Blue Lake to Cave Gardens

is only slightly less than 1.5 kilometres than the kookaburra flies.

Yes, Mt. Gambier South Oz is not exactly the hugest nor largest thriving metropolis out there, but at least it is Out There! Not for me though, heck I think Naracoorte is too big. A place just about my size would be Reedy Creek. Heck, it's close enough to that big smoke of Lucindale for me! Can you tell I like small towns? BTW, whilst we drove "thru" Reedy Creek I noticed there was only 1 (one, uno, einz) building visible from the "road".

Yeah, I could handle living there! The fact that the single building was a CFS (Country Fire Service) depot/shack made me feel right at home. Wifey-poo however feels that Naracoorte is more her size. Harumph.

*screech* go the brakes as we shift gears!

Hey look, I can cook. Here's proof:


And if you'd like to make the dish by your very own oneses, I have explained how to do that right here.

The above sentence is highlighted, it's what is called a LINC in the biz. Pardon me for showing off my skillz.

Back to The Limestone Coast and Mt Gambier! Here's some info (in case you were interested about Blue Lake):



And here is a picture PROVING (or proofing depending on the context of course) that whilst it was raining...


... Blue Lake is still really *bleepin'* BLUE!

No, there are no (as is NONE) photo enhancements done to nor on the above picture. Trust me.

Lake water is not supposed to look that colour when it is overcast, rainy, and the angle of the sunlight still only 2 hours after dawn. Oops, who's chasing Dawn????

Next stop: Cave Gardens!

Cave Gardens was the original waterin' hole for this particular area. And when the Europeans got to this area (after killing the original inhabitants of course) they also used it as a water source. The town of Mt. Gambier was built around the water source, hence Cave Gardens is right smack dab in the middle of the hustlin' bustlin' downtown Mt Gambier! Don't worry, rush hour is very short.

See what I mean?



But before we get to the first bit of Cave Gardens, I just have to share with you my not-so-latest 3d stuff. I'm assuming that all my loyal readers will have seen or perhaps at least heard of the second X-Dude movie. You know, the movie based on a comic called "X-MEN" where all the really cool "X-MEN" were not "MEN" but were actually "WOMEN"?

Anyhows, did anyone of you think that the inky-poof teleporting-in effect for Nightcrawler was nifty? I did. So I quite naturally did what anyone who thought that Calvin (from the comic strip) was just not using his imagination enough would do.

Hereupon I humbly present to you (dear reader) an here-to-fore unknown gem from the master of imagination (that'd be Calvin, from the comic strip) of... well... something...



I shall now take a bow. And I shall take that bow and shoot an arrow with it.


Alrighty, enuff stupidness and sillytude from me. It is far past time to let Momma Nature (who has had so much more practice than myself) show off her beautiful work!

Cave Gardens, Mt Gambier.














And what would life be like without a video?




Did any of you notice a particular critter in some of those pictures or a part of that video? Something that was perhaps not bipedal and non-hairy?

Perhaps this will help refresh your mammaries...



Next up: The Birds and The Bees of Cave Gardens!
don't worry, it'll be safe for work. maybe

Blue Lake is really BLUE!

Yes, the next morning Blue Lake in Mt. Gambier was still BLUE! We didn't hallucinate the night before. Well, we did, but not about the lake colour :-}

But let me start off this post with a picture from my youth. My waaaaaaay back when youth! I do believe this'd be 1967 or 1968. We were still in the trailer (yes, I grew up in a trailer but we wuzn't trash!) and I'll have you know that my dad (Superman) built this entire addition to the trailer along with of course all the shelving and storage.

Here's proof (180!) that I was young once.



Go'an, guess which one is me!

Shall we get back to Blue Lake? Why yes, yes we shall.



If you'll be so kind as to notice, it is still a cloudy sky the next morning! And the lake is still of course a vibrant blue.

