A Visit to Churchill Island

Looking over to Phillip Island. Highland cattle are a big drawcard on Churchill Island
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens).

It's been a while since I last posted anything on this blog - November last year, in fact. Far too long. But without engaging much in the way of serious travel over the past few months, I've genuinely found it hard to pick up my cameras and get inspired.
This mood changed on a recent road trip to Victoria. With multiple overnight stopovers on the way down the coast (Princes Hwy), nine days of great weather and being surrounded by gorgeous East and South coast scenery in both States, it was not long before I was back in the groove with my camera again. 

Highland cow (Pic by Natalie Hitchens).

Tiny Churchill Island lies just off the coast of Phillip Island and is part of the Phillip Island Nature Parks that maintains the Penguin Parade attraction as well as several other attractions.

The site includes a magnificent swathe of farmland stretching down to the mangroves that separate Churchill from Phillip Island and the original farm and homestead (built on  the highest point on the island). Each room is furnished by the National Trust in the style of the period. The island was originally purchased by a former mayor of Melbourne, Samuel Amess in 1857.

As the rooms were quite dingy - possibly both to recreate the feel of a past century (but also to prevent the furnishings from fading drastically?), we shot everything using a one stop bracket, then assembled the resulting RAW files using my favourite HDR software Aurora. Doing this enables you to reveal details in the darkest corners of the rooms while making the result look quite natural.

Chook doing what free range chooks do best - clean up the grubs and bugs in the garden beds (Pic by Natalie Hitchens).

Yours truly posing by a striking mural in one of Churchill Island's shearing sheds (Pic by Natalie Hitchens).