February 22 - Comfort

When we go camping these days we mostly like to do it in comfort, so after years of throwing a tent in the 4WD, we bought a campervan (RV). Now it's like having a little luxury apartment when we go bush. It's nice to have a comfortable bed, shower and loo. The kids gave us a hard time about 'glamping' instead of camping, but they borrow it for their surfing safaris and road-trips, so it can't be too bad ;)

So in this first photo we had just set up in a bush campsite in the Border Ranges (on the border between Qld and NSW) it's happy hour and the wine is poured, the chairs are set up, the mozzie-spray is on the table and the carpet snake is comfortable in the corner ... oh ... maybe we are not so comfortable now ... let's just check on that snake ... yep, a beautiful big coastal carpet python. Took some photos (of course) and sat back with some wine and cheese ... now we were all comfortable again. The snake stayed for a few days, no doubt digesting whatever he had eaten before we arrived (a previous camper maybe?)

February 19 - Clouds

Clouds - I have been looking at a weather book recently that has images of every type of cloud ... I fear it may become a new photographic obsession! Had to look through the files to find a couple of photos here as of course the weekend was clear and cloudless...

The top, almost B&W image shows an apparently rare mammatus cloud formation (named this because they look like breasts) taken in Bathurst NSW. I liked how the one from Lightning Ridge, an opal mining town, looks as though the mullock heaps on the ground are being reflected by the shapes of the clouds in the sky. Of course there is also the iconic windmill against a cloudy sky and the other two are taken from our garden across the hills that surround our farm.

February 17 - Cleanliness

Cleanliness is for the birds! We have several bird baths in our yard but most are hidden under trees where the little finches and wrens feel safe. This one is a bit easier to photograph and was full of noisy mynas having their morning bath. Quite a social event!

February 10 - childhood

Living on the coast, much of my childhood was spent at the beach where we could run and dig and play without the confines of fences or rules. Exploring rock pools and building sandcastles lasted through summer and in winter you just wore warmer clothes. This little chap was meeting sand for the first time and was soon knocking down sandcastles like a pro...

January 28 - Bounds

Two interpretations of 'bounds' today - our kangaroos aren't all the size of the big bloke I posted the other day and they bound around our property, coming down to the river every morning and sleeping in the shade under the trees during the day. This little female was sitting around on one of the walking tracks in the forest nearby - she was so quiet I was able to get close enough to capture her portrait - no photo of her bounding away a minute later though!

Fences mark the bounds of a property or space and this is a fence around one of thestockyards on the farm. The timbers are over 100 years old. Red lichen has grown over the gate, which makes it quite photogenic.

January 26 - AUSTRALIA DAY

An Australia Day bonus post - some iconic Aussie animals and birds - an eastern grey kangaroo that stopped outside our back door for a look inside (scary, check out those muscles!) - some sulphur-crested cockatoos having a chat in the eucalyptus tree and an inquisitive emu.

January 22 - Big and small

Big and small ... the olive backed oriole down by the river has 3 chicks in her nest - so tiny compared to her, yet soon they will be fledged and grown. (you just knew it would be another bird photo didn't you!) so to make up for all the birds - mother and foal grazing in the paddock have almost identical markings :)

January 21 - best friend

Can't help but post some more bird photos for you today

At the coast on Sydney's northern beaches (Collaroy plateau) in winter I came across these gorgeous rainbow lorikeets. They are often quite friendly birds and will allow you to get close if you move slowly and don't startle them. This pair are obviously 'best friends' (though I do wonder what he said...) and allowed me a short series of photos before they flew away.

January 16 - Athletic

Athletic - hmmm, could go with some waterskiiers, runners or gymnasts, but when I think of athleticism I think of the birds and animals here - so the images of the day are a huge wedge-tailed eagle balancing on the wire fence of our orchard so that he could snack on a fruit bat that had died there, a friendly brushtail possum who climbed around the vines near our campsite in the Border Ranges NP recently and some galahs who spent ages entertaining me with their gymnastic abilities until I just had to grab a camera and photograph them.

January 12 - animal

OK, we live on a farm so this one is easy! still, rather than dogs, horses or cattle, you would like to see our other animals wouldn't you?? We have kangaroos, wallabies, platypus, echidnas, snakes, goannas, frogs, quoll, wombats (speaking of wombats, did you know wombat poo is like little bricks, not round) ...

So this is my animal of the day! A lace monitor who lives in the casuarina trees by the river. He is about 2m long and has claws the size of my little finger. Sometimes he comes up and has a stroll through the orchard to see what he can find but mostly he just hangs out in a tree. Enjoy :-) I like the camouflage effect of his skin against the tree bark.

January 11 - angles

Angles - LOL - so many teens write this word for angels that maybe I should do them instead? No, angles it must be and though my original thought was for a fabulous sculpture that has many angles, I have decided to put forward some images of nature at her finest and man's interpretation of her work.

Firstly the hand of nature - Basalt columns formed by (relatively) fast cooling of a thick lava flow result in spectacular, often six-sided columns that create memorable formations such as the wall over which Svartifoss tumbles and the beautiful pillar formations and caves by the sea in Iceland. We have also discovered these in Australia at Mt Kaputar national park (first 2 images). The spectacular cathedral in Reykjavik echoes the beauty and strength of these formations as it pushes up to the sky - man's homage to nature's magnificence.

The photos have had minimal processing (just a little added contrast or exposure adjustment) apart from the first where I added a duplicate layer to bring out the colour of the stone. The image of the cathedral was taken late at night in June 2011.