Hinterland Magnets

A design made for all the nature lovers out there.

The Hinterland, India ink drawing, A4, done with a dip-nib pen, with some final touches from a liner style india ink pen.

Ring the bell white hinterland

The space between. An elemental, minimalist design. Things are heating up!

A curious cow peeked over the horizon just as the colours of this sunset were at their best, providing the perfect finishing touch.

One of my most popular shots of all time, showing a perfect Winter Sky over the Glasshouse Mountains (Queensland) in the early morning sun.

Natural Bridge is a favourite of photographers across South East Queensland. This difficult-to-shoot scene, found in the Natural Bridge section of Springbrook National Park, is part of a very short bushwalk through the area, which takes you along Cave Creek, into the cave, and then up and over it. It's best seen when there has been a lot of recent rainfall; otherwise, it can slow to a faint trickle.

Natural Bridge is a favourite of photographers across South East Queensland. This difficult-to-shoot scene, found in the Natural Bridge section of Springbrook National Park, is part of a very short bushwalk through the area, which takes you along Cave Creek, into the cave, and then up and over it. It's best seen when there has been a lot of recent rainfall; otherwise, it can slow to a faint trickle.

The cascades just before Moran's Falls, which drops off a cliff on the right hand side of the photo, just before sunset on a stormy Easter Saturday at O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat. Even though this was my fifth visit to O'Reilly's and my third yearly pilgrimage with my friend Michelle, it continue to amaze and always makes for an interesting and eventful day out!

The lone tree of Maleny, standing tall in between the silhouettes of the Glass House Mountains, which in turn are lit by the glow of Brisbane beyond. Even with so much ambient light around, the stars were so vivid here! Camera settings: Nikon D750 with 16-35mm f4 lens ISO 3200, 25s @ f4

A slightly different angle on the normal shot of Natural Bridge in Springbrook National Park. While I love the view from inside the cave, it's hard to do different compositions, whereas the view from the outside looking in provides quite a few different options.

Elabana Falls is one of the most photographed waterfalls in Lamington National Park, and with good reason. Not only is it only a 3km hike from the O'Reilly's Rainforest Resort (even though we took the long way and took 8km to get there), but it's also ridiculously photogenic!

The famous lone tree and its sweeping view of the Glass House Mountains beyond.

The sky lights up as the sun sets over Queensland's Glass House Mountains. This would have been an amazing scene to take in…if I hadn't shared it with about 200,000 of my closest mosquito friends! We ended up running away before the sky lit up in a brilliant pink because we just couldn't handle the swarms any longer.

Chalahn Falls is located about 5km from O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat in Lamington National Park and is accessed via the Tooloona Creek Circuit. Despite the fact that we had to climb over multiple fallen trees -- the result of torrential rains two weeks before -- and the fact that I fell off the rocks and ended up hanging upside down while trying to compose a shot, every step of the way was worth it to see this waterfall. We ended up spending more than 2 hours there, first just enjoying the view as we ate a picnic lunch and later as we took plenty of photos. I definitely have a new favourite waterfall in south east Queensland!

Chalahn Falls is located about 5km from O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat in Lamington National Park and is accessed via the Tooloona Creek Circuit. Despite the fact that we had to climb over multiple fallen trees -- the result of torrential rains two weeks before -- and the fact that I fell off the rocks and ended up hanging upside down while trying to compose a shot, every step of the way was worth it to see this waterfall. We ended up spending more than 2 hours there, first just enjoying the view as we ate a picnic lunch and later as we took plenty of photos. I definitely have a new favourite waterfall in south east Queensland!

Red deep in my soul! A real find for mysterious individuals who remember surreal days in one of these rooms)

Two of the smaller waterfalls that make up Elabana Falls in Queensland's Lamington National Park. It was surprisingly easy to clamber up to this point…although getting down would have been a lot easier if I hadn't had camera gear. That said, I don't think I would have wanted to go for a swim in these cold waters!

Box Log Falls, in Lamington National Park and a short hike from O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat. It was so different to my previous visit, when it had so little water in it that it was two small parallel falls instead of this cascade. That meant the water was a lot higher too, so my feet got very wet in the process of finding this spot. Luckily they were already very wet from a number of other creek crossings so it didn't really matter!

Balestrino village abandoned between 1962 and 1963 after several seismic movements which caused much damage to the point of becoming unlivable and dangerous.

After tropical cyclone Marcia came through south east Queensland, dumping more than 200mm in parts, I had the urge to drive into the Gold Coast hinterland and check out the waterfalls. They did not disappoint (even in the pouring rain)! This view of Purlingbrook Falls, in Springbrook National Park, was unreal. I couldn't believe the sheer amount of water plummeting off the cliff! This was as close as anyone could get as well since the rest of the track was closed due to flooding from Purling Brook!

Taken from a roadside near Maleny, this late afternoon shot captures a lot of what makes the Sunshine Coast Hinterland so special. Greenery, a genuine rural feeling and of course the wonderful Glasshouse Mountains in the distance.

The twin falls of Box Logs Falls in Lamington National Park.

The people of Maleny in Queensland's Sunshine Coast hinterland are lucky enough to be able to see scenes like this at sunset every night. While this one was bolstered by smoke from the bushfires to the southeast, I can imagine that it's almost impossible to get sick of this view!

A paraglider steadies his chute as he prepares to takeoff from Rosin Park, near Beechmont in the Gold Coast Hinterland. What a place to just sit and watch as both paragliders and hang gliders took off and then circled around above us!

Long exposure photo showing water flowing over Lip Falls in the Gold Coast Hinterland in QLD Australia

I took this shot during an exercise at a photography workshop that I attended in 2008. It was great fun and it kicked off even more of a photography obsession!

In 2009, I spent Halloween night in Tamborine Mountain Cemetery with the Bluedog crew. This shot was a long exposure where the werewolf jumped in and was light painted after about a minute (there's no photoshopping involved). A pretty creepy effect, huh, especially considering the date!

The gorgeous Lip Falls near Beechmont. I always want to stay much longer here, partially because the water is such a nice temperature to stand in as I take photos, and partially because I am doing my best to avoid the steep staircase that leads out of here!

North Tamborine graveyard -- a spooky but very fun place to spend Halloween!

Happy Halloween! This was shot in Tamborine Mountain Cemetery on a very spooky (and very fun) Halloween a few years ago. Only slight adjustments done in Photoshop -- the ghost effect was done in camera.

A shot from the "freezing water droplets" practical in the photography workshop I attended in 2008. I think it looks like she's practicing levitation!

This is from an expedition to O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat in Lamington National Park, about a 2 hour drive from Brisbane. I ended up doing part of the "Border Track" and eventually stumbled upon this gem--Elabana Falls.