Mount Kosciuszko...

"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So...get on your way!"

~ Dr. Seuss.

Gosh, how time flies! We're due home in less than a week. I can hardly believe that 5 weeks have flown by already. It just doesn't seem possible! But alas, the calendar says that it is so. We're heading north east in the direction of home, cutting through central New South Wales in order to make it to the Blue Mountains in our last week of road trippin'. 

Today we woke up in Jindabyne after having followed a crazy, and lonely dirt track through Snowy River and Alpine National Parks yesterday. After a hearty breakfast we headed towards Thredbo to get the chairlift up to the start of the Mount Kosciuszko summit walk. Oh boy! I've been wanting to do this walk for quite a while so I was eager and raring to go. However, just 4 kilometres into the 6.5 kilometre track we realised that we were ill prepared to get to the summit. The weather was horrific - the guy who sold us the chairlift ticket said it was the coldest day they'd had in over 3 months! The clouds were thick and low and the wind was whipping the sides of the mountain. We gave it a good shot but at the three quarter mark we were freezing and damp, and I thought the wind was going to knock me over. It was so cold up there ice crystals the size of fat fingers were forming on the ground. Being without wet weather gear (and proper coats!) we thought it best to turn around. We were disappointed, but never mind, it just means we have to come back another time. 

In spite of my aching cold hands I was able to take a few snaps on the mountain. The bottom few images are from Charlottes Pass...

Summer days...

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.

~ John Lubbock.

I've taken to carrying my camera with me almost everywhere I go. This weekend we borrowed my brother's 4 wheel drive and headed up to Mt Mee to visit a camping spot we'd stayed at many years ago. We got there by taking the long route and spent quite a while jangling along an exceptionally bumpy dirt road. But it was totally worth it. In spite of minimal rain there was still water in the creek and it was just as lovely as we remembered. I'd had some self portrait ideas in mind before we left, but inevitably the location wasn't really suited to my concepts, so I did what I do best and improvised, letting the beautiful locale determine the nature of the images:

I greatly admire simplicity in photography. I have a penchant for embellishment, but sometimes it is good and right to be economical and use only what is around you. I've been playing around with lighting lately as I've been shooting mostly indoors. But being outdoors reminded me that there is no substitute for beautiful natural light. I would like to do this more often - be more natural with my shooting - allow images to come to me instead of trying to create them. I embrace artifice wholeheartedly, but sometimes it's nice to approach things organically and with free intent.

Of course, photography is a deceptive art and the truth is elusive. The best I can hope for is to capture the essence of a person or place in accordance with who I am. I think about these things - it's the artist in me. It is important that I constantly assess and reassess what I do. 

But back to the weekend...blue skies, summer sun, swaying eucalypts, dairy farms, rolling green hills, rusty sheds and dark freshwater creeks. What more could one ask for? Oh, how about a best friend to accompany you on your journey? Yes, that would be swell...

The pics above are of us standing in front of the most glorious old shed. I did my best hillbilly impersonation and Ben tried not to smile. I'm always telling him not to smile when I take his photo. I love his straight face - he has the deepest, kindest eyes. 

Below are the pics I'd planned to take and use - but they really didn't work out as I'd envisioned. But admittedly, the concept was derivative to begin with so I'm not all that disappointed. I do adore the dark reflective surface of the water. It really was like a mirror. Can't say I enjoyed getting in it though - the rocks were slippery and I was scared of having my toes bit by angry yabbies!

The real star of this weekend adventure was the landscape. It was just so magic. After 5 weeks of being home-bound (we just moved into a new home!), the great outdoors proved a much needed panacea to the humdrum of domestic routine. The image below is not all that spectacular but I had never seen the Glasshouse Mountains from this perspective before. Driving the back roads of Mt Mee provided me with a number of delights like this, including a pine forest, green fields and pretty bokeh created by dappled light through background foliage (I love that!). Oh yes, it was an idyllic Queensland weekend indeed...the kind of stuff a perfect summer is made of...