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Having travelled down the New South Wales coastline it was time to head inland on this last part of our Aussie adventure. Our first stop was in the rural town of Goulburn, there wasn't much in the way of wildlife there but we had heard of a place called Kangaroo Valley. This, as you might expect, is a valley home to plenty of Kangaroos but it wasn't these critters we were after. We had also heard that the valley was home to a thriving population of Wombats. Up until now we hadn't found any wombats so we really hoped that we might be in luck ... we certainly were as you can see below!  Wombat  Wombat We then headed further inland, across the Hay Plain towards the farming town of Mildura in northern Victoria. This is one of Australia's fruit growing capitals but nearby is the remote Mungo National Park. We headed out early on morning driving off the main highway onto a gravel road, an incredibly long gravel road of nearly 100 kms. After a few hours, we finally arrived at this wild landscape in search of the Red Kangaroo. This was the only chance on our trip to Australia that we might see this incredible desert survivor, so we had to make the effort. We struck gold, not only seeing the Red Kangaroos but also the Western Grey Kangaroos and wild Emus.  Red Kangaroos in Mungo NP  Emu in Mungo NP  Emu  Western Grey Kangaroo The next leg of the inland part of our journey took us across another state border to South Australia. We followed the Murray River from Mildura towards the riverside town of Mannum. Nestled right on the edge of the winding river it was a bird-watcher's paradise with a very obliging community of Brush-tailed Possums just to top it off. The possums were fantastic and we loved the mother with her young baby, the images just don't really show the difference in their size. The next morning we awoke to a valley full of a thick mist and I knew I had to go to the waters edge and see what subjects I could find. The Black Swans and the Galahs were just superb and so cooperative, it was a truly magical morning.  Brush-tailed Possum with baby  Young Brush-tailed Possum  Black Swan at dawn  Galahs warming up in the morning sun  Black Swan in the mist over the Murray River  The next part of our journey is to the magnificent Kangaroo Island so come back soon and check it out!
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I have now been travelling around Australia for 7 months, it has been an incredible experience so far. I have loved every moment of it both photographically and just from a life experience point of view. I just hope you have enjoyed the seeing the images as much as I enjoyed taking them. I have been filling up my hard drives, working my camera to death and there is only another month to go now before we move on to Bali and then New Zealand. This final leg 'down under' is a long road trip, heading from the warm sub-tropical climes of Brisbane to the cold temperate coastline of southern Australia. Of course with a bit of semi-arid landscape in the middle just to add a bit of variety. Here are just a few photos from the first leg along the coastline of NSW before we headed inland through the ACT, Victoria and South Australia.  Australian Pelican  Beach Stone-curlew Our first stop with wildlife was the small town of Urunga which is known for its boardwalk across a mangrove habitat to the beach. There is the usual local population of Australian Pelicans who are more than happy to pick up the scraps from the fisherman, they also posed superbly in the perfectly still water and I was blessed with a soft evening light. It all equated to a really artistic shot, very striking but really rather simple. I always remember what I was taught at school ... K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid) and it is often very apt. The mangroves were also home to a small breeding population of the Beach Stone-curlew which were surprisingly obliging on the photography front. The low light levels did make it pretty tricky to the get shots but the high ISO capabilities of the 5D Mark III helped no end. We also visited the nearby Dorrigo NP, famed for its spectacular stand of sub-tropical rainforest. It really is a landscape photographer's dream ...   And back to the wildlife ...  Sooty Oystercatcher  Sooty Oystercatcher  Sooty Oystercatcher with a periwinkle The Sooty Oystercatcher is a bird that I have been trying to find ever since I arrived in Australia, these stunning birds live on the rocky foreshore and can be pretty flighty. It wasn't until we visited the township of Iluka (close to Urunga) before I got my first sightings and they were superbly obliging. Bearing in mind that I only have a 300mm f2.8 lens, my reach is rather limited when it comes to bird photography but these were really compliant subjects! I spent over an hour sat on the volcanic rocks trying to capture them and feel I put together quite a collection. Above is just a small taster of the time I spent at Iluka. I was also accompanied by a White-faced Heron for much of the time.  White-faced Heron Whilst eating my lunch I also had a few cheeky Australian Magpies come and keep my company ...  Juvenile Australian Magpies Our final stop on the first leg of our tour was Seal Rocks. All I can say for this tiny community is ... WOW! It is so peaceful, utterly beautiful and pretty much untouched. A truly special place on this stretch of Australia's coastline, just make sure you don't tell too many people about it! The lighthouse was the real start  Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse  Yet another obliging Australian Pelican  A flock of Australian Pelicans at Seal Rocks Having been in Australia for over 5 months it was about time we had some visitors, luckily for us, my girlfriend's parents came for a holiday. We decided we should show them around some of the areas we already knew in norther New South Wales and southern Queensland. We started off in our old haunt of Byron Bay, showing them the area's amazing national parks and even the marine park. We were very lucky to see turtles and a whole host of other species but as I don't specialise in underwater photography, you'll just have to take my word for it. I did manage to take a few photos of the shore-based wildlife ...  