Did you know that the residents of Mt Gambier all got together one day and built a hugely wonderful (and huge) lookout and retaining wall along the edge of Blue Lake. Yep. It's true. Hey now, would I lie to you? The retaining wall itself is over 200 metres long! And the Rook Tower is awesome!

How did they do it all in one day? Lotsa muscle and know-how!



Yeah, that woulda been a sight to watch!

And just what does this neat Rook Lookout look like? Glad you asked mates!


Don't forget it stretches around 180 metres along up the slope to the right of the picture.

As you may be able to tell from this next shot, it was raining!





The main stairs leading up aren't steep at all.




Especially if you have nicely cut calves like this bloke! Cool shirt, eh?



The view from the top of Rook Tower is nice. Don't need to add a frame to the shot in photoshop, that's for sure!



Shall we just zoom in a bit on the lake as to not have the framing? Yes, we shall.






At this point I just can't resist posting a piece of 3D artwork down by Yours Truly --don't swoon ladies, I'm human!






Oops, it looks much more better at full size!




And let us not forget the whole reason for the trip: Da 12 Ahhhh-Pistols!



No, this is not a stock Interwebs photo. It's a pic by Yours Truly. Go ahead and swoon.

But before we head along The Great Ocean Road (there are only 50 kilometres that are great, trust me!) we need to explore Mt. Gambier a bit. Such as Cave Gardens right smack dab in the centre of hustlin' n bustlin' downtown Mt Gambier!




More soon mates!

Fine then, BE that way!

And see if I care!

Harumph

Obviously my lame-assed attempt at audience participation udderly phailed.

Well, I've now got a pic that will pretty much guarantee comments! Would you like to see it? Of course you would:



Mmmmmmm, that makes me hungry mates! In fact, I may even may roo burgers today.

And no, roo pies are NOT like cow pies! But if you are wondering what that "type" of roo pie looks like... think moose nuggets! However, Aussies aren't crass enough to varnish em and sell em to tourists like Alaskans do! But you can get small purses that at one point in time housed a male roo's testicles.

Yes ladies, you CAN literally carry around the privates of a male! I'll bet Alaska's Worst Governor Ever would like one to keep Toady's junk in.


Next picture up is a sneak peek at a 3d seen (whoopsie, "scene"; darned tiepoes!) I'm working on. Keep in mind that every single bit of this picture is FAKE. The rocky desert landscape is FAKE. The crashed ship is FAKE (but have a squizz at the cockpit wreckage, it's great!). The steam plume from the engines is FAKE. The ship circling around is FAKE. The crappy looking engine tail glow (still working on that!) is FAKE. The clouds are FAKE.



Everything in the photo is FAKE! Which is exactly like the persona of The Creature From Lake Lucille, FAKE!


Oh, wait a sec mates! You probably can't make out the ultra cool detailing from that little pic.

Here's a much more bigger and much more better one!



Thoughts? Ideas? Snarky remarks?

Audience Participation Time!

This would of course mean that I'm feeling too bleedin' lazy to put up a real post and yet I pheal compelled to put something up else ya'll will think I fell of the face of the Earth (again).

That reminds me, I AM working on the rest of my 100% percent true Alien Abduction story so expect posts about that to appear sporadically and spasmodically throughout this coming century.

But for today YOU (yes YOU, not the other one but YOU) get to be creative!

YOU get to come up with either a caption, a short paragraph, or even a short story about a coupla pics that YOU are about to see. Obviously just use the comment function, no worries mates.

This first one can be tackled from many different angles. Is it an evil grin behind that mask or non at all? What is he planning? Who is he? What is he doing? And what exactly is that thing that is attached to his face?

Possibilities are endless mates! So put your tinfoil thinking caps, snort deeply from your powdery supply of scents of humor, and GIVE IT A GO MATES!





***********************************************************************

Now this second one is also an actual photo that I took. Although it was during a reconnaissance expedition of the third moon of Ceti Gamma Prime in the alien spaceship that I commandeered during my 100% TRUE Alien Abduction story and not here on Earth like the above photo was taken... Whoops! I've said too much, better take that blue pill now!

