Part 1 is here, with much of the commentary.
In Part 2 the images are from the surrounding Flinders Ranges, rather than Lake Froome. You get to see the extraordinary variety of rock formations of different colours and textures.
On average the images were taken from 270 to 380 metres in the air. The GPS Datalogger also gives you altitude.
Enjoy, Viva Cristo Rey. Click on an image to see the slideshow of images at full resolution.
Some red-capped robins from the Flinders Ranges.
Digging deep into the The Doc’s secret archives comes a variety of images of Australia’s most beautiful macropod, the Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby. The Doc has posted a few in the past, but none of these images.
Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary
Arkaroola is in the northern Flinders Ranges. Millions of years ago a large rift valley was formed. After the rocks were laid down, huge forces beneath the surface pushed the layers up, hundreds of metres into the air. The layers of rock are now visible, often at steep angles and sometimes vertically. It is a unique geological location having sedimentary, metaphoric and volcanic rocks in the one location.
Arkaroola’s unique geological features were recognised by Sir Douglas Mawson, the famous Australian Antarctic explorer. He urged Reg Sprigg to get the pastoral lease of Arkaroola if possible. Reg and his wife Griselda were able to take over the lease in the 1960’s. Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary is now run by their children Marg and Doug Sprigg. Those names may sound familiar to some readers, as this family did the first motorised crossing of the Simpson Desert in G60 Patrol.
The best parts of Arkaroola are seen on the world famous Ridgetop Tour whose highlight is the spectacular Sillars Lookout. Surprisingly, many visitors don’t go on the Tour. The tracks at Arkaroola were originally built by mining companies exploring Arkaroola.
There are several old copper mines and smelters around the property including Wheal Turner and Bolla Bollana being examples. The Doc also explored properties nearby Arkaroola and visited the Needles, the Yudnamuntana Historic Site (old copper smelter) and Mt Freeling Station.
There is less bird life at Arkaroola than the Gammon Ranges National Park 30 km to the south. But Arkaroola has a healthy population of Yellow-footed Wallabies, arguably Australia’s most beautiful macropod. The Doc managed to get a few shots.
The tracks constructed by the mining companies allow you to drive in many places across the property. He is a selection of photos from a couple of those drives including Titllite Gorge, Mt Jacobs Track and Stubbs Waterhole.
The Doc also took to the air in a helicopter over Arkaroola and Freeling Heights.
A separate Report on the textures of Arkaroola can be viewed here.
A beautiful place to visit but only part of the broader Flinders Ranges.
The Doc has been a bit quite because he has been indexing 300,000 images for AWC and also preparing some images for photo competitions.
Here is a selection of the images The Doc will shortly enter into an Australian competition (you get the low res versions, some images are over 350 megapxiels). Click on each images to see the correct size.
Wildlife
Landscapes
Female and joey, Brachina Gorge, Flinders Ranges NP, Flinders Ranges, SA.
I was tracking Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies at their colony in Brachina Gorge in the Flinders Ranges. I had walked up a steep incline to follow the wallabies, the female with the joey hopped over the top of the ridge and I thought it was over for the day. A minute of two later the female and joey came back and took a second look and seemingly said good bye before she hopped away.
These wallabies are something to behold when they hop across cliff faces like a kangaroo on flat ground.
On the last trip The Doc and his friend Tony travelled around outback NSW, Queensland and South Australia. Places like the Warrumbungles, Broken Hill, Marree, the ochre pits at Lyndhurst, ruins at Farina, Arkaroola Wildness Sanctuary, Innamincka, Brachina Gorge in the Flinders Ranges, Epsilon in outback Queensland, Cameron’s Corner, Tibooburra, Menindee Lakes and lots of others.
Characters like Talc Alf, roadtrains and huge coal carrying locomotives, the odd emu and even some water in this parched part of Australia.
A collection of photos from that trip.
The Doc is back home after a recent road trip with a friend across outback New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. All up over 6,000 kilometres.
A new record on this trip, the most number of people talking about AWC . It seemed everywhere we went someone knew AWC or was keen to learn. At least a dozen people in about 2 weeks.
Since returning The Doc has been scanning AWC slides from years past. The scanning is complete but some post processing and indexing remains to be done. The quality of the slides does vary, but there are some great shots of animals like bilbies, woylies and boobies. Sorry no pictures are they are copyright. But the AWC website has a lot of great photos now.
On the trip The Doc also tested a new trailer, which has an issue or two that needs to be sorted. The car needs a service, some new tyres and some work done.
The Doc hopes to take a few trips closer to Sydney over the next few weeks. He is also booking some trips next year to Tasmania, The Kimberley and Cape York.
Lastly, a picture from Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary in the Flinders Ranges, a place we visited. Click on the picture to see a bigger version.
This time Arkaroola in the Northern Flinders Ranges. The Report and pictures are here.
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