View allAll Photos Tagged caperteevalley
ruin of a small town that served the shale mine at Glen Davis, now only a few chimney stacks survive.
Astro Panorama of the Milky Way including Saturn captured at Glen Davis in the Capertee Valley in Gardens of Stone National Park, NSW, Australia.
From Pearson's Lookout. Who'd have known we have the world's second largest canyon on our doorstep :)
Capertee Valley,
NSW, Australia.
My friends Bez, Ken, and myself had the opportunity to spend a weekend in the Capertee Valley and stay on a 100 acre property.
It was too good a chance to pass up as I’d wanted to explore the valley & also the ruins of Glen Davis for years.
We planned to spend friday and saturday night on the property and use it as a base to explore the area.
Also, Kandos & Rylstone, a couple of interesting historical towns were a short drive from where we were staying.
The Capertee Valley is about 3hrs drive north-west from Sydney.
It’s regarded as the 2nd largest valley in the world and also one of the deepest, it’s length is longer than the Grand Canyon in the US.
The valley is quite spectacular being surrounded by towering sandstone cliffs, and monoliths such as Pantoney’s Crown, which dominates the western side.
The valley is home to cattle farms and after decent rains is carpeted with green grass.
The original inhabitants were the Aboriginal Wiradjuri people.
The first Europeans to explore the area were James Blackman & Lieutenant William Lawson who passed through the valley on their way to Mudgee in 1821.
Over the 10 year period from 1851, the gold rush resulted in an increase in the colony’s population.
The village at Capertee grew from small accommodation inns, particularly Shervey’s Inn, during this time.
Capertee’s wealth and importance grew as coal, shale-oil and limestone were discovered and mined in the area.
Sheep properties were established in the 1940’s producing quality wool.
The mining town of Glen Davis was established on the eastern rim of the valley and flourished from 1938 - 1952, employing up to 1600 people at its peak.
A town of around 2,500 sprung around the mining operation, which was believed to be one of the richest shale oil deposits in the world.
A pipeline was built so that products could be pumped to storage tanks at Newnes Junction.
The pipeline followed the route of the Newnes railway line which was removed in the 1940’s.
When the Newnes mining town closed down much of the equipment was transferred to Glen Davis.
The Glen Davis shale works failed to be a successful business for the owners - the Davis Gelatine Company.
Eventually the mine at Glen Davis was closed down due to high operating costs, output was low, and cheap crude oil was available from the Middle East.
The equipment used at the site was sold off or auctioned.
The Glen Davis Hotel was built in 1939 to provide accommodation and a place for the locals miners to meet after work.
The hotel closed down after the mine ceased operations, and later became a Marist Bros. retreat.
Now, it’s been renovated and re-opened as an art-deco hotel, function, and conference centre.
With all the various mining operations closed down, the population in the area has dwindled to around 300.
The ruins of Glen Davis are now a popular tourist attraction.
Guided tours are available on weekends, and at other times you need permission to access the site.
The area is known as one of the premier bird-watching locations in NSW and is an Important Bird Area (IBA) - placing it among the top 50 locations in the world.
There are more species of birds to be found here than anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere.
There is a 20km walking track, called the Pipeline Track, that follows the old route of the train line, and ends up at Newnes in the Wolgan Valley.
Beyond The Capertee Valley to the east is the wilderness of the Wollemi National Park with its maze of rock pagodas and twisted canyons.
taken at the campground in Capertee Valley, NSW
80 x 30 sec shots compiled using the Startrails.de software.
F3.5, ISO 3200
HDR Panorama captured near Glen Davis in the Capertee Valley, Wollemi National Park, NSW, Australia.
After a beautiful day of hiking around Dunns Swamp we headed back to the Blue Mountains.
This landscape was just one of the many great places we passed.
Hope you like it too!
Capertee Valley,
NSW, Australia.
My friends Bez, Ken, and myself had the opportunity to spend a weekend in the Capertee Valley and stay on a 100 acre property.
It was too good a chance to pass up as I’d wanted to explore the valley & also the ruins of Glen Davis for years.
We planned to spend friday and saturday night on the property and use it as a base to explore the area.
Also, Kandos & Rylstone, a couple of interesting historical towns were a short drive from where we were staying.
The Capertee Valley is about 3hrs drive north-west from Sydney.
It’s regarded as the 2nd largest valley in the world and also one of the deepest, it’s length is longer than the Grand Canyon in the US.
The valley is quite spectacular being surrounded by towering sandstone cliffs, and monoliths such as Pantoney’s Crown, which dominates the western side.
The valley is home to cattle farms and after decent rains is carpeted with green grass.
The original inhabitants were the Aboriginal Wiradjuri people.
The first Europeans to explore the area were James Blackman & Lieutenant William Lawson who passed through the valley on their way to Mudgee in 1821.
Over the 10 year period from 1851, the gold rush resulted in an increase in the colony’s population.
