloud when we joined the coach and headed for the canyon.  Arriving, we were given a short safety talk and divided into two groups. The younger, fit folk mostly headed for the ridge walk. Us mortal ones plumped for the river/creek walk which was a much less daunting route.  We were soon left well behind the rest as we started to notice birds and photo opportunities.  We chatted with another photographer, Maureen and her sister Pat in between taking pictures. It was only a short walk but we needed all the time allotted to make the images we wanted. All that time the cloud cover increased and when we returned to the coach the sun had vanished.

The rest of the day was taken up with the journey to Alice Springs with intermittent comfort and food breaks on the way. We stopped at Kings Creek Station roadhouse for lunch and noticed a young couple with a Hungarian Vizsla pup. We got chatting as dog people do and realised that the young lass was the waitress from the Uluru nibblies session at sunset on our 1st day. They told us that they had just had a day in Alice and were on the way home.  As the afternoon progressed storm clouds were gathering and before we got to Alice the skies opened and the coach that had sat on the NT speed limit of 110 KPH was forced to slow considerably.  We heard later that there had been hail and flash flooding in Alice Springs though there were only normally wet roads when we arrived at our motel at 7.06pm.  I was starting to worry about the long distances in a coach but felt much better for a nice meal and a cold beer in the restaurant.  The Ibis Hotel/Motel has seen better days but the staff were friendly and helpful; we were comfortable, what more could one ask? - Peter Cotton.

As the sun clipped the tree tops in front of the rock, Tina took over while I got some alternative shots with the LX7 at a much lower viewpoint. These proved to be the most successful as the Coach driver called us to board as he wanted to get on down to the base of the rock early. I cribbed as much extra time as I could, earning a second call and some dirty looks but still had to miss the rest of the show, damn it! This picture was the last one with the compact camera and well worth the effort.

All aboard, we headed for the base of Uluru and parked near the climbing point. I had no intention of attempting the climb out of respect for the local indigenous folks and my knees. As it turned out there was no choice to make. The climb was closed off due to high winds, freezing temperatures up on top and a major rescue going on as some clown had got himself lost and fallen into a crevasse. There were ambulances, police and rescue people on the road and a helicopter and people up top. Just another victim of bravado I suppose. I didn't hear the outcome of this emergency.  Looking at this picture, there's no way I'd climb. No steps, no railings or guide ropes, unless they're installed when the climb is open?  

After a short talk by our guide outlining the cultural significance and some traditional tales, we moved on to Mutitjulu Water Hole. I soon realised that any thought of taking part in the guided tour and taking pictures was a waste of time at this beautiful spot. I dropped back and made pictures, caught up then repeated the process. In this way mostly avoiding dawdling tourists and my fellow travellers. The result some very pleasing shots, several of which accompany this.  My own response to the base of the rock was one of awe. In the chasm that leads in to the waterhole the ancient presence is almost crushing. Unless you lean over backwards you hardly register the sky and the pictures I like the best don't include it at all. I've processed one or two but I'm sure to revisit them in the next few days and months. This is one subject that calls out for Black and white treatment. I'd be interested to hear what you think.

Same file different treatment.

The next stop was the cultural centre on the other side of the rock. We were asked not to take pictures for a large part of this journey because of the number of sacred places in the area. The cultural centre was very interesting and included some beautiful images created by various indigenous artists. Several of which were totally different to the mainstream I expected. Sadly the pricing was very much upmarket of this photographer. Winding up this part of the tour we transferred to another coach back at the hotel and left on the long drive to Kings Canyon.

That wraps up day 2. Day 3 follows soon. - PeterC.

We had left Bermagui on the Premier Coach on the 9th of june to begin our trip. The coach driver dropped us at the Kogarah spot where our friend was waiting and rushed off having put our luggage on the pavement. After exchanging pleasantries we looked round and realised that we were one case short. Frantic phone calls to Premier and a vain chase for the coach ended with a trip into Sydney Central Station arriving just ahead of the coach. Parked, probably illegally, by the coach office we were very relieved when it turned up and we recovered the case. Not the way we wanted to start the holiday of a lifetime.   

The next day I had to see the eye specialist to have my 6 monthly check up. Des was scheduled to front a photo exhibition at Willoughby so we went with him and spent a pleasant time viewing some stunning images at "Incinerator" gallery.  Then on to my eye specialist. The melanoma continues to retreat, this was what I wanted to hear.  The drive in both directions was a nightmare. How Sydneysiders put up with it I'll never know. All the promises from politicians! For 30 years we lived there and were told the same old lies every election season and still another 15 years and its even worse. Best I get off my hobby horse, it's only occasionally my problem now.  The good news, at least it set me up for the following day when we flew out of Sydney for Uluru. 

