Miscellaneous Australian Pictures

A selection of Australian desert pictures that have nothing to do with fish!

45KK jpeg Overlooking the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, my home.

24KK jpeg Most of Australia is pretty flat, although rarely is it this flat! This area is known as Moonlight Flat and it lies between Oodnadatta and Coober Pedy, South Australia. Part of the Mad Max films were shot here.

44KK jpeg There are a few hills though! This is part of the Flinders Raingers, South Australia.

75KK jpeg My mother standing under the Tree of Knowledge, Barcaldine, Queensland. It was under this tree in 1896(?) that the Australian Labor Party first formed during the great shearers strike. You should note that on the side of the pub is a commercial for XXXX (pronounced 4X). This is the unofficial beer of Queensland. They call it 4X because they find it too hard to spell beer. :-)

51KK jpeg Our campsite at Sturt National Park, Tibooburra, New South Wales.

20KK jpeg The old shearing shed at Cordillo Downs, north of Innamincka, South Australia. Around the turn of the century this was the largest shearing shed in the southern hemisphere at 100 stands. Today there are no sheep in this area due to the dingo populations. Cordillo Downs is a typical sized property (station) in this part of Australia, only around 3500kmē! (it may be larger, I forget)

38KK jpeg This is my mother opening one of the many gates through the dog fence (or dingo fence) on the South Australia, New South Wales border. The dog fence is the longest continuous fence in the world, 5,614 km starting in Jimbour (S.E. Qld) and finishes on the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight in S.A.. It was originally built in the 1880's to keep rabbits out of Qld and S.A.; however, this proved to be a dismal failure. It was modified in 1914 to prevent dingoes from getting into the N.S.W. sheep properties. (Thanks to Peter Hutcheon for providing this information)

28KK jpeg The township of Innamincka in northern South Australia. At the time of this photograph (1985) the resident population was about 6. During the 1974 floods only the roof of the pub was visible! Cooper Creek was probably only 10 or more km across at the time (it is usually a dry bed).

30KK jpeg An unusually large road train at Jackson in western Queensland. This truck is carrying oil from a nearby oil field. It has around four trailers linked together. When you see one of these comeing the other way, just get off the road if you value your life and vehicle.

25KK jpeg The Birdsville Track runs just to the east of Lake Eyre from South Australia to Queensland. It has a 600km stretch with no services what so ever. Rain makes the road impassable. Under good conditions speeds of 100-120 km are acceptable although you have to slow down for corners and creek crossings.

32KK jpeg The Oodnadatta picture cinema (no, it isn't a drive in).

36KK jpeg The Pink Roadhouse at Oodnadatta. A must stop for anyone passing through the area. Great for getting local road and tourist information and they do great ham and roo burgers (yes, kangaroo). Oodnadatta's population is around 100.

27KK jpeg The Plenty Highway about 250 km north east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

76KK jpeg A red mulga tree near Dalhousie Springs, South Australia. Mulga trees are well adapted to desert conditions. All their leaves and stems point upward such that when it rains the water runs down the leaves, small branches, etc, congregating the water at the base of the tree. Am impressive sight one rarely sees.

32KK jpeg The Stockman's Hall of Fame, Longreach, Queensland. This building is a tribute to the outback way of life and the struggles of the people to survive the harsh conditions. It was opened by the Queen in 1988 as a part of Australia's bicentenary.

31KK jpeg The main street of Tibooburra in north west New South Wales. A Sydney radio show once offered people a weekend stay here as a booby prize! It is sorta out of the way for the most people.

This file was last modified:  18 March 2003