OUR WORLD - Going far North to the dry country . . .

The further North you go in South Australia

the drier it gets and the  the more the landscape 

changes from what one is used to 

we occasionally stopped to stretch our legs,

with views like this, who wouldn't?

in the Flinders Ranges Salvation Jane painted the

ground a blue-purple

where emus wandered at will

from the hills to the creek

fun watching them amble by . . .

threatening skies

that brought just a few drops to wet

the leaves of this parched landscape

we snaked our way to Stokes Lookout

with a 360 degree view

another quick photo op

for this crazy track straight up the hill

If I can manage, I'll put up a few birds tomorrow 

and the sky for our arrival for SkyWatch

Linking with 

OUR WORLD

OUR WORLD, Wild Bird Wednesday & Nature Notes - Bush Food

Saltbush country in the Flinders Ranges

with plenty of emus wandering around

live, or metal cut-outs as here in the Port Augusta  Dry-land 

Botanical Gardens with a live Gould's Goanna strolling by

some instructive information about saltbush and it's 

relationship with the Emu

berries I picked in the wild not in the gardens and since it was a 

hot day, they were very refreshing

revegetation at the gardens with the sort of sensible bush gear 

we wear here, particularly the fly netting over the head

to stop us swallowing too many bush-flies and protect eyes 

and nose from them as they not only bite but mainly suck the 

moisture from your eyes leaving them irritated and it is not at 

all pleasant to breathe them into your lungs.

Even with the dry, the heat and the flies, we thoroughly enjoy the bush.

Linking with 

Our World

Wild Bird Wednesday

and Nature Notes

Wild Bird Wednesday - Emus

I had to delve into my files for the size of bird I can still see . .

From our last trip to the Flinders Ranges, here is the sort of 

country you find lots of

these big guys

here are all five of this family group although in other places

we saw dad raising nine chicks as well as larger groups of adults.

Now go see the other entries on

Wild Bird Wednesday

OUR WORLD - 1 Hour in the Flinders Ranges

Treasured memories from last year's trip to the North Flinders

Ranges and Wirrealpa Station. A number of you have asked

about the stove in my header. Unfortunately it is not mine, I

wish, but has seen service in the shearer's quarters of Wirrealpa

Station for well over 100 years. There was of course also a new

electric rage which we scorned in favour of the real thing.

Two great kettles for innumerable cups of tea and some large

aluminium pots that we used for natural dyeing under India

Flint's guidance.

Fate decreed it was time to leave and here is a selection of

just one of the wonderful hours we spent on the road.

Do enlarge for more detail.

Above, a natural wall of China wends it's way over the hills

and below, the hills folded and kneaded like puff pastry.

It had been an unusually wet spring so the normally dry and

sere country side magically burst with colour.

My favourite kind of road . . .

and unexpectedly vibrant shades of gold and green along the way.

A consolation as we again hit the tarmac, was the exposed

geological features of these ancient, weather-worm mountains.

The further south we came, the more grasses had already dried

off, but there were plenty of colourful patches still left to feast

the eyes upon

and Emus, too many to fit in one frame, grazing in a veritable

Garden of Eden. All shots from a moving car in the space of

just one hour as one of our number had to catch a flight back

to the US.

I revel in these memories and only wish I were back there now.

I hope you enjoyed a little of what my world has to offer the intrepid traveller.

If you haven't yet, do put up a post and add to the wonders OUR WORLS offers!

World Bird, Watery Wednesday & Nature Notes ~ Mainly Emus

Like my MY WORLD post, this also is from our trip to the

Flinders Ranges in South Australia. We had a very wet spring,

in consequence we saw many families of Emu, Dromaius

novaehollandiae. Here is one crossing the road directly in

our path. I had no time to think and had to crop out part of the

car. Luckily, as passenger, I always have my camera in my lap

and am ready to shoot. The dirty windscreen from insects and

dusty roads somehow did not enhance the clarity of picture

either. This father was raising 9 chicks which is a very healthy

clutch.

Coming around a bend we met a pair lying comfortably side

by side at this puddle, surveying the little waterscape.

We were so surprised at the sudden sight that I missed that

sweet togetherness shot and only managed to get them as one

was already heading bush and the other rising.

They moved off as if in a dance with their feathers bouncing.

Some people unfortunately take little heed of slithery wildlife

or even deliberately murder them although they are quite safe

in their cars so we came upon this brown snake in an equally

brow puddle. Snakes are part of the general ecological balance

and this sort of needless and mindless killing makes me sad

and angry.

It was quite a large snake for a brown, about 4' long.

All photos enlarge for better viewing.

World Bird Wednesday, Watery Wednesday and Nature Notes may

all be accessed through clicking the relevant Logos.

MY WORLD ~ 1st Stopover on our Magic Carpet Ride

This little critter, a sleepy lizard, kept us company at breakfast
next morning. This photo was going to be no.4 but refused to be
moved to its proper place . . . ah, the joy of computers . . .

Up beyond the green, green farm lands the country dries off

showing up the red soil and and half a dozen emus.

The open road and the first suggestion of the Flinders Ranges

in the distance.

We arrive in Hawker for our first stop at this charming cottage

owned by our friends and almost neighbours who flew up with

their three dogs solely to cook dinner for us and bed us down in

luxurious comfort for the night.

Now that is friendship for you!!

Glorious view from the outdoor dining room at sunrise.

The watchers, well, one anyway.

One of them actually enjoys flying and attentively looks out

the window all the way.

Dust proofing our luggage and off to the next adventure.

All photos enlarge for better viewing.

To be continued . . .

Thanks to the MY WORLD Team for giving us the opportunityto

share our world and view that of others.