Cooktown and Rock Art

Cooktown, Queensland, 17-18 July 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

From the bush camp (posts Laura Bush Camp 1 and 2, with much more rock art), we returned to Laura and then to Cooktown. However, the journey back from the bush camp was quite different for me than the way in. I was hit by gastro on the last night there. I have been to several countries including India and Madagasacar where you need to be careful about directly or indirectly consuming water without having problems but it didn’t occur to me I might need to take care within Australia and fulled my camel (backpack water container) with tap water at Laura. The bouncy and speedy drive in on the tiny four wheel drive was great fun but the journey out was torture and they had to stop several times so I could vomit at the side of the road. From Laura we went straight to Cooktown and I also stayed in bed for all of the next day.

That next day Jools went out and got some medicine for gastro from the Chemist. Unfortunately, we later found it produces hallucinations when you are dehydrated, which is what happens with gastro. I got up during the night for a piss and didn’t turn the light on so as not to disturb Jools. I then saw dogs and cats in the corners of the room though I knew they were not real. Walls completely changed in appearance from one look to the next. The short trip to the toilet became a maze and I became quite disoriented and repeatedly bumped into things. We were in a split level apartment and I ended up falling down the four steps to the lower level in the dark. I bruised my left forearm and severely bruised the palm of my left hand. It took months for my left hand to fully recover but I didn’t hit my head so it could have been much worse. Also, I am right-handed, otherwise I might not have been able to use the camera.

Mouth of the Endeavour River from Grassy Hill Lookout.

The day after that I was semi-recovered and we went for a short drive in the afternoon. We did not see much of Queenstown in our time there but at least our accommodation was a good place to recover.

Grassy Hill Lighthouse from 1886.

Hibiscus flowers nearby.

I think this is Finch Bay, not far from Grassy Hill.

In the late afternoon we visited the bird hide at Keating’s Lagoon.

These are images from trees in the river along the way.

I might have been able to get closer images off the path except that the crocodile warning signs made that inadvisable. More images from here in the next post.

The following day we joined a rock art tour with Culture Connect and set off along this road.

We stopped at a river crossing that we later drove through.

Looking down the river.

Later, on foot, a stream crossing requiring care when carrying camera gear.

Rock art. Kangaroo.

Lungfish maybe?

Turtles on the left.

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We walked to another rock art site.

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Crocodile, northern quoll perhaps, cassowary (maybe emu), fish, head of the previous figure.

Crocodile.

This image and the next one were taken looking upwards in a cramped overhang space that was logistically quite awkward.

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Xanthorrhoea flower cone.

View from the road on the way out.

Laura Bush Camp Day 2

Dec25

Near Laura, Queensland, 14 August 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

(For the benefit of some Americans who may be reading this, this post has absolutely nothing to do with Laura Bush).

Gnaingar.

On our way to another rock art site, this is the flowers of Gnaingar, or Eucalyptus Phœnicia, or Scarlet Gum, endemic to the far north of Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia.

A kangaroo, perhaps.

Male figure.

Female figure.

Main figure a snake, probably dreamtime serpent.

Fish, perhaps.

A cave for special female ceremonies.

Inside, dragonflies on the walls.

At the next site, perhaps a family group. Appears to be made by a negative process with removal of colour.

Two females, one over a long figure perhaps snake, eel or lungfish.

Here is the site overall. You can see some of the figures shown above.

We dropped down to a pool fed by a small waterfall.

A tree trying to grow in a most surprising place.

Contorted trunk and roots of a eucalypt beside the pool.

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On the move now. Taken from a moving four wheel drive vehicle. There has been some fire stick farming going on to manage the land. This involves small scale slow cool burns that do not escape to destroy land and wildlife.

Images on the move.

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Passing a large termite mound. The black pole with a blue cap is on the vehicle.

Back to the main rock art site.

I was looking for a different perspective this time. Most of my shots on the previous day were taken with a very wide angle lens (Fujifilm 8-16mm) whereas most of these were taken with a moderate telephoto (Fujifilm 80mm macro).

These figures may be very old, maybe 20,000 years.

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The upside-down person represents someone who has transgressed fundamental rules of the society and received serious punishment such as exile or death.

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Given how far north we are, this is probably a cassowary rather than an emu.

Dingo at the front.

A wider view with many figures.

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Back at the base now, probably after dinner. The is a macro landscape with some combination of ground cover, bush and miniature tree.

Rock Art.

In other words, Art created by the Rock.

Balanda Rock Painting.

Perhaps reminiscent of the cargo cult of Papua New Guinea, this is designed to encourage the great gyroscopic whirring bird to drop from the sky.

