Ice Cold Winter

This morning I saw a small jesus bird walking on water in the front yard so I went to investigate.

Nikon D610, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/640 sec

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Nikon D610, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f5.6, 1/50 sec

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Nikon D610, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/320 sec

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Portland Coast Victoria

On a weekend exploratory trip to the far west coast of Victoria suing out the camping and fishing opportunities last weekend. This was a great way to avoid the 40+ C temperatures of central Victoria for a more pleasant 16 -23 degrees.

Also this gave me a chance to test out my new Ultra Wide Nikkor 20mm 2.8 lens. Also to test the roof top tent and the 200 watt solar panel camping configuration. All good.

Beach Rig

Nikon D610, Nikkor 20mm 2.8 @ ISO 100, 20mm f2.8, 1/100 sec

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Storm Clouds Racecourse Bay S.A.

 Nikon D610, Nikkor 20mm 2.8 @ ISO 100, 20mm f2.8, 1/160 sec

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Portland looking towards Narrawong Beach

Nikon D610, Nikkor 20mm 2.8 @ ISO 100, 20mm f2.8, 1/60 sec

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Grampians from Dunkeld in the Wild Wide West

iPhone Click on photo for larger image view 

Arrarat to Hamilton Road

 iPhone Click on photo for larger image view

Portland Tourist Tram

 iPhone Click on photo for larger image view

Grampians

 Nikon D610, Nikkor 70-200  2.8 @ ISO 100, 90mm f22, 1/30 sec

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Port of Portland

 Nikon D610, Nikkor 70-200  2.8 @ ISO 100, 70mm f22, 1/50 sec

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Part of the wind farm at Cape Nelson

 Nikon D610, Nikkor 70-200  2.8 @ ISO 100, 130mm f22, 1/50 sec

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Cape Nelson towards Portland

  Nikon D610, Nikkor 20mm 2.8 @ ISO 100, 20mm f22, 1/30 sec

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South East Coast NSW

Pobblebonk

We found an Eastern Banjo Frog or Pobblebonk in our pond today. We identified him via the Amphibian Research Centre

 Nikon D610, Nikkor 105mm MACRO 2.8 G ED @ ISO 400, 105mm f5.6, 1/60 sec

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 Nikon D610, Nikkor 105mm MACRO 2.8 G ED @ ISO 400, 105mm f3, 1/30 sec

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 Nikon D610, Nikkor 105mm MACRO 2.8 G ED @ ISO 400, 105mm f5.6, 1/320 sec

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 Nikon D610, Nikkor 105mm MACRO 2.8 G ED @ ISO 400, 105mm f5.6, 1/80 sec

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Project Maccullochella Phase III

Now that I have officially caught a Murray Cod (Maccullochella peelii) in my boat (released and undersized) I decided to add a flourish to it. This also follows on from the older posts Project Maccullochella Phase I and Project Maccullochella Phase II. Maybe this will bring me luck. See process below.

Finished Design

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 12mm f10, 1/80 sec

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Inspiration

Not my image :-)

Original side panel

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11.5mm f8, 1/5 sec

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Building the Effect

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 12mm f8, 1/100 sec

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 Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 12mm f10, 1/100 sec

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Lake Mulwala & Murray Cod Season Opening

Murray Cod season opened on Saturday 1 December 2012 after the annual three month breeding closure. I made camp at Kyffins Reserve on the NSW side of Lake Mulwala early Friday evening. I had camped near this spot last February (see post). I had some dinner and a couple of beers while watching the sunset, got a couple of hours sleep in the warm open air with a star filled sky for a roof before waking at midnight (opening time!) to go out on the lake. Murray Cod are a prized catch for freshwater anglers and are one of Australia's largest freshwater fish that can grow up to 1.8 metres in length and weigh more than 100 kilo's. The minimum legal length to keep a Murray Cod is 60 cm and you can only have one over 100 cm in your possession. The sky was cloudy by now but it was a full moon so visibility was OK. Trolling lures and spinner baits never got a hit so I tried freshwater Long Armed Shrimp, that I had trapped earlier. Then whack I got a 20 cm Murray Cod which I of course released. I later got one about the same size that broke me off at the boat. Around 4:30 am a large storm was approaching and with lots of fork lightning and I knew being in a metal boat in the middle of a lake was a bad idea, so I packed it in.

Sunset Lake Mulwala

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 3200, 12mm f2.8, 1/5 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 12mm f8, 1/10 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 12mm f2.8, 1/60 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 12mm f2.8, 1/40 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 3200, 12mm f2.8, 1/15 sec

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Big Hill and the Coliban Channel

When you enter Bendigo from Melbourne the last and largest hill at the edge of Bendigo is the hill and cutting over Big Hill. Ever wondered where exactly Big Hill' is? Its actually a couple of kilometres to the North East of the highway see map below. So exploring in my 4x4 looking for a track to its summit I found the tacks sealed off with locked gates because the tracks are used as service roads for the Coliban channel. The Coliban Channel is 102 kilometres long and was constructed during the gold rush to bring water to Bendigo all the way from Malmsbury, some 70km away by road and from an altitude of 1,430 feet above sea level, where Bendigo is almost 300 feet lower. The gravity fed channels and aqueducts are registered under the Victorian Heritage Act. Today mostly concrete channel runs through paddocks, punctuated at regular intervals by tunnels, raised aqueduct and artificial bluestone block waterfalls.

iPad Screen Capture Click on photo for larger image view

iPhone 5 Click on photo for larger image view

iPhone 5 Click on photo for larger image view

iPhone 5 Click on photo for larger image view

iPad Screen Capture Click on photo for larger image view

Fishin and Huntin

This last week I was lucky enough to get an invitation to some exclusive access to camping, fishing and shooting on a property called Beemery. Beemery Station is a 40,558 ha (100,221 acre) farm near Bourke and is situated on the Barwon River and the Kamilaroi Highway between Bourke and Brewarrina. The Barwon, Bogan and Culgoa rivers combine to form the Darling river here. We got some fish, masses of big yabbies and goats and pigs.

Bag o Yabbies

 River Sunrise

 Boiling the billy

Bogan River Weir 

Gone Fishin 

 Gas Light

Guns & Ammo 

 Parrot

 Pig Trap

 Bluey the yabbie

 Two hot camp ovens

Yabbie 

Camp light 

 Track in 5000 Ha Paddock

Accidental by catch while spinning for Yellow Belly. Released healthy. 

Yella 

 Hypnotising a yabbie (yep!)

It will sit here for hours 

 Typical property condition.