Click here to see thumbnails of 36 photographs of Australia

that you can download and use for free. 1 2

Download a QuickTime virtual reality scene of a tree fern rainforest, 450kb.

Hear the sound of a dingo howling, mp3, 300kb.

The photographs above are low resolution versions of the pictures on the 750 Royalty-Free photographs of Australia CD. Like to see a full-sized photograph from the CD? Click on the thumbnail below for the 600mb version. You can have it for free.

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Like to buy the CD?

Send $30 (Australian dollars) money order, Paypal or cash if in Australia, or US$30 cash (or you can also pay by Paypal) if outside Australia, to Michael Smith 121 Cox Road Koonorigan NSW 2480 Australia. I will post you the CD by economy air mail.

To pay for the CD in another currancy, email me your request and I will do the conversion.

The CD will work on Mac OS and Windows.

750 Royalty-Free photographs of Australia CD, frequently asked questions.

What is on the CD? There are 754 Royalty-Free photographs, 12 virtual reality scenes, 6 slide shows with sound, 2 sound files of dingos howling and a quicktime installer. You can do what you like with the photographs, make postcards, illustrate your book, make and market screen-savers and backgrounds, explore Australia.

What format are the photographs in? All the photographs were taken with a digital camera. Each image is 2.85mb in size, compressed at eight tenths quality to approximately 600mb. Each photograph is displayed at 1152 x 864 pixels, 40.64cm by 30.48cm at 72 dots per inch.

What are the subjects of the photographs? There are 530 landscapes, 96 flora and fauna, 63 aboriginal cave paintings, 34 people, 5 aboriginal rock engravings and 26 other unclassified photographs.

Where were the photographs taken? Note that not all of Australia is covered.

New South Wales
Wentworth Falls ** Blue Mountains ** Lake Mungo National Park ** Silverton ** Tibooburra **

Northern Territory
Dalhousie Springs ** Old Andado ** Ewaninga Rock Carvings ** Chambers Pillar ** Rainbow Valley ** Alice Springs ** East MacDonnell Ranges ** John Hayes Gorge ** West MacDonnell Ranges ** Redbank Gorge ** Palm Valley ** Hermannsburg ** Kings Canyon ** Uluru ** Kata Tjuta ** Gunbarrell Highway ** Katherine Gorge ** Edith Falls ** Gunlom, Kakadu ** Nourlangie ** Kakadu ** Mary River ** Darwin ** Litchfield National Park ** Douglas Hot Springs ** Butterfly Gorge ** Gregory National Park ** Keep River National Park

Western Australia
Hammersley Gorge ** Dale Gorge ** Hancock Gorge ** Joffre Gorge ** Knox Gorge ** Weano Gorge ** Broome ** Marble Bar ** Windjana Gorge ** Tunnel Creek ** Geike Gorge ** China Wall ** Cathedral Gorge, Bungle Bungles ** Echidna Chasm ** Frog Hole ** Mini Palm Gorge ** Lake Argyle ** Kununurra ** Wyndham ** King Edward River ** ** Mitchell Falls** Surveyors Pool ** Manning Gorge ** Gibb River Road ** Port Hedland ** Roebourne ** Millstream, Chichester National Park ** Burrup Peninsula ** Exmouth ** Carnarvon ** Shark Bay ** Kalbarri ** Geraldton ** Coalseam Gorge ** Pinnacles ** Perth ** Pinjarra ** Bunbury ** Busselton ** Cape Naturaliste ** Cape Leeuwin ** Albany ** Walpole ** Mount Frankland ** Northcliffe ** D'Entrecasteaux National Park ** Manjimup ** Bluff Knoll, Stirling Ranges ** Fitzgerald River National Park ** Esperance ** Frenchmans Peak, Cape LeGrand National Park ** Wave Rock ** Coolgardie ** Kalgoorlie **

South Australia
** INNAMINCKA ** Lyndhurst ** Maree ** Farina ** Lake Torrens ** Ettomogah Pub ** Plane Henge ** Mound Springs ** Lake Eyre ** Peake Telegraph Station ** Oodnadatta ** Nullarbor Plain ** Fowlers Bay ** Elliston ** Lincoln National Park ** Flinders Ranges ** Brachina Gorge ** Wilpena Pound ** Innis National Park ** Mount Gambier ** York Peninsula ** Fleurieu Peninsula ** Bridgeport ** Victor Harbour **

