Tag:mountains
It was our last full day in Queensland before heading home the next day, and we decided to drive down to Byron Bay, see the lighthouse, and visit the Crystal Castle. Set in the hinterlands above Byron Bay, Crystal Castle and Shambhala Gardens and rainforest with massive crystals brought across South America.
Byron Bay
We woke to beautiful sunshine. At around 5 am again. I had breakfast on the balcony and read for a while before heading off towards Byron Bay at around 8.00 am. It’s only 90 mins from the Gold Coast, and we were there by about 9.30 am. Arriving in Byron Bay, I couldn’t get over how busy it was. There were people out and about and heavy traffic everywhere. Don’t people sleep in Queensland? Heading up to the lighthouse, people out walking, pushing prams, jogging, I have never seen such activity at a lighthouse. It was like it was the central meeting point for everyone in Byron Bay. And it was only 9.30 am!
Byron Bay Lighthouse
The lighthouse has around three car parks, each higher and closer to the lighthouse than the last. We drove up to the top one the parking attendant!? directed us to an empty spot. So we got out, donned hats, grabbed cameras and joined the throng to walk up to the lighthouse. The lighthouse itself is a beautiful little castle-like building at the base with battlements overlooking turquoise and blue sea. We wandered around and down the other side to get shots from the lower vantage point.
Crystal Castle
We stopped for morning tea from the lighthouse, then headed up into the hinterlands. Just 20 mins from Byron Bay is the Crystal Castle and Shambhala Gardens. Entry is $25 and totally worth it. A memorial gate to Tori Johnson is inside the gates, donated by his family. Tori was tragically killed in the Lindt Cafe Siege in 2015.
I would have liked more time here to take in some of the daily events… we missed the music of the plants as by the time we had walked around the gardens, it was quite warm, and we wanted a chair and cold drink 🙂
The Stupa
The gardens are quite large, and to be done properly, and you really need a full day here. We stopped at the Peace Stupa and availed ourselves of the umbrellas dotted around for protection from the rain or sun while we enjoyed the music emanating from the Stupa.
with our walk around finished. We enjoyed a delicious lunch in the cafe before enjoying some retail therapy in the crystal shop. From there, it was back to the car and back to the apartment.
Our last night on the balcony, we finally took some night shots of the city lights. The next morning it was pouring with rain, and all the next week too, but we were home by then 🙂
Murphys Law was running true to form as we’d had four days of misty, cloudy mornings up at O’Reilly’s. The day we left to head to Springbrook National Park, and the Natural Bridge was blue skies and bright sunshine. Waterfalls are never good in bright sunlight.
We set off back down the winding, narrow road to Canungra and then diverted to Springbrook, arriving around 11 am. The walk to the Natural Bridge is a loop. With the recommendation to do it in a clockwise direction or else you have a lot of stairs coming back up, we were still worn out (and hot) by the time we got back up, but doing it clockwise was better. There were a lot of steps going down, and I would not have liked to do all those stairs in reverse!
Natural Bridge
By the time we got to the Natural Bridge at Springbrook National Park, the sun was high in the sky, and the rock opening was being hit but loads of sun. It blew out the highlights even with five image HDR stack. We did find some interesting mushrooms growing on a log on the way back.
Fungi
Leaving the Natural Bridge, we turned left instead of right, and a few kms down the road came to the border. a quick photo stop before we turned around 🙂
Borders
We stopped for a quick lunch and then headed to the ‘Best Of All Lookout’, yep they really called it that. The walk to the lookout was an easy 350 metres through the rainforest.
Goomahlara Falls
Our last stop before we headed down to Surfers Paradise was Goomahlara Falls. It’s an easy 200m walk from the carpark that brings you to a little lookout with the waterfall off to the side, and you cant get to the bottom—crappy point of view for a photo. Heading back to the carpark, Carole left the path, and we headed through the scrub to the stream. Goomahlara Falls, which made a much nicer shot 🙂
the edge of the rocks drops off to a sheer cliff, so this was as close as we went. From here, we headed down to our apartment in Surfers for the next four nights. We had chosen one with a city view, and I was hoping to get some nice night shots and maybe a timelapse
We were still at O’Reilly’s in Lamington National Park, and with Carole on crutches today, we did a more sedate 4WD trip this morning with Matt to Moonlight Crag and then to Luke’s Farm for damper and billy tea. Matt kept an interesting and informative dialogue as we passed certain spots, including stopping for us to shoot a massive Coastal Carpet Python.
