Tag:rock
Our plan was Phillip Island & San Remo and for the weekend. Phillip Island is only around 2 hours from home, and while we had been there before, it had been a few years. So we decided to head back this easter break. We started our photography plans with a drive along The Blvd. You can walk it, but we decided to drive it. This was because there is only one place you can stop along the way with a small lookout. Parking is not allowed on the verges. It’s supposed to be one way as it’s too narrow for cars to pass each other on many parts of the road. Not that it stopped some young idiots in a convertible coming from the opposite direction. You access it by driving to the Nobbies visitor centre. From there, you take the road off to the left as you approach the carpark.
There are some fabulous views along the way. We spotted a hovering Kestral that I tried to get a shot off. However, he was too far offshore and dived before I could get a picture every time. The only time he came close was so close that I couldn’t get a shot, either. Because the long lens wouldn’t focus – he was TOO close!
We booked a lovely house in San Remo for our stay as our main photographic goal was to shoot Cadillac Canyon – and the house was only 5 mins drive from there. Cadillac Canyon is accessed from Potters Hill Road.. from the carpark at the end, it’s a short walk to the start of the stairs down to the beach, 138 steps in total but nice wide, solid wooden steps with lots of landings along the way — they need a seat at the halfway point! 😉
Panhandle Flats
Once you are on the beach, Panhandle Flats is off to the left. To the right, at the other end of the beach, is Cadillac Canyon. We first went down there looking for a sunset, and while the light was excellent, the sunset wasn’t happening. The tide also made getting out onto Panhandle a no-go. So we decided to come back again in the morning.
The weekend daylight saving had finished in Victoria, so sunrise moved from 7.09 am to 6.09 am. We were up at 5 am – coffee and out the door arriving at the beach in the dark. Even though it was still dark, a car was already in the carpark before us. It turned out to be a surf fisherman. It had been a full moon the night before. So torches weren’t needed with the moonlighting our way down the steps and across the beach to Panhandle Flats. Tide was also with us. At 6.22 am, we could get out on the flats and set up with the low tide.
The colours in the sky didn’t look that promising. But just before sunrise, the sky popped a glorious red for a few minutes. We got our shots quickly because it was very short-lived.
Once the sun was up, we moved across to Cadillac Canyon. Apart from two surf fishermen, we had the beach totally to ourselves.
Pelicans
By now, it was just after 8 am, and we were starving. So we headed back to the house for breakfast and a rest before heading into San Remo to watch the pelican feeding at the pier. The feeding is free, though they have a collection tin for donations. Feeding takes place every day at midday outside the fishing co-op.
The birds are not worried about the humans. We were roped off from the feeding area (not sure for whose protection, lol). One late pelican arrival just barged into the throng of people, pushing his way through the spectators to get to the feeding area.
Pyramid Rock
Later that afternoon, we headed to Pyramid Rock on Phillip Island. It would be a good sunset spot – and is on our list for next time. The walk to Pyramid from the carpark is an easy 800m return. It has only a slight elevation; even with tired legs from the morning’s stairs, we cruised it in.
We had a fabulous weekend at Phillip Island & San Remo and hope to go back again in the summer months.
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
The Grampians (Gariwerd) is a series of rugged sandstone mountain ranges and forests rich in wildlife. One of Victoria’s most popular holiday destinations, the Grampians are the destination of day-trippers and campers. They all come for rock climbing, scenic drives, bushwalks, and nature. The tiny and bustling yet laid-back town of Halls Gap is at the heart of Grampians. Its popularity is evident in many accommodation options, from backpackers to luxurious resorts and its many dining options.
Bushfires
On 15 January 2014, a bushfire which was sparked by a lightning strike started in the Grampians National Park. It was one of 68 fires burning across Victoria during this time.
The fire coincided with a heatwave across Victoria with temperatures reaching over 40 C in the Grampians region from 15 – 20 January. The fire eventually burnt 52,000 hectares including bushland and farms and was declared contained on 21 January 2014. Many residents from Dadswell’s Gap, Wartook, Brimpean, St Helen’s Plain, Roses Gap Pomonal, Bellfield, Lake Fyans, Lake Lonsdale, Heatherlie and Ledcourt were affected by the fires. Halls Gap was threatened by the fire front and ember attack and most of the town evacuated. Relief centres were set up in Horsham, Stawell and Ararat for the hundreds of people who were evacuated from their homes. Farmers lost large numbers of sheep that were either killed by the fire or later culled. At least 7000 sheep in total were lost.