Night sky from near the tent, a ten second exposure from 5:30am.

If you are on a PC or Mac, this image will appear very dark against the white page here. You need to click on it for a larger version to see it properly.

There is also something moving in the sky with a somewhat discontinuous light, perhaps a satellite or a plane.

Lockdown is for the Birds

Aug29

Brisbane, Queensland, 1 to 6 August 2021.

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Butcher Bird.

At the end of the last post, we had stopped off in Brisbane for a couple of days en route to a photographic tour in North Queensland, when our progress was arrested by a sudden seven-day lockdown. So we spent the next seven days with our friends Jim and Milena in their new home, and with the birds that either visited or lived there.

The same Butcher Bird from the verandah (also then next two images).

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Back inside, with Percy and Polly (Rainbow Lorikeets) and Milena. One of the lorikeets is interested in learning how to use the coffee machine.

The other, not so much.

On the verandah again, two Kookaburras.

Juvenile Magpie soaring up for food. this one has a damaged foot.

Juvenile Magpie on the rail (the adults are black rather than grey).

The Australian Magpie is not related to the Eurasian Magpie. It is related to the Butcherbird, though.

Kookaburra.

Though we were in a city, we were able to go for a brief walk in a forest nearby.

Inside with the lorikeets again.

They are very fast inside the house and challenging to photograph.

Ironically, I had brought a Nikon D850 and 300mm f2.8 lens (plus teleconverters), specifically for photographing birds in flight, mainly from various bird hides I expected to encounter. I did not anticipate the my BIF photography would be indoors.

These indoor images were all taken with a Fujifilm X-E4 and a 27mm f2.8 lens (40mm full frame equivalent), heavily croppped. I couldn’t predict when and where they were going to fly I needed loose compositions. They are all on 1/2,000 sec because the lorikeets are very quick and light levels were quite low so they are all on high ISOs, more that two thirds on 6400 or 12,800. As well as that, this was a new camera and when I had set up Custom Quick Menus, I hadn’t realised that as well as the values on the Quick Menus, there were also many other values I needed to set or they would revert to the original camera defaults. This meant I was shooting JPEG instead of RAW so many of the images are lacking highlight or shadow detail.

This might represent an interesting lorikeet decal on the splashback except that it was a bit too transient for full appreciation at the time.

Lorikeet and Jools.

Percy and Polly powering past.

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Also a Budgie, even more elusive on the wing.

… and here playing hide-and-seek.

Back on the balcony, an adult Magpie in midair leaping for food, plus a Butcher Bird.

… Coming in to land ….

Magpie pair.

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Again, a lorikeet as an interior decoration….

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Jim with Percy and Polly.

It was difficult to find lockdown information at this time as the Queensland Government told people not to ring them and if you did, you could wait for a long time and then drop out. Eventually, we worked out that we were free to fly back to the ACT, even while the lockdown continued in Brisbane. Jools did so first, I did so after receiving an email from the ACT Government advising against further travel.

Now Queensland is out of lockdown and we are in lockdown in Canberra. The main problem is New South Wales, which failed to lockdown for ten days after their first case and is now spiralling out of control with over a thousand cases per day. (That won’t sound high if you live in Montenegro, Malaysia or Miami but is the highest we have seen in Australasia). (The other problem is the low vaccination rate, due to the incompetence of the Federal Government). Fortunately it doesn’t seem too bad in the ACT and we may be out of lockdown in a couple of weeks, though the situation remains precarious.

At the water’s edge

Aug15

Brisbane, Queensland, 31 July 2021.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size.).
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We are on our second day in Brisbane, staying with friends, en route to Northern Queensland, or so we thought.

Though inside Brisbane, we are on a scenic drive that goes in part through a national park, and we are looking down some distance at a house on farmland. It appears to be the mansion of a drug baron. Perhaps a nineteenth century drug baron. Probably opium, in that case.

Near the road, we noticed this compact granny flat. Specially adapted for natural air conditioning.

And in the distance there are these massive ancient megaliths. Some of them may be more than a hundred feet high. How they carried the stones there is a mystery.

It’s not fire season yet so this was presumably burning off. These days severe bush fires can occur even in winter though.

We proceeded on to Wynnum, where we visited a cafe and then wandered out onto the pier. Beside the pier, this I believe is a gazebo martin (though usually known as a tree martin). I tried to get them in flight as a test of camera settings for that purpose but they are very fast and I did not succeed.

Wynnum pier. The martins were building a nest in the roof of the right-hand gazebo.

Next we visited the nearby East Coast Marina and I photographed some of the yachts sailing around and in or out of the marina, from the end of a pier.

