J Is For Jerra Jerra

Don't Blink Or You'll Miss It, Mate

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

One of the joys of long interstate drives is having enough time on your hands to stop and shoot some images every times you see a sight that takes your fancy. Which, in my case, is fairly often. Oh, okay, make that VERY often.

In June this year I was driving through the lush Riverina, the picturesque farming area in New South Wales. Every time I cross the border from my home state, Victoria, I am surprised by how green it is in NSW, and this time was no exception. Even though it was early in the Australian winter, there had not been a lot of rain in Victoria, but across the state line, things were emerald green.


The first image was shot at the tiny Jerra Jerra Creek just outside the town of Culcairn, while I navigated my way to Wagga Wagga and then on to Temora. It was a good road, although there were some sweeping bends, so I had to make sure every time I stopped to take some shots that I was in clear view of traffic coming from either direction.

This abandoned building caught my attention, but because it was on a fairly straight stretch of road, I was able to pull over easily and shoot a couple of frames to emphasise its desolation and the sense of abandonment amid the green paddocks just off the highway.


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Open-Door Policy

We'll Drink To That

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

These might look like the bat-wing doors from some Wild West saloon, but this is actually the entrance of the Ettamogah Pub in New South Wales, just across the border from neighbouring Victoria.

Every time we drive down the Hume Highway, we make it a point to stop off here - which in turn means that regular readers of this blog would recall at least three or four pictorial posts on the unique pub that is a real-life depiction of Ken Maynard's cartoons in The Australasian Post.

A couple of weeks ago, I was on a two-day trip into the Outback, up the beautiful Riverina region of New South Wales. Yes, I had the GPS in the car with me, but I didn't plug it in, preferring to operate on the "turn left at the dead gum tree" school of navigation. (And no, I didn't get lost. Not once. Fair dinkum.)

I knew I had to turn onto the Olympic Highway just after the Ettamogah Pub, but it was one of those trips where photography held sway, not the clock. So of course I pulled off the Hume Highway to spend twenty minutes in a familiar part of the country. And yes, each time I photograph this amazing landmark, the light is different.

I had a yarn to Chrissy the barmaid while I was there, but there was one key question I forgot to ask her, regarding the front door. Next time we drop in, I'll ask her this: is it famous for being the easiest door to get in through but the most difficult to get out of?

I’d welcome any thoughts you might have …


For earlier posts in this series, check out The Doors Archive.