Cockatoo Island is a great place for photography as well as to reflect on what was a hive of industrial activity.

Some very large metal lathes imported from the UK are still in place along with some cranes and beam bending equipment.

Today you can do some "glamping" overnight on the island.

I have had more than a passing interest in the mountain huts, or cattlemens huts in the Victorian Alpine region. I am a member of the Victorian Huts Association, a group formed after the huge bushfires of 2003. See https://hutsvictoria.org.au/about-vhcha/

Large timber logs were also used to build several of the cattlemen’s huts in the high country in Victoria and New South Wales.

These huts were mainly used in the warmer months when cattle were permitted to graze on the grass plains in the high country.

Perhaps the most well known and photographed is Craigs Hut near Mt Stirling. It really was only built as a movie set for the film "The Man from Snowy River". It is easily accessible by 4WD.

Wallaces Hut on the Bogong High Plains is considered to be the oldest hut. It too is a short walk from a car park. 

Cope Hut located a short distance from Wallaces is not the traditional cattlemens hut but was built in the late 1920s as a ski lodge. 

Cope Hut is considered to be one of the most comfortable huts.

Cleve Cole Hut is a Memorial hut located near the summit of Mt Bogong and is built from local rocks.

Another unique Memorial Hut is on Mt Feathertop built in 1965-67 by the Melbourne University Mountaineering Club (MUMC) as a tribute to two members killed on Mt Cook in New Zealand.

I designed this geodesic dome whilst a student. The two killed were my friends. The hut has since been painted a dull green colour to reduce reflections and has survived two extreme bushfires that have burnt right up to the rock walls. Photo from the late 1960s

 Guys Hut is another hut a pleasant stroll from a car park on the Howitt Plains.
 More images below:

Bare Island is a small island located at the northern side of the entrance to Botany Bay in Sydney, Australia.

It was noted by James Cook. My guess is that it is about two acres in size.

In the 1870s, the New South Wales Colony was worried about potential invasion by Russia and during the 1880s a number of fortifications were constructed along the top of the sandstone cliffs between Botany Bay and as far as to the north of Sydney Harbour. Bare Island was one such fort. It would appear that the bridge which crosses the 30‐40 metre gap was built towards the end of the construction of the fort.

The bridge uses heavy and strong Australian hardwoods in a beam and trestle arrangement. It has been repaired on a number of occasions such as in 1984‐86 when it was almost replaced and again in 2007. Evidence of past pier locations can be seen on the sandstone rock shelves on either side of the channel.

The bridge was used in the dramatic opening sequence in the 1999 movie Mission Impossible II

Bare Island and nearby La Perouse are popular locations for wedding photographers – often it is quite windy but they persist!

Some images by Peter Kneen of the timber bridge to Bare Island at La Perouse, Sydney.

There are two Boggy Creek heritage rail bridges in Victoria.

The one pictured was part of the Wodonga to Cudgewa railway line in north eastern Victoria. The rail line was started in 1887 and was finally extended to Cudgewa in 1921. The rail line was in use for approximately eighty years.

More recently, the Victorian Government has converted several of the unused lines into bicycle trails which have proved to be very popular. The Boggy Creek timber trestle bridge is part of the High Country Rail Trail but cyclists are required to dismount and detour around the crossing.

The bridge is an example of a timber beam and trestle construction. It follows a curve across the creek bed and uses heavy and very strong Australian hardwood members.

Brief Background to the Bridges of Gundagai

There are two significant heritage listed timber bridges in Gundagai – an old road bridge and a rail bridge.

Nowadays there is no railway line and the highway by passes the town. There was a very major flooding of the area in the 1852 which resulted in 89 deaths or about a third of the population of the town. The town was rebuilt on higher ground. The building of the road and rail bridges were forced to be raised above the flood plains of the Murrumbidgee River. The flood plains are wide and this resulted in the bridges being of such a length.

Some Structural Features

Both bridges used steel trusses to span the main channel of the river but the many approach spans across the flood plains used Australian hardwood in tall trestle piers. The road bridge approach spans were shorter so timber beams were used whereas timber trusses were employed for the rail bridge with the tracks on the top deck.

Other timber structures exist in Gundagai such as the supporting tower for the water tanks used to fill the steam engines at the station.

The heritage listed timber truss railway bridge comprises 77 timber trusses based on the American Howe truss concept.

Each truss is approximately 35‐40 feet long and the single rail track is on top of the bridge. These trusses are supported well above the flood plain of the Murrumbidgee River on tall timber trestles.

Locally sourced materials were the preferred choice in the era when the railways expanded rapidly in Australia. Australian eucalypt trees, and in particular the “Ironbark” variety possess great strength and stiffness.

Solid timber members are used in the trusses and trestle supports to carry compression loads and in the deck where bending resistance is required. Iron rods are used to carry tension forces. Careful checking of the timber components means that most of the forces are transferred by direct contact.
All images by Peter Kneen