Sunday 23 September 2012

Kendall and Swans Crossing

WARNING This article contains images that viewers SHOULD find disturbing.

 
Sunday morning and I decided to drive out to Kendall (just west of Kew NSW) to capture some early morning images.
It was a foggy Spring morning and my first stop was for a goods train at the Kendall level crossing.
After the train passed, I grabbed this shot of the railway bridge that crosses the Camden Haven River.
A little further out of town the fog was thick. I came across a paddock of dairy cows, most likely already milked and resting. I thought I would drive to Swans Crossing, a popular location for picnicking and camping.
Arriving at Swans Crossing the entrance had been closed by State Forests. Parking my vehicle, I noticed the site looked like it had been cleared for a major housing development. I had seen similar sites last week, but nothing on the scale of this current activity.
I decided to have a closer look, besides the walk would be good for my health I thought.
Some time later I arrived at the camping area adjacent to the main creek. My exhausted thoughts were that visitors are not going to appreciate the new look of their much loved, local recreational facility.
I walked a steep slope for a better view of the extent of clearing.
I returned to my vehicle and looked at the once pristine creek. I wondered how it would cope in heavy rainfall.
I drove to higher ground for another view of the recent clearing. I could not help but consider global warming and the potential catastrophe we are leaving behind for our grandchildren. My question was how does this type of clearing contribute to global warming and climate change. My neighbours on the coast, facing sea level rises and erosion, would certainly be questioning activities like this by our State Government. 
The clearing continued uphill, in the background was a previously harvested forest with an understory of Lantana. I have been told that the associated new ecology created by Lantana can create die back in Eucalyptus Forests, something to do with the Bell Minor Bird and Insects.
Looking back towards Swans Crossing the scale of clearing was becoming a little clearer. I cannot imagine what the reaction of regular visitors will be, I'm sure I had been told this area was also Koala Habitat. I had seen 3 eagles flying and calling over the site perhaps looking for their nests, who knows it is breeding season!
Over the last couple of years I have followed many of these forestry trails. This type of clearing is becoming a lot more obvious, with exotic weeds taking over previous forest land.
I lost sight of where I had come from but at another high vantage point I could see either the same clearing or possibly another.
A solitary tree on another cleared area frames the distant view from the previous image.
Another area of recently cleared forest on the way back out.
This gentleman waved me down, as he and his party including children, were looking for Swans Crossing. He had already been and seen the closed signs and thought he was in the wrong location. After driving all the way from the Central Coast, with friends following later in the day, he was going to turn around and head back to another location at Gloucester, about two hours south. He was not happy!
Anyhow I thought I would finish off the images with a three photo stitch panorama. It could have quite easily been 10 images to get the full scale of the impacted area. A Postcard from Swans Crossing.

My SLR Camera tip for today is - When considering the purchase of a tripod, look for a fluid head model for smooth panning, and essential for filming.

Fair Dinkum!!

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