go-see-do guide for adventurous travellers
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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Searching for Australian campsites or caravan parks that we won’t regret in the morning adds that little frisson of uncertainty that makes road-tripping round Australia so exciting. Although sometimes it’s a little TOO exciting when darkness is falling and we’ve got NO clue as to where we’ll spend the night. That’s why we take time each trip on a reconnaissance mission[…]
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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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The splendiferous sun sank into the shadowy waters on this balmy OZ winter’s evening with a sensational splash of colour. The superb sunset would make a good stand-alone shot. But a prop or two would turn it into a GREAT one! Luckily for me, this July 2012 Derby sunset over stunning King Sound in Australia’s North West had three: a massive[…]
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I had no idea that at 747 metres (2450 ft) above sea level Tom Price is the highest town in Western Australia. I also had no idea Tom Price is at the foot of the highest Western Australian mountain with a summit accessible by road. And I had no idea that the town was named for American geologist Thomas Moore[…]
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It’s the bird du jour around almost any given sub-tropical picnic area and car park, so it should have been easy to get a good shot. However, my shots of Australian Brush-turkey in the dark depths of Natural Bridge*, part of Springbrook National Park’s lushly magnificent rainforest, all had something missing. Clarity. We’d driven up the impossibly steep Border Ranges from[…]
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Risking it all at Sawn Rocks! ‘You’d be REALLY unlucky to be underneath when a rock column fell,’ the Grey Nomad to his wife as I stood, camera pointed up at the rock face directly above me, waiting for the sun. They laughed merrily. While the notoriety of being the first person killed by a falling organ-pipe column in living[…]
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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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‘Now we’ll see some REAL scenery!’ Doug announced, herding us away from the spectacular outlook from Coulthard’s Lookout towards our convoy of two vehicles. The Arkaroola Ridgetop tour was well underway. But I was sceptical. The ragged mountain ranges (yes, I’m channelling Aussie poet Dorothea Mackellar*) glistened and glowed in a glorious 360° panorama in the perfection of a clear Outback[…]
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Blowering Dam The chances of the overly excitable, imaginative and paranoid of finding their Blowering Dam Wall public amenities experience a little stressful are better than average. Answering nature’s call in this relief station’s picturesque setting in the heavily wooded Tumut River Valley is a positive pleasure. But its placement is a potential death trap. And while the possible perils[…]
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