Read, black and white.
23rd April 2026
My latest reads….seems a fair bit of war & murder.
At the moment life seems a bit abnormal for me. A recent good change (I think) is that I have become a regular reader of books during the last 6 months. It started during my camps last year but the habit has picked up pace big time since I have been unable to go bush. I read two or three books a week at the moment.
Maybe it has been to compensate for the lack of anything of interest on the television or internet of late. From being stuck in Cairns with constant rain and closed roads. Perhaps it was to ignore the reality that even if the weather had been good work would have stopped me from roaming the bush anyway.
Take your chance David, ride!
Arriving at Castle Rock (circled in red) on Himi.
Well the weather has cleared up a bit and I found two days off work so I hopped on the motorbike to enjoy some reading whilst roaming the bush. I headed out to Chillagoe via Irvinebank, Emuford and Petford. Just before Chillagoe I stopped at Castle Rock to spend some time at that magnificent place.
The view from inside Castle Rock at dawn, January 2024.
It took me many visits until I got this sunrise photo in January 2024. I never regret spending time at Castle Rock even if I do not get a photo better than those I have already taken. This place brings me peace for some reason.
My own private reading room for the morning.
On this visit in April 2026 I sat in that cave with no intention of taking photos. I was there to read and to my joy I had the cave to myself for the whole morning. There I sat reading my book under the Aboriginal artwork on the ceiling of the cave. A cool winter breeze making it a very pleasant place to be. You do not get much better for free.
I was after white but I got black and grey
Cotton Pygmy Goose, November 2025.
In late 2025 I found a small group of the endangered Cotton Pygmy Goose on a water body near Irvinebank. I planned to camp at that water body in the hope that they would be coming out of their breeding season with some chicks.
Arriving at camp near Irvinebank in search of the Cotton Pygmy Geese.
When I arrived there were very few birds on the water and definitely no Cotton Pygmy Geese. It was a bit after midday so I hoped once it cooled down the birds might appear.
My tent facing out to the water, 5 feet from the edge.
Since my last visit there the water level has risen quite a lot as a result of months of rain. I set up my tent right at the edge of the water so that I could perhaps get some photos of the birds early morning from the cover of my tent if they showed up.
I never get sick of Black Swans! A black Swan appears late afternoon.
Despite no birds being visible on my arrival I knew there were two species there hiding in the shade along the banks. I could here the calls of the Black Swan and Dusky Moorhen. Indeed once the day cooled down late afternoon they started to appear as I sat and read my book.
A pair of Black Swans kept their distance from me but a couple of Dusky Moorhens seemed quite interested in me as they fed. The adult Moorhen, both male and female, are predominantly black with a splash of colour on their beak and forehead. An immature Moorhen is grey with no colour on the head other than a slightly yellow beak. Both adult and juvenile have the flash of white in the tail.
And so it was that whilst I searched for a white bird I got black and grey with a splash of white on their bums. No complaints…it was a wonderful afternoon spent sitting by the water with my camera and book on hand switching between the two as the birds approached.
The bush television
The bush television aka the camp fire.
Once the sun has set and the temperature drops, if there are no fire warnings, I light a camp fire. As I did on this trip I sit there for hours listening to podcasts and drinking milo.
The beauty of the fire that night.
A habit of mine is to sit at the fire with my camera and attempt to capture the flames. Later when I take the photos of my camera I marvel at the shapes that fire creates. I am easily amused after all.