A room with a view (In the Outback)

Image July 31, 2013November 18, 2014XPLORE - Out and About6 Comments

“A room with a view”

“The Landy” at Ourimperee Waterhole, Currawinya National Park, Australian Outback…

And not another soul within coo’ee, well apart from TomO, that is.

Can you spot where he is? Click on the photo to enlarge!

Photo: Baz, The Landy

Colours of the Australian Outback (Sunset)

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Colours of the Australian Outback (Sunset)

Sunset at Cullayamurra Waterhole, Outback Australia…

Photo: Baz, The Landy

The Ruins (Timeless)

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The Ruins (Timeless)

“The Ruins” parched by an outback sun…

Diamantina National Park, Outback Australia.

Photo: Baz, The Landy

Winter by the beach (In Australia)

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How is this for a glorious winter’s day by the beach.

Strewth, you might just be left wondering is it really winter?

Janet, TomO, and I packed “The Landy” with some picnic goodies and headed down to the Royal National Park, just to the south of Sydney.

And we stopped by the spectacular Coalcliff Beach for a cup of tea, expertly brewed by the Queen of the tea pot, Janet.

What a great place for a cuppa, hey?

Photo: Baz, The Landy

G’Day Mate (Polly wants a cracker)

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G'Day Mate (Polly wants a cracker)

A lazy Saturday afternoon down by the lake with Janet, a cup of tea in hand watching the sunset…beautiful (and so is the sunset 😉 ).

Oh, and a couple of hundred cockies flying around.

A bit unusual to see so many here…

You just wouldn’t be dead for quids!

photo: Baz, The Landy

Reflections (In the Australian Outback)

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Reflections (In the Australian Outback)

Taken early morning at Gum Hole Water Hole, Diamantina National Park, far Western Queensland.

Crikey, how good is our gorgeous Outback!

Photo: Baz, The Landy

On Tour in the Australian Alps (Are we there yet?)

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On Tour (Are we there yet?)

Victorian High Country, Australia.

photo: Baz, The Landy

A Rose (As delicate as life itself)

Image June 22, 2013November 18, 2014XPLORE - Out and About3 Comments

A Rose (As delicate as life itself)

I was spending some time in the garden this morning with my father, Brian, and this beautiful rose caught my eye.

Roses are one of Janet’s favourite flowers…

And who should ring from Tokyo, prior to boarding a flight to London as I was admiring it?

Yep, the jet-setters themselves, Janet and the little rooster himself, TomO…

How’s that for the universe working its magic!

Photo: Baz, The Landy

Cool? (You be the judge)

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Cool? (You be the judge)

How cool is this photograph?

It is a picture of Janet’s father, Archie, on one of the many motorcycles he owned and was taken in Calcutta, India, where he lived during his youthful years.

No leathers, goggles, or helmets as we know them today.

Back then it was your suit and tie and a pith helmet.

And crikey, what a dashing figure he cut on that fantastic motorcycle.

Cool?

You be the judge….

Just Nosing Around (An Echinda)

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We came across this little bloke today, an Echidna, whilst Out and About touring country New South Wales…

I tell you what, let’s just call him spike!

Crikey, nature, you’ve got to love it hey…

Photo: Baz – The Landy

Out and About in The Landy (Ariah Park Pub)

Image June 8, 2013November 18, 2014XPLORE - Out and About9 Comments

Ariah Park Pub - Country New South Wales — **Ariah Park Pub – Country New South Wales**

With a long weekend in the offering and great weather, Janet, TomO, and I jumped into “The Landy” and headed into country New South Wales, the Riverina Area…

And we came across a quaint little town called Ariah Park, with a motto of Wowser, Bowsers, and Peppercorn Trees.

The main street is lined with old petrol bowsers and peppercorn trees, but we can’t vouch for wowsers as we didn’t see another soul!

And strewth, what a great old pub!