The flight was uneventful, Uluru airport was quite welcoming and our transport to our hotel was ready to go as soon as we boarded. They dropped us at the Desert Gardens Hotel and we found our room ready for us, our bags following soon after. One hour later we were back on a coach heading for Kata Tjuta or the Olgas as many would know them.  Walpa Gorge was a challenge for Tina and to a lesser extent myself. Masses of rocks big and small covered the pathway with only the occasional clear run. The size and colour of the rocks, the bizarre shapes and strange grasses I found fascinating and of course the photo opportunity was not to be missed. I paid the penalty of focussing on a picture and not my feet.  Saved the camera as I fell and got off lightly with a cut on the palm of my hand from a sharp rock, uncomfortable but healed in a day or so.

From Kata Tjuta we went on the the viewing platform at Uluru to witness the sunset and were plied with wine and nibblies during the wait. I found the light show rather underwhelming but took the obligatory pics and passed the time making pictures of a very tame butcher bird that was no doubt looking for a free meal.  Back in the Desert Gardens Hotel, a very nice steak and a glass of red finished the day nicely.

Thats for the next posting. - PeterC

SUNSET SKYLINE TO KATA TJUTA

Here in the Bermagui area we enjoy a wonderful local news publication called "The Triangle" we've read it since issue 1 and file every copy after reading. Its gone from strength to strength, run by enthusiastic volunteers. they have a web site,  http://thetriangle.org.au/and deserve your support.  The reason I'm spruiking for them is that I inadvertently failed to remove them from my blogs mailing list when asked to do so. So this is a mea Culpa, an apology. Sorry guys.

We've had some really strange weather of late accompanied sunsets to match.  These two occurred in the last fortnight  and I promise you I did not create these in photoshop. The first is straight out of the camera, a bit of tree cropped out and saved. The second is closer to the way I recalled but still extreme.

                                                 Another much more conventional shot came just to the south of the mountain. That will do for now. There are still hundreds of pictures to add to the gallery. Some new many I've rediscovered after years of neglect. Hope you enjoy them all. Peter Cotton

This last few days the weather has been bright and sunny, such a welcome relief from the previous couple of weeks. Not that we had any thing like the dramas that Sydney and Newcastle copped. Good friends the Watson's took last week for a Sydney/Blue mountains break and almost got washed away.

Meanwhile on the photography front the weather has made for some interesting pictures on the lake and the small birds have been quite co-operative as well. There's an ongoing fight between the magpies, currawongs and wattle birds over territory. There doesn't seem to be any winners in this fight, more of a stand-off. I've also noticed a pair of yellow faced Honey-eaters that I've not seen here before.  I haven't captured any pictures of them, but I'm hoping they may nest nearby.

They would show up regularly at Minto but I think the warming trend is moving many species further south. I see regular reports in the local papers of semi tropical fish being caught locally and since when did Sydney have cyclones. 

This young eastern spinebill decided that he's had enough of the motor drive clatter and it was time to leave.  It just goes to show that with this sort of subject it pays to keep your finger on the button just that little bit longer.

There is a new exhibition on at Artspace shop 7 upstairs at Bermagui Co-op building which opened very successfully last night.  It's on until the 27th May and is well worth a look. it's titled "Stories, a visual and literary feast". The gallery is open Wednesday to Monday from 10.30 to 3.30. Perhaps I'll see you there. Lastly the "Rust in the blood exhibition has now closed. I'm told by all concerned that it was a great success.  What next I Wonder?

That's all for today. More soon - Peter

Thinks I, if you are that relaxed I'll very casually wander outside and down onto the grass, this time with the 90mm macro. By now they'd decided to  have another feed.  I waited, and sure enough they came back together for another rest. One last frame to finish the set.  I'm glad I don't mow the lakeside strip as often as the  neighbors do.  The roos much prefer the slightly longer fresh grass. It's now 3.30pm and they've just got up and started to stroll off along the lakeside, munching as they go. Good timing, the cricket sounds interesting!

Peter.

The other thing it means is about $25 of ink being wasted as it flushed through to clear the blockage.  Not funny when I always use genuine inks.

Looking out over the lake the patterns of sun, shade and wind on the water.  I took a couple of shots when a Willy Wagtail flitted past. I also notice several other small birds flittering about. Looking around I realised they were chasing flying ants and had abandoned some of their usual caution where this photographer is concerned. Back inside I grabbed the 70-300 lens. Given the bright light I was reasonably confident that I could hand hold it. I left the ISO at 200, my default. As often happens the wagtail had moved on when I returned, but standing quietly in the shade I was entertained by the birds you see here. Striated Thornbill, Eastern Spinebill and Grey Fantail. 