The village at Capertee grew from small accommodation inns, particularly Shervey’s Inn, during this time.
Capertee’s wealth and importance grew as coal, shale-oil and limestone were discovered and mined in the area.
Sheep properties were established in the 1940’s producing quality wool.
The mining town of Glen Davis was established on the eastern rim of the valley and flourished from 1938 - 1952, employing up to 1600 people at its peak.
A town of around 2,500 sprung around the mining operation, which was believed to be one of the richest shale oil deposits in the world.
A pipeline was built so that products could be pumped to storage tanks at Newnes Junction.
The pipeline followed the route of the Newnes railway line which was removed in the 1940’s.
When the Newnes mining town closed down much of the equipment was transferred to Glen Davis.
The Glen Davis shale works failed to be a successful business for the owners - the Davis Gelatine Company.
Eventually the mine at Glen Davis was closed down due to high operating costs, output was low, and cheap crude oil was available from the Middle East.
The equipment used at the site was sold off or auctioned.
The Glen Davis Hotel was built in 1939 to provide accommodation and a place for the locals miners to meet after work.
The hotel closed down after the mine ceased operations, and later became a Marist Bros. retreat.
Now, it’s been renovated and re-opened as an art-deco hotel, function, and conference centre.
With all the various mining operations closed down, the population in the area has dwindled to around 300.
The ruins of Glen Davis are now a popular tourist attraction.
Guided tours are available on weekends, and at other times you need permission to access the site.
The area is known as one of the premier bird-watching locations in NSW and is an Important Bird Area (IBA) - placing it among the top 50 locations in the world.
There are more species of birds to be found here than anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere.
There is a 20km walking track, called the Pipeline Track, that follows the old route of the train line, and ends up at Newnes in the Wolgan Valley.
Beyond The Capertee Valley to the east is the wilderness of the Wollemi National Park with its maze of rock pagodas and twisted canyons.
I believe this is a Ground Shield Bug (AKA the Red Jewel Bug). Its proper name is Choerocoris paganus. I found it on a firetrail near Glen Davis in the Capertee Valley, NSW.
Brown Treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus), Capertee Valley, NSW, Australia
Ebird checklist:
ebird.org/australia/checklist/S72565078
The brown treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus) is the largest Australasian treecreeper. The bird, endemic to eastern Australia, has a broad distribution, occupying areas from Cape York, Queensland, throughout New South Wales and Victoria to Port Augusta and the Flinders Ranges, South Australia.
Source: Wikipedia
Brown Treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus), Capertee Valley, NSW, Australia
Ebird checklist:
ebird.org/australia/checklist/S72565078
The brown treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus) is the largest Australasian treecreeper. The bird, endemic to eastern Australia, has a broad distribution, occupying areas from Cape York, Queensland, throughout New South Wales and Victoria to Port Augusta and the Flinders Ranges, South Australia.
Source: Wikipedia
Double-barred Finch (Taeniopygia bichenovii bichenovii), Capertee Valley, NSW, Australia
Ebird checklist:
ebird.org/australia/checklist/S72565078
The double-barred finch (Stizoptera bichenovii) is an estrildid finch found in dry savannah, tropical (lowland) dry grassland and shrubland habitats in northern and eastern Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Bicheno's finch or as the owl finch, the latter of which owing to the dark ring of feathers around the face.
Source: Wikipedia
Found this one when browsing through the pictures from a few weekends back. After another round of post processing I finally have it the way I want.
Hope you enjoy it too.
White-browed Babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus gilgandra), Capertee Valley, Lithgow, NSW, Australia
Ebird checklist:
ebird.org/australia/checklist/S72565078
The white-browed babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus) is a small, gregarious species of bird in the family Pomatostomidae. They are endemic to the open woodlands and shrubby areas of central and southern Australia.
Source: Wikipedia
My mother at Pearson's Lookout, back of the Blue Mountains, NSW. The car was hired or borrowed. This photo was taken on my parents' honeymoon on their way to the Warrumbungles, October 1954.
Photo by my father.
Such a pretty fly! A pity I only managed this one shot of it. It was feasting upon the Bursaria spinosa flowers in the Capertee Valley one lovely summer day. (And it appears a mite may have been feasting on it!)
Happy Fly Day Friday everyone! I hope you have a very pleasant weekend.
White-browed Babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus gilgandra), Capertee Valley, NSW, Australia
Ebird checklist:
ebird.org/australia/view/checklist/S52616695
The white-browed babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus) is a small, gregarious species of bird in the family Pomatostomidae. They are endemic to the open woodlands and shrubby areas of central and southern Australia.
Source: Wikipedia
Speckled Warbler (Pyrrholaemus sagittatus), Capertee Valley, NSW, Australia
Ebird checklist:
ebird.org/australia/view/checklist/S52616734
The speckled warbler (Pyrrholaemus sagittatus) is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is endemic to eastern Australia. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.
Source: Wikipedia