Out and About in “The Landy” hey – crikey you wouldn’t be dead for quids…

Photo: Baz – The Landy

Bronte Beach, Sydney, Australia (Surf’s Up!)

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Bronte Beach, Sydney, Australia (Surf’s Up!)

Is there a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than down at Bronte, eating fish and chips by the ocean…?

photo: Baz, The Landy

Delicate Flowers (In a harsh land)

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Delicate Flowers (In the AustralianOutback)

Janet, my partner, is a lover of Australian Wildflowers and spends countless hours in the Australian Bush, observing, photographing…

The Australian Outback, you’ve got to love it!

Photo: Janet O’Malley

An Oasis (In the Australian Outback)

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Oasis (In Outback Australia)

When traversing the harsh and barren landscape of the Australian Outback, Australia’s indigenous aboriginals used mound springs for their water supply.

This one was photographed near Coward Springs, along the Oodnadatta Track…

Photo: Baz, The Landy

The Billabong (Outback Australia)

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The Billabong (Outback Australia)

The Billabong, Trilby Station on the Darling River, Outback Australia…

Photo: Baz, The Landy

Broken Down in the Australian Outback (Miles from no-where)

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Broken Down in the Australian Outback (Miles from no-where)

Despite the sign-post this old truck won’t be going anywhere…

The Australian Outback, you’ve just got to love it!

photo: Baz, The Landy

Road-Train (Outback Australia)

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Road-Train (Outback Australia)

Strewth, now that’s a truck-and-a-half, used to transport cattle and photographed at Camooweal, far-western Queensland, Outback Australia…

What a great opportunity to reminisce on some of our outback trips whilst resting up and recovering from my foot surgery. 🙂

Outback Australia, ya just gotta love it, however it comes!

photo: Baz, The Landy

A Hills Hoist (In the Australian Outback)

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One of Australia’s most recognisable icons, a Hills Hoist !

It doesn’t get much more Aussie than that…every backyard has one, even in the outback!

photo: Baz, The Landy

Man made objects (In the Australian Outback)

Image April 7, 2013November 18, 2014XPLORE - Out and About11 Comments

photo: Baz, The Landy

Broken Down – In the Australian Outback

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Broken Down - In the Australian Outback

Broken Down – In the Australian Outback.

Trilby Station, by the banks of the Darling River…

photo: Baz, The Landy

Brekkie’s On (Outback Australia Style…)

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Brekkie's On (Outback Australia)

Standing around an open fire, having a few laughs, cooking up brekkie!

Strewth, you wouldn’t want to be “dead for quids”…who’s hungry?

photo: Baz, The Landy

The “Old Homestead”

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The “Old Homestead” – Outback Australia…

Photo: Baz, The Landy

Talk about Dinky-Di Aussie (Uniquely Australian)

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Talk about Dinky-Di Aussie (Uniquely Australian)

This is a scene you will not see anywhere else in the world…

Outback Australia, you’ve gotta love it, hey!

photo: Baz – The Landy (Trilby Station, Australia)

The wind in your hair…

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The wind in your hair...

Let your spirit soar, like a bird…!

Flying in formation with my son, TomO, over Wanaka, New Zealand…

photo: Baz, The Landy

Akuna Bay Adventure Race (Go hard)

Image March 18, 2013November 18, 2014XPLORE - Out and About6 Comments

Akuna Bay Adventure Race

Stay focussed Baz…only 12 kilometres to go!

Shelter from the storm (Almer Hut – New Zealand)

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Shelter from the storm (Almer Hut - New Zealand)

Almer Hut is situated high on top of the Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand’s Southern Alps.

The red building has been a welcome sight to many who have traversed this fantastic country.

At the time I passed through it was sitting just below the snow line and the area offered great views to the mountains and the Tasman Sea.

