Tag: Western Australia

Do look back … 30 November 2019

I think reflecting on the past month is a wonderful way to take a breath …DSCN8809.jpg
I’ve come to realise in the past few months, it is at home and in my garden is where I find best balance.
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Where birds comes to visit me for a change.
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I’ve enjoyed a long drive between Carnarvon and Geraldton.  This is my favourite roadhouse along the way.  I found out this area is prone to flooding when it rains, and quite beautiful with numerous billabongs that attract birdlife.  The change between spring to summer has been swift.  It was a hot drive.DSCN7120.jpg
The highway between Carnarvon and Geraldton is long and lonely.  My colleague and I always feel carefree in these parts.  We usually stop here and stretch our legs at a lookout that overlooks Gladstone Beach in the far distance.DSCN8824.jpg
Geraldton has become my second home.  I’ve grown to love this place and the easy lifestyle.DSCN9956.jpg
Returning home from trips I found the gooseberries were turning into jam on the bush from the heat.  What happened to spring, this year?DSCN9961.jpg
The mulberries are plentiful and most out of my reach, except for my zoom.DSCN9988.jpg
In Esperance the wildflowers have disappeared and birdlife is plenty.  This wattlebird was as curious about me, as I was of it.
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The wildflowers have disappeared in Foxes Lair too except for a hardy few.  I saw a blur in the bush and found it was the tiny pink trigger plants.DSCN7043.jpg
The pied stilt was gorgeous at Chinaman Pool, in Carnarvon, at sunset.thumb_IMG_0376_1024.jpg
I’ve just returned from being away for nearly ten days and found Perth is sweet home, after all.  Now that came as a surprise to me!

It’s the first day of summer tomorrow.  I’ll be starting it in the heat of the Goldfields.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to The Changing Seasons – November

Wardandi Boodja, sculpture that speaks

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Wardandi Boodja, Bunbury Foreshore, Western Australia

In the last couple of years I’ve noticed, along the coast of Western Australia, there has been a focus on making art accessible to the community, and in particular sculpture, one of my favourite art expressions.

I have driven past this sculpture, Wardandi Boodja, on the Bunbury foreshore many times and as many times, photographed it.  There is something very powerful about the sense of ‘connectedness’ this sculpture conveys.

The indigenous culture of Australia is one of the oldest in the world and deeply connected to land and sea.  The indigenous people regard themselves as custodians of the ecosystem.  In all the photographs I have taken, this picture reflects this wisdom in his eyes.  It comes alive when a glint of sunshine, visible only if one is lucky enough to see the light, speaks of this.  The artists Alex and Nicole Mickle consulted with the indigenous people of this region, who decided they wanted the sculpture to represent all families in the face of an elder custodian.  He is not one person, but all.  There is power in this statement, alone.

The sculpture is enormous at 5.5 metres high and weighing 4.2 tonnes of steel, yet it has the lightness of being and, despite being placed alongside a children’s playground, the stillness of silence.  Most of the children who come here to play are too young to read the poem.  And, unfortunately, most adults read their hand held screens these days.  If one lifted one’s gaze they would read what the sculpture speaks to:

Sand and water and time move through our fingers;
damp from the sea, the land clings to us –
salty and healing.
Slow down and listen to that whisper in the trees,
slow down.
Listen to the ancestors, bworan moort, keepers of the land
singing to the silvery kwilena
They leap and call.  Hear them –
they have come to play,
come to listen.
Swim, koolangka, chase the seagulls, laugh in the clean air.
See, where serpent rivers swirl into brine,
where maali dip long necks in living water.
Step gently here.
The earth is under our skin,
and Wardandi boodja keeps a warm fire burning.

NOTE:  Bworan moort: Old people/ancestors; maali: swans; kwilena: dolphins; koolangka: children (original citation found at http://www.brag.org.au)

This is my first contribution to Sculpture Saturday and I’m pleased to share my part of the world with you.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to Sculpture Saturday – Week 7

 

