Benz World Blog » 2011

Hopetoun Rocks

Jason Benz — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:59:33 +0000

Last night we went to Hopetoun‘s Christmas Party at the local pub. They had set up a marquee out the back where Esperance band Sezwho performed to the crowd with an assortment of Aussie 80′s Rock. We were both impressed with the gig and I suspect I had one too many beers by the way my head felt this morning. The temperature has started reaching the low 30′s recently so we are glad to both be off on Friday. We plan to camp at a site on the South Coast Highway tonight and then explore Bremer Bay tomorrow.

Wave Rock

Jason Benz — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 19:36:00 +0000

This is Wave Rock in Western Australia. It must be said Australia does rocks in a big way. This particular rock is made of granite and is more than 2.7 billion years old. The wave part of the rock is 14m high and 110 m long and has been created by a process of fluvial erosion. The stripes on the rock are caused by water which flows down from the top of the rock which slopes up from the wave at its base. This image was created by taking three exposures and combining them using HDR processing. The rock has attracted a number of eclectic tourist businesses over the years. There is an Animal Park where we saw the Koala, A Lace Museum, A Toy Soldier display, A Wild Flower Farm and a well provisioned if expensive Caravan Park where we spent the night. There are a number of walks and drives and I would recommend spending a couple of days there.

Hopetoun Stingray

Jason Benz — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:07:22 +0000

We saw this stingray in the ocean on our walk along Four mile beach on Sunday. I followed it for a while by walking down the beach trying to get a good shot of it. They have the ability to disappear under the sand at a moments notice. This one did not seem to mind me snapping away as it glided along the shallows at a slow walking pace. One problem with shooting through a zoom lens is you have no reference for how close you actually are to the subject. I had to keep peering over my camera to make sure I did not step on it. Although not generally aggressive towards people they are related to sharks and if they feel threatened they can strike out with a venomous barb in their tail. Fatal attacks have been known, most famously on former Aussie crocodile wrangler Steve Irwin, but generally a stingray attack will only result in a severe disinclination to boogie.

Stingray Video

Koala Bear

Jason Benz — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 05:17:25 +0000

This Koala is neither a bear or a native of Western Australia. To get this shot I had to resort to a Wildlife park next to Wave Rock. They had three Koalas there although I only found two of them as they are free to roam about the trees. I guess the park did not worry about escape attempts. But then Koalas do sleep 20hrs a day and eat for 3hrs and could not be described as speedy. How far could they get in a break for freedom? We have settled in to Hopetoun now and are ready to start work tomorrow at The Deck. The weather cleared up today so we walked West along the beach from Hopetoun to the Culham inlet. In hindsight it was a little ambitious and we are currently reliving our aching limbs with a little Aussie alcohol.

This image was accepted for Stock Photography at Shutterstock and is available for download here.

Tin Horse

Jason Benz — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:50:32 +0000

This is one of over fifty art installations we saw near Kulin on our way to Wave Rock. We took a slight detour to travel along the Tin Horse Highway but it was worth it to see the ingenious ways local farmers recycled old junk into these humorous sculptures. As you can see from the background it has not been all blue sky here. Western Australia has been experiencing an exceptionally wet year since we landed 7 weeks ago. Some areas have had a year’s worth of rain in a single day. We have seen a little flooding but nothing like the scale the eastern states experienced last year. I am told the sandy nature of the ground here ensures Western Australia can absorb a lot of water. We will be spending one more night on the road before arriving in Hopetoun which will be our base till the end of January.

Salt Lake

Jason Benz — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:33:49 +0000

Today we left Australia‘s Goldfields and entered it’s Wheatbelt. This image was taken in an area between the two. It shows two of Australia’s environmental challenges. Fire and the rising salt level caused by historic deforestation. We camped at a place called Kokerbin Rock which has the title of Australia‘s third biggest monolith after the famous Uluru and Mt. Augustus which I had the chance to climb 15 years ago in my first visit to Australia. Tomorrow head East to the wonderfully Australian named Bruce Rock before heading south to The Deck in Hopetoun where we will be working over the festive period.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Ghost Town

Jason Benz — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:29:51 +0000

This is the ghost town of Gwalia. One of many in the Goldfields. Gwalia was deserted overnight in 1963 when the pit closed down. Leaving an eerie atmosphere akin to Pompeii. It’s first mine manager was Herbert Hoover who later became the 31st President of the United States. It seems strange to me these places have not regrown since the rise in gold prices have reopened many mines. The pull of the city’s on Australia’s youth and the efficiency of Australia’s super mines seem to keep the population forever declining. We are about to leave the goldfields to head West to Southern Cross before rejoining the ocean at Hopetoun.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Baby Truck

Jason Benz — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:42:18 +0000

This is what miners in Kalgoorlie call the baby truck. This one took a break from its 24/7 duty in the super pit to take part in the annual parade. The only reason its big brother did not make an appearance this year was it could not fit under the new power lines across the main street. There are 40 trucks like this each carrying 220 tonnes of rock with an average of 2g of gold per tonne. The drivers of these truck can earn £1000/day and they are always looking new drivers. The 500 meter deep Super pit at the edge of town has only recently restarted digging since the rise in the gold price has made it economically viable again. We spent an enjoyable 4 days in Kalgoorlie. We met some prospectors and have seen more nuggets of gold than you could imagine. We are now deep in the gold fields at a place called Niagara Dam. We had a close encounter with two Brumbies today and Karen also saw her first willy-willy this afternoon which she described as a perfect mini tornado about 6 foot tall and very loud. Tomorrow we head for Leonora.

Kalgoorlie Express

Jason Benz — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 02:08:49 +0000

We have gone inland to the Goldfields of Western Australia. This train passed by our outback campsite last night pulling 135 cars full of ore from the Kalgoorlie mines. We celebrated Karen‘s birthday by checking in to a powered campervan site in Kambalda with hot showers. Tomorrow she has been promised a shopping trip to the gem stone and gold capital of Western Australia. It’s a good thing I start work in three weeks.

Sealion Sammy

Jason Benz — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:03:22 +0000

This is Sammy the sealion, Local resident of Esperance who comes ashore around midday to look at the tourists on the pier. Other residents include the remnants of Skylab which crashed to earth here in 1979 (The Australians fined the Americans $400 dollars for littering) and Doug and Ettie who were good enough to let us stay in their gorgeous home for a couple of days. Thanks to you both. Since the last post we have both been offered a job at The Deck in Hopetoun for six weeks. It was a hard decision as it meant giving up fireworks in Sydney which we had both been looking forward to. As we are not here for an extended holiday we could not justify turning down the work and it does include a nice little cabin near the beach and free internet. This change of plan also means we can spend more time in Western Australia as the job does not start for 3 weeks. From here we are going to do a big loop inland to Norseman, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Southern Cross and Merredin before heading back to Hopetoun. We should start crossing the Nullarbor in February next year.

This image was accepted for Stock Photography at Shutterstock and is available for download here.