The frozen leaves also create interesting patterns and textures in the ice. And a bonus is that leaves in ice can be done in the comfort of your own home without having to brave the cold!

Supplies

Apart from your camera (and you could use a phone camera), you will need the following;

• a plastic container to fit your leaves
• water (tap, distilled or demineralised – all will give different effects)
• an assortment of leaves
• ice cubes.

Look for different shapes and colours of autumn leaves; you can even add some gum nuts or acorns. Both tap, distilled and demineralised water will work. However, demineralised water will be less cloudy than tap or distilled water. However, I have found that tap water also becomes clearer as the ice starts to melt.

Method

Freeze around 5cm (1 inch) of water in your container. When frozen, take the container from the freezer and arrange your leaves on top of the ice.

Next, place a couple of ice cubes on top of each leaf. This will keep them in place and stop them from floating when you add more water. Once you complete step 5, the ice cubes become almost invisible, but they add more detail to the ice block.

Note: With the flowers in 2020, I just added a couple of mm of water to anchor them, but the leaves are much lighter and float, hence the ice cubes hack.

Add a small amount of water to the container,  just a cm or so, to ‘glue’ the leaves into ice when it freezes. Return the container to the freezer

Final step – Take the frozen container from the freezer and top it up with water to cover the leaves by a cm or so. Return to freezer.

Photographing the ice block

Once your block of leaves in ice is frozen solid, it’s time to have some fun. If using a camera, you can use a standard lens or macro. The back (or bottom) of the block is the best side to photograph as the air bubbles start there; it’s also perfectly flat and smooth, and it’s closest to the leaves.

Flash really won’t work with the ice, though you can use soft boxes, paying careful attention to reflections or hot spots. However, I prefer natural light. You can set it up in front of a window with well-diffused light (or outside if you have a good, flat surface). If doing it inside against a window, you need one where the sun isn’t shining directly on the block. Take your block from the freezer, and leave it on the bench for 5-10 mins, allowing it to melt just enough to pop out cleanly or run some cool water over the back of the container, and it will pop straight out.

Setting up the shoot

If photographing inside, place a small table in front of the window, and if using a glass-top table, place a folded paper towel under the block. It will stop it from it sliding. Putting a bath towel or paper towel under the table to absorb the melting water is also a good idea. Stand the block upright on the paper towel so the block is backlit. You can also photograph the leaves in ice straight down with the block on a towel, but the colour of the towel will show through, so give some thought to that. I prefer it upright, so the light brings out all the bubbles and cracks in the ice. It also nicely highlights the leaf veins when backlit.

The weather was a balmy 30C the day I took my shots, so I stood the block on the veranda railing outside. It gave me good filtered light and no mess with the water dripping onto the garden bed below. I ran off some shots and left it for half an hour, shot some more and left it again.

Settings

F11 to F16 will give you the best depth of field

ISO 100-400

Shutter speed – watch the highlights, but if backlighting, overexpose by about 0.7 so your leaves aren’t in shadow.

You will need a longer shutter speed depending on the light in the room, so place your camera on a tripod. However, it’s more important to have a good depth of field than a faster shutter. So stay between F11 and F16 and adjust the shutter speed accordingly. For all images above, I used aperture priority.

Once you have taken enough shots with the solid ice, allow it to melt naturally or speed things up with a hairdryer. You will get different images as it melts and partially exposes the leaves. The detail also comes out in the leaves more as it melts and becomes thinner.

Editing your shots

I edit in Photoshop, but Lightroom’s slider settings are the same. Bring the highlights down to -100, Shadows +25, Texture +30, Clarity +25, Dehaze +16 and Vibrance +50. In Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), you can synchronise the settings across all the images to save having to edit one by one.

Syncing in Lightroom

• Make the changes to your first image either using your favourite preset or the slider suggestions above.
• While the first image is highlighted, click and highlight the other images you want to edit by holding down the SHIFT key (CMD on a Mac) and then clicking on the last image you want to edit.
• Click the Sync button, which is found on the lower right-hand side of the screen at the bottom of the Develop Panels.
• A synchronise settings menu will pop up. Just click Synchronise
• The same settings will be applied to all images.

