Gallery Pick of the Week
Instead of just showing pretty pictures only, here we have space for contributors to discuss their images every week.
This is a great opportunity to get some insight from the original photographer and the content is entirely open. It could be anything from the personal feeling of the photographer about the image to any photographic techniques or location knowledge he/she would like to share with our visitors.
Gallery Pick of the Week > January 2009
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A Suggested Itinerary to All Overseas Photographers, 22/1/09, Pele Leung I have recently received an email from an overseas amateur photographer from Barcelona, Spain and her wish is to tour and photographing Australia for two months. |
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Wilsons Promontory, 12/1/09, Pele Leung With over 500 square kilometre (50500 hectares), Wilsons Promontory is one of the largest and diversified natural reserves in the Gippsland region. If you cannot wait to see before getting there, here is your opportunity. |
Pele Leung - A Suggested Itinerary to All Overseas Photographers, 22/1/09
I have recently received an email from an overseas amateur photographer from Barcelona, Spain and was given a compliment as below. I would like to take this opportunity to offer all photographers an itinerary if they really have two months to tour Australia.
"Hi from Spain,
Congratulations for your magnificent portfolio about Australia ! I'll possibly tour Aus for two months in July- August. Your portfolio is the best guide I could follow to decide on a route, I've been an amateur photographer myself for many years and I'm quite sensitive about your loving appreciation of nature, its colour hues, textures, the changing seasons and the magic of some spots and times of day and weather. Your art is great ! Thank you for letting me be there in advance.
I wish you plenty of success, you deserve it."
First of all, there are two options:
(1) Hire a camper van. This option does not simply reduce your accommodation cost but also solve your transportation headache. Without your own transport, photography at extreme hours is basically highly inconvenient. However, Australia is a huge country so travelling by cars could slow you down dramatically.
(2) Fly and hire a car when you get to your base. This could save a lot of time particularly if you want to cover many crucial locations for your dream trip.
After touring briefly (6 months on the road) the whole country, I do have some useful ideas and would like to recommend the following itinerary.
- Fly to Sydney and enjoy the great city lifestyle there. There are plenty to shoot and you need at least 4 days to maintain a good balance between your photography and tourist-type enjoyment. Public transport in Sydney is reasonably well and you probably don't need a car.
- Hire a car to Blue Mountains. Blue Mountains is a lovely place although it would be a bit cold to you if you come down from the northern hemisphere in July. But weather shouldn't be a barrier to a passionate photographer like you. I would suggest staying there for 3-4 days before going back to Sydney.
Blue Mountains, New South Wales
- Now you have a choice: taking a side trip to Melbourne before visiting the Great Barrier Reef?
For a side trip to Melbourne, I suggest flying instead of driving. Melbourne is great (I live there) and Twelve Apostles is a place you shouldn't miss. As a photographer, a day trip from Melbourne is probably not a great idea and you should stay at least one night at Port Campbell, a small town near the Twelve Apostles. It is worth hiring a car from Melbourne instead of taking a bus or a tour.
The Twelve Apostles, Victoria
You probably need to reserve 5-7 days for coming down to visit Melbourne and its surrounds. When you are done, take a flight to Whitsunday islands (one of the accesses to the Great Barrier Reef). To fly there, you need to take a flight to Mackay via Brisbane and then catch the road to Airlie Beach (your entrance to the islands and the Great Barrier Reef).
If you think Melbourne is just too cold for you in winter, you can go north directly from Sydney to the Great Barrier Reef as described similarly as above. ie. fly to Mackay via Brisbane.
- Queensland Tourism has just put up an island Caretaker job which attracts hundreds if not thousands of applicants. Although the chance of winning that job is scarce, it is worth trying the same activities like the island caretaker! Excellent sceneries from the air to the ocean. You can easily spend a week or more there.
Hill Inlet, Whitsunday Island, Queensland
- Although you would never be tired of the Queensland's blue and green, it is time to see another colour combination of the orange and blue. Here we go to the Red Centre. As there is no direct flight from Mackay to Alice Springs, you have to go back to Brisbane to catch your flight from there. Before heading off to the national icon, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and Watarrika National Park (aka Kings Canyon), don't miss the West MacDonnell National Park. My favourite spots are Ormiston Gorge and Glen Helen. If you have a reliable transport, it is worth trying the unsealed direct route to Watarrika National Park and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. In the end, you will have to go back to Alice Springs before heading north to Darwin. To do all that, you probably need at least a week to make the journey worthwhile.
- Although you could fly to Darwin, I would suggest driving this time as there are a few locations in between that you shouldn't miss. Just to name a few - Devils Marbles, Nitmiluk National Park (aka Katherine Gorge), Litchchfield National Park. If you decide to drive up to Darwin, you can go via Kakadu National Park (turn right from a little town called Pine Creek) and visit Litchfield after getting to Darwin. For a slow journey by car, you probably need at least two weeks to enjoy the best parts of this region.
Devils Marbles, Northern Territory
- After such a long trip so far, it is time to relax and enjoy the sunny Darwin and the warm weather there would probably remind you of the Mediterranean summer. How about Western Australia? Yes you have to take a trip there even just a short one! Take a flight to Kununurra (a town near the WA and NT border) and then catch an overnight tour by air to Purnululu National Park. I have to warn you first, the tours are not cheap but it is worth spending the money.
Purnululu National Park, Western Australia
- Finally you are back to Darwin and ready to take an international flight to leave Australia. If you have taken the advantage of flying, it is possible to complete the above itinerary within 1.5 months. If camper van is your choice of transportation, you would need to shorten your stay at various places to make your journey done within two months.
No matter how you do it, I can ensure you that your travel experience in Australia will be pleasant and enjoyable. Leave your footprints and take plenty of excellent and memorable photos home. See you all here.
Pele Leung - Wilsons Promontory, 12/1/09
With over 500 square kilometre (50500 hectares), Wilsons Promontory is one of the largest and diversified natural reserves in the Gippsland region. It provides many excellent beaches, hiking tracks, all sorts of wildflowers and animials to suit all kinds of nature lovers.
Whale Rock on Tidal River (Loo-Errn Track)
For those who just want to relax and prefer easy to moderate walks, Tidal River is probably the best base. The accommodation facilities range from well-facilitied camp sites to established lodges/cabins and summer is the hottest season so booking is essential. Due to the increasing demand of powered camp sites, the 'power-supply' dream has finally come true. Although currently the number of powered sites is still limited, there is no doubt that more will be rolled out in the future. If you own a campervan or similar, this is a great news.
One of the beauties of staying at Tidal River is that you do not have to go far for exercising yourself as there are more than a dozen of short walks nearby. Just to name a few:
- Loo-Errn
- Pillar Point
- Tidal Overlook Circuit
- Squeaky Pincnic and Whisky Beaches
- Mount Oberon Summit
My personal favourite walks are the Loo-Errn and the Mount Oberon Summit. While the former walk is an easy but scenic one and the latter is a demanding (moderate / hard 1 hour) track that no visitor should miss - by the time you set your foot on the top of Mount Oberon Summit, you would understand what I mean here. If you cannot wait to see the view of Tidal River and surrounds, here is a virtual tour I made recently. Enjoy and I see you all there.
Tidal River Virtural Tour. Our virtual tours are easy to operate and the viewing direction and angle can be changed by simply dragging your mouse or using the small pop-up control buttons located at the bottom of your screen. Moreover, you can virtually jump to the nearby viewing spots by pressing the self-explained arrow buttons. The viewing quality really shines when the tour is viewed in full screen (click the button 
)