A 12 km wide pyro cumulus cloud column of smoke and fire was created by the fire, generating its own weather pattern including lightning and thunder. This cloud gathered burning embers into the sky, which then scattered for many kilometres beyond the fire front, potentially starting new fires .
Australian Emergency Management
Halls Gap
In January 2015, and stayed in a fabulous little house near town that backed onto the National Park. We had a constant stream of wildlife visitors from when we arrived until we left three days later. Kangaroos, Cockatoos, Finches, Emus, and Crimson Rosellas were always nearby.
Break it up, kids
Boroka Lookout
We saw many of the lookouts had been rebuilt due to the last bushfire. Unfortunately, gone were the old wooden railings lost in the fires. In their place, however, were lovely new stainless steel railings at Boroka Lookout. The lookouts at McKenzie Falls have also been rebuilt, along with new amenities blocks. However, the kiosk that stood there is gone and hasn’t been rebuilt. Just the chimney remains.
Over the bridge in Phillip Island is the turnoff to Churchill Island Heritage Farm. It has been farmed since the 1850s and became the holiday retreat of the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Samuel Amess, when he purchased it in 1872.
A day on the farm
Last Sunday myself, and a dozen or so photographers from Melbourne Photography Excursions travelled down to the island for the day to visit the farm. It’s tiny, only 57 hectares but has heritage gardens, historic buildings and fantastic views over Port Phillip Bay.
We stayed in Cowes overnight as I hoped to get a sunset and sunrise. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a total bust with thick clouds moving in the late afternoon. It was going to be a hot day, though, on Monday, so we called in at the Forrest Caves near Cape Woolami.
Cowes
We missed low tide so that we couldn’t get to the caves, so we dodged sand flies for an hour while trying to get some long exposure shots from the beach. It’s a beautiful spot but a challenging walk. A big staircase up and down over the dunes, we were all puffing like ten pack a day smokers by the time we made it back to the car.
Day Two of our Sapphire Coast road trip along the South Coast of NSW took us from Glasshouse Rocks, Narooma to Eden. After doing three abandoned locations the day before, we were now up early to catch a Glass House Rocks sunrise in Narooma.
Narooma Surf Beach
The Narooma surf beach is beautiful, a one km long, semi-circular cove overlooking Montague Island, with the Glass House Rocks at the southern end and Australia Rock at the northern. The Geological Society of Australia recognises the Glasshouse Rocks as between 510 and 440 million years old. They are the result of volcanic activity hundreds of millions of years ago. Unfortunately, we got so involved with admiring the sunrise we never walked over to see the Glasshouse Rocks up close 🙁
Our ‘plan’ we had been to was to go out to Montague Island after breakfast. Still, none of the tours was running that day due to heavy seas out on the ‘bar’, so after breakfast overlooking the beach wandered down to Australia Rock before heading off towards Eden.
Camel Rock
Leaving Narooma, we headed down the Princes Highway to Bermagui and Camel Rock. The second part of the plan that didn’t go as planned was that Horsehead Rock was inaccessible by now due to no longer being low tide. Horsehead Rock is past Camel Rock, across a short rocky beach only accessible at low tide. So scratch Horsehead Rock this trip.
Camel Rock is ten minutes north of Bermagui along Wallaga Lake Road. The surf and rock formations are fabulous. I could have stayed there all day.
Blue Pool
Also in Bermagui is the Blue Pool. A large rock pool at the base of a dramatic cliff. There are two pools there. One seems full all the time, and the first pool feeds the other as the tide comes in. Something we didn’t realise until the water came gushing over the lip as we stood in the empty pool photographing the full pool!
Wallaga Lake
Our last stop before Eden was Wallaga Lake. We were driving past and spotted some Pelicans, and Pied Cormorants on the sandbar, so we pulled in for some shots.
They were probably bout 100ft from shore. but my travelling friend got out her ‘big boy’, and we got them just fine 🙂
