A stormy sunset up in a remote stretch of the North Thomson River. Summer seems such a long time ago now as we are in the grip of winter. We have not had any super cold (sub -30oC/-22oF) yet this season, although it did dip briefly down to -22oC (-7.6oF ) this past week. I took this shot while solo camping up along the North Thomson River last summer when the rest of the family was down in the US visiting some relativities. Sometimes you just need to get away from everything; or at least I do. To me isolation, both physical and mental, provokes a much deeper level of thought. Clearing out the noise creates room for creativity. Political systems dominated by candidates who can speak the loudest tend to favour school and social systems that encourage extrovertism, this is despite the evidence that this does not necessarily make the best leaders and decision makers. Quiet reflective thought seems to be a lost art from a bygone era. It does not have to be this way; check out some of the work by Susan Cain about the Quiet Revolution. Despite being taken from the upper stretches of the North Thomson River, the peak in the photo actually lies in the North Eastern Section of Wells Gray Provincial Park. It sits at 2480m (8140ft) high and seems to be unnamed despite its obvious prominence lying between the Ojibwa NE4 and Metis Peak massifs.
The lifeblood of the NSW outback, beautiful reflections along the Darling River belies the truth of a stagnant dying river. The result of both long term upstream drought and controversial water use policies, the Darling stopped flowing earler this year south of Wilcannia and the once great Menindee Lakes dried up. Like sentinels from another age, the ancient Red River gums that line the banks are in many cases over 800 years old. Kinchega National Park, Outback New South Wales, Australia.
Looking down over the Warrumbungles from the Grand High Tops as the first light of the day kisses the Breadknife. The Breadknife is a volcanic dyke nearly 90 metres high but only 4 m wide which is particularly rare. The Breadknife is composed of peralkaline trachyte and was once part of a large shield volcano, that first erupted about 17 million years ago and stopped about 13 million years ago. Warrumbungle National Park, NSW, Australia
