Fleurieu Peninsula Archives - Page 4 of 21

April 10, 2018April 13, 2018

bush-fires in April

We now have bush-fires in the Inman Valley, or more specifically, in the hills east of Yankalilla in the southern Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia. As mentioned in an earlier post there has been little to no rainful in South Australia this year, so the land is very dry; dry to the point of being parched. Bush fires make the permanent impermanent. and evoke a pathos or heartbreaking.

We have experienced some sustained heat during these last few days in April, (Sunday 8th—Tuesday 10th inclusive): the temperatures have been around 34 degrees C on the coast along with the hot and dry northwesterly winds. These bush fire conditions are unusual for this time of the year, as these are summer temperatures and conditions.

In these conditions Kayla and I need to start walking in the morning before sunrise. We try to take advantage of the early morning cloud cover that sits along the coast,. Cloud cover is important as it gives me greater leeway to photograph the ephemeral and the melancholy of the fleeting moment. Continue reading “bush-fires in April”

March 29, 2018April 8, 2018

back home

I am now back home after a hectic period of travelling during March. There were a couple of trips to Wellington to photograph around Wellington quickly followed by one to attend Photobook/NZ. After that I made a couple of trips to Swan Hill in Victoria for the Mallee Routes 2018 exhibition.

We are now easing back into our daily routines and poodlewalks at Encounter Bay. The Easter holidays are a few days away. That means huge crowds in the coastal towns and along the coastal walks.

It is autumn in South Australia. The light has softened, there is now more in the way of morning cloud cover, the winds have eased, and the temperatures are mild (in the mid 20’s C) . It is still very dry, as there has been no rain. Continue reading “back home”

March 4, 2018March 14, 2018

such a bleak landscape

We were stunned at how dry, brown and bleak the South Australian landscape was when we were driving down to Encounter Bay from Adelaide. We had just flown into Adelaide from spending a couple of weeks travelling, walking and photographing in New Zealand.

It was a real shock after experiencing the greenness and lushness of the New Zealand landscape in both the North and the South Islands. After experiencing frequent rain, flowing streams and rivers, and lush green bush, we were taken back by the dryness. Hell, we thought, we live in this dry, bleak landscape.

I had noticed the brown landscape as we flew across Victoria and South Australia on route from Melbourne to Adelaide, but up close and walking in this landscape was a shock.

Yesterday afternoon, when I walked along the coastal path and the rocks on a late afternoon walk with Maleko, I didn’t even bother to take a camera with me. I couldn’t see the point. Continue reading “such a bleak landscape”

January 10, 2018January 10, 2018

afternoon walks

We–Suzanne, Maleko, Kayla and I — did some walks together between, and just after, the Xmas-New Year period. We wanted to avoid the Xmas crowds gathering around the coastal beaches, and I had used google maps to look for possible ways for us to walk along Hindmarsh River. Most of them turned out to be duds. There were just no walking trails. It was mostly all private property.

One of the afternoon walks that we did early in the new year (2018) was one along the trail of the Hindmarsh River, which ran adjacent to the old McCracken residential development.

It had been years since we walked along the upper section of the Hindmarsh River Walk . On the day we walked the river was low, with little in the way of a flow, and we noticed that there had been some planting on the old flood plain, which was now a park with a playground. Continue reading “afternoon walks”

January 3, 2018January 3, 2018

memories

One of my memories of the early morning walks that I used to do in the last months of Ari’s life in 2017 was one where I ‘d walk with him along Jetty Rd. On these occasions Suzanne would take Kayla and Maleko up and over Rosetta Head, and I would walk with Ari down to the beach, then along Jetty Rd, which runs around the foot of Rosetta Head.

Jetty Rd runs from Whalers Convention Centre to the little jetty at the northern side of Rosetta Head, and as it is easy walking, it was suitable for Ari. The jetty is a favourite of the recreational fishermen and we’d alway meet someone fishing from the jetty early in the morning.

It was a slow walk to and from the jetty, and Ari and I would often hang around an old palm tree and cactus on our way back. I would take a few photos with the little Olympus XZ-1 that we had purchased for Suzanne to use on her various walks. Continue reading “memories”

December 22, 2017December 23, 2017

to walk the Heritage Trail

And so it was on one fine summer morning that Kayla and I set out just after sunrise to walk along the Heritage Trail to Dep’s Beach and beyond. The sun was popping in and out of the morning cloud cover, the coastal wind was still light, and the Nankeen kestrels were keeping us company.

We past the spot of the swirling seas and we made it to the western end of Dep’s Beach without encountering any kangaroos, runners, photographers or trail bike riders.

I had a photoshoot planned of the rocks lying west of the beach–I envisioned a picture of the granite rocks with soft morning light playing across their surface with a bit of cloud above them. Continue reading “to walk the Heritage Trail”

December 17, 2017December 17, 2017

Summer has arrived

Summer is here on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula coast in South Australia.

The weather has now settled into its normal summer pattern of clear, bright light; sunshine; blue skies; and warm to hot temperatures. Kayla and I start our walk along the coastal rocks early in the morning in order to avoid the heat of the early morning sun.

We usually start just after sunrise:

On our afternoon walks Maleko and I struggle with the heat, as the sun is still quite high at 6pm, and there is little by way of open shade amongst the coastal rocks. We welcome the cool breeze that keeps the temperatures down and dread the hot, north-westerly wind. Continue reading “Summer has arrived”

December 8, 2017February 9, 2018

clouds

The very changeable, early summer weather that we have been experiencing at Encounter Bay in South Australia, has meant that there has been some good clouds along the coast. We have had hot days, cold days, sunshine, rain, lots of gusty wind from the south-west, calm days and striking cloud formations:

We have been walking along the coast, rather than the Bluff, and we’ve often we’ve been caught in the wet weather whilst walking in the morning and the evening, and I have had to find whatever shelter amongst the rocks that I could until the quickly moving squall had passed. Continue reading “clouds”

December 2, 2017December 2, 2017

wet weather

Cold, wet weather that came in from the south-west replaced the few days of hot weather after my Sonex flight along the coast of the southern Fleurieu Peninsula earlier in the week. The temperature is now roughly half of what it was during that hot spell.

Suzanne and I got very wet on a couple of occasions on our walks — we were caught in the fast moving rain that swept in from the southern ocean whilst out walking with the poodles.

There is little shelter along the coast west of Petrel Cove. On an afternoon walk Maleko and I had little choice but to continue walking and to get wet in the process. At least it was not as cold as it would have been in winter. Continue reading “wet weather”

November 28, 2017November 28, 2017

Aerial: The coast from above

I had the great fortune to experiment with some aerial photography yesterday. I was given the opportunity to fly along part of the southern Fleurieu Peninsula coastline, courtesy of Chris Dearden in his yellow, homebuilt Sonex aircraft– a Xenos motorglider.

It was the first time that I’d had the opportunity to experiment with aerial photography and flying in a recreational aircraft was a blast.

We took off from Goolwa airport and flew along the coast from the Murray Mouth near Goolwa to Newland Heads in Waitpinga, then back again. The above image is a picture of Rosetta Head, Petrel Cove and Dep’s Beach, which is where we do a lot of our coastal poodlewalks. Continue reading “Aerial: The coast from above”