Moonlight Crag
We stopped at Moonlight Crag, but there was so much low cloud that we couldn’t see anything—we were completely socked in. The view over Lamington National Park is great when you can see it. Having no joy there, we continued to Luke’s Farm. This was lower down the mountain, so we were below the clouds. Now, the view was fabulous from here.
Matt made a fire and started boiling the billy. Morning tea was billy tea or coffee and damper with butter, delicious!
The Noisy Miners are well used to people calling in with damper, and they didn’t take long to turn up and start waiting for crumbs. With morning tea done, Matt drove us back to O’Reilly’s.
Birds of Prey Show
In the afternoon, the skies cleared, and the sun appeared. With Carole still on crutches, we headed over to the Birds of Prey show, parking as close as I could for her; she still had to hobble along a gravel path. The show was only about 30 minutes but quite good, with the bird handler very informative and full of humour.
Today, our plans were for an O’Reilly’s Segway Ride, one tick off Carole’s bucket list. We had about 40mins of training and then set off the segway. The O’Reilly’s Segway Ride is off the road. However, they usually go down dirt tracks and through a small stream; we stuck to the roads. We walked to Morans Falls, leaving the Segways in the carpark
“I realized something on the ride. I realized if I wait until I’m not scared to try new things, then I’ll never get to try them at all.”
Marie Sexton, Between Sinners and Saints
The walk to the falls was pretty and not too arduous. But we were on a tight schedule as Rob, our guide, had to be back to ferry a heap of guests up to Moonlight Crag for a wedding. Therefore our pace was much faster than we usually do at a waterfall with lots of steps.
Back up the top, it was off on the Segways again back to O’Reillys. All went well until about 10ft from the end when Carole came off the Segway. No significant damage, but the knee swelled up over the afternoon, and she was on crutches the following day. We took it quiet for the rest of the afternoon and relaxed in our room before heading down to the dining room for dinner and drinks.
Once a year, my sister and I take a week’s holiday together. No hubbies, no kids. Just sister time with our cameras. This year we chose the hinterlands of the Gold Coast, staying at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat for four days before heading down via Springbrook National Park to Surfers Paradise for another four days. Finally, we flew out of Melbourne, arriving in Coolangatta 2 hours later… due to Qld not having daylight savings, the watches had to go back an hour, putting us at the rental desk to collect our hire car only 1.5hrs after leaving Melbourne.
“Four years after the arrival of the O’Reilly family in 1911 Lamington National Park was declared, effectively isolating the O’Reillys from the outside world. While Lamington wasn’t Queensland’s first national park it is the most significant, and was regularly referred to as ‘Queensland’s National Park”
https://oreillys.com.au/lamington-national-park/
A free upgrade saw us heading off in a lovely little Mitsubishi ASX instead of the Toyota Carolla. Not that it helped with luggage storage … we had two large suitcases and two rolling camera suitcases, and the big suitcases held more camera gear! Gone are the days of travelling light.
Canungra
The first stop was O’Reillys Vineyards, Canungra, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch before a wine tasting and bought some wines to take with us. There was apparently platypus breeding in the creek, but with the skies getting darker and a storm predicted and 34 kms of very, very winding road up the mountain ahead of us, we decided to push on. It was good that we did, as while Qld doesn’t believe it needs daylight, saying it would really help! Daylight is around 4.30 am every morning, but it’s dark by 6 pm.
Goat Track of a Road
Road crews were working on the road repairing damage from Cyclone Debbie. This made some sections narrower than they were already, and it was one lane all the way up. Not one lane each way… one lane in total! there were lots of little turnouts to pull over into, but a couple of times, we came around a blind corner with another car coming towards us…. a wine was definitely called for by the time we arrived. (we found out later the road was an old logging track they covered with bitumen!)
