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  

A walk in Yalgorup - Western Australia

After the last few weeks, it was wonderful to get out and go for a walk in the bush on Sunday with our grandsons. We walked along the Lake Pollard walk trail to the bird-hide at Lake Pollard in the Yalgorup National Park, only 45 minutes north of our home in Bunbury.

Laying on the western edge of the Swan Coastal Plain, the 12,888 hectare Yalgorup National Park protects a chain of ten lakes - Swan Pond, Duck Pond, Boundary Lake, Lake Pollard, Martins Tank, Yalgroup, Hayward and Newnham Lakes  The name Yalgorup is derived from two Nyoongar Aboriginal words – Yalgorup meaning swamp or lake, and up meaning a place of.

We are in late winter here, and the spring wildflowers are just starting to blossom   In the collage below are wildflowers I photographed along the trail. I haven't been able to successfully name all of these - but I can tell you some of them....

Left to right starting top left - 

1st row - Native Wisteria, Hibbertia. Dryandra, Dryandra with bee, perhaps one of the Grevillias.

2nd row - Native Wisteria,  Weeping Pittosporum, Cocky's Tongues-Templetonia retusa, Native Rose, Hibbertia

3rd row - unknown, I think the Helmet orchid before flowering on a bed of moss, Hibbertia, unknown, leaf of the Bull Banksia. 

Flowers like the "Hibbertia" and the "Grevillia" have many different species, so very difficult for an amateur like me to name them accurately.

 Along the trail also look out for other interesting things..... an ants nest, fungi, the red insides of a collapsed grass tree, a bird feather, sea shells on the lake shore, fungi climbing a tree, and a broken egg shell my grandson found beneath a tree. Looking for things like this along a walk trail is a good way to keep children interested and not thinking about how tired they are.....

The Yalgorup wetland system is international recognised on the Ramsar List as an important habitat for migratory waterbirds and so is a haven for birdwatchers. As well as native waterbirds, birds migrate to Yalgorup from the Northern Hemisphere, including the Red Knot which breeds around the Arctic Circle.

A good place to view the birdlife is from the bird hide constructed on the edges of Lake Pollard. Black swans arrive here in large numbers from October to March to graze on the musk grasses.

The six kilometre (approximately 2 hour) Lake Pollard trail conveniently begins at the entrance to the Martins Tank campground. The trail winds through parrot-bush thickets, and woodlands of jarrah, tuart, peppermint, bull banksia and Christmas Tree. You know when you are getting close to the lake when the tuarts are replaced by saltwater paperbark trees. 

We didn't walk the whole 6 kilometres - it is a long way for 2 little boys aged 3 and 5. We took the shorter flatter return option - about 1 & half to 2kms there, and then back - still a long way for little legs! We took food with us and ate it in the bird hide - you can see the bird hide in the collage below. Unfortunately we didn't see any birds!  But the bird hide gave us shelter when a shower of rain passed over. 

Can you see the kangaroo laying by the log in the third picture? We saw him and his two mates at the camp ground.

The trail starts near Martins Tank campground on the edge of Martin Tank Lake. It is a beautiful shady campground managed by the WA Department of Environment and Conservation. In the collage above you can see us having our picnic lunch after our big walk. The boys decided to go log climbing after that and had a kick around with the soccer ball - I think they got their second wind!

In the bottom left picture you can see the avenue of paperbark trees going down to the edge of Martin Tank Lake. 

Our grandsons are used to being out in the bush, but when you have little legs that are tired of walking, there is always Pop's arms......... whilst the 5 year old sang me songs he had learnt at school and this helped the walk back.

So much pleasure from the simple things....

 

Of the ten lakes at Yalgroup, Lake Clifton is the most unique, as it is the home to 2000 year old Thromobolites. These are the largest known example of living non-marine microbialites in the Southern Hemisphere, and only one of two known places where microbialites occur in water less salty than sea water. The Thrombolites are extremely fragile and an observation walkway has been erected so you can have a close view. 

To read my article about The Ten Lakes of Yalgorup - please see Go Camping Australia magazine - October-November 2012

You can read more about Yalgorup by clicking here - WA Department of Environment and Conservation

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed our walk in Yalgorup National Park. I look forward to hearing from you. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to Mary and the other wonderful contributors at Mosaic Monday at Little Red House. Click here to see their posts - Mosaic Monday