THATS THE LAST TIME I DO A RAIN DANCE…

No real rains for a decade in Australia, years of drought, parched farm land and dried up creeks, lakes and rivers. Lost crops, top soil blown away, water shortages the list goes ever on. This wide brown land of Australia has really been just that. For more than ten years now Australia has been gripped in one of its worst droughts on record until just a few months ago when it finally started to rain. Roughly around the time I started to consider a trip to Mungo and the Walls of China if my memory serves me correctly. That trip was a wash out with the road into Mungo closed – hey.. it happens. The truth is I have been yearning for it to seriously rain for years. My disappointment at being denied access to the Walls of China was minimised by my shear delight to actually see it rain. Parched earth and dying foliage are not the prettiest of subjects for landscape and nature photography. They are no less interesting than a field of flowers or flowing stream; its just that after so many years of drought there are only so many parched landscapes you can look at before becoming rather jaded with the whole affair.

Since that wash out trip earlier this year it has kept raining… and raining… raining…A few sunny days have graced us with their presence; but on the whole its been nothing short of wet.

Now; less than 15 hours hours before I am scheduled to depart for The Walls of China it is still raining and the roads are well and truly closed – with no sign of opening in the foreseeable future. No more rain dances for me. Mungo and The Walls of China will just have to wait yet again.

The best laid plans can easily go astray – especially when blessed Mother Nature is involved. Which means it is time to implement the backup plan. I am heading up to the Grampians instead to photograph the many waterfalls which are now flowing again with all the recent rains. Many of them have been dry for years or a trickle at best. It should be quite a site to see them in full force and hopefully with a little luck the weather offers some good light. See you in a few days…