O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat is a village-like retreat high up the mountain in Lamington National Park, with a dining room, bar, cafe, discovery centre, church, mini-mart, gift shop, and accommodation options from self-contained through to guesthouse or camping.
Birds Galore
We had decided to stay in the mountain view rooms with a little back deck overlooking the mountains in the distance. It turned out to be an excellent choice as each morning and evening, we had such a myriad of birds in the trees around our room that we quickly bought some rice crackers at the mini-mart to attract them closer.
That night we strolled down to O’Reilly’s dining room… amazing food with massive portions…. not really overpriced for what you got, but geez.. our lamb share platter for two could have fed four; we did our best but still left half…. mind you we still made room for the pavlova even if we had to share that too 🙂
We were still Rambling The Outback. After a very comfortable night’s sleep in the big king-sized beds at Mungo Lodge, I was up around 5.30 and out the door just after six. Along with Lisa and Amy, we jumped in with Roy and Julie and headed off to the Mungo Lookout for a sunrise. The location was average. It was recommended to us by John at reception as a good sunrise spot. It was for viewing the sunrise. But for, shooting a sunrise it left a lot to be desired. There is no foreground interest and miles and miles of endless flat plain to the sun on the horizon. In the future, when someone recommends a spot to me, I will ask, “are you a photographer” if the answer I no, I will disregard them!
Once the sun was up, we drove down to the Historic Shearing Shed just a few minutes down the road.
The woolshed
Paddy Melons
After about an hour, we headed back to mungo lodge for showers, breakfast and checkout. Breakfast was a delicious cooked buffet in the restaurant. Leaving Mungo, we came across Paddy Melons growing beside the road.
Paddy melon (Cucumis myriocarpus) and Afghan melon (Citrullus lanatus) is both prostrate annual melons germinating in spring and summer. Their growth is favoured by good moisture relations and bare or fallowed paddocks. Melons can stabilise areas prone to wind erosion and provide stock feed when food is scarce (although opinions vary greatly). Horse, sheep and cattle losses have been associated with eating the melon, but the smell of the plants generally makes them unpalatable. Dept of Agriculture
Dirt Roads
From Mungo, we were heading first to Balranald and then onto Swan Hill. Between Balranald and us lay 154kms of dirt road. According to google maps, it’s a 5-hour drive. Maybe they assume you are driving a horse and cart as we did it in just over 2 hours. Just out of Balranald, we finally got the bitumen back.
Swan Hill
We stopped off in Balranald for coffee and comfort stop and were then on our again. Finally, driving on lovely bitumen, we arrived in Swan Hill around midday. I popped into the motel and made sure all was ready for the arrival of those travelling behind us. Then headed over to the Pioneer Settlement and organised the tickets for the evening light show, settlement entry, and Pyap Paddlesteamer ride. We wandered around the settlement for a while, bumped into a few of the group who had arrived, took a paddle steamer ride and then headed back to the hotel to relax for an hour before dinner.
Dinner was at Spoons Restaurant beside the settlement. Sitting outside on the deck, the sky started to turn a glorious orange-red. Everyone started looking and then dashed off for a couple of shots with phones—fantastic sunset, and most of us there without cameras.
After a delicious dinner, we headed over to the settlement for the Heartbeat of the Murray Laser Show. Excellent show using water, laser, and sound, it recently won a prestigious multimedia award. With the closing of the show, we went back to our motel for the night; it was the end of a fabulous week We Got to know some people better and met others for the first time by the close of the week; we had all become closer, had a million memories, and about as many photographs 🙂 The following day it was packed up and headed home and back to ‘real life’. Thank you to all who took this journey with me.
