The Gladys-Lap
Along with just about every other human on the face of this planet, for us 2020/21 saw the cancellation of many things. Trips, festivals, simple family plans. With the promise of government mandated lockdowns and restrictions due to lift towards the end of November 2021, we decided to plan a NSW based travel and photographic expedition that couldn’t be cancelled. With no planned border crossings possibly throwing things into disarray - again - we booked a camper van for 2 weeks and began preparing.
We strategised locations and photo shoots, dropping many places from our ever increasing list to get the most out of those locations high on the agenda, and meticulously devised menus and drink supplies based on the variable conditions along our planned route.
It was to be a big, anti-clockwise loop. A Gladys-Lap as it became known, leaving Sydney westward for Dubbo. From there, Cobar, Broken Hill, and Menindee would take us further west. Turning south we would spend some time in Mildura and Mungo National Park before heading east through Hay, Wagga, and onto Tumut. Some time free ranging in the Kosciusko National Park would turn us south again before cutting through to Eden on the far NSW south coast. Northbound, we planned a very loose leg through Bermagui and Jervis Bay before returning home.
With November rapidly approaching, and the threat of a La Nina indicating a wet start to summer, we finally finalised our route - bookending the trip with extra days - and reserved a combination of caravan parks, farm stay accommodation and National Park campgrounds along the way. Lastly, we cross checked our camera equipment:
- Nikon D5600 DSLR - 11-16mm Tokina f1.8
- 18-200 Nikon f2.8 - 70-300mm Nikon f5.6
- 50mm Nikon f1.4 (NIFTY FIFTY) - 105mm Nikon f1.8
- Tamron 150-600mm (MOON BAZOOKA) - DJI Mavic Pro (DEREK)
- DJI Osmo Pocket (GIZMO) - GoPro Hero Black 8
- iPhone 12 - Innorel Geared Head Carbon Fibre tripod
- Neewer 77 inch Ball Head Tripod - $9 Amazon Chinese Piece of Shit Selfie Stick
Departing Sydney, the recent rains followed us across the mountains to Lithgow. Having little concern, we pushed across the ranges with gusto with plans to spend our first night in Dubbo on the banks of the Talbargar River. Feeling adventurous, we took the picturesque back roads from Orange out through Wellington, but the persistent rains had flooded the river on arrival into Dubbo putting the kibosh on our original idea and forcing us to make camp on higher ground.
No sunsets or sunrises today, but crikey it was good to get out of Sydney.
Fat Pap & the Wine Wench
Peter Lee & Lyndall Dalley. Friends who share a love of photography, travel, food and of course grog.
One is a Garbo, the other an Environmental Scientist. Through the lens, each sees the world differently.
Together, they always agree on its beauty.