Ironbark Forests

An easy bark to recognise in the bush in Victoria is the ironbarks, they have rough bark that becomes hard, compacted and furrowed with age, however, the bark is actually soft and flaky so the iron characteristic may refer more to appearance and expectation rather than to fact. The indigenous people of the Djada Wurrung (Jaara Jaara people) have lived in the grey box and red ironbark forests of the area for thousands of years but the the gold diggers of the 1850s turned the country upside down in search of gold. You can find many traces of their activities around Bendigo in the form of mine shafts, mullock heaps, dams and water races. This human activity, together with timber cutting and clearing for agriculture, has resulted in only 17% of northern Victoria’s original box / ironbark forests remain today.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 400, 50mm f1.4, 1/60 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 400, 11mm f5.6, 1/25 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 400, 50mm f1.4, 1/400 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 400, 11mm f5.6, 1/30 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 400, 11mm f5.6, 1/15 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 400, 11mm f5.6, 1/8 sec

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Autumn in Bendigo

I did not know that Myers Stores, Chiko Rolls, Leggo's sauces and Sunshine Harvesters all came from Bendigo! And apparently that's not all as the very first Australian produced lager was made by the Cohn family in Bendigo, (later the beer producing part of the company was purchased by Carlton & United Breweries), the Bushmaster all terrain vehicle ( currently in service with the Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Netherlands Army and British Army), Bendigo Pottery (see previouse post here), Four 'n' Twenty Pies, Bendigo Jams (which was taken over by Henry Jones IXL) and Fernwood Fitness Centres. (source: The Weekly Times rural newspaper) There you go?

Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 400, 50mm f8, 1/160 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 400, 50mm f8, 1/40 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 400, 50mm f1.4, 1/1600 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 400, 50mm f1.4, 1/500 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 400, 50mm f8, 1/60 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 400, 50mm f1.4, 1/1000 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 400, 16mm f8, 1/50 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 400, 50mm f1.4, 1/2000 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 400, 50mm f1.4, 1/1600 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 400, 50mm f8, 1/60 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 400, 11mm f8, 1/60 sec

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Lake Reflections

I was fishing on Lake Eppalock this morning at dawn when a large storm cloud cruised in front of the rising sun.

iPhone 4 -

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Then the light show began .. . I remember reading something about being out in the open, in water, in a metal contraption and something about electrical conductivity . . whatever . . .

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The sky and sunrise was in stereo, lovely . . .

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I did not even get a bite, but an old guy at the boat ramp cheered me up when I asked how he went, he said "Not too well, I only got 20 fish and I had to work bloody hard to get that many!" WTF!!!

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Cruised around and saw plenty of 'fish' on the fish finder. Check out my track *here*

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Number 7 Reservoir

With the establishment of Bendigo as a city in 1851, there was high demand for water as Bendigo is not situated on a river, so the Bendigo Waterworks Company was formed in 1858 to design and construct reservoirs.

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f8, 1/200 sec

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Of 8 planned reservoirs only the No. 1 and the No. 7 in the plan were built. No. 1 reservoir was built in 1859 across the Bendigo Creek however it leaked and was decommissioned then No. 7 Reservoir was built and completed in 1861 with a capacity to hold 270 million litres of domestic water to supply 15,000 Bendigo residents then using 160,000 litres per day.

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f8, 1/60 sec

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After the successful Number 7 Reservoir a water treatment works was constructed with a holding reservoir within the Robinson Crusoe Gully called Crusoe Reservoir. It was built to hold approximately 1500 Megalitres and included an advanced water filtration system. The Crusoe Reservoir was completed in 1873. Plans to build the remaining 6 reservoirs was abandoned.

The water engineers version of Machu Picchu below?

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 16mm f16, 1/50 sec

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In the reserve adjacent to the No. 7 Reservoir are some large and old pines heres one that looked very old.

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 16mm f11, 1/160 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f5.6, 1/80 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f5.6, 1/60 sec

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