Osprey above Little Wategos Beach  Juvenile Green Tree Frog  Scaly-breasted Lorikeet  A pair of Tawny Frogmouths  Pied Currawong From Byron we headed northwards, stopping for an afternoon at the Daisy Hill park which is famed for its Koalas, we didn't see any Koalas but we did some some lovely Red-necked Wallabies.  Red-necked Wallaby  Red-necked Wallaby  Red-necked Wallaby Our main destination for this mini holiday was Fraser Island which is famed for its population of Dingoes. These wild dogs are thought to be the purest left in all of Australia, due to their isolation. We saw one within only 30 minutes of our arrival on the island but as I was driving I didn't manage to get an image. Thinking we would see plenty more I was a little nervous after two full days without any further sightings. On the evening of our third day on the island, I went for a sunset walk and I was treated to a real spectacle. The sunset was stunning ... but as I was waiting for the light to turn that incredible golden colour I felt like I was being watched.  Sunset over Fraser Island's western shoreline  A Dingo watches me from the clifftop The next day was our last on Fraser Island, we went out in search of the Dingoes first thing but had no luck. Was that to be the last encounter with these beautiful dogs? Well as it turns out, no ... we went to stop for lunch at a campsite and picnic ground we were surrounded. There were two adults and two rather large pups, all seeing what they could scavenge. Of course we made sure not to leave any food behind for the Dingoes, hoping that others did the same.  The large male poses in the dappled light of the forest  The female hides herself away in a grove of small pine trees So for the last couple of weeks we have been based near the popular town of Byron Bay. We are actually up in the hills in the 'hinterland' but the climate is fantastic and there is an amazing amount of life that comes out at night. We are house sitting in the village of Federal and are also looking after a collection of chickens. One of the biggest problems with looking after chickens here is that there are large Carpet Pythons ... only last night I heard next doors chickens sound an alarm but by the time I got there a 2 metre python had already killed one chicken and was trying to kill a second. It was really sad but if we hadn't have got there when we did, then the whole coop could have been lost!  Carpet Python on top of our chicken coop  The python tested the defences systematically  In strike position It isn't just snakes that inhabit the night, there is also an amazing diversity of invertebrates ...     Then there are the amphibians ...  Cane Toad  Bleating Tree Frog  Green Tree Frog  Bleating Tree Frog That'll do for now but I will post some more within the next week. I will also update the details for the invertebrates so they are all correctly labelled.
The last stop on our road trip, from Sydney to Federal (near Byron Bay), Coffs Harbour was probably one of our favourite spots. We actually stayed in the village of Emerald in the caravan/campsite there, it was right next to the beach and it was just lovely and peaceful. Even better for me ... the wildlife was fantastic!  Our first Eastern Grey Kangaroo As you can imagine, I spent quite a bit of time with the local inhabitants ... they seemed completely at ease as long as you respected their personal space (if only everybody respected the wildlife and didn't try to pet it).  Juvenile Eastern Grey As well as the Kangaroos for company we also had some feathered friends too, some particularly noisy and large friends. The Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo is a monster as far as parrots go and they are pretty vocal. They are inquisitive and love to play at the same time as feeding, they even like to see what you are up to.  Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo  Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo The next day we were in for a treat, after a lazy morning around the campsite we decided to head down to the beach. We stayed for maybe half an hour before the strong winds and wind driven sand made us a little irritable. We returned to the tent for a calmer spot to relax and enjoy the blazing sun, of course that meant I ended up photographing the Kangaroos and in particular, a gorgeous Joey who had remained hidden in its mother's pouch since the previous day. As you can see below, it let me get pretty close but that was after sitting with them for a couple of hours and letting them know I wasn't a threat.  Sorry I cut the mum's head off  The lovely little Joey  A really cute little chap  A poser but I couldn't have wanted a better subject. A really wonderful experience with a truly beautiful animal, mammals are my passion and to be allowed so close to such a charismatic character is truly a privilege. As well as some close encounters with some large males the local bird life was also pretty obliging.  This younger male came to within only a couple of metres  A large male standing tall  Yet another posing Kookaburra  Noisy Friarbird  Galah After this, our last stop, it was time to finish our journey by heading northwards and on to Federal. As we packed up the car for the final time before settling in Byron Bay (where we are staying for 5 weeks), I noticed a little stow away which I thought was particularly photogenic.  Our stow away (would love to know the species?) |
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