My Big Backyard
A VISUAL DOCUMENTARY
This project is about an amazing LANDSCAPE and my relationship with it.
I live on a 307-acre property in Northeast Victoria, Australia. While some of the land was cleared many decades ago for sheep grazing, most of the property is still natural bushland. This is what I call my ‘Big Backyard’. It’s breathtakingly beautiful and welcoming. It’s also harsh, wild and inhospitable. It’s my ‘Happy Place’ where I go to be alone and ‘recharge my batteries’.
The images featured here come from digital cameras, phones, trail cams and action cams. They’re not meant to be especially pretty or arty (although some hopefully will be), nor do they need to be technically good.
While some of these images will be available for sale as prints through my online store, the majority will not be.
I am privileged and grateful to live in this wild space. It’s also my privilege to share it with you here.
The views are stunning and give the whole property a special feel. The brown 'weed' is St. John's Wort, a medicinal herb.
There are a lot of grey kangaroos on the property. They feed on the grass in cleared areas on top of the hill from dusk until dawn, then disappear into the bush during the day.
Black wallaby at sunset
Unlike the Grey Kangaroos, the Black Wallabies are generally found alone. This one looks quite old. It's not uncommon for an older one like this to be blind.
I got too close to this one
We get some fantastic sunrise/sunsets from up on top of the hill.
There are a lot of these long-dead trees ready to be photographed.
'The Land' has been a special part of our family for about 30 years.
Marisa and I had our wedding here (it was also a 3 day mini music festival). Here, guests are waiting for the bride to arrive.
Also waiting for the bride to arrive.
The back paddock made a nice backdrop for the wedding ceremony.
The property is also home to a flock of Wiltshire Horn Sheep.
My father Bruce (who we sadly lost in Feb '24) feeding his 'girls'.
The farm has featured in the 'kids' yearly Christmas photo more than once.
Echidna. We don't see them too often, but they're around.
There have been a few generations of Alpaca raised on the property.
The main dam.
There have been many lambs born and raised here.
Mum and baby at the dam.
Wattle by the dam in bloom. Sadly, this tree has since died.
We've had a number of Rams on the farm over the years. This one liked a scratch.
When walking through the natural bushland on the farm there are picturesque views framed by rocks and trees everywhere you go.
There are too many Granite outcrops to count. After 30 years I'm still coming across ones I haven't seen before each time I go walking through the bush.
Being nearly surrounded by views like this helps make the property the special place that it is.
Grey kangaroos feeding. The brown weed is St.John's Wort.
The Roos don't let you get too close.
This is approximately the middle of the property. While you'd think this'd be the perfect spot for a house, it's very exposed and can get very windy.
Mt.Buffalo in the distance.
The old granitic soil in this region turns to 'pea soup' once the water table rises following long wet periods. This pic was taken just 2 weeks after getting the tractor.
Natural features like this just make me shake my head in amazement.
Me digging a footings trench with a jackhammer for the machinery shed.
Near the start of the gully. Every now and then, when the grass is low and green and there aren't as many snakes about, I'll take some time out to 'go bush'.
Cheers!
Where the gully starts to get much steeper. There are a few wombat holes amongst the huge granite boulders.
My wife Marisa on a retreat by herself for a week near the gully.
goanna
New life...x2
kindergarten play time
peaceful place
Grey Kangaroo. Taken with a phone looking through binoculars.
This old gum tree is amazing, but it's dropped a lot of branches over the years.
small grove of young trees amongst some granite boulders
Shadow's falling on granite makes an interesting subject
This gum tree growing out of the crack in the large granite boulder is one of the amazing 'must see' spots on the property.
The skull of one of our old rams
granite sisters?
A young kurrajong tree on the back hill. These are my favourite trees on the property.
looking out to Mt.Buffalo
Old Massey Furguson 148. In the foreground is a much older spoked wheel from a horse drawn cart my grandfather used on his dairy farm in the 40's.
Mt.Buffalo in the distance
Mullein (a medicinal herb) is one of our exotic weeds.
Mullein towering over St,John's Wort.
This grove of young native cypress pines growing amongst granite creates an eery landscape.