Day 3 of our outback adventure
Our plans for today were Silverton and the Daydream Mine. While I slept through the sunrise, some of the group went out hunting down a good sunrise spot. Elsewhere, two of the group went out tracking down the Indian Pacific as it stopped in town. The morning skies were sunny, blue with a light breeze, but the afternoon forecast the cloud. So it was a free morning for all. Some went to Bells Milkbar, and some checked out the Palace Hotel. Others roamed the galleries. We met up for lunch with part of the crew, and then everyone met at Bells Milkbar to head out to Silverton.
Daydream Mine
The historic Daydream Mine lay between us and our destination, just out from Silverton and 20kms from Broken Hill. Established in the 1880s the mine, and the town surrounding it were once home to around 500 workers, wives, and children. It closed a few years later when the ore ran out—the NSW government heritage listed the site in 1999. Today, above ground, only the foundations of the old town and part of the smelter remain. The road in was around 10km of uphill and down dale, winding dirt roads and through two gates.
Below Ground
After the above-ground tour, we had to gear up with hard hats and lights for the underground section. Three levels underground, down narrow steps (and I do use the term loosely) cut into the rock underground. The entrance tunnel was just a tad bigger than our bodies. If I hadn’t been in the lead behind the guide, I would have turned back with everyone else behind me. But I couldn’t get past them!
It did get taller in parts (small parts) where we could stand upright. But most of the time, the tunnels were about 4ft high. It was built for short people!
Silverton
Back up top, we got our heart rate down and air intake back to normal. Then we headed 6kms down the road to the Silverton Pub. we plopped ourselves in the beer garden, downed a couple of quick drinks, and declined to move. Until tomorrow.
Mundi Mundi Plains
While the others who could all walk (because they hadn’t done the mine either through farsightedness or cowardice) headed off for the Mundi Mundi Plains lookout and the sunset. We stayed put. We were drinking and groaning. Until Bill announced, the sunset was starting to look good. Photographic OCD got us up moving. Just as far as next door where we had a clear view. an off some shots and limped, hobbled back to the pub
Lightpainting
After dinner at the pub the entire group relocated to across the road for some more light painting…no steel wool as Bill was reluctant to start a fire and burn the town down…. but we had fun with LEDs
At the end of the night we took a careful drive back into BH, dodging a few roo’s, rabbits and goats making it safely to our motel. The next morning was to be an early start as we had to be on the road by 7.30am and heading to Mungo……
Coming Up Next Day: Mungo NP and Great Walls of China
Tuesday morning, as pre-arranged the night before, everyone was up in the dark, out the door by 6 am and heading down to the Mildura Wharf for sunrise.
Sunrise On The River
The river was still and quiet, save for the morning bird calls and the odd early morning jogger going past. We were set up on a lovely wooden walkway that gave a good view down (up?) the river to the bridge over the Murray. But, even at that hour, there was a constant stream of traffic across the bridge.
By 6.45 am, the sun was coming up, more joggers and walkers were going past, and traffic was picking up… the river and the houseboats all remained quiet, though.
Back On The Road
Once the sun was up, we headed back to the motel for breakfast and showers, then booked out and headed to Broken Hill, 296kms up the Silver City Highway. The road is well-maintained bitumen but long, with the occasional bend to keep you on your toes. Between Mildura and Broken Hill, reception drops off quickly once out of Mildura, and you don’t get it back till about 20kms out of BH. There is only one little general store between Mildura and BH and three unattended rest stops. Apart from that, it’s just you and the goats..lots and lots of wild goats beside the road and the emus.
Broken Hill
We made it to BH by around 1 pm – where the group met up again at the Demo Club. The club began life as the Barrier Democratic Social Club, a working man’s club similar to the RSLs, but it has evolved into a curious cross between a pub and an RSL. There are no half-full wine glasses here.. every glass was a millimetre from the top and half the price of the victorian pubs. We booked into our rooms at the motel from the demo club, unpacked, and took a brief rest before heading off again. This time we were off to the Line Of The Load, a miner’s memorial overlooking BH. It has the name and cause of death of every miner who has worked the mine in BH… and there was a lot. No such thing as OH & S a hundred years ago.