See how easy it is?

Here's the actual photo:


Oh wait, you'll definitely want to see it larger sized, and make sure you have a good squizz in all the shadowy areas for extra detailing and ideas for captions/comments/stories/etc.




Alrighty everyone! Go bang your funny bones on your collective door frames and let's see what YOU come up with!

A Little of This, A Little of That.

G'day mates! How are ya? Has this winter (or summer) been treating you nicely? Lemme know, eh?

I'm hoping that everyone is now happy again now that I'm posting regularly again --fingers, toes, eyes, legs, ankle, arms all crossed in the hope that I can keep it up!

Don't expect any rhyme nor reason from my posts, one day you may see me running around an alien spaceship, the next you may see an embarrassed koala! Why the flighty-ness? It's not that I don't have a short attention span, it's just that I get ummmmm, side-tracked (yeah, that's it!) more often than knot and then a few days go by as I try to finish up (start!) a post that was a great idea at the time and befour I know it; a month has gone by-BYE!

Well (and that's a deep subject), NO MORE! I'll post whatever darned thing comes to my mind and type whatever darned stuff spews itself through my fingertips, onto my keyboard, onto your screen, into your eyeballs, then the spewed stuff finally comes to rest in some back-corner, unused area of your memory.

I hope you don't mind.

And no, I had absolutely NO IDEA I was going to type what I have typed thus far, I just let the fingers spew forth whatever they phelt like spewing forth.

*screeeeeeeeech* Insert sound of brakes

Changing gears now.

Many of you may or may not be aware that I'm going to have to travel to the US for a coupla weeks near the end of May. The reason is quite obvious as it involves Arlington National Cemetary. I will unfortunately NOT be able to work in a visit to Alaska (seriously grumbling about that), in fact it'll be an East Coast only trip with the exception of an airport or two.

I do not plan on cutting my hair (still no gray and approaching 50!!!!). Haven't cut it since late 1998 so why ruin a good thing, eh? I am not planning on shaving my long goatee (ok, it has a couple of gray strands) which is rapidly becoming a cross betwixt a long Van Dyke type and a short Manchu type. I also have long sideburns.

And to make sure that I'm fairly noticable, I will be bringing and wearing my tie-dye shirt collection!

Ain't they purdy?



Oh, and I'll be wearing one of several pairs of crocs routinely and wearing a black, roo-skin, acubra-style Aussie hat.

And a camera around my neck at pretty much all times. Yes, I'll be the weird tourist from Oz! Anybody gotta problem wit dat?

I have been continuing to play with and learn Vue 10. Great program! Loves it, I does! Check this out mates:


Here it is much more bigger sized:


Pretty good eh? All from scratch from Yours Truly! Vue also renders much faster than Bryce, this only took 6 hours to renders and talk about realistic plants!

Next up, dave makes a lame joke.

I am about to make a joke that may be a major embarrassment to me. So much so that I may go hide my head in shame rather like this:


The joke is a visual one. It's from one of my own pictures too!

You know how some people (not naming names mind you) tend to see phallic symbols everywhere? Yes, it's true some people do, not sure why.

Well, thinking along that "type" of line... What does this next picture remind you of?


I know, I'm a bad, evil, vile person and you don't need to tell me where I'm going cus I already know the way.

Ok, joke's over.

Those of you who know me in real life know that I have a knack for resting. And sleeping. Stay tuned for next time as I tell you ALL about my embarrassing history of sleeping and resting in what *some* people might think are inappropriate places!

Alien Abduction Act XV --Encountering The Alien Guards!

Butt befour we get to this particular chapter in my completely true Alien Abduction story, I think it's best if I actually put up a few pics (and maybe even a video!!!) of some Aussie critters.