A Walk in the Park …

I work all over this big State of Western Australia, so naturally, this vast land is my neighbourhood as I am rarely home and, I post pictures regularly from wherever my work takes me.  It is rare for me to share pictures from my neighbourhood.  I have posted these pictures some years ago and the prompt is a good reminder to explore the world closer to home more frequently.DSCN6149.jpg
My home adjoins Yellagonga Regional Park, some 1400 hectares of protected land of which nearly half is protected wetlands.  This area is four doors down from my home.  The land in this area is laden with cultural significance for the regional indigenous people and is part of their Dreaming.  I only became aware of this some years ago after a walk through the park with an elder as part of my workplace cultural learning.DSCN9900.jpg
I love that this place teems with new life.  I recall the sheer delight in discovering the black swan’s cygnet is white.DSCN7775.jpg
There are spaces where the Australian shelduck and I can catch our breath.DSCN7786.jpg
Ancient gum trees for company.DSCN7789.jpg
As I approach this roundabout in spring, I have to be careful about the Wood Ducks that use the pond as a nursery before taking their family across the road to the Lake.DSCN9771.jpg
This spring there have been many new families that have arrived over the last six weeks. This year I’ve seen school children stop and take pictures with their phone as they walk home from school.  I love watching their discovery through the lens.

This is my little oasis where other birds, too, call home.  Glad I could share this with you.

As always

a dawn bird

In response to A Photo A Week Challenge – In the Neighbourhood

To each, their own …

I woke this morning in Exmouth and felt a sense of elation.  I felt like my own self again.  Focused.  Enthusiastic.  Productive.  And, seeking joy.   It has taken exactly one month for me to feel 100% again.thumb_IMG_0481_1024.jpg
Sunrise, Exmouth Gulf, Exmouth, Western Australia
I found joy watching the sunrise and being early Saturday, Town Beach was deserted.DSCN9795.jpg
I had the whole beach to myself at 5 am.DSCN9787.jpg
I watched the tide recede and as it did, I rummaged through the debris.  I love these gifts of the sea.  thumb_IMG_0478_1024.jpg
I had time to drink champagne and laugh and not take life too seriously.thumb_IMG_0483_1024.jpg
Enjoy the fabulous surrounds of Ningaloo Reef Resort with a note to self, to return in 2020.  Not only is it a beautiful hotel, the staff are wonderful too.thumb_IMG_0486_1024.jpg
Delight in the perfection found in nature.thumb_IMG_0490_1024.jpg
It was too hot to drive to Turquoise Bay, so indoors with air con or leaving windows open for sea breeze, was the best idea.

Good food, good drinks, good company, an empty beach and a feeling that all is well.  That’s my idea of khushi (Hindi for happiness).

It’s a simple recipe, worth repeating.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Saturday – Cushy

Nancy Merrill’s A Photo A Week Challenge: Open Topic

I visit the Central Wheatbelt area in Western Australia, on a regular basis.  Although it is only around 260km, it is around 3-3.5 hour drive East of home for me.  The highway is dangerous.  It runs east and west, so some drivers are always driving into the sun early morning or at sunset.  It is a narrow road, and used by roadtrains and with open farmland on either side, there is always danger of fox and kangaroo as well, at dusk.

But the landscape is stunning at sunset.  For years I’ve been trying to get to this region at the right hour to capture it.  I often see the sun setting in my rear view mirror and it takes my breath away.  This month I timed it almost right.DSCN8895.jpg
In a paddock between the small township of Kellerberrin and Merredin a lone tree stands.  I have photographed this tree many times and each time, it speaks the same message loud.  Against all odds, still standing tall.  The message  has become my daily mantra.DSCN8900.jpg
Between Doodlakine and salt lakes at Baandee Lake I had to stop in near darkness and take this photograph.  In the silence, the sky roared in colour, and soon it was dark.

There was a time I did not have the temerity to get out of my car to take photographs on this trip.  It is a lonely drive when the trucks have zoomed on.  I’m anxious to just get to my accommodation.  These pictures are special to me because the landscape, nature, spoke louder than my inner voice of anxiety.  I’m glad I listened to it.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

 

In response to:  A Photo a Week Challenge – Open Topic

This, too, is karma …

I’ve just returned from Esperance.  It is probably the first trip in dozens that I did not visit magnificent West Beach.  There was something in the air at Woody Lake that kept me there, something  more than the fact I was on my own at dusk and early morning.  I got there early and waited.  I’m not sure for what.  I just surrendered to the serenity of the moment that lasted two hours this morning.

The kangaroos were too quick to photograph and disappeared into the scrub before I could focus.  Soon there was birdsong.  Nothing I have heard before.  It was a nursery choir with unfamiliar sounds, all tuning up to perfect one day.  But not today.  Today, the off key cacophony made me smile.

