Monday, December 11, 2006

It's even worse ....

... than these photos show. These are about the only photos I took of the countryside during our trip to Junee and Young at the weekend. Whilst there were many scenes that would have made good photos, it seemed too much like photographing the death of so many farming communities. I have NEVER seen the country looking so heartbreakingly dry and barren, and we're only in the second week of summer. Very few sheep and cattle to be seen - little wonder as most of the land is as bare as a board. However, most of these farmers are a resiliant lot, even if they are up to their necks in debt, and hopefully, when the drought breaks, they will still be there and ready to get on with the job again.

Bone dry creek bed.




No doubt this crop was planted with high hopes. Alas ...


Typical country scenes just outside Junee.

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9 comments:

Gwen said...

Hi Alice... Sure is a sorry sight our country side. There is very little green around,and now with the fire's raging not far from us.
We could hardly see the lake from the road and the smell of smoke was strong. We certainly need rain which seems unlikely,life wasn't ment to be easy I know!!

Kerri said...

Oh how sad! What extremes from one end of the earth to the other! Too much water over here, not enough over there.
My heart breaks for my homeland Alice. Australia and all her people who are affected by these horrible drought conditions and dreadful bush fires are in our prayers daily.
Sending hugs your way! xoxo

HORIZON said...

Heartbreaking for the farmers. My ex-inlaws had a farming ranch in Texas- l remember scenes like this a few times- very sad. Praying for some rain for you Aussies.
Bests xx

meggie said...

How sad for all those farmers. I dont know how they keep going.
This country can seem very harsh & cruel at times.
We are so lucky here on the coast, we have rain at present!

Anonymous said...

This may seem really heartless (yet I'm not intending it to be) but why do we still farm in areas that on average suffer severe droughts every generation or so?

Our government needs to help people relocate their farms to areas where water is more readily available rather than subsidise this arcane view of 'harvesting the Sahara'.

Sad photos Alice. It's almost like taking pictures of starving children.

Unknown said...

Alice, those are really heartbreaking photos, but I am glad that you posted them. They really show how bad things are there.

Stuart, I know what you mean. It's like people getting money to rebuild their houses in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, instead of moving out of areas prone to flooding and hurricane damage...

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Times must be really hard on the land. Our country is really suffering at the moment ... wish there was something I could do. A rain dance, perhaps !?!?!
Take care, Meow

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

Drought & fires...You Aussie's are in my prayers daily. I hope you get your rain soon because I know that the farmer's crops and livestock can sure use it.
Very sad looking pictures, although they remind me of some parts of Texas and California.

Judy Birmingham (Seeing Anew Blog) said...

Just back from a month of traveling. I am so sorry to learn of the drought there in Australia. I hope you get some steady rain soon. Your cloud shots in another posting are gorgeous -- too bad they didn't bring rain though.