South Australia
RIVER MURRAY INT'L DARK SKY RESERVE South Australia
The Reserve covers over 3,200 square kilometres. It has more than 20,000 hectares of public conservation parks, farmland, privately-owned wildlife reserves and significant wetlands. The Reserve includes some 80km of Australia’s largest river, the Murray River. There are 20 Dark Sky Reserves (different from Dark Sky Places) in the world, with just three in the Southern Hemisphere located in New Zealand, Namibia and now Australia.
The frames below were shot just as a severe storm was brewing in the area around Cambrai town, along Monkey Corner Road.
These are gravel roads and the violent wind gusts made the taking of these frames very challenging, yet fun! (in fact more shots had to be abandoned as the gusts and swirling dust clouds made it impossible to take photographs).
ABOVE: Pre-storm starry sky
BELOW: Storm clouds gather and lightening flares are visible in the distance
BELOW: This was captured in the midst of violent dust clouds swirling around (visible at the bottom right corner of the frame)
Full moon in the Reserve near Palmer Lookout, on a clearer night
FLINDERS RANGES & REGION South Australia
The Flinders Ranges began forming about 800 million years ago, when an ancient sea deposited sediments in a basin known as the Adelaide Geosyncline (a large-scale depression in the Earth's crust containing very thick deposits). Around 300 million years later, the basin sediments were folded into mountains during a mountain-forming period. The mountains have since eroded. However, the folded and faulted rocks remained and were uplifted in the last five million years to create a rugged landscape filled with sandstone, mudstone, limestone, and quartzite.
For more information click HERE
The photos below were taken during a four day exploration of the area; it is definitely the first of many more planned photo-trips trips to one of the most magnificent destinations in the world.
ABOVE: Sunset-glows over a part of the Ranges
BELOW: After sunset
L & R: Homesteads of early settlers that succumbed to the harsh conditions
BELOW: Frames that capture the typical landscapes
BELOW: Spalding (a small town that's in the Flinders Ranges region) in the Clare Valley which has a refreshing scenery!
ADELAIDE - STREET ART
Adelaide is home to a diverse collection of public artworks scattered throughout the city and we did a tour of the city to view some of its many street artworks. Most of the art is physically centred in the Adelaide central business district, though it can be found in the suburbs as well. What was once painted over or removed by local authorities is now more often recognised and cultivated by state and local governments through supportive policies and events. Local businesses are commissioning their own street art installations for their buildings, adding colour and life to the public spaces they occupy. A lot of Adelaide’s street art takes the form of legally commissioned murals (rather than illegal acts of rebellion), which graffiti is often associated with.
BELOW: A photo-tour of some of the Street Art of Adelaide
SEMAPHORE BEACH
Semaphore is about 14km from Adelaide and we find its white sands and friendly shallows a lovely place to relax. The photos below were taken after sunset at borderline blue-light time.
ABOVE: Nature, human wonder and technology combine in this frame
Urrbrae House
The frames below are from a visit to Urrbrae House, an ornate two-storey bluestone mansion completed in 1891 as the home of Peter and Matilda Waite. It was the first home in Adelaide to have electric lights, and also a refrigeration system installed in 1895. Today, Urrbrae House is an accredited museum with the History SA and part of the University of Adelaide’s Waite Campus.
The photos below take us on a whistle-stop tour of some of the sights outside and inside this beautiful building.
ABOVE photos capture perspectives of this beautiful house that nestles among trees and is surrounded by a vast and tastefully kept garden
ABOVE: Inside the main entrance hall
BELOW: The interior, while grand by today's standards, has a'homy' atmosphere notwithstanding. We were fortunate to get to see the basement floor (where the downward stairs are in the second photo from above left), where it was easy to see that this was a much lived-in home first before the historic heritage building it now is.
Stoessel Gertler Piano (c.1880) still in 'play'!
ABOVE: The dining room from opposite sides - the family would use the smaller table for their private meals
The library beckons one to sit and read!
Books and antique encyclopaedias
One of the fireplaces in the house
ROBE
We visited Robe, a small but very historic town and fishing port in the Limestone Coast of South Australia. It has a distinctive combination of historical buildings, ocean, fishing fleets, lakes and dense bush. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 998. Robe is one of the oldest towns in South Australia and was founded just ten years after the Province of South Australia was established. It was named after the fourth Governor of South Australia, Major Frederick Robe, who chose the site as a port in 1845.
