Posting #7 of my road trip from Fremantle to Kununurra, Western Australia.

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Andrew McInnes Photography

Ah, I arrived at my destination – Kununurra – after 9 days of driving and bush camping. Here are some images around the greater Kununurra area from the first day or so.

Not far short of Kununurra, and the scenery, topography, and geology changes (after leaving Halls Creek).

Assorted roadside grasses…

The fishing is fantastic in the Kimberley; this is a 1.14 meter Barramundi (released immediately after photo) caught on the lower Ord River.

The ubiquitous estaurine crocodiles (“Saltwater Crocodile”) necessitate care around the water.

Iconic Kimberley vistas…
If you have watched the movie “Australia” then you may recognise this geologic feature, known as ‘House Roof Hill’ – it is the backdrop to the fictional “Faraway Downs” homestead.
This image was captured very early on another glorious Kimberley morning.

The next image is “False House Roof Hill” – neighboring bluffs along the Ord River.

The April 2014 Lunar Eclipse occurred whilst I was in this area. The following image captures part of this eclipse over a Kimberley range.

Lake Argyle is Australia’s largest artificial lake (by volume). It is part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme and is a sight to behold. Unfortunately these “roadside” images are all I managed to capture of this vast and beautiful feature – I must return and spend time above and on the lake!

An alternate view of the Ord River Dam – construction was completed in 1971.

Grass in seed along the dam wall – beautiful April conditions.

Posting #6 of my road trip from Fremantle to Kununurra, Western Australia.

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Andrew McInnes Photography

Into the Kimberley Region…

If you plan on being near Halls Creek I thoroughly recommend taking the time to explore along Duncan Road…

China Wall – a quartz outcrop.

A light painting of China Wall.

The very refreshing, and aptly named, Palm Springs.

A ‘selfie’ in Palm Springs – lovely safe place for a dip.

Mulla mulla wildflowers along Duncan Road, Halls Creek.

One of the water crossings along Duncan Road, Halls Creek.

Sawtooth Gorge is a beautiful and secluded camping/visiting area- well worth the short bumpy dirt road in.

An iconic avian species – the Wedge-tailed Eagle – perched on a termite mound outside Fitzroy Crossing.

An iconic boab tree at dusk on the Great Northern Highway – a common Kimberley vista.

Posting #5 of my road trip from Fremantle to Kununurra, Western Australia.

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Andrew McInnes Photography

All images in this post are from a very brief (overnight) stop in Broome and its immediate surrounds. A town full of history, gorgeous scenery, and the fabled Cable Beach.

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A glorious storm building over Cable Beach, Broome – Western Australia. In addition to the much needed rainfall, this storm did wonders ameliorating the hot conditions on that day. © 2014 Andrew McInnes

Sun Pictures (Sun Picture Gardens) is reportedly the world’s oldest picture garden still in operation.

Another glorious dusk as I departed Broome.

Posting #3 of my road trip from Fremantle to Kununurra, Western Australia.

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Andrew McInnes Photography

This post contains images from my express visit to Coral Bay and Exmouth, Western Australia.

Ah, the tropics 🙂

These next three images are from Coral Bay – a stunning and simple place.

The front of the image is shallow water over a sand substrate; this then abruptly drops off into a deepish lagoon which is protected by Ningaloo Reef (Australia’s “other” reef) in the background. © 2014 Andrew McInnes.

Unfortunately I only spent about 8 hours in Exmouth which is nowhere near sufficient. Nevertheless, here are some scenes of this fascinating area.

A light-painting of the retired (non-functioning) Vlamingh Head Lighthouse – Exmouth. The evening air was thick with moisture from the Indian Ocean as it pounded Ningaloo Reef so I thought I’d make an image to suggest how the light from the lighthouse may have appeared to mariners of yore. During the 30 second exposure I mimicked a beam of light from the lighthouse by aiming my spotlight on the structure for a few seconds, allowing the moisture in the air to appear as a beam.
This image includes the Southern Cross (and pointers), along with a portion of the Milky Way.

