Tuesday 6 October 2015

Across the river and into the trees

The Otways are both a range of hills and an area of cool, termperate rainforest.  Apollo Bay, where we stayed in the school holidays is one of the larger settlements on the coast of the Otways.

Given that the area supports rains forest is hardly surprising that it get a decent amount of rain - and where you have rain and hills, you get waterfalls.

This waterfall is called Hopetoun Falls and it is only a short - but steep - walk to the base of the falls from the carpark.  The whole area is wonderfully cool and green.




 In many ways that Otways are similar to the forests of the Pacific Northwest of the USA - and there is another American connection just down the road for these falls.

In the 1930 a number of plantations of Californian Redwoods were planted in the Otways - and some of been left more or less undisturbed since then.  Many of them have reached a height of 60 m and some people think that given time (and a bit of luck) they may one day be has tall as the trees in their native lands. Now that would be a sight to see.




I have converted one of the images into black and white. In the final image you can see the 'ghosts' of people moving between the trees - this is what happens when you use a 2 second exposure.  I have to say it was pretty dark under those trees.

You can find more shots from around the world at Our World Tuesday.  SM

21 comments:

  1. Very beautiful! Love the trees as well. Thank for the explanation.

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  2. Ah, I do love the beautiful water falls!! Wonderful trees as well and such terrific captures for the day, Stewart!! Thanks, as always, for sharing the beauty!! Have a great new week!!

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  3. Wow...I bet you hated it there. That third shot is so beautiful.

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  4. Love the shots of the waterfall. The black and white looks like a pen and ink drawing.

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  5. Love the waterfalls! Yes, it does look like the PNW. Cool that there are redwoods there too.

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  6. The trees look most content. I have visited HopetounHouse. I wonder if it is named for the falls.

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  7. Excelente tu reportaje, incluso la Ășltima toma con sus "fantasmas".
    Gracias por compartir.
    Un cordial saludo.

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  8. nice shots of waterfalls, so smooth and silky. I like the last photo very much.

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  9. That is wonderful to see. I did not know some of my Redwoods made it to your neighborhood. I hope they do indeed grow to be just as magnificent.

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  10. Fantastic waterfall shots and great trees ~ Your 'header' is magnificent!

    Happy Week to you,
    artmusedog and carol

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  11. Well, your Australian Pines are invading our wetlands, so I guess the California Redwoods are a form of gentle revenge. I wish the developers of our city had planned ahead and planted native pines. Redwood would be out of the question. It will be great if you Redwoods exceed those in California!

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  12. The Redwoods of California are definitely a wonder to behold. So glad they are thriving down your way too.

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  13. Terrific images of a beautiful area.

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  14. I very much love those waterfall shots with different speeds. Whenever i see moving water even if it is not a waterfall, i try to do long exposures. The last shot you said have ghosts are wonderful too.

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  15. Beautiful waterfalls! Magnificent trees!

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  16. WOW These tres are huge, the people are so small. Love how straight they are and love the great textures they have. Now the thrid shot of the waterfall is awesome

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  17. Wonderful pictures! I have been reading up on taking pictures of hoarders water. There aren any waterfalls near here so I may never get the chance to practice a lot. I love your water shots and the texture in the trees is amazing. awesome pictures!

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  18. This is really fascinating! It DOES look like the American NW! Love that beautiful waterfall!

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  19. Most of the time posts from Australia remind me of our Florida home, but indeed this one looks very much like our Oregon one. It's great to live in a country of contrasts, isn't it!!

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  20. The waterfalls are gorgeous and those trees are huge!

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