Swagnit pics

[swagnit]

nice pix swagnit, please start a new thread and put all your fabulous ozzie outback pix there so we can all find them easier :)
pretty please?

Well I pulled out pics, comments etc from the other thread, hope I haven't fucked it up too much.

I'm no bloody photographer, but hopefully it gives those who are interested some images, so's to speak.



Cheers
Swagnit

[swagnit]

Some Western Australian pics.



Cable Beach, Broome.
Scrub fires at the end of the dry season make for great sunsets.
Possible semi-retirement spot Flipflop?





A jasper reef at Marble Bar. (yeah they thought it was marble when they named the area)
Can be hot as hell, with a record of 160 consectutive days with max temp above 100deg F.
BTW the only pub in town is up for sale-
http://www.realcommercial.com.au/business-sale/3070773





The waterholes in the same region can however make for a beautiful contrast.



Cheers
Swagnit

[swagnit]

Fuck yeah! I'd retire in Broome mate! I'm taking the little woman there next time we visit Oz. That pic of Cable Beach just about sums it up - I've seen a lot of sunsets in a lot of places - none of 'em beats Broome

Cheers for that

A few drinks watching the sunset and she'll be sold on the idea. ;)

Around the other side, the turquoise waters of Roebuck Bay.


'Stairway to the moon' across those waters and the Broome photo trifecta is in.




And for some contrast- looking out into the desert, Maree, South Aust.


Home of Tom Kruse, a man a hell of lot harder than his Hollywood namesake. (in fact a harder man than most)
http://www.lastmailfrombirdsville.com/lmfb_kruse.html


Cheers
Swagnit

[swagnit]

Man, that looks like some bad-ass country out there.

It's hard country, but the predictability makes it reasonably safe, and easy enough to travel if you're prepared.
I rekon it's country that throws up the unexpected that'll bite you on the arse.

For example I was walking through a pictureque range of hills. Al looked quite non-threatening.
The rocks underfoot gave way. Busted my tibia and tore my knee up.
With no vehicle access, and being about 5hours drive from town, getting out was one shit of a job.

The tropics also look sweet, albeit hot and humid.
Insects like sandflys and mosquitoes are a given.
But working in the wet season, a small cut on my leg turned into some fucked up infection.

As to bad travelling country.
For simple moving around on foot, it's spinifex grass that'll piss you off. (seen on the side of the range pictured below)
No major threat, but it can be hard and sharp, and the little spines break of in your skin and itch like shit.
It also burns in a flash and has bought about the end of many a vehicle when built up underneath.

Journals of early explorers travelling through spinifex country rarely go without mentioning how much grief this stuff gave them.
Prior to camels, when horses were in use, it would tear at their legs, and many were lost.




Cheers
Swagnit.

[swagnit]

The 'Mad Max' of control towers.
Port Hedland, an Iron town so everything around the port has a coating of red dust.






Cheers
Swagnit

[swagnit]

One tough tree.


Growning in country where spinifex is the main vegetation.



Cheers
Swagnit

[swagnit]

I never got as far as Port Hedland last year mate, but me and the missus want to go back and see more of WA - maybes next year? and we may drive from Perth all the way round to Broome or Darwin again, PH will defo be on the itinerary as is "80 Mile Beach" - how cool a name is that?

Cheers

You'll have a ball flopflop.

If your gunna be traveling through the Pilbara area, then a trip inland can also turn up some great spots.
For example those last two shots were taken at Pannawonica, and there's some spectacular scenery through there heading from the coast.
(I can't take photos that do it justice)
Keep heading inland along that route and you'll get to Millstream, a spring fed inland water system.

Travel though country like this-


And when you hit beautiful deep fresh water swimming areas like this and you're in paradise.


Kick back and camp on the river bank, sip a few coldies over a barbie, and the cockatoos will put on an evening show as they come in for a drink.


Cheers
Swagnit.

[swagnit]

Mate, you should be getting paid a commission by the Aussie tourist board, you're selling it well. If'n we do come out some time next year I will make a point of hiring a 4x4 - the little Toyota car was good fun but I was always wondering what lay beyond the main highway in the real bush. I'll find you and stand you a tinny from the nearest bottle-o

Cheers

Would there be croc's in a swimming hole like that ?

No, it's too far south and it's also a long way inland.

