Australia by Red Nomad OZ
Hay Plain, via Deniliquin, New South Wales

Hunting the Wild Plains Wanderer – Deniliquin, New South Wales

They’d scented fresh blood. And in the deathly silence of twilight as dusk fell over the moonlit plain, I could hear them coming for me. A million manic mosquitoes, and I couldn’t move a muscle. Actually, that’s a lie. I COULD move – but I’d chosen not to. For 3 good reasons. Firstly, listening for the call of the enigmatic[…]

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Jump-up Loop Landscape, Sturt National Park, via Tibooburra, New South Wales

Explore Corner Country! Tibooburra, Milparinka and Cameron Corner, New South Wales

Our Corner Country Adventure Begins! Taking a road trip to ANY hottest place anywhere just SO isn’t on my travel bucket list. But Tibooburra, aka the hottest place in New South Wales, was closest town to the ONLY place in the world where I could stand in three Australian states – South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales – all at[…]

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Boulders on Bald Rock climb, via Tenterfield NSW

Climb Bald Rock – Australia’s BIGGEST Granite Monolith! via Tenterfield, NSW

There’s no shame in taking the easy option. Is there? That’s what I kept telling myself on the Bald Rock climb, anyway. It’d been too long since I clocked up an Australian exclusive, so climbing Bald Rock, largest exposed granite rock in the Southern Hemisphere and centrepiece of the boulder-studded Granite Country around Tenterfield, was a no-brainer. Choosing the easier[…]

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Berries and Leaves

A Day in the Border Ranges National Park

Australia aggressively markets itself as all sunshine, surf and sand; red rocks, red dust and reefs.  But a visit to the Border Ranges National Park will show another side. Ancient sub-tropical rainforests of Gondwana clothe the sheer cliffs formed by the eroded caldera of what’s left of a massive shield volcano. They’re so unlike anything else you’ll see downunder they’ve[…]

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Balls Pyramid, via Lord Howe Island

Basalt, Birds and Balls Pyramid!

‘The current’s running like a cut cat round the island,’ Jack shouted. He fired up Noctiluca‘s powerful 200 horse power engines and guided the eight-metre vessel into the bay. Boat Tour to Ball’s Pyramid If not for the camera in one hand and a convenient strut for balance in another, I’d have high-fived Pilchard. On our first trip three years[…]

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Queensland from Lions Road Border Crossing

7 Reasons to Road-trip the Lions Road NSW

As Aussie road trips go, the Lions Road NSW isn’t the best known. Or the longest. Or even the most demanding! But this 50 km fully sealed stretch of road linking the Mt Lindesay Highway near Queensland town Beaudesert with the Summerland Way near New South Wales town Kyogle is one of the most scenic, unusual and intriguing stretches of[…]

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Woodenbong Landscape

Why Woodenbong is a TOP Aussie Town!

Even if I’d been to Woodenbong BEFORE I listed the Aussie place names that WON’T keep you guessing, it never would have made the cut. Yes, there really IS a town called Woodenbong. And no, this Northern New South Wales town just south of the Queensland border and ~150 km west of coastal hot spot Byron Bay ISN’T named after[…]

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View of HIGHEST Loo in OZ at Rawsons Pass from Mt Kosciuszko Summit, Snowy Mountains, NSW

Rawson Pass: Scenic Public Loo #37

Some get to Rawson Pass en route to Mount Kosciuszko for the record.  Others do it for the challenge.  And still others do it just because it’s there. But I climbed Australia’s highest mountain for the chance go as HIGH as I could go – at Rawson Pass, the highest Scenic Public Toilet in the country!! 100 metres or so below the[…]

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Cullen Street, Nimbin, New South Wales

Postcard from … Nimbin, New South Wales!

Hi There! Amongst Nimbin’s main street throng of weekend hippy trippers, bong-brain backpackers and Rainbow Region locals I stood out like a tourist. The specially chosen bright orange chain store T-shirt I’d worn to Australia’s alternative lifestyle capital just didn’t stack up against the psychedelia of wildly experimental natural-dyed organic hand-woven fibres in daring and cutting edge styles. The locals[…]

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