Australia by Red Nomad OZ
Sunrise at Lake Lascelles

Why Hopetoun Victoria is a TOP Aussie Town!

I don’t know why it is that travellers are routinely described as ‘weary’. If I’m describing myself, I just say I’m a traveller – not a weary one. But when travel publications refer to havens for the weary traveller; and weary traveller’s resting places; and recharging the weary travellers batteries and the like, you start to believe the hype. So after[…]

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Lake Tutchewop Track

Two Twitchers, Two Nights and Two Thousand Clicks!

If I hadn’t been twitching I would never have gone to Tittybong. And if that’s conjured up a disturbing mental image, keep reading! It’s not quite as perturbing as it sounds!! Or maybe it is … Most Northern Hemisphereans probably won’t understand.  Why would two otherwise sane, normal Australians (that’s a self-assessment, not an oxy-moron) would spend three days driving[…]

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Mt Abrupt from Dunkeld Arboretum

Climb Mount Abrupt! Grampians, Victoria

It took an awfully LOOOOOONG time to climb Mount Abrupt. It took a long time to even get there. Over 20 years of regular trips to the Grampians National Park and its amazing natural attractions had passed by before we fully explored its wilder, more remote southern end. We’d always found plenty to do from Halls Gap, in the Central[…]

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On the Lake Surprise circuit track, Mt Eccles National Park, Victoria

8 Random Adventures on the Kanawinka Geotrail!

My first adventures on the Kanawinka Geotrail pre-date Pilchard by quite a few years. They also pre-date both owning a camera AND knowing that the Kanawinka Geotrail even existed!! Now I know the Geotrail connects 60+ significant sites across South-Eastern South Australia and South-Western Victoria.  It forms Australia’s first UNESCO Global Geopark – one of the largest regions of volcanic[…]

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Western Treatment Plant with Avalon Airport and You Yangs in the distance, Victoria, Australia

The Aussie Scenic Public Loo that WASN’T!

I’ve got Pilchard to thank for some of our more obscure travel destinations. If not for him, I wouldn’t be out birding. And if not for birding, I wouldn’t have been in this marvellously scenic spot near Werribee on the outskirts of Melbourne’s west! As I photographed the sunlight glinting across the waters of Port Philip Bay to Portarlington, and[…]

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Tinsel Lilies, Grampians

5 Grampians Wildflower HOT Spots!

In spring, the distinctive landscapes of Victoria’s Grampians National Park – where vista after staggering vista stretches out in an almost endless 360° scenic panorama – become an irritating distraction from its main attraction! Because springtime is double the fun in the Grampians when every magnificent view comes with a bonus extra – a unique display of wildflowers especially formulated[…]

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Lake Cullulleraine Sunset, Victoria, Australia

Lake Cullulleraine and the Singing Camera! via Mildura, Victoria

OK, so I’d been reading a photography magazine as we approached Lake Cullulleraine at the end of a long day on the road, and I was itching to try a few things out. So what if my camera was ‘only’ a point & click, and not one of the fancy-schmancy-hi-tech must-have gadget-laden-gizmos the mag condescended about. Besides, I was in[…]

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Late Afternoon from the Bushman's Rest Caravan Park at Lake Cullulleraine, Victoria

Lake Cullulleraine: So COOL it’s HOT!

I’m not sure why it’s never occurred to us to stop at Lake Cullulleraine, 58 km west of northern Mildura and deep in the heart of the Victorian Mallee. Until now. Only 3½ hours from Adelaide, Cullulleraine (as it is shown on more modern maps) is a perfect example of why it’s SO worth exploring places not so far from[…]

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Big Ned Kelly, Glenrowan, Victoria

The Next BIG Thing! Glenrowan, Victoria

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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The Pinnacle Lookout with Lake Bellfield below, Grampians National Park, Victoria

Walk the Pinnacle – Grampians National Park

WARNING: Do NOT attempt the Pinnacle walk if you don’t like A) heights; B) snakes; C) wildflowers; or D) looking uncool! Whether or not D) applies depends to a certain degree on physical fitness levels – and possibly hiking fashion sense! Although tragically that’s not a factor if you’re like me.  That red face, heaving chest and death-rattle puffing after[…]

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