The 'bush flowers' of spring take you by surprise in this dry landscape.

Did this soil blow our way in the dust storm? An old tank-stand seen in the far south-west of the state.

If we're going to be taken for a ride then hope it's a good one! The slippery slope of financial wizardry!

Pittsburgh has probably returned to normal once again.

How's Mr Rudd's cat taking the prime minister's absence? OK? There's always twitter and cats love twitter.
PS: Sorry, Jasper (the PM's cat), only THE CATS (Aussie rules winner) got on twitter!

Another sighting of wide-eyed Betty.

'Ranga or orange morning early Wednesday, seen a short time after sunrise while travelling in Western Sydney. A red dust storm had never been seen by me before this.

A country town getting into the age of the automobile! But no electricity either - just happened to have a power failure at that time.

Flour Mill clad in corregated iron.

Dwellings

Untouched by the oil age reticent country folk make their way to the township.
A touch of ambiguity is not unknown on this opus.

What is it about the Russian landscape?
From there Putin takes us on exploits and he rode bare chested on horseback.
Apparently, the composer and pianist, Rachmanioff encamped in the countryside for the summer holidays where the traditional culture forever influenced his romantic music making. He never forgot his homeland and tried to recreate aspects of it during his life of bourgeois exile. His summer residence with ornamental timber work has a garden setting and has been nicely rebuilt (recorded in the movie by Tony Palmer).

Minutia. Porcupine grass (Triodia) grows in tussocks on inland country (and Western U.S.). Above photo: next it is the animal, itself, scurrying away. Echidna, porcupine or hedgehog - which is which? Up date: the Australian animal is the Spiny Ant-eater in the monotreme order of egg laying mammals and often seems to be called Echidna and is a rare class of mammal.

Such deprivation! Wide country districts without Telstra coverage - no mobile or cell phone reception; hard-to-get ABC TV; The Sydney Morning Herald - possible sightings. Radio from all over yet problematic. None of which was a real priority for us visitors.

Country town with the old and new.
Wot? a new style 'burger? A real bread roll is a marvelous improvement. However, it is well nigh impossible to copy a greasy juicy burger from a local, infra dig, fish and chips shop.

The Leyland Brothers from Newcastle were outback adventurers and film makers and their work was considered infra dig by some experts while many others loved them. Sadly Mike Leyland has died. A reference is made to them here in the archives 3 August 07 showing the ultimate reproduction: Uluru.

Boys' own adventure. Away in the distance the dust was rising and it proved to be these bikers ahead at a road junction in the south west of the state. A la Boorman and McGregor?

Traffic cops were all over the place. Trouble at the airport? Climate change protest? Or just on the way to Maccas? Was an escapee swimming the harbour? Then it was the water police and a chopper. All coincidental for there was no critical incident. Some members of the NSW Police force began posing for a photo.
Taken on the Stockton foreshore, the suburb on the northern side of the harbour.

Passing by the new coal loader under construction there was no sign of the Happy Buccaneer. The machinery had been unloaded and was high and dry on the wharf and the Happy Buccaneer had sailed again. See recent posting.

To the distant Murray River. Little paddle steamers at Echuca are into tourism nowdays.
World scientists are having a powwow and examining the estuary of the Murray river, an area which is under great stress.
The river, in SE Australia, is long and flows east west in dry regions and reaches the ocean in the Coorong (roughly south of Adelaide) joined along the way by other waterways that had their beginnings thousands of miles to the north.
The Coorong is a Ramsar site of international importance with a rare environment but the water levels there are very low and the taking of water out of the system is implicated among other factors.
Great potential for good management of the river system exists through a united approach by the states, it is said. It is not as though international borders are involved in the process. So, 'come on' experts and do what should be done!

Roughly further west of the Hunter-Goulburn, roughly over the Great Dividing (mountain) Range (what a name!) where crops are growing. Is this crop canola? Show-off.

Further into the Goulburn Valley, the National Parks has provided a rest area and a story board that tells about Phippes Cutting which is a hand-made road, part of which can be explored nearby.
This Wollemi National Park is included in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage.
The area is within the traditional country of the Wanaruah Aboriginal people.
Horse transport is associated with the horse studs in the district. Widden Valley seems hidden away.

The Goulburn Valley is splendid at this time of year. The Goulburn river is a major tributary of the Hunter river and they join up near Denman.

Cruising past hills similar to old Microsoft background or desktop. It was all a blur while on the move. The open road went to our head after miles of road works and speed restrictions. We still have pioneering road works to achieve our major freeway links and thats all going well as can be expected in my estimation.

Big theme on CDP. Some type of transporter/loader and a truck. The top sets are removed to the ground for use at the work place.