Just as the Willy Wagtail returned my neighbor started up his brush cutter and the show was over. In a pause of the grass slashing I showed my friend the pictures.  He then trimmed the long grass which is always missed by my mower along the fenceline in compensation for scaring off my prey. 

Lovely Afternoon followed by down loading the pictures.

Enjoy - Peter

The Artist represented are Bill Shaw and his daughter Leslie, ably assisted by Leslie's husband Gary Monahan, a photographer friend of mine for many years. Bill works with metal and taught his daughter the mechanics of the processes involved. The artistic inspiration is innate in both artists and comes out, not just in Leslie's metal sculptures but in her Fine Art Photography which adorns the walls of the gallery.

I heartily recommend a visit to the Goldfields whilst this exhibition is on. As you can see from the pictures here and in my gallery of pictures of the day it was well attended and I noticed the treasurer being kept busy so you might want to take your cheque book with you.

Although we thought our timing for the parade was right it must have started a few minutes earlier; we hurried to find a spot that wasn't already 3 or 4 deep and managed just off the main road, Lamont Street. Our main interest in the floats was for our grand daughter who was leading the float for "Little Lambs", the child minding centre where she works. I didn't mention but the parades theme this year was Pirates.

Not wanting to lug my camera bag around with the DSLR, I'd taken the compact LX7. Now this is an amazing little high quality camera but like most compacts it doesn't have a proper viewfinder and with the bright sun I could not see a thing in the LCD. I had no choice but to set the lens to wide angle and point in the general direction.  All the pictures of the parade you see in the new Bermagui Seaside Fair folder in the picture galleries were shot this way and then savagely cropped to make sense of them. Great Optics!

The rest of the parade went by. Now I must tell you about the Sun Umbrellas. These were introduced last year and were such a success that there were even more this 20 I believe. The idea is that a group of artists are invited to decorate 3m umbrellas along whatever theme they felt was appropriate, and seek sponsors.  Given the history and nature of Bermagui this tends to be things associated with sea, gold, sunshine, sand and wild life. They are paraded by their sponsors or the artist, whoever claims the right.  At the end of the parade they are assembled on the showground and at about mid-day are auctioned.  The proceeds going to the local pre school this year.

The wind by the time their turn came had got up and some had great difficulty controlling them. All was well in the end and the auction went ahead and was a great success. Also part of the parade were lots of different cars, ancient and modern. tractors, a couple of makes caught my attention a wonderful Hot Rod with chromed engine and open bonnet, and a stunning Aston Martin.

There were many other parader's but you get the idea. When they'd all passed we followed to have a look at all the things on display. Unfortunately we had a date with the photo exhibition, held again in the surf club.  This is a wonderful addition to the village as it doubles as exhibition space as well. The improvement over our cramped quarters in the Community Technology Centre rooms or before that the low ceilinged downstairs meeting room at the Country Club is huge. More space bright white walls, sky lights plus concealed lighting - Great.

The visitors here flowed in and out almost continuously. We handed out voting slips for the peoples choice seniors and juniors picture and we had to keep emptying the waste paper basket that had been designated The Receptacle. Tina and I took over from David and Linette so they could have a lunch break but they returned quite quickly and were needed.  I sold my flyty pelican picture which was getting a lot of attention and subsequently on Sunday Mist over Gulaga and Wallaga Lake. That paid for the matting which is nice. What was even nicer was the news on Sunday that Pelican had won peoples choice. The whole show wrapped up by 2pm on Sunday and everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief for another successful show. Enough from me. Below are the Winner of the Brollies which I photographed at an earlier preview, and my winning Pelican picture. Thank you to everybody who liked them.    Peter Cotton 

This was quite fascinating.  With sheds full of old equipment pumps, motors, motorbikes, an array that would do the science museum proud. A separate shed had a collection of dolls and bric-a-brac from pioneering days. In the huge yard were early harvesters and similar gear. Well worth a day to visit, but we only had a couple of hours.

Returning to the boat we made our way up stream and were met at a landing by our coach which, after our evening meal, set out to find Hairy Nosed Wombats.

Hairy Nosed WombatAn evening excursion spotlighting After a drive of many Km's our driver used his spotlight and we saw some movement in the distance. A few K's further and a quick stop, we spotted this little fellow just inside the fence. This species is very rare indeed and the area behind the fence is set aside for their preservation. This one didn't seem to be overly concerned by all the attention. This was taken through the glass of the coach window so it won't win any prizes as a photo but it is a nice memento of an interesting evening and we ended up getting glimpses of five or six.  

