World Toilet Day was November 19, and I forgot.

Bummer!

Forgetting the biggest event on the loo lover’s calendar is a dunny detective’s disaster! A toilet tragic’s tragedy!! A convenience chaser’s catastrophe!!!

BUT …

… then I think about the 4.2 billion people without safely managed sanitation facilities and the 673 million people worldwide who practice open defecation. The 2 billion people whose drinking water is contaminated with faeces, the 432,000 diarrhoeal deaths per year, and the children in conflict zones 20 times more likely to die from sanitation-related illness than violence.

That makes my dunny disaster look like a s**t-storm in a teacup.

World Toilet Day

Check out the World Toilet Day official fact sheet HERE for some even more scary facts that’ll make you realise how lucky we are in Australia.

So while you’re admiring 10 All-Australian amenities, with the 10 amazing All-Australian adventure hot spots that go with them, spare a thought for those for whom doing their ‘business’ is SO not a pleasure. Then keep reading for ideas about how YOU can help!

1 Timber Creek, Northern Territory

Afloat on a small (and relatively unstable) structure surrounded by crocodiles on Australia’s wildest river is enough to make you want to – well, YOU know! Luckily, this croc-proof (we hope!) purpose-built pontoon has ALL the amenities to survive a Victoria River Crocodile Cruise – drinks and snacks while enjoying a Northern Territory sunset AND crazy-cool crocodile cruise conveniences if nature’s call gets a little bit too much.

That’s a relief in more ways than one!  Read more about cruising with crocodiles HERE!

2 Bruny Island, Tasmania

Bruny Island isn’t just the last stop off the Tassie coast before Antarctica! Dress up in some (REALLY unfashionable) heavy weather gear for a wet and wild ride over heaving seas, through keyhole rocks, past rugged islands adorned with seals and right under the second highest sea cliffs in the southern hemisphere before reaching the Great Southern Ocean!

En route to the cruise departure point, don’t miss this loo on the Neck (are you wondering why it’s called that?) far below Truganini’s Lookout!  Discover Beauty and the Beasts on Bruny Island Cruises HERE to see why it’s one of my favourite Australian adventure hot spots!

3 Mt Kosciuszko, New South Wales

Climbing Australia’s highest mountain is embarrassingly easy – you heard it here first!  It’s only 2228 metres (7310 feet) above sea-level, making it lower than the height above which lots of people live! BUT … ‘mountaineers’ like me who climb it can bag their first (and in my case only) ‘Seven Summits’ peak.

Although I don’t know from personal experience, I bet it’s the ONLY Seven Summits peak with a view over the highest Public Toilet in the land!!  But I’ll let the REAL mountaineers prove me wrong!  Go HERE for more about how I climbed Mount Kosciuszko!

4 Head of Bight, South Australia

Head of Bight – highest point of the distinctive bite-shaped coastal curve along the southern Australian coastline – isn’t easy to get to. But you’ll drive right past it on the 4100+ km (2500+ mile) road trip across the Nullarbor Plain between Sydney and Perth! At the 2300 km mark, just over half-way from Sydney, take a pit stop to watch whales cavorting with their calves under the longest line of sea cliffs in the world!

And visit the Head of Bight loo that overlooks it all!  Check out my story about seeing the Whales at Head of Bight HERE!

5 Point Quobba, Western Australia

Killer king waves, shipwreck stories, blowholes and extreme water sports make Point Quobba one of the wildest stretches of rugged, rocky coastline in Oz (above and top) – and one of the most picturesque!

If action adventure with a massive dose of danger isn’t quite your thing, just find a vantage point (away from the edge!) and you’ll probably see a whale.  When you’re not being distracted by the thrill-seekers getting a drenching at the blowholes, that is!

Alternatively, just take in all the action from the vantage point of this classic Aussie dunny overlooking the famous blow hole.  I promise that you won’t miss anything while you’re doing your business – because the door doesn’t close!