Sculptures In the Desert
From the memorial, we headed just outside Broken Hill to Sculptures in the Desert – 12 sandstone sculptures on a hilltop. With Bill and Deanne Holmer from Melbourne Light Painting, we would shoot the sunset and then do a little bit of light painting before the ranger kicked us out at 7 pm to lock the gates.
Right on clockwork, the Ranger turned up at 7 pm and dispersed the party…then it was back to BH for dinner at Mario’s Palace Hotel…made famous from the movie Priscilla Queen Of The Desert.
One of my favourite places on earth is Tropical North Qld.
Correction, it’s my most favourite place. It’s warm, usually sunny, the people are beyond anyone’s yardstick for friendly, and the lifestyle is so laid back you don’t need yoga or massages. I visited here in 2012, came back in 2014 and returned in 2016. This trip was impromptu – I usually don’t travel in the high season, but I wasn’t turning up the chance to go again.
Flights
We flew Jetstar, and apart from the struggle with cabin baggage restrictions, it was problem-free. I would guess 7kg as carry-on is acceptable for the regular holiday traveller. However, it is a challenge for someone who travels with a DSLR and several lenses. Fortunately, hubby was travelling with me this time, so I could span my gear across our cabin bags and the clothing was checked in.
A Pillow To Lie My Head On
We stayed in Trinity Beach this time rather than Cairns central, which turned out to be the best decision we could have made. Unlike Cairns, there were no parking problems or wall-to-wall people. Cairns is fabulous. But parking is problematic, and it’s becoming crowded.
Hopefully, it takes a while for people to catch on that Trinity Beach is only 25 mins from Cairns and awesome 🙂 (shhh, you didn’t hear it from me ). Our rooms at the Trinity Beach Club Apartments were fabulous. Comfy, well-appointed, reasonably priced, and only 5 mins walk from the beach. We made good use of the saltwater pool and spa too 🙂
Getting Around
You can use the ‘Sunbus’. I saw many of them around, and it seems an easy way of getting around. Each time I have been to Cairns, we have hired a car. Mainly because of the gear I lug around. And I hate waiting for public transport. As usual, we opted for an economy class car which before has served well. However, there was no cruise control, and the vehicle, a Hyundai Accent, struggled on hills with inferior pickup, Something I will be aware of next time when I book.
What To Do
Hubby is happy to just veg on holiday while I look for photographic locations when we are away. One given, when in Cairns, is we have to go to Hartley’s.
Hartleys Crocodile Adventures
I have been there every trip up North and never tire of it. It’s the best place to get croc pics and see them up close They also have excellent wildlife areas that cover lots of other Australian animals and reptiles Last time, I sat in on the Croc attack show. This time we were there in the morning, so we took in the Croc Feeding OMG, awesome, doesn’t cover it, And Ryan really needs a pay rise No way would I hand feed the beasts!
Cape Tribulation
Apart from Hartley’s, we finally drove to Cape Tribulation. I had wanted to go here for ages but never got there till this visit. The drive up from Cairns is about 2.5 hours, including crossing the Daintree on the car ferry. There is no bridge, so it’s the ferry or swim. And with about 60 crocs in the river, that’s not advisable. The ferry is a reasonable $26 return. It takes about 10 min Peak hour can see quite a lot of cars queued up, but if you avoid 10 am-12 pm or 3 pm-6 pm, it’s good. Once off the ferry, we drove to Cape Tribulation beach. It’s pristine, clean and quiet. Even though there were about ten other people there, it felt like you were the only ones on earth. The rainforest reaches right down to the sand. Idyllic doesn’t begin to cover it.
Kuranda
We took the Skyrail up and back to Kuranda to visit the market on Saturday. Another of my favourite things to do is the Kuranda Market. The heritage markets aren’t large but worth the visit. Loads of other shops, the traditional markets, cafe’s, Birdworld, Butterfly World, and Venom World are all within an easy walk. Being smart and too lazy to walk uphill, we took the courtesy bus up to the markets and then strolled back downhill when we were ready to return to the Skyrail.
Hubby also went out on a morning fishing charter with Paradise Sports Fishing and had a ball. While he was doing that, I chilled at the Esplanade Lagoon with my book.
