More postcards from Highway One…

The claim that this is the last shop for 1000km is probably true but you can buy provisions at a number of roadhouses across the 1200km of the Nullarbor. General store, Penong, Nullarabor Plain © Rob Walls 2011

Several stretches of the highway are widened to allow the Royal Flying Doctor Service air ambulances to use the road as an airstrip. © Rob Walls 2011

A salt pan near Fowlers Bay. I harvested some of this sea salt and used it in my camp cooking. © Rob Walls 2011

I just couldn't get over the jaw dropping distances you can see as you are driving. © Rob Walls 2011

A refrigerator doing sterling service as a mailbox © Rob Walls 2011

A more conventional oil drum mail box near Jerramungup, WA © Rob Walls 2011

A sheep farmer's warning to dingoes, Western Australia © Rob Walls 2011

Continental crossing…some postcards from Highway 1

The jetty at Ceduna, South Australia the starting point for crossing the Nullarbor      © Rob Walls 2011

The journey begins © Rob Walls 2011

In 1200 kilometres I saw no camels, no wombats and only road kill kangaroos © Rob Walls 2011

Road train driver Faye Francis-Lewis in front of her rig with her dog Mr Twobow. With her husband Warren as co-driver,  she was driving 75 tonnes of refrigerated tomatoes from Perth to Adelaide. © Rob Walls 2011

A broken trailer axle and the belongings of someone moving their home to the east are scattered along the highway © Rob Walls 2011

Like a Roman ruin in North Africa the remnants of the old Eucla Telegraph Station are swallowed up by the sand © Rob Walls 2011

A long way from home; a long way to go…

This trip is like joining up the dots between all the places ever I’ve visited over the years, flying over this vast land, but never experiencing it; discovering the geography of the land between. I’m now 2018 kilometres from Sydney and 1924 kilometres from Perth and just beginning to get an inkling of how vast Australia is. I’m looking forward to what is to come and revisiting a lot of these places again on the way home.

Ceduna, South Australia, half way between Sydney and Perth © Rob Walls 2011

Oyster harvesting, Coffin Bay, South Australia © Rob Walls 2011

The rock formation known as Murphys Haystacks, near Streaky Bay on the Eyre Peninsula © Rob Walls 2011

South Australia has these incredibly long jetties all along its coastline. Their only purpose seems to be recreational fishing. How good is that? © Rob Walls 2011

7.30am: pretending to write in my journal while waiting for the kettle to boil, at my first campsite at Sceales Bay, South Australia © Rob Walls 2011

Every photographer needs a hearty heart attack breakfast to set themselves up for the day. © Rob Walls 2011

Signs from the road…

I can rarely pass an interesting road sign without photographing it. You know the sort of thing; “Beware falling rocks”.  I ponder if the rocks are already falling, how much time do I have to react? You know how it is. Here are a few I came across this week.

And have a good day! © Rob Walls 2011

Use sunglasses? Close your eyes? © Rob Walls 2011

Beware of cameras? © Rob Walls 2011

Postcards from South Australia…

Gradually making my way west across South Australia, I’m now at the tip of the Eyre Peninsula, my stepping off point to cross the Nullarbor to Western Australia. The countryside is breathtakingly beautiful, but I find I’m still most attracted to the marks we make on the landscape. When it comes to heavy industry, I’m invariably torn between the damage it does and the energy and geometric beauty of its structures.

Horsedrawn tram, Victor Harbor to Granite Island © Rob Walls 2011

Graffitied water tanks near Port Augusta. Did Chloe marry Bill? © Rob Walls 2011

Whyalla's namesake, the ex-RAN corvette © Rob Walls 2011

Shop opposite the Whyalla Secondary School © Rob Walls 2011

Steelworks, early morning, from Hummock Hill, Whyalla © Rob Walls 2011

The death of the book?

So I wouldn’t have a crate full of books to carry on my trip to the west, I bought myself an Amazon Kindle. As I do with most things new, I took some shots for stock.

I took this and uploaded the pictures to Alamy two weeks ago. It made it’s first sale last night!

By the way; I’m finding the Kindle very satisfying. As an avid reader, I thought I’d have all sorts of printed page withdrawal symptoms. Not at all. Since I left I’ve read the “Stephen Fry Chronicles”, Keith Richards’ “Life”, Kipling’s “Man Who Would be King”, Thoreaux “On Civil Disobedience” (I was thinking of the Tasmanian pulp mill protests), and am presently in the middle of Gregory David Roberts “Shantaram”. The total cost of all these books was $36 (the Kipling and Thoreaux were free). The price on the last paperback I read (Greg Bearup’s “Travels in Caravanistan”) was $39.95.

While I wouldn’t predict the death of the book, I think traditional books are probably going to go the way of the vinyl LP or even the CD. There will be less and less of them printed and their cost will increase as they become more and more collectable.

I downloaded the Lonely Planet Guide to Australia before I set out on my drive across Australia. I’m using this every day as I travel.  The eBook  is $16 as opposed to $48.99 for the paper edition and the advantage of the Kindle edition is that it is keyword searchable. I’m looking forward to testing the download capabilities of the Kindle in the middle of the Nullarbor. And of course, as a travel aid and a photo prop my Kindle now becomes tax deductible…

The silvery light of the Coorong…

On the road again for the This Working Life project: travelling westward on a trip that will eventually take me nearly 7000km to Port Hedland on the other side of the continent, I made a detour through the Coorong  at the mouth of the Murray River.  With recent flooding rains, the waters at the Murray mouth are at levels that have not been seen for years. I found the geography of the Coorong surprisingly similar to the Camargue, at the mouth of the Rhone. It’s a similar mix of marshes and low salt flats and is also on the edge of a wine-growing region.

The weather was unseasonably cold and wintry, but the silvery light was magnificent as the sun played hide-and-seek behind clouds and squalls of rain. I can understand why this beautiful wild region of Australia can be so seductive for photographers. I’m determined to return here on my way home, in a couple of months.

 

The silvery winter light over the marshes of the Coorong near the mouth of the Murray River in South Australia © Rob Walls 2011

Bench by the railway line at Milang, near Lake Alexandrina, South Australia © Rob Walls 2011

The Hindmarsh Island bridge at Goolwa, South Australia © Rob Walls 2011