Australian Images - Top End and West | Travels With a Camera - Peak Images

Australia

Images from my 3.5 month road trip across the Top End (north) and Far Side (west) of Australia.

Covering some 12000km in a trusty 21yr old 4Runner, this was an awesome trip across the outback – and sleeping in the back of the 4WD was actually surprisingly comfortable – and definitely better than a cheap tent!

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Not all Australian roads are state owned - some of the better outback ones are privately constructed but useable by the public.

Chinaman's Pool, which contains the Jasper Deposit that gave Marble Bar its name.

Crossing the Leichhardt River - a creek large enough to still have significant water in the dry season on the Savannah Way, between Karumba and Burketown.

Accomodation is not the only thing in short supply on outback roads - fuel can be surprisingly scarce too. At least they put up warning signs about it!

The Savannah Way, approx 300km south-east of Borroloola, an isolated gravel track with very infrequent passing traffic.

Heavily laden motorbike with sidecar crossing the Roper Bar causeway.

Bushfire near the Western Australian border on the way to Kununurra (Savannah Way)

Bushfire near the Western Australian border on the way to Kununurra (Savannah Way)

Bushfire near the Western Australian border on the way to Kununurra (Savannah Way)

Lake Kununurra, Western Australia

Creek crossing, Bungle Bungles (Purnululu National Park), NW Australia

Creek crossing, Bungle Bungles (Purnululu National Park), NW Australia

Cathedral Gorge, in the Bungle Bungles (Purnululu National Park), NW Australia

Bungle Bungles - Mini palms gorge and Echidna Chasm

Emma Gorge on El Questro Station, Gibb River Road, Kimberleys, NW Australia

Pentecost Range, Gibb River Road, Kimberley Region, NW Australia

Gibb River Road - Manning Gorge and Mornington Wilderness Camp - Dimond Gorge

Camping at Windjana Campsite - Gibb River Road, Kimberley Region of NW Australia

Freshwater crocodiles lined up in the sun along the banks of Windjana Gorge, Kimberley Region of NW Australia

Fruit bat returning to colony in WIndjana Gorge, Kimberley Region of NW Australia

Freshwater crocodile in the sun on the banks of Windjana Gorge, Kimberley Region of NW Australia

Windjana Gorge, near the Gibb River Road, Kimberley Region of NW Australia

Camel trekking on Cable Beach at sunset, Broome, W Australia

Early morning camel trekking on Cable Beach, Broome, W Australia

Sandstone boulder - a not untypical sight along outback roads in the Pilbara region of W Australia

A long straight section of railway track, servicing the iron ore mines, stretches across miles of outback desert near Tom Price, Pilbara Region, W Australia

Reflections in Fern Pool, Dales Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Reflections in Fern Pool, Dales Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Tree stump reflected in Fern Pool, Dales Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Circular Pool, Dales Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Aerial view of Dales Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Knox Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Close-up of rocks and flowing water, Knox Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Steep sandstone walls tower over the entrance to the Class 6 Canyon in Knox Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

The entrance to the Class 6 Canyon in Knox Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Hancock Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Kermit's Pool, Hancock Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Regan's Pool, Hancock Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Water tumbling down the rocks from Kermit's Pool towards Regans Pool, Hancock Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Adventurers exiting from the Spider Walk, Hancock Gorge, Karijini National Park, Pilbara, W Australia

Underwater photograph of the Agincourt Reef, one of the outer reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, offshore from Port Douglas, Far North Queensland, Australia

Underwater photograph of the Agincourt Reef, one of the outer reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, offshore from Port Douglas, Far North Queensland, Australia

Stokes Hill wharf, Darwin at sunset. One of the locations used for the 2008

Stokes Hill wharf, Darwin at sunset. One of the locations used for the 2008

Stokes Hill wharf, Darwin at sunset. One of the locations used for the 2008

Stokes Hill wharf, Darwin at sunset. One of the locations used for the 2008

Stokes Hill wharf, Darwin at sunset. One of the locations used for the 2008

Stokes Hill wharf, Darwin at sunset. One of the locations used for the 2008

Stokes Hill wharf, Darwin at sunset. One of the locations used for the 2008

Angry frilled lizard in the Tiwi Islands, an independant Aboriginal community just offshore from Darwin, NT, Australia.

Submerged leaves of a tropical plant fluttering in the current of a small stream - Tiwi Islands, nr Darwin, NT, Australia.