The famous Quobba Blowhole at Quobba Point is just one of the many superb Australian Coastal and Beach Holiday Destinations you can read about HERE!

6 Mt Hotham, Victoria

Whether it’s summer or winter, the view over this part of the Australian Alps is white.  Visible in summer, the white-bleached tree trunks killed by bushfires outline the many-layered mountain ranges surrounding Mount Hotham. In winter, they’re covered in snow.

It’s likely to be significantly cooler than the plains below at any time of year, so when you get there, admire the white view from the ski lift transit lounge loo AND appreciate the civilised conveniences plumber who installed just one tap – HOT!

Read all about the Mount Hotham loo (and surrounds!) HERE!

7 Richmond, Queensland

If you’re a keen prehistoric fossil-fossicker, the chances of striking it lucky on the Outback Queensland Dinosaur trail are better than average.  Especially at Richmond, where the soft Toolebuc formation on what was once an inland sea under 30-40 metres of water has given up world famous fossil relics like the Richmond Pliosaur, Minmi and Kronosaurus.

Even the dunny gets in on the act – but while you can make your ‘deposit’ at the future coprolite drop zone (aka the loo), chances are good you won’t be around when it’s unearthed as a fossil!

Discover more about Queensland’s famous Richmond fossil fields HERE!

8 Warraweena, South Australia

For a taste of what’s on offer in one of the top Australian adventure hot spots, the ancient wonderland us South Aussies call the Flinders Ranges, head out to the privately owned Warraweena Conservation Park.  In the less well known northern Flinders Ranges you’ll find rugged 4WD tracks, mountain climbing, wildlife, stunning scenery, historic sites and eco-tourism all in one handy location.

You’ll also find the only combination scenic public toilet/visitor information centre I’ve ever seen at the historic Sliding Rock Mine site!

But that’s not all!  Go HERE for a LOT more things to do throughout the amazing Flinders Ranges.

9 Lord Howe Island, New South Wales

This tiny sub-tropical paradise 600 km (370 miles) off the east coast of Australia has so many world exclusives it’s hard to know where to start. First up, there’s Balls Pyramid – highest volcanic rock stack in the world. Then there’s only golf course on earth on World Heritage turf and world’s southernmost tropical reef. Even the wildlife gets in on the act with the endemic Lord Howe Island Woodhen and Phasmid, a large stick-insect.

And then there’s this awesome view – clearly visible from what has to be one of the most scenic loos downunder! Australian adventure hot spots don’t get much better than this!  A Lord Howe Island Holiday can be awesome – read about mine HERE!

10 Tunnel Creek, Western Australia

Although the Gibb River Road has claimed countless tyres, axles, windscreens and suspensions over its 660 km (410 miles) length full of tyre-shredding rocks, perilous creek crossings, red dust and bone-jarring corrugations.  But it’s still a popular Aussie road trip, most likely because of the stunning Kimberley natural attractions scattered along its length!  Take a short detour to Tunnel Creek and go underground for a different perspective of the Kimberley Region.

And while you’re there, detour into the even more welcome attraction you’ll find under the rocky cliffs.  There’s more about the amazing Kimberley region HERE!

We’re very lucky down here to have so many Australian adventure hot spots with amazing attractions and awesome amenities in some of our most remote and adventure-filled locations.

So while it’s easier for us (read: me!) to forget World Toilet Day even though it’s been an official UN day since 2013, we can contribute to the impact it’s having around the world on any day!

How to get involved:

World Toilet Day is about working together to eliminate the life-threatening hazards caused by poor sanitation in places where the ‘adventures’ many people face in doing their business are a lot less welcome.

