Lovely and Cute, too!

I had an early start to the day on Thursday and came across another lovely little waterfall on the strangely named Fellmongers Creek that runs into Wilsons Reservoir just north of Bullarook. Though only around 5 feet in height, it certainly deserves recognition in my growing catalogue of waterfalls in the Ballarat district. I have just started on a big project with Central Highlands Water to capture their assets over the next few weeks in light of the high rainfall we've had this year...it should provide some great opportunities into some little known locations.
Later in the day just before lunch I ran a lap of Lake Wendouree and this time counted 17 families with 63 cygnets...certainly a bumper year. I had to grab the camera and go back to capture this lovely scene of a very protective mother and her new baby. 
As an after thought...without looking it up on Google, does anyone know what a fellmonger is?!

 Image © Central Highlands Water

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The Expected...and the Unexpected!

Back to what I love best on Wednesday..chasing water! I spent all day being shown a range of sites that will keep me busy for quite a while. Here's yet another new waterfall I've discovered....this one out at Evansford. Also some spilling water at a local spot, and probably the most surprising thing I've seen locally for quite a while....I just had to stop to grab a few images!

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Don't Forget.......

On another grey, dull day I went to a location that I visit quite often throughout the year....Mt Warrenheip. At this time of the year you can find some really nice patches of Forget-Me-Nots and whilst they weren't as prolific this year, there are still some nice areas worth a visit. I was happy with a couple of the more intimate details shown here, the dark but vibrant conditions add a nice feel to these. And whilst it was mostly grey and dreary throughout the day, I did get one nice break in the clouds to give me another rainbow looking northeast across to Bungaree.
Did I mention how cold it was on the side of the mountain?! It should be warmer by now.......!

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Monday Meanderings

The weather on Monday was very changeable.....one minute sunny, the next overcast and hailing (as I ran around Lake Wendouree!). Actually great conditions for photography, and when I headed out just after 4pm my plans were to head north to check out some canola fields, maybe find a rainbow or 2. However I quickly realised that the most promising conditions were out west towards Windermere and Burrumbeet. As you can see from this set I was rewarded with some fantastic conditions after covering quite a few miles. 
First stop was this shearing shed just off the freeway at Windermere. I often make a slight detour to this spot if the clouds are interesting .... I think these clouds qualify! Heading further west I made a stop near the north west corner of Lake Burrumbeet where this cow was curious to see what I was up to. Way further south down the west side of the Lake I captured my favourites....a rainbow with some great squally skies (and the canola field adding that extra streak of colour.) Heading home I was again tempted back off the freeway for another streak of canola amidst the darkening landscape at Windermere, and then over to the outskirts of Learmonth for some more great clouds. Even as I was almost home the clouds above Lake Wendouree caught my eye with their drama. 
One interesting thing I noticed about the days images was the deep steel blue tinge to the clouds in a lot of the images.
PS...Cygnet update...on today's run around Lake Wendouree it was 18 swan families and 57 cygnets!

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Channel Islands National Park

Been back 2 weeks today and haven't had too much time to spend looking at the trip images. So I thought I'd take a look at a nice morning I had on the beach of Sant Cruz Island, one of the 5 islands that make up Channel Islands National Park, California.
PS...must be time to start thinking about another trip!

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Black Creek Falls

We had one of the wildest days in history in Ballarat on Sunday with incredible winds all day...that didn't stop me visiting another new waterfall that I have discovered this year. This is Black Creek Falls out near Mt Egerton and is much bigger than it looks being at least 30 feet or more. It's situated in a lovely canyon that took some scrambling to get down into as the water level is still high, however it did shield a lot of the winds. Last time I was here just over a week ago there was no thought of getting down as the water was too wild. Plenty to explore in this location....I'll be back!

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Still Wet

No waterfalls today.........but still plenty of water!
On Saturday I was up early for the sunrise at Lake Wendouree, and then later in the day I made my first visit to Lake Burrumbeet since returning from the US...and was very happy to see its full! This should keep me busy for quite a while......it's probably my most visited location after Lake Wendouree.
In this post I've also included a few images from visits to Lake Wendouree this week...apart from all my waterfalls this week I had 4 early morning visits to the lake that produced a great range of images. I ran a lap of the lake on Friday and counted 10 swan families and 37 cygnets, so if you are after a dose of cuteness take a walk around the lake!
And if you are missing seeing a waterfall, I have a trip planned for today that should produce something very special!

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