An Outback Odyssey
by
Barry McKnight
What do we do when we purchase a new video camera? Of course, we race out and use it as quickly as possible. What do we do if the new camera is one that will revolutionise the industry and make all our previous footage obsolete? Well, we jump in and do something really spectacular to put it to the test. The camera in question here is the new Sony HDR-HC1. The first of a new breed of High Definition video cameras aimed at the ordinary consumer. Sure HD Cameras are not that new on the market, but so far they have been priced well above the level where anybody can rush out and buy one, and they were not exactly what you would call "compact". Sony caught us all unawares with the sudden release of the HC1 on the market here in Australia, last August. We were fortunate enough to be able to test a prototype before the general release of the camera, and were very much impressed with the astounding quality of the image, and the small size of the camera. A few design faults were evident at the time, like the terrible bottom loading and the lack of a telescopic viewfinder, which would cause a real problem when a larger battery was used. Add to this the smaller accessory shoe, and the fact that all the controls were on the small LCD touch screen. Deciding, however that the amazing image quality over rode all the faults, my colleague, Roger Cowland and I went ahead and bought one each when they were released on the market a month later. As soon as we took delivery we raced down to the foreshores of Sydney Harbour to test them out. It was one of those magical days with the sunlight shimmering on the water under a clear blue sky that overlooked a harbour full of activity with ferries and yachts passing each other against a backdrop of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge . Behind these two great structures stood the tall towers of the city looking sharp and impressive in the bright sunlight. Again the footage was stunning. Never before had we seen amateur footage that looked so brilliant when shown on a wide screen HD TV Set. It seemed to be the ideal time to take a holiday and go off in search of subjects worthy of these new revolutionary cameras. Where to go? Where else but in our own back yard. Australia, the island continent. All 7,600 square kilometres of it. Our Winnebago motor home was standing in the front garden, just itching to hit the road. It was now spring and an ideal time to go travelling. Not too hot for the tropics, and the south should be free of the icy breath of winter. It was also a chance to perhaps catch up with the West Australian wildflower season that one constantly hears about. So we packed up all the gear, added the small Canon for night shooting and the much loved SonyTRV 900 as a back up camera, grabbed our maps and charged forth. The journey across north western New South Wales to the outback mining town of Broken Hill was a surprise because the country was supposed to be in the grip of a drought, yet it was lush and green and dotted with wildflowers. Broken Hill is a great mining city in the heart of the Outback, with a lot of history and fine old buildings. Another surprise awaited us at the small opal mining town of Coober Pedy, a town that we have always tried to avoid in the past due to its ferocious heat and swirling dust storms. This time the weather was calm and very pleasant, so we booked ourselves on a tour of the town. Why didn't we just drive around and take our pictures you ask? For the simple reason that little of the town is visible on the surface. It is mostly underground. Bookstores, Hotels, Shops, Cafes, Churches, and even a camping ground are all beneath the surface. The reason for this is because summer temperatures can get as high as fifty degrees, yet below the surface it remains around a pleasant twenty two degrees. There is no need for expensive air-conditioning in the summer, or heating in the winter. It may sound like it could be depressing living underground with nothing to look at but dirty rock, but the rock that supports the town, is a soft pink, and therefore adds a bit of colour to what would otherwise have been a rather drab environment. One of the tour’s highlights was a visit to an underground church, which was one of the most beautiful church interiors that I have ever seen. It was beautiful in it's simplicity, carefully carved as it was out of the pink rock with a minimal amount of decoration. Despite the 7 Lux rating, our cameras recorded this rather well, even though it was lacking in a strong light source. Leaving the following day, we pulled up beside what looked like a petrol bowser, put in our money, inserted the nozzle, squeezed the handle and topped up the motorhome's water tank. Water is a very precious commodity here as the town has no natural water supply and relies on bore water which is pumped in from a bore 25 kilometres out of town. Our next stop, Ayers Rock, or Uluru as it is now called, has its own on site water supply which comes from a bore that accesses Australia’s great artesian basin. It is this large underground reservoir of water that makes life in Australia’s vast dry inland possible. The Rock, and the nearby Olgas could be described as a photographer’s