
The house in the early morning golden light.
Jason’s Out Back Getaway House.

Sun peeping up on the other side of house.
Out in the country, in Aussie referred to as the bush or outback, I see and experience a feeling of boiphilia, an affinity with the natural world. Some would say the outback is desolate and ugly.

The children decorate the walls with love.
If you are not observant, hurrying, wanting to be someplace else you never notice the wonder of nature. Amazing things never experienced in the city. Different to what you can find in the lush green rain forests of the coastal areas and highlands of this vast island continent of Australia.

Feral goat on track to water hole.
It is an 800 km/500 miles from the city of Brisbane to the town of Cunnamulla via Toowoomba, Dalby, St George. Then another 80 km to my son’s opal lease at Koroit North West of Cunnamulla.

Geoff on the excavator this open cut mining.
Pauline and I meandered when we travelled these roads, taking little detours, stopping to investigate everything of interest. We only travelled between two to five hundred kilometers per day. We stayed a day or more in Toowoomba, it is famous for its flower festival, It took us several weeks to do the trip to Cunnamulla. Stopping for photos of sights along the way. For us it is always the journey not the destination.

Jason checking for geodes called ‘nuts’
But Pauline and I have no deadlines and obligations like Jason. We are retired and have time to explore and admire this amazing world. My son Jason was intent in getting to the opals ASAP. So it was only a few necessary fuel and toilet stops. We even ate on the move to cover ground and save time. It is in total about a 12 hr. drive as the last 80 km from Cunnamulla to Koroit is over a rough gravel road.

Michael searching hopefully.
Australia is a about the same area as USA with a much smaller population so road maintenance is governed by how often they are used. On property boundaries, instead of gates, there are narrow cattle stops, made of railway lines placed with a gap wider than a hoof. They are about a meter wide and only long enough for one vehicle. When the tires run over the rails the sudden loud rippling noise snaps everyone awake.

Cool off in the water hole.
Cattle and kangaroos randomly roaming the road created a hazard. Jason slowed down to a safer speed. One unlucky kangaroo could not be avoid, if Jason had swerved any harder, towing a trail loaded with two off road motorbikes, he would have lost control.

Dry mud pattern
My seat adjusted like a comfortable airline seat. If I had actually been on a plane the bumps would have been unnerving, like flying through a turbulent storm. In the van the bumps only disturbed a sound sleep.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
As it was my son Jason, grandsons Geoff, Michael and myself thought the trip went well and it was a wonderful time together. Times shared in remote places out of the usual familiar surroundings make a family bond. The boys played their guitars under the stars. The stars twinkle like a billion diamonds with no competition from city lights, smog or damp sea air.

Jason and Michel examine broken discarded geodes.
It is a hard, tortured land of extremes, long spells of hot and dry with fine red dust that penetrates the smallest crevices. Then the tropical rains bucket down and the roads are a red clay bog. This is out back Aussie beyond the black stump. My photos and words will not convey how this place is, or felt to me. But in keeping with my by-line in the header ‘Try even if you fail but never fail to try.’

No opal but I still think they are beautiful.
Thanks for sharing all the photos of your time in the outback.
I think you would have cooked there Pauline, but we will pick a time when it has cooled down. 🙏
One of these days I will get there.
Reblogged this on gypsy life and commented:
Recently I was left home alone to look after the garden while Jack went outback with his son and 2 grandsons. I have never been to the opal lease and these photos show another part of Australia that not many people get to experience. I still long to go there but for the time being I will just have to experience it through Jack’s photos.
Thanks for the reblog
What an amazing trip, Jack. It must have been really great to share these experiences with your family. Those rocks really are beautiful. 🙂
I am very fortunate 🙏
I, too, love ‘desolate’ places. They are full of life, one just has to seek it out. Under rocks, for example. And the sky at night! Nothing like it. Glad you had fun!
Not everyone see the beauty and wonder we are the fortunate ones. To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower. Hold
Stunning rocks Jack!
Thanks your comment is appreciated.
What stunning desolation, Jack! I can’t begin to imagine what it would be like to experience it in person….
It has to be experienced and is not to everyone’s liking as my post explains.
Oh, it wouldn’t be for me, now
That red-ochre earth. The light. The bush. Thank you, Jack.
So pleased you saw the beauty and let me know.
Well, I’m very glad I came, Jack 🙂
Beautiful what an experience for you all, it is good to see the children getting involved to. The rocks are awsome and the redness of the earth. Thank you JAck for sharing.
I realise how fortunate I am and it is an added pleasure if I can share a little of my luck. Children are wonderful and what mighty experiences my grand children have.
It is very different to the UK and you would find it dry and dusty. You my like this poem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5bNhQrKay0 it is a favourite of mine _/\_
Thank you Jack that was lovely .Dorothea love d her country , and portrayed so beautifully.
The red earth, the rock colours, the mud pattern. I like the beauty you see around you Jack. A little like Namibia, another place which has a small population but magnificent landscapes. Thank you (and PP) for taking me here with you.
Thanks for your comment and for the beautiful things you show on your blog.
You have a good eye for beauty I enjoy your blog but am not as good as you with showing my appreciation with likes and comments. There is so much to appreciate, perhaps I am too greedy taking it all in and not stopping to say thanks. _/\_
Just to know that you appreciate the photos is enough Jack, thank you.
What a fascinating post about a completely alien place…beautiful rocks!
well I think your words convey much of what you feel about this beautiful outback Jack.
and sorry about the unlucky kangaroo –
also – this bright orange dirt here reminds me of Virginia clay…
Well what a journey you and your Son and grandsons had Jack.. I can get the sense of heat, and the dust through the photo’s you took
Well spotted feral goat..
And what fun to find something as beautiful as an opal…
While in Scotland I visited a place called Treasures of the Earth .. Where semi precious and precious gems were on show, some in their raw state.. I took lots of photos and hope to share some in the future..
A raw emerald weighing 26Lb.. Amazing fossils too.. You would have been interested I’m sure..
I have been digging, weeding the soil today and I find that so interesting as I marvel and those tiny flowers in the weeds and the minute insects of bright colours like red spider mites in the soil.. 🙂
There is always something to find of beauty even in the most driest of places ..
Thank you for sharing your journey Jack.. And sorry it took so long to arrive here. As I go down my list..
Blessings and Look after yourself my friend
Oh and the guitar is is being strummed.. 😉
Sue _/\_
Oh how magnificent the outback is! How lucky you are to get to know it so intimately. I love geods. They are like little universes hiding in a rock ball. I remember finding them at Carlsbad Caverns as a kid and cracking them open and finding the wonder. Now Carlsbad Caverns has been destroyed. Thank goodness the outback is mostly untrammeled.
My grandfather traveled much more than I. I inherited an Australian black opal from him. It is wonderful, and I only decided recently to wear it.
Cheers to you Jack. I’ve missed you.
[…] also wanted to share how Jack (here) snapped a photo of his family that was similar to Renoir’s Luncheon at the Boating Party. […]
It was a subliminal feeling I had when comparing the snap of the family gathering.
Renoir’s paintings are not only visually beautiful they radiate love.
You are observant seeing the similarity and thanks for featuring it in your post.🙏😍
So you’re the other half of Pauline. 😉🥰
Pauline a sweeter loving word I’ve never heard there’s music hangs around that little word. Plagiarized from C.J. Dennis. “The Song of a Sentimental Bloke.”
That’s me.
Nice to meet you. She IS a love. Glad you enjoyed my photos of winter.
janet
You’ve been very quiet of late. Here’s hoping all’s well with you!