On the River Snow-capped mountains in the background, a forest dominated by drought-tolerant pinyon pines and juniper trees in the foreground, and mountain waters at our feet: this is the beautiful Eastern Sierras during a less fiery season.
For the last three weeks, fires have been raging across the Western States of the USA: in Oregon, California, and Washington millions of acres of land have been razed, more than 30 people have been killed, and thousands of homes have been lost.
I’ve been watching in horror as the images coming out of the conflagrations remind me of what we endured here in Australia at the beginning of this year, and may well be facing again soon.
It has also been personalised for me, as at least one friend was among the tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders in California. Fortunately for her, the winds shifted in time, her house was saved, and she and her animals were able to return to her home in the hills outside of Coleville, CA. But, the Slink Fire – last reported at 26,752 acres – was within two miles of the front door of her house: a place I once stayed.
It was mid-summer when I visited many years ago: July, which is rated as the hottest – but one of “the most pleasant months in Mono County”. The moisture from the winter snows had not yet been sucked out of this end of the Antelope Valley: the grass was green and the mountain flowers were out.
On our first day in the vicinity, we went on several short drives and medium hikes. We drove
into the Stanislaus National Forest, about an hour south of Coleville. There we hiked up into the Sonora Pass (elevation 9628 (2935 metres)) and onto a portion of the fabled Pacific Crest Trail in search of views and wildflowers. We drove back north in the late afternoon to explore some local mining history at the Golden Gate Stamp Mine, and then enjoyed evening views over the Eastern Sierras.
Fortunately for me, I was a bit fitter then than I am today: even the passes in California are higher than Australia’s tallest mountain! The Sonora Pass Pacific Crest Trail climbs 1,500 feet (457 metres) in the first two miles (3.2 km) before levelling out and traversing the flank of Leavitt Peak (11,569 ft – 3526 m), the highest mountain in the area. So, I used the wildflowers as a good excuse to stop and catch my breath!
Do join me:
Appaloosa Not far from here, there are bands of wild horses roaming in the mountains. This beauty in the lush Antelope Valley, however, is not one of those! Side note: California has not one but three localities called “Antelope Valley”! This one, high in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, stretches from Mono County, where we are here, into neighbouring Nevada.
View over the West Walker River Our first stop is at a vantage point, where there are views over the farms and ranches in the Antelope Valley, and over the West Walker River as it flows towards Nevada.
Silver Lupine – Lupinus Albifrons It is here that we are treated to our first wildflowers: the showy white-leaf bush lupine, or evergreen lupine, is native to California and Oregon.
Hairy Mule’s Ear – Wyethia Molliss Named for their long, hairy leaves that resemble the ears of the work animals commonly used in early mining here, hairy mule’s ears are members of the sunflower family.
Mule’s Ears on the Track Clumps of plants find a home on the dry and rocky earth …
Pine Forest … and the tall, straight pines stretch out around us.
Small Waterfall The waters that start with snow-melts high in the mountains rush down noisily over massive boulders in the many creeks.
Into the Woods Our pathway takes up up over more boulders …
Alpine Meadow … and into clearings …
Lemmon’s Rubberweed – Hymenoxys Lemmonii … of fallen logs and alpine flowers. Also known as Lemmon’s bitterweed, Lemmon’s rubberweed is a member of the daisy family native to the western United States.
Mountain Coyote Mint – Monardella Odoratissima As we walk up the Sonora Pass Trail, we find more unique wildflowers. Mountain beebalm or mountain pennyroyal is a perennial which grows in mountain forests and sagebrush scrub.
Skyrocket – Ipomopsis Aggregata My favourite of the wildflowers here is a member of the phlox family commonly known as scarlet trumpet or skyrocket. Apparently it is one of the most common western wildflowers, but we didn’t see that many.
Indian Paintbrush – Castilleja
Mules Ears on the Ridge
A Walker on the Track
White Prickly Poppy – Argemone Albiflora Another of my favourites was the widely-distributed American-native bluestem prickly poppy.
Glacial Waters There are a number of glaciers high in these mountains, contributing rich green colours to some of the creek pools.
Post and Bush The eastern Sierra Nevada mountains and the Great Basin are in a rain shadow, which is largely responsible for the arid climate. Winters might be cold and wet, but summers are typically hot and dry.