Why, you ask? Cuz it's been a while since I have, that's why! Or didn't any of you notice? No? Perhaps that's because I haven't been as much of the prolific posting personality as I used to be?

Well, whatever the reason, I shall now just shut up and show you some pics of Little Corella Cockatoos!


Obviously that morning was pretty overcast. Hey, we do sometimes see clouds down here! Those little corellas were part of a slightly larger flock:


And that was about a tenth of the flock!

Some of you may know (or knot) that when you get a fairly sizable group of birds together that they like to talk amongst themselves. Well, parrots are no different!

Would you like to know what the sound of a flock of little correllas sounds like at 7:00 AM?

Would ya?

Woodja woodja woodja?

Of course you would. But first you have to make sure your computer sound volume is turned to maximum as you want to make sure the whole office building or subdivision can share in your joy at hearing these bird.

So, just, like, click play!


Soothing, isn't it?

*********************************************************************************

Now on with my true alien abduction story! With everything recreated by Yours Truly (don't swoon ladies, I'm human!) with his awesomely perfect photographic memory! Yes, this is what REALLY happened! *wink*

In case you missed some earlier acts due to hanging out in the lobby chatting up the sheila or bloke behind the popcorn counter or perhaps toking up in the bathroom, here's a quickie recap!

Note: some of my astute readers may recognize the following paragraph verbatim from Act XII but I don't mind plagiarizing myself!

Yes, it's time for another installment in the completely, 100% true story of my alien abduction. Don't you remember? This was after I died after cutting myself shaving with a meat cleaver in the pool and was then brought back to an undead, brain-craving, zombie state from a lightning strike and then was transported up to the A.S.S. (Alien Space Ship) cus I struck the pyramid on top of my roof with my lightning-charged sledgehammer and was then transformed into an undead, brain-eating, hulking beast with a club roaming the cave-like corridors of the A.S.S. that had the rego number of C4P-PFP2012.

Whew! And just in case any of you need sausage lynx to the previous acts...


Prelude to Alien Abduction. Nothing to do with aliens though. Just me being stupid.

Alien Abduction Act I. Where it all begins. Plus some pretty hot pics of me and Wifey-Poo!

Act II. This is where I use a meat cleaver to shave with whilst in the pool!

Act III. Buried at sea. And sushi too!

Act IV. Lighting storm reanimates my corpse!

Act V. My zombie self begins to calm down.

Act VI. A sledge-hammer wielding zombie is great to have in the kitchen!

Act VII. Blasting off Earth and towards the A.S.S. !!!

Act VIII. Photographic evidence of the A.S.S. from a passing Chinese spy satellite.

Act IXa. Promotional material for the real Act IX.

Act IX. Alien ship identified!

Act X. My arrival aboard the A.S.S.

Act XI. Very tricky aliens!

Act XII. We finally meet the aliens!!!!!!!!!!!

Act XIII. Charging towards the control room!


Now for a very brief picture recap! After which you'll get to see (and read) Act XV!

And here are some of those great, full-sized NON-PHOTOSHOPPED pics!

This one is from the passing, cloaked, Chinese spy satellite.



And here's one the Russians took from the ISS!


This is the one where I distinctly remember seeing the rego number on the A.S.S.


And remember, the Chinese spy satellite got a pic of the TOP of the A.S.S. too, also.


You may remember that after I materialized inside the A.S.S the aliens then activated some sort of hologramaphic device that changed the corridors to caves. I distinctly remember charging through the caves and encountering this sign:


I quickly hung a left (me being rather left-leaning) and as I charged down the cavern the rock walls changed back into the actual, real corridors of the A.S.S. However, I was still my lightning-charged, zombie-ized, club-wielding, brain-eating undead self. Fortunately, my body had retained it's original, studly self!




Now begins Act XV of my TRUE Alien Abduction!