Syncing in Photoshop ACR

• Adjust the sliders using the settings above or your preferred preset/settings
• Right-click on the image in the filmstrip and click ‘copy edit settings.’
• with the first image still highlighted right, click on the last image in the filmstrip and select “paste edit settings”
• Next, click Open (or open as Object if you prefer to work with smart objects)
• from here, you can edit with your regular workflow

Frozen leaves are a beautiful and fascinating natural phenomenon that occurs naturally during the winter months in colder climates. However, they can still be photographed in warmer climates using the above method. While they may seem simple at first glance, frozen leaves are complex structures with intricate patterns and colours. Whether you’re a nature enthusiast, a photographer, or just someone who enjoys the beauty of winter, frozen leaves are definitely worth exploring and admiring.

The post Unleash the Magic: Tips for Capturing Photos of Leaves in Ice appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.

Walpurgis Night is April 30th each year, the night before the pagan festival of Beltane. In Germany, Medieval and Renaissance tradition held that during Walpurgis Night (Walpurgisnacht), witches celebrated their sabbath and evil powers were at their strongest. On this night, the witches meet on Brocken, the highest peak of the Harz Mountains in central Germany. Villagers would light fires on the hillsides to protect themselves and their stock. In Bavaria, it is sometimes called Hexennacht, literally meaning “Witches Night”.

The Shoot

Our concept for our Myth and Magic shoot was thus; Morticia Addams had invited several friends to dinner to celebrate the witches sabbath. Her guests are three witches, a vampire family, the Grim Reaper, and Morticia’s serving girl Dorothy. This was the largest cast I had put together since our Addams Family shoot.

Morticia

Morticia is a witch, and her family tree can be traced back to Salem, Massachusetts. She is the matriarch of the mysterious and decidedly odd Addams family. Slim, with ashen skin and long flowing straight black hair, Morticia commonly wears black hobble dresses. These match her hair, with tightly form-fitting, with a fringe of octopus-like cloth “tentacles” at the lower hem. As is her tradition, on Walpurgis Eve, she is at her ancestral holiday home high in the Bavarian hills. Seeing that dinner is planned, Morticia has invited her dearest friends to meet with her over a few fresh “wines” to celebrate the Hexennacht.

Morgan Le Fey

Morgana is fresh from meddling in King Arthurs business. She is the possessor of the Philosopher’s Stone that grants eternal life. Morgana is also the oldest and most experienced witch to grace Morticia’s table.

Marie Catherine Laveau

Known as the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie is a voodoo practitioner. A beautiful and wise woman, she holds the rank of the Supreme witch.

Sybil Leek

Sybil was taught witchcraft as a child by Alastair Crowley. One of the most famous witches in modern history, she has written many well-known books such as Diary of a Witch, Sybil Leek’s Book of Herbs, and Star Speak: Your Body Language from the Stars.

Marius De Romanus

Marius is a 2000-year-old Vampire. He was born in Rome in 30BC. Abducted by Druids when he was approximately 40 yrs old, he was made into a vampire by the God of the Grove just before the Feast of Samhain. In 1482 during a visit to Rome, he fell in love with the Venetian courtesan Bianca Solderini, subsequently making her a vampire.

Bianca Solderini

Bianca is an Italian vampire born in Florence, Italy, in the late 1470s. A Venetian courtesan, she is the partner of Marius, her maker.

Grim Reaper

The Grim Reaper is the Lord of Death. He carries a scythe that was traditionally used to harvest crops. However, in his case, he uses it to harvest souls. His signature and most mysterious skill is separating souls from the body. Most stories claim that this spectre’s mere presence will begin to draw the soul from the body. Then, when you take your last breath, he collects your soul with a well-practiced cut of his razor-sharp blade.

Harry the ‘ghoul’

Harry, who can only remember his first name, has been taken in by Bianca and Marius after finding him in Hogwarts’ ruins.

Dorothy the Possessed

Oz wasn’t quite like it’s been portrayed in books, and Dorothy has a devil of a time getting home. Morticia has provided her with a haven while she ‘recovers’.

Our Set

Our backdrops were four large polyester velvet backdrops. We set up two creating a corner of the interior – with our table in front, another two off to the side depicting the house’s exterior – and the forest they walked through to get there. The table was set with candles, potions, a spellbook and various drinks.

The post Walpurgis – Myth and Magic appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.