paradise with their various moods and constantly changing colours. As the actual climb up the Rock was closed due to high winds, we instead, walked around the base exploring its numerous caves, many of which have examples of ancient Aboriginal rock art. Sometimes the light around the Rock itself plays tricks with the eyes, and it is easy to see why this place has so much significance in Aboriginal folk lore and legends. Wandering further along on my own I came to what looked like an interesting place and set up the camera and took a shot of it. As I shut away the camera and walked along further I came across a sign the said “Sacred Site. No Photographs”. I looked at the site and found that it was the place where I had just taken my shot. “Oh! I thought.” and looked quickly around to see if anyone had noticed. I seemed to be alone and went on my way to find Roger. Up until this point things had been going very well, but, as we left Uluru the following day, watched by a small Thorny Devil sitting beside the road, the motor home hit a bump, which was then followed by a slight thump from somewhere in the vehicle. We did not think any more of it until we stopped at a rest area for lunch and found that we could not open the bathroom door. This would normally not be any great tragedy as it is not used for the purpose that it was designed for, as we prefer, instead, to go into caravan parks at night and use their facilities. What it was used for however, was as a store room for our beer and other things. Now this was a major tragedy! We were locked out of our grog room. With a mirror held over the top of the door Roger was able to ascertain that the bump had dislodged the broom which had somehow managed to fall diagonally across the bathroom and lodge itself up against the door lock. It was absolutely incredible that it was able to do this and jam the door so completely. It seemed, at first, that we would have to smash the door in, but with much effort, and by using an awning rod, a wedge, the mirror and much brute force, we were finally able to get the door open. The door lock was really mangled by now, but not mangled enough however, for as we were standing back congratulating ourselves about how clever we were to get it open, a sudden gust of wind came from nowhere and slammed the door shut again. We couldn't believe it! Despite the lock being mangled, the door had locked itself again, and we had to repeat the whole painful process once more to open it. As we were leaving the rest area I said to Roger “Um - er, there is something I should tell you!”. After my confession I had to promise to Roger that I would not mess with any more Sacred Sights!
Kings Canyon, a few hundred kilometres away, was next on the agenda. Fortunately it had only just recently had its access road and facilities updated, thanks to the publicity it received in the Australian movie "Pricilla, Queen of the Desert". It was a first time visit for both of us and we found it visually stunning with its red rock cliffs rising majestically above the green wildflower strewn plain below. We looked at the initial steep 150mtre climb, and then at our tripods, cameras and backpacks and then thought that if Priscilla could make in her\his high heels and evening gown, so could we. The 6 kilometre hike around the rim was again a visual delight, with the landscape covered with ancient weird rock formations, steep gullies, sheer cliffs and twisted gum trees with white trunks. Hiding amongst it all was a small valley that is known as the "Garden of Eden", complete with palm trees and tumbling waterfall. This little oasis is a sanctuary for bird life and rare plants that are remnants from a past era when the climate was vastly different. The hike took up most of the day with the new Sony cameras running almost non-stop. It was here that we were glad that we had the large batteries, even though they rubbed up against our noses due to the lack of a telescopic viewfinder. After a very enjoyable stay at the Canyon Resort we travelled on to Alice Springs which is always a joy to visit. As a water deprived Sydneysider I gazed in envy at the sprinklers watering the green lawns and people freely hosing their gardens, something we had not been able to do for years due the long running drought. Yet here in the middle of the desert, everything is lush and green with no lack of water at all thanks to the great supply of underground water. Maybe they built Sydney in the wrong place! A couple of days were spent here exploring the spectacular MacDonnell Ranges with their colourful gorges and the even more spectacular Standley Chasm. After checking out the Centralian Desert Park where the unique desert wildlife is on display, we then began travelling north to Katherine to take a trip up the Katherine gorge. On the way we stopped at the Devil's Marbles to get footage of one of nature's jokes. It is here that acres and acres of the landscape is scattered with huge rocks, many with smaller round rocks sitting on top of them. The rocks on top look so finely balanced that to the eye, it would seem like a quick shove would send them rolling away. The eye deceives however, for these "marbles" are a lot bigger and heavier than they appear. While shooting a