To the Pilbara and back again….

This is a little “mud” – map of our travels around part of Western Australia.

The red lettering on the right side really is written with mud –  red dirt – from a puddle on our campsite – genuine Pilbara red ochre!

The below sketches are from various bays in the Ningaloo Marine Park – Turquoise Bay and Oyster Stacks which we snorkeled in, saw lots of fish (fishing is banned throughout most of the park), turtles, clams….lots of coral and shells.

Have you ever seen a starfish this blue? I had to include the photo to prove its amazing cobalt blue colour……we all thought it was a toy plastic starfish at first….but no it was real and alive and we saw several more when out snorkelling!

The below pictures are looking up to the top of Circular Pool in Karijini gorge, there is a white gum tree clinging on to the very top edge of the red rocks. This painting is an example of why sketching on location produces a much better record of a place than a photo….the contrast of light was too great for my camera (Canon G16) to handle (and I suspect most cameras) even after adjusting the aperture, neutral density filter, ISO, Speed etc. Most of my photos are very under or over exposed because of the extreme contrasts. But sketching on site you can observe the real colours and your eyes compensate for the bright sunny sky and the dark shadows from the tall cliffs….sketching from a photo just wouldn’t be the same.