VR Tour

This is Australia

In October of 2005 I toured Australia prior to speaking at the AUUG Unix/Linux/BSD conference in Sydney. You may also wish to look at the large gallery of standard-aspect photos of Australia which tell the story of the trip.

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Sydney Harbour at dusk, by Opera House

Sydney's two classic landmarks, the harbour bridge and the opera house, along with the downtown, in the twilight of a rainy day makes a striking shot. I actually shot a large number of panoramas of these landmarks but this is probably my favourite.

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Melbourne 360

Downtown Melbourne from the Southgate area. The train station along the Yarra is prominent, and Federation Square to its right. That's the concert hall and the tower on the art centre at the far right of shot. My day in Melbourne was cloudy and a bit rainy, so twilight was definitely the best time to capture it.

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Mamukala Wetlands, Kakadu

In Kakadu National Park, in the top end, at the end of the dry season, the billabongs (oxbow lakes) are fewer and the birds all must congregate at them. Magpie geese swarm the Mamukala billabong. You can see a wallaby hopping on the right side.

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The 12 Apostles, along Great Ocean Road

Victoria's icon is the 12 apostles. Here's a long panorama of the westward view. There are no longer 12 apostles, if there ever where. The one in the foreground, once tall and striking, collapsed in July while people were watching. It is just a pile of rubble now, a few feet high. The sun is setting behind the apostles.

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Rainbow on the Great Ocean Road, wide

Along the Great Ocean Road on the south Victoria coast, I captured this striking rainbow in the morning. It's rare to see a rainbow so bright you can see it in front of the land and sea. You can actually see the point the bow hits the ground, but not the pot of gold.

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Rainbow on the Great Ocean Road

A closer shot of this rainbow.

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Magnetic Termite Mounds, Kakadu National Park

In Litchfield national park, in the top end, the flood plains have special termite mounts generated by so-called magnetic termites. Unlike traditional mounds (also visible in the picture outside the floodplain) they are very thin and all aligned north-south. This aids in temperature regulation (the goal of all termite mounds) but it is believed by some that the termites actually have evolved a magnetic field sense to help them get their alignment, this being more accurate that relying on the sun or temperature.

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Ubirr in Kakadu National Park, Northern Teritory

In Kakadu national park, the sunset at Ubirr, on the edge of the park, is recommended. This is the end of the dry season. In the wet, most of this will be flooded.

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Mamukala Wetlands, Kakadu

A wider angle shot of Mamulka, described above.

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Sydney Harbour evening, detailed

Similar to the evening view of Syndney Harbour above, but taken with the 50mm lens. Which means you lose the tops of the office buildings but the printed panorama has fantastic fine detail. May not be visible in the web version.

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Melbourne Wide

A wider angle version of the Melbourne shot, which includes the entire tower of the arts centre and a few other things. I like the narrower one above a bit more.

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More Apostles on Great Ocean Road

In the other direction from the 12 apostles viewing point are a few more of the apostles, in this case with the sun setting behind me for a different colour.

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Sydney at twilight from Sydney Tower

The 360 degree view from the Sydney Tower, at twilight. You will find the harbour bridge and opera house a little harder to see on either sides of the tallest building in the center of the shot. The sun has just set over Darling harbour. The large parks on the right of the opera house (Domain and Hyde Parks) include a "food month" noodle night, where all sorts of noodle restaurants have set up booths. We ate there after taking this.

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From Sydney Tower at sunset

A slightly earlier shot, just as the sun is setting on Sydney.

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Agincourt Reef (Great Barrier)

A 360 degree view from a dive boat at the Agincourt Reef. Of course, the real view is underwater, but here you can see the small outcroppings, the structure of the reef, and the waves breaking on the outer wall. We're far out of sight of land.

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Bondi Beach, Sydney

Sydney's much hyped Bondi Beach, in a spring sunset. Many surfers (few of them any good) are out trying to catch the waves. On the right is the fancy HQ of the Bondi Icebergs, a winter swimming club.

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Wangi Falls, Northern Territory

In Litchfield National Park, this plunge pool sits at the base of Wangi falls. The falls are at their low point in the dry season here. Darwinites happily drive the 2 hours to swim at these falls, the only safe way from the overwhelming heat. (Can't swim in most rivers due to crocks, or in the ocean due to jellies, crocks and sharks.)

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Baron Falls, Queensland

Along the Karanda scenic railway (and SkyRail) near Cairns, in Queensland, is this canyon and waterfall.

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Sydney Harbour from Quay Tower

A daytime view of the bridge and opera house from above Quay restaurant, where we had just eaten.

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Lighthouse at Otway

A 360 degree view from the top of the Cape Otway lighthouse, at one of the most southern points in the Australian mainland. Not the most worthwhile of our detours on the Great Ocean Road, but an interesting photo.