Our Shoot

Last week, the admin team from Victorian Photographers Collective’s joined four cosplayers at Melbourne’s Docklands precinct for a photoshoot. Our cosplay characters were Batman, Nightwing, Orphan and Red Hood.

Batman

Easily one of the most recognisable of the fictional superheroes is Batman. Scarred by the murder of his parents when he was just a boy, he wages endless war on criminals of his city. Batman is Vengeance, the Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader. He has assembled a team of fellow superheroes known as the Justice League and has a huge arsenal of weapons and technology at his disposal. By day he is wealthy playboy Bruce Wayne. By night he dons his cape and cowl and patrols the streets and rooftops of his city

Nightwing

Dick Grayson was taken in and adopted by Batman when his circus acrobat family were murdered. Bruce shared the secret of his alter ego with Dick, training the young boy to be his sidekick Robin. However, as Dick became older, he tired of playing second string to Batman. He struck out on his own as Nightwing while remaining within the Justice League, and true to what Batman taught him.

Red Hood

Adopted by Batman as a child and moulded to be the second Robin, Jason Todd was killed by the Joker. However, he was brought back to life via the Lazarus pit and the warping of time and reality. However, deeply traumatised by his violent death, he returned an unhinged vigilante killer bent on revenge. Jason and Batman fell out over their vastly different views on crime-fighting. This led Jason to part ways with Batman and take on the new identity of Red Hood. He then went on to form his own team known as the Outlaws. Over time the Red Hood learned to control his rage, and he and Batman entered into an uneasy alliance.

Orphan

Cassandra Cain’s alter ego Orphan, was trained from birth by her assassin parents to be the ultimate killing machine. As she grew older, she escaped from her tyrannical father to Gotham city. Here, after proving herself to the Justice League, Batman took her under his wing. With Batman and she was taught to use her skills for good.

The post CosPlay – A Night In The City appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.

The Story

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland tell the story of a young girl who falls asleep in a meadow and dreams she saw and followed a white rabbit down a rabbit hole. During her time in wonderland, she has amazing and bizarre adventures, meeting many strange characters such as the Cheshire cat, blue caterpillar, the knave of hearts, Red Queen, White Queen, and of course, the tea party with the Mad Hatter.

The books have inspired countless films, performances, and ballets over the years and remain popular to this day.

Our concept shoot

We gathered our cast together for our concept shoot of a mad hatters tea party. Alice, plus the Red and White Queens, Mad Hatter, and White Rabbit, all participated. We took a little from the original story, melded it with Tim Burton’s version from the Disney film, and centred it around the tea party. I sourced the backdrops and costumes for our cast, and members contributed props and chairs to complete our scenes.

Alice

“I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it.”

~Alice

Alice, a fictional character living in Victorian England, gives her age as seven and a half in the sequel, Through The Looking Glass. She is believed to be based on Alice Liddell, the daughter of the author’s friends.

Alice is a young girl with shoulder-length blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes and wears a blue Victorian dress. Alice can memorise things quickly and recites poems and rhymes with ease.

The Mad Hatter

“I am under no obligation to make sense to you.”

~The Mad Hatter

While the books never referred to the Hatter as the ‘mad hatter’ because he was portrayed as ‘mad’, the title stuck. The mad hatter is stuck in a never-ending tea party as he angered the red queen and was sentenced to death for ‘murdering time’. While he escaped that fate, he is forever halted at 6.00 pm forever.

The White Rabbit

“Oh, my fur and whiskers! I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!”

The White Rabbit

Famous for his quote, “I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date!” the white rabbit is the first character Alice encounters in Wonderland.

The Red Queen

“I dont know what your mean by your way, all the ways about here belong to me..”

~The Red Queen

Our Red Queen is closer to Tim Burton’s version, where she is a combination of the Red Queen and Queen of Hearts. She is arrogant, bad-tempered, demanding, and fond of calling for people’s heads to be cut off when they displease her.

The White Queen

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

~The White Queen

Like the Red Queen, the White Queen is based upon a chess piece. The White Queen is the rightful ruler but has been usurped by her sister, the Red Queen, who has claimed the throne as her own.

Around 20 members of the Victorian Photographers Collective attended our shoot – plus helpers and cast throughout the day. Everyone had a fabulous time and their photographs coming out of the shoot looked great.

