For the Nature Lovers

For those of you who want words and news of my adventures, this will be boring! There are just some pictures that I haven't posted, that I think I should ...

Fitzroy to Derby, the Day After the First Rain

Wow, three blog entries in 2 days! Obviously I have had some time off from work and study over Christmas! :-)

Another 'field trip' today. This time Lensia came with us and we travelled to Derby to visit friends of mine, Ross and Caro, from Perth who are here in the Kimberley for about 6 weeks. Apart from anything else, it was really, really nice to see friendly faces from home.

Of course, lots and lots of photos were taken! Most of the pictures are taken out of the moving car, so I am very impressed with my camera. (each of the pictures is worth clicking on to enlarge!)

From the 80 or so pictures (and vid), here are some I thought you may like to take a look at.

The sky changed from grey to blue to aqua and teal. Storms threatened, came, disappeared ... the whole gambit. Places that were flooded yesterday had subsided today. Most AMAZING were the trees and shrubs which, until the rain, had appeared ordinary and dormant. Today they were alive with blossoms!

There is one video, that is not take close enough, but watch, as they are DANCING BROLGA!!

The bush that is growing up another tree is Mistletoe! Where ever you see water, there was no water before. Where there is green, grass, colour, there was none before. Awesome!

The frogs last night (and tonight to a lesser extent) were deafening. I can only say I think there were 10's of thousands of them that came out of hibernation at the first rain and ..... they mated themselves silly - very loudly!

I really do hope you enjoy the pictures I post here, as it is difficult to explain the rapid changes in words. The colours are so rich and crisp. For those of you who have travelled these parts in the Dry Season, can you imagine seeing everything this green???

I do connect all the pictures when I load them up, but they spread out on the actual viewing page. I must need to read the instructions! :-)

Enjoy ...

xx

The First Rain

It is nothing short of AMAZING what can happen in 12 hours here! We have had 250 mm rain since 2am Boxing Day morning - that's 11 hours. (Yes, it is still raining!)

Marie and I went out for a bit of a run around to check everything out. I am uploading a couple of short videos, too. You HAVE to hear the frogs!! 1,000's of frogs came from no where in just that short time. The sound of the frogs was near deafening! Of course, the Conkerberry Queen HAD to check out a bush we spotted! Those of you who have been through here may not even recognise where the pictures are taken. Spot the park opposite Crossing Inn ... The frog video is about 2 kl out heading west to Derby/Broome. The creek running in one video was totally dry yesterday! (there are pictures from both sides of the bridge for that creek bed). It is worth clicking on the pics to see the bigger version with the scenic pictures.

I continue to be in awe ....

Christmastime in FX

Merry Christmas from Fitzroy Crossing! xx

The last few weeks has been very, very hectic with work, study, Clients and Christmas FX Style.

A group of us from work shared a dinner down the Lodge a week or so ago - a couple of photos included here. A few of us also had a pizza night at Rachel's before she left for Tassie to spend Christmas with her family.

Then yesterday, Christmas Day we had "An almost Single White Female Christmas". (Charmaine was there, and she is Aboriginal/Irish/Portuguese from Sydney). The weather yesterday turned mongrel!! So incredibly hot and humid - what locals call "the build up". We had an amazing day together. We all missed family and friends, but shared a Very Special Christmastime.

It started to rain at 2am this morning (Boxing Day) and hasn't stopped since! Between 2am and 9am we had 196 mm of rain!!

The rain has been very heavy at times. By 3am I decided to just give into the noise and get up, sit out on the veranda and enjoy it. There was a line up of frogs, who have been waiting for the rain, waiting to get inside and away from the water! :-) I have included pictures of my back yard taken about 8.30 this morning.

Marie and I are off on another driving adventure to see what effect this rain has had .... stay tuned!

Two Birds Without a Tinnie (I guess you had to have watched the program?)

My mate Marie and I decided to take a road trip last Saturday. Nothing planned. Just us two birds in a Prado, a loaf of bread, chunk of cheese, bottles of water and a camera.

Marie was in search of Conckerberries and I wanted photos of 'groves of boabs'. Spotting Conkerberrie bushes on the side of the road and a little way in was my first lesson. The bush is not all that distinctive, but the berry is amazing to eat, so I soon learned to spot them. We found lots of the bushes in flower, but not many with any berries ready to eat. It seems Christmas is the time, so another trip is planned. (the bushes have to be not TOO far in from the road, so we don't run into any King Browns)

Boabs grow in self established groves. It is quite wonderful when you teach your eye to look beyond the 50 metres either side of the road. If you let your eyes look far enough, the boab groves go as far as your eye can see. Photos just don't do them justice. The boabs are just something else! I know that over the Christmas break, these are something I have to paint.

Termite mounds are amazing feats of engineering and architecture. I am yet to work it all out, but they change shape and structure between FX and Broome .. like they are a different 'family'. I am sure that is it.

We have had some rain, although most of the rain has been further north. The Mighty Fitzroy River is fed from North and the Old Crossing Bridge is already under water!! Just with the small amount that has fallen. The river is flowing rust red, which I am told, means the rain has been caught in the Margaret River (not the wine country from down south), which doesn't flow often, so begins with silt. We have tried to take photos from places we can take comparison photos from later on. (silly me, though, never took one of the Old Bridge showing before it flooded)

Another thing I love ... dogs are just dogs here! They are playful, work in packs without fear and without aggression. They JUST ARE! Love it. Dogs just roam around, without noticing humans.

Anyway .. here are the photos. Enjoy! (more to come - having trouble uploading)