The scrub was filled with little chicks.DSCN9080.jpg
Not yet afraid, the Silvereye held on …DSCN9120.jpg
To catch this tiny bird at breakfast with an even tinier spider made my day.DSCN9121.jpg
It was as curious about me as I was of it.  I wandered around for a couple of hours and as I was leaving I spotted something white in the scrub.DSCN9083.jpg
A tiny, fluffy grey fantail chick.DSCN9092.jpg
With sun beaming at, or was it from, her chest.  I was dazzled.DSCN9125.jpg
Another juvenile played hide and seek, with several attempts at spreading the tail.DSCN9095.jpg
There was another chickDSCN9183.jpg
And another, resting after play.DSCN9102.jpg
And my first ever glimpse of a juvenile cuckoo.

Where does this delight in birds come from?  Perhaps it is this …

As a child I yearned to be free.  Free as a bird I would say to my mother who tightened apron strings.  Even birds have to conform to the flock she would caution, or they die. I thought I was invincible, as I threw a “Not me!” over my shoulder and out the door.

I believe I knew what I wanted from about the age of six and every step of my life’s journey has been activated, framed, motivated by that one desire.  To be free.  I’m not sure what I wanted to be free of, but I knew I wanted freedom.

I believe I’ve achieved my childhood dreams.  Is it karma?

I have lived a life of freedom and on my terms.  Every step I have taken, every decision made, has led  me to this point.  I have not lived life passively or as an observer.  I have lived my life, as intended.  And, I’m not done yet.

Karma is not a b*tch.  It is not life’s punishment for something bad you may have done, or rewarding you for something you have done right.

Karma is not a backward glance.  Karma is filled with hope and is forward thinking.  It is an acceptance, at any point of one’s life, one has the ability to change the course of how one lives, if one chooses to do this.  It’s taken a long time to come to this realisation.  So I start new each day.  Yes, life can be that simple for me.

May your steps today lead to good karma.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

Word of the Day Challenge – Karma

Australian icons …

I know they are not the farmer’s friend and they can cause chaos on country roads at dusk but to me, an unexpected encounter with a wild kangaroo is a delight.

I’m always careful early morning in Foxes Lair, Narrogin, in the south eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.  At dusk too, when I drive through.  I usually see a kangaroo or even a small mob.  This morning I was later than usual and got there around 7 am.  The early morning walkers had already gone through the reserve except for one.  I often see him with his dog and he’ll say a few polite words.

I inched my car through the narrow pathway heading to the car park when I heard a gentle rustle.  A joey!DSCN8958
It hopped in front of the car and then went behind a small shrub, yet so close and within reach.  Oh! that look!  I melted just like that.  DSCN8965
The joey hopped away, stopped and looked around as if searching DSCN8967
… this is a quintessential Australian bush scene.DSCN8969
Then I saw mother.  I’ve only noticed the third kangaroo (to the left of centre) when I uploaded the pic.  They blend in so well with the bush and being shy creatures they can slink away into the scrub very quickly.DSCN8977
All three crossed to the other side of the reserve.  As the mother and joey hopped away, the male stood upright, his stance unmistakably, don’t mess with my family.  I respected his guard and waited until they were out of sight.DSCN8992
When I could no longer see them, my gaze scanned the ground.  Since being in the Murchison, I’m now interested in animal tracks, too.  I don’t believe I have ever seen tracks made by a kangaroo tail, before.  A first for me!

I’m home overnight and leave again tomorrow.  As the year is winding down, I feel a bit fatigued.  I know I’m not comfortable in my skin when I feel this way.  Besides, today has not been a good day.  What a difference 12 hours make.  I drove home with roadworks and big farming machinery on the highway slowing my trip only to find a hotel has messed up my booking.  I accept people make genuine mistakes.  But when one tries to cover up with a lame excuse, that’s something I find hard to accept.  I feel I let myself down by losing my cool.  I wish I had taken a deep breath.  What’s done can’t be undone.  I’m expecting to get the worst room in the hotel when I get there!

But for now, I think I’ll just go and indulge in some comfort food … Vegemite on barely warm toast, a slather of butter and a cup of tea.  I feel better already!

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Tuesday – Butter

 

 

The wildflowers are blooming!

It’s about a two hour drive between Geraldton and Morawa through farming country and a drive I always enjoy.  This time, being wildflower season, it was awesome.  It would have been more awesome if I prepared for being covered in pollen and dust.  I was cavalier, “Oh! I’ve never suffered from hayfever!” was my dismissive response.  But I’ve returned home with bigger bags under my eyes than in my hands and feeling totally dehydrated.