Our Cast

• Amelia – Alice
• Anjel Taylor – Mad Hatter
• Emily Reinhard – Red Queen
• Jess Garrett – White Queen
• Mark Busuttil – White Rabbit

Props

• Backdrops – Bevlea Ross
• Cakes – Carole Perry
• Chairs – Therese Kidd and Mark Busuttil
• China – Bevlea Ross, Kellye Wilson, Susan Martin, Glenda Laing

The post Alice and a Mad Hatters Tea Party appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.

Flappers of the 1920s were young women known for their energetic freedom, embracing a lifestyle viewed by many at the time as outrageous, immoral or downright dangerous. Now considered the first generation of independent American women, flappers pushed barriers in economic, political, and sexual freedom for women.

1920S history

Our Cast

Our four flappers were Jess Garrett, Emily Reinhard, Lisa Willmore, Anjel Taylor, and one gangster – Boris Struk. We also lucked out with Bob, the Conductor who took charge of our vintage tram. He proved to be an absolute hoot in front of the camera. To say there was a lot of laughter and shenanigans is an understatement. It was a fabulous, fun shoot – and after months of lockdown, it was just what we all needed.

Ballarat Tramway Museum

We booked a tram for the day through the Ballarat Tramway Museum. Our tram was a lovingly restored W2 class tram that first went into service in 1926 before being withdrawn from service in 1982. It was then purchased by the Melbourne Tramcar Preservation Society, where it was restored to prime condition. The tram is currently on loan from them to Ballarat Tramway Museum.

We shot around and on the vintage tram for a couple of hours before they took us for a ride through the streets of Ballarat, in “our” tram to another outdoor location. Sam and Bob from the museum were fabulous and went out of their way to make our day a success.

The 1920s also brought about Prohibition, the result of the 18th Amendment ending legal alcohol sales. Combined with an explosion of popularity for jazz music and jazz clubs, the stage was set for speakeasies, which offered illegally produced and distributed alcohol.

1920 History

Many thanks to our fabulous models and the Ballarat Tramway Museum for a fabulous day.

Entry to the museum is free. The Ballarat Vintage Tramway is located in the Botanical Gardens on the western shore of Lake Wendouree.

The post 5 Models and a Stunning Vintage Tram appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.

Mermen

The male equivalent of a mermaid is a merman. Although sightings of mermen were less common than mermaids, there is still a lot of traditions and folklore about them.

Our Cast

Fortunately, for our mermaid shoot, our three mermaids and one merman weren’t dangerous. But like an actual mermaid, they did all have great difficulty walking over the sand with their tails on 😉

Our cast for the shoot were Jess Garrett, Jess Carolyn, Emily Reinhard and Michael Nguyen. All were great sports perching on hard, sharp rocks or flapping about in the water.

Jess Carolyn was our pregnant mermaid with a baby mermaid due in the next few weeks.

The day was warm, so they were all more than happy to hop into the water for us this time.

The post Mermaids – Fabled Creatures of the Deep appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.

Straight from the camera?

I also realise that some of you are throwing up your hands in horror and reminding me that this is totally unacceptable when entering competitions. However, I don’t enter competitions, and should I enter one, I wouldn’t use an image that has been heavily manipulated. Apart from that, I love manipulating an Image. Painters don’t necessarily paint what they see. They take artistic license – and people accept that as normal. With photographers, though, there is a large school of thought that the image should be as it was photographed, without adding or removing elements. So I tend to regard myself as someone who paints with a camera. I guess I could call myself a creative or ‘fine art photographer’ as it seems that you can change elements in fine art.

This school of thought seems to apply almost exclusively to landscape photography, and to a lesser degree, portraits. For an image that is obviously a composite or more in the digital manipulation section, adding or removing elements is not only acceptable but part of the process.

Changing a sky

Back in January, back when the world was still chugging along, oblivious to the oncoming pandemic and associated lockdowns, I enjoyed a quick overnight trip down to Portland where we stayed at the Cape Nelson Lighthouse. Coming back, we stopped off at a lavender farm. The sky was a bland white; the lavender wasn’t a lovely purple without sunshine. Had we been there in perfect conditions – I could have gotten the shot I wanted. However, at home, with Photoshop and Luminar, I edited and created the image that I could have gotten had the conditions been right… as a painter could without criticism.