The next day was spent cruising up the river to Blanchetown. We had a side trip at Swan Reach to an Almond farm which also bred Yabbies in their specialised dams. Didn't get to taste the yabbies but the freshly packed almonds were delicious. They provide a trip around the farm and a talk on the yabbies.

Much of this time on the river we were enclosed by very worn cliffs which turned out to be home & nesting sites for many birds, large and small.

16-11-25 740 This was the turnaround point for the cruise, we took a stroll to stretch our legs.In the background  on the left you can see the main road bridge and the weir.

After Blanchetown we pulled into a mooring for the night. Following breakfast the next day we set out again, stopping at Big Bend for a short eco walk to see some of the major trees and flowers. Many of the trees shown had been used by the indigenous peoples for making canoes.

The boat's runabout was launched and groups of people took a much closer look at the riverside and a nearby backwater where we were to see more birds and an albino kangaroo. Back at the mooring a large camp-fire was built, BBQ Prepared, and a sing-along started up with a few of the Probus singers who were on the trip. With full tummies we sat around the fire whilst our erstwhile bus/boat driver sang and entertained us on a guitar. The trip continued the next day with a visit to Ngaut Ngaut Indigenous community, Reedy Creek and the school at Mypolonga.

Till the next - Peter

It was warm and as I walked to the top of the ramp and on towards the short small path to the point I noticed several butterflies flittering about a small wattle bush. Curious, I moved closer and was met by a strange scene. The bush wasn't more than 80cm high and on the top twig was a group of what turned out to be chrysalids. There was a constant stream of ants running over and around these and the butterflies looked to be defending the chrysalids. I stood there for some time trying to work out what was happening and the same event kept repeating. The butterflies were patterned on the underside of the wings and black, blue and silver on the upper, though this took a while to spot because the moment they landed the wings closed.

After a while I finished my walk noticing a pair of Ringlet butterflies in a continuous mating dance in a patch of sunlight. No chance of capturing those with the camera and no certainty of them being there when I went to fetch it. But the others were still going through their routine, so home I went briskly to get my gear and let Tina know what I was up to. 

My Sony 560 DSLR and Macro 90 was all I needed and I drove round to save time. They were still there and as the light was a little soft I set the ISO to 800 knowing from experience that this would still allow good quality. One step at a time, shooting at every interval, I got within 3-400mm without any notice being taken by the butterflies.

Capturing images was a matter of setting high speed shutter and firing bursts of frames until the camera stopped responding. In this way I took some 400 images. Back home and images downloaded a first cull reduced them to just over 250. Then a second (cull) came down to 70 fair to good, and 4 I rated excellent. 

My always go to butterfly book "The Butterflies Of Australia" by Albert Orr & Roger Kitching soon explained what was happening. "J.evogoras has a fascinating mating behaviour. Just before emergence, the pupae of both sexes emit a pheromone which is powerfully attractive to males. Typically several males will respond to this signal. Within a group of pupae they are able to determine exactly which one will soon emerge, and cluster in a tight seething scrum, jostling for position. If the emerging adult is female she copulates almost immediately". From my observation there were at least 8 maybe 10 butterflies in this scrum. What's even more surprising is that the ants take part in the husbanding of the eggs and pupae right through to adulthood.

Its days like this that fire up the enthusiasm and stave off the periods of despondency that sometimes descend.

Do hope the pics give you the thrill they give me!  

Peter

I knew this would be a different experience and I wasn't disappointed. There were 5 overall categories, Colour with 11 sub groups, B&W with 7 sub groups, Series was for colour or B&W, Junior and under 12's each with 8 sub groups. Wow thinks I this is going to be fun. and in reality it was, of the best sort. While the volunteers finished off the set up, Tina and I had a sneak peek at some of the other exhibits on show, flowers, quilts, veggies  et al. We wandered outside and watched the first of the show jumping. By 9.30 I was back and well stuck in and finished just before 12 noon.

Take away messages? Perhaps some sort of feedback to the individuals who had gone to the trouble of submitting their work. Maybe a pre exhibition review early enough for the entrants to apply the lessons learned. I leave these thoughts to the enthusiastic volunteers who make the whole thing work. I've no pictures from the show but you might like this one of the road to Cobargo for inspiration.