This was a bucket list item and worth every discomfort.DSCN7074-2.jpg
We left Geraldton and the vivid, fluoro yellow canola fields behind to enter wildflower country.DSCN7075.jpg
There were acres of yellow, white and pink pom poms, millions of them.DSCN7078.jpg
Egg yolk paper everlastings, too.DSCN7088.jpg
Just carpets of flowers as far as the eye could see.DSCN7105.jpg
These flowers were on shrubs, native, no doubt.DSCN7110.jpg
And entwined around small tree limbs, the gorgeous, delicate, fringed lily.DSCN7118.jpg
I chased this little one from tree to tree.  His call, beautiful and melodic and so strong, for a tiny bird.  My first photograph of a black honey eater.

I’m home for a couple of days resting before another round of travel next week.  And, then, the Murchison region, the Midwest outback.  I’ll heed advice and remember to pack some anti-histamine!

As always

a dawn bird

In response to Word of the Day Challenge – Advice

Yay!

It’s the first day of spring tomorrow and I feel a sense of urgency for today to end.  I have filled my month of September with wonderful things to do before I am housebound to recover from the scheduled surgery.  I feel I want to do it all … just in case.

One of the things I plan to do in September is visit the Murchison Region.  I had gone there on a work trip last year and promised myself I would return in spring.  The Midwest Outback is awesome country.  Wide open spaces, ranges, old gold mining country.  I’m hoping to see lots of wildflowers at this time of year.  The trip will be basic.  We have to take our own food, and accommodation will be even more basic.  But there will be a canopy of stars at night that I have never seen before, so I’m up for it! DSCN7686
I know for sure there will not be any beautiful beaches.thumb_IMG_3317_1024.jpg
No cosy four poster bed in a rammed earth cottage to keep warm on chilly nights.
thumb_IMG_2333_1024.jpgNo avocado on toast and fresh orange juice for brekky.thumb_IMG_3314_1024.jpgNo chocolates and wine at the end of the day unless we take some of our own (reminder to self).thumb_IMG_2339_1024.jpg
As we will be in the Nowhere, there will be a dress code though, so I’m taking my best sunhat with me, veiled of course, to keep the flies off my face.thumb_IMG_2343_1024.jpgAnd there may be a road train or two for company.

I’m ready for September!  I feel like it’s the home run I need before October rolls in like a storm cloud.  Right now all I can think of is the open spaces, red dust and blue sky and there will be a generous serve of that waiting for us.

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird

In response to RDP – Saturday – Enthusiasm

Yellow, the colour of welcome

Yellow ribbons are symbols of ‘welcome home’ and I find it interesting as autumn becomes spring, yellow is the first colour you see in the West Australian bush.  On my bush walks in Esperance and Narrogin I felt this deep sense of being welcomed back where I am always happy.  Spring brings hope of new life.  On wet gloomy days there were splashes of brilliant yellow to liven the landscape.  The wild orchids have arrived early too.  They are tiny and exquisite.  And, then … my first glimpse of a Western Golden Whistler who was singing his little heart out.  DSCN9532DSCN9512DSCN9390DSCN9367DSCN9524.jpgDSCN9405.jpgDSCN9264.jpg
These were some of my happy moments in the past month and I’m happy to share them with you.

As always

a dawn bird

In response to A Photo A Week Challenge – Yellow

Things of wonder

I’ve been working on reports since 7 am and just coming up for air.  I browsed through my recent photographs and recalled the wonderful afternoon at Pebble Beach, just outside Exmouth, Western Australia, a place where I exhale.

There are beaches around the world made from pebbles.  For us in Australia it is a novelty, much like Shell Beach, in the Shark Bay area, which is made up of trillions of shells.  I love Pebble Beach!  It is about 13 km out of town and worth the trip as far as I’m concerned.  Although the road off the highway is unsealed, you no longer need a 4WD to access the entry to the area (if it hasn’t rained).thumb_IMG_5511_1024.jpg
The pebbles are all shapes and sizes, some exquisitely tiny.thumb_IMG_5499_1024.jpg
They look like a melange of sugared almonds.thumb_IMG_5503_1024.jpg
Some are the size of tiny potatoes, in colour, too.thumb_IMG_5508_1024.jpg
The pebbles are deposited at this beach by the tides that gather the stones from an escarpment, their journey, their narrative, told in touch and sight.  The stones are silky smooth and wonderfully tactile.  They are as soothing as handling ‘worry beads’.

What makes me bend down to pick one pebble over another is something I don’t know.  It is just a visceral response, a connection, inexplicable and an undefinable yearning that is deliciously soothing, once the pebble is in my hands.  Much like the simple reach, to walk hand in hand.

May your Sunday be one of wonder in simple things.

Until next time

a dawn bird

In response to One Word Sunday – Relax