Eating…..
We just about camped at the Trinity Beach Bar and Grill. Sprawling across the corner opposite the beach, it seemed a favourite of both locals and tourists. The food was great, portions large and reasonably priced. We tried the Trinity Beach Tavern one night, and the seafood was superb. Likewise, for the Blue Moon Bar and Grill. Both provided excellent food and good service. Our biggest disappointment was Chiantti’s Pizzeria. The pizza was ok, pasta less so.
Sunrises
One of the things I always try for and rarely get while on holiday is a decent sunrise. Out of the five days we were there, we went out twice. The best one of the lot was in the middle of our stay. With a huge rising red sun and a deep red, Of course, that day, I was driving into Cairns to take the man to his fishing charter and missed it 😐 On the days I did go out, I shot bracketed shots, combined them into HDR, and came home happy with the two I managed to get.
We have already promised a return in 2018. So if you are looking for heaven on a stick, Tropical North Queensland is the only contender in my book.
It was late May, and the photography tour to the South Island, New Zealand, that I had been waiting almost a year for finally rolled around. We flew out of Melbourne via Jetstar to Queenstown, NZ.
The flight
The flight was only around half full, so we had room to spread out. We approached Queenstown in a blanket of low clouds and rain just over three hours later. The pilots must have done 100% of the approach on instruments because we didn’t see the ground until we were only about 100 feet above it. The landing was comfortable, though, and we were through customs and biosecurity and out the door within a short time. Into rain, snow-capped mountains, and cold. Very cold.
Queenstown
We quickly found a shuttle bus that drops you off at the hotels in Queenstown, and for the princely sum of $13NZ, we were shortly deposited at the door and to the warmth of our hotel for the night. Looking at the weather, we dined in the hotel restaurant that night while the rain came down outside. The following day we were up eager to be collected by our tour host Jarrod from Jarrod Castaing Photography; we flung back the curtains to greet the day.
Funny thing about rain. When you start heading up the mountain in zero degrees and get to 700-800 feet above sea level, the rain becomes snow.
Coronet Peak
After picking up everyone, we drove up to Coronet Peak. Roads were icy, the lookout under a heavy blanket of snow. We had prepared well with our thermals, windproof pants, and feather down coats, but I should have also packed a full face balaclava. The wind off the snow was icy, pretty, but icy. Driving from Coronet Peak to Lake Tekapo, we went through the usually brown plains of Lindis Pass. They also were blanketed in snow, and it was still coming down quite heavily as we drove through it.
Church Of The Good Shepherd
Arriving safely in Lake Tekapo, we drove straight to the Church Of The Good Shepherd, which was oddly deserted. -1° Celcius and heavy snow falling go figure 😉
The plan was to do a sunset shoot at the church, but as getting one looked as likely as a heatwave, we all decided to relax in our rooms until dinner time. Fast forward to the following day, and the snow had stopped overnight, and the sky was clear. So we headed back to the church around 6 am, in the pitch dark, and set up the tripods to wait for the sun.
After standing around in the cold and the dark, the image that ended up as my favourite was the one above. Taken about 5 mins before we left as the sun came up. Leaving the church, we drove to Lake Alexandrina. Gorgeous place. totally empty of tourists, shhhh, I don’t think they know about it yet 😉
Mount Cook
From Lake Alexandrina, we headed for breakfast and then off towards Mount Cook. Passing by Lake Pukaki, we stopped in for a quick shoot. Lake Pukaki is a sparkling blue lake fed by the alpine glacier lakes. Sir Peter Jackson chose this part of the Southern Alps – the main divide stretching north-south the length of New Zealand’s South Island – as the setting for ‘Lake-town’ in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
Arriving at Mount Cook, we booked into the Hermitage and got ready for the planned afternoon shoot at the Hooker Valley. I had been looking forward to this part since I first signed on to the tour. But I had drastically overestimated my ability to walk 1.5hrs each way, uphill and down dale. And about 40 mins into the walk, we turned back and left the others to finish. It was mean (but rewarding) to hear later that the others also struggled with the walk, and the light was dreadful when they got there, and no one got their postcard shots.
