Robert's Ramblings

Well it was more like ‘boo’ than ‘bump’ as this rough rock crab (Nectocarcinus integrifrons) stood its ground.

I am not sure who was more surprised as I swam past a pylon to find this guy, claws reared, and that unmistakable ‘do you want a piece of me!’ look in its eyes.

I am sure I could have taken on the beast if I was feeling belligerent but there would be blood in the water, my blood and I was not looking to invite an even bigger sparring partner this time around.

So I dipped my mask and swam by with a nice wide birth. Perhaps next time.


#Crabs #Nectocarcinusintegrifrons #Critters #Crustaceans #Southaustralia #Scuba #Diving #RapidBay #Jetty #Macro #Nightdive #Ocean #Underwater #Photography

The European Featherduster Worm (Sabella spallanzani) is an unwanted and feral guest in our South Australian waters. For the most part they are quite unattractive, living in silty conditions and lacking the vibrant rich orange fans of its native local cousin.

Anyone who has dived recently in Westlakes waterways would attest to the ugly mess they have made. Here however in the free flowing currents under Rapid Bay jetty they do not seem to have become too prolific and this one almost looks attractive in the night time strobe light.

Still I would rather this guest gone and our native featherduster in its place.


#Scuba #Diving #featherduster #worm #Sabellaspallanzani #feral #RapidBay #Jetty #Macro #Nightdive #Ocean #Underwater #Photography

It has been way too long since I have been diving. What with work, the weather, too cold, too wet, reluctant dive buddies and any other number of reasons it just simply has not happened since July!

Last Thursday night I needed to travel south for non diving reasons and decided that since I was more than half way to one of South Australia’s best jetty dives, Rapid Bay, I’d pack my gear and invite my usual dive buddies for a mid week night dive.

It rained all day along with an unseasonable cold wind blowing from the South. Things were looking grim, … again.

To cut a very long story short I finally got wet again (fresh water first from the rain) and once again found myself amid the familiar pylons of the old Rapid Bay Jetty.

Despite the strong southerly winds this was one of the most gentle dives I’ve experienced here. The visibility was amazing, at least 10 meters, there was no current and the rain created beautiful reflections from the surface above in the torchlight.

Even with the gentle conditions there was not a lot to photograph. My highlight of the evening was a chance encounter with an old friend Doriopsilla carneola who I’ve not seen in more than six years. We exchanged hellos, posed for photographs and then went on our ways.

The moral of this story is there is never really an excuse not to go diving! Even if it means a very, very late night!


#Diving #Doriopsillacarneola #RapidBay #Jetty #Hunting #Macro #Nightdive #Nudibranch #Ocean #Photography #Scuba #Sea #Seaslug #Underwater

Cuttle’s Last Stand

Impressive as his pose may be there is not much fight or life left in this big male cuttlefish.

Countless fights have fought for the reward of an intimate encounter. He’s still in one piece so there is a very good chance his progeny and genetic line will live on. That’s all that matters in the life of the giant cuttlefish who have congregated this winter at Stony Point near Whyalla.

Perhaps he will enter the fray one more time, perhaps he will become prey to some larger predator.

Regardless, this is probably Cuttle’s last stand.

#critters #cuttlefish #diving #giantcuttlefish #marinelife #molluscs #pointlowly #scuba #sepiaapana #southaustralia #stonypoint #sunburst #whyalla #wideangle

Framed by curtains of rain, bathed in sunset gold, the sun peeks below the dark clouds of the receding winter.

Not since I was a child do I remember rain like this season has brought.

As if the curtains of winter were finally drawn back, this weekend was the first in weeks the rain has not taken centre stage making our plans its own.

The rain will be back soon but for now I am enjoying the sunshine of the coming spring.

#Adelaide #sunset #goldenhour #rain #winter #aerial #clouds #southaustralia

As we sat out watching the sun set on the distant Flinders Ranges and bathing the Waukaringa Hotel ruins in amber light, we were not alone.

Along side us, sunbaking on her own piece of ruin, this Bearded Dragon cared not for the visual beauty of the outback, only the last rays of sun keeping her warm.

#beardeddragon #dragon #lizard #outback #Pogonavitticeps #reptile #southaustralia #bush #desert #outback #remote #ruins #travel #waukaringa

Bathing in the emerald green shallows of Stony Point this sealion, belly full of cuttlefish, is probably the most content creature on earth.

To us the Whyalla cuttlefish season is an extraordinary opportunity to swim with, observe, and simply be with one of our most amazing sea critters. To sealions, it’s a gastronomical smorgasbord with one item on the menu.

