OUR WORLD - Rain in Desert Country

Rain clouds banking over Wirrealpa Station in the North of

South Australia, a place I dearly love.

After the deluge, the sun comes out and the deep red of the soil

quickly turns back to a light pinky sand, yet suddenly the grey

green of plants stands out more.

Within days, there are flowers, however small in the gullies.

Most desert flowers are small, even tiny, yet always a wonder

to see.

These little darling morning glories are less than half an

inch across,

as are these against the still wet sand.

Somewhere I have the name of this very prickly plant, one of

the few with a flower almost 3" across.

Suddenly you see a patch of bright red and stand in awe at the

wonder of Sturt's Desert Pea.

The first one gives you the kind of thrill a first flurry of snow

sends through your being, then suddenly, you are surrounded

by them

and the wonder leaves you speechless . . .

OUR WORLD is full of wonders, add your own and visit others

from all over Our beautiful World.

My World ~ Melrose to Tumby Bay, a Road Trip

Most of you will know we were away for a while for a little trip

to the Eyre Peninsula. Our first two nights were spent in Melrose

where my SkyWatch shots came from. Onward through this pass

where you can just glimpse the sea in the distance and on to

The Arid Lands Botanical Gardens at Port Augusta where we

were welcomed by this beautiful goanna, all of 3' long and not

at all shy.

Sturt Desert Peas were still flowering and we had a wonderful

lunch at the restaurant as well as acquiring a great book on desert

plants so that I can bore you with botanical names galore in the

future.

On again through arid landscape where the locals obviously

have a sense of humour and ask their girlfriends to marry them

on the side of five huge water tanks in the middle of nowhere.

A luxurious night in a seaside motel in Whyalla, a stroll on

the beach, a romantic dinner and next morning on wheels again

through 100 miles of not very much

to lunch at this charming old hotel in Cowell where the largest

jade deposit in the world is found and

we met this charming couple, not very chatty but so comfortable

on their bench on the verandah. We spent the night in a cabin at

the beach side caravan park and I had a chance in the evening to

dangle my line from the jetty.

Onward another 100 miles or so, just a nice drive, to our

destination in Tumby Bay where we had a welcoming committe

serenade us on the sea front.

and I had some luck from the jetty. We had a five night stay

booked, but it was so pleasant there that we stayed eight nights

instead.

And then, there were the pelicans . . . but that is another story.

All photos enlarge and if you wish to see the marriage proposal,

enlarge at least the water tanks.

Thanks to the eager beavers among the MY WORLD Team, I too can share

this epic with the world.

MY WORLD ~ Back to the Ranges

I know I have posted about this remarkable part of South

Australia before but this is an area I love so much that I

just could not help showing you a little more.

The Ranges are a National Heritage area, a National Park

where the 'dreamtime' sings to you and draws you into the

landscape. Painters are mesmerised by the beauty of the

light and intricacy of the rock formations and those who

seek solace for the sole just soak it up through every pore.

Hills photographed while driving by and as you snap, suddenly

you see a patch of brilliant colour.

Whether you have time or not, you stop and get out of your

car for a closer look. Snap a few dozen photos and turn back

to be faced with a flowering bush perhaps not quite as stunning

as the Sturt Desert Peas, but certainly a stunner in it's own right.

For the purists among the artist community there is gloriously

colourful ochre right on the roadside. One is not supposed to

plunder this riches but how can one resist when it is washing

away before your eyes.

Red ochre above and yellow below. There was white, deep

yellow and orange to be found here and there as well.

Changing light and little birds capture you attention

and the ever present red soil one can just never get enough of.

Beat this for a colour contrast!

All photos enlarge if you want to be sucked into the magic.

Enlarge at least the first one to see the folding of the mountainsides.

Thanks as always to the MY WORLD Team for hosting this meme.

TODAY'S FLOWERS & MY WORLD ~ Wonders of the Desert

Thank you to Luiz Santilli JR. for having me as guest friend

today, I do hope you enjoy my selection of the wonderful

array of desert blooms that appeared like magic after the

great rains we had in September.

Forgive me for not visiting your entries straight away since

I will have no internet access for at least 24 hours.

Please leave me a comment, I do enjoy reading them so very much

as well as welcoming you to my blog.

Sturt Desert Peas, Swainsonia formosa, South Australia's

State flower.

This is one single plant, they grow outward from the centre

and can make a ring more than 6' wide.

These pink and purple tiny pea flowers are of the same genus,

Swainsonia, as the Large red or multi coloured Sturt Pea, the

flowers of which can be up to 3" long.

Could any garden architect rival this garden of God's creation?

The whole desert was awash with beauty so incredible that

we could just stand and stare at all these wonders.

This is a pink version without the distinctive black eye.

Even the fading glory is a wonder to behold.

We even found some of these bi-colour blooms although they

and the pink version were quite rare.

To give you a different angle, here is a a shot from above.

Normally there are six blooms per cluster but a few had

groups of five.

I am still overwhelmed by the whole experience of meeting all

this wonder in its natural surroundings.

Do click on the Logos and join these beautiful memes or at least

visit some of the other participants.

Thanks also to the My World Team who host the MY WORLD meme.

Back from the Back of Beyond

Driving through picture postcard country, camera wildly clicking.

Should I snap the view from the window or in the rear view mirror?

So many wonderful things to see and I can't snap left and right at

the same time . . . .

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Below a little foretaste of things to come of the 1,200+ photos

I took in 8 days of utter bliss.

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Not only Sturt Desert Peas but a multitude of other flowers

were carpeting this lovely semi-desert country in all the colours

of the rainbow.

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For now I hope this has wetted your appetite for a few more

but I need a sleep . . . so good night and do leave me a message

that you are out there somewhere in cyberspace.