Making the image doesn’t mean every image I take is manipulated, but I am not against having it in my bag of tricks. I also believe that if an image does have a swapped in the sky, it’s a bit dishonest to pretend it’s not. But, at the end of the day, my images are for me. I don’t sell them (no one wants them, LOL). I don’t enter competitions. They are just for my enjoyment, so I am not cheating or fooling anyone.

With the new Luminar Ai due out before the end of the year, this topic will not go away. Full disclosure, I have already pre-ordered my copy. What are your thoughts? Do you take or make an image?

The post Manipulating an Image- is it acceptable? appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.

Long Arm Of The Law

Officer Peter Pickle and Officer Randal Relish looked at each other in confusion.  Officer Relish then asked, “do you have anything on you to show you are a Queensland resident?” Tom said, “would a letter from an elder in my mob do?” reaching into the back of his pants, Tom produced a warm, crumpled, beer, and wine-soaked letter with ketchup stains splashed over it that Beryl had knocked up in her kitchen for him. He leaned over and made to hand it through to the window towards them. Both officers looked horrified at what Tom was handing them. He brusquely said, “on your way,” as they quickly zapped the windows up and drove off in a cloud of dust.

Grinning broadly, Tom waited till they vanished in the distance and then rode into St George. While there, he sold his bike at Cash Converters before heading to the backpacker hostel on foot. Once at the hotel, he put his name on the board for a lift to Roma before joining a group of Swedish tourists in the garden.

Charters Towers

Tom picked up a lift with two french girls heading to Charters Towers and rode with them as far as Roma.  In Roma, he started to make his way to the self-storage unit that held the last items he had bought.  He passed a vintage car display and stopped to look, several times getting in the way of the photographers.  He knew this because they kept asking him to move out of their shot. 

Walking around looking at the cars, he noticed a blue police phone box in the distance and had a chuckle to himself, thinking Queenslanders really are backward if the police still use those old blue phone boxes.

Travels with the Doctor

Tom wandered around the car festival and walked past the blue phone box – just as an odd-looking chap with bushy eyebrows popped out the door. Introducing himself as John Smith, he began chatting to Tom and invited him inside. After a brief explanation, and once Tom got over it was bigger on the inside, John, who called himself The Doctor, offered him a chance to travel with him. Always up for an adventure, Tom jumped at the chance. They left Roma on Sept 28th, 2020, at 4 pm. Tom and John travelled together for two years, with Tom having many more amazing adventures before dropping him back in Roma at 4.04 pm on Sept 28th, 2025. By now, COVID had all but disappeared save for the odd outbreak among the conspiracy theorists who refused to be vaccinated.

Tom picked up his car and caravan from the self-storage (Bill, who had access to Toms bank, had kept the account up the date while he was travelling with John) and headed off up the road towards Airlie Beach, whereby now, Bill and Beryl had retired. At Airlie Beach, Tom and Bill bought a bar and backpacker hostel. Tom became a popular figure around town, entertaining all with his ‘tall tales of his amazing adventures. Sitting on his porch one day, he mused, “maybe I should write a book. I’ll call it Toms Amazing Adventures”.

The End

The post Toms Amazing Adventures – Pt. 4 appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.

Trying for Queensland

Tom was not happy. He had placed one extra order. One that he had forgotten to mention to Bill after he had set off from Victoria. The problem was, however, that and it hadn’t arrived. It was absolutely essential to his border crossing into Qld. This meant the crossing would be delayed until it came. Damn Australia Post! Tom had ordered in plenty of time. He estimated it had been sitting at the Sydney sorting centre for the last nine days without moving. Beryl had put in an inquiry about it three days ago -but there had been no response to that either. 

While it was lovely staying with Beryl and Bill, he was getting nervous about being in the one spot for so long. Additionally, each day increased the risk to Bill and Beryl. To take his mind off it, Bill suggested they train and go for a bike ride. Saturday morning Bill and Tom were up early. Bill had the family over later that day for a BBQ, and Beryl insisted the lawn be mowed first. Tom tried to help, but he was still sulking about his Australia Post delivery not arriving yet. 

