go-see-do guide for adventurous travellers
Well, now that Oprah-mania has died down we’re left with images of the Uluru sunset thing, the Opera House mega-thon and the koala hugging! But I bet she didn’t hug THIS koala! Dadswells Bridge has the dubious honour (conferred by moi) of having one of the most grotesque and unashamedly unattractive ‘attractions’ I’ve encountered in Australia. Conversely, however, that in itself makes[…]
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Woomera? Or Stepford?!?!? Was our July 2008 visit during a particularly slow time, or are the wide, open streets normally this neat, quiet and uninhabited? I guess we’ll find out next time we visit – and there WILL BE a next time, because this unusual outback South Australian town just off the Stuart Highway en route to Roxby Downs and[…]
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Blink, and you’ll miss the little town of Brentwood – so you’ve got almost NO chance of finding the Brentwood cemetery without local assistance! Don’t look at me – I’m not going to tell you exactly where it is! But I’m not exactly going to hide it either. After all, it IS mentioned in official Yorke Peninsula Tourist information brochures,[…]
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We only made three mistakes when we visited Porcupine Gorge National Park in Northern Queensland’s Outback. The wild, natural beauty of this spectacular gorge is a short drive (by outback standards) north of nearby Hughenden – with various points of interest along the way outlined in a self-drive tour guide available from the ‘Flinders Discovery Centre’. The town of Hughenden[…]
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Well OK, it’s not actually a ‘paddock’ as such. And it’s certainly NOT just a plane! It’s a fully operational Qantas 747 Jumbo Jet (aka 747-200 VH-EBQ for those who care about such things!), the centrepiece of the Qantas Founders Museum – today celebrating 90 years of Qantas. It’s parked on a fenced off section of of the Longreach Airport grounds,[…]
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After a wet and windy flying flit from Cairns, we arrived in Bowen intending to set off early the next morning. Why the rush? We’d foolishly dallied in Cairns for too long, so had limited time to meet pre-arranged commitments in Ballina. As it was 12 years since our last visit, we shook off the travel-weariness of the 600-odd km drive, and[…]
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Medical emergency, but too far from the nearest doctor or hospital? Never fear! Help is at hand from the Blackall Ambulance Train!! Or possibly could have been if your emergency had been a) last century; b) in Queensland’s central west and c) within cooee of the train line to or from the town of Blackall in the Queensland Outback. Sadly,[…]
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I can’t wait to see the most recent addition to South Australia’s ‘anti-hoon’ laws enacted! For those unfamiliar with laws peculiar to this sometimes draconian state, legislation penalising certain automobile related behaviours – such as drag racing, laying rubber and doing burn-outs – can result in the offender’s vehicle being impounded or confiscated. That’s the simplified version, anyway. And while[…]
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At first glance, this public toilet in Gunnedah, Central NSW seems unremarkable, right? Especially when compared to the wonders and delights of the Australian public toilets already on display in these pages … BUT … Gunnedah’s offering can hold its head high in the public toilet pantheon, because it offers a complete poetry-themed amenities experience! At the end of Gunnedah’s ‘Poets Drive’ featuring[…]
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Thank goddess for Byron Bay! The Byron tourist magnet sucks a conglomerate of backpackers, yuppies, new age-ists, surfers, whale watchers and regular local and overseas tourists into its vortex, leaving the fabulous, diverse and bakery-filled Ballina region relatively uncrowded. This is good. This 7 day teaser is only an introduction – complete with ‘bakery alerts’ – as a week isn’t[…]
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