Coalseam National Park

Alex: "We're going away."

Jess: "Where are we going?"

Alex: "I don't know..."

This is how our adventure began. With a loaded car and trailer we headed off into the unknown.

After a few hours on the highway, a couple of over size loads and a tonne of heavy rain later, we finally hit the open road. Passing through Dalwallinu we learnt from the locals that the wild flowers were out and in full bloom. Hence we went off in search of everlasting daisies and we were not disappointed.

On the side of the road, just past all the red dust, were fields of everlasting paper daises. With storm clouds raging in the distance this created a phenomenal view.

That night we visited Jokers Tunnel in Yalgoo. It is believed that gold miners from all over the world came to dig through the solid stone in the early 1960s. This was in search of the precious metal which never actually existed and was a rumour created by misleading investors.

The following morning we set off south bound in search of more wild flowers with plans to stop off at Coalseam National Park for lunch. The floor of the park was covered with everlastings and various other wild flowers which made for some stunning photos.

On the last leg home we stopped of at Morawa to refuel. Whilst Alex was refilling the car, I went off with the camera chasing some very tiny, baby honey eaters in a nearby tree. They were very small, no bigger than a golf ball.

It was a 1,200 km round trip but well and truly worth it for the sights we saw and things we came across, as well as the joys of being on the open road again.

- Jessica

Augusta Trip

On April 2nd we drove off for a long night drive down to Augusta, looking forward to an Easter long weekend full of beachside photography and a few four wheel driving adventures. Surprisingly there wasn't overly much wildlife running across the road on the trip, just the occasional Easter Bunny!

Whilst down there we did a bit of snorkeling and rock pool exploring, however one of the many highlights was certainly finding this gem of a beach. After a bit of exploring we managed to find Bobs track which lead us to the beach where we found a quiet spot and parked up for a while.

The timing of the trip meant that after visiting this beautiful beach, we were fortunate enough to capture the total lunar eclipse on camera that night at a pretty little spot along Hardy Inlet.

The following day we ventured out to the east to explore a few four wheel drive tracks along the coast. Having started in Augusta we traveled past Black Point, Jasper Beach and Jasper Lake (the largest freshwater lake in WA). Arrival at Black Point yielded a number of interesting sights, notably a large amount of volcanic activity that has previously occurred in the area.

For our last full day down south, we decided to drive from cape to cape. Our personal favourites from this part of the trip being:

The huge Karri trees along Caves Rd and in 'The Dell'
Self Guided caving through Calgardup Cave
The pristine coastline near Injidup Spa

Pictures of which can be seen here:

When home bound we decided to visit a few places along the way including Busselton jetty and the Thrombolites at Lake Clifton.

It was a great trip overall and we saw many lovely places along the way. We are definitely planing to head back again soon, next time though hopefully with some neutral density filters.

-Alex

Cervantes Trip

Jessica and I decided a few days ago to take off up north to photograph the stars in Cervantes, a few hours north of Perth. Having left home at 5:00pm friday afternoon we hit the main highway around the same time the Roos come out. Thankfully this trip was incident free, given how the road sense of WA kangaroos is next to none.

Having reached the Pinnacles upon sunset as planned, we soon discovered the full moon rising slowly over the dunes creating a sense of being in outer space. After a few hours of photographing the moon we decided it was time to pack up and head to our campsite for the night, only to encounter a hire van bogged in the soft sand at 12:00am. An hour later we had them back on the road and on their way.

The following morning we decided to head off the beaten track to follow a four wheel drive track to a cave which we had found traces of in maps and on google earth. According to the GPS we had found the location so we set out on foot to find the so called "cave". After an hour of walking around in circles we called it quits and headed back to the car for lunch where we discovered our legs were crawling with pepper ticks!

So lunch was cancelled for the time being and we headed straight to Cervantes beach to extinguish the ticks. The water was crystal clear and a little cold for Jessica's liking though after a little swim and some much needed lunch we soon headed over to the Lake Thetis. The lake is an ecosystem containing stromatolites, the earth's oldest living form of life and believed to be over 3,000 years old. This made a interesting scene to shoot once the moon rose above the horizon. Later that night we also went back to the Pinnacles again and got some more shots using the moonlight to illuminate the foreground.

In the not too distant future we aim venture up to the Pinnacles one night to capture the majestic milky way, this time on a night with no moonlight to blow out the sky.

-Alex

Check out a selection of the nightscape shots...

Australia Day Skyshow

"Shooting the Show from above"

For the Perth Aussie day sky show Alex and I had the privilege of watching the show from above, in the BHP Billiton building overlooking the Swan River.

Not only was it a spectacular view but we were able to capture a unique sunset due to atmospheric effects.

By 8:00pm we had turned our attention to photographing the fireworks which began with such a loud bang even the floor to ceiling windows trembled. It was a sensational show and we enjoyed the opportunity of a life time of being able to view the show from above.