A Photographic Journal at Mount Cotton Rainforest Gardens
Wednesday, July 4th, 2007I am enjoying three weeks holiday at the moment and I have had the chance to get out and about as an artist and photographer for awhile. I visited a local ’spot’ that I had read about which is about a ten minute drive from my house. This place is beautiful and is off the beaten track in the Redlands area of Brisbane. This place has been featured on TV and in magazines so I thought I had better go and check it out!
Now, I have to explain at this point that I am an art teacher who spends most of her time with her students in her art room and this is my first time in about a decade since I have gone out on a “photo shoot” so I was feeling a bit apprehensive about taking photos in a public place especially as I am still learning the “art of photography”. Pushing my fears aside, I packed my camera gear including lenses, tripod and a freshly recharged battery, sketch book, pens, nibblies and drink, cash, etc and set off on my photographic journey….
When I arrived, there were very few people around which was good and as I was taking all of my photographic equipment out from the boot of my car, I thought that there must be an easier way of carrying all this gear - the dear old tripod for instance, is a necessary evil but does not make for easy trekking through bushland!
Reception area and creek with old farmland machinery
This is what I saw once I stepped into this beautiful oasis … a garden area by a lily pond and covered multifunction area for Wedding receptions, concerts, guest speakers etc.
As I started to wander through this “nature’s paradise” my first thoughts were “what a spectacular setting to get married in”. If my husband and I could do it all over again this is definitely where it would be. Throughout my wanderings I could hear a cacophony of bird and nature sounds which is a sign that I was a guest in a very special wildlife habitat.
This place is enchanting and very special and as the day progressed I got more confident with my photography to the point where the surroundings took over and other people were incidental.
Here are a couple my favourite photos which I took:
I was getting hungry and decided to have a break for a short while - this was my view from where I sat on a wooden seat, sipping my milkshake and munching my cookies.
Feeling recharged after lunch I retraced my steps to where I had seen some interesting flowers but I got sidetracked and saw the most amazing animals I have ever come across, grazing in a neighbouring paddock. I had seen these animals when I first arrived but they were over the far side and I thought that they were horses. They had obviously decided to try the grass at the other side and luck was on my side as I quickly swapped lenses to capture these gorgeous animals.
Alpacas
I have never seen alpacas in the flesh and at first they struck me as looking like camels, only smaller and cuter. There were two white and one brown one in the field. They were surrounded by a wire fence but allowed me to get very close with my camera and did not seem phased, infact, the brown alpaca was a real ’show off’ and he just “knew” that he was being photographed and did the whole head tilt thing and every time my camera focus noise beeped, he would adopt a new pose. I totally fell in love with him and I want an alpaca in our back yard - boy do they munch grass big time and huge mouthfuls at a time are devoured. You just never know what wildlife you will encounter and this was a magnificent bonus. I have one more surprise left though …
I was feeling very weary from all my photographic encounters and after taking a few more shots of flowers on my way out, I decided to head off home. On my way down I caught site of an animal moving in a property on the left-hand side and pulled over to get a closer look. Facing me in the distance was a red-necked wallaby. I grabbed my camera and tried to get as close to him as I could but it was private property. I took a few steps closer and he was perfectly still, looking straight at me so I grabbed a few shots and then he bounded off - this photo is not very good quality but it was the perfect ending to a fabulous day.
Red-necked wallaby
http://www.rainforestgardens.com.au/
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
Leave a Reply
