Tag Archives: Australia

Arnhem Land Revisited – medium format style

4X4, Arnhem Land, Australia, camera, Kakadu, Kakadu, Landscape, landscape, mountains, Northern Territory, NT, river/creeks, trees

The Doc took two cameras on the helicopter, including a Pentax 645Z Medium format camera. The Pentax gives massive files which The Doc can crop how he wishes. The files have eye watering details, not always appreciated when you can only post small images on a blog.

The Pentax renders very accurate colours, more so than the Canon 1DX which was the other camera used. These images are a very accurate representation on what you see from the helicopter.

To be precise, these images are from the West Arnhem Region.

The Doc’s AWC adventures – a summary

4X4, Artesian Range, AWC, Bowra, Bullo River Station, Charnley River, Mornington, Newhaven, North Head, Paruna, Piligia, Pungalina-Seven Emu, Scotia

The Doc has drafted a page about his AWC adventures over the last 15 years. Over 30 sanctuary visits to volunteer, visit or take part in Supporter’s Events. Over 20 different sanctuaries visited all over Australia.

Plus, other AWC activities, like scanning slides, getting stickers on The Doc’s car and meets ups in the field. Still a work in progress, but lots of links and images here.

Bullo River Station report still being worked on. It will be added when complete. Some amazing images from that trip.

Derby mud flats

4X4, Artesian Range, Australia, AWC, camera, Charnley River, Charnley River - Artesian Range, coastal, Derby, Kimberley, Kimberley, Landscape, landscape, sand, Textures, Uncategorised, WA, WA, , , ,

The massive tidal changes in King Sound reveals extensive mud flats across the southern part of the Sound, around Derby.

Derby township itself is surrounded by mud flats which The Doc drove on several times (being careful not to break through the dried surface). These mud flats are not fully tidal every day, probably only on King tides. However, anytime The Doc felt the surface get soft he headed back to drier parts.

After taking off, in the helicopter, the first place we see is the big house, the Derby Prison. The Prison inmates look after the graves at the nearby Leper Colony, aka the old Bungarun Leprosarium, just north of Derby (Blog report here). The Doc drove up to Bungarun using the mud flats, not the road.

The mud flats reveal one of nature’s fractals, the repeating patterns you see when water is draining away on the mud flats (what The Doc calls the recurring tree pattern). To be precise “Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales.” If you look carefully, you will see the same pattern repeating itself. Admittedly it is more obvious in the helicopter where you better appreciate the scale of these fractals.

There is endless variety in the mud flats, including their shapes, colour and textures. While they are many images, the total was culled hard to give a good cross section.

The Doc finds the mud flats fascinating. Enjoy.

The Buccaneer Archipelago, with a little of Yampi Sound thrown in

4X4, Australia, Broome, camera, Kimberley, Landscape, Plant, rock, sand, seascape, Textures, trees, Uncategorised, WA, WA, , , ,

Below is a satellite image of Derby, King Sound (that great big “harbour”) and on its northern edge a group of Islands known as the Buccaneer Archipelago. The Derby mud flats are obvious on the southern edge of King Sound, near the Derby township. Towards the top right is the Walcott Inlet, which leads into Charnley River and its gorge, yesterdays spectacular post.

The helicopter trip continues. Here is small selection of images from the Buccaneer Archipelago. Wikipedia states “The archipelago, covering over 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi) is located at the head of King Sound and is composed of about 800 islands found between King Sound and Collier Bay near Yampi Sound.”

Yampi Sound also has a major Army training base inland from the Sound itself. The images towards the middle with a burn off taking place, from memory, is part of Yampi training grounds. Often Yampi is boring open grasslands. The Australian Wildlife Conservancy helps the Army conserve part of the training grounds set aside for conservation along the coast.

The massive tidal flows are obvious in several images, with the disturbed water during a tidal change.

To see a larger image click on a thumbnail.

Charnley River Gorge, Artesian Range, The Kimberley

4X4, Artesian Range, Australia, AWC, camera, Charnley River, Charnley River - Artesian Range, Derby, Derby, Kimberley, Kimberley, Landscape, landscape, mountains, Plant, river/creeks, rock, Textures, trees, Uncategorised, WA, , ,

When posting some Kimberley images recently The Doc realised he has not posted images from his 2-day helicopter trip out of Derby in 2015 (better late than never!) – except 2 or 3 images.