While Bill and his family were outside for the BBQ, Tom stayed in his room to not be seen and rang ahead to Roma to make sure that everything was for his arrival there. Thankfully Bert assured him everything was fine – and the delay was not a problem.

A weekend waiting

Bill and Beryl were late up on Sunday, and both were a bit under the weather. “Too much sun yesterday”, Bill insisted. Tom had his doubts as he had noticed Bill put up shade umbrella’s in the afternoon. The three of them had a long discussion over lunch that day. Tom was sure there was no hope of the parcel arriving tomorrow, as the tracking hadn’t moved in ten days. In fact, he was now sure Australia Post had lost his package but felt it was best to push on and head for the border. Bill and Beryl suggested he wait one more day and cross on Tuesday night. The parcel may come Monday or Tuesday – but Tuesday would probably be quieter at the border than Monday. Tom thought about it and agreed. 

Lightning Ridge

The next was Monday, and Bill and Beryl both had to work. Bill went off to the apple orchard, and Beryl was caddying for Tiny Woods, who was in town for an exhibition match.

That afternoon, they all went to the Lightning Ridge water park. It was quiet, and they had the place almost to themselves as a Monday.

Paranoia sets in

During the day, the internet was down while the NBN crew worked on the pit. Bill was concerned it could be an undercover border patrol crew and kept an eye on them, but a few hours later, the crew packed up and left, and the internet came on. False alarm.

The Night Crossing

That night –  Bill woke Tom at 2 am and said it was time to go. So they drove up the backroads towards the border, and Bill pulled over the side of the road when they turn came up on the right. They sat there in the dark for a few minutes, allowing their eyes to adjust to the total darkness and ensure no other cars were passing to see them.

Positive they were alone, Tom reached into the back seat and pulled out two sets of night vision goggles. The Wolfcub Explorer 3M Thermal Monocular would work in total darkness and allow Bill to drive with no headlights up the narrow dirt road towards the border. They both put them on, pulled out, and turned up Angledool Road and took another dirt road to the end.

Alone

From here on, Tom was on his own. The darkness was absolute. With the fuse removed from the interior lights, not even that glowed weakly as Tom got out of the car into the scrub and removed the mountain bike from the bike rack. As Tom road off, using the night vision goggles to see, Bill turned the car around and drove back the way they had come.

It was just after 3 am and Tom had about three hours of darkness to get across the border.

Tom rode through the night without stopping. He drank from the water bladder in his backpack as he rode when thirsty. The night vision goggles revealed nothing apart from the odd startled kangaroo in the dense bush as he rode past them. Staying off the road in the scrub, he was almost to Dirranbandi by dawn. He had bypassed Hebel as he thought police might be patrolling there, being as it was the first from the border once in Qld.

Next Morning

Skirting around the outskirts of Dirranbandi, he joined up with a remote dirt road that would take him to St George. By now, the sun was coming up, so he rode down to the dried-up river bed, where he sat under a red gum and ate the sandwiches from his backpack that Beryl had made him the night before. Finished with his breakfast, he hopped back on his bike and started cycling towards St George. In the bike’s rearview mirror, he saw a cloud of dust approaching, and from the dust emerged a police patrol car.

The post Tom’s Amazing Adventures Pt. 3 appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.

Tom’s Amazing Adventures continued the next day. After walking all morning, Tom had picked up a ride to Dubbo with a lovely old lady in a Vauxhall. She regaled him with stories of her childhood during the Great Depression of the ’30s and the hardship of the ’40s with WW2. It particularly offended her that people were protesting their current “hardship” with the lockdown. “pfft”, she said. “They have no idea what hardship is. Have any of them ever had bread and dripping sandwiches or eaten Tripe?”

Dubbo

More than a bit shamefaced with her words, Tom remained silent. After being dropped off in Dubbo, Tom decided to take a couple of days rest from the road and picked up some casual work repairing burst pipes. So it seems with all the excess eating of desserts. The cream was building up and causing the old pipes to crack.

Tom had been in Dubbo for three days. With work on the pipes done, he spent a day relaxing. He had been sleeping rough under the bridge alongside the Macquarie River in Biddybungie Reserve. Wandering alongside the river, and through the town’s parks, he indulged his hobby of birdwatching.