wide shot of the picnic area at the back, a willie-willie suddenly blew in sending people running out of its path and scattering papers and rubbish all over the place. This was really great because it gave me a scene with a bit of action in it. A willie-willie is a miniature tornado that occurs in very hot and dry areas. They are usually too small and too short in duration to be considered dangerous. (and are sometimes a lot of fun!) The road to Katherine is a long and lonely road, and fuel stations are few and far between. As we approached the Barrow Creek Roadhouse, one such fuel stop, a pair of wedge-tail eagles suddenly appeared on the road ahead feasting on a chunk of road kill. We hit the brakes quickly and honked the horn to warn these huge birds to get out of the way. Unfortunately for them, because of their size they cannot immediately take off and require a bit of a run first. It seemed appropriate that we meet these predators here at Barrow Creek, for this is where back-packers Joanna Lees and Peter Falconio were ambushed by their predator.
Next on the agenda was the crossroads town of Katherine. It is situated on the banks of the Katherine River which is normally not much bigger than a small creek, but during the wet season it often has a sudden change of character and becomes a raging torrent that often floods the town. Katherine is a big attraction for tourists who take boat trips up the spectacular Katherine Gorge. After a wonderful boat trip through the towering chasms of the Gorge where we viewed ancient Aboriginal rock art, and got close and personal with a few flying foxes, we headed north again to Kakadu National Park. Here another boat cruise took us through the beautiful crocodile infested lagoons of Yellow Waters. On arrival at the camping grounds at Cooinda an elderly gentleman saw me walking about with the camera on the tripod and came hurrying over. "Like to see some bower-birds" he cried out excitedly. I certainly didn't have to have my arm twisted to see these strange birds and in no time at all we were on our hands and knees, peering under some bushes. Inside, in the shadows was a beautifully constructed bower with the floor in front of it covered with small white pebbles and bits of green glass. The male, in this case of the Greater Bower-Bird species, builds the bower then collects white or green objects to lay in front of it to attract the female. (Oh! were it that simple with we humans). Waiting here with the camera paid off as the bird eventually returned, inspected his white pebbles and did a little dance. The next morning the shuttle bus delivered us to the wharf at Yellow Waters. It was an absolutely perfect day, still and sunny, with the cruise boat gliding gently across the clear calm waters. Gloriously idyllic, except our passing was noted by the huge crocodiles basking in the sunshine along its banks. It was particularly disturbing when one decided to swim along side the boat. I had the strangest feeling that I was at a smorgasbord luncheon, where we, on the boat, were the offered food, with the crocodiles lining the banks, the prospective diners! Spring is the best time of the year to see these nasty looking beasts as it is "The Dry" in the Northern Territory. This is the time of the year when water holes dry up, and the wildlife concentrates itself around places that have permanent water, like Cooinda. Our cruise takes us past flocks of Whistler Ducks, Magpie Geese, Night Herons, Darters sunning their wings to dry them out, a couple of Azure Kingfishers, Jacanas (sometimes called "Jesus" birds because they appear to walk on water) and a Jabiru. A Jabiru is a type of stork, black and white with a beautiful iridescent blue neck and head. This Jabiru was tugging at something in the ground, which, as we watched, turned out to be a large snake. With one final tug the Jabiru pulled it out and proudly walked off with it dangling from its bill. Great stuff, and all captured on the Sony HC1 cameras. While at Glen Helen gorge, west of Alice Springs, we met again some fellow travellers who had befriended us at Coober Pedy and, knowing that they came from Western Australia, we asked them about the wildflower season. The outcome of our queries was that they convinced us that a "must see" for us were the Wreath Flowers. I had seen a picture of one of these unusual flowers in a wildflower guide book in the past, but I must say I viewed the picture with a certain degree of scepticism. They insisted that they were real and that if we reached the area where they grew, around mid September, we would, in all probability, be able to see them for ourselves. It was the third of September, and we had not planned to be in that part of Western Australia until late September. To get there on time we would have to step up the pace, and shave a few days off our schedule. If we left Cooinda after the cruise, we could arrive in Darwin for the Adelaide River Jumping Crocs cruise in the afternoon, instead of the next day as originally planned. There was very little traffic, and the road was pretty flat so we could cruise along at a the maximum safe limit. The bush on either side was scattered with huge Termite mounds, a sure sign that we were now in Australia’s far north.