If you’re not sure how you can help, here’s a few ideas:

• Who Gives a Crap:  Buy your toilet paper (and/or tissues and kitchen paper) from this innovative company, and 50% of profits are donated to building toilets for those in need (the other 50% mostly goes to growing the company).  Get in quick and you could order the wicked Gift Edition Loo Paper to make Xmas REALLY fun!
• Toilet Twinning:  Your £60 donation (about $AUD114 on 20/11/19) funds a community loo project, and you’ll get a pic and the coordinates of your toilet ‘twin’ to hang in your own amenities! Can’t afford that?  Check out the website for other fundraising products and ideas.
• Sanitation First:  Send a Shitty Gift (their words, not mine) for any occasion – check out the graphic range of gift cards – and you’ll be helping this organisation tackle poverty one toilet at a time (again, their words, not mine)!!
• TEAR Australia:  Sanitation is just one of several initiatives this organisation has to reduce poverty.  Check out their collection of Really Useful Gifts!
• World Toilet Day official website: more information and ideas, don’t forget to mark the date on your calendar for next year.

Got more ideas?  Put them in the comments below!

The post TOP 10 All-Australian Adventure Hot Spots for World Toilet Day! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

… I saw and did for the first time in 2014!

It’s possible my definition of ‘cool’ isn’t the same as yours. I think it’s quite easy to find something cool downunder – anything new, intriguing, scenic or exclusive to OZ (or the world) does it for me.

So if you’re wondering about some of the inclusions in this selection of 12 cool things I saw for the first time in my travels through five Aussie states in 2014, that’s why they’re there!

If you don’t agree, why not tell me ALL about it in the comments

1. Bruny Island

This little island off the eastern coast of Tasmania is about the same size as Singapore. But whereas Singapore has a population of 6,000,000+, Bruny Island is a LOT less crowded with only around 600! Stunning scenery, including the 2^nd highest cliffs in the Southern Hemisphere and one of Australia’s most scenic public loos; wonderful wildlife – think seals and Tasmanian endemic birds – AND fabulous food means a day trip isn’t nearly long enough to see everything.

And I’ve never been on a waterway with a name as cool as the D’Entrecasteaux Channel!

MORE about Bruny Island

2. Cradle Mountain

We got to see Tasmania’s most famous mountain on a ‘normal’ day. And that meant cloud, fog, mist, drizzle, rain, wind and the coldest temperatures we’d experienced in Tasmania to date! Apparently, those typical images of Cradle Mountain’s classic shape reflected beautifully in Dove Lake below (click HERE to see what I mean!) only happen on one or two days in every ten!

SO … I guess we were lucky. Because MY shots show the real thing in all its non-clichéd glory! Right??

MORE about Cradle Mountain

3. Tasmanian Wombat

I’ve seen wombats before. I’ve even been bitten by a wombat!! But 2014 was the year I first saw Vombatus ursinus tasmaniensis, which the informed will instantly recognise as the Tasmanian Wombat – a sub-species of the common wombat. The lesser informed might think it a visitor from another planet with its odd shape, shambling gait and its legendary ability to burrow underground in the most inhospitable places.

Most Australian women know a ‘wombat’ – the name’s often given to a bloke who, like the wombat, eats roots and leaves. I don’t know if the Tasmanian wombat shares these habits with its mainland counterparts. But … I’ll bet a few Tassie blokes do!

MORE about Wombats

4. Balls Pyramid

It’s not that easy to see the world’s highest volcanic rock stack up close. First, get to Sydney. Then take a ~600 km flight to Lord Howe Island which, depending on the crosswinds on the airstrip bisecting the island, may or may not be able to land. Then wait for suitable weather conditions for the 23 km boat trip across the open ocean to the Pyramid – there’s a 50% cancellation rate. 66.66% if you’re as unlucky as we were with a FAIL on our first two attempts!

But finally the planets aligned and we gazed in awe at Balls Pyramid’s distinctive twin spires towering 551 metres above us.

And in an uncharacteristically speechless moment, I ran out of superlatives!

