This foggy, frosty early-morning scene belies tragedy hidden in clear view. March 5 2012, will be remembered as the night almost 9000 residents of Wagga Wagga were forced from their homes by the worst flood since 1853 — nearly 160 years ago. Fortunately the city’s levee held and two months later its citizens’ lives have [...] Read more – ‘Frosty morning in Wagga Wagga’.
Finding an overnight campsite in any city can be a bit of a problem, but I’m lucky that I have a fairly regular spot in Hobart right outside a friend’s house. Naturally I operate in stealth mode … curtains drawn and no lights after sunset. Normally a fairly quiet spot, it becomes a bit hectic [...] Read more – ‘‘Parking’ in the city’.
Revisited a favourite pub yesterday in Hobart — The Crescent — and had a lively session with some old friends (and don’t they look like everyone’s grumpy grandpa?). They were in a nostalgic mood, tuning in to YouTube for some jazz classics — on an iPad which Dave, the pub owner, had commandeered so that [...] Read more – ‘A modern twist for old codgers’.
Just spent a few days blobbing at Stanton, a lovely bed-and-breakfast establishment at Magra, north of New Norfolk … and yes, I camped as usual in Madam Plush. However, mine host Mark, has decided he has had enough of ‘clients’ and decided to return the property to being a homestead, and a major transformation has [...] Read more – ‘Stanton’s makeover’.
This splendid wall of green overlooking the Meander River at Deloraine was taken through the back window of Madam Plush early this morning. With office views like this, and the gradual return of energy following the traumas of the medical dramas earlier this year, I am beginning to feel rather restless. A lot of ideas [...] Read more – ‘Wall of green’.
Despite its ominous name Dead River Beach is a delightful, peaceful campsite on the Victorian side of the Murray River. It is a popular stopover for river travellers — lone kayakers, groups of schoolchildren on rafts, motley convoys of river craft travelling together, and the usual hoon or two in a beer-fuelled tinny. Behind the [...] Read more – ‘Dead River Beach’.
Thought I’d head off about noon today, but was cut off at the pass. One by one, from mid-morning on, an amazingly eclectic collection of classic and vintage cars began to surround my Mt Franklin campsite. One that caught my eye was the 1927 Double-T Ford truck, above, that came from Kyneton. It started its [...] Read more – ‘Surrounded by the past’.
I slept in a volcano last night — a first. Admittedly is was dormant, and had been for millions of years. This nearby copse of deciduous trees, above, belied the dormancy with its skeletal white trunks and carpet of white, bleached leaves discarded last Autumn. Mt Franklin is just north of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, [...] Read more – ‘Camped in a volcano’.
Roaring Beach on the Tasman Peninsula deserves its vocal reputation on days like this when strong southerly gales combine with southwesterly swells to send wave after wave crashing to shore. It produces a tumultuous white carpet, beautiful to watch, yet awe-inspiring at the same time. And the roar is constant, magnified by the cove’s unique [...] Read more – ‘Roaring Beach speaks’.
Here are three good reasons for wanting to head north before June. All were taken in Tasmania in June. That’s London Lakes in the Central Highlands above, and Lake Dobson in Mt Field National Park, below. And here’s what my windscreen looked like several days in a row last June. Read more – ‘Why I’m heading north before June’.
The white quartz flank of New Harbour Point juts through the wild breakers stretching hundreds of metres out to sea. A setting sun gilds its reflective canvas, throwing it into cheerful contrast with the grey hulk of De Witt Island and the bleak swells queuing up for their death dance on Hidden Beach. For nine [...] Read more – ‘Tasmania’s Southwest National Park’.
Earlier this day my friend Jim Hill had caught a beautifully-conditioned four-and-a-half pounder [sounds better than kilograms] which he passed on to my small group of fellow travellers. That caught everyone’s attention, including these curious swans, and various passers-by, all hoping to see another epic battle. It was not to be. But the next day, [...] Read more – ‘Curiosity got the swans …’.
Welcome to the first of a new series of mini-portfolios of worldwide destinations salvaged from a repository of nearly 90,000 colour transparencies filed away in six filing cabinets at a long-suffering friend’s home. They’re the carefully-culled selection of a four-decades’ long career as a freelance writer/photographer. Below is a small selection taken on assignment in [...] Read more – ‘Fitzgerald River National Park’.