The far Northern areas have the Crocs and then it's only the salt water crocodile that'll really stuff you up.
In the Kimberly (Northwest) for example, you'll find fresh water crocs in some of the inland fresh water spots, but the nature of the coastline (the water flow to the ocean over a plateau) means that the salties can't get in.
That's not to say if it's fresh water you're always safe.
Some areas of the Kimberly are accessable from the ocean via the rivers, and salties can be present so a knowledge of the area is a must.
Moving further across the top and there's water holes etc that appear isolated, and safe, but flooding in the wet season, and a large increase in numbers since culling/hunting was banned, will see them move over land some distance.

Sorry, if my description is a bit confusing but the North, although only a part of the country, is still a large area so I've tried to generalise.

Swimming and fishing is just something you have to approach with care across the top.
Behaviour around known croc locations is also something people have to consider.
For example, visit the same point of the river bank repeatedly, and they'll get wind of it, and be in waiting.
Filleting fish on the river bank, and having a dog running around slashing in the water, and you're just plain asking for trouble.

All sounds bad, but on the whole, do it right and there's no problem.
It's not like there's people getting snatched by crocs all the time, usually just somebody doing something stupid.

And then there's the grog.-

ALMOST a third of crocodile attack victims in Australia have been affected by alcohol, a study shows.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16981583-29277,00.html

Cheers
Swagnit.

[swagnit]

Thanks Swagnit. Opened up a whole new place for me. Great stuff.

Thanks Swagnit, my uncle lived in Aus for many years and would tell stories about riding his motorcycle across the continent, and all the crazy stuff he saw and did. His sister and husband currently live in NZ.

If I lived there though, those crocs would get whacked at every opportunity. I don't hold with preserving species that restrict human freedom of movement and action, especially by eating you. That's just the kind of flabby thinking that made the neanderthal die out and stuck the redskins in whisky soaked penury.

Slippery slope though nowonmai.
Start 'minimising the risk' and before long removing the risk becomes an institution.
Risk gets removed, accessability improves and we get a whole different variety of visitor, resulting in the place getting fucked up.

Left as it is, you get travellers like flipflop.
Somebody who puts some thought and determination into the experience, meaning the places will be treated with respect and taken for for what they are.
(not to mention numbers will be limited)

Make the place soft and fluffly, and you get the lazy tourist.
The type who rock up in the packaged tour, tick it off the things to do list, and grade the facilities on a scale from 1-10.
Currently, that they have a rough trip in, have to dig a hole to take a crap, and may get a nasty hole torn in their inflatable pool furniture is hopefully enough to keep them away.

Luckily the above scenario is practical anyway.
Once you've knocked over a bunch of crocs, the ones that are still swimming would be the sneeky fuckers.


Cheers
Swagnit.

[swagnit]

The super pit open cut gold mine-
Around 350meters deep.
A bloody big hole that dwarfs the machinery operating in it. (the larger trucks pull out a load of 225tonnes at a time)





http://www1.superpit.com.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Pit_gold_mine

This third photo is not mine, but it illustrates the size of the place.Town is in the top left of the shot.




Cheers
Swagnit

[swagnit]

An old cemetery in the bush.
Probably one of the best ways to find any old settlement, although in this case any sign of buildings is long gone.



Such elaborate headstone is not that common though.
Getting it made would have been one thing, but freighting it would have been expensive exercise back then.



Looking down an old mine shaft in the area.



This one saw operation a bit more recent than the one above.
Timbers are in better nick, and a steel box section fitted to the top.



I had a bit of a poke around in an old declining shaft, but I crap at photography and it was too dark to get a decent shot.

Didn't break a toe on big nugget either,,but one day.


Cheers
Swagnit.

[swagnit]

Some ruins up the way from the gold area.
Would have been a grand place in its day.





And some of you may have heard of the rabbit proof fence (didn't end up keeping the rabits out)
This section is still maintained as a vermin fence.




Cheers
Swagnit.

[flipflop]

Great stuff mate, looking forward to more

Cheers

[swagnit]

Deserted beach along the Southern coast of West Aus.




Inside a sheltered bay.


Flowering plants in the beach sand.

The sand down there white white white, which can be a trap for new players.
I've seen tourists at a town back along the coast from this spot, that have spent a mild day on the beach, only to end up looking so red with sunburn you'd swear they'd glow in the dark.

Cheers
Swagint

[swagnit]

Great stuff mate, looking forward to more

Cheers

Thanks mate.
I'll see what I can dig out.
Probably heading of Tuesday for a few weeks into some country that should be looking good at the moment.

I'm pretty poor for heading out on trips and not taking any photo's. Digging through my stuff has made me realise just how poor.
Time to make an effort me thinks.



Cheers
Swagnit