Mental blank.

Tonight when I sat down to type this post I couldn’t think of a single thing to post about.

I seem to be using up my creative energy on my WIP and on photography at the moment.

Ah well I’ll just have to rely on the second of those for a post tonight.

Back to the Grampians tonight.

During our second day there we visited a second Aboriginal rock art site.

Like Billimina this site is also protected behind a wire barrier.

The mindless morons who vandalized this panel of figures show why the protection is needed.This panel has a faint parade of figures across it. I wonder if they represent the people who lived here or spirits.

Finally two sections that give the shelter its name Manja,Manja means ‘hands’ in the language of the people of this land.

This last photo is one of my favorite ever.Technically it isn’t a great photo but I really feel it captures the essence of this place. It feels to me that the people of old have reached down through the centuries to touch us today.

Wonderful Waterfalls

As you may have already gathered in our little vote Aboriginal Rock-art took the vote with five votes.

Waterfalls came second with four votes. So without further ado I begin with the Mackenzie Falls on the Mackenzie River.
The Mackenzie falls are in the heart of the Grampians and I think really beautiful.
I climbed down the stairs you see on the left to get a shot from the base of the falls.

This part of the Grampians is well and truly on the tourist trail, but we arrived late on a Saturday as it was getting dark and threatening to rain.

So we pretty much had the falls to ourselves.
Climbing back up the falls I paused to catch this shot of water cascading over these shelves on the way to the top of the falls.Another climb and I paused to get this shot of a native violet (probably Viola hederacea) in the half light.The clouds lightened a little so just as the sun set I quick marched about another quarter mile upstream to catch the Broken Falls (also on the Mackenzie River).Two days later it was time to leave the Grampians, but before we did we took an 128 km (80 miles) detour to the Wannon River.

On the Wannon are two more well known falls in the Grampians Region. I didn’t know how soon we’d be back so an extra side journey was not going to stop this waterfall nut when we were so close.

The first falls on the Wannon were the Nigretta Falls, which drop into a popular swimming hole near the town of Hamilton.Back in the car for another short drive this time. This time to the Wannon Falls. I really struggled getting a decent shot because the setting sun was shining into the camera lens.
A wait of half an hour and the sun went behind a cloud long enough to get this.
Then our Grampians break was over and it was back in the car for the four and a half hour drive home (we got home just befor midnight).
But I haven’t finished with the Grampians because next post is Grampians’ Wildflowers.

Young People

I can’t believe it was Saturday I posted last.

It has been a mad week at work. I seem to be home late almost every night and hit the sack soon after.

Still even long days give me a couple of hours to work on my WIP. I have read it all through a couple of times an am still shuffling sections around and writing bits and pieces to link those sections.

So I guess I’ve sort of begun working on a second draft, but it really doesn’t feel like it.

Now for something different I’m going to share some more piccies from our second day at the Grampians.

In the afternoon we headed towards another spot about ten kilometers (6 miles) from the Ngamdjidj rock shelter.

It was still fairly early so I paused to photograph these odd flower buds

before Deb and I began climbing the side of this rocky hill.

High on the flanks of the hill under a rock ledge very like this

is the Gulgurn Manja Aboriginal rock shelter.

In the shelter is more rock art.
Pictures of emu footprints

Seemingly abstract symbols

And what I think makes this place most special.

For Gulgurn Manja means “hands of the young people” in the local Aboriginal language.

The rock surface is covered with hand prints made by children between the ages of 8 and 12 over many generations.

It is like these young people have left part of themselves in the landscape.

I found it very magical.

Not The Grampians

Tonight I was going to do a third post on our trip to the Grampians.

But when I began sorting photos I realized that it would be a long post with 20+ piccies.

I will do it as a post (or maybe two or three) before too long because I think it is really worth sharing.

But tonight it is late and I have to hit the hay for an early start tomorrow.

So instead a very quick post about what Deb and I did today.

We drove to Woodend in the Macedon ranges west of Melbourne today.

Woodend is one of many Gold-Rush era towns in Victoria.

