         While our 2009 around Australian tour has reached it’s Summer studio home base of Northern Victoria, it is far from over and I will continue to write about places we have visited and are currently visiting. Driving across the Nullarbor Plain is one of Australia's great road journeys. Most of the area is flat and features bluebush and saltbush. The wildlife here includes Australia's largest population of the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat, we saw several on this trip. There are rare and endangered species such as the Nullarbor Quailthrush, Major Mitchell Cockatoo, Australian Sea-lion and Peregrine Falcon The Nullarbor name comes from the Latin 'nullus' and 'arbor' meaning 'no trees'. Experts believe the plain was created about 25 million years ago when it lifted out of the sea.    Reg and I love the Bunda Cliffs, the area where the flat plains meet the pounding Southern Ocean 70 meters below. This year my pleasure at the scenery was mixed with alarm at people who were scaling the cliffs so friends could take photos of them in precarious positions over the cliff edge. I just have to say the word, 'foolish' . There were even drivers who drove around, 'Danger, do not enter', signs, with a caravans in tow to camp out over seriously undercut, dangerous cliff tops. Not only are they being foolish, they risk having this natural beauty wonderland, barrier-ed off, so sensible users may eventually be barred from entry or it might all become like the ‘head of the bite’, where everyone has to pay $20. to enter so a ranger can police that people use a little common sense where it comes to enjoying nature and these spectacular views of the coastline.   We saw many Southern Right Whales off the coast, from the many vantage points along the cliffs that are open for viewing and camping. It is worth the fee to go into the Head of Bight, the ultimate whale-watching area with great viewing platforms. Sadly that area is no dogs allowed, though I fail to understand why responsible dog owners cannot carry a small dog, so they can view the whales from these platforms, it’s not as if the dog would threaten the whale. This year I saved the audio book ‘The Power of One’, as my driver entertainment for the Nullarbor crossing. It was a great choice being 18 CD disks that took many days, the length of the journey, to complete. Images of Australia in the Paintings and Writing of Artist Author Kathy Shell Artist – Kathryn Shell Author Kathryn Shell is a published non-fiction and fiction author currently working on an Australian Novel. Feel welcome to reproduce the words in the above blog post provided you copy it in its entirety including this section with all its active links. The images may not be copied without permission of the artist, author. You can purchase prints from the art of Kathy Shell by selecting from those offered in the sidebars of her web blogs then Contact Kathy with your selection and these will be listed as a buy it now bundle in this EBay Store. You are most welcome to link to this page.Thank you. - Kathy Shell. Comments Comments are closed. |  Images of Australia in the Paintings and Writing of Artist Author Kathy Shell are created on location while touring in an Eco-Tourer Caravan. `````````````````````````
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