The flowers and the weather were at their best and several films of photos were used to record that feast of colour and landscaping.

Back in Australia this photographer's cousin, who worked in Parks and Gardens in Canberra, was so impressed with the photos that he borrowed all the negatives and had some of them enlarged to poster size.

To cut a long story short he developed a plan, made a trip to Holland to get information and advice, submitted a plan to his superiors which was approved and thus the now famous and popular Canberra Floriade was born.

The amateur photographers had some of his basic training at the Orange Camera Club where three men and one woman were so excellent that they won international awards, yet they treated everyone as equal and all received training in photography and in judging competitions.

Thereby producing quality photography with impact rather than just snapshots.

So it pays to produce the best you can, and sometimes it can even result in a spring flower park enjoyed by thousands of Australian and overseas visitors - now in its 30th years. See it for yourself this month of October and enjoy.

I have just completed a trip along the Darling River and what I have seen is a river system mostly in complete chaos.

I really wonder why the very contentious basin plan is called the Murray Darling Basin Plan, somewhere along the way those hundreds of experts in Canberra with their marvellous computer modelling have largely forgotten about the Darling River.

The lower Darling is barely flowing and the salt levels are increasing dramatically.

The same rules that have been applied to the Murray River irrigation system must be applied to the Darling River.

It really breaks your heart to hear all of the stories of woe, farmers are doing it hard enough in Australia, dry times are here again for a lot and idiotic government energy policies has put their energy bills out of control, no wonder the average age of farmers is getting older all the time.

The Menindee Lakes need to be maintained as they supply a wonderful water source for Broken Hill along with sustaining and amazing amount of wildlife, the argument that they evaporate quickly is wrong and can be countered by the 2000 gigalitres of water each year needed to keep the once saline lower lakes a fresh water system.

If we are to have a fair basin plan then it must encompass the whole river systems including the lower lakes.

I am completely bamboozled by the NSW Government’s idea to build a 500km pipeline from the Murray River to Broken Hill, the water is already there, quite a few locals there told me the mineral sands mines want more water, hence the pipeline.

So many years since the Basin Plan began and it is enveloped in more controversy than ever.