For now, belly full, I’d wager she is dreaming of more tomorrow.

#sealion #whyalla #stonypoint #aquatic #cuttlefish #dreaming #green #animals #pinnipeds #abstract

Well, more orange perhaps, but plenty of deep deep colour. This was the afterglow of tonight’s beautiful sunset on the Grange beach foreshore.

The inclement stormy weather of the last few weeks has turned our coastal waters into something akin to an insipid mocha. As a scuba diver I’ll just have to wait until water clarity returns.

In the meantime a beautiful evening on Grange beach with a fiery red, or orange sea will do just fine.

#Grange #seascape #sunset #goldenhour #aerial #southaustralia #sea #ocean #twilight

It does not matter if the beach is crowded or you have it all to yourself; all you need do is look out to sea and it you’ll have it all, in solitude, on your own.

#Whyalla #solitude #ocean #seascape #beach #coastline #blackandwhite #monochrome

It looks as if something exploded here in the salty shallows just off Torrens Island

One large mangrove might be to blame or possibly the outcome.

It is curious to note the perimeter of benthic disturbance encircling the entire group.

Perhaps it is indeed the fallout of the large mangrove; wind, waves and tide doing the rest.

#torrensisland #ocean #aerial #water #mangrove #solitary #abstract #patterns #sea #ocean

A beautiful pelican glides into view as I watch from the tranquil river bank. How strange it seems to me, this green brown waterway so far from the ocean.

In the river’s reflection I see another creature, a creature of dry, arid places. A desert dweller lurks here too in the most incongruous of realms; somewhere between reflection and imagination.

I am missing my ocean but the pelican is happy here in the backwaters of the River Murray; as long as he or she does not see the lurking scorpion.

#pelican #river #murray #loxton #katarapko #tranquil #waterfowl #birds #scorpion #reflection #water #animals #nature #southaustralia

I often come here on the way home from my day occupation. Perhaps not so often in these short winter days when I seem to leave and return during the in-between light of twilight.

The little tidal creeks of Torrens Island in the last rays of sunset always make be feel like I have stepped into another world altogether.

The colours, rich and vibrant. The texture, almost tactile. The azure rivulets drawing attention to the rising tide which feeds them. The entire landscape, so natural and detached from the world I usually inhabit.

This little haven, Torrens Island, one of suburban Adelaide’s hidden treasures, is I place I can completely escape to, if only for a little while.

#abstract #aerial #barkerinlet #bog #landscape #life #mangroves #marshes #salt-marsh #sunset #torrensisland #goldenhour #creek

What Australian artist would be so bold as to use his very own Rolls Royce as the canvas for images of the mines of Broken Hill?

There was no airbrush or spray booth used here. Just a talented artist and his brush.

Thank you for the sacrilege Pro Hart,
… we miss you.

#prohart #rollsroyce #canvas #brokenhill #paintjob #abstract #automobile #newsouthwales

He’s on the hunt for a breeding mate.

Iridescent waves of chromatophore colour ripple from head to tail.
Tenticles outstretch ready to caress or to fight.

He’s beautiful and he knows it and nothing will stop him from getting what he wants,
… except perhaps the hundreds of other males around him with the same intent.

He probably will get what he wants but it will cost him.

If he is still alive by the end of the cuttlefish breeding season he’ll be left a ragged spectre of his former glorious self,

… but happy.

#cephalapod #critters #cuttlefish #diving #giantcuttlefish #marinelife #molluscs #pointlowly #scuba #sepiaapana #southaustralia #stonypoint #sunburst #whyalla #wideangle

Chronological Abstraction

At a glance I could easily imagine some old civic timepiece adorning the municipal building of some sleepy Austrian village, a little after 9am on a chilly but sunny winter morning.

How easy it is to imagine seeing something completely different when presented with an inaccessible perspective. In this view, the Point Lowly Lighthouse, an iconic landmark of the Whyalla region, is transformed into something abstract letting me imagine what I will.

However it is done, a macro image of some everyday object or an aerial view of an iconic landmark, an abstracted perspective of something I know I should recognise but don’t, frees me from what is, letting my imagination create what might be.

… breakfast at 10am anyone?

#aerialdrone #lighthouse #pointlowly #southaustralia #travel #whyalla #abstract #clock

At first I thought two males were simply facing off but on closer inspection the plot thickened.

First I noticed a diminutive female beneath one male, now thinking he defended his claim. Then I realised a second female lay protected beneath the second male. So it was clear now that both males had their prize mates.