Starting with Day 2, here are images from flying along the Charnley River Gorge, Artesian Range, The Kimberley, Western Australia. It was a thrill of a lifetime, breathtakingly beautiful place. We had permission from Australian Wildlife Conservancy to do the trip over their property and land. With both the pilot and the passenger being AWC supporters helps!

The Artesian Range is the only part of Australia that has not suffered any mammal extinctions since European settlement, but the cane toads got into the area in the last few years. So that may change.

Where the river bed is a muddy light grey, the river is tidal. The clearer water is beyond the tidal zone and is fresh water coming down the river.

We landed and took pictures of Aboriginal art, which had some very rare figures. The Doc may post one or two later.

Make sure you click on the image to see the full size slide show.

Buckaroola Station – Outback Queensland

4X4, Australia, desert, Eromanga, Landscape, landscape, Plant, Qld, rock, Textures, trees, Uncategorised, , , , ,

The Doc’s friend Steve Young got special permission to visit Buckaroola Station. These images are from the second visit, as The Doc forgot to put his memory card into his camera during the first visit! Buckaroola Station is westward out of Eromanga along the Cooper Developmental Road and is not open to the public.

Bullo Shire – Outback Queensland

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During the Eromanga trip in 2024, The Doc visited the adjoining Bullo Shire. Here are some images from Outback Queensland, Bullo Shire. Back to travel is a big objective of The Doc’s rehab.

The Doc stopped a few times at the fancy Rest Stop in the middle of nowhere, near the border of the Bullo and Quilpie Shires, on the Quilpie side (located on the Cooper Developmental Road). Nice clean toilets and over a week or so The Doc stopped for tea, lunch, snacks and rest breaks from driving. It was used as a rest stop on longer trips away from Eromanga.

The other rest stop with the big skip bin was located near Noccundra, located at the intersection of the Bullo Developmental Road and the Innamincka Road.

Grenadier build – metal number plate holder installed

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The Doc has never been happy with the front plastic number plate holder. Black Sheep now sell a metal version which The Doc installed today.

Here are some of the lessons learned.

BLACK SHEEP NUMBER PLATE HOLDER INSTALLATION HELP
The Doc could not get all four bolts into the bumper bar, there was always one hole misaligned, despite trying a few things. Not sure if it is a design issue with the Black Sheep holder or a manufacturing variation in The Doc’s car. The Doc used the top two bolt holes and the bottom right side. The Black Sheep holder is secure and a lot stronger than the old INEOS plastic number plate holder (INEOS holder). The missing bolt is not visible with the Black Sheep holder cover down.

The holder appears level on the bumper bar.

Make sure the top of the holder is properly aligned with the bumper, otherwise you can have issues inserting the new bolts.

TOOLS NEEDED

  1. Screw driver to remove the screws holding the number plate onto the INEOS holder.
  2. Torx T30 bit/tool to remove the four bolts securing the INEOS holder. All four bolts were not tight on my car, but they did appear to have some sort of loctite on the bolts.
  3. A 10mm bit used to tighten the bolts supplied with the Black Sheep holder (they have hex heads and a washer, they are not Torx T30 bolts). You cannot reuse the T30 bolts removed earlier due to their head shape.

PARTS NEEDED

  1. You must source two bolts used to attach the number plate to the Black Sheep holder (instead of the screws which do not work with the Black Sheep holder). The Doc used bolts with a 8mm hex head. These bolts go into different holes on the number plate (compared to the screws), The Doc just aligned the number plate on the Black Sheep holder to see what bolt holes to use.
  2. The Doc used marine Goop on all the bolts and the black plastic covers for the visible bolts (hiding the silver bolt heads and nuts). Over time these black plastic covers are likely to fall off, even with the Marine Goop.

There were rain showers during the install. The number plate is a standard size NSW plate, not a custom size.

Grenadier build- Outback shakedown changes – Round 3

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Recently the Australian Wildlife Conservancy stickers went on the car. The Doc found himself smiling when driving back home, as the build is now mostly complete. The first time The Doc can remember being so happy since the fatal car accident 2 years ago. The Grenadier build has been therapeutic! The Doc is still working through injuries and trauma but starting to feel better.

The car is back to being AWC’s mobile billboard and ready for The Doc’s Excellent Adventure.

The L tracks did make fitting the stickers more challenging. Fonts had to follow AWC’s guidelines, except Proudly supporting.

Observant readers will have noticed the car’s name is now official: Wally. Named after the wallaby The Doc hit on the road last year. The Doc added a Wally sticker to the driver’s side bonnet/hood.