Also, a couple of dragon boats. Going out…

…then coming back in.

Small yacht returning to the marina.

Two launches and a yacht coming out.

The red sign at the left is not blank on purpose for the benefit of people who cannot read, rather it is a marker for the dredged channel. The water can be otherwise quite shallow around here.

A launch and a windsurfer exploring the possibility of flight.

I think the same windsurfer.

A small flotilla of launches coming in on the channel.

You can see the channel marker in the mid background (in itself an indication the water is not as deep as it may seem).

There was a parasurfer there as well.

We are now around behind the marina and a paddle-boarder is proceeding out. He may not require as large a mooring as those catamarans.

The boat at front in the middle is an old pearling lugger with a Maori name, which may indicate it was used by Maori divers.

We are now a bit further south at Cleveland Point. There are a number of cormorants on this tree.

With a slightly different angle, I am now shooting into the sun. It is still a colour image but the extreme contrast has wiped out the colour.

This is the old Cleveland Point Lighthouse, no longer in use. It has an unusual design and was built in 1865. It is a State lighthouse for local navigation so was not amongst the Commonwealth lighthouses I photographed in 1987 (Lighthouses tab, at top of page).

Half an hour after I took this photo, Brisbane went into a sudden COVID lockdown for at least seven days. We worked that out later when we drove past a pub that had no patrons. No flight for us to North Queensland early morning the day after next.

Fortunately, we were able to stay with our friends for the duration. The lockdown did end after seven days but then there was a North Queensland lockdown for another three days. That also ended after the three days and I would have waited and kept on going but I received a letter from the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Government advising against further travel. The problem was New South Wales where COVID was out of control by Australian standards because the NSW Government waited for 10 days before locking down. Had I kept going I risked an ACT lockdown and either having difficulty returning or returning to 14-day hotel quarantine (as opposed to the much more benign home quarantine).

So after five days, I abandoned the North Queensland trip and returned to Canberra.

Meanwhile, we stopped for the sunset at a beach a bit further south near Victoria Point.

… as the light slowly receded.

MacLeay Island in the background and South Stradbroke Island beyond that.

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An obliging pelican swam up and posed for me.

The light was getting very low and although I was using a lens with good image stabilisation, that does not compensate for subject movement and I underestimated what shutter speed I needed so the pelican in this image is not actually in focus. (I decided to show it anyway because of the feel and the colour).

A last image in the gathering doom….

Then when we got back home, I went to change lenses on my cameras for more compact storage and discovered I was missing a lens – actually the new lens from my recent post on Setting Up the X-E4. It had fallen out of my bag.

Clearly it wouldn’t be there the next morning so notwithstanding the lockdown, I went back to try to find it. I thought it had probably fallen out of the bag when I bent down to take a photo using a small post as support.

When we got back to where we had been, I immediately saw it on the road where the car had been parked. It had fallen out when I got the bag out of the car, about eighteen inches to two feet. Fortunately I hadn’t run over it. It was unmarked, had no apparent ill effects and still worked fine including autofocus. (Phew!)

Mount Tamborine

Aug8

Brisbane, Queensland, 30 July 2021.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size.).
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Just before dawn, we headed off on our flight from Canberra to Brisbane, the first step of our journey to North Queensland.

… though as it turned out, we would not get to North Queensland, rather turned back due to COVID lockdowns.

We met up with our friends Jim and Milena, and later headed for Mount Tamborine. This is a view looking inland over the plains.

… and over farmland.

The weather seems to have been changing considerably and is not quite how I remember it, though perhaps that is the infrared sensor and processing.

We stopped at a cafe for lunch.

And then we headed for the Mount Tamborine Skywalk, so the remaining images are from there.

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The bunga bunga pines are towering over the rest.

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Eastern yellow robin (male).

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These two images looking straight down at some distance.

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Natural Bridge and Coomera Track

Aug18

24 July to 26 July 2017, Lamington National Park, Queensland
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The second day was something of a rest day because we’d found Dave’s Creek Track more arduous than expected, so we went for a drive to Natural Bridge. This image combines multiple exposures to enhance shadow detail, which you appreciate more if you click on the image to see it larger.

A huge log lying in the creek below the natural bridge.

Back in the carpark, this bush turkey was eagerly patrolling in vain expectation of a handout.

Long exposure after sunset on the way back.

The next day, five of us elected to undertake the 17.5 kilometre Coomera Circuit. This was to be the highlight of the trip. This is a section of the Coomera Falls.

Not sure of the name of this waterfall.

Alan below Bahnamboola Falls.

Greg below Bahnamboola Falls.

Another view below Bahnamboola Falls.