In the distance, on all flanks, challenging suitors lurked patiently waiting their chance.

At last the scene beneath my cuttlefish eye made perfect sense.

#cephalapod #critters #cuttlefish #diving #giantcuttlefish #marinelife #molluscs #pointlowly #scuba #sepiaapana #southaustralia #stonypoint #whyalla #wideangle #fisheye

Just another moon? Perhaps…

It’s the same one I’ve seen in the sky countless nights and in countless phases. So why is it that when I glance up into the night sky, perhaps for the ten thousandth time, the moon still takes my breath away?

A wonderful question I’ll leave for other minds to ponder.

There is nothing special about this image. It’s identical to thousands like it. What’s special is that this waxing gibbous phase is my favourite moon.

Waxing, growing, becoming; Textured, visceral, visually tactile; Gibbous, solid, substantive with a promise of immanent completion...

These are just some of the reasons why this moon, a few days from full, is absolutely my favourite moon.

#astrophotography #celestial #moon #lunar #waxing #gibbous #moonphase

What an odd shaped blue swimmer crab I thought as it raised it claws to frighten me away.

It was not until we met at eye level did the source of the odd symmetry become apparent.

I quickly took my photo and then sheepishly backed away hoping to preserve some modesty. After all who wants to be photographed in this position?

Still, I kept the photo!

#blueswimmer #blueys #crab #critters #crustacean #diving #jetty #edithburgh #portunusarmatus #scuba #underwater #mating #mirror

Alien Encounter

If scuba diving is a privileged opportunity to experience critters hidden from our world then scuba diving at night takes it into a different, almost alien, world altogether.

Strange creatures come out from their secret nooks to search and hunt for prey. Sea lice and phytoplankton swarm dive lights like insects to headlights. Strange creaks, crackles and the odd indescribable sound fills the inky blackness while our lights illuminates just the tiniest bit of our surrounds.

Diving at night requires giving in to certainty and comfort in exchange for the unkown, the unexpected and alien encounters.

This southern calamari (Sepioteuthis australis) under Edithburgh Jetty on a recent dive was just such and encounter.

#animals #chromataphores #creatures #scuba #diving,juvenile #night #ocean #edithburgh #sea #critters #Sepioteuthisaustralis #squid #underwater #cephlapods #southaustralia

This seagull’s view of Point Lowly holds three of the Whyalla area’s oldest buildings, the heritage listed lighthouse and the two lighthouse keepers’ cottages.

Completed in 1883, the Point Lowly assisted maritime operations for the next 90 years. Today it’s maintained operational as a tourist attraction and the cottages can be rented for holiday accommodation.

#lighthouse #landscape #travel #pointlowly #southaustralia #whyalla #wideangle #aerial #drone

Some may think that the eagle ray is one of the uglier cousins of the ray family but I love them as one of my favourites.

Yes, that snubby nose and mottled skin make it just a little bit ‘bulldog crossed with dalmation’, but I think that they give this ray a unique character all its own.

It is however when eagle rays are swimming that their elegant beauty truly stands out. Their long birdlike wings and slender wipe-like tail are mesmerising in flight and take my breath away every time I see them.

I came here to Point Lowley to see the giant cuttlefish but am so glad this eagle has landed here.

#critters #stingray #diving #eagleray #marinelife #rays #pointlowly #scuba #southaustralia #stonypoint #whyalla #wideangle

Last weekend we made a trip to Whyalla on South Australia’s Spencer Gulf to frolic in the wintry ocean with our Giant Cuttlefish for their seasonal breeding congregation.

This year I was delighted with the numbers, as hundred and hundreds of mating crazed cuttlefish could be found along the shallow coastline west from Port Lowley.

As I have written before, this place is a rare treat for non-divers too with just snorkelling gear needed to completely experience the spectacle. There were in fact some places so shallow you could have stood with a pair of waders and a glass bottomed bucket and still got a good sense of the cuttlefish carry-on.

We got to share this experience with a couple of our dearest friends as well as hopefully making new ones, both human and cephalapod!

The Whyalla cuttlefish yet again remind me why I love South Australian diving.

#critters #cuttlefish #diving #giantcuttlefish #marinelife #molluscs #pointlowly #scuba #sepiaapana #southaustralia #stonypoint #sunburst #whyalla #wideangle #cephalapod

Look at the rainbow behind us Jennifer exclaimed; looking away from the beautiful sunset over Hummocks Range west of Lake Bumbunga near Lochiel.

