Is that a Coolibah tree beside the abandoned house? Every Australian knows about Coolibah trees because the bush ballad Waltzing Matilda is nigh on our unoffical national anthem but most of us live nowhere near the inland where they grow. Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, Under the shade of a Coolibah tree, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.
"To muse, to creep, to halt at will, to gaze ... such sweet wayfaring"
William Wordsworth
Are they bales of the fluffy white bits ... sorry for the technical terms ... I have never driven through cotton country ... my daughter is a lawyer specialising in water allocations ... she cannot talk specifics with us, but many of her clients are up that way.
ReplyDeleteYes the fluffy white bits are gathered from the plants and wrapped up into bales similar to those big round hay bales.
DeleteBits of white stuff seem to blow off the bales as they are being transported to the cotton gin, leaving white traces along the side of the road during the harvesting season.
I took a close up of the bales last year here http://sweetwayfaring.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/cotton.html
Ahha ... saw that link ...
DeleteWell it still looks interesting. It looks like your driver is like mine. He can never find a place to stop for a shot.
ReplyDeleteDiane, since you live in Queensland that is not surprising. The roads are narrow and have very steep sides (probably to carry away the much heavier rainfall you have).
DeleteIan usually does photos stops for me in NSW but I don't even ask most of the time in Queensland. I am also reluctant to do so when we are towing a van as that makes finding a safe place to pull up more complicated.
Can you imagine picking cotton by hand?
ReplyDeleteThose thorny, sharp pods?
It's probably still harvested that way in many countries.
A field full of cotton to hand pick ... what a daunting task!!
DeleteI reckon it would make you appreciate your clothes and mend them rather than throwing them out in no time like we do these days.