Rural Australia

February 26, 2014

Rural Australia - #1

So much of this big country to see and not enough days in the week!

I went on a Photo Safari recently on a day trip to a small place called Paterson. It is about a 40 minute drive from home through some lovely Aussie countryside. What I love about the Aussie country is how diverse it is and, how much it can change within a half hour drive.

We have not been receiving much rain lately and much of the land is brown and dry. Add to this a few weeks of searing heatwave in some areas and you are left with land without a drop of moisture in it. Mind you, the town of Paterson stands on the Paterson River and on either side of its' banks, the grass is green! Such a contrast to what we saw as we drove there!

We have a harsh climate in Australia. It can change from raging bushfires to flooding rains in a matter of days. I do recall some years ago in Victoria, devastating fires that ravaged many rural communities and left the countryside black and dead. Within weeks after that disaster, the area was hit with flooding rains. Because there was no grass to hang onto the topsoil, many many tonnes of it was washed into the local Ovens River system. Accompanying this topsoil was the black sludge of ash and charcoal left from the fires. The Ovens River was a thick sludge of mud, flowing slowly and, to add to farmers woes, it was so thick that it ruined the water pumps that farmers relied upon to water animals and crops.

Here, I have put up some photos from the Paterson Safari and also some photos taken prior to that on various trips. As it is the first of my 'Rural Australia' series, these photos cover a few years for this particular post whereas in the future I will attempt to stick to a single safari outing or location. Naturally enough, I have converted a couple to Black & White because I believe they were better represented in the monochrome style.

One more thing...... I love the place names for some areas in Australia! Names like...Oorundunby, Mindaribba, Gregadoo; so unique! I also wonder where Australia would be without corrugated and barbed wire; they are in abundance on farms and properties for sheds and fencing!

We went off the beaten track for a short detour to Mindaribba where Google Maps indicated there was a train station. OMG! Google got it wrong! Perhaps there was a dirt mound where passengers can alight that I missed there!

I have a few weeks off from my 'normal' job and so, hopefully, will be able to gather some new material for future posts; I have a couple of locations in my head that will be worth a visit!

I hope that you are all well and that life is good for you.

Jordy

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