Forest Floor Pine needles and pine cones litter the ground underfoot.
Golden Gate Mine Later the same day, just a short drive out of Walker, we visited the Golden Gate Mine.
Golden Gate Mine Detail In surprisingly good condition, this stamp mill operated from 1903 to 1939.
Golden Gate Stamp Mine The ten-stamp mill pulverised the ore with a deafening noise that could be heard for miles.
“Joshua Hendy Iron Works” The Joshua Hendy Iron Works was an American engineering company that was once a world leader in mining equipment.
Leaving One’s Mark No matter where you are in the world, you find the marks of those who have gone before!
Strange Pines on the Ridge Our last stop of the day was on a ridge nearby, …
Windswept Trees … where the cross-winds strip the trees of moisture, and the updrafts stole my favourite fedora.
Rocks on the Ridge Mosses and lichens colour the rocks, …
Nature’s Sculpture … old trees are left like skeletons against the blue skies, …
Overlooking the Antelope Valley … and the views go on forever.
Endless views …
… and endless walking possibilities!
Not today, unfortunately with ongoing fires and compromised air quality. I do wish our leaders would learn from the current catastrophic blazes and make some positive changes for the future!
[…] How lucky was I to have a photography-friend with not one, but two bases in this rugged and gorgeous area! Like me, she is a fan of mountain walks and flowers, and we had timed my trip to line up with the best of the mountain blooms (see: Greener Pastures and Wildflowers). […]ReplyCancel
Woman in a Red Ghoonghat India is about colour: everywhere you look, people in colourful clothing contrast wildly with colour-washed walls and chaotic backgrounds.
India is an intensely sensory experience.
For me – a Westerner who grew up in a conservative culture of lowered voices and subdued shades in the northern prairie lands of snow and open spaces – the colours, the smells, the heat, and the press of the crowds in India can quickly lead to sensory overload. This is especially true during festival times.
But, I love it!
Here in Australia at the moment – thanks to the Novel Coronavirus – we are entering our sixth month of restricted movements, with the Australian borders closed to virtually all international travel in or out. Even our internal borders are closed, and many communities are enduring weeks of strict lockdown. All my travel plans for the the year have had to be postponed or cancelled.
So, the only way I can travel is vicariously by exploring archives of old images. What better antidote for Social Distancing than to return to pictures I took during what has been called the world’s biggest religious gathering: India’s Kumbh Mela.
The Kumbh Mela or Kumbha Mela is a major Hindu pilgrimage and festival. According to the story, back when the gods lived on the earth, they fought continuously with demons over a pot (kumbha) of amrita, the nectar or elixir of immortality. During the struggle, drops of the elixir fell on four earthly sites: Allahabad (the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna SarasvatiRivers), Haridwar (Ganges), Nashik (Godavari), and Ujjain (Shipra). Roughly every three years, the Sun, the Moon, and Jupiter line up over one of these sites, and the associated rivers turn back into the original primordial nectar. Pilgrims bathing in the sacred waters at these auspicious times are eternally blessed by the divine, and their sins are washed away.
So, when the Hindu Holy Men calculate the propitious dates, the Hindu pilgrims come. They come from all over India. They come to bathe and pray, and they come to transport water from the sacred rivers home with them.
I – along with photographers Gavin Gough and Matt Brandon and a small group of intrepid photography enthusiasts – was one of the more than 10 million people who descended upon the ancient city of Haridwar in Uttarakhand, North India to attended the 2010 Kumbh Mela.
There, amid the crush of bodies, my cameras and I revelled in the colours of the occasion.
Colours of India Colour is everywhere: in the bright and wildly patterned saris and ghoonghats (headscarves), in the vibrantly painted walls of the old brick buildings, and in the chaotic array of goods for sale.
Shisha Mirror Embroidery Many of the fabrics people wear are elaborately embroidered with rich threads and and small mirrors.
Pilgrim in Cream Even the more subdued colours are lit up by the smiles of their wearers.
Lace Trim Border Cotton lace edging frames faces and contrasts with the main fabric.
Hands Women carry their wealth in the gold bangles they wear. More than one woman I met thought me rather ‘poor’ because of the lack of gold jewellery on my person!
Sadhu in Orange The Holy Men come in a range of colours and styles. Check out that hair!
Colourful Scarf Everywhere I go, I meet smiling faces and a direct gaze.
