I put all the names in a glass bowl, and asked the DH to draw out the winner:

Drawing the winner

The name he drew out was:

Karlene Blakemore-Mowle! Congratulations, Karlene! I’ll send you an email to get your posting address.

Thank you to everybody who entered the contest, and to all those who made comments about the first chapter. It’s wonderful to hear from readers that they’ve enjoyed the story.

Thanks also to Louisa, the publicity manager at Hachette Australia, for donating the copy of the book.

On another note, I will be putting up some more photos from my recent Pilliga trip, but I’ve been unwell for a couple of days (just gastric, nothing deadly). I will try to post some more tomorrow.

Just a reminder that there’s only two days left to enter to win a copy of As Darkness Falls!

Details and entry form are here – or click on the ‘contests’ category to the left.

One of the problems about a wilderness area like the Pilliga is that it is so difficult – at least for this amateur photographer – to take photographs that give a real sense of place; it’s just so vast. The Pilliga is the largest area of native forest in NSW. Parts of it are state forest, parts now National Park, and other areas are still privately owned.

I’m sorting through the images I’ve taken, and I’ll post a few here now – more to come later!

Edge of the Pilliga forest

This is the western side of the Pilliga forest, on the road between Baradine and Gwabegar. Some areas have been cleared for farming, but the scrub borders the paddocks.

This is one of the main tracks through the forest. My vehicle has a low clearance and isn’t 4WD, so as I was travelling alone, and it had rained a few days previously muddying many of the sandy tracks, I didn’t venture too far into the forest. The Aloes is a small clearing about 10km along this track, with a couple of picnic tables. I sent an hour or so there, and stopped a few times on the way in and out along this track, and didn’t see another human soul that whole time. There was just the constant sweet chatter of a variety of small birds, and the rustling of the breeze in the trees, and the soft buzz of insects feeding on the nectar of the spring-flowering plants.

The sandstone caves (more on them in a later post) are on the eastern, more hilly side of the Pilliga area. This is the view looking vaguely north; you can just see amongst the trees the blueish line of the forest, which stretches on to the horizon. Now, close your eyes, and imagine birds and the sunshine and the dry heat and the forest going for many, many miles on into the distance, for 360 degrees around you…

I’m away from home for a few days. I decided to take the opportunity of a relatively empty diary this week to travel down to the Warrumbungle/Pilliga forest area. The Pilliga is the landscape inspiration for my books (with some liteary license!) and as the book I’m currently working on is set at this time of year, it’s good to have the chance to be back here now.

Unfortunately, there’s not much in the way of internet connections here, and this machine I’m using in a cafe is rather old and slow. So, no photos untilafter  I get home tomorrow evening!

I’m off in a short while to do a walk around a sandstone cave outcrop with an Aboriginal guide – I’m looking forward to it.

Full report on the trip when I get back home!

The DH and I took a long day trip yesterday, heading west from home towards Moree, about 300km away. It was more about the journey than the destination, though, and we took back roads on the way out there, a route that we hadn’t travelled before – through Booroolong, Bundarra, Bingara and Terry Hie Hie. (Google map link for those who like maps!) On the way home, we came the more usual route, through Warialda, Inverell, Tingha and Guyra to Armidale.

Because we left a bit later than intended, and had a long way to go on, with a fair amount on dirt roads, we didn’t stop often for photos. However, we did stop in Bingara for an icecream. For those who’ve read As Darkness Falls, no, Bingara is not the inspiration for the town of Birraga, despite the similarities in name! Both Birraga and Dungirri are fictional, but would be further west if they really existed, and drier, and not doing so well – especially Dungirri.

However, for those who aren’t familiar with rural Australian townscapes, here’s a few pictures from the main street of Bingara, which has many points in common with other rural towns.

From As Darkness Falls:

Every Australian town had its war memorial – some a statue, some a rotunda, some a fountain or a clock tower. And some a Memorial Hall like Dungirri’s.

Bingara Soldiers Memorial Hall

The Bingara Soldiers Memorial Hall is rather more substantial than Dungirri’s, which is described by Alec in chapter 1 as ‘a dilapidated weatherboard building’. Bingara’s is a good example of the type of hall built in larger, more prosperous communities – and an example, now, of how some buildings have changed their uses over the years – it’s now the local office of the Gwydir Shire Council. (Bingara used to have its own local council, but many councils have been amalgamated in the past 10 years or so across the state into larger, more regional bodies.)

From As Darkness Falls:

He got out of the car, into the hot, parching wind, and looked back down along the main street. It wasn’t beautiful. A few plants struggled to exist in the garden beds in the middle of the wide road, but most were dead or dying. The buildings – half of them empty – needed painting, and a sign hung crookedly, squeaking inexorably as it swung in the wind. (pp.17-18)

Bingara

It’s spring in Bingara, and the garden beds in the middle of the main street were well looked after and glowing with colour. The wide street divided by a garden bed is typical, though, of rural NSW towns.

From As Darkness Falls:

A few dusty utilities and trucks were parked haphazardly in front of the old, double-storeyed hotel, the wrought iron bordering its wide upstairs verandas the only hint of long-gone splendour.

Imperial Hotel, Bingara

Again, Bingara’s Imperial Hotel is doing much better than Dungirri’s. Built in 1879, this is classic late eighteenth century pub architecture, a style found on the corners of many rural towns.

Bingara Post Office

The Bingara Post Office, built, I think, in the early twentieth century. The telecommunications tower behind it beams signals for devices unthought of when the Post Office was built.

We did make it to Moree in time for a late lunch, and found a nice cafe open, which we weren’t necessarily expecting given it was a Sunday afternoon. With a population of around 8,000, Moree is much larger than Bingara, and is on a major highway, so as we ate our lunch we watched many B-doubles go past, carrying goods into Queensland and far-west NSW. Then it was time for us to head back east, to be home in time to feed our dogs, and medicate the seizure-prone one. All in all, a good day out!