We both agreed we’d never seen a rainbow like it before. It was if a painter had taken to the sky creating wispy downward brush strokes of colour.

It’s raining a rainbow I sighed as we watched this extraordinary play of colour and rain paint the ground below a brilliant gold.

For a time we looked back and forth from rainbow to sunset until eventually the colours faded and the gold turn to the grey blue of twilight.

It rained a rainbow this evening.

#rainbow #lochiel #hummocksrange #sunset #goldenhour #lakebumbunga #landscape #panorama #aerial #drone #southaustralia

Here anchored in the calm shallows of Sultana Bay, ‘Miros’ epitomises how to do a socially distant holiday.

We are so very lucky here in South Australia with relative freedom to move about and enjoy life with only minor inconvenience.

Still, if we find ourselves in lock-down again I wouldn’t mind being all-at-sea in such a beautiful boat!

#Ocean #sailing #yacht #edithburgh #boats #travel #sea #aerial #saltanabay #isolation #miros

Diving in South Australia would not be the same if every dive was not frequented by old wives!

An odd name for these attractive fish but as I am told their name comes from the way they behave when caught by fishers and the way they carry on when landed.

I am happy to see them down here where they belong. Not so desperate at all.

#Oldwives #rapidbay #jetty #scuba #diving #southaustralia #underwater #fish #marine

I offer no apologies for an obviously tourist snapshot! The boldness of this outback town’s welcome sign is nothing short of ostentatious and I simply had to capture it (along with every other visitor to Silverton)!

This humble little town in the middle of the Australian outback is the birthplace of our largest and most powerful company outside of the banking industry. Even on the world stage, BHP ranks in the top 100 companies (depending on your criteria).

Despite its auspicious heritage, Silverton's notoriety has very little to do with its mining giant offspring. It is the movie industry that brought the current Silverton into the public eye with Mel Gibson and ‘Mad Max II’, a.k.a. ‘The Road Warrior’ as the movie was renamed for international release. Since then Silverton has played host to many other Australian and international productions.

Silverton is a quirky place with fascinating local characters and perhaps is all the more interesting, not because of it being the birthplace of BHP but because of its moments in the show business limelight.

#bhp #silverton #newsouthwales #outback #madmax #roadwarrior #tourism #australia #silver #lead #mining

It’s not rained here for more than three weeks now and it’s starting to show.

The wetlands north of Adelaide are becoming more and more like salty badlands every day.
Marches have turn to mud and cracked like a patchwork of crazy paving.

Time to pray for rain.

#parched #arid #dry #texture #patterns #cracked #outerharbour

Mining is tough. Mining in arid outback Australia even tougher. Imagine your self back in the late 1800s, armed with a pick, a shovel and a wheel barrow and working a 12 hour hard labour day.

If you’re still determined to endure such hardship then throw in breathing silicate dust all day and having your lungs turned painfully into mush in the span of only a few years.

How did those old timers do it? How did they cope with the work, the hardship and the excruciating pain of slowly dying from disintegrating lungs? Even today there are still clues if you go hunting.

This innocent little flower can be found growing in amongst the stones of long abandoned outback mining towns. The opium poppy was grown and used by the old timers and its use systemic. Perhaps it was such an important part of mining life that without it early Australian mining pioneers would never have kept the manpower they needed to forge their then fledgling industry.

I am so grateful to live in a place and time where the gift of the opium poppy is simply its beauty.

#poppy #opium #mining #flowers #outback #desert #southaustralia #Papaversomniferum

When I first lay eyes this extraordinary creation by Australian artist Grant Donaldson I just starred and starred and stared.

I was lost for a time in glorious swirls of light and colour and imagined ghostly entities playing trixy with my my senses.

Is the genie long gone or perhaps still lingering; delighting in its seductive play.

Regardless, I love it!

#art #barossavalley #bottles #craft #grantdonaldson #glassblowing #glassware #gordonstudio #Jamfactory #seppeltsfield

Spend a little time at Outer Harbour watching the container ships being unloaded and you realise our huge reliance on trade and shipping.

For the most part this great machine goes unnoticed. The ships often seen as silhouette curiosities as they move up and down our gulf far from shore don’t really convey their importance. The freight port of Outer Harbour is sufficiently removed from the rest of suburban Adelaide to be simply something most here are only vaguely aware of.

Next time you see a large silhouette far out at sea, or shipping container on a truck as you drive pass, spend a moment to appreciate what they do for our lives.

#shipping #ships #goldenhour #ocean #sunset #aerial #sectionbank #outerharbour #mycommute