go-see-do guide for adventurous travellers
Discover the best of Australia - where to go, what to see and things to do - with experienced Aussie traveller Red Nomad OZ!
The lyrics of Aussie folk ballad Waltzing Matilda* are responsible for most people’s entire knowledge of billabongs**. So visiting a real one – like Marlgu Billabong – raises certain expectations. Visiting a real Billabong That’s why I found the unexpected lack of swagmen, coolibah trees, jolly jumbucks and troopers at the Marlgu Billabong, oasis in the Kimberley west of Kununurra,[…]
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Aglow in the setting sun, the Khancoban Pondage encircled with impossibly high mountains* was a calendar shot just waiting to happen**. So picturesquely pleasing, the scene seemed perfect. We looked out from the vantage point of our campsite in the Khancoban Lakeside Holiday Resort. Perhaps instead of crossing the River Murray border from Victoria into New South Wales, we’d inadvertently[…]
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The road wound ever upwards through rocky peaks and alpine meadows studded with non-operational chairlifts. The temperature dropped, then dropped some more. Fresh from the 39°C of an Adelaide autumn heatwave, we’d plunged (right along with the temperature!) into a parallel universe. We’d gone all alpine near Charlotte Pass in the Mt Kosciuszko National Park in the heart of Australia’s[…]
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At LAST I’ve got the answer to that irritating question – Have you been to all the Australian National Parks? I’ll just get out my recently released 2nd edition of Explore Australia’s excellent Explore Australia’s National Parks! And point out that to visit ALL of Australia’s 500+ National Parks would be a life-long project. The question comes up because lots of visitors stop[…]
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Watch your coincidences, the writers manual said. Spread them out, with no more than three or you’ll lose readers. So just WHAT was I supposed to do about all the Carnamah coincidences? We arrived in Carnamah on Mum’s birthday. Coincidence #1. A distant relative I’d never met before was staying in the caravan park. Coincidence #2. The Carnamah Historical Society[…]
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It doesn’t matter where we are. Or how far we’ve travelled. Or how hot it is. Or cold. Or what time of day. Whether it’s time for a snack, a meal, a nightcap, morning tea or midnight feast. We can always drop in to Red & Pilchard’s Ultimate All-Australian Travelling Café! Because it’s ALWAYS open. For us … … and[…]
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Does it REALLY take 7 days to drive the ~3000 km from Adelaide to Darwin? Only if you want to see a few sights along the way on a REAL adventure! Driving yourself is the best option (try Car hire if your vehicle isn’t up to scratch) to experience a cross-section of Australia’s unique countryside from the dry south, through the Red[…]
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Living in a landscape populated with giant fibreglass representations of fruit and animals is quite normal to many Aussies. Irrespective of whether or not such objects are in good taste! Commemorating criminals by building statues and devoting whole tourism campaigns to the bushrangers who dominated the early days of colonialism is also an intrinsic part of Aussie-dom. Irrespective of whether[…]
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Blue- and red-coloured landscapes are generally associated with other planets, abstract art or young children! But while you’re checking out all the amazing things to do in Broome you can experience a distinctive red and blue landscape for REAL! The ocean’s characteristic blue hue from white clay in the water combines with the red local Pindan rock and soil in[…]
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With Australia’s 25,760 km (16,000+ mile) coastline, more than most other countries, you’d think it’d be easy to find enough distinctive spots for photos with a unique and unmistakeably OZ flavour, right? So why do I repeatedly find myself with shots that could have been taken … well … ANYWHERE?? See if you recognise any of THESE! 1 The Fishing[…]
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