Not having an off-road 4×4 vehicle to smash through BF Goodrich shaped mud-holes television advertisement style, meant I had to begin the Allambee Beek Falls circuit walk on the corner of Curtis Track and Benwerrin-Mt Sabine Rd. I worked my way through the mud-holes along the Curtis Track until I found the pink ribbons marking the entry point into the dank Otway undergrowth with a false forest floor of fallen mountain ash bark, clammy head-high spider webs that are easily torn with a outwardly held forearm and abrasive fern fronds that have the potential to rip skin from elbow joints. On this circuit I stumbled upon two tiger snakes; one was coiled on the centre of the trail (easy to spot but as soon as I took my eyes off it, it silently disappeared), the other was suspended in the grass across the trail (not so easy to spot with the banding of its skin).

I first reached Staircase Falls which had a large tree extending back up over the waterfall from a log jam at its base adding an altered sense of scale to the scene. After a couple of slippery creek crossings I then reached Allambee Beek Falls, taking a photograph away from the plunge pool at its base for context. On the banal return ascent along Curtis Track I was rewarded with some Jesus Beams. Amen to that…

All negatives were produced with my medium format Pentax 67 camera and diffusion enlarged using a Rodenstock Rodagon 80 mm lens to a 12″ x 16″ print on Ilford multigrade IV fiber FB paper. The prints aren’t perfect but I figure they can always be updated if I continue to practice and develop my skills.

The negative is similar to a musician’s score, and the print to the performance of that score. The negative comes to life only when “performed” as a print. Ansel Adams – The Print

The 3 Peaks Challenge provides cyclists with one of the world’s toughest and most picturesque cycling challenges of the Victorian Alps. The 235 km loop provides a course that is so epic it’s comparable to a Tour de France stage with 3 major climbs – Tawonga Gap, Mount Hotham and Falls Creek via Omeo. Source: Bicycle Network Victoria

When asked to summarise my 3 Peaks Challenge experience in the post-event survey I ticked the box labelled solitude. Cycling for me has always been about the rhythmic meditative experience of zoning out on a quiet country road. Over three months in the lead-up to the event I followed the suggested training schedule and dispersed weekend hill climbs around Cape Otway and the Dandenong Ranges with intervals on the Casey Fields criterium track. I didn’t want to be busting my balls conquering peaks like a conquistador to reach the finish line but instead wanted to enjoy the alpine serenity free of the brain-rattlig noise and hair-burning smell of big two-stroke engines running at full throttle. Unfortunately my brother tapped out at Omeo but it was good riding with him to that point. I thought he might at least attempt the infamous final climb but he seemed happy with the effort he put in. With a lift from friends Scott and Clare he was able to catch me roll through the finish line after surreally awakening from that nightmarish final climb to Falls Creek on the Bogong High Plains Rd.

Thanks to Bicycle Network Victoria for organising and safely executing this challenge. The relaxed vibe of the Falls Creek Village was very much harmonious with the style of event.

What are your legs?
Springs. Steel springs.
What are they going to do?
Gonna hurl me down the track.
How fast can you run?
As fast as a leopard.
How fast are you going to run?
As fast as a leopard!
Then let’s see you do it!

Archy Hamilton preparing himself before climbing out of the trenches to charge the Nek in the final scene of Peter Weir’s Gallipoli (1981)

I thought reminiscing on the dissection of Gallipoli in high-school English class might overshadow the experience of touring the battlefields but watching it again with revised prejudice and a better sense of identity at Eceabat’s Crowded House only enhanced the experience.

The film remains one of the most loved of all Australian films, partly because of its intense nationalism. Its mixture of innocence and sacrifice, youthful high spirits and brutal, industrialised murder, helped to redefine how Australians thought about the First World War. In dramatic terms, it’s one of Weir’s most nakedly emotional films and one of his most poetic, especially during the elegiac finale. It is packed with religious imagery, the final freeze-frame being a form of crucifixion. Source: Curator Paul Byrnes – National Film and Sound Archive

The Gallipoli Peninsula (Gelibolu Yarımadası) was invaded in 1915 by the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, commanded by General Sir Ian Hamilton, after the failure of a British naval bombardment on Turkish defences along the straits of the Dardenelles (Çanakkale Boğazı). The British wanted to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul to force Turkey (Germany’s ally) out of the war and open a supply route with Russia for the southern front against Austria-Hungary.

At dawn on April 25, 1915, British troops made the main amphibious landing at Cape Helles to push for Krithia and the Kilitbahir Plateau. Additionally, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) had intent to land at Gaba Tepe (Kabatepe) and capture the heights of the Sari Bair range but instead drifted north to face the steep scrub covered cliffs and gullies of what is now known as Anzac Cove (Anzak Koyu). There is still conjecture about this being an intentional mistake due to Anzac Cove being less fortified by the Turkish. In both landings none of the objectives were immediately reached and orders were given to dig in and hold on. As the summer heat intensified over the next couple of months, conditions became tough for the soldiers who were experiencing strong counter-attacks from the Turkish. Poor sanitation in the trenches led to plagues of flies encrusting bully beef and outbreaks of dysentry, diarrhoea and typhoid fever.

A new offensive was launched on August 6 with the British landing at Suvla Bay (Suvla Koyu). Simultaneous assaults were made for the high ground of Chunuk Bair, the narrow ridge known as the Nek, and Lone Pine. The August offensive ended in failure, with the summit of Chunuk Bair being reclaimed by the Turkish. Mounting criticism of the invasion and the harsh winter conditions led to the successful withdrawal of 90,000 men from Suvla and Anzac mid-December.

Private John Simpson of the Australian Army Medical Corps is one of the most notable heros of the ANZAC campaign. He was killed four weeks after landing at Gallipoli by machine-gun fire whilst carrying two wounded men and was buried on the beach at Hell Spit.

Simpson would not have made a good peacetime soldier, and he was recklessly independent in war. Instructed to recover and help the wounded he undertook this work enthusiastically. Famously, he used a small donkey to carry men down from the front line, often exposing himself to fire. The bravery of this “man with the donkey” soon became the most prominent symbol of Australian courage and tenacity on Gallipoli. Source: Australian War Memorial

In Turkey, the battle to maintain control of the Gallipoli Peninsula is considered a defining moment in the history of its people, as well as fostering the growth of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the front-line commander of the 19th Division. The occupation of Constantinople and Smyrna by the Allies in the aftermath of World War I prompted the establishment of the Turkish national movement. The Turkish War of Independence, as led by Atatürk, resulted in him being elected the first President of the secular Republic of Turkey, the abolition of the Ottoman Sultanate and the introduction of many radical reforms for the country.

The travertine terraces of Turkey’s Pamukkale (translates to Cotton Castle) take a fair amount of work to keep them pearly white. In the past they were mistreated – a hotel was built overlooking the site with access roads cutting through it and people were free to scramble over and bathe in the pools (check out the postcards from yesteryear). It’s now been realised that this practice is not sustainable and guards are continually chirping their whistles to keep tourists from taking that extra step. Like the Mammoth Hot Springs of the USA and Huanglong of China, as water surfaces from underground thermal springs, carbon dioxide degasses from it, and calcium carbonate is deposited. Initially the deposit is a soft jelly, but this eventually hardens into travertine. Temporary diversion of the mineral spring flow gives an opportunity for the sun to bleach the natural pools and tourists to cover themselves with mud in the synthetic pools (win-win!).