Just at the very bottom of Bahnamboola Falls..

Gwongarragong Falls.

Moolgoolong Cascades.

A small waterfall above Moolgoolong Cascades.

Funghi on a log on the way back.

Temperate rainforest on the return path.

The side of a tree on the return path.

Back Alcheringa, another view from the balcony. I actually took this to demonstrate panorama processing but it also serves as an illustration of the magnificence in front of you that you may not think to photograph.

The next day, returning to the airport, we had some extra time so took a side route and were fortunate enough to see these paragliders just launched at a steep dropoff beside the road in North Tamborine.

Not many or even no posts for a month or so. I’m off to Tasmania tomorrow and will probably not have internet access most of the time.

Alcheringa, Dave’s Creek Circuit and Tullawallal Circuit

Aug16

26 July to 28 July 2017, Lamington National Park, Queensland
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A group of seven of us from the Canberra Photographic Society visited Lamington National Park for a few days of walking in the rainforest.

This is a view from Rosin’s Lookout on the way in. Mt Warning is in the middle in the distance (We are looking from Queensland towards New South Wales). Ship’s Stern is to the right of Mt Warning and Springbrook Plateau to the left, rising towards Best Of All Lookout just left out of picture. Also, Springbrook National Park is to the left of Mt Warning and Lamington National Park to the right.

From pretty much the same point, here is a farm far below in the valley. All sorts of interesting details if you click for a larger view.

We stayed at Alcheringa, a wonderfully appointed house and cottage with magnificent views, and right next to the main complex of Binna Burra.

We are looking north but I’m not sure of the name of the mountain. Maybe Mt Tamborine.

The last two images were in the evening when we arrived. This and the next are before dawn on the next day. All from Alcheringa.

The first full day we went for a walk in Dave’s Creek Circuit. Here are some backlit ferns along the way.

From one of the lookouts, a view of a distant cliff in Springbrook National Park.

Looking down from the same lookout on the distant forest.

A Xanthorrhea (grass tree) flower head and bare Hakea branches.

The tip of another Xanthorrhea flower head (complete with bee).

Trees and cliff faces near Molongolee Cave.

Looking down into the distant valley from Numinbah Lookout. That’s not a farm below; it must be a hotel, religious retreat or conference centre. If you click on the image to see it larger there is a man on a horse beside an old wagon. However, I think it is a statue and not a real horse and rider.

Surprise Rock with tree and xanthorrhea.

Looking up at the tree beside Surprise Rock.

The next morning, we went a walk to Tullawallal Circuit, where there is an ancient stand of Gondwanaland Beech trees. This red-necked pademelon was at the top in the undergrowth. Not the best of shots but taken with a long lens in broken light and what can you do?

A branch of a tree fern nearby.

An epiphyte catching the light as it grows out of a Gondwanaland Beech tree.

Binna Burra and Tasmania

Aug13

24 July to 28 July and 19 August to 18 September 2017
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My trips this year are in Australia. At the time of writing, I have just come back from Binna Burra (Lamington National Park, Queensland) and in a few days will head off to Tasmania where I will walk the Overland Track in winter and undertake a “Wineglass Bay Sail Walk” in a 70 foot ketch.

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I visited Binna Burra in Lamington National Park with members of the Canberra Photographic Society, seven of us in total. This is an upland temperate rainforest area. We stayed in self-contained accommodation with wonderful views, undertook several walks of up to 17.5 kilometres and journeyed by car to Natural Bridge in Springbrook National Park.

Binna Burra Index of Posts

Tasmania Itinerary and Index of Posts

19 August: Ferry to Tasmania (Melbourne to Devonport)
20 August: Northern Tasmania
- Liffy Falls State Reserve (also Notley Fern Gorge)
21 to 27 August: Overland Track in Winter with Tasmanian Walking Company
- Waldheim to Barn Bluff
- Barn Bluff Hut to Pine Forest Moor Hut
- Pine Forest Moor Hut to Kia Ora Hut
  - Pelion Rainforest
  - Pelion Gap
- Kia Ora Hut (Rest Day)
  - Kia Ora Falls
- Kia Ora Hut to Bert Nichols Hut
  - Rainforest near Du Cane Gap
- Bert Nichols Hut to Narcissus Bay
  - Rainforest in Snow
- Monochromes
  - Monos 1
  - Monos 2
27 August: Pick my partner Jools up from Launceston Airport
28 August: Cradle Mountain
29 to 30 August: Mt Field National Park
- Cradle Lake and Russell Falls
- Lake Dobson
- Styx valley (Big Tree Forest Reserve) (/ Also Creepy Crawly Nature trail)
31 August to 2 September: Bruny Island
3 September: Bruny Island to Hobart
- Hartz Mountains National Park (Waratah Lookout/ Arve Falls/ Lake Osborne)
- Tahune AirWalk
3 to 6 September: Hobart
- Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)
7 to 11 September Wineglass Bay Sail Walk with Tasmanian Walking Company
Monochromes
12 September: Hobart
- Japanese Garden with Duck
13 September: Drive to Devonport and catch ferry to Melbourne
14 to 15 September Melbourne
- Dodging a Deluge in Melbourne
16 September: Geelong
- Blues Train with Chris Wilson, Andrea Marr, Jimi Hocking
- Geelong Botanical Gardens
18 September: Drive back to Canberra