Orange Bridge over the Ganges Even the bridges across the sacred mother Ganga are brightly painted.
Sadhu on the Move Some of the pilgrims have walked for days to get here …
Time Out … so a break with friends is always welcome.
Overlooking the Camp To handle the massive influx of humanity, a vast tented camp area has been set up. Monitoring is low-key, and performed by local police in subdued uniforms.
Lady in Red Sheer fabrics often act as a face cover – but the gaze is still direct.
Fresh Laundry Saris, turbans, and ghoonghats all require metres of colourful cloth.
Women in Bindis Red forehead dots (bindis) placed on the third eye of spiritual sight are commonly worn by married women, particularly Hindus and Jains, across the subcontinent.
Sadhu in a Tilaka While bindis have a range of uses and meanings, tilak or tilaka are more specific, acting as a holy mark of religious affiliation. The three lines are a reminder of the various sacred triads in Hindu thought.
Child in Sunnies Pilgrims come in all ages.
Women in a Tent In the dim shade of fabric tent a group of women have gathered. They invite me to join them.
Woman in a Purple Tent The purple fabric contrasts with the women’s colourful headscarves.
Colourful Woman The woman are all smiles and chatter …
Indian Woman … and there is plenty of food and drink in the tent with them.
Woman in Blue
Young Woman in Yellow The purple fabric casts interesting lights on the young women in the tent.
A Splash of Sari Colour Back outside, the light and heat bounce off the corrugated iron sheeting that lines the corridors of the pilgrim’s camp.
Mother and Daughter
On the Bathing Ghats In Hindi, a ghat is the “river landing stairs”, and the place where pilgrims gather to bathe in the Ganges as it races past.
Young Woman on the Ghats
Woman in an Ornamental Bindi
The Face of Experience
Rusty Rails Away from the ghats, crowds are thinner, but the colours and textures continue.
Child on a Balcony As I make my way back through the arterial roads, a child watches my retreat from overhead.
It was time for me to return to the relative quite of my small room.
As I said, as much as I love the colours of India, they overwhelm me, and I have to retreat.
Dingo on Seventy-Five Mile Beach Fraser Island, off Southern Queensland’s east coast, is home to several packs of wild dingos (Canis lupus). This makes the UNESCO-listed sand island one of the best places in Australia to see them in their natural habitat.
Fraser Island is a unique and wonderful place; it is a poem in sand, punctuated by the occasional sculptured rock.
The world’s largest sand island, Fraser Island was formed over hundreds of thousands of years as winds, ocean currents, and waves swept sands north from the continental shelf of Eastern Australia, and deposited them over the remenants of an ancient terrain of sedimentary rocks from the Cretaceous age and volcanic rocks from the Mesozoic or Tertiary periods. The outcrops that have resurfaced – including the volcanic formations at Indian Head, Middle Rocks and Waddy Point – only add up to a very small portion of the island’s total 184,000 hectares of land mass.
Some of the older, underlying layers of sands have been stained shades of yellow, brown, and red by the iron-rich minerals deposited with them. When portions of those layers of sand are compressed and bound together with clay, they form a weakly consolidated mass. Over thousands of years, rain and wind have rubbed surface layers away, exposing this soft older core; at The Pinnacles this has resulted in subtly coloured sculpted forms.
Sand is notoriously low in the nutrients essential to plant growth, but in spite of this, Fraser Island is home to a diversity of spectacular vegetation (see: Into a Pristine Past). This, in turn has evolved to support a range of insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and almost 50 identified species of mammals – including the iconic Australian dingo (Canis lupus).
There are 25 – 30 stable individual dingo packs on Fraser Island, which gives the visitor a good likelihood of spotting at least one. To preserve their ‘wildness’ it is an offence to feed, harm, or encourage them. The animals on the island have not crossbred with domestic or feral dogs as extensively as mainland populations, and so are thought to be the purest strain on the eastern Australian seaboard – and possibly in the country.
Come and enjoy the landscapes of Fraser Island, and some of the flora and fauna that live there.
Seventy Five Mile Beach from the Bus Where else in the world is a straight sandy beach part of the national highway system? Seventy Five Mile Beach Road, also known as the Fraser Island Beach Track, runs almost the entire length of the island along the east coast. (07June2019)
The Pinnacles Entry At the entry to The Pinnacles walkway, visitors read how the coloured sands were formed when the Rainbow Serpent of the Butchulla people was killed by his lover’s jealous husband.