Because of the mostly flat road and little traffic, we made the Adelaide River with time to spare, boarded the large double decker boat and set off with cameras at the ready. We were only a few hundred yards out into the river when the first crocodile was seen heading towards the boat. The procedure is that food is dangled from a pole held over the side from the top deck, and the huge beast swims along side the boat and leaps out of the water to grab it. Which is precisely what it, and many others did, that afternoon. It is quite an incredible sight to see these massive creatures vertically poised in space, almost completely out of the water. Our Captain tells us that crocodiles have the intelligence of a dog and that many of the crocodiles that appear here have names. I did not quite believe his statement, until one crocodile, having failed to grab the dangling pork chop, began swimming away from the boat in disappointment. The crew member with the as yet uneaten pork chop then called out "Thelma", at which point the crocodile immediately turned around and swam back towards the dangling pork chop, now positioned at a more accessible level. I thought I had seen and heard everything, but a crocodile called "Thelma"?? Later in the cruise a magnificent blue and white Sea Eagle appeared sitting in the branches of a tree on the bank. This beautiful bird was waiting for its turn to perform, and when a fish was put on the pole and held out, it took off, circled the boat once and in one swoop, made off with the fish. While this was going on, dozens of Kites (No, not the string and paper ones) had gathered above the boat and, when food was tossed out, they began diving and catching it in flight. They had to be careful however when taking it from the surface of the water, for a crocodile lurked beneath it, and on more than one occasion, a kite narrowly missed being a crocodile's dinner. No time was spent in Darwin for, although it is a lovely tropical city, we had been there before and we had time to make up. Not to be missed however, was the Litchfield National Park, with its high waterfalls and beautiful scenery. It is also the most accessible of the Territory's National Parks, with sealed roads leading to all the waterfalls. Near the entrance to the park are the very strange magnetic Termite mounds. They are actually Termite cities built on the exact North South compass line so that in the maximum heat of the day, the very narrow end will get the full heat of the day, and not the entire city. That’s good thinking for such a tiny creature! . One of the favourite places with everyone who goes there are the Buley Rock Pools, a truly special area with numerous rock pools to cool off in, all linked by little waterfalls. The water is pristine pure, unadulterated by any farms or cattle, and is always just the right temperature to refresh and invigorate. It is the sort of place that one is always reluctant to leave. On the way back to Katherine a small light appears on the dashboard panel. At first we assume it is the warning light to tell us that the engine is due for a service. Roger, however, checked the instruction manual and discovered that it is a warning to tell us that the fuel is contaminated and that the fuel filter must be drained at once for continued driving could damage the engine. We still had about two hundred kilometres to go to get to Katherine, but I remembered that we had passed the small township of Adelaide River about twenty minutes ago and that they had a small garage there. We swung the big motorhome around and headed back to Adelaide River. The garage man said that he would check out the filter the next morning, so this meant that we would be spending the night here. Walking around the town that afternoon, we discovered that the town played a very important part in World War 2. After Darwin was bombed the government thought the Japanese were going to invade Australia through Darwin, and thousands of troops were sent to Darwin to reinforce it. Adelaide River, sitting on a rich fertile plain, and on the railway line, became the all important source of fresh fruit and vegetables, and at one time was feeding up to forty one troop trains a day. Later that evening outside the hotel, we came upon a rather large fellow with a punk haircut, hurling rocks and abuse at something in the bushes. Despite his imposing appearance and aggressive manner, curiosity got the better of us and we wandered over. He gave us a quick glance and said triumphantly "Got the bastard!" and then he plunged into the bushes. A few seconds later he emerged waving around a very large, battered Cane Toad, which he then flung to the ground, hit with a few more rocks and then stamped on it for good measure, saying "Ya gotta make sure the bastard's