Most Australians are probably familiar with Dorothea Mackellar's ode to Australia, My Country, even if only for these famous lines, which comprise a mere fraction of the entire poem (I was surprised to learn that it is as long as it is!):
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
Those words were kind of running around in my head as I worked on these images of the Australian countryside that I took while we were on our honeymoon in Victoria. I have to admit that I have not travelled through my own country anywhere near as much as I have travelled overseas, which seems a little remiss of me in some ways (especially when I see the new Tourism Australia ad on television which, incidentally, is so much better than that odd "where the bloody hell are you?!" debacle of a campaign from a few years ago), but I hope to remedy that in time, especially now that I have someone to show around :)
So these were taken while we drove around the countryside visiting various small towns ... mostly from the side of the road, save for the first shot, which was taken in the middle of some kind of field. I still don't know whether we were trespassing or not, but I figure that since we didn't actually need to climb over anything to get in, maybe that mitigates? (weak argument, I know). It still makes me laugh a little to think about our road trips - we had booked a small rental car online, only to be presented with an enormous 4WD (that's SUV to D) at the airport, which was a massive, massive change from the comparatively teeny Golf that I was used to driving. I was so highly strung about navigating through unfamiliar territory in that tank that we were freaking out at each other within about five minutes of leaving the carpark and having weird, terse and completely nonsensical exchanges on the highway like:
N: "the sat-nav said take the exit in 800 metres. Tell me when it is 800 metres" (in retrospect, a vaguely ridiculous request).
D: "I don't know what 800 metres looks like."
N: "what do you mean, you don't know what 800 metres looks like? You're a guy! Guys know these things!"
D: "I DON'T KNOW METRIC!!!"
Ah, fun times :)
So beautiful Natasha, I can feel the love you have for your homeland...
ReplyDeleteSarah -x-
A perfectly timed post...I am about to take British citizenship and it has got me to thinking how much (or how little) I still consider myself to be Australian. This poem has been running around in my head for a few weeks now - but with the frustration of not being able to recall the specifics of the third line. So, thankyou for this post - now I can happily recall and recite the first stanza to myself (and remind myself that there will always be a little of me that feels Australian no matter where in the world I may live)!
ReplyDeleteAmazing landscapes, your country is really beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI remember having to learn that poem in Year 7 but not being able to get passed the third stanza. Now of course, all I can remember is the first two lines.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos as always. The subject matter is so different to what you normally photograph (brown, dry, dusty) but they're still recognisable as yours. That's some impressive talent.
And cracking up about the I DON'T KNOW METRIC!! comment! Small things one takes for granted that can cause the biggest arguments and tension!
It reminds me of McLeods daughters country, I guess I´ve seen the serial minimum sixteen times :) It was shown frequently on the German TV for some years. After the final they started with first issue again. Beautiful country. But sometimes a bit hard?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photographs from Australia! I can so relate to the fact that you've seen more overseas than in your own country (the same for me Sweden vs. rest of Europe). :) Your conversation made me smile! xo
ReplyDeleteYou know what's really nice about those photos - there's grass and it's green... ah, it's wonderful to be out of drought!
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I don't do metric terribly well either.
i love that poem! we had to learn it at school too!
ReplyDeleteand i am in love with your photos! all of them. every single post. but these make me want to jump in a car and road trip around our awesome country. even though i am currently living in wales haha.
where abouts in sydney are you from? im from turramurra in the north shore. i saw you did a post on woollahra! ive spent a lot of time around that gorgeous suburb as my grandmother and cousins live there!
love your blog! so much!
beautiful, a little like around here (ie farmland) but quite different :)
ReplyDeleteWow - such a gorgeous land and the words capture how I hold it in my minds eye, but your pictures tell a completely different story.
ReplyDeleteHave a beautiful weekend,
Nina x
I have fallen in love with every image here.
ReplyDeletehaha that's too funny about the metric thing ;-)
ReplyDeletebeautiful photos as always!
*sigh* I adore the countryside, always so beautiful.
ReplyDeletelove your funny stories and gorgeous photos, Natasha. :)