| Ever dreamed of travelling to isolated wilderness | | | | the elevation contours on the topographic |
| areas to photograph the landscape but been | | | | map.Wilderness Landscape Photography Trip |
| defeated by the practicalities of getting there? | | | | It's 82 km from the bitumen to Bosworth |
| Wished you had a helicopter? Wondered how you | | | | Homestead, travelling right across Arcoona Station |
| could hike with a heavy pack and camp out for | | | | on the way. Parking the car beside a shearers |
| days at a time?Well, this Australian amateur | | | | hut, and after some good geographic and |
| wilderness landscape photographer did it. Here's | | | | topographic advice from the pastoralist, I jumped |
| the story of the daunting task that lay ahead and | | | | on the bike and headed out along the track that |
| how I overcame the obstacles.Background | | | | follows the western side of Station Creek to |
| My son works at Olympic Dam Mine situated | | | | Andamooka Island and made camp as the sun |
| about 90km north of Woomera in outback South | | | | was setting.Now, I've always wanted to camp on |
| Australia, and lives with his wife and little family at | | | | an island since I read "The Adventures of |
| Roxby Downs, the town constructed to service | | | | Robinson Crusoe", as a boy. Andamooka Island, |
| the mine. He's an electrician, and besides taking a | | | | about 40 km long and up to 10 km wide is in |
| few pictures of electrical installations, the massive | | | | Lake Torrens and separated from the mainland |
| machinery he often works on, and my | | | | by a channel varying in width from a couple of |
| granddaughter, has little interest in photography.I | | | | hundred meters to a couple of kilometres.The |
| drove for 21 hours from the Far South Coast of | | | | shallower parts of the channel were dry, so |
| New South Wales, to visit my son and to see this | | | | crossing was no trouble. Extensive salt water |
| arid desert region, which has become his home | | | | holes in the channel, super saturated and with the |
| for the foreseeable future.Opportunity for | | | | salt crystallizing out, provided micro and full view |
| Wilderness Landscape Photography | | | | landscape images over coming days. With the sky |
| Well, the desert is fairly flat and quite bland at | | | | subtly reflected in the base of salt crystals |
| first glance but that's not the full story.With dry | | | | covered with shallow water, the stark vista was |
| salt lakes, myall trees, stone strewn clay pans, | | | | a wilderness landscape photography opportunity |
| and red sand dunes, wilderness landscape | | | | to be seized. Sights to blow your mind!Camping |
| photography images clamour for my attention | | | | Out |
| from Roxby Downs to Andamooka and beyond | | | | Camping, as you would imagine, was pretty basic. |
| to Lake Torrens.Getting Around the Desert | | | | You can't carry much on an ATV. No esky |
| But how can I get around? Distance is so vast | | | | means no fresh meat, but tinned tuna on top of |
| and the country so inhospitable. It will kill you just | | | | tinned beans and spaghetti goes down well when |
| for being there if you don't look out. The family | | | | you're hungry.Priorities in Wilderness Landscape |
| station wagon won't go far off the bitumen. The | | | | Photography |
| tracks are so rough, and when it rains in this | | | | Photography took precedence over eating. Each |
| six-inch rainfall country, even a 4x4 will bog down | | | | day: out of bed, on the bike and off |
| or slip in the clay soil. There's no way I could | | | | photographing before sunrise. Back to camp for |
| afford a 4x4 good enough for the trip from the | | | | brunch about noon. Off photographing again till late |
| coast to the centre and reliable enough to go out | | | | and then try to get back to camp before the |
| alone into that country. Furthermore, you wouldn't | | | | diminishing glow of the setting sun left me in the |
| take a good-looking vehicle on those rocky, | | | | dark. Although I have good lights on the bike, the |
| desert tracks.So I decided on an ATV. That's an | | | | country is just too rough to cover in the |
| "All Terrain Vehicle," "Quad Bike," "four wheel | | | | dark.Hidden Dangers in the Desert |
| motorbike." I can transport it in a trailer behind the | | | | Although rare, this country is known to host the |
| car and go to the end of the road, then jump on | | | | world's most venomous snake, the inland taipan, |
| the bike.Setting Up The ATV | | | | as well as the king brown and several other |
| The bike, set up with boxes on the back and | | | | dangerous species. There are also said to be |
| front racks, pulls a small trailer. With this | | | | scorpions about. I'm told that the dingoes have |
| configuration I not only get myself way out | | | | been eradicated from this area, south of the dog |
| beyond where a 4x4 will go without too much | | | | fence, but the nights were still pretty scary. |
| walking, but also my camera gear, tools, | | | | Every time the breeze rustled the tent I'd wake, |
| emergency supplies, water, fuel and my camp as | | | | laying tense and listening for the sound of pads on |
| well. In a nutshell, that's about it.Navigating the | | | | the rocks. Needles to say, I gave my sleeping bag |
| Wilderness Landscape | | | | a good shake out before getting in each |
| Navigation is with a topographic map, compass | | | | night.Coming Wilderness Landscape Photography |
| and GPS. Using the coordinates from the GPS, I | | | | Trip |
| know where I am on the map which is so much | | | | Well, I came home with a heap of digital images, |
| simpler than trying to identify distant features on | | | | some colour film to send for processing and some |
| a flat landscape.For months, in my spare time, I | | | | B&W to process myself. I'm going again, you |
| studied the maps, getting the feel of the | | | | know. Want to come with me? Then go to my |
| geography and topography and comparing this to | | | | website, send an e-mail and we'll talk about |
| the satellite images on Google Earth. This way I | | | | it.Laurie McArthur is a wilderness landscape |
| identified areas of likely interest. It's amazing how | | | | photographer based on the New South Wales Far |
| the salt build up in Lake Torrens shows up on the | | | | South Coast, Australia. |
| satellite images confirming what I suspected from | | | | |