Archive for August, 2008

Well today I leave Broken Hill, and start heading for home. It will be a few days before I get home yet though. I still have quite a few stops planned on the trip. Menindee lakes being the 1st of them. Thats todays destination.

Broken Hill has been great again, apart from the weather. Its 5:45am here at the moment and the sky is clear, so maybe the weather has broken and it will be blue skies from now on.

Some more mumbling from yours truly. The videos are a fair bit behind, due to the fact I have to get them off the phone and do a couple of conversions before I can upload them. I also need a nice solid net connection. This is from Day 3, which is the best part of a week ago.

Day 3, Roadtrip from Todd Norbury on Vimeo.

Well I am glad I decided to go to Bourke on this trip. I had heard alot of negative comments about it, b ut I found it to be a terrific place. Both days I was there I ended up chatting to old blokes by the Darling River. What a treat! The 1st bloke was Rick Hopton, a retired constable. He is still recovering from stomach cancer and isn’t in the best of health, but he is still out there getting about. The second day I was there, I was waiting to go and meet a mate, reading a book at the old wharf, when an old aboriginal bloke wandered past. I said g’day and then he sat down and we had a chat. Tom Vincent was his name. He was blind in one eye and had a buggered leg from a car accident years earlier. His mate Alan Sullivan showed up and they managed to down a bottle of port in about 15 minutes, all the while telling me stories of their past. They had been mates for 40 or 50 years, depending on who you listened to. They were terrific old blokes.

I left Tom and Alan and headed of to meet my mate Duncan. He had gotten permission for us to take photos of the abandoned meatworks in Bourke. It was a fantastic place to look around and take photos of. Dangerous, creepy and full of surprises. I had a ball. We spent a good couple of hours wandering around. Thanks alot Duncan.

Part of the abandoned meat works at Bourke.

Well, I have driven 1800kms, and seen a thing or 2. The videos will have to wait until I either get a stable and fast net connection, or til I get home in a week or so. I have been having a ball. Bourke was everything I expected and more. I left Dubbo nice and early as it was a bit of a drive to get there. I was passing through Narromine when the sun came up.

I wandered around Bourke and saw the old wharf there. I also ran into a character called Rick Hopton. I will put a photo of him up when I have sorted through all the photos.

That afternoon I went out exploring and found this dam/lake.

That was day 1 in Bourke. Stay tuned for a trip to the meat works, a chat with a couple of indigenous Austrlians, and a night out with my mate Duncan.

Wow, what a trip so far. Bourke was terrific, Louth, err, a bit of a let down, Tilpa, I was there 35mins and now I am at Broken Hill. Photos and videos and more Blog entries when I get a better net connection, this one is like dialup!

This afternoon, I went out a wandering around Dubbo. Not a lot was taking my fancy near sunset, so I went over to the train station to see what was there. As I arrived, there was a freight train sitting idling at the station. I thought that if I could catch it taking off, it would make a good time lapse video. I asked one of the guards how long til it took off, he replied about 15 minutes. Ok, time enough for a look around and then grab the tripod out of the car, some warm clothes and time to set up. I was just walking to the car after a few shots around the station when I heard a loud horn. oh oh. I bolted to the car and grabbed the tripod, ran over to the station and quickly set the tripod up. I had just plugged the remote into the camera when the train starting to leave. this was the result.

Dubbo train station. from Todd Norbury on Vimeo.

I am a bit disappointed with the end result. I didnt get a chance to level the tripod or put it where I wanted it on the station. Ah well. Will keep trying.

Today is day 1 of the 2008 roadtrip. A trip that will take me to Bourke, Toorale station, Broken Hill, Ivanhoe and Hay, amongst others. Today I was supposed to drive from home to Crookwell, but when I got to Crookwell, I found there was not alot to see or do, despite the signs on the way into town saying otherwise. I found 1 sign a bit disturbing.

That was enough to convince me to high tail it. I am going to try and video some snippets to put on the interweb for people to have a look at. Todays one is here….

Day 1 of the 2008 Roadtrip. from Todd Norbury on Vimeo.

More next time I get net access.

To the fan that reads this page, I am about to head of into outback NSW for a couple of weeks on a photographic road trip. This is the 3rd annual trip I have done, and something I look forward to immensely. Keep an eye out for some photos on my Flickr page and the odd post in here.