MORE about Balls Pyramid

5. Lord Howe Island Phasmid

After rats invaded Lord Howe Island following a shipwreck back in the dim, distant past, the endemic Lord Howe Island Phasmid – a large stick insect – was thought to be extinct. But many years later, it was re-discovered on the inhospitable and rugged Balls Pyramid (see above!) by a scientific expedition.

Luckily, we didn’t have to climb or camp on Balls Pyramid to see this rare creature for ourselves – there are a couple in the Lord Howe Island Visitor Information Centre.

And call me shallow, but seeing something that’s been brought back from extinction AND that not many others have ever seen gives me a BIG thrill!

MORE about Lord Howe Island

6. My TV Interview

Seeing my name on my first book – Aussie Loos with Views! – was one thing. But seeing myself on TV was quite another! My first (and possibly ONLY) TV appearance to promote my book on Weekend Sunrise may or may not fit YOUR definition of ‘cool’.

I’ll leave you to judge it for yourself!

To watch the video: Hover the cursor over the bottom of the picture. Click on the Forward Arrow symbol that will appear in the bottom left hand corner. There’s about 15 seconds of ‘sponsor messages’ before the interview starts.

*IF you received this post by email, click on the link to the blog post at the top of the email – you won’t be able to watch the video from the email.

MORE about Aussie Loos with Views!

7. Sunrise over Lake Moogerah

I’m SO not a morning person that it wouldn’t be far wrong to say that seeing ANY sunrise ANYWHERE was a first for me. But the sunsets were so spectacular near our campsite on our first visit to Lake Moogerah that I braved the cold and dark to see what I’d normally be missing.

And found out.

So what’s a few bleary eyes and frozen fingers when sunrises in the superb Scenic Rim region look like THIS?

MORE about the Scenic Rim

8. Carrs Lookout

We took a day trip from Woodenbong along the notorious Mt Lindesay Road (arguably Australia’s worst) to Queen Mary Falls in the Main Range National Park. From there, the road winds upwards for 7 km to a vantage point 1005 metres above sea level overlooking the spectacular scenery of Condamine Gorge.

Who even knew there WAS a Condamine Gorge? An embarrassing admission given it’s strategic importance as the headwaters of the Murray/Darling river system that reaches the sea in my home state, South Australia.

We decided to forego the pleasures of the 4WD Gorge track and its 14 river crossings in favour of morning tea at the Spring Creek Mountain Cafe. All in the interests of seeing more of that stunning view, of course!

9. The Roxy Theatre and Café

A fully restored – and fully functioning – Art Deco cinema complete with café and a musuem dedicated to its Greek heritage was an unexpected bonus in small-ish New South Wales country town Bingara. And when we decided to stay for a few days and explore the area, we lucked out.

Dinner at the Café, a look through the museum and an excellent show from Song and Dance Man Mike McClellan showcased the Roxy’s awesome attributes superbly.

But next time I’ll take a tripod for some blur-free interior shots!

MORE about the Roxy Theatre, Bingara

10. Birdlife Australia Gluepot Reserve

The 50 km drive over a bone-jarring, dusty, rocky station track heading due north from tiny Riverland settlement Taylorville to Gluepot Reserve took over an hour and a half. But deep in the South Australian mallee surrounded by sand dunes and spinifex, we entered a world of walks, wildflowers and wildlife.

Who cared that we didn’t see any of the 5 ‘lifers’ that birdo Pilchard hoped to find on this once- pastoral property, when a walk in the early morning light showed the beauty of this harsh, arid landscape? And it didn’t matter that our camp shower malfunctioned in the middle of our stay when the flowering eremophilas were so abundantly spectacular. Even the thought of facing that long, rugged drive on the way home wasn’t enough to faze us. Why would it?

This is Outback Australia at its BEST!

MORE about Birdlife Australia Gluepot Reserve

11. Point Danger Gannet Colony

A whole lot of large white birds resting on a rocky knoll a few kilometres from Victorian coastal town Portland was interesting – but you’re probably thinking it’s not THAT exciting. Every now and then a few of them would take off, swooping, soaring and generally showing off against a bright blue sky in a completely non-photo-friendly way.