Blues on Broadbeach 2017

Jun2

Broadbeach, Gold Coast, Queensland, May 2017.
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Briefly interrupting the stream of posts on South Georgia for a post on a Blues Festival….

I photographed a wedding for some friends and they shouted me and my partner Jools a weekend away at the Blues on Broadbeach Festival (though Jools was unable to come).

The Turner Brown Band was one of the highlights of the festival. Dom Turner has been an eminent player on the Australian Blues scene for decades and he brought Nikki Brown and the Browns back from Ohio to play with him in Australia. Friday was a day of torrential rain and they were moved inside to a small café. I was lucky to be in early and be able to get up front. Raw rollicking energy plus expert musicianship.

This is Mojo Webb, whom I hadn’t seen for many years, with the rain thundering down outside the tent.

I ducked back to the flat for some reason and this is the view from the corridor near the lift, in the pouring rain.

Fortunately we had (free) tickets to Russell Morris, who has been around since the 60s but who has reinvented himself in the last few years with a series of great albums. Almost all other gigs were cancelled from 7:30pm but we were able to relax in a huge concert hall with 2,000 other people. This is taken from a long way back.

Ezra Lee (playing with his band), still going in a pub late on Friday night.

The next morning, this is Craig Bracken and Hal Tupaea of the Flaming Mudcats, from Auckland New Zealand. A great band previously unknown to me (though I have often seen Hal playing bass for Ray Beadle).

Gloria Brown, Turner Brown Band. Different day, different venue.

Louie Shelton Bluesband. Louie, from USA but living in the Gold Coast, has played as session musician for many eminent rock bands over the years.

Tomcat Playground, from Canberra and Sydney. A very familiar band but always great.

Peta Lee, with the rhythm and blues band The Vibrolators, from Western Australia.

Kevin Borich.

The big event on Saturday night was the Are You Experienced 50th Anniversary Concert, with a succession of maestro Australian guitarists. (This and following three images). It was played from a marquee at the end of a road with a huge crowd on the road so it was difficult to get close. These images were taken at as much as 600mm equivalent and may be further cropped.

Harts.

Jimi Hocking.

The 50th Anniversary stage near the climax of the concert.

Next morning I went to have breakfast at a café with enticing music issuing forth. This is the James Street Preachers.

Shane Pacey Band.

A block away from the skyscraper zone, here is the beach and it is now a fine day.

Little Billie.

Al Britten, playing with Wards Xpress.

Wards Xpress, at the climax of a number.

Darren Jack, whom I have often seen at festivals, playing in a small crowded venue with an excellent band.

Ian Moss, the big act to provide a crescendo for Sunday.

I wasn’t official photographer so I had no need to try to cover all bands. However, this festival showed me that my Fuji equipment lags behind my Nikon equipment for this purpose, mainly for autofocus. Especially at 12,800ISO, it could take several seconds to find focus and focus was not always precise. I still got good shots but missed more than usual.

Phil Barlow of Phil Barlow and the Wolf, playing in a small bar in the dying hours of the festival.

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There are links to many more images from Broadbeach 2017 on the Other Blues Festivals page.

Alternatively, there is the direct link in JAlbum (with overview images and images by band organised by folder).

For other images of a particular band I may have taken since 2006, see the Musicians and Bands Page, which lists links alphabetically by band.

Lighthouse Monochromes – Queensland

Apr20

1987, Queensland, From Dusk Till Dawn

When I put up colour images in this Blog from the Bicentennial History of Australian Lighthouses From Dusk Till Dawn, I also intended to put up some monochrome versions. I recently realised I overlooked this and am doing so now.

Most of these images were taken with large format 5×4 cameras using Fujichrome 50 slide film (Velvia did not exist then). A few were taken with medium format cameras Mamiya 645 and 1937 Rolleiflex TLR. Some (which should be easy to identify were taken with a Nikon FE and a 16mm fisheye lens.

Click links for posts on lighthouses with more information and colour images.