Tennant Creek at dusk

Walking down onto the spillway that holds the water after the rain, you can feel the temperature drop slightly, the air just a touch cooler on your skin.  The creek is one of my favourite places to go after work, though usually it is dry.  

I know this is not a landscape, but it is my current favourite photograph.  I took it one Sunday afternoon in Centre Place in the Melbourne CBD.  The busker was there for hours playing as people passed by, most without a second glance.  Then the man in the foreground came along and constructed his table and chairs from discarded boxes and crates, set up his beers and sat intently reading his book.  It fascinates me.  I still think about those two men and wonder what brought them both to that lane way that Sunday afternoon.

Before Melbourne

The one downside to all the sunshine in Tennant Creek is that after a while you start to miss the odd grey rainy day. So I'm heading back to Melbourne at the end of the week with plans to hit the streets, camera in hand. Got me thinking about those first few days when the camera was new...

City back lane cafes

And other back lane activities

The industrial precinct over the Westgate

Back on the Barkly

Spending time out and about on the Barkly is a pretty enjoyable way to earn a day's pay. There is always something special to see.

Through the winter the clouds put on a pretty spectacular display.

Sunrise on the Barkly Highway is worth getting our of bed early for.

These ladies were intrigued by the work I was doing.

Always time for a cuppa under a coolabah tree.

Wind mills aren't all that common anymore. I just happened to turn around when I was looking at this one to see the shadow it cast.

Good for a refreshing dip after a hot day.

Since arriving in the Territory I've been on the look out for a Thorny Devil. I swerved just in time to miss this little guy sitting in the middle of the Barkly Highway. Even at 130km/hr his thorns were very distinctive.

The Barkly in the grip of a long lasting drought.

The rain came early in January. Just a day after I took these, Tennant Creek was flooded cutting off the Stuart Highway.

Christmas with Family and Friends

As much as I love the Barkly, family and friends will always draw me back to Victoria - if only for visits to enjoy extended Christmas celebrations. But instead of the usual Christmas shots, I've picked a few of my favourites of the people I spent it with...

Backyard golf is a bit of fun for Kayla... if only Ed would accept that the ball is not his.

Cooper in serious contemplation...

Rare time together for Kayla and her Uncle Mark.

So... which monster are you, Cooper?

Photos of Christine not poking her tongue out are a rarity. To get these ones I had to distract her with some of her favourites - tea and books.

And we can't have photos of Christine without throwing in a cat...

Summer afternoons on the veranda with the family and friends. A cuppa and a good chat... and often a passionate debate!

Snoozing on the lounge room floor after lunch is not just a Christmas Day tradition... its a necessity!