dead!". Cane Toads have only just arrived in the Northern Territory from Queensland, and there is much concern about the effect the deadly toads will have on the wildlife. If this fellow's attitude is typical of all Territorians then the Cane Toads could be in trouble. The next morning the mechanic drained off a considerable amount of water from the fuel filter and advised us to have it changed in Katherine as they would have the all important computerised facilities to do it. Fortunately, when we reached Katherine, the Ford people said that they would be able to do it first thing the next day which meant we could be on our way to Kununurra, six hundred kilometres away by mid morning. All went well and we hit the road after a morning coffee.
Across the Top
Although there are virtually no towns of any significance along the way, the journey was far from boring, as for most of the way the road passes through the spectacular Gregory National Park with its great rocky ramparts almost hanging over the road. Through it all winds the wide Victoria River, great to look at and take pictures of, but definitely NO swimming. Yes! you guessed it! crocodiles! Another curious feature of the landscape is the number of Bottle Trees, or Boab Trees to give them their correct name, that grow everywhere. Most are the typical bottle shape with twisted branches protruding from the top of the "bottle", but occasionally one is squat and fat which makes it look even stranger. At the town of Derby we see one that was used as a prison for wayward aborigines in days past. It is quite large, hollow, with an opening in the side, and is many hundreds of years old. The story goes that on very hot days the guards would remove the prisoners from the boab prison, tie them up out side and place themselves inside the "prison" because it was much cooler. As the temperatures in this part of the world frequently soar well above the old century mark, I am inclined to believe the story. By this time we were getting to know the cameras. After each days shooting we would sit down and check our footage. In general we were very pleased with what the cameras were giving us. The automatic functions were performing well, and the manual functions were well placed and easy to use. The colour reproduction seemed spot on and we particularly liked the Macro Zoom as it enabled us to get that much closer to the subject, and it put the background out of focus. A very pleasing effect as it concentrates the viewers attention on the subject. Not so pleasing however, was the tendency for both cameras to occasionally pause in recording for a couple of seconds in the middle of a take, and then resume with a resultant jump in the action. Thus a car travelling along the road would suddenly freeze and then jump ahead. Fortunately, this may occur only once on a roll of tape, but it would be a serious fault for any professionals using the camera. Another source of frustration was that sometimes the cameras took about six seconds to begin recording after pressing the record button. No problem if you are just recording scenery, but for grabbing quick bursts of action, you are really in trouble. Here again it is only a random thing, occurring the most after the camera has gone into "sleep" mode. Kununurra is regarded as the gateway to the Kimberley Ranges, but access to that beautiful part of Australia is mostly limited to four wheel drive vehicles. On the outskirts of the town is the Ord River Dam which has enabled this part of Australia to produce year round crops. After a short stay here we then carried on to Broome, a historical port on the coast of Western Australia. Many fortunes were made and lives lost in the pearling industry here, which boomed around the early part of the last century. Now another boom has taken over for it is one of the nations top tourist towns. We last visited here in 1997, when we had our first video camera, a Sony Hi8. As the beach at Broome, faces west, it is noted for its brilliant sunsets, a fact that is exploited by the camel trains which depart just before sunset. On their return journey the gently swaying passengers are treated to a spectacular display of colour as the sun sinks into the waters of the Indian Ocean. On our last visit we shot the colourful camel train from various angles and set it to Ravel's “Bolero“. We had hoped to do the same this time, only in High Definition, but alas!, the dreaded four wheel drives had moved in and parked themselves all along the beach. It was like a suburban shopping centre car park and made it difficult to get wide shots of the camel train. It was now time to get serious about heading south, for we still had a long way to go to reach the milder climate of the south where the wildflowers were supposed to be in abundance.