Driftwood-like remains of a fallen gum tree. Note the termite

Small Termite Mound with fallen deciduous leaves surrounding it, Tiwi Islands, nr Darwin, NT, Australia.

Controlled burning off of long grass

"Old meets the new", Aboriginal and Christian cultures meld together

"Old meets the new", Aboriginal and Christian cultures meld together

Old Catholic Church, Tiwi Islands, nr Darwin, Australia

The tiny 10-seater charter plane that flies back and forth from Darwin to the Tiwi Islands taxi-ing on the runway just before take-off.

Sunset over Fannie Bay, from the terrace bar of the Darwin (Water)Ski Club, NT, Australia

Sunset over Fannie Bay, from the terrace bar of the Darwin (Water)Ski Club, NT, Australia

Yachts on the horizon - sunset over Fannie Bay, from the terrace bar of the Darwin (Water)Ski Club, NT, Australia

Yachts on the horizon - sunset over Fannie Bay, from the terrace bar of the Darwin (Water)Ski Club, NT, Australia

Yachts on the horizon - sunset over Fannie Bay, from the terrace bar of the Darwin (Water)Ski Club, NT, Australia

Spider in the centre of its web, Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve, NT, Australia. This spider is a common sight, making many webs throughout the leaves and branches of the wetland trees of Fogg Dam.

Boardwalk along the wetlands, Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve, nr Darwin, NT, Australia

Trunk of a Melaleuca - the

Tourists on the boardwalk through the Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve wetlands, NT, Australia

Whistling Kite (Milvus Sphenurus), Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve, NT, Australia

Silhouetted riverbank at sunrise on the Yellow Water, Cooinda, Kakadu National Park, NT, Australia.

Saltwater crocodile silhouetted in golden dawn-light over the Yellow Water, Cooinda, Kakadu, NT, Australia

Geese on an early morning flight over Yellow Water, Cooinda, Kakadu NP, Australia

Early morning cruise boat on the Yellow Water, Cooinda, Kakadu NP, NT, Australia

Early morning cruise boat on the Yellow Water, Cooinda, Kakadu NP, NT, Australia

Rainbow Bee-eater, a member of the Kingfisher family, perched on waterside debris at Yellow Water, Cooinda, Kakadu NP, NT, Australia

Painting with light - a photographic technique used to light large dark spaces such as a cavern in one of the Undara Lava Tubes, Atherton Tablelands, Far North Queensland, Australia.

How Australian outback roads change - from good A road to outback singletrack in an instant.

It could be English countryside - suddenly the landscape changes from tropical savannah to unduating grassy meadows in the Atherton Tablelands of Northern Queensland, Australia

Country lane, nr Ravenshoe on the Savannah Way in the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, Australia

Typical rolling upland grassy fields of the Atherton Tablelands, North Queensland, Australia.

Typical lush green foliage of the understorey view in the Cape Tribulation rainforest, near Daintree, Far North Queensland, Australia.

Yachts returning to Port Douglas, Far North Queensland, Australia.

View in afternoon sunlight over 4 Mile Beach at Port Douglas, Far North Queensland, Australia.

Ancient fossil rocks made of shells line the beach at Karumba on the Gulf of Carpenteria, in north-west Queensland, Australia.

Termite Mounds - a ubiquitous sight in the outback along the Savannah Way in Queensland and the Northern Territory, Australia.

Tiger-striped beehive domed rocks of the Bungle Bungles, nr Picaninny Creek.

Champagne Springs, El Questro (Gibb River Road), Kimberley Region of Western Australia

The Cockburn Range (as featured in the

John, the head stockman of Home Valley Station - a working cattle station on the Gibb River Road, Western Australia, demonstrates breaking-in of a young horse.

Boab tree near the Gibb River Road (Mornington Wilderness Camp access road) - a typically bizarrely-shaped tree which is unique to the Kimberley and featured prominently in the

Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis) feeding chicks in nest. Photo shot in Lamington NP, QLD, Australia

Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis) chick stretching its wings in preparation for fledging. Photo shot in Lamington NP, QLD, Australia

"The impossible wildlife shot". A videographer attempts to video an Eastern Whipbird in Lamington National Park (QLD, Australia) but the bird seems more interested in looking at his camera than posing for it!

Glass House Mountains from Bribie Island, nr Brisbane, Australia