Hooker Valley trail
The Hooker Valley trail leads to Hooker Lake. the valley is ruggedly beautiful, and I still haven’t seen the lake in real life, but I can live with that.
Wanaka Tree
The following day, the sun was out. As it rose and hit the snow-capped peaks, they turned a glorious golden yellow. Coming from a city that never sees snow, it was a sight to behold. After breakfast, we headed off again. Our destination was Lake Wanaka and that famous tree. We were scheduled to do a sunrise and sunset there. Sunset cooperated with us, but sunrise just didn’t happen. It was drizzling as we arrived for the sunrise, and heavily by the time we sought the refuge of the van.
Leaving the lake, we headed into town for breakfast and dried our coats, hats, gloves, etc., on the grate around the fire while we ate breakfast. Following breakfast, we headed towards Milford Sound, going over the Crown Range, which had been closed to traffic a few days before due to heavy snowfalls.
Milford Sound
We passed down the Crown Range road, through Queenstown and headed towards Te Anau for lunch. Then the last 2-hour leg to our final and last night destination Milford Sound. Once we left Te Anau and got closer to Milford Sound, we lost mobile reception. The last 21 kms before the tunnel is an avalanche zone, and no stopping is allowed. like so many bridges in NZ, the tunnel is single lane – one car at a time – so we stopped to shoot some pics while we waited for our turn to enter
Envisaged by early settler Henry Homer in 1890, the tunnel was eventually started during the Great Depression in 1929. Five men armed with picks and shovels hacked through to the solid bedrock of the Homer Saddle and brought in the heavy machinery to start drilling. Years later, the tunnel was complete when the workers finally emerged into the Cleddau Valley. Unfortunately, several men had died over the years from avalanches, including one avalanche proof hut in 1945.
Sunset at Milford was beautiful. and a very accommodating Egret decided to sit in the foreground for the tourists 🙂 We were staying at Milford overnight. They really have a seller’s market, being a long way from anywhere and with limited accommodation options. Our accommodation was backpacker style, at prices dearer than our plush hotel in Queenstown!
Sunrise
As the sun came up, it lit up the snow-capped mountains. Again we were there from 6 am – and sunrise was about 8 am. This shot was taken at about 8.20 am. I wasn’t moving until I got the alpine glow on the mountains!
Back To Queenstown
After breakfast, we piled our gear back into the van to head back to Queenstown, stopping along the way at Mirror Lakes and Cascade Forest.
We arrived back in Queenstown late afternoon, picked up our hire car and headed to our hotel. Had a fabulous time. I learned lots and finally have my head around histograms lol I was left wondering a few things though New Zealand is a funny country.
- why so many single-lane bridges? didn’t they think cars or horse and carts might like to pass each other? and if it dates to horse and cart…geez a couple of hundred years later and they haven’t widened them?
- Things that we buy over the counter here in Australia you need a script for in New Zealand
- For a country with more sheep than people, why are all the woolen products so expensive?
- And possums… supposedly they are vermin to be eradicated. Yet to buy anything made from possum fur – you could have bought a mink coat!
- Petrol….$2.05 a litre!!???
As an infamous redhead said, please explain, lol
Bright, set in the Victorian High Country, is famous for the fall colours of its European trees changing colour in the autumn, and it’s something I have wanted to photograph for a while. But unfortunately, I arrived about a week too early, and while the trees had started to change, the glorious fall colours were minimal.
Mount Buffalo
We drove up to Mount Buffalo on the way into Bright. It is a very, very winding road to the top (but nowhere to stop and photograph it). The Chalet at the top has been closed for a few years now, but plans are to restore and reopen it in the future.
Bright
We stayed in the heart of Bright at Willow Dene Apartments. They were reasonably priced, comfortable and handy to the town centre. Using Bright as our base, we took a day trip on the 230-km Bogong Alpine Way (part of the Great Alpine Road). This road loops through Bright, Mount Beauty, Falls Creek, Dinner Plain and Mount Hotham.