As we left the more arid regions behind we noticed more colour beginning to appear beside the road and the surrounding fields. One of Australia's most striking wildflowers, the Sturt's Desert Pea, was beginning to make its appearance, often in the company of lavender Mullas Mullas. The Sturt's Desert Pea is a ground vine that sprouts clusters of brilliant red flowers about 15cms high, with a black "eye" in the middle. They often spread across a large area with a spectacular effect. Mullas Mullas are shaped like candelabras with lavender\purple conical flowers taking the place of the candles. Sound rather strange? Well just imagine the roadways lined with these odd striking flowers. The drive from Port Headland to Carnarvon had an unreal appearance about it as it wound through a landscape of pink hills dotted with green\grey Spinifex bushes with lavender Mullas Mullas spreading up their sides. Interspersed with the Mullas mullas were great masses of scarlet Desert Peas which gave one the weird feeling of having dropped into a Walt Disney landscape.. The only thing that jarred one back into reality was the occasional huge road train that thundered past. South of Carnarvon we took the road to the rather sinister sounding Shark Bay. Things are often not what they seem however, for our destination here was to meet the friendly dolphins at Monkey Mia, with not a shark in sight. This place has had an upgrade since our last visit, but the new buildings seem to blend in with the picturesque surroundings, and the place looks as charming as ever. Five dolphins arrived the next morning for a handout of fish, or so we thought, but after frolicking in the clear waters and entertaining the large crowd gathered at the waters edge they were given only one little fish each. If I were a dolphin I wouldn't bother, but this group seemed to enjoy the company of humans and the crowd was equally delighted to see them. It seems that the politically correct mob had struck the place wanting to ban the fish hand outs completely, but finally allowed the issue of one small fish to each Dolphin. After Monkey Mia we again travelled south and entered the coastal town of Kalbarri, the first of the towns in the main wildflower area. It is situated at the mouth of the Murchison River which has carved a path through several spectacular gorges. At one of these gorges is a strange rock formation called " Natures Window". And it is just that. A large formation of jagged red rock has thrust itself upward above the mass below and erosion has worn a large rectangular hole in it that frames the scene behind it. In a cave below it is possible to obtain the red ochre earth dye that the Aboriginals used to rub on their faces and bodies for ceremonial purposes. Our guide offered to give anyone who volunteered a free face decoration, but nobody took him up on his offer. Our drive into Kalbarri was through a National Park with the roadway on both sides lined with small shrubs topped with large branches covered in flower buds all about to burst into flower. A little disappointed that they weren't in flower yet, I asked the guide what they were. "Oh they are Smelly Sox Grevillias." he said "You mean they.. " I began. "Yes they sure do! Never pick a bunch of them to take home", said the guide laughing. "But they line the roadway as you enter the town." I answered aghast. "You just take a deep breath and wind the windows up" he replied. This wildflower business was now beginning to get a bit weird. However, Kalbarri did also have an abundance of other wildflowers in all shapes and colours as well as some spectacular coastal scenery. This town certainly has a lot to offer tourists.
