A while ago my sister went over the Great Dividing Range to visit our cousin and a few days later I followed to get her back. Normally the trip is around 3 hours, I took over 6. For quite a simple reason really, I stopped almost every time I saw something I really wanted to photograph. I could have flooded you with a hundred photos but I have actually narrowed it down to about 15, so enjoy these shots I took on my trip there and back again.

The cotton paddocks got on my list of spectacular sights I have seen... not that I have a list or anything.

A lot, if not all of these (don't quite remember) were also accepted to Austockphoto, yay. 

Do you have a favourite?

Close to where we live there is a Traveling Stock Reserve, but it is not used for traveling stock, but is agisted. Still anyone is free to walk and play in there. I have always liked going out into the paddock and exploring or building houses with logs, branches and sticks. When we were little we would go collecting what I called 'moon stone' for I had never seen rocks like that anywhere, they were often a creamy colour, and they had sharp edges with smooth sides. I would carry them back home and put them in my collection. I have no idea what happened to that collection, I can only guess it got chucked in the bin with a lot of other junk, which I probably called precious things, but Mum knew better, except for the rocks. 

Hey y'all!.... wait I unsay that, that is what Americans say and I have no idea why. I shall just say 'greetings to one and all' ...which has nothing to do with my being Australian, and everything to do with how I am feeling at this exact moment. Well I have recently been awarded the ummm I think I shall call it The Wasteland Tag and drop the word winter because...well it is summer...

Thankyou to Clara from Reasons To Smile for awarding me the tag that inspired this post the 'Winter Wasteland Tag' which is essentially the same as a blogger award. And now for a piece of interesting information Clara got awarded this by Julia Ryan over at Writing For His Glory. And she actually made up this tag! So you can all blame her for it!

to quote Julia "I've made up my own tag! I am getting sick of doing the same things while the snow keeps on falling."

See..

So for the rules......its pretty simple. You share on your blog 5-15 things to do in the winter when you are board. Then you just need to nominated 5-10 bloggers for the award. 

But.... it is Summer and I do not get bored. I assume bored is meant... and not board which is the flat sort.... and the sort that Clara said.... I shall assume for sanity's sake that we are talking about the feeling bored and not that you are flat board. And I shall stop talking about it before I get so confused that I need a hole bored in my head to relieve the pressure.

If I don't know what to do...well that is a rarity in itself... Even when we go other places I make a note to take a book with me everywhere. So if I have time I can read and not if worst comes to worst... that (worst comes to worst) is only if I happen to finish the book, and there be no other for me to read...... in which case I do nothing except grow my patience.... which is a good thing to do. 

See so someone randomly decided to make up an award tag and then it spreads...... just like a disease....

Since I just love changing things I will change the rules.... my excuse being to make them more applicable to the wasteland tag. Along those lines though, in Australia... at least here in Australia.... as least where I live (I will eventually get to the point...or more likely a few points, if I don't forget what they were before I get to them.)  Summer is the season for staying inside and hiding from the weather. Winter is so lovely and cool and the season to be outside in the nice warm sunlight. It can feel as if we have a bit much warm sunlight in Summer.

See lovely warm sunlight.....

Now I will list some summer things to do: 1. Stay cool and don't overheat, or get sunstroke or dehydrate. That would make everything a lot worse. A trip to the beach may be nice.... if you like swimming in the ocean.... an not just cook on the sand like I end up doing. There is the wonderful invention called a pool, and a sprinkler. I quite like the sprinkler or hose. I wouldn't swim in dams though as they may not have much water in them... and just boggy mud. But of course it may even be to hot to go out.

2. I shall assume you have no schoolwork to do so the next thing is umm..... House work.... surely there are tones of jobs your mum would love to have done..... you know have the oven, stove and microwave cleaned..... or that shelf that always gets missed in the general dusting... or even the computer keyboard. (just unplug or turn it off first, to avoid any unforeseen drastic happenings resulting from keyboard shortcuts being pressed)

3. Don't you have any hobbies? at all? 

4. Write..... and if you have a blog then blog on it.... if you have all this time then why are we not seeing more posts?

5. Read.... and if you don't read.....well you really must not have any extra time.... or well I just totally don't understand anyone who does not enjoy reading.

