Random Adventures Archives - Australia by Red Nomad OZ

Aussie ABC: O is for Opal!

December 18, 2013 Red Nomad OZ Aussie ABC, Australian Round Up, Coober Pedy, Lightning Ridge, Opal, Outback, Quilpie, Random Adventures, Road Trips, Things to do, Travel, White Cliffs, Yowah

Australian Opal I didn’t understand all the fuss about SiO2.nH2O until 2004. That’s when I first visited Coober Pedy. It’s slap bang in the middle of absolutely freakin’ nowhere in the South Australian Outback. And it’s where I first found a piece of SiO2.nH2O I wanted to take home with me. You might know SiO2.nH2O better as Hydrous Silica. Or[…]

White Cliffs Waterhole, Outback New South Wales

7-and-a-half Minutes in Paradise! White Cliffs, New South Wales

February 10, 2012 Red Nomad OZ Bird watching, National Parks, New South Wales, Opal, Outback, Paroo-Darling National Park, Random Adventures, Things to do, White Cliffs

Think of ‘Australia’ and ‘Paradise’ in the same sentence and I’ll bet you’re thinking tropical. White sandy beaches, palms and and clear blue sea. Colourful fish, corals and lush rainforest. Balmy, moonlit nights and cocktails under the stars. But that splendid vision – while undeniably fabulous – is only one of many versions of utopia in this country of diverse[…]

A Day Trip to Toompine, Outback Queensland

October 7, 2011 Red Nomad OZ Eulo, Outback, Queensland, Quilpie, Random Adventures, Thargomindah, Things to do, Toompine

With an official population of two, tiny Toompine is barely a blip on the radar! And yet, all roads seem to lead there in the western Queensland Outback. A simple distance measurement between the outback towns of Eulo, Thargomindah and Quilpie yields Toompine’s coordinates almost exactly. Is that enough reason to visit? Of course not! But finding out why the[…]

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

Return to Green Island – via Cairns, Far North Queensland

August 15, 2011 Red Nomad OZ Cairns, Far North Queensland, Green Island, National Parks, Queensland, Rainforest, Random Adventures, Things to do, Travel, World Heritage

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[…]