go-see-do guide for adventurous travellers
So what creative uses are there for a whacking great hole in the ground? A hole 3.8 km long, 1.5 km wide and 600 metres deep that can make a 680 tonne shovel look like a kitchen utensil?? Or a 166 tonne truck like a Matchbox toy??? A hole so large it’s colloquially known as the Super Pit Kalgoorlie? That’s[…]
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STOP PRESS: Tragically, the Sugar Pine forest was burnt in the horror bushfire season of 2019/20. The Sugar Pine walk has been closed pending removal of the trees which are a danger to visitors. I hope this glimpse into my past experience inspires readers to get out there NOW and explore Australia while you can. Don’t leave it – tomorrow[…]
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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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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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‘Look out for the cat snakes on the rock ledges,’ our guide warned. ‘We saw one stalking a bird the other evening’. CAT Snakes? ‘But don’t take my word for it – I failed the snake identification exam!’ she laughed. Pilchard and I exchanged glances. The previous day a gaggle of grey nomads had shown us a photo of the[…]
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The sun rose as usual on this shining, sparkling pre-Xmas summer morning. A nice day for an apocalypse*. And where better to face the end of the world than on a (mostly) deserted Aussie beach, in an inadvertent echo of Australian classic On the Beach? A disturbing vision of post-apocalyptic dystopia, Australian author Nevil Shute’s masterpiece** was adapted for a[…]
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I hadn’t suspected the otherworldly limestone Karst country we’d crossed en route from the Visitor Centre to the Cutta Cutta Caves entrance to be a portal to a parallel universe. But had we inadvertently stumbled into a casting call for a bad B-grade movie? For now, waiting for our guide at the stairs leading down to the locked entry gate[…]
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‘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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I don’t know what made us decide to stay overnight at the Victoria River Roadhouse as we pulled in for fuel, late on a Northern Territory July morning. Perhaps we took the Grey Nomad’s experimental driving technique involving an inexpertly executed U-turn directly in front of us without warning as a sign to stay off the roads that day. […]
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The edge of the gorge was no place for a recovering acrophobic*. Despite its well-made viewing platform with solid handrails, the lookout overhung the sheer drop to the Joffre River far below, many more metres than I wanted to count**. I don’t think I’ll EVER get used to being on an overhang … But weirdly, the scare-factor just added to[…]
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