Friday Photos: Morning Glory

The Morning Star, Venus, hovers above a rising sun

My photographs today, feature a selection of images taken during the early morning hours, either before the sun had risen above the horizon, or soon after. In the image above, you can see what is popularly known as the ‘morning star’, although the planet’s official name is of course, Venus (also known as the ‘evening star’).

Early morning countryside. Mr Fox is out there somewhere.

Early morning country field somewhere along Australia’s Mallee Highway (Route B12), not far from the Victoria country town, Ouyen. I remember watching as a fox slowly loped across this open field, while presumably on its way back to its den after a night out foraging for food. I had pulled into a parking bay along the highway the night before where I slept in the back of my station wagon.

The Mulwala Bridge linking Victoria and New South Wales

Early morning at Lake Mulwala, where the twin towns of Yarrawonga (in Victoria), and Mulwala (in New South Wales) are joined together by the Mulwala Bridge, seen here soon after dawn. The name, Yarrawonga, is thought to be derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘place where the wonga pigeon rested’. Mulwala derives its name from an aboriginal word for 'rain'.

Early morning fog haze over Sydney

The early morning sun is rising through a haze of fog in the image seen above. This, and the photo below was taken during a visit to Sydney in 2009. In the image below, the sun has risen higher and is burning away the morning mist to promise a beautiful day out and about on Sydney Harbor.

Early morning Sydney skyline

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Someone to watch over me. My early morning 'angel'.

And finally, the early morning sun throws my shadow 50 feet just before continuing my 2009 road trip from Adelaide to Sydney.

Click images to view larger sizes.

The Boy Who Cried, Wolf!

“Look at the dog chasing the man,” said the boy, who seemed to be around seven or eight years of age.

“What are you talking about?” asked his mother in obvious confusion.

“There,” said the boy, “see, there’s a dog chasing a man?”

It was late on a Friday evening in mid-September, when I, and a group of 20-30 international and American visitors, gathered close to the edge of Grand Canyon’s south rim to watch as a perfect autumn day drew to a close, and long shadows began to rise and stretch across canyon walls away to the north.

The young boy pointed off into the evening haze, and dozens of curious visitors followed the direction of his outstretched hand to look for the ‘dog chasing the man’.

Eventually, even the oldest pair of eyes watched in wonder as the two shadows seen in the image above slowly grew, stretched and changed shape as the sun settled lower in the west.

I don’t know if the child’s parents had ever told the lad the story of The Boy Who Cried, Wolf, but memories of that old folk tale come to mind each time I look at this image, and I remember the boy who taught me once again, the simple pleasures of looking at the world through the eyes of a child.

Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona

Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona

During my 2012 visit to the United States, I spent five nights in Flagstaff, Arizona, which I used as my base while I explored some of the surrounding country. During my stay, one of the locations I happened upon―as I headed somewhat randomly, south―was the Montezuma Castle National Monument, a short distance off Interstate 17. Phoenix is approximately 140 km (87 mi) south of the monument, and Flagstaff, is about 80 km (50 mi) north.

I had never heard of the monument before my visit, nor therefore, had I seen images of the site. To say I was awestruck by the size and scale of what turns out to be some of the best preserved cliff-dwellings in the American Southwest, is an understatement.

The cliff-dwellings at Montezuma Castle were built and used by the Pre-Columbian Sinagua people around 700 AD. The Sinagua were northern cousins of the Hohokam, and the site was occupied from approximately 1125 to 1400 AD, with peak occupation thought to be around 1300 AD. By the way, when European Americans discovered the cliff-dwellings in the 1860s, they named them for the Mexican Aztec emperor, Montezuma II, due to mistaken belief that the emperor had been connected to their construction. In fact, neither part of the monument's name is correct. The site was abandoned by the Sinagua 100 years before Montezuma was born, and the dwellings were not a castle. The building was more like a prehistoric high rise apartment complex.

Exactly why the Sinagua abandoned the cliff-dwellings is not known, but warfare, drought, and clashes with the newly arrived Yavapai people have been suggested. The five-story stone and mortar dwellings contain 20 rooms and once housed about 50 people. Nearby are the remnants of Tuzigoot (Apache for “Crooked Water”), a Singuan Village built on the summit of a ridge. Tuzigoot was two stories high, with 77 ground floor rooms that were accessible via ladders through roof openings. Unfortunately, little of this site has remained.

Montezuma Castle information panel

Due to its isolated location, only about 350,000 tourists visit the site each year. Access to the ruins themselves has not been allowed since 1950 due to extensive damage of the dwelling, and the unstable nature of the limestone cliff face. However, there is a paved trail that leads from the visitor centre and skirts the base of the cliff containing the ruins, from which excellent views of the dwellings can be seen. In addition, numerous information panels (like the one seen at right) provide interesting historical and cultural facts about the cliff-dwellings, and the surrounding landscape.

The dwellings and the surrounding area were declared a U.S. National Monument on December 8, 1906 as a result of the American Antiquities Act, signed earlier in June of the same year. It was one of the four original sites designated National Monuments by President Theodore Roosevelt. The National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

If you are visiting Montezuma Castle, allow time to visit Montezuma Well several miles away. The well is a limestone sink created by the collapse of a large underground cavern, which is fed by permanent springs. There are also ruins located here from large pueblos to one-room houses.

What You Need To Know

> Operating Hours & Seasons

Open Daily: 8:00 AM-7:00 PM in summer, and 8 AM-5 PM in winter.

Closed on Christmas Day.

Phone: (928) 567-3322

Model depicting internal layout of cliff-dwellings

Montezuma Castle Entrance Fees

Adults (16 and over): $5.00 (good for seven days)

Children (under 16): FREE. Entrance fees for Montezuma Castle are collected inside the park Visitor Center during normal business hours.

Passes are available at a discounted rate of $8.00 for both Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments.

More Information

Montezuma Castle on Wikipedia... 

US National Park Service... 

Arizona Leisure...