Peter Cotton

Further on the book front, both Ebook and Hard Cover book are now available. Both have been re edited, a cause of great frustration but very necessary. The ebook is available from the Blurb store for 9.99 AUD by copying this link to your browser:                                                   

http://store-au.blurb.com/ebooks/p2db1e22cb6bde11313c5     or the hardcover traditional book for $135.00AU at: http://blur.by/1KS8QEE   

Sad to say I'm not expecting a stampede but that seems to be the cost of printing one off's. I would have added many more pages but I really had to stop because of the cost. However the ebook which is formated for Ipad and the soon to be available PDF for general use are a bargain.

I got a surprise call this afternoon from the organisers of the Cobargo Country Show. Their big day is tomorrow and the judge for the photographic section has pulled out leaving them in the lurch. Would I step in? I've judged before at club competitions but never anything as public as this. It will be fun I'm sure

Less so my muse which departed for much of the year, thought I did continue to make pictures, and Tina had here hip replacement 

Rock ShelfRock patterns and seashells await the next wave at La Perouse done successfully  and can  walk again without to much discomfort.  

Ah! and while this was going on my dear friends Des and Norma Crawley played hosts  so I could spend time with Tina before and after surgery and at other times Des took me to places I'd not seen before to make pictures, after much goading I started to think again about my flower book.

You know after all It really was a good year, the book is finished to the point of spell checking, thank you Heather, and fact checking, thank you Dane, Stuart and Jackie. By the end of the week It should be off to "Blurb" for printing and E-book creation. Now I wonder if anyone would be interested in a picture book featuring Wallaga Lake - Um...

There are some significant fires just south of our border with Victoria, in the Snowy River NP. They've been going in remote country for several weeks. The smoke from these fires is now impacting our area quite badly. The whole area is so dry and we've been very lucky not to have had any fires in our immediate area. As you can see from this pic these are not the sort of conditions to do any heavy work in.

My exhibition winds up on Wed/Thursday at the shop7Artspace at the Bermagui Co-op building. My first stint at looking after the place last Wednesday would have been rather lonely   had Tina not spent the day with me. Unlike the days before and after it was cold and there was a howling gale blowing around the building that kept all but the most intrepid visitors away. Friday my next day "on" was quite the reverse, bright sun, not over hot and many more folks dropping in. A few greetings cards, images from those on show sold and there was a lot of positive feedback. Good for the ego but doing little towards covering the cost of exhibiting.Tina is off to the doctor again tomorrow. She has been limping a lot recently and had hip ex-rays done last week. The doctor wants to see her to discuss the results which sounds a bit ominous. Fingers crossed!

Cheers - PeterC

In the last few days much of the lake and the mountain have been smothered in smoke from the fires in Victoria. Unlike the ones near Melbourne these are in mostly wilderness areas of the Snowy River National Park but they do have the potential to threaten the border town of Delegate and to get into the Kosciusko National Park. The NSW & VIC firies have set up a large base camp there as its a much safer way to get into the fire zone than from VIC. What would we do without the volunteer Firefighters.

Bermagui was taken over at the weekend by the annual dog show, at last they got beautiful weather. In recent years there had been rain for this 

​event.

Tina and I had a walk around the exhibits and the dogs waiting to be judged. Of course we sought out the German Shepherds. We lost our GS bitch Sheba last year and said we wouldn't have another one. six months later here we are planning to look after a four year old bread bitch who is having her last litter at the moment. 

Cheers - Peter

Its ages since I've done any labeling so I downloaded the free software from Avery.

http://www.averyproducts.com.au/avery/en_au/Templates-%26-Software/Software/Avery-Wizard-for-Microsoft-Office.htm

It was a huge improvement on the version I'd used some years ago and the V5 is downloaded not V4 as shown on the website so I guess its as up to date as could be.

Tina went of to Croquet yesterday afternoon and had only been gone when the phone rang. It was friends from Canada who migrate a year or two before we left for Oz in 1970. We'd lost touch and a mutual friend died last year so the link was broken. Wonderful what you can find on the web, they tracked me down and it was marvelous to catch up after so long.

Here's another side of the mother mountain's moods taken during a ferocious storm a week or so ago. With some prompting from a third party I've started a daily series of shots which will become a sequence of time lapses of the whole year, Summer and winter. I've pinched Tina's Canon G9 for this exercise leaving my Sony DSLR free for other matters.The heat's back again this week and so far today the wind hasn't got up to take the edge of it. I must have words with the weather man.

'Nuff for now.

Peter

This is one of the new images which will be there, along with a portfolio of others.

