Australia by Red Nomad OZ
Shadows at Uluru, Central Australia

U is for Uluru: 11 Photos; 9 Bloggers; One Awesome Rock!

Uluru. When a Google search produces over 6.5 million results, writing anything else about Uluru becomes SO redundant I’m tempted not to use it for my Aussie ABC. What’s left to say about this massive monolith of sandstone 348 metres (1141 feet) high, 3.6 km (2.2 miles) long, 1.9 km (1.2 miles) wide and 3.33 km² (1.29 miles²) in size? With[…]

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Berries and Leaves

A Day in the Border Ranges National Park

Australia aggressively markets itself as all sunshine, surf and sand; red rocks, red dust and reefs.  But a visit to the Border Ranges National Park will show another side. Ancient sub-tropical rainforests of Gondwana clothe the sheer cliffs formed by the eroded caldera of what’s left of a massive shield volcano. They’re so unlike anything else you’ll see downunder they’ve[…]

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Woodenbong Landscape

Why Woodenbong is a TOP Aussie Town!

Even if I’d been to Woodenbong BEFORE I listed the Aussie place names that WON’T keep you guessing, it never would have made the cut. Yes, there really IS a town called Woodenbong. And no, this Northern New South Wales town just south of the Queensland border and ~150 km west of coastal hot spot Byron Bay ISN’T named after[…]

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Native Waterweed on the surface of the Crater pool, Mt Hypipamee National Park, Queensland

The Hypipamee Heebie-jeebies …

‘I would NOT like to fall down there,’ the backpacker remarked to his mates with that peculiarly British mixture of overconfident understatement and blinding obvious as he stared down into the depths of the crater. They nodded wisely, unsure whether or not they’d heard something profound, but deciding to play it safe. Banal though his utterance was, however, he was[…]

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Eagle Bluff, via Denham, Shark Bay, Western Australia

What to see at Eagle Bluff, Shark Bay, Western Australia

‘Shark! Everyone out of the water!!’ he yelled, and I involuntarily jumped back from the guardrail high above Eagle Bluff, my movement triggered by that most primeval of Australian fears: Shark Attack!! The amphitheatre of crumbling white rock plunging down into the green shallows of the bay below from the tourist brochure HAD to be trick photography, I’d thought upon[…]

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Charles Knife Road Gorges, Exmouth, Western Australia

What Does a Frenchman wear under his Sarong?!

Most people know what a traditional Scotsman wears under his kilt*. But far fewer people know what a Frenchman wears under his sarong! I’d never given this tragic gap in my knowledge any consideration whatsoever – I mean, who associates Frenchmen with sarongs? But if this vexed question HAD been keeping me awake at night, I certainly wouldn’t have expected[…]

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Thylacoleo carnifex, Australia's lion! Naracoorte Caves, South Australia

OZ Top Spot #12 – Naracoorte Caves National Park, South Australia

The dim yellow light cast a long dark shadow flickering balefully over the seeping rock as we descended deeper into the gloomy cavern. Treading carefully over the uneven rock floor, we dodged the oozing columns towering high above as we rounded the corner to leave the daylight behind. Channelling ‘Becky’ to Pilchard’s ‘Tom Sawyer’ in a weird re-enactment of Mark[…]

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Green Island from the Jetty, via Cairns, Far North Queensland

Return to Green Island – via Cairns, Far North Queensland

We Arrive on Green Island Although it was 20 LOOOONG years since our last Green Island National Park visit, Pilchard’s first action on our return just MAY have been a little bit extreme. I mean, propelling a perfectly good hat into the sea wasn’t some kind of superstitious ritual, was it? Did he perhaps think it meant we wouldn’t have[…]

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My Lord Howe Island Triathlon!

 *WARNING*: Real triathletes may find this post offensive! Please select another post!!    Lord Howe Island visitors seeking inertia are likely to be disappointed. Getting from A to B usually involves walking or cycling – and the best island activities are high-energy, hands-on and outdoors based. So after two days of reconnaissance on foot, we extended our range[…]

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