Southern New South Wales

The week after travelling in North Queensland I drove south, deep into New South Wales, over 800 klm, so more than 2500 klm south of where I was in the Gulf. The countryside is noticeably different, the light is softer with the southern latitude and cooler climate. The imprint of "civilisation" is everywhere, country is cleared of trees, planted to crops and pastures, there are more towns, more houses, tractors,silos and sheds and many more visible people. There are quiet places but the country does not have the stillness that infuses everything in the north. The trees are different and the colours are more muted - greys and greenish greys, straw colour of winter grass and more clouds in the skies. The country in the south has a softer feel, less elemental, less wild, still dry - at this time in the south the land is waiting for rain after a dry summer, in the north, the summer rain is finished and the dry season is beginning.