These google earth views show where the picture above was taken...

On the left is the angle of the photograph taken from the north towards the south. On the right is a close up detail of the closer part of the picture. Rivers such as this tributary of the Finke river were formed around 350 million years ago. The plain between the range at the foreground and the range south could have been been flooded by shallow sea then.

The geology of this part of Australia is fascinating. Many features — some hard to gauge from the ground up — show how the land was turned, twisted, lifted, folded, spun and eroded — leaving some fantastic large flowing patterns on the ground which are reminiscent of concentric Aboriginal paintings. These places are hot in summer and cool in winter and rarely see water. The rivers are dry, sandy and sparcely vegetated where underground humidity is enough to support a few trees above. The rocks are brown-red, the plains are yellow-grey, the sparce vegetation is dark grey-green... There is no scar from human endeavours in these regions. The Aboriginal people tread lightly...

It's not god's country... It's gritty nature as raw as one can see in this location. It's a harsh beauty that can stir our consciousness with powerful awe without the need of arcane spirituality or having the urgent need to dig nor make tracks. What is there is the product of undisturbed evolution still changing ever so slowly... while on other parts on earth, changes are much faster... We are disturbing the earth...

John Olsen:

'As science tries to destroy spirituality, Paul's scientific approach found a way to understanding that there was a spirit in the Australian landscape that transcended all fundamental understandings.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/i-was-meant-to-be-on-that-helicopter-says-olsen-20110820-1j3j7.html#ixzz1Ve1i2zjo
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Gus: John Olsen may be a better artist than I am but he says some stupid things... Science is far better than spirituality in my book. Science does not stop one to marvel at what one sees or feels. Actually science helps lift our understanding of space and time away fron fairy tales.
Good luck to John Olsen though...
Vale my mate, Gary Ticehurst...

pictures bu Gus Leonisky