Wednesday, October 20, 2010

My Mum’s Place

Tonight I want to say a bit about my trip to my Mum’s place.

I flew from Melbourne to Coffs Harbour on the Mid-North Coast of NSW where Mum came to pick me up.

From there we drove inland up to Dorrigo which sits at about 3000 feet in the Great Dividing Range. The north east corner of NSW is one of the wettest parts of Australia. With the ending of many years of drought it is really wet there at the moment. In fact the area is the wettest I have seen it since the 1970s.

This first piccie is taken through the windscreen of the ute (= utility = pickup truck) that Mum used to collect me from the airport. We were stopped at this traffic light. I thought the light on the road in the early evening fog looked worth capturing.The light is there on the Dorrigo Mountain road because of the wet. Beyond the light half of the road has slipped down the mountain with the rain. The engineers have decided the remains of the road are safe enough to use, but there is only room for traffic to go one way at a time.

The next morning I was up bright and early and out with my camera. This second piccie is the little house that my Mum and her husband Stan live in. It was built in the early 20th century by Stan’s parents. Stan came back in the 1970s to look after his aging mother which is when he met my Mum.

We (my Mum, my brother and I) were living on another ‘bush block’ nearby which is how Mum and Stan first met. After a friendship of about 15 years they eventually married.

This piccie of one of the paddocks shows how lush and green things are there at the moment.
One tradition on an Aussie farm is a series of decaying vehicles. You never throw anything out because it just might be handy one day…
I have to admit that I helped contribute to the farm junk yard here. This decaying Toyota was my first ever car.

While this Ford was my eighth.
It was bright and shiny when I bought it, but the local road soon knocked it around so badly that it wasn’t worth repairing. So it sits where I parked it in about 1996.

I turned my attention to capturing some of the local wildlife.

A Superb Blue Wren.
Then I tried to get a decent shot of a Fire-Tailed Finch, but they were hiding.
A not great shot of a Willy Wagtail.
And the firetails were still not cooperating.

16 comments:

Unknown said...

The birds were like magic, so beautiful up close and personal. I could feel and hear them chirping from tree to tree!!! Great photos as always!!

BTW - I love your new template, very nice!

wordsareforwriting said...

Love the pictures of the farm - especially the old cars!

Old Kitty said...

Awwwwww yay for the uncooperative fire-tailed finches! LOL!!

These are beautiful shots of amazing birds - beautiful!!! Well done you! The Blue Wren is just lovely and the Willy Wagtail has a great name!

Your mum and Stan's home is in such a gorgeous location - I love the added cars rusting away becoming part of the landscape!

Thanks for sharing these pics!

Take care
x

Sarah Ahiers said...

ooh! LOVE the picture of the house!

Carolyn V. said...

The home is so beautiful. Even the rainy pictures are. I've really got to come visit Australia one day.

Hart Johnson said...

I LOVE that terrain! And it actually reminded me quite a lot of my daughter's favorite series--Tomorrow When the War Began (by John Marsden, an Australian). It is so incredibly rural! And I always love your bird shots... that firetail may not show, but I love the fire MASK it wears!

Jemi Fraser said...

Love the birds! They're so bright :) What a wonderful place to grow up!

Sage Ravenwood said...

Very cool juxtaposition on what I imagined for Australia. Loved the wide variety of birds. (Hugs)Indigo

Susan Fields said...

Those are great shots of the birds! I love the red light shining on the wet road.

Al said...

Hi Jen,
Birds are always winners aren’t they, so alive, so full of energy.
Pleased you like the template!

Hi Words,
The Dorrigo Plateau is a bit different from your patch of the country!

Hi Jennifer,
They are so damned cute, but as you say uncooperative.
I should have said something about Willy, their name really suits them.
Their place is amazing, I love it a lot.
You’re welcome, as you have probably worked out by now I love sharing!

Hi Sarah,
It’s quite cute in a kind of ramshackle way and the garden softens hard edges.

Hi Carolyn,
It is a nice patch. Oz is so varied we have a bit of everything here, trouble is like Canada or the US it is big so you kind of have to visit a bit at a time.

Hi Hart,
My kids loved the TWTWB series. The terrain in that series is Great Dividing Range country so somewhat similar, although not quite as wet an area (or quite as isolated). The firetails are pretty cute aren’t they, even when they won’t cooperate.

Hi Jemi,
The birds are great. It was a pretty amazing as a kid. Kids there these days say it is too boring, but I never understand why, we were in the bush, or the river from dawn till dusk when we weren’t at school.

Hi Indigo,
Oz is big like the US. So like there we have very varied landscapes. Yes the average landscape in Oz is flat and dry, but we have rainforest, wetlands and snowy mountains too!

Hi Susan,
The red light on the wet was even more amazing in real life. I just had to get my camera out to try and catch it.

MTeacress said...

I really enjoy this blog. I should come by more often. The photos are beautiful. Happy birthday to your mum.

Marguerite said...

So nice that you are visiting your Mum. Loved all the pics, the house, yard, cars, and birds! Love the new template,too! Congrats on your upcoming book! Cheers!

Vicki Rocho said...

Lovely pics as always. I hate driving in the rain at night because the lights that reflect off the road like the first pic drive me crazy.

Those birds are beautiful.

MTeacress said...

PS. I've given out a few awards on my blog - one for your blog. Have a great weekend!

Kittie Howard said...

Happy Birthday to your Mum! Loved your photos! My favorite was your Mum's place. It looks so peaceful.

But not to slight the bird photos...they're great. If you get a chance, drop by The Rambling Wren (blog I follow). Marie's a naturalist/artist and posts photos I think you'd enjoy.

Al said...

Hi Michelle,
I am pleased you like my blog. Drop by when ever you wish!

Hi Marguerite,
It was really nice to catch up with Mum.
Thankyou all round!

Hi Vicki,
Driving in the wet is a pain – sympathies.

Hi Michelle,
Thank you! I’ll drop by as soon as I get a chance!

Hi Kittie,
Thank you!
I’ll have to check out Rambling Wren