Part 1 is located here.
Part 2 are images from a Pentax Medium Format camera, were the number of missed shots were lower on this camera than the Canon posted yesterday in Part 1. Every other time it was the reverse.
The Gulf of Carpentaria is an under explored part of Australia. Only this week AWC announced a new species of legless lizard, Lerista munuwajarlu, has been officially accepted after 10 years of the research.
Click on an image to see a slideshow at full size. Viva Cristo Rey.
Tony enjoyed his time at Arkaroola Wildness Sanctuary in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. We dined at the restaurant at night, went on the world-renowned Ridgetop Tour to Sillars Lookout (with Lamingtons, tea and a hair raising 3-point turn at the Lookout), observed the stars in the Observatory (there are 4 at Arkaroola) and even took a plane flight over Arkaroola and Lake Frome.
On the Ridgetop Tour Tony got to sit in the passenger seat upfront, the rest of us bounced around in the back!
We visited a few abandoned copper mines – the Ridgetop Tour track was made when mining companies where looking for uranium in earlier times. The Flinders Ranges generally and Arkaroola in particular is one the most beautiful places in Australia and it is geologically unique in the world.
Arkaroola and the nearby Brachina Gorge are also home to the endangered Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby, Australia’s most beautiful macropod (kangaroo or wallaby). Pictures of Arkaroola and the Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby can be viewed here.
Our flight over Arkaroola.
The Doc has been working on his macro technique. This time Post Focus has been brought indoor to create backlit leaves. A cheap LED panel is used to backlit the leaves from the bottom. Samples of recent images are below, enjoy. Click on images to see full size.
PS The Doc working on a further update to the last trip through Channel Country which is now in flood.
New report of the textures of the Northern Territory has been posted, here.
The trip to The Kimberley also included The Pilbara, where iron ore mining occurs on an industrial scale. At Port Headland, 6 bulk ore carriers are loaded at once (more now as the terminal has expanded) and over 20 ore carriers are moored off the port awaiting their turn. Trains bring the iron ore to the port – trains 495 carriages long!
Port Dampier near Karratha is the other large port. It is not as big as Port Headland but impressive nonetheless.
The Pilbara has amazing textures, heavily influenced by the abundant iron in the rocks. So many things are red, the rocks, the sand, the dust and the visitors. The red is caused by the oxidation of the iron in the rocks. Who said you cannot bend rock?
The Pilbara also had some interesting barks, distinctly different from the Kimberley. Enjoy.
The Doc will work on a Cocos Island report, but his is some colours and textures of coconut palms. Enjoy.
The last day was mostly train travel from Mt Surprise back to Cairns. The Doc was up early and walked to the railway station, having a look around the township. There was also a small market in front of the station with locals selling to the tourists. A great idea. However the food was mostly in glass, so The Doc passed on the opportunity.
There was some excitement on the way home including the train being held up by young bushrangers. A great way for kids to earn pocket money! The passengers were warned that we’d be robbed 😉
Instead of repeating some of the earlier photos let’s look at some textures, here bark and leaves.
And some rock and minerals. Enjoy.
Next day the flight home. An enjoyable trip which included a visit to Pungalina and the Savannah Lander train trip. Yes The Doc used the wrong watermark on the pictures.
A few examples of the varied tessellated pavement at Kaikoura near Point Kean.
Currently rained in at Fox Glacier, so some textures from the West Coast of New Zealand including bark, rocks, sand, red lichen and some green things.
Something a bite different a very rare type of algal bloom. Most algal blooms are just green, this one ranges from green through brown to white and many shades in between.
In this coastal wetland an area was not subject to normal tidal movement. However, during a king tide this area filled with water, an algal bloom resulted and as the water evaporated the sun would begin to dry out the bloom from green through brown to white. The white occurs after the bloom completely bleached by the sun.
This shot shows all 3 major colours, taken from above. Nature can create some amazing colours and textures even from a humble algal bloom. Click on photo to see full size.
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