Do you fondly imagine that Australia has overcome its “rabbit problem”?
This post’s 2023-vintage photo was taken recently in a “well-managed”, much-loved National Park.
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To my eye, Coober Pedy is an ugly town, albeit a singular one.
So, I was delighted to see something so lovely, growing not many footsteps away from a hideous shopping venue and car park.
I love the way such tall grasses look, especially when wind whiffles through them.
Alas, however, I was admiring a very “bad” plant.
Buffel grass – Cenchrus ciliaris L, pictured above – is “arguably the greatest invasive species threat to biodiversity across the Australian arid zone.”
Some beef producers, however, still view it fondly as “great cattle feed”.
The relevant legal requirement in South Australian Arid Lands:
Land owners in this region to take reasonable steps to kill plants and prevent their spread. Enforceable by the South Australian Arid Lands Landscape Board.
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Unsurprisingly, Barbie prompted Salmon’s provocative essay, but it is not a film review,
Its headline’s question:
Has Barbie killed the indie director?
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Technically, the country in which Alice Springs sits really is a desert environment.
It is, however, far from barren.
Central Australia is beautifully vegetated – botanically “rich”, not “poor”.
Trees and flowers are not its only beautiful plants.
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Strictly speaking, the answer is “no, of course not”.
However, when early morning or late afternoon sunshine “hits” some arid zone Australian rock faces, “incandescent” is almost the only appropriate adjective.
As you can see, this one appears to be emitting light, even if it is “really” only being affected by light.
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“Plane Henge” is the signature “permanent exhibit” in what at least one writer has described as “the world’s largest art gallery”.
Mutonia Sculpture Park sits beside the Oodnadatta Track, less than one hour’s drive west from Marree.
If you were overhead, in a functional aircraft, Lake Eyre South would also be within your field of view.
The “park” includes the ruins of the Alberrie Creek Siding, on what once was “The Ghan” railway line.
Arguably, Mutonia strains to near or beyond breaking point any reasonable definition of “art gallery” or “park”.
Inarguably, its sheer unlikeliness leaves a lasting impression on most visitors.
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Some arid Australian plants are flamboyant, immediately arresting, intensely colourful.
However, to a hasty, inattentive human, not a few of them look “plain”, “drab”, barely-there.
Rich rewards await the more attentive: if you stop, and “zoom in”, you will discover that many such plants are exquisitely structured and their colour palette is much richer, and/or more variegated, than was initially apparent.
The petite, pictured example is probably a member of the genus Ptilotus; the name refers to their flowers’ “hairy” appearance.
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Even by Australian standards, this post’s hero is a relatively modest mountain.
130 kilometres west of Alice Springs, Mount Sonder (1,380 metres) is the Northern Territory’s 4th highest peak; with the sole exception of Western Australia, all other Australian States (& the ACT) have considerably higher mountains.
Everest (which I have seen, “in person”, albeit from some distance) comprehensively dwarfs it, but is no lovelier.
Mount Sonder is one of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen.
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Strangely under-emphasised in most NT publicity, advertorials – and even in genuinely independent media coverage – but true:
Central Australia’s birdlife is abundant and oft-spectacular.
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This post’s photo was taken from almost exactly the same vantage point as the previous post’s…and only a few seconds later.
In “standard format” terms, #16’s photo was a cropped version of a 120mm (short telephoto lens) view, whilst this post’s is a wide angle (24 mm) shot, unedited.
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