Purple Haze?

Well, not a haze so much, but came across this last night on my wanderings along the banks of the Yarrowee River here in Ballarat. Not my usual post, but thought it was worth a viewing.

The Platform

Found this interesting spot in the Yarrowee last night just north of the freeway ..... stood in the water for quite a while to get these, but its something a bit different from my usual water shots.

Nerrina Wetlands again

I did a couple of posts from the Nerrina Wetlands earlier in the year, but I made a return visit as its basically next door to where the Yarrowee River runs through Brown Hill. The river wasn't offering much inspiration in this section so I concentrated on a walk around the wetlands and put together a really nice varied selection. And all this only about 5 or 6 minutes from home!

A Lap of the Lake 236

I reckon I've done at least 236 laps of Lake Wendouree, and I always come home with something of interest. A late loop on Sunday evening, the first one here is the Statuary Pavilion in the foregound and the Begonia Pavilion in the background at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens on the west side of Lake Wendouree.

Back to Mt Misery - to the top!

After getting permission from the 2 landowners required, I went out to Mt Misery on Saturday afternoon to see how far I could get. I had to watch the time as I needed to be back in Ballarat by a certain time, but I'm happy to report I made it all the way to the top. Once you get up onto the ridge from the north side its quite a long hike around to the actual summit, and the last few hundred feet was quite a lot of boulder hopping but well worth the effort. Great panoramic views in all directions, and you actually look down onto neighbouring Mt Ercildoune (my next challenge in this area!). 
First image here is one of the windfarm towers nearby casting a nice shadow, then a great north view from the north end of the ridge. A view looking down onto Mt Ercildoune with Lake Burrumbeet in the distance, then the Trig Station to prove I was there. I wanted to take a pic of myself up there, and though I had the tripod with me (and boy, did that get heavy in that last climb up the side of the mountain!) I couldn't figure out the self timer function as I've never used it before. Looks like I have to make a return ascent for absolute proof! The final 2 images show a small dam on the way back to the car, and "Denzel", one of the curious cows that bid me farewell. A great place to visit and some fantastic rock outcrops will have me back again when I can get some really nice light conditions.

The Devil after Church

I bet that post title piqued your interest! Went for a drive south west from Ballarat on Friday afternoon, and though the conditions didn't look too promising to start with, I was "blessed" with some great conditions towards sunset. I visited the old Jubilee Mine site on the way down to Staffordshire Reef and then onto Beringa, before stopping at the Springdallah Church just as the sun was breaking through. Straight from church to visit the Devil - Devils Kitchen, that is! Always a great place and some post sunset light in the sky made for a really nice image.

The clouds are back!

Finally, after a very clear start to the day, some clouds moved in, so I jumped in the car after lunch and headed out to the Mt Misery area. Got some lovely fleeting sunshine moving across the hills, and at one brief stop some really amazing turbulent cloud formations that quickly blew away. 

Playing with water again, again

I know, more of the same, but still no clouds here in Ballarat, and always new things to find along the Yarrowee. And this may well dry up by summer so I'm making the most of it. And lets face it....standing in a river that you have all to yourself with the kookaburras singing in the trees isn't a bad way to spend a Wednesday evening!

Playing with water, again

We are in a very sunny spell at the moment here in Ballarat, and there are virtually no clouds to work with, but I'm enjoying my time along the Yarrowee. Here's another selection from Tuesday afternoon.

Lake Wendouree Calendar 2012

I've put together a calendar of images from the Lap of the Lake Exhibition for 2012. Each month page is A3 in size. These make great presents, and there's a very limited number. $25 each - drop me a line!

Playing with water

Seems to be a common theme at the moment. With no clouds in the sky on Monday afternoon I thought I'd take the opportunity to try out my new underwater housing (actually its a tough plastic bag) with my Canon G9. So it was off to the Yarrowee again - the first pic here is the only one I got of about 5 shots that was vaguely recognisable before the water started to get in. You get what you pay for! Anyway I'm sure the housing will be fine for Niagara Falls as I don't plan to go under the water there, just in front of the falls on the Maid of the Mist boat, in just over 5 weeks.

So after that episode I put that whole camera rig away and did some more serious stuff as shown here. I did manage to get more water into my right gumboot than I did into the camera bag, but the camera survived fine.

Water

I'm always looking for water on my trips around the district and last weeks rain has made its mark in a lot of the paddocks all over the place. The first one here is on the Carngham Road just outside of Ballarat, and then a nice end to a Sunday drive at Lake Burrumbeet, this time on the south shore, and then a long look across Lake Burrumbeet on the way back into Ballarat. The last one is worth a closer look if you click on it.

A couple of sunsets

One from Friday night out Glen Park way, and Lake Wendouree last night (Saturday). Always something different happening in the sky, I suppose thats why I keep going out.

Friday Finds

On Friday afternoon the plan was to head out to the Yarrowee River again but the conditions were looking great so I drove around a bit in the Brown Hill - Glen Park area. Picked up quite a range of different images....heres 3 and a black and white version of one. Got a nice sunset after these too, so will post that next.

Another Lake Panorama

Three more from Wednesday ... busy today installing the exhibition...must run........!