Australia by Red Nomad OZ
London, Paris, Thargomindah - Flags at the Thargomindah Hydro Station, Outback Queensland

Things to do in Thargomindah, Outback Queensland

Thargomindah is conveniently located between Eulo and Noccundra – two other Outback Queensland localities you’ve probably never heard of.  At over 1000 km (620 miles) west of Brisbane, it’s not a place you come across by chance. But there are plenty of things to do in Thargomindah. As part of the Adventure Way, a self-drive trail from Brisbane to Innamincka[…]

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Lake Moogerah Sunset, Scenic Rim

Random Adventures in the Scenic Rim Part TWO

Are you ready to return to that magical land of mountains awash with rocks and rainforest; steep passes, plunging waterfalls and patch-worked plains; green and glowing with magnificent sunsets? What land is this? It’s Australia’s amazing Scenic Rim Region that I introduced in Part One HERE! Don’t recall? Check it out NOW! I’ll wait … … OK! You’re back! So[…]

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Random Adventures in the Scenic Rim: Part One

There’s a magical, mystical land where ancient, dense rainforests cloak majestic mountains, their serrated silhouettes marching across a dramatically sensational skyline. Where vertically columned cliffs fall into fertile valleys patch-worked with produce and criss-crossed by rocky streams. Picturesque hamlets dot the landscape providing shelter, food and a base from which to explore their impossibly scenic surroundings. Numerous National parks showcase[…]

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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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Waterfall at Natural Bridge, Springbrook National Park, Queensland

Beauty at Natural Bridge!

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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Native Waterweed on the surface of the Crater pool, Mt Hypipamee National Park, Queensland

The Hypipamee Heebie-jeebies …

‘I would NOT like to fall down there,’ the backpacker remarked to his mates with that peculiarly British mixture of overconfident understatement and blinding obvious as he stared down into the depths of the crater. They nodded wisely, unsure whether or not they’d heard something profound, but deciding to play it safe. Banal though his utterance was, however, he was[…]

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White Crocodile, Victoria River, Northern Territory

7 Crocodile Hot Spots in Australia’s Top End

Crocodiles are a weird combination of Aussie ‘Big Thing’ and perilous prehistoric predator. Maybe our fascination with crocodiles in Australia is what makes this my most viewed post of all time*. Or maybe it’s because of the awesome photos and superlative writing … read on, and decide for yourself 😀 But before you do, PLEASE NOTE this WARNING: Crocodiles are VERY dangerous and[…]

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Random Adventure #7 – Taking the Train to Tumoulin

1925 D17 Class Steam Locomotive ‘Capella’ in Tumoulin, Queensland Over 100 years ago on 31 July 1911, regional Parliamentary representatives invited to the Herberton-Tumoulin railway line opening were too busyto attend according to a local historian. Exactly 100 years later – and how things have changed!! Crossing the trestle bridge, Tumoulin to Ravenshoe So, on 31 July 2011, during a[…]

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Looking South over 4 mile Beach, Port Douglas

7 Days in … Cairns!

Cairns is one of the best Australian travel destinations – and I’ve got the photos to prove it! This laid back city 2000 km north of Brisbane between World Heritage Listed Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef, has come a long way from its sugar-cane farming roots to become Far North Queensland’s tourist hub. Cairns has just as much to[…]

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Moon Rocks in Main Street, Richmond, Queensland

Only in OZ #19 – Moon Rock-Throwing World Championships, Richmond, Queensland

I’ve yet to meet a Calcareous Concretion I didn’t like. Although there’s some confusion about exactly where that magical Moon Rock meeting is likely to be. My first sighting in Outback Queensland’s Richmond was supposed to be ‘unique to the Richmond Shire’ according to the town guide. BUT … I’d clocked up several hundred Moon Rock sightings before heading a[…]

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