Australia by Red Nomad OZ

The Bizarre Back-of-Beyond Bakery – Farina, South Australia

STOP PRESS!  2020 Farina Bakery Update:  Due to COVID-19 the Farina Bakery South Australia will NOT be operating in 2020.  However, the Farina historic township and Farina campground will be open and can be visited in line with South Australian state government border closures and travel restrictions.  The sign shimmered through the haze of dust and heat like a mirage.[…]

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Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mine Super Pit, Western Australia

Unnatural Attractions: The Super Pit, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia

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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Eagle Bluff, via Denham, Shark Bay, Western Australia

What to see at Eagle Bluff, Shark Bay, Western Australia

‘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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Under the Canopy - Tree of Knowledge, Barcaldine

Aussie Icons #5 – Tree of Knowledge Barcaldine Queensland

When the 200-year-old Tree of Knowledge was poisoned shortly after being included on the National Heritage List on Australia Day 2006, I was appalled. Yet another historic Aussie landmark fallen victim to the disregard sometimes shown for our heritage. But although the tree’s demise was disappointing, I was also resigned to its fate. Because when a tree dies, it’s gone for[…]

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"The Saint", Townsville, Queensland

Aussie Icons #4 – ‘The Saint’, Castle Hill, Townsville QLD

Those nostalgic for the ‘good old days’ would do well to consider the enduring legacy of Townsville’s ‘The Saint’, a 1962 student prank that continues to generate controversy. A tragic reminder (!) of the lawlessness and anarchy characterising 1960’s society degeneration (!) from the wholesome family values of the 1950’s, the James Cook University students responsible have left North Queensland’s[…]

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Green Island from the Jetty, via Cairns, Far North Queensland

Return to Green Island – via Cairns, Far North Queensland

We Arrive on Green Island Although it was 20 LOOOONG years since our last Green Island National Park visit, Pilchard’s first action on our return just MAY have been a little bit extreme. I mean, propelling a perfectly good hat into the sea wasn’t some kind of superstitious ritual, was it? Did he perhaps think it meant we wouldn’t have[…]

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Cooper's Creek, Outback Queensland

Aussie Icons #2 – Cooper’s Creek

Studded with campfires in the late evening dusk, the creek banks were alive with the sounds of trucks thundering across the bridge, beer cans popping and that combination of braggadocio, loud laughter and hi-jinks peculiar to any random group of three Aussie males on a boy’s own adventure. Yes, Cooper’s Creek earned its Aussie-rite-of-passage status in the June 2009 week[…]

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Entrance to Innes National Park, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia

Favourite Place #5 – Innes National Park, Yorke Peninsula, SA

It’s a mystery to me why Innes National Park (INP) isn’t on any Top 10 Australian National Parks lists. At the south-western tip of Yorke Peninsula’s ‘toe’ (you’ll see what I mean on the map) its wild and remote beauty is unique. BUT … perhaps the unparalleled coastal scenery, historic buildings, walking trails, shipwreck sites, deserted beaches, fishing, lighthouses, wildlife[…]

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