go-see-do guide for adventurous travellers
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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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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‘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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As you can tell from this shot of a typical Australian Beach, it’s obviously the middle of winter. AND peak tourist season. No way? No, REALLY! Coconut Wells Beach, a short drive north of Western Australia’s Broome on this beautiful July day (yes, that IS winter dowunder!) showed no signs of habitation except for a dune buggy track heading off[…]
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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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‘Shark! Everyone out of the water!!’ he yelled, and I involuntarily jumped back from the guardrail high above Eagle Bluff, my movement triggered by that most primeval of Australian fears: Shark Attack!! The amphitheatre of crumbling white rock plunging down into the green shallows of the bay below from the tourist brochure HAD to be trick photography, I’d thought upon[…]
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Is BLUE the new RED? It is downunder where blue and red have been interchangeable for YEARS! But before you start thinking us Aussies are a nation of colour-blind fools, it’s all due to the colloquial contrariness that means we call things the opposite to what they are. So a tall person becomes ‘Shorty’. A skinny person becomes ‘Fatso’. And[…]
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Is high tide the best time to see the amazing rich red soil, and the coloured layers of the rocks against the astonishing blue sea at Gantheaume Point Broome? Well … maybe! Broome’s iconic point, at the northern end of the 22km white sand curve of world famous Cable Beach, is a stunning scenic masterpiece during the strong light of[…]
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The superb double entendre of 70’s conservation poster slogan ‘Save the Poor Bustard’ gave my childish mind what I can now identify as a salacious thrill. It could actually be repeated without the speaker being accused of swearing!! All the same, it shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise when, after testing the slogan out once or twice, I was[…]
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Bloated from a surfeit of mango smoothies from several Ord River irrigation scheme produce outlets and cafés during a mini-heatwave, we finally left Kununurra for the day and hit the Parry Creek Road eatery-free zone. Going cold turkey was the only way to break the smoothie stranglehold, whether or not our abstinence caused the producers financial hardship. While the significant[…]
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