It took a huge effort to edit and process my Australian photographic collection for posterity, as the images were recorded almost half a century ago on color transparency film. Naturally these had to be converted first to digital files then restored in Photoshop to remove the ravages of time.
I was fortunate to grow up in Brisbane surrounded by incredible beaches, islands, mountains, rainforest, rivers, rocks, gorges and rugged bush for exploring with like-minded walking and climbing companions. I accumulated almost 1,500 photographs during these adventures spanning a decade before leaving in 1975. These were edited to about 367 images, scanned, processed and organized into five separate albums.
I was fortunate to grow up in Brisbane surrounded by incredible beaches, islands, mountains, rainforest, rivers, rocks, gorges and rugged bush for exploring with like-minded walking and climbing companions. I accumulated almost 1,500 photographs during these adventures spanning a decade before leaving in 1975. These were edited to about 367 images, scanned, processed and organized into five separate albums.
Now, this may not seem like many pictures, but film was expensive then and not to be wasted with only 36 images per roll, so we were frugal with images.
The first album, Brisbane Bushwalking, holds 157 select images from destinations like Noosa, St. Helena Island, Mt. Barney, Boyd's Butte, Upper Portals, Nimbin Peaks, Glennie's Pulpit, The Steamers, Mt. Greville, Mt. Maroon, Carnarvon Gorge, Devil's Signpost, Lizard's Lookout, Mt. Cordeaux, Coomera Crevice, Logan River Gorge, Fraser Island and Mt. French. These images reflect some essence of the place and time, at least to my mind.
 |
| Looking north to Brisbane from Mt. Maroon |
The Glasshouse Mountains figure prominently owing to their climbing significance and proximity to Brisbane, so have an exclusive album with 66 images. Next is another climbing destination, the spectacular Warrumbungle National Park. These jagged volcanic spires are more remote in the state of New South Wales and I posted 53 images to that album.
 |
| Mt. Beerwah, Glasshouse Mountains |
 |
| The Breadknife, Warrumbungles |
Mt. Lindesay and the surrounding area is captured by 49 images, even though its neighbor Mt. Barney is more complex and interesting to walkers. Mt. Lindesay is somewhat of an enigma, being inhospitable to both climbers and walkers, yet it was revered by Bert Salmon. Bert was my mentor who introduced me to bushwalking, so I dedicated the album to his memory.
 |
| Mt. Lindesay |
Finally, Girraween National Park on the Queensland - New South Wales border is featured in 42 pictures from the area. This Park has many spectacular granite monoliths scattered around beautiful walking country.
 |
| The First Pyramid, Girraween |
Some may ask why bother posting this archive and add to web pollution when we're constantly bombarded by images these days from ubiquitous cell-phone cameras? For example, any cursory Google search will turn up hundreds of better snapshots from places I blog about here.
Naturally there's the personal incentive to preserve and archive family history, as these images are irreplaceable. Digital images can be easily shared through a network for convenient personal viewing on a computer, compared to the old-fashioned days of setting up a slide projector.
However I like to think my pictures may have broader historical value as record of people, events and the landscape during a simpler and more pristine era. A lot has changed, and it's sad for me to see the development, overpopulation and commercial exploitation of once remote wilderness.
Last, but not least, access to quite a few featured locations has been restricted or outright banned by zealous Public Servants, supposedly in the name of safety. I hope some may find vicarious pleasure viewing images from these now forbidden sites.
The album links are:
ADDENDUM 9/26/2013 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
 |
| Outside the Chemistry Building, U of Q 1968 |
This latest set of vintage pictures appealed to me at the time but didn't seem to fit in the Brisbane Bushwalking categories above. I recently unified these under the theme University Days Down Under, as they include interstate trips to Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. These excursions south of the border were necessary for experimental research and conferences, with the pleasant distraction of new rocks to photograph and climb. I hope others may find interest in these scenes, particularly from my home town of Brisbane the way it used to be over 40 years ago.
The album link is:
