RED Alert #4 - Adventure Before Dementia goes WEST!

WARNING: My RED Alert #4 guest has photos that'll make you turn GREEN! Don't believe me? Well … read on and see if I'm right!!

Diane's wonderful 'Adventure Before Dementia' blog has MANY great shots – but I was particularly interested in her RED photos from places in Western Australia (WA) and South Australia (SA) I've yet to see!

Pindan Country, Gantheaume Point, Kimberleys, Western Australia

RED: Diane, welcome and thank you for being my 4^th RED Alert victim visitor! I'm SO jealous of these magnificent shots – are the rocks really that red?

Diane's mates at Gantheaume Point, Kimberleys, Western Australia

Diane: The rocks and earth in this area are extremely red! It is called Pindan Country, from the local language. The red is accentuated against the pearlescent aquamarine water, but I must confess I did hit the ‘enhance’ button on my iphoto program!

RED: Haha, I know I could do with a bit of enhancement! Does ALL the west coast look this good?

Diane: Pindan Country is restricted to the south west of the Kimberly Coast. However, all the beaches that I saw near Fremantle and south to the southern tip of WA all have this beautiful coloured water.

RED: It looks amazing. Were you on a tour?

Diane: We were on a 4WD bus tour from Broome to Darwin. There were 8 of us friends from Brisbane on board with another 16 poor souls who had to put up with us senior larrikins.

RED: Haha! I'm sure they appreciated the entertainment!! Is this area as remote as it looks?

RED Rocks at Gantheaume Point, Kimberleys, Western Australia

Diane: This part of the Kimberley Coast – Gantheaume Point – sticks out into the Indian Ocean only 6 km south of Broome.

RED: HHHMMMmmm... I could be there by tomorrow afternoon … Sorry, just fantasizing!! I know the Kimberley region (northwest WA) is HUGE, but what's your best Kimberley memory?

Diane: Too hard, too hard. It took us 15 days to travel across the Kimberley only stopping one or two nights in each exciting place. It is like nothing else in Australia.

RED: So everyone keeps telling me!

Diane: Sometimes you even think you could be on another planet the rock formations are so different, especially in the Bungle Bungles (Purnululu National Park). We flew over the Bungle Bungle Range in a helicopter and that was one of the best memories, but I also walked into them and that was like being in a magical world.

Super Pit, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

RED: I look forward to seeing it for myself! This hole in the ground looks massive – AND RED! Where is it?

Diane: The 'Super Pit' is in the town of Kalgoorlie in the middle of the desert in the middle of WA a LONG way south of the Kimberley.

RED: The distances are SO great in WA, aren't they? How big is the pit?

Diane: 3.6km (2.2m) long, 1.6km (1m) wide and 512m (1,680 ft) deep. Can you see the little trucks in the bottom of the pit?

RED: Yes, they look like insects!

Diane: They are actually huge mining trucks. It takes them 45 minutes to drive the round trip from the top to the bottom.

RED: Not a bad day at the office, huh?! What's the pit for?

Diane: Since the 1893 gold rush, gold and nickel have been mined here. The concentrated area of gold mines is known as the 'Golden Mile' – the richest square mile of earth on the planet!

RED: If only some of that would rub off …

Diane: Recently a number of the underground mines were bought and the Super Pit made.

Lookout, Coolgardie, Western Australia

RED: Another item for my 'must see' list! The view from this lookout is quite different to the Super Pit. What's at Coolgardie?

Diane: It was a gold mining town from 1892 to 1963, now it is a historical tourist town. The buildings are beautifully preserved and the museum is a must. This town reeks of gold mining history and opens ones eyes into the harsh life they lived in those days. They also make a super sandwich at the Gold Rush Motel!

RED: So, no bakery then? Only kidding! Is it as remote as it appears in your photo?

Diane: It's a few hundred km from Kalgoorlie but both sit on the edge of the Nullarbor Plain, a huge expanse of desert stretching across the southern interior of Oz. It sure is remote.

RED: Is Coolgardie the home of the Coolgardie safe?

Diane: Yes! One challenge for prospectors was how to extend the life of their perishables. So the low-tech refrigerator was invented by A.P. McCormick in the 1890’s. He used the same principle as canvas water bags, which were adapted from the way aborigines carried water in skins.

Salt Pan with water at Lake LeFroy, Western Australia

RED: Aussie ingenuity strikes again! But here you've got RED AND White! We know the white can't be snow – so what is it?