 This was also a good cover for keeping an eye out for checkpoints and police roadblocks. Next, Tom stopped off at the local Salvation Army Op shop. Taking a leaf out of his hero Jack Reacher’s life on the road, he purchased a change of clothes. He then discarded his old clothes in a bin. He would simply wear them until he needed to replace them. He then sneaked into the NRMA Dubbo holiday park for a shower. He planned to head up the Newell Highway the next day, hoping to get a lift as far as Walgett.

On the road to Walgett

Tom set out as the sun was coming up and started walking along the edge of the highway, thumb out. After about half an hour, he was picked up by a cattle truck heading north. Grateful that the wind was blowing south, Tom accepted the ride. He chatted with Bluey, the driver, all the way to Walgett. Walking into town, Tom found a café and ordered a coffee.

Chatting to a local, he found out that Walgett had artesian bore baths, naturally heated to a temperature of 41.5°. Even better, the baths were free.   Having been on the road now for almost two weeks, a good soak sounded perfect.

Tom’s goal of getting to Walgett was based on it being a quiet little town but a stop on the Great Inland Way. This was a tourist route that travelled 2,956 kilometres from Sydney to Cairns, through inland NSW. He surmised that he would have no trouble picking up a lift from travelling tourists. And camping in the national parks along the way would be easy. The border to Qld was also only an hour and a half away by car, though he planned to cross by foot. Again under the cover of darkness in a day or so. In the meantime, he would camp at the free campsite in Walgett to rest up and be ready for the night crossing.

The giant Cos tree

After a comfortable night, Tom made himself a billy tea – and decided to go for a hike through Cos Valley. He had heard other campers talking about the valley in glowing terms. It had plenty of birdlife and the tallest Cos tree in Australia. So after a breakfast of sausages in bread, cooked on his campfire (god, he missed Bunnings), he packed his backpack with a few supplies and set off.

He hiked through Cos Valley and ate his lunch under the shade of the Cos tree. Tom enjoyed the solitude before he headed back to Walgett via an ancient Celery Forest, Where much to his surprise, he encountered Bill and the scout troop Bill, behaving as he didn’t know Tom, gave him a brief nod and said ‘afternoon sir, enjoying your walk?” and kept going.

Rendevous

Back at camp, Tom put the billy on and sat down. Then, realising it was Bill who had been watching his last night, he sat and waited. It wasn’t long before Bill ambled over. They greeted each other warmly, and Bill said to Tom, “you made good time then” “Yes, said Tom, I had some luck on the trip with picking up rides, But I didn’t expect to see you till I got to Lightning Ridge”.

“My dear old mum always said you were lucky bloke,” said Bill, “she said you would always land on your feet. But, mind you, I don’t see how that’s good. If I landed on my feet, I’d snap both ankles” They hung by the campfire and talked quietly. Bill explained with the good weather; he thought he had time to get an overnight trip in with the scouts before Tom arrived.

“Everything on your list is ready at the house,” Bill said. “Beryl was a bit annoyed at the start, but she’s come around and is looking forward to seeing you,” They said their goodbyes for now, and Bill headed back to the scouts’ Tom settled down for the night as he had an early start in the morning.

Lightning Ridge

The camp was still quiet. With most still sleeping in their tents, Tom packed up and left in the morning. He wandered through the sleeping town and hit the Castlereagh Highway just after 7 am. Walking along with his thumb out, he got his first lift from a truck as it pulled out of the Walgett Wheat Siding. He rode with the driver as far as the Gwydir Highway junction. From there, he was on foot again until he was picked up by a fossicker who took him all the way to Lightning Ridge.

Beryl had been thinking about Tom. Was he having a fantastic Adventure? However, she had to work that afternoon, so no time to think about Tom Beryl was a caddy at the Lightning Ridge Golf Club Tom and Bill decided to go with her and have a drink at the clubhouse while she worked then they would all stay for dinner “Not looking or smelling like that”, said Beryl “You,” she said, pointing at Tom, “are going to take a long, hot shower, WITH soap AND shampoo, and throw those clothes out the door into the hall You will find clean clothes and shoes in your room, because Bill, you are going to burn what’s he’s wearing They aren’t going in my washing machine, and aren’t fit for the oppy”. 

The post Tom’s Amazing Adventures Pt. 2 appeared first on Bevlea Ross Photography.