The seaside fair is coming up in March and this will include our photographic exhibition Friday 7th-Sunday 9th March which will again be held in the surf club. A great location inside and out. Bermagui has been its usual busy self over the holidays and the weather has mostly cooperated except for some seriously hot days and ferocious winds that at least took the edge of the heat compared with inland.

Cheers - Peter 

We sold our lovely home at #8 in an attempt to down size our lifestyle. We moved into  42 Fairhaven Point Way in July. Tina turned the corner in August and hasn't looked back. Her specialists described her as a mystery in sickness and still a mystery in returning health. She's put on about 11Kg and is enjoying life once more.

Our new home is lovely, small of course but that was the intention. Our original plan was to move into the village and leave some nice travelling money in the bank. As our No.1 requirement was for a home on one level and uncertain as we were of any time frame for Tina,s condition an en-suite was high on the list as well. We could have had our choice of many 2 story homes but almost none of what we wanted. So we bit the bullet and paid out a significant sum for this wonderful lakeside property still in Fairhaven. You'll get an idea from from this picture just how idyllic it is.

A view from our lakeside home.

So, as with last year Christmas was a non events though our daughter Tracey catered for her in-laws and our family but by early afternoon I gave my apologies and went home mentally exhausted.. I have been forcing myself to do some creative work but the spirits not in it at the moment. This image I completed a few days ago and I'm still not sure of it though friends have had nice things to say.

These tiny flowers are very tricky to photograph in any meaningful way, I resorted to digging one up and mounting it in front of a red vase that was handy and produced a pleasing contrast. Perhaps because the roots were still in place it didn't instantly wilt as usually happens and I was able to make a multi focus image which gave the sharpness of both flower and leaves.

Hope you like it!

Peter

Shall I continue to use ACDsee Pro 6? Yes for some situations. The shear power of Lightroom 4.2 will still ensure its No.1 but the convenience of ACDsee and its familiarity after all these years will keep me going back.

Still working away at the wildflowers although I'm close to deciding on the specific images for the Blurg Book. The Avan Cruiseliner will get a work out over the next week, I shall be traveling to Wangaratta with our Probus group to check out the wineries and the scenery. This is the first time this has been possible over more than a year. Here's a link to their information centre for those like me who are not familiar with this Victorian town  http://www.visitwangaratta.com.au/   Hopefully I'll return with some worthwhile images and not to many hangovers! - Peter C

Flowers continue to be the focus and a mint bush has produced some pleasing images.

I was tempted to have a look again at ACDsee Pro imaging software when I received an offer to upgrade to the new Pro V6. The clincher was that at last they have come out with a 64bi version for Win 7. I've used their software for over 11 years but stopped at V4 because it became very unstable and the company were unable to offer a solution. I switched to Lightroom 3 and the 4. Its been a huge and ongoing learning process and I really hope that I can run the new ACDsee 6 as well as it has some very useful characteristics but it crashed this morning and I do hope this is not a sign of things to come.

Everything that can flower is now trying to do so. The happy wanderers are everywhere and more intense in colour than I've seen them before.

Now that brother Dave has finished his new house, we are having a great spring clean and reorganisation of our home. Dave's bedroom is now the office and all the technology is at last together in one space. What used to be my drop bench for the enlarger is now the base for my table top work, mainly flowers. I picked this peace of Hardenbergia on my morning walk with Sheeba our German Shepherd. The background is a slab of rock from the beach nearby, I hope ou like it! - Peter Cotton

Cheers - PeterC

Sorry I've take so long to update my blog. 

I've seen the Surgeon and he's pleased with my progress. More than I was at the time but the eye is improving and this evening Tina and I celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary with a meal at the Bermagui Country Club. Delicious! Perhaps not as grand as our last, on the cruise ship between Cairns and Darwin but the trip home was much shorter. Tina was also celebrating a gain of 3 Kg since her operation, and has high hopes of adding some more to bring herself back to her old self!

Another flower image tonight from my "Little Beauty" collection. I'm applying my new Photoshop skills as I go along. Its almost time for the new seasons native flowers to start appearing. Perhaps I can fill in some of the gaps and improve some of the images from last year. This Wax Lip orchid was one of a group flowering along side the main Bermagui Rd and was quite a challenge with its long thin stem and the constant gusts of wind from the passing traffic. I've made a selection of the flower and stem and pasted it on a new background layer then added text describing the flower and using a linear light blend. A touch of Gaussian blur finished it off.

Those friends that have been following my brother Dave's progress in building his new home just down the hill from us, will be pleased to hear that he's been given his certificate of occupancy. The Concrete driveway is in place and he's about ready to move in . Congratulations Dave what an epic journey.