Wallaces hut
Driving past Falls Creek, we stopped off and walked to Wallaces Hut. The hut was constructed in 1889 by the Wallace brothers (Arthur, William and Stewart). An easy 700m walk from the carpark hut will bring you to one of the oldest mountain huts in the Alpine National Park.
Deer farm
On our third day, we called in at Wandiligong before heading to Beechworth and visited a Deer and Emu farm on the way back.
Our third day was visiting Walnut Farm and Brown Brothers Winery at Milawa.
The weather was great—sunny blue skies with crisp mornings. We tried covering as much ground as possible in our three days but still didn’t see everything. However, a trip in winter to the waterfalls is looking good.
I spent the weekend at Apollo Bay & Otway Ranges in late February with the MPE family of addicted photographers. We started our weekend with Hopetoun Falls. Then a picnic lunch at the Redwood Forest and afternoon tea in town at Cafe 153 before dinner at the Brewhouse. That night we did some light painting at the Breakwater with Deanne and Bill Holmer from Melbourne LightPainting.
Midway along the Great Ocean Road is the seaside town of Apollo Bay. With the lush green slopes of the Otway Ranges at her back and the blue seas of Cape Otway at her feet, Apollo Bay is a great staging point to visit the valleys, rainforests, rivers and streams, waterfalls and light station.
Sunday was an early start for a 6 am sunrise that never eventuated. Cafe 153 for breakfast, then off to the light station. It was a quick 36-hour visit, but my exhaustion when I got home was a testament to how much we crammed into it 🙂
Hopetoun Falls
Getting here is easy. If you come through Colac or the Great Ocean Road, head to Binns Road, and it’s well signposted. Once at the carpark, you have a one-way in and one-way out downhill walk.
Hopetoun Falls has a good flow for just about all year. Even though it was February, we still found a good flow coming over the top and into the Aire River below. The walk from the carpark to the first lookout is an effortless downhill walk of about 20 metres. The one-kilometre return trip of 200 plus steps to the bottom lookout (and 200 back UP) is a test of endurance for my old legs. It’s definitely worth the walk down, though. You can’t see a lot from the top lookout, and the walk through the ferns along the boardwalk to the base of the falls is impressive.
Redwood Forest
Just a few minutes away from Hopetoun Falls in the Otway Ranges is the Redwood Forest. I hadn’t been here before, didn’t even know it was there until recently, but what a fabulous find it is. Heading towards Apollo Bay from the carpark to the forest is on your right-hand side, just before a little single-lane bridge. There are picnic tables and chairs and a long drop toilet on the other side of the road. We stopped and had our picnic here before spending an hour wandering through the forest.
Running along the back of the forest is the beautiful fern-lined Aire River. The forest itself has a fantastic atmosphere.. you feel the quiet and serenity as soon as you step off the path into the trees. While I didn’t see them, others found some fabulous pagan? Stuff down back, twisted vines and things hanging from trees. The mind boggles as to what goes on in there.
Sundown
We hoped to get a sunset at the Apollo Bay Boat Harbour before light painting started. But it fizzled out on us. However, I did manage to get a pinkish sky using a 0.9 ND Grad.
Light Painting
We held our light painting session down at the Breakwater Led lights, steel wool spinning pixel sticks fabulous night.
Sunday Morning – Sunrise Failure
Sunday morning, despite getting up in the dark and heading down to the breakwater full of enthusiasm, it fizzled out on us again.
Cape Otway Lightstation
It sometimes gets sunny at the light station, but I seem to bring clouds. I have been there a few times, and getting a photo of the lighthouse in full sunshine against a blue sky is very hit-and-miss. It was a patchy cloud, then a full cloud for a quick, brief bit of sun and back to clouds when we headed there.
We came across two french girls guarding an injured Koala and reported it to the conservation centre for pickup (rang the next day, and the koala is doing fine). So down to the lighthouse for some shots and a walk around before heading back to the car for the 3-hour drive home. Fabulous weekend and we are already planning the next one.