6. Find another hobby....or just do another of one of your many....

7. Cook something for you family or bless another family. If you hate cooking well let me tell you that it is a skill you will need. Everyone has to cook stuff sometimes. If you don't know how then hurry up and learn.

8. Plan.... what I don't know! Anything there is probably a lot of things you could plan. At the moment I am planing on what to get my family for Christmas.... and some friends too... and getting stuff for them and then thinking of other people I need would like to get something for.

9. Make people presents for Christmas... Presents that are hand made are so special.

10. If it so happens to be after Christmas then surely you got some interesting presents you can do something with.... so do that

And now I have reached the end of my summery photos I shall end on 10 because it is such a nice number and then I shall nominate some people, for "The Wasteland Tag" either summer or winter... 

Jane
Sarah
Zach
Rosie
Alyssa Monk
His Princess 

and as for why it is awarded.... that is because I tagged you...why? because I did.

For a long time this month it looked to be the driest on record, having only 6mm of rain so far. Our previous lowest for November is 20mm. Birds are hiding for most of the day. The only ones I can be sure of seeing when I step outside (if I dare to face the heat) are the Noisy Miners and Australian Ravens.

Then on the 25th it got cloudy, and as evening drew on a wind began to blow and rain began to fall. We had 22mm of rain that night and a few more the next day. The brown dead grass and drooping plants, turned green and came springing back to life. The next few days were cool and cloudy and along with the greenness of the grass the birds appeared.

Grey Crowned Babbler

Magpies, rosellas, kookaburras, cockatoos, corellas, butcherbirds, created pigeons, Grey crowned babblers and even some rainbow lorikeets appeared. Now all through the day many species can be seen when I step outside. 

One morning a big white bird sat in the top branches of a dead tree a little way off, I investigated and found it to be a Yellow-billed spoonbill. They are white with slightly yellow bills. It is commonly found in southeast Australia (round here). There are three other sorts of spoonbill the Royal spoonbill (identifiable by a completely black bill), the Roseate spoonbill (identifiable by its pink wings but if you are in Australia there will be no need to identify it) and the Eurasian spoonbill, which again is not an Australian bird so you won't see it in the wild...in Australia.

Australian Wood Ducks

Young galahs are leaving their hollows in trees and flying around. Then of course they like to come and sit on a branch just outside a window and squawk and continue to do so until one of their parents feeds them. They make a different noise while being fed then continue the monotonous squawking.

The rain has come, a little rain, not enough. Some grass will grow, if it gets a chance. If the starving cattle don’t just eat every tiny blade before it has a chance to lengthen. They are so hungry. The rain came too late for some. 

One cow laid down on a bare patch of dirt as the rain started. Long grass once grew here, now the cows have eaten it, almost down to the roots. She lays rain streaming down her muddied sides. Rain brings grass, but not soon enough. 


The rain ends already tiny specks of green appear amongst the mud and old dead stalks, lying flat on the ground. The grass grown fast, but not fast enough for this cow. The farmer does his rounds and sees her lying there, he leaves a little hay beside her, but it is too late. She just turns her head away.

The farmer comes back the next morning and takes her away. The rest of the cows then come. They sniff around, poking at the ground where their fellow beast had lain. They see the hay and make short work of it. The slower beasts don’t get there in time. 

New grass is springing up, fast, but ever so slow. It takes a lot of grass to satisfy an already starved cow. There is not enough. The cows strip leaves from any trees they can find. They eat the hard tasteless stalks of grass that is long dead. They eat the weeds in the paddock, though normally they would steer clear of them.  But they must eat.

Australia is a land of extremes, drought then flood then drought again. The animal must be hardy to survive. Even our modern knowledge cannot stop the drought. It lingers, eating up life. 

Yet there is hope, green returns, if only a little.

Ravens, they circle, calling in others of their kind. Beautiful, black birds calling sorrowfully in the sky. They know what is happening. Beautiful birds they are, yet dreadful too.

The grass does not grow fast enough. The kangaroos also hunger. They can get through the fences at least. But they must cross over the road, to get from water too food. There are lots of kangaroos. They come closer to where people live, where people drive their cars. Cars speed along the road, how can a kangaroo with a broken leg survive? Especially in a time like this? The grass is old and dead or only just starting to grow. The rain came too late.

Yet there is hope.