The Pinnacles Also called Coloured Sands, the 72 different colours counted in The Pinnacles are from the different levels of iron in the sand and clay – or they might be from the thousands of pieces of shattered Rainbow Serpent that fell to the earth.
Pathway at the Pinnacles The coloured sandstone layers were muted under the overcast sky. The trail is lined by she-oaks and pandanus palms.
Treads in the Sand : Middle Rocks All the roads on Fraser Island are sand. You need a 4WD, a special permit, and a fair bit of skill to navigate them.
Windswept Walkway : Middle Rocks Not far from The Pinnacles, but in a very different vegetation zone, we follow a windswept wooden walkway to Champagne Pools.
View to Indian Head Much of the small percentage of rock found on Fraser Island is here on the east coast. From the boardwalk, we can look south to Indian Head …
View from the Walkway … and north to Waddy Point.
Look, but don’t swim! The waters around Fraser Island are home to marine stingers, dangerous currents, and a large shark population.
Stairs at Champagne Pools The pools at Waddy Point are sandy-bottomed and almost completely surrounded by shallow rocks, making them the only place on the island where swimming in ocean water is safe, and allowed.
On the Rocks The sharpness of the vocanic rocks that surround the Champagne Pools are in stark contrast with the beautiful silica sand most of the island is made from.
Champagne Pools Every crashing wave aerates the water in the pools like a delightful jacuzzi.
Girls in the Bubbles
Flowers on the Track The short “Imagine Walk” at Middle Rocks is lined with flowers …
Banksia … and low shrubs.
Pig Face – Carpobrotus Glaucescens
Guinea Flower – Hibbertia
Dingo on the Beach It is an offense to feed the animals, but this one still thought she might find some scraps from our picnic lunch.
Wild Dingo – Canis Lupus They are such intelligent looking creatures! While dingos don’t generally attack humans, they can be dangerous, especially to small children.
Viewpoint on Tukkee Wurroo – Indian Head The rocky outcrop at Tukkee Wurroo is very different in colour and texture from that at Middle Rocks.
White-Bellied Sea Eagle A sea eagle circles overhead …
Waves on the Rocks … and the sea foams below.
Fraser Island Landscape Looking south from the vantage point of Indian Head, you can see how swathes of vegetation alternate with stretches of bare sand.
Walkway at Eli Creek Our last stop was at Eli Creek …
Girls on the Walkway … where a 200m wooden walkway takes you up the island’s largest freshwater creek.
Waters under the Walkway They say the waters in the creek take more than a 100 years to filter through the sand, making them among the purest of the world.
People in the Creek It was raining while we were there – which is hardly a problem if you plan to walk downstream …
Rafting on Eli Creek … or raft down the fast-moving waters. The creek pours up to four million litres of water into the ocean every hour.
Evening on the Great Sandy Strait Sadly, it was time to leave the island. The light was low over the waters as we waited for the ferry back to the mainland.
It is truly a rich and beautiful island, worthy of its UNESCO listing, and of our respect and protection.
As the Queensland Government Parks say, the challenge is to balance the conservation of the region’s natural and cultural assets with increasing demands for access and tourism.
[…] had spent two days on a tour of Fraser Island off Australia’s east coast (see: Living Sands and Rock), and the ferry was scheduled to return to the mainland early evening. I was heading back through […]ReplyCancel
Western Highland Woman Proud, fierce, and carrying their weight in valuable shells; the Highland women of Papua New Guinea can hold their own!
The grassy fields outside the Mt Hagen Showgrounds were dotted with clumps of people gathered around jars of body paint and suitcases full of precious feathers. In the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea, the annual Mt Hagen Cultural Show was soon to start, and tribal performers from all over the neighbouring Highlands provinces – and even some from the coastal regions – were preparing their unique costumes.
I was excited!
I had attended the Paiya Village Mini Show the two days previously, and had watched a number of performers get ready for that (e.g.: Paiya Village Mini Show), but the long-standing Mt Hagen festival is much larger, and was expecting over 70 cultural groups. Several of these were in front of me, in the morning paddocks, going through the painstaking process of constructing their traditional outfits.
