Tag: sunset

Gantheaume Point …

… is a popular place to watch the sun set over the Indian Ocean. Yesterday was unusually cloudy. A crowd had gathered at Gantheaume Point but it was clear that the spectacle was not going to be up to its usual standard. The sun was visible with fifteen minutes to go but it sank into cloud before it reached the horizon. And the crowd melted away.

Four people and a dog stuck it out to see if the sky would catch. We were rewarded about 25 minutes after sunset.

The Point was named by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin (whose own name is appended to one of our cockatoos) in honour of Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume, a notable French admiral and friend of Napolean.

Buloke …

I’ve known this tree for about 30 years. It hasn’t changed a bit, half dead when I first saw it, half dead today.

Allocasuarina luehmannii has a broad distribution in the drier parts of southern and eastern Australia often on sandy soils. In Victoria the most fertile part of its range has largely been cleared for wheat growing. So there are far fewer than there used to be.

It is a hard wood. In fact, according to the not always reliable Wikipedia, it has the hardest wood in the world. Black Cockatoos are fond of it, they eat the seeds.

This particular tree sits nicely against the sky. I have photographed it often. This time at sunset.