Victoria
Great Ocean Road ** Ballarat ** Grampians **

Information on travelling Australia. These photographs were taken on a 9 month, 46000km $15000 drive through mostly arid Australia. One thing I learned is that you seldom get the true picture from the glossy photographs in expensive 'coffee table' books. Wave Rock is a classic example. I had seen many times photographs of Wave Rock and knew that it was somewhere in WA beyond the Nullabour Plain. The rock is 250 km from any town and so is a big investment in energy to get to see it, especially as there is little else to see in that part of Australia. As I was in that remote part of Australia for the first and probably last time I decided to see it. After half a days drive it turned out that Wave Rock was on private property and there was a 'parking fee' of $6 if you wanted to look at it. Money paid I noticed an ugly concrete scar on top of the rock, it was a concrete wall. Over the years photographers have positioned themselves so that the wall is not visible in the picture. Well this is what Wave Rock is all about. A huge smooth rock bulges out of the ground in a relatively flat, dry, part of Western Australia. The locals noticed that after rain lots of water rushed off this rock and disappeared into the ground. The rock was an excellent catchment area, with 100% runoff. They built a 1 metre high concrete wall on the rock, around the edge, so that water could be directed into a catchment dam. A small part of this rock has this 'breaking wave' look to it. It is incidental. See for yourself WAVE02.JPG and others. Other examples? Chambers Pillar is not vertical, it has a slight lean to it. In books it has been straightened up to make it look more tidy. The photographs on this CD show you some famous features from the usual and the alternate angles.

The trip was done in 2001 at a time when diesel was $1.15 per litre. Travelling costs were $76 per day for 2 people. Fuel $30, gas $1, food $22, other $24, per day.

Don't want to miss out on some good aussie stuff? Below is a list of what I found to be the best swimming holes and best day walks in Australia. My criteria was that they had to be inspirational, thrilling, beautiful and an adventure.

The best swimming holes in Australia, in no particular order.

Fly Point end of Nelson Bay Beach, Nelson Bay NSW. Saltwater over sand, only at high tide, in warm weather, and not in a westerly wind. Fish life, dolphins, clean sand, boats, birdlife, currents and sparkling water.

Handrail Pool, Weano Gorge, Pilbara area of WA. A picturesque walk down and through an ironstone gorge to a swimming hole that you have to have a little nerve and skill to enter. Here water tumbles into and out of a spectacular cathedral-like cavern in the most dramatic of settings.

Edith Falls, upper pool, Katherine National Park NT. An interesting arrangement of waterfalls and pools in a beautiful setting.

Gunlom upper pool, Kakadu National Park. A series of small waterfalls and interconnecting pools to explore. The last pool before the main waterfall has the effect of being suspended a hunderd metres above the floodplain below.

Lower Manning Gorge, Mt. Barnett Roadhouse WA. Lacks the dramatic setting but the water is clear, sandy bottomed, friendly, surrounded by paperbarks and palms. There is a sun-warmed rock island in the middle.

The best day-walks in Australia, in no particular order.

National Pass, Wentworth Falls NSW. Two hours, waterfalls, dripping overhangs, spectacular views and hunderds of steps cut in the sandstone.

Valley Of The Winds, The Olgas NT. Three hours of central-Australian magic set among the domes and valleys of the Olgas.

Kings Canyon NT. Two and a half hours of red cliffs and spectacular vistas.

Hancock Gorge, Pilbara region of WA. Two hours. A classic ironstone gorge of fig trees, narrow ledges and magical swimming holes.

Tunnel Creek near Fitzroy Crossing NT. One and a half hours. The (freshwater) crocodile-infested creek has cut a tunnel through the mountain. You get to walk in pitch dark up to your neck in water, right through. Take a tourch.

Echidna Chasm, Bungle Bungles WA. One and a half hours of walking through an impossibly-high, narrow, chasm with much diversity and adventure.

Bluff Knoll, Stirling ranges National Park WA. Three hours. A steep and exhausting walk with spectacular views and wildflowers.

Frenchmans Peak WA. One and a half hours. An interesting walk up a rocky dome with good wildflowers, good views and a spectacular arch-cave near the top.

More free photographs of Australian flora and fauna at http://www.geocities.com/liveattentively

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