As we travelled down the coastal highway we had to decide whether to carry on down this road to Cevantes where we could grab some shots of the geological oddity known as “The Pinnacles”, or turn away from the coast and go direct to the place where the Wreath Flowers should be blooming. As we visited the Pinnacles during our last visit we chose to give the Wreath Flowers priority, so at the town of Geraldton we headed inland. This was crunch time now. Somewhere near the small village of Mullewa we were told that we should be able to see the Wreath Flowers. “Ask at the town hall tourist centre” was our friend's advice. We had successfully shaved almost a week off our original itinerary, landing us here exactly in the middle of September. We were here, but where were these Wreath Flowers? At the small town hall we entered the room marked "Tourist Information", and a frail little man walked over to attend to us. "Wreath Flowers", we said, feeling rather stupid, "Do you happen to know where they are any?" He gave us a knowing look, reached under the table, and produced a handful of maps, saying, "You are here at just the right time. They are now at their peak." "Hallelujah!" I thought, and breathed a sigh of relief. We had made it! The sight where they were flowering, this time, according to the map, was about forty kilometres out of town. Apparently they don't always flower in the same place. (I told you that this wildflower business was weird!). With the map in our hands we turned the big motor home off the main bitumen road and took a rough dirt road that appeared to be going through someone’s paddock. A few cows looked at us as we rumbled past and negotiated the odd cattle grid. The rough corrugations were now causing everything to rattle and thump and vibrate madly. We seemed to be in the middle of nowhere and began to discuss the theory that perhaps we were lost. Suddenly we went around a bend and there before us was an incredible sight. The narrow track through the bush suddenly became a smooth wide road with motor homes, cars, caravans, four wheel drives, sedans, motor bikes, and the occasional tourist coach parked on both sides. People were wandering around everywhere with cameras. The scene looked more like George Street, Sydney than in the middle of the outback. We parked ourselves near a couple of other big motor homes, grabbed our cameras and tripods and set forth. Everywhere on the sides of the road were flowers - but not like any flowers seen before. The whole incredible scene appeared to be the result of some prankster driving along the road tossing out funeral wreaths on either side for about a distance of around four hundred metres. Some of the wreath like flowers were absolutely perfect, while some had not quite achieved the complete circle. Others had grown together in groups and sort of merged with one another. All had a thick green centre surrounded by a mass of small pink or lemon flowers growing in a circle, about 15cms deep. It was an incredible sight. As well as the beautiful, colourful wreath flowers, there were many other wild flowers scattered about as well. A number of them were a deep blue, some bright pink, while others were in shades of yellow, orange and white. To say it was a colourful scene would be a massive understatement. The amazing thing was that all these people, like us, had made the journey to this out of the way place to look at flowers. I am sure that everyone would agree with us that it was very much worth the effort to see one of Mother Nature’s most spectacular displays. The next day was cloudy with the threat of showers, as we drove inland again to the town of Hyden to view another of Natures oddities, Wave Rock. This rose to prominence in the mid eighties when the National Geographic magazine put it on its front cover and did a feature article on it. It looks like the kind of wave that surfers would dream about. It is fifteen metres high and about one hundred metres long, and is solid rock streaked with vertical bands of varying colour. It is the perfect wave frozen in time. Around the corner is another interesting rock formation, known as Hippo's Yawn, and it looks exactly that. People like to have their pictures taken standing in its "throat". After a very pleasant overnight stay here that enabled us to get all the footage that we wanted, we now had to think of the next route to take. We had thought of going to Perth, and touring the south west, but the forecast was for gale force winds and rain, so we decided it was time to head back east. Esperance on the coast was at the eastern end of the wildflower area, so we thought we would have one last attempt to get pictures of a couple of orchids that have eluded us so far. We were lucky enough to find a beautiful yellow Cowslip Orchid at Wave Rock, now it would be really great to get shots of the Spider Orchid and the Enamel Orchid, both used in publicity shots for W.A's wildflower campaigns. The guide book says that they can be found in Esperance, but where?