Good luck to all you Olympic tragics. I'm still resisting the hype.

Cheers - Peter

Son Warren picked me up on Sunday morning and made the long trip home in record time even with a delightful break for Fish & Chips (Excellent but over salted) at the Nowra fisherman's co-op.

A good night sleep was in order ans supplied by my own comfy bed Hooray

I'm off to Sydney on the coach tomorrow. Friend Des will pick me up from Kogarah for an overnight stay and on Tuesday I'm to be at the Sydney Eye hospital at 7am for treatment to my right eye. What I had thought to be some maccular degeneration turned out after much investigation to be an melanoma which had reached the centre of the eye. I'm to have a radioactive disk inserted behind the eye for 5-7 days and then another procedure to remove it. This I'm assured will stop the tumor and hopefully do minimal damage to the eye although there is no telling how little or much damage will be done we'll only know afterwards. The eye specialist is confident that we've got it soon enough that more serious complications will be avoided. Here's hoping.

I hope you like my little feathered friend. He, she, it performed for me yesterday afternoon and I was spell bound for nearly half an hour.

Wish me well - PeterC

learning curve in my photography. Photoshop CS5, Lightroom 4 and the main subjects just now, not to mention some serious re-appraisal of the way I approach my art/technique. Many of these activities involve using some of the many free, and sometimes not so free resources on the web. One that I can really recommend is this one and given my current wildflower project, the pdf/ebook is full of really good sound information. I shall probably buy the full Ebook but this free small sampling is worth downloading.

Last Monday I took her into Bega hospital for her Stomach operation at last. We had to be there at 8am and Warren - our son and I were told quite bluntly to go away which was probably the best advise on the day. For whatever reason the op didn't start till about 11 so when I called at 12 for an update I was told to ring at 3pm. The hospital staff in fact rang to say that Tina was in the recovery room and should be able to be seen in half an hour. Off I drove back to Bega, a 45 minute drive, she was still in recovery and smiling.

Tracey, our daughter joined me shortly after and at app 6pm we were allowed into high dependency where he smiling Tina greeted us with a faint voice and yes, a smile. The op was a success and the dreaded "bag" had been avoided!

Of course she was tired and sore, but at least the worst was over. She spent most of the following day in the HD unit and was moved to the surgical ward on Tuesday afternoon. Still having problems with keeping food down but showing signs of improvement, her surgeon is pleased with her. 

7 Days after and Tina's now home. Not ready for running out in the garden but considerably improved. Eating a little more, sleeping better and the best news of all is that the biopsy on the stricture came back as totally benign.

I must thank all our friends for there get well cards, flowers, phone calls and good wishes. I'll continue to post updates as needed.

Today's picture seems appropriate and is probably one of the last roses of the season.

Cheers Peter

The various support services were organised and she was told that if there were any sign of a relapse to come straight back in again. Meals were prepared by a lovely lady who shares her name with our daughter and come Monday meals on wheels kicks in and various expert advisers will call to suggest ways to improve the safety and convenience of things like bathrooms. All being well our home should be ready for the aftermath of the 14th of May and the all important operation that we all hope will solve the basic problem and see Tina on the way to a full recovery.

Meanwhile back at the photographic ranch' 
My Mark Galer CS5 book still hasn't arrived and if its not here by tomorrow lunchtime I'm up for a refund. Fishpond seem genuine enough but by their deeds shall you know them!

I took many images of River Red Gums during our trip before Xmas last year and I've started taking a close look at some of them. The IR style and split toning produced this result - any creative comments would be welcome. 

Till the next time - Cheers PeterC

Yesterday Tina's discovered that her dietitian has German Shepherds and so the order of the day was for pictures of Sheeba. I thought this one had the right degree of cute and sure enough it now has pride of place on her bedside table.

With the drive to Bega taking about 2 hours return there hasn't been much opportunity for photography. Though last Tuesday night I was invited to Narooma Camera Club to give a talk on macro photography. This was fun although I'm not sure how coherent I was. People were making supportive noises so I must have got something across.

I have been looking forward to getting the Photoshop CS5 book by Mark Galer. I placed the order from "Fishpond" on March 21. They advised a delivery of the 3rd to 10th March apparently its coming from the UK - now its the 14th and still no sign No threat there to Amazon!

I guess these notes in the blog are likely to be a bit intermittent until the health issues are resolved, so my apologies for this.

Peter C

Her friends have been fantastic in their help and emotional support and I thank every one of them. With this help I'm sure that she will come through. At least the hospital is taking her case seriously and are determined to get to the root of trouble.

