Australia by Red Nomad OZ

Random Adventure #2 – Herveys Range, Townsville, Queensland

Hervey’s Range Heritage Tea Rooms I never thought I’d be grateful for my unsophisticated palate until it saved me $50 and a mouthful of cat-poo … That publicity favours Townsville’s Paluma Range National Park over the much closer Herveys Range may be due to the unfortunate council boundary line placing Herveys Range on the wrong side of the Townsville regional[…]

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Excitement on and off the track - Bedourie Camel Races, 2011

Camels, Cowboys and Cockies Joy – Bedourie, Queensland

Cockroaches, cane toads and camels are generally considered physically and/or temperamentally unsuited to commercial racing. But here in OZ, the absence of animals traditionally raced, such as horses and dogs, is no hindrance to holding a race meet… Although all these races are held in Australia, I’ve yet to experience the pleasures of cane toad or cockroach racing. But …[…]

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Only in OZ #15 – Musical Fence, Winton, Queensland

The Musical Fence, Winton, Queensland  Here we are in sunny Winton.  Well … it was sunny on our previous visit in June 2009 – and it was sunny the day we first arrived earlier in June 2011, but a couple of days down the track and unseasonal rain has forced us indoors and off the roads, which are blocked in several directions.  Looks[…]

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Random Adventure #1 – Isabella Falls, Cape York, Queensland

 The Cape York Road The customary morning rain had finally let up. Even the locals had remarked on this dry season’s uncharacteristic wet spell – normally by mid-July they’d have the sprinklers going to kill the dust and save the lawns. But 2010 was an aberration. Of course! Now the sun turned every drop to sparkles in the Endeavour[…]

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Don’t Miss This! Daintree Discovery Centre, Queensland

Looking 23 metres down – the Canopy Tower The Demon Duck of Doom (Dromornis stirtoni) at the Daintree Discovery Centre is unlikely to cause panic unless you’re of a particularly nervous disposition. That’s because it’s a metal cutout, the real life version having been extinct since the late Miocene period. Likewise, the Giant Ripper (by name AND nature) Lizard (Megaliania prisca) –[…]

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OZ Top Spot #8 Noccundra, Queensland

Thank god for Kerry Packer*! When his Consolidated Pastoral Company purchased nearby Nockatunga station in 1990, the Noccundra Hotel, part of the lease, was almost certainly saved from the oblivion often suffered by historic (aka ‘old’) buildings in areas without a critical voting mass. Outdistancing its surrounding very remote localities (Thargomindah to the east, Tibooburra to the south, Innamincka to[…]

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Mining Machinery, Irvinebank

Off the Tourist Trail #6 – Irvinebank, Queensland

As an antidote to the Atherton Tableland mist and drizzle, Irvinebank was working just fine. A few kilometres beyond Herberton, we’d crossed the range to clear skies, warmth, and a spectacular setting – another universe far, far away from yet another day of dampness. Just what Dr Pilchard ordered! Sadly, no bakery but the monster plate of chips accompanying the[…]

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OZ Top Spot #7 – Bowra Sanctuary, South Western Queensland

With 200+ bird species over several diverse habitats in its 14000 hectares, Bowra Sanctuary puts out for all all elements of a truly excellent outback experience – spectacular scenery; wonderful wildlife – in this case birds; and eccentric characters – in this case human! But while these elements make it a perfect outback hideaway, Bowra is only 16km from South-western[…]

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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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OZ Top Spot #6 – Starlight’s Lookout, Longreach, Queensland

Puffing and panting, we haul ourselves up the rocky path, our feet sliding on the dusty gravel. Another few metres and we reach the base of the rocky outcrop at the summit. We peer through the gap. We’ve climbed Starlight’s lookout – a mound rising high above the surrounding plain – and the view stretches for miles and miles and[…]

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