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Star trails caress the retired (non-functioning) Vlamingh Head Lighthouse – Exmouth, on a blustery and balmy autumn night. This is a stacked image consisting of 61 images (each image f4 for 30 seconds at ISO 800). © 2014 Andrew McInnes.

More posts from this road trip to follow this.

Posting #1 of my road trip from Fremantle to Kununurra, Western Australia.

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Andrew McInnes Photography

I recently embarked on what turned out to be a quite a drive with the purpose of visiting an old mate from my teenage years whom I have not seen for more than 20 years! My old vehicle (1984 Toyota Hilux diesel) logged 9,193 km (5,712 miles) doing my return trip from Fremantle – Kununurra – Fremantle, Western Australia.

With an esky full of water and assorted sandwich-construction material, plus spare diesel, oil, etc., I essentially drove until it was time to find a bush-camp for the night. I’d awake early and continue northward, repeating as required until I arrived at Kununurra.

Subsequent blog postings will present more images from the trip to the north of this bloody big state.
Theses images document my travels up and back – I hope you will find them appealing.

It isn’t long until these emblematic signs present themselves, with varying fauna presented.

Having previously visited and photographed The Pinnacles (click here to view these) at Nambung National Park, near Cervantes, I chose to revisit and shoot more images from this amazing ‘moonscape’ before moving on and finding a place to camp for the night.

This leaning tree is but one of many around the Greenough area. These River Gum/eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) have horizontal trunks due to exposure to strong and near-continuous southerly winds.

Should you find yourself anywhere near Geraldton or Walkaway, I thoroughly recommend a visit to Ellendale Pool, be it for a day trip or a place to camp – as I did for an evening.

Lovely spot to set up a caravan!

The ubiquitous and raucous Little Corella

Hope you enjoyed the early portion of my trip, if vicariously 🙂

More images from the trip to follow soon.

Cheers,

Andrew

Hotham Ridge Organic Winery – Wandering, Western Australia

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Andrew McInnes Photography

I recently had the pleasure of 36 hours at the lovely Hotham Ridge Winery at Wandering, Western Australia as I conducted a photo-shoot for the owners. At only a little beyond 1.5 hours from downtown Perth, this organic/biodynamic winery is a wonderful and proximal location to spend time relaxing with fine wine, delicious food, and gorgeous rammed-earth cottages that are refreshingly clean and quiet. The bistro utilizes a wood-fired oven to produce meals, from which I enjoyed what may well be the most delicious pizza I can recall – the “Classico.”

The following images are all taken at the winery – I hope you enjoy them, and if you are planning a visit to the Perth area I suggest you may want to consider spending time at Hotham Ridge Winery, even if only for a bite to eat and a sampling of their award winning wines.

Overlooking the Chardonnay, with a beautiful crop for this vintage.

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Three-image stitch.
Copyright © Andrew McInnes. All rights reserved.

Looking back at the cottages, homestead, bistro, and winery.

The Dutch influenced homestead, and the two cottages – “Billie” and “Nina” – as seen from the bistro.

Here is “Billie’s” porch.

These old oak barrels, settled among a garden of ponds, flowing water, and birds-a-plenty, greet visitors on pathway to the cellar door and bistro.

The Magpie tapestry – illustrating the basis of the Hotham Ridge label.

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The vintner’s vintages.

Vines, very soon to be relieved of their sweet bounty.

A red bicycle appearance among the vines.

This red bicycle makes an appearance in several of these images as the owners of the winery wanted the bicycle included in some of the scenes – I like it.
Copyright © Andrew McInnes. All rights reserved.

As this is an organic winery (certified), there is no herbicide or pesticide usage thus these young vines are competing with the remnants of the spring’s grass.
Copyright © Andrew McInnes. All rights reserved.