Meanwhile I'm keeping myself busy with new or reworked pictures and the flower project is coming on well. In the garden our wet warm summer has got everything growing but none so fast as the weeds and grass. Work on clearing the debris left by the fallen trees a month or so ago is at last showing results and I hope that when Tina comes home it will look like home once again. Bermagui has a major concert program this Easter weekend with the Four Winds Festival and various arts programs right through the long weekend. Those of you who are here will really have a lot to enjoy. Cheers - PeterC  

Why is it that the weather forecasters almost always get it right when there is bad stuff happening? Right on 4pm the heavens opened and everything got wet and thunder rang out. Ah well I got the shots I wanted as you can see from the small sample here.

Meanwhile, we have a date at last for Tina's operation its still another 6 weeks away and the waiting is taking its toll on both of us. Tina's virtually stopped eating in the last few days, due to nausea and seems to me to be loosing weight again. We'll see Dr.Jenny Wray tomorrow and see if she can help in any way. I do hope so.

On a brighter note Easter is almost with us and there are many things happening in the area. Particularly the 4 Winds festival. Several new exhibitions, traditional arts and sculpture.

Computer Group meeting is on tomorrow morning at the BCC. 

Enjoy the week to come - Peter C

I don't usually get involved with promoting software products that I don't use, but this deal which showed up on the PC Authority daily newsletter was to good to pass over,. Xara's been around for years and I have tried trial versions in the passed but found it too expensive, but at this price who can complain - go get it!

http://giveaway.downloadcrew.com/offer/xara_xtreme/27260

I am also trying at the moment the Open Source program for publishing called Scribus (1.4 for Windows) and first impressions are like Wow!
Too many interesting things and too little time but its fun. 

Cheers - PeterC

The wall outside the Spa supermarket in the main street has been repaired in record time as has most of the pavement which had been undermined by all the water. Dickinson Oval which was under at least 300mm of water on Thursday had only small puddles remaining.

David, Malcolm and other volunteers were busy assembling the photographic exhibition in the community centre and I'm happy to report that the numbers and professional standard of work has improved once again over previous years. If you can make it to Bermagui tomorrow (Saterday 11th) you will be well rewarded. If the forecasters are to be believed this is the way the village will look tomorrow. Just add people.   Enjoy - PeterC                                                                                                                                                          

 0274-Chelsea and Mike Wedding

A major step in the Imaging software world today with the release of the latest version of Adobe's Lightroom V4. Good friend & photographer Malcolm has already upgraded, he's been using the Beta version for weeks and reports it's very worthwhile. The icing on the cake is is dramatically less expensive than earlier versions so If you're looking for a powerful editing program plus excellent image database now's the time to take the plunge. On a similar subject Photoshop CS 6 his rumored to be released this year and its been confirmed that the upgrade path will be from CS3,4 or 5 which prompted me to take the plunge and upgrade to CS5 from my aging CS2. I'm finding the transition a bit steep but already seeing some major advantages so I'll persevere. 
That's enough for today my eyes are tired and its time for some rest.

Cheers - PeterC

I did some more work on images this afternoon to go onto the Zenfolio site. This is one I've just uploaded which was taken several years ago out at Hill End, the old gold mining town between Mudgee & Bathurst to the west of Sydney on the far side of the Blue Mountains.

This old tree is just hanging in, on the edge of "The Gully" dug out by the gold miners many years ago. below is a conventional shot of the area:

This visit to Hill End came through the Bermagui Probus club winery tour of the Mudgee wineries. It would be very easy to spend more time photographing in this area under various weather conditions, though I imagine that the last week would have been a bit challenging if only getting access on the wet dirt roads.

You'll see a sepia rendition of the tree shot in the artwork folder.

Cheers - PeterC

Its been a good week for image management and surprisingly also for bird Photography.
Lots of honey eaters have been feeding off the native flowers in our garden, and this little fellow, a New Holland honey eater, has adopted this old tree stump as his lookout post. Other visitors that are usually very timid are the Top Knot Pigeons seen here; the soft light has enabled the brilliant colours to really shine.

Working in lightroom 3.6 and Photoshop CS5 and learning on the go (moved from CS2 and ACDsee Pro 4) this is one of the first images using this combo from start to finish. I've installed Jeffrey Friedl 's lightroom plug-in which works beautifully and also the Blurb lightroom plugin which is free:  http://www.blurb.com/apps/lightroom-plugin Jeffrey Friedl's on is donation ware which is as little or much as you choose to pay through Pay Pal. 

Now I'm back to work on some more images. Please feel free to comment on anything from this blog or my Zenfolio.

Cheers - PeterC