Art work at Laratinga Wetlands
No Comments »16th August, 2015; Category: Adelaide, Adelaide Hills, Art Galleries, Mt Lofty Ranges, Parks and Gardens, South Australia
Art work at Laratinga Wetlands
On a recent visit to the Laratinga Wetlands in Mt Barker I was intrigued to see four very large pieces of art work on display in the picnic grounds. This was the first time I had seen these paintings. By large I estimate that they are about 3m x 1m in size. Both their size and subject matter make an immediate impact on the viewer.
The Laratinga Wetlands are a series of about a dozen ponds on the eastern edge of Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. They about a half hour drive from the Adelaide CBD and a similar distance from my home. The wetlands make up the purification plant for the local sewage works, the clean water being recycled for watering and irrigation in local parks and farms.
I can find no reference online to the history of these works. If any of my readers can shed a light on this art installation, please leave your information in the comments, or use the contact form and send me an email.
I would appreciate some help.
In fact, I would dearly love my readers to add comments to this post, and other posts on this site. There is a wealth of information scattered throughout this site and it can be access via the archives or the links on the side bar.
Art work at Laratinga Wetlands
Art work at Laratinga Wetlands
Art work at Laratinga Wetlands
Laratinga Wetlands Mt Barker South Australia
Laratinga Wetlands Mt Barker South Australia
Just over a half hour drive from home is a place I like to visit but don’t get to as often as I would like. The Laratinga Wetlands in Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills section of the Mt Lofty Ranges is a mecca for local and interstate birders. The wetlands consist of about a dozen ponds which make up the sewage works of the nearby town.
By the time the water reaches the final ponds it is purified enough to be used on nearby farms as irrigation water. In the meantime, the various ponds play host to a wide range of water-birds including ducks, ibis, herons, egrets, grebes, cormorants, dotterels, plovers, swamphens, coots and moorhens.
Purple Swamphen
The area around the ponds and the entrance paths have been wonderfully landscaped, with lawns, shelter sheds – it rains frequently in Mt Barker – barbecues and public toilets. Around the ponds and picnic area many trees, bushes and smaller plants which add the great environment which attracts many bush birds, including parrots, cockatoos, lorikeets, honeyeaters, finches, pigeons, doves and swallows.
You can see more photos of the birds seen here on my other site Trevor’s Birding.
Further reading:
Galah
Grey Teal
Laratinga Wetlands on a cold misty winter’s morning
Col Du Zad in the Atlas Mountains
Col Du Zad, Atlas Mountains
As we drove through and over the Atlas Mountains in Morocco we went through some amazing gorges and also over some very high passes. One of them was theCol Du Zad shown in today’s photos. At 2178 metres (over 7000 feet) it is reasonably high and accounts for the snow lying around. The air was also very cold.
Col Du Zad, Atlas Mountains
Col Du Zad, Atlas Mountains
A visit to a native garden part 2
No Comments »9th November, 2011; Category: Adelaide Hills, Mt Lofty Ranges, Parks and Gardens, Plants
Australian native plants in an Adelaide Hills garden
As I wrote a few days ago my wife and I were invited to a friend’s garden a while back to take photos of flowers and cuttings for propagation. She and her husband had collected and grown a wide range of Australian native plants over many years; every spot in the property was utilised. They were about to sell and move elsewhere so we jumped at the opportunity for one last look.
I was particularly taken with the water features in the beautiful pots shown above. Such a simple way to grow, feature and display plants one does not usually see in your average house garden.
My next post in two days’ time will feature more flowers – and one of my feathered friends.
Australian native plants in an Adelaide Hills garden (Acacia)
Australian native plants in an Adelaide Hills garden
Eden Valley Church, South Australia
Church at Eden Valley, South Australia
Sometimes when we travel from home in Murray Bridge, South Australia, to our daughter’s home in Clare, we travel through the small rural community of Eden Valley. Every time we see the Lutheran Church just off the main road through town we admire this beautiful building. I’ve often commented that I should one day stop and take some photos. On a recent trip I did stop, but I still messed up the shot. The lovely church appears to have a lean on it to rival that famous one in Italy.
Not so.
Trouble is, I didn’t get out of the car but merely grabbed the camera, twisted around in my seat and “click”. I didn’t check that I’d composed the photo properly and so the bell tower appears to have a definite lean. It doesn’t; I’m the one leaning. Next time I must get out of the car, compose the photo carefully and then shoot.
Eden Valley is only a small community on the edge of the world famous Barossa Valley wine region. There are many vineyards and wineries in the district, as well as orchards (apricots, peaches, cherries), sheep and wheat farms and a some cattle as well.