Diane: Salt! Lake Lefroy is a salt pan so we were lucky to see it with water. It is 510 m² and used by land sailors from all over the world.

RED: That'd be cool to watch! What made you choose to visit Lake Lefroy?

Diane: That’s easy, I didn’t, the company organising the 'Western Wildflower Wonderland Tour' did! That is one advantage of a tour company – they know the good places and you don’t have to do the research.

RED Road, Western Australia

RED: Do you ever get tired of seeing the endless WA REDS?

Diane: I was astounded at how much RED is in WA. The soil, rocks roads and just everywhere. It is beautiful but I wouldn’t like to clean it out of my house everyday.

RED: I SO get that – cleaning house isn't one of my strengths either!! As a contrast, let's slip into South Australia for a moment – how is SA's Lake Eyre different to WA's Lake Lefroy?

Diane: They are both salt lakes but Lake Eyre is much bigger. Its water has RED patches caused by a bacteria. It was amazing to see.

Lake Eyre from the Air! South Australia

RED: I LOVE that photo!! Are you a 'nervous flier' like me?

Diane: I used to be nervous but not as I’ve got older. Experiences I’ve had and seen from small planes over the mountains in Papua New Guinea, over the Swiss Alps and Alaskan glaciers; and in a helicopter into the Grand Canyon make me forget any fear and I just soak up the beauty of the world.

RED:  Is it hard to get good aerial shots?

Lake Eyre surrounding countryside, South Australia

Diane: Extremely difficult! First you have to dive for a window seat not obstructed by the wing. Then you have to deal with reflections on the glass, which isn’t really glass and causes a discolouration. Besides all that you have the vibration shaking the camera and when you use a telephoto lens every little vibration causes blur. Bla bla bla – kick me off my soap box. All in all if you get one good shot you are lucky!

RED: Well, you did it with these great shots of Lake Eyre and the surrounding countryside! Especially in a plane like the one below – my worst nightmare!! Where did it take you?

Diane: The Lake Eyre tour included a flight over the lake then we flew north to Cowarie Station, one of Australia's biggest cattle stations – as big as a small country. It's in central Oz where 3 deserts – Simpson, Tirari and Sturt – meet.

Cowarie Station, South Australia

RED: Could you live in a place like this?

Diane: NO! NO! NO! I would not like to live there, but I sure do admire those who do; like the station owner and the ranger, both women.

RED: They must think us 'fair weather' tourists are such big girls! This sky is magnificent. Is it a sunset or sunrise?

Diane: This sunset was taken from my neighbour’s deck in Daisy Hill, Logan City, QLD. We get these skies mainly in September/Spring.

Brisbane Sunset

RED: So you made it safely back home then! You’ve travelled extensively in Australia and overseas. What’s the best thing about travel in Australia?

Diane: I know the language and money! But most of all the countryside is so unique.

RED: Do you have a favourite destination?

Diane: The Kimberley!

RED: What's good about travel overseas?

Diane: Experiencing different cultures and landscapes and the ancient history of other countries compared to our young country.

RED: And a favourite overseas destination?

Diane: The River cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest.

RED: Do other countries you’ve visited have as much RED as Australia?

Diane: I have never seen RED anywhere like in Australia ... but I haven’t travelled in Africa yet.

RED: Looks like there's plenty there if RED Alert #1 is anything to go by!! Is blogging a big part of your life?

Diane: I have been blogging for several years. I like reading travel blogs, photoblogs and humorous blogs. I also like Journal type blogs and life stories and I sometimes get travel ideas from other blogs.

RED: What's your biggest blogging turnoff?

Diane: I’m not very interested in Political or religious blogs or blogs with loads and loads of writing and no photos.

RED: Note to self – cut down on the writing and hope Diane hasn't noticed … Do you have any final RED words of wisdom for my readers?

Diane: Thank you so much for having me as a guest on RED Alert and, by the way we have two RED cars!

Thank you Diane!

So was I right? Are you GREEN?? Don't forget to go visit Diane over at Adventure Before Dementia to see where else she's been! AND ... watch out for the FAAAABULOUS Scenic Public Toilet pic Diane sent me - SO great, it deserves its own post!

Got some RED pictures from your corner of the world? Then YOU could be my next RED Alert guest! Email me through my profile and we'll talk! It's painless – just ask my RED Alert guests:

• Jim in RED Alert #1;
• Annabel in RED Alert #2; and
• Riet in RED Alert #3!

Finished this post and wanting MORE RED?  Well ... just head on over to Ruby Tuesday 2  and get your fill ...