Whilst charging down the corridor onboard the A.S.S. in search of alien brains to eat as I was still in my zombie state, I passed through several doors that opened and closed automatically as I raced towards what I hoped was the control room of the A.S.S. so that I could eat some tasty alien brains and just hopefully find an escape pod to get back to Oz and perchance find a way to get back to what passes for normal for me.


*Isn't that an awesomely great sentence from Yours Truly (don't swoon ladies, I'm human!) that I typed all by me oneses and Wifey-Poo (Most Wonderful Woman In The Entire World) tells me is actually grammatically correct?*

Just as I was beginning to think the A.S.S. with the rego number C4P-PFP2012 (remember kiddies, Gene Roddenberry proved that all space ships have rego #'s painted on the outside in English!) was totally deserted, I arrived at a pair of doors that hopefully led to the control and some tasty alien brains... and the door was GUARDED!

By aliens!

Imagine my surprise as my zombie self became the first Earthling to come face to face with REAL aliens!

Just

imagine

the

shocked

look

on

my

face!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.



Yeah, I'm quite sure I looked EXACTLY like that!

And what did I see in front of me?

Glad you asked mates!

And now we finally get to see what the alien guards who are guarding the door which may or may not be an entrance to the control room look like!

Are you ready?

Are you sure?















As you can tell, this is about to get... shall we say... Interesting?

Stay tuned for Act XVI as more silliness comes your way from the merry old land of Oz!

Alien Abduction Act XIV The Charge of The Heavy Brigade

Yes folks, my memories of my time aboard the Alien Space Ship (A.S.S) are starting to come back to me in much more better and fuller colour than ever! Well, a new computer and new 3d software helps too... sorta, kinda.

I'm sure that my long time readers will remember the first 13 acts of my abduction; How I died, came back to life as a lightning-charged, sledgehammer-wielding, brain-eating zombie, was transported up to the A.S.S. and am now roaming the A.S.S (rego number C4P-PFP2012) looking for alien brains to eat. Right?

Oh, you mean some of you just may have forgotten? No worries mates, lemme give you the links to the whole story up till now!

Prelude to Alien Abduction. Nothing to do with aliens though. Just me being stupid.

Alien Abduction Act I. Where it all begins. Plus some pretty hot pics of me and Wifey-Poo!

Act II. This is where I use a meat cleaver to shave with whilst in the pool!

Act III. Buried at sea. And sushi too!

Act IV. Lighting storm reanimates my corpse!

Act V. My zombie self begins to calm down.

Act VI. A sledge-hammer wielding zombie is great to have in the kitchen!

Act VII. Blasting off Earth and towards the A.S.S. !!!

Here's a teaser pic from Act VII



Act VIII. Photographic evidence of the A.S.S. from a passing Chinese spy satellite.

Act IXa. Promotional material for the real Act IX.

Act IX. Alien ship identified!

Act X. My arrival aboard the A.S.S.

Act XI. Very tricky aliens!

Act XII. We finally meet the aliens!!!!!!!!!!!

Act XIII. Charging towards the control room!


At this point as I charge from the signpost in the caverns (holograms, remember) towards what I was hoping was the control room I noticed a change occuring in my surrounds.

The cavern faded and was replaced by what was obviously an A.S.S. passageway, the lighting became more subdued, the stalactite I was carrying became more defined and I became even more studly looking than before! (Ain't new 'puters great?)

And with that I continued to charge towards the control room of the A.S.S.!



Coming soon, Act XV The Battle With The P-Bots!

Don't swoon ladies, I'm human!

Alert! Alert! This is an ALERT!

Ai haz new zoftwear!

Now that both Wifey-Poo (The Most Wonderful Woman In The Entire World) and Yours Truly (that'd be me, don't swoon ladies I'm human) both have 'puters that'll run the latest version of this software, I decided to download the trial version earlier this arvo.

And I just had to of course play with it a bit as I was playing in the kitchen.

I'll just put up a few renders and I'm sure you will be able to figure out what software it is.








The sky is not a backdrop pic and zero post-render work was done.