Do you carry two cameras while travelling?

A couple of weeks ago I posted an article - Which camera will I take with me?   (you can click on the link if you missed it).  Yesterday I had a classic example of the argument for carrying TWO cameras. 

I had been asked if I had some images from along the walk trails in the Yalgorup National Park which is located on the western edge of the Swam Coastal Plain between Mandurah and Bunbury in Western Australia. It protects a series of ten coastal lakes, swamps and tuart woodlands and is significant for waterbirds and recognized under the International Ramsar Convention. 

One of Yalgorup's crowning jewels are the millions of year old Thrombolites at Lake Clifton. We were returning from a weekend in Perth, and Yalgorup was an achievable detour. Within minutes of reaching the Thrombolites my DSLR camera had a hemorrhage and stopped working completely.  You can see the evidence in these two images - the shaft of "light" in the first image and the black band in the second image.

Our trip would have been totally lost if I didn't have my high-end Point and Shoot with me. Yes the photos could have been better and we really shouldn't have been at Yalgorup in the middle of the day, but timing can't always be at the magic hour, and at least I got some photos.  The trip would have been wasted if I didn't have a back up camera with me.

A viewing platform protects the Thrombolites at Lake Clifton. 

Walking along the five kilometre Lakeside loop walk trail at Lake Clifton.

We were lucky to see two kangaroos. They jumped along the path in front of us, then stopped at the edge of the path. I walked slowly forward to take these pics before they jumped away. This one looks like a doe (female) as her distended belly seems to indicate that she had a joey (baby) in her pouch. There was another young kangaroo close by. Even though I have seen lots of kangaroos in the wild, I never tire of seeing them in the wild when we are bush-walking.

Further south is Lake Preston. There is a 4.5 loop Heathlands walk trail that takes you down to Lake Preston. It was a very hot day so we only walked about one kilometre to the look out.  Along the ridge line there are limestone mallee (Eucalyptus petrensis) and Fremantle mallee (Eucalyptus foecunda). Unfortunately I do not know which variety is the one in my image, and my P&S doesn't take very good macro shots.

There are better times of day and year to explore the Yalgorup Lakes.  These wildflower images were taken in spring along the six kilometre Lake Pollard trail. The Lake Pollard walk trail takes you out to a bird hide from where you can view water birds. It is a lovely walk, especially in spring. The 6 year old handled it very well, though we did sing on the way back to keep the momentum up! There is a picnic area and camp ground so you can camp overnight and enjoy the walk trails. You can read more about it by going to the link at the bottom of my post.

Below are images of the Thombolites at Lake Clifton, taken at that "magic light" hour late afternoon.  You can certainly see the difference between my image taken around 1pm yesterday and these taken during the magic light hour a couple of years ago.  I might be back to talk about that another day!

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed my post today. 
Have you had a situation where your camera has died on you? and what did you do? did you have a backup camera?

ps - I took my camera to a camera repairer today and the shutter is broken inside the camera. Evidently it is fixable, but the sensor may be scratched. I am waiting to hear more. Thank goodness for special risks insurance! and a back-up camera!

I am linking up to Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday  and Travel Photo Thursday - please click on the links to see the offerings of wonderful contributors from around the world 

Would you like to read more about walking in Yalgorup National Park? Go here - A walk in Yalgorup