It was overwhelming! So many groups and so much colour!
I decided to focus first on the Western Highland women, and spend some time with them as they layered on their heavy shell necklaces, fashioned skirts out of long leaves, constructed elaborate feathered headdresses, and painted their faces in bold red, white, and blue.
In some ways it reminded me of the days when my daughter was dancing in concerts and eisteddfods: we would arrive early at some strange school auditorium or gymnasium and, grouped together with the rest of her troupe in a corner or a hallway, go through the arduous job of combing-out and hair-spraying curls, re-applying makeup, and conducting quick, between-routine costume changes.
Unlike our costumes, however, the leaves, grass, feathers, and paint these women were applying to themselves and each other represented age-old community traditions, that are today reserved for sing sings, these regular tribal gatherings of dance and song.
Join me!
Outside the Mt Hagen Show Grounds The fields outside the show grounds are a hive of activity as people prepare for their performances.
Western Highland Woman The bilum hat, traditionally made by looping or crocheting plant fibres or cotton, provides the foundation for the feathers which will be added later.
Shells We are a long way from the ocean – especially considering the jungle-clad, mountainous terrain and the absence of arterial roads. These shells have been traded for, and are considered precious.
Helping the Child I love watching the children, as their elders help them take part in age-old traditions.
Western Highland Child
Necklace Detail
Woman in Shells The smiles are infectious.
Kina Moka Shell Shields Today, these highly valued breast plates are symbolic; …
Woman and her Kina Moka Shell … traditionally, they were used for barter. Papua New Guinea money is still called kina.
Western Highland Women Getting Ready Like the women’s costumes, the building behind them is a work in progress. Change is coming slowly to these regions.
Suitcase Full of Feathers Fortunately for the birds of paradise and the rare parrots in the mountains around here, …
Preserving the Feathers … the feathers that go into the ornate headdresses are carefully looked after between sing sings.
Hands at Work
Contemplation
Blue and White Time has passed – the face painting is starting to take shape.
Fixing Feathers And, the meticulous process of building the massive headdress begins.
Building a Headdress Notice the traditional tattoos across this woman’s face.
Eye in the Mirror
Check the Mirror! I’ve said it before: if I ever get to this region again, I will bring a bag full of hand mirrors: they are a valued commodity.
Helping The day is heating up, and the start-time is drawing closer: all hands are on deck for the finishing touches.
Face Paint, Feathers, and Shells Finally! In their full traditional glory, the women gather on the field, …
Party Time … singing, dancing, banging their kundu drums, …
Western Highland Women’s Group … and shaking their tail feathers.
Celebrate Good Times, Come On! They certainly left me feeling happy – especially when they turned on an old walkman, and started dancing to Kool & the Gang!
It was indeed a celebration! A celebration of good times and old traditions.
[…] I was in Mount Hagen with photographer Karl Grobl from Jim Cline Photo Tours. My fellow photo-tour participants and I were enjoying virtually unlimited access to groups as they prepared themselves and danced their way around and into the grounds (see: Western Highlands Women). […]ReplyCancel
Buddhas in a Cave It takes a few moments for one’s eyes to adjust and to pick out the details of the intricately painted ceilings and the multitude of Buddha images inside the ancient temple caves at Dambulla in central Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is said to be the oldest continually Buddhist country in the world.
When Buddhism first spread beyond India, the two countries that embraced the teachings were Gandhara (lands that are now in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan) and Ceylon (called Sri Lanka since 1972). Buddhist scholars believe that the Buddha visited the island of Ceylon on three occasions, and Buddhism was officially introduced as a religion into the country in the 2nd century BC.
This long religious tradition is in evidence all across the country, and nowhere more so than at the Dambulla Royal Cave Temple and Golden Temple complex in Central Province. This network of five sanctuary caves is unique in Southeast Asia because it is not naturally occurring: whole sections – including some of the Buddha images themselves – were carved out of the rock by early monks.
A great lump of lava rock towers 160 metres over the surrounding plains, and more than 80 caves have been discovered in the area. Prehistoric Sri Lankans probably made their home here, and burial sites that are about 2700 years old have been found. Forest-dwelling Buddhist monks were taking refuge in the caves and overhangs from the 3rd century BC. and King Valagamba of Anuradhapura is believed to have had the caves converted into a temple in the first century BC, after hiding out there during 14 years of political exile.
