Things you don’t necessarily want to hear from the pilot as you’re coming into land: “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re turning the seatbelt sign on, there seems to be some thunderstorm activity around the airport”. Cue one of the bumpier landings I’ve ever experienced. But we made it.
No artistic merit to this pic at all, but it represents the fact that tomorrow I am starting a 4-week road trip that is going to take in eleven separate flights, three national parks, three major cities and four smaller ones, two Australian states and all three principal islands of New Zealand. And there was you thinking it only had two, right? But don’t worry, the laptop is coming with me, so you’ll see it all on here, I hope.
Blimey. I haven’t seen anyone doing this seriously in years, possibly decades, have you?
This is Debs who is a regular of the Railway (you’ve seen it often enough) – she has been here for a while visiting family and we both happened to be in Brisbane tonight, so shared a couple of Guinnesses (there they are) at the Irish pub with its cool balcony on the corner of George and Elizabeth Streets. Sláinte!
The east exit. It does get busier than this during the week. Taken as I returned from the airport having transited (on a very bumpy flight) back from Adelaide. The lonely ‘wet floor’ marker – placed there for no reason I could discern – gives it a sense of pathos I think…
What is it with Antipodeans and their urge to fling themselves off high places? Don’t expect any bungee jumping action shots from me on my upcoming trip to New Zealand, either. Glenelg is one of Adelaide’s beach suburbs, very busy today but it does have great sand so one can see why. Last day in South Australia, back to Brisbane – briefly – tomorrow.
Hard to resist the temptation to stick another ‘Flora/Fauna’ post up today but I have done so, purely for a change of theme. Mind you, to classify this as an ‘Urban Scene’ is pushing it. Penneshaw reminds me of the West Coast of Scotland, beautiful and remote; surprisingly so, in fact. This pump, powered by the wind, served as the town’s mains water supply until as late as 1965, and mains electricity did not come to Kangaroo Island until 1975. It’s a great spot and at several points over the last four days I have been quite seriously planning my move here: but now it’s time to go back to what is often termed ‘civilisation’, though I have my doubts. I leave on tomorrow morning’s ferry.
Every place has sea, and rocks, and sky, and even if these may be more of themselves in Australia, they are still basically familiar. What I like is the unfamiliarity of the flora and fauna, its basic difference – like the ubiquity of these eucalyptus trees, and their amazing skeins of bark and the leaves that when you rub them between your fingers smell like Vicks’ Vapo-Rub. This tree grows in the garden of the Penneshaw YHA, where I spent all the day working, and all I had to do to get this shot was just point the camera upwards.
Toured Kangaroo Island today and saw plenty of interesting creatures both in the wild and in sanctuaries of one kind or another, including kangaroos, koalas, goannas, seals, wombats and more. Good landscapes too, but as I did a landscape yesterday, the wildlife theme is more appealing – and this emu wins because I love its deep red eye sitting in its otherwise bland plumage like a jewel. Vicious-looking thing however – was glad it was behind a fence.
A thoroughly prosaic name for a very beautiful spot. Penneshaw is a little town (population 1,500) at the point where the ferry arrives on Kangaroo Island from the mainland – which can be seen in the very far distance of this shot, this being the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula, south of Adelaide.
When I arranged to have my sabbatical here in Australia, and spend the first part of it travelling while I started on my book, this is pretty much the kind of place where I pictured myself. I’m here until Saturday. This is good news.
