Steve Swayne has lived in Maleny for over 10 years and has a keen interest in panoramic landscape photography. Steve recently went deep into central Australia over many weeks where he took 10,000 high resolution photographs. In this article he describes the impact of his first ever trip to the Centre.
THE MOST significant thing for me personally was the lack of demands on my time, and escape from the constant bombardment of global bad news that we are all subject to. So there was time for some inner soul searching on my life so far and the directions I wish to pursue in the future. I also had time to rekindle my passion for reading – lots of great novels from the18th century to the present day.
In central Australia I encountered a timeless land of ancient gorges carved long ago when abundant water once flowed – a land of long- gone seas and ground down mountain ranges where shifting sands and sediments created the layered sandstone rock into amazing shapes. The adaptation of life to a changing drying climate over many millions of years has created a great diversity of delicate small leafed plants, many of which were showcasing their tiny but vibrant flowers in the dry desert winter. For nine weeks over June and July I did not see a cloud in the sky.
The arid country surrounding Alice Springs is far from desolate. A myriad of hardy plant life covers the red sand and many small lizards and birds are to be seen in the daytime. The small mammals tend to come out at night. I was unprepared for the sheer beauty of this harsh environment. The vivid reds of the earth, the deep blue of the sky, and mottled greens and silvers of the vegetation were unlike anything to be found on the eastern coast.
Kakadu was very dry and dusty in June with numerous hazard reduction burn-offs in progress. Much of the river water had dried up, waterfalls had ceased to flow, the wetlands had become largely depopulated as migratory birds had travelled north for the winter. The upside was that the salt water crocodiles were concentrated into the remaining wetland areas and easy to spot. I saw some huge ones. Lawn Hill Gorge in the north west of Queensland has a swift flowing azure-coloured spring-fed creek winding through towering red cliffs with cabbage tree palms and pandanus. A true oasis in the surrounding dusty gulf country. Well worth the long drive over rough roads to get there, and perhaps the most remote of the destinations that I visited.
Finke Gorge was a very scenic place. Scientists have determined that the Finke River is the oldest existing river in the world. Truly ancient. Access is via a 4WD trek along the dry, sandy and rock strewn river bed. Kings Canyon was the most scenic and spectacular of the many gorges I visited. Fractures in the rock and vast numbers of centuries have carved out one of the most impressive landscapes in Australia. Towering cliffs of ochre coloured rock loom over the immense span of the gorge. Beehive like domed outcrops of rock and ‘paved’ roads seem to be part of a lost ancient city.
The Breakaways near Coober Pedy in South Australia was a landscape unlike anywhere else I have been. Multi-coloured hillsides in rich ochre colours eroded into fascinating shapes with a backdrop of a flat expanse of a long-dry inland seabed make for a truely alien looking landscape – a region which has featured as a location in several recent sci-fi movies.
I ask myself why I took so long to go and see this amazing countryside which forms so much of the Australian landscape. It is a region I shall definitely be visiting again.
A fund-raiser photo showing and talk evening will be held at the UpFront Club in Maple Street Maleny on Thursday October 29.
For table bookings phone 5494 2592. You can see a selection of photos from Steve’s trip on his website: http://serendigity.net
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