Robe's most famous landmark, the Obelisk, was erected in 1855 to guide ships into the bay. The Obelisk was used to create a landmark to navigate the entrance into Guichen Bay and to store rocket fired lifesaving equipment for stricken ships.
For at least 30,000 years, the area was home to the Bunganditj and Meintangk peoples.
CLOCKWISE from top left: Very early on a winter morning - these four frames capture a progressive view of pre sunrise to sunrise; the top two frames capture the pre-dawn blue light. These were taken with long exposures using a tripod and positioned on some excitingly treacherous rocks we had to navigate!
The Robe Obelisk was constructed in 1855 by the local builder George Shivas at a cost of £230. It was used to create a landmark to navigate the entrance into Guichen Bay and to store rocket fired lifesaving equipment for stricken ships.
BELOW: The four frames show the rough waters around Guichen Bay
ABOVE: A section of the old Robe Gaol
BELOW: We traveled on the Old Coorong Road to Robe (from Adelaide) and were rewarded with some beautiful countryside
The Granites - while they aren't spectacular they are an interesting rock formation at Kingston beach
BELOW: We visited Robe House, a charming building built in 1847. It was the first to be built in Robe and from its early years served as the home of the Government Resident. It has played an important role in this town's history. It was built from locally quarried sandstone and features high vaulted ceilings and rustic floorboards.
It is now converted to 5 fully furnished, self-contained bed-and-breakfast apartments.
This Paifang, meaning archway in English, is a traditional Chinese gateway with a memorial or decorative element. This Welcome Gate commemorates the arrival of approx. 16,500 Chinese starting with the 267 who arrived in 1857 in the tall ship 'Land of Cakes'. Robe was used to avoid the ten pound poll tax imposed by the Victorian government of the day. These Chinese then walked the 500 km plus to the central Victorian goldfields around Ballarat. Their arrival in Robe transformed the city’s economy.
The 10-foot-tall stone monument below also commemorates the migrants. It has a plaque showing images of a ship, mining gear, and Chinese workers carrying their belongings.
St. Mary's Star Of The Sea
Built in 1858, this was the first place of worship completed in Robe and one of the earliest Catholic churches in South Australia
Ormerod Cottages
BELOW & RIGHT: A historic building named 'Switzerland' - we met a very sweet old lady who said her family owns the building (we could not verify this!) but she had some fascinating tales around the history of the place (which we could not verify either but the conversation was fun!).
Customs House Robe
BELAIR NATIONAL PARK
Belair, in the Adelaide Hills, was the first national park in South Australia and second in Australia after Sydney's Royal National Park.
Belair was originally inhabited by the Kaurna Aboriginal people and the area was called Pradli, which means “baldness”, because the appearance of the area when looking south from the Adelaide Plains was “bald like the moon.”
ABOVE: Windy Point
BELOW: Old Government House in Belair National Park - it was the former Vice-regal summer residence of some of the early governors of South Australia. Fully restored in the 1970s and upgraded in 2001, the building is an example of Victorian-style architecture during a significant period in South Australia’s history.
Carrick Hill
We visited Carrick Hill which is Australia’s most intact period mansion, sitting in a 100-acre estate in the Adelaide foothills. It has some spectacular views stretching to the ocean. It was built in the 1930s by Ursula and Edward Hayward, and houses treasures bought on their honeymoon in England from the demolished Beaudesert Estate in Staffordshire.
In keeping with the English manor house style of this unique home, aspects of an arts & crafts Edwardian style garden have been created, with views across Adelaide to the ocean. Two Elm trees on the western terraces frame one of Carrick Hill’s most breathtaking vistas.
A young photo-bomber!
Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens
The Mount Lofty Botanic Garden spans 97 hectares and overlooks the picturesque Piccadilly Valley. It has cool-climate plants, which thrive on the eastern slopes of Mount Lofty. We visited on a cloudy day but the charm of the gardens was not diminished - in fact we got a different and enjoyable perspective of this quiet and relaxing place.
MOUNT LOFTY VIEWS
Mount Lofty Summit, the peak of the Mount Lofty Ranges in the Adelaide Hills, gives spectacular panoramic views across Adelaide’s city skyline to the coast. The peak rises more than 710 metres above sea level.
HAHNDORF IN AUTUMN
Among our favorite towns in South Australia is Hahndorf. Settled by 19th-century Lutheran migrants, it’s known for its original German-style architecture and artisanal food. The photos below were taken during one of our mid-autumn visits.
