BIGCOL
Well-Known Member
My Last Report.
Right from the beginning when I started planning for this trip, I hoped to stay at Lake Houdraman. I had visited it previously and new it would be a lovely place to camp and to witness a sunrise over it’s waters. You never know what may greet you at that time each day, and although there was no cloud cover to give it that wow factor, the early morning colours reflected in it’s still waters were still something special.
Whenever I photograph a sunrise/sunset I try to get as many different foregrounds in various shots as possible, to try and give the viewer/reader a feeling of what my total experience was at the time.
Again there were two other couples there that morning and they were still punching out the zeds whilst mother nature was putting on that show.
The next destination that I thought worthy of showing you is Eromanga, special for a few reasons, one of those is explained on their welcome sign to town.
The next reason, is any town that displays things like these prominently along their main street is a town that I immediately like.
Founded in the 1880s when Opal was discovered nearby, in fact the towns first name was Oplalopolis! which not long after was changed to Eromanga, an Aboriginal word for a hot windy plain which in the summer I’m sure this place would be.
The Royal Hotel was originally a Cobb & Co staging post built in 1885, much of that and a few other outbuildings from that period still stand but it has had a bit of a make over in recent times.
What the town is now becoming famous for is the amount of dinosaur fossils bing found locally, including some from Australia's largest dinosaur, titanasaur a species of sauropod, making the area a must visit for palaeontologists and others with such an interest. This is reflected in local architecture and sculptures.
On the southern edge of town a park has been created, although the recent heavy rains caused an access issue for some! There a sculpture has been erected to pay homage to the towns fascinating past, one that goes back millions of years with their dinosaur history!
Daddy (or mummy) was huge and even the little tackers dwarfed Big Col!
I was so impressed with that sculpture, modern and yet connecting with the past, but I had to push on as rain was forecast for later in the day and I wanted to get well south of Tibooburra before it struck.
On the way back to the car I saw this golf ball, really weird for it to be where it was but I occasionally have a hit so I went to pick it up. I was surprised to see it was a Fungi, not something you would think of way out here, not yet fully formed but that’s what it was.
Every creek, every depression every floodway showed signs of those recent heavy rains, and how nice did it look particularly the creeks where months earlier they would have been dry. Native flowers were everywhere which just added to the scene, this Sturt’s Desert Rose took my fancy.
And then I was halted, a road block put my travels further south very much on hold.
I slowly drove on with the occasional toot of the horn, have I ever told you how dumb cows are. Many times I had to slow for cattle on the roads and tracks I drove on. They see you coming they watch you get closer and closer and then they all of a sudden jump and prance about not knowing what to do or where to go, many times I thought just how dumb they are and this group sat there and watched me approach and then all of a sudden there was a stampede in all directions Ha!
A quick stop at the Noccundra Hotel for a pic.
When I left Melbourne I had to do my trip in reverse to allow the tracks and roads around Tibboburra and south to Broken Hill time to dry out, so when I left the pub I was shocked to be confronted with this.
Right from the beginning when I started planning for this trip, I hoped to stay at Lake Houdraman. I had visited it previously and new it would be a lovely place to camp and to witness a sunrise over it’s waters. You never know what may greet you at that time each day, and although there was no cloud cover to give it that wow factor, the early morning colours reflected in it’s still waters were still something special.
Whenever I photograph a sunrise/sunset I try to get as many different foregrounds in various shots as possible, to try and give the viewer/reader a feeling of what my total experience was at the time.
Again there were two other couples there that morning and they were still punching out the zeds whilst mother nature was putting on that show.
The next destination that I thought worthy of showing you is Eromanga, special for a few reasons, one of those is explained on their welcome sign to town.
The next reason, is any town that displays things like these prominently along their main street is a town that I immediately like.
Founded in the 1880s when Opal was discovered nearby, in fact the towns first name was Oplalopolis! which not long after was changed to Eromanga, an Aboriginal word for a hot windy plain which in the summer I’m sure this place would be.
The Royal Hotel was originally a Cobb & Co staging post built in 1885, much of that and a few other outbuildings from that period still stand but it has had a bit of a make over in recent times.
What the town is now becoming famous for is the amount of dinosaur fossils bing found locally, including some from Australia's largest dinosaur, titanasaur a species of sauropod, making the area a must visit for palaeontologists and others with such an interest. This is reflected in local architecture and sculptures.
On the southern edge of town a park has been created, although the recent heavy rains caused an access issue for some! There a sculpture has been erected to pay homage to the towns fascinating past, one that goes back millions of years with their dinosaur history!
Daddy (or mummy) was huge and even the little tackers dwarfed Big Col!
I was so impressed with that sculpture, modern and yet connecting with the past, but I had to push on as rain was forecast for later in the day and I wanted to get well south of Tibooburra before it struck.
On the way back to the car I saw this golf ball, really weird for it to be where it was but I occasionally have a hit so I went to pick it up. I was surprised to see it was a Fungi, not something you would think of way out here, not yet fully formed but that’s what it was.
Every creek, every depression every floodway showed signs of those recent heavy rains, and how nice did it look particularly the creeks where months earlier they would have been dry. Native flowers were everywhere which just added to the scene, this Sturt’s Desert Rose took my fancy.
And then I was halted, a road block put my travels further south very much on hold.
I slowly drove on with the occasional toot of the horn, have I ever told you how dumb cows are. Many times I had to slow for cattle on the roads and tracks I drove on. They see you coming they watch you get closer and closer and then they all of a sudden jump and prance about not knowing what to do or where to go, many times I thought just how dumb they are and this group sat there and watched me approach and then all of a sudden there was a stampede in all directions Ha!
A quick stop at the Noccundra Hotel for a pic.
When I left Melbourne I had to do my trip in reverse to allow the tracks and roads around Tibboburra and south to Broken Hill time to dry out, so when I left the pub I was shocked to be confronted with this.