New Zealand, you’ve got to love it, an adventurer’s playground…

photo: Baz, The Landy

Rugged Beauty – In the Australian Bush

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Rugged Beauty - In the Australian Bush

Far North-Queensland, my backyard when I was growing up…

And strewth, not another soul in sight…

ps: I never grew up 😉

photo: Janet O’Malley

Boar’s Head, Blue Mountains (And a dope on a rope)

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Boar's Head, Blue Mountains, Australia

Boar’s Head is a beautiful part of the Blue Mountains situated very close to the villages of Katoomba and Leura.

And only a two-hour drive to the west of Sydney…

You can abseil about 150 metres towards the valley floor and then climb back out, or abseil another 100 metres and walk out…

The wall to the right of the Boar’s Head, highlighted by the different colouring, is the climb out and there are a couple of different routes you can take.

And crikey, how special is that view of “Narrow Neck” the plateau visible in the background…

Baz - Climbing out Boar's Head, Blue Mountains, Australia — *Baz – Climbing out Boar’s Head, Blue Mountains, Australia*

Cox’s River (Out and About in the Australian Bush)

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Cox's River on the Six Foot Track

I could never tire of this part of the Blue Mountains.

This section is on the six-foot walking track, which winds its way from Katoomba to the Jenolan Caves.

I often do the 45 kilometre walk in a day, a long day given the mountainous terrain!

And I’ll be doing this walk frequently over the next few months, lucky me!

You’ve just got to love the Blue Mountains…

Copper Hill – Outback Australia

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Copper Hill - Outback Australia

TomO has been travelling the outback with us since he was a little tacka.

And always smiling, never stop smiling, mate…!

Date Palms in the Australian Outback (Dalhousie Ruins)

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It is not unusal to find date palms in the remote Australian Outback, particularly in the centre of Australia.

Often planted by Afghan Camel Traders.

The Australian Outback…If you can survive the flies, you’ll love it!

Cooper Creek, Outback Australia (An oasis in a barren land)

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Cooper Creek, Outback Australia

The Cooper Creek winds its way through the Australian Outback after the rains from Northern Australia swell the creeks and river systems and move slowly down into the wonderful area they call the “Channel Country” providing a haven for water birds and bringing life to the surrounding country…

TomO, Janet and I travelled in our inflatable boat to this remote spot, sat back and enjoyed the solitude that the Australian Outback brings, and not another soul in sight…!

And lucky for us, Janet rustled up one of those great dampers of hers in the camp oven for us to devour, how good is that…

photo: Baz, The Landy

Lost in Paradise – Yasawa Island, South Pacific

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Lost in Paradise - Yasawa Island, Fijian Islands

If I ever get lost in the mountains please send a St Bernard to rescue me…

But if I ever manage to get lost here, could you just send another cocktail, one’s never enough as the sun sets over the South Pacific!

Ps: Don’t bother rescuing me!

photo: Baz, The Landy

Strewth, now that’s a woolshed! (Cordillo Downs)

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*Cordillo Downs Woolshed, Outback Australia*

One of my passions is travelling the Australian Outback, the rich red soil kissing a vast blue sky in the far off distance, in the never-never…

Rest assured the never-never is a real place and the term was often used to describe the vast uninhabited inland region of Australian. But in reality, Australia’s first people, Australian Aboriginals, inhabited much of this vast land, the never-never…

The term never-never has appeared in many poems, writings, there is even a novel, “We of the Never-Never”, authored by Aenas Gunn. The book is really an autobiographical account of her time on Elsey Cattle Station in Australia’s Northern Territory.

I’ve visited Cordillo Downs many times over the years and it is truly big-sky country out there. Standing in its shadows I try and picture in my mind’s eye the people who worked here, how they arrived, where they went.

For you see, Cordillo Downs is in the middle of no-where and there is something very appealing about that.

And you’ll be hard pressed to find a tree in the “gibber country”.

Stores were transported from a town approximately 600 kilometres to the south by Afghan Camel Trains and workers frequently rode bicycles across an arid desert landscape to seek work in the shearing shed.