Monday, April 12, 2010

The Amazing and the Mysterious

I feel as if my dreaded Uncle Harry is peering over my shoulder as I write this.
I’m going back a couple of weeks in time to share some of the things we saw while we were on our Holiday at Easter.

On the way to Warrnambool we stopped briefly at Camperdown. I have posted about Camperdown before.

As I said previously, it has an amazing (and totally out of place) clock tower.

Beside the town are two huge volcanic crater lakes,
Lake GnotukAnd Lake Bullen-MerriTo give you an idea of the size, there is a boat club in the far side (in the middle of the frame).

As you come into Camperdown from Melbourne you pass Mt Leura on the Eastern Outskirts.

In its own way, I find the mountain as fascinating as the lakes.

Like the lakes, Mt Leura was a large Maar volcano that blew itself apart about 30,000 years ago. Not content to leave it at that it began rebuilding itself in a series of eruptions which built multiple secondary cones inside the crater.
The above piccie was taken from the top of the highest cone (which is Mt Leura proper). Each of the humps in the piccie is a small secondary cone. The ridgeline in the middle distance is the rim of the original crater. As you can see if you look closely, the crater is so big there are a number of houses and farms contained within.
This second photo is of Mount Sugarloaf which is the second largest cone in the crater (again the ridgeline in the middle distance is the crater wall). The lines cut across the cone are a road that spirals up to the top of the volcano.

As Uncle Harry would say that is enough about Camperdown for one night.

From Camperdown we went on to Warrnambool where we stayed the night.
The next morning we went out on the first of a series of day trips along the coast to the west.

After an abortive attempt at photographing the dawn we drove to Port Fairy.

I’ve included this piccie because of the amazing colours. These black boulders are the remains of a basalt lava flow. The sky and the sea were almost equally vivid blue and the orange colour that “paints” the boulders is naturally occurring lichen that grows along a great deal of this coastline.

The Bay at Port Fairy. Despite the beautiful weather and the holidays the beach was almost deserted.The Port Fairy Lighthouse taken across the bay.Behind the sand dunes east of the town are a series of lagoons which waterfowl love.
The black dots on the other side are: Australian black swans.
Unfortunately none were cooperative enough for me to get a close up.

Now because no one has yet guessed what my mystery object is (and because I have sadistic tendencies), another photo: this time from the top.Maybe I am too much like Uncle Harry for your good!

13 comments:

Jayne said...

Hello! Gosh... your photographs are amazing! The clock tower looms large, doesn't it? It looks like once it was a town for giants, but that is all that remains. And the hills inside the crater are fascinating. The colours of the Port Fairy pictures are gorgeous, and I have been puzzling about your mystery photo. This will probably be totally wrong but is it something you place on the ground to observe a bug?!

Yvonne Osborne said...

All right....lets try this again. Your photos are beautiful, especially the black swans, Port Fairy (love that name), your sea, sky and lava and of course the Bell Tower. I like seeing the other side of the world. And right now our sun is rising over the treetops, glancing off the barns and silo and you're going to sleep. I like that global view. (But I don't have a clue about your mystery photo.)

Anne Gallagher said...

Beautiful pictures. I so want to go there right now. Thank you very much for sharing.

Natasha said...

Is that something you use to warm water? You could pack the chimney with hot embers or something?

~ Rayna

Jaydee Morgan said...

Lovely photos - but still no clue on the mystery object. I was going to guess a coffee maker of some sort - but it's doubtful. It's probably more of a case of me needing another cup.

Sarah Ahiers said...

that clock tower is awesome. and i have no clue on the mystery object

JournoMich said...

I love Jayne's comment about a town for giants--that is exactly what it looks like, and what wonderful imagery! I can imagine giants stomping around the tower even now.

I don't know what you're working on MS-wise, but have you considered a book of photography? Your pictures are amazing, and the stories of your family's journey through Australia would be a great accompaniment.

You mentioned on my blog you are struggling with placing rape in your MS...Would love to know more about your plot before I respond to this. Might make an interesting post on your blog as well.

Thank you for sharing your photographs and your travels!

Michele
SouthernCityMysteries

Ann said...

What wonderful photos. A beautiful photographic documentary of your Easter holiday.

Have no idea what you mystery item is. I wouldn't even hazard a guess.

Heidenkind said...

Is it a funnel?

Tahereh said...

wow! gorgeous photos!!

Lisa said...

What a beautiful area. I had no idea that craters would have so many cones.

Al said...

Hi Jayne,
Hello! Thank you!
The tower is totally out of place. I love the image of the lost giants.
The Port Fairy colours are stunning and the light on the day just brought them all out beautifully.
I can see your guess, but alas as you will see if you read my tonight’s post, it is something else entirely.

Hi Yvonne,
Port Fairy is a charming name isn’t it?
Thank you for the compliments.
As I said on your blog, I too love the community we can find in the blogosphere.

Hi Piedmont,
I am sure I know your name, but I am sorry it escapes me at the moment.
You aren’t the only one. I want to go back there too! Although the weather has taken a turn for the worse

Hi Rayna,
What can I say? You’ve cracked it! Exactly right except for the type of fuel.
Congratulations on a good eye for detail!

Hi Jaydee,
Thank you! You are sooo close with that guess! If you’d had that extra cup you’d probably have worked it out!

Hi Sarah,
The clock tower is amazing. Thanks for thinking about it anyway.

Hi Michele,
Jayne’s comment is great isn’t it? As you say beautiful imagery.
Thanks for the idea. Christy from the Publishing Maven keeps saying I should sell the images, so maybe there is something in that.
Your recent posts, about what crime to include in a story, got me thinking about the rape issue again. My stories tend to be non-linear so it is something I can well and truly put on the backburner until I have the ideas firmly pinned down. As I said your post had made me think about posting about it, but it is such a delicate issue. It needs to be handled very carefully for so many reasons. I’ll have to think about how to share my ideas about my plot and the whole topic.
You are most welcome, I am only to happy to share my piccies and yarns.

Hi Ann,
Thank you! It is a beautiful area.
Thanks for thinking about the mystery object anyway!

Hi Tasha,
Well there is a cone through the middle, it is meant to funnel heat up through the interior. So I guess you are partly right!

Hi Tahereh,
Thank you! And welcome to my blog!

Hi Lisa,
It is a wonderful part of the world. Mt Leura certainly didn’t want to give up at one go at rebuilding itself!

Hip Hop Bling Chains Silver/Gold Iced Out said...
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