The caves still operates as a monastery and a popular pilgrimage site, and are a fascinating place to visit.
Wild Elephants My drive from Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province to the cave complex took me through some beautiful countryside and a number of National Parks. It was wonderful to see a herd of wild elephants roaming in the distance.
Golden Buddha Statue Theravada Buddhist monuments in Sri Lanka are not subtle. The main entrance courtyard to this complex houses the rather garish Golden Temple Buddhist Museum, built in the 19th century. You enter through the lion’s mouth – under the giant seated golden Buddha!
Golden Stupa A nearby bell-shaped pagoda …
Buddha in a Niche … houses offerings to smaller, more understated Buddha images.
Stairways Up Apparently, the winding path up to the caves is 364 steps long; I didn’t count them!
Bugs along the Way Although the climb is quite steep, …
Berries in the Bush … there are plenty of excuses to stop and catch ones breath, …
View over Central Province … and the views from the top are well worthwhile.
The Corridor Having reached the top of the stairs and deposited my shoes with an attendant, I can finally walk down to the corridors that nestle into the hillside and guide visitors through the caves. It rained several times while I was there, so the roof covering was welcome!
In the Colonnades This is an active temple, where ‘modesty’ of dress is expected: sarongs were available for visitors who hadn’t thought to cover their shoulders and knees.
Devaraja Lena – the Cave of the Divine King The first cave is almost completely filled by a 14-meter reclining Buddha that has been carved out of the rock behind it.
Parinirvana Posture The Buddha is depicted in the last moments of this life, in the lying posture with a hand under the head. The statue has been repainted countless times since being carved over 2000 years ago.
Vishnu Vishnu, Lord of the Gods, is said to have used his divine powers to create the caves.
Stupa A large stupa sits in the corridor outide the second and largest cave.
Rainy Courtyard In the courtyard below, the rain falls on the sacred bodhi tree, the “tree of awakening”, which represents the place where Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment.
Cave of the Great Kings The complex of five caves houses a total of 153 Buddha statues in a variety of postures.
Seated Buddhas The second and largest cave, the Cave of the Great Kings, is home to many of the Buddhas, and to much of the over 1800 square meters of murals on the walls and ceilings.
Buddha on a Stupa It is impossible to take everything in! There are 40 seated Buddhas in this cave, …
Standing Buddha … and 16 standing statues. This gilded one in an archway was particularly impressive.
Row of Buddhas ‘Modern’ lighting was installed as part of the UNESCO requirements, but the light inside the caves is dreadful: badly aligned bulbs cast strange colours and harsh shadows.
Standing Buddhas But, the dark cave interiors are at least in part responsible for maintaining the vibrant colours of the statues and murals.
Buddhas in the Cave of the Great Kings While the temple has been repaired and repainted many times over the millennia, the art is also protected by being under cover and away from bleaching sunlight.
Sirasapata – Flame of Wisdom Some of the colours are a bit mind-blowing! This style of sirasapata on the top of the head of the Buddha is a feature in Sri Lanka.
The Shadow of the Buddha
Buddha and Murals The third cave, the Maha Alut Vihara (the Great New Monastery) is more modern and was painted during the reign of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747–1782).
Makara Torana – Dragon Arch A Dragon Arch marks the gateway to heaven.
Man on a Balcony Back outside, it is still raining, but it is time to retrieve my shoes and descend the mountain.
Walking down the hill was much easier than walking up!
But, it is actually not the same pathway, and I ended up in a different place from my car and driver. I had quite some fun trying to figure out what had happened, and trying to find a way back to the car park – which as it turned out was a fair distance away. In the end, I hired a tuk-tuk to drive me to my car.
- Performing the Ganga Aarti from Dasaswamedh Ghat, Varanasi
- Buddha Head from Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar
- Harry Clarke Window from Dingle, Ireland
- Novice Monk Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery, Myanmar
Packets of 10 for $AU50.
Or - pick any photo from my Flickr or Wanders blog photos.
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It was indeed a celebration! A celebration of good times and old traditions.
[…] How lucky was I to have a photography-friend with not one, but two bases in this rugged and gorgeous area! Like me, she is a fan of mountain walks and flowers, and we had timed my trip to line up with the best of the mountain blooms (see: Greener Pastures and Wildflowers). […]