In the gardens the daffodils think spring is already here.What really caught my attention was the 1864 St Mary’s Anglican Church.The church was open so I went in to capture shots of the amazing stained glass windows that grace the church. I’ve never managed to capture good shots of stained glass before so I am happy with these.

Here are a few samples.And of course St Mary herself.
One thing that caught my eye was this candle in front of this very Orthodox looking icon image.
I just had to play around to see how well I could catch the candle in the dim light.

Grampians Part II

I woke early on Sunday. Leaving Deb asleep in the motel I went out for a stroll to see if I could catch some shots of dawn in Halls Gap.

It was a frosty morning (remember it is winter down this way) The local wildlife brave coming down into the town before people stir.

These are eastern grey kangaroos.

I was able to get quite close. It has been a good season so the kangaroos are busy raising their young. Being marsupials they carry their young around in pouches.

Cute aren’t they?After breakfast we headed out for a day in the northern Grampians.I paused frequently to catch shots of the ranges.
At one spot I caught this little wildflower.Along this bush road we came to the foot hills of Mount ZeroI paused to catch more wildflowers.All around the Grampians Heath Myrtle was floweringA close up. Further along the road we reach our destination for the morning,
The Ngamdjidj Rock Shelter on the walls ancient Aboriginal paintings

The Grampians

I haven't entirely abandoned waterfalls, in fact I have piccies of at least a couple more I've shot in the last few weeks up my sleeve. But tonight I'll make a slight change of direction.

This weekend just passed Deb and I have seized the opportunity for a weekend away again. This time we drove three hours west of Melbourne to a mountain range known as 'The Grampians.'Our destination Hall's Gap a little town in the Grampians region of Victoria.

Hall's gap sits in a pass that cuts through the range.
This is the main street of Halls Gap

Although at the moment the pass is not... well not 'passable'. You might remember that back in December/January there were floods in Queensland and here in Victoria. Well the Grampians were hard hit by massive flood events. There were huge landslips throughout the region big enough for many of the maps to no longer be correct and for many of the roads to still be in need of rebuild.

Despite that the area is still incredibly beautiful with an amazing variety of heathland vegetation growing on the impoverished soils of the region.

In terms of diversity of flora Oz has a number of hotspots and perhaps ironically the most ancient and impoverished soils often have the highest biological diversity. I have heard the argument that the Western Australian heathland environments have unequalled floral diversity, matching or even beating the tropical rainforests of the world.
I won't comment on statements like that except to say, people in Oz like grand statements about 'biggest', 'best' or 'most'. Some statements like that are true others, well I'm no referee on the topic.

What I can say is Oz has an amazing variety of unique plant communities and Victoria's heathland has a similar diversity to that in West Oz. Interestingly thanks to the magic of plate tectonics Southern Africa have some communities that are related and look similarish.

Anyway back to the matter at hand. Deb and I set off to the Grampians with an agenda of bush walking (hiking), photography and knitting in mind. We were both going to walk, I'll leave it to you to work out which of us was going to knit and which photograph.

Now I have rambled enough; as it is I am probably going to need two or three posts to cover what we did and saw in just a day and a half.

So after checking in at the holiday park we were going to stay the night we left Halls Gap to check out the Bee Hive Waterfall (you knew I just had to squeeze in a waterfall)

Walking up to the falls I stopped to shoot these amazing rock formations. It isn't quite spring, but the wildflowers are coming out.
A “Wirilda Wattle” (Acacia retinades)These tiny “Cat’s Claw Grevillia” (Grevillia alpina)A “Holly Grevillia” (Grevillia aquifolium) that hasn’t quite come outIt is so gorgeous I had to show an extra closeup.As you get close to the falls you see the rock formation that gives them the name Beehive
I love catching changing light as in these of the 'beehive' wasn’t the only person keen on shooting the falls. This local photographer’s daughter obliged by acting as a scaleOn the way back down I paused to shoot this flower which I haven’t yet managed to identify. I think it might be some kind of orchid, but I am really just guessing.

Then as the evening was drawing in the local wildlife began stirring

I surprised this Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) on the trail. She hopped away because I am so scary.

Just round the corner I caught her friend, another eastern grey