Esperance proved to be a picturesque coastal town with quite dramatic scenery. Although the weather was not the best, we decided to have a drive around and investigate places where we might be likely to find the exotic orchids. We discovered a look-out that had quite a bit of bush surrounding it, so I decided to venture in and have a look around. Much to my delight I found not only a couple of Spider Orchids, but an Enamel Orchid as well. It was far from ideal conditions for videography however, with a wind blowing and light showers. Quickly, while there was still a reasonable amount of light about, we grabbed one of the HC1's, a tripod and a large umbrella. The small Canon Camera was also added as it had a camera light that might help to light our subjects better. We then disappeared into the bushes carrying our odd assortment of gear and despite the wind and rain, eventually emerged with our footage of these two most unusual orchids. By directing the light from the Canon we were able to light the Enamel Orchid in such a way, as to show why it was called by that name. Sure enough, it appears to have a bright blue "enamel" surface. We were going to spend more time in this town, but the weather worsened so we headed off back to the east again, via the Nullarbor Plain.
On arrival at Wilpena Pound, we were greeted by a flock of emus grazing contentedly in a field beside the road, so it was very easy to get some shots of them. They seemed untroubled by the cameras and just wandered about, amongst the native pine trees. After we got set up at the camp area, we walked through the narrow gap into the Pound itself. Again green grass was everywhere, and so were the Kangaroos, grazing happily for our cameras. The trouble was the long grass often hid them, particularly the small ones and we had to search hard to get a clear view for our cameras. Fortunately the little Rock Dragons were very active and they gave us some nice footage when we climbed up to the lookout for a view of the pound and the mountains beyond. It was a very colourful scene with masses of yellow flowering wattle surrounding us and scattered about the mountains encircling the pound.
For the finale of our grand tour we would drive down the Murray River valley to the old river port of Echuca. Because of the distance involved and our later than intended departure from Wilpena we decided to have an overnight stop along the way at a town called Burra. We had never heard of it before, but it had a Caravan Park with all facilities. This proved to be not a very good decision in one way because the town was in the midst of celebrations and the Caravan Park was full. However, we were offered an alternative site at the nearby sports field and because Burra looked to be a very interesting place we accepted. We were so glad that we did because Burra, we discovered, was a very historic town with a history that dated back to the mid Nineteenth century when it was the centre of gold and copper mining. Like so many inland towns in Australia that sprung up during this boom time Burra had many grand buildings. When the tide of rapid progress pulled back it left many of these architectural delights still standing and in Burra, these grand relics of the past were preserved and can still be seen today. Not only that, but with the resurgence of the Australian film industry, it was also the location for many movies like “Breaker Morant” and “Picnic at Hanging Rock” that used the nearby Martindale Hall as the location for the girls school. Another bizarre fact was that the early workers in the mine lived like Hobbits in homes that were dug out of the soft clay around the creek bed. All this wonderful history has been preserved in Burra for we folk of the Twenty First century to gaze at in awe.
After Burra it was onwards down the Murray River valley to the old port of Echuca. During the 1970's, when the general decline in country towns started, the good folk of Echuca wondered what to do to turn their economy around. They had one thing however, that the other towns did not have - paddle steamers!. Before the arrival of the railroads, inland New South Wales and Victoria depended on a huge fleet of paddle steamers to transport their goods across the country via the rivers. Echuca was the major port, and today much of the old port is still standing together with many of the surrounding buildings. To get their economy rolling again the townspeople decided to bring the old port back to life again.. Everything has now been carefully restored, including the old paddle steamers, and today, with the world’s largest collection of paddle steamers, it is one of the country’s major tourist attractions. It is great to step back in time and actually take a cruise in one of these quaint steam driven relics of the past. We arrived back in Sydney on a nice warm sunny day. Rainy would have been better judging from the condition of people's lawns. We had travelled 15,500 kilometres or 9,630miles, in two months, and had ventured forth into the arid heart of this great sunburnt country and found it to be anything but. The evidence was all there now in glorious High Definition on the small tape cassettes, the big problem facing us now, was how were we going to edit this new format?....