But this cacophony (or whatever the correct collective noun is) of Cape Gannets on Point Danger (cool name, huh?!) is the only mainland Gannet colony in Australia – a spillover from the rugged Lawrence Rocks colony, just two kilometres offshore.

It’s rare to see so many gannets up this close without being out at sea. And the stretches of staggering scenery along this part of the coast are an added bonus – especially if you’re a non-birdo!!

MORE about Point Danger Gannet Colony

12. The Granites

You can’t see the wild and rugged scenery of the Coorong – Australia’s longest beach – from many places on the long drive along the Princes Highway that parallels the coastline en route to Adelaide. The 194 km (120+ miles) of sand, unbroken except for a collection of three random boulders 15 km north of of Kingston South East. So as we returned home from another Australian exclusive – a sighting of the first Long-billed Dowitcher ever recorded downunder – we took the short detour to see them.

Apart from sand dunes and waves stretching out to the horizon and a 4WD that just WOULD NOT GET OUT OF MY PHOTO, there’s nothing much else along this vast and empty beach on the edge of the Great Southern Ocean.

Except for the view. AND these three random granite boulders.

Now … see if you can guess why they called this area ‘The Granites’!!!!

MORE about the Coorong

So that’s 12 of the cool new Aussie things I saw and experienced in 2014.  2015 has already been exciting with a week in a retirement village, a narrow escape from a bushfire and the threat of floods!

Watch this space!

SO … what cool things did YOU see and do in 2014??

The post 12 Cool Aussie Things … appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

Bruny Island

As far as I could tell, the fashion police hadn’t made it down to Bruny Island’s Adventure Bay.

Just as well.

If they had, they’d have been handing out infringement notices left, right and centre on board our purpose-built Naiad.   We were donning the Bruny Island Cruises complimentary waterproof onesies – our only protection from the winds and open waters of the Great Southern Ocean.

It was my first time on Bruny Island, off the Tasmanian east coast.

The first time I’d ever worn a cross between a hooded sleeping bag with no feet and a straitjacket.

And it was the furthest south I’d been. Anywhere, ever.

The Monument

On an island the same size as Singapore, but with 0.1 of 1% of their 6 million population, there’s a lot of room to move. There should have been a lot more room in the open sea – but we were hurtling straight towards The Monument, a rocky sea stack parallel to the perpendicular cliffs of South Bruny National Park. At 270+ metres high (~900 feet), they’re the second highest in the Southern Hemisphere.

The swell heaved and sucked against the wet rocks between The Monument and the cliffs.  Instead of holding back, our guide turned the boat, gunned the motor and expertly rode that surging current through the gap like a seasoned surfer!

Praise be we’d lucked out with a CALM day!

Rock Caves

The flat sea didn’t stop Breathing Rock – aka the Back End of Bruny – from backfiring to spew its salty sea spray towards the boat.

Or the kelp at the entrance to the sea cave – with walls so close we could touch them – from swirling its trailing tentacles through the shifting seas towards the boat.

Or the heavy sea spray drenching my straitjacket, but NOT the camera beneath.  That alone proved the worth of this all-protective neck to knee suit WAY beyond reasonable doubt. Then, with a blast of the horn, we reached the Tasman Sea limits and officially entered the Southern Ocean.

Friar Islands

But what did I expect? The tourist brochure had promised a ‘close connection with the wildlife and natural environment’. Now it wasn’t just the sea spray delivering a dose of natural drama. As we neared the Friar Islands we caught a whiff of the unmistakeable aroma of the thousands of seals which call them home. The wildlife part of the tour was about to kick in.

Big time.

360 kg love machine probably isn’t the obvious word association result for ‘male Australian Fur Seal’.  This description, presented by our (ironically male) guide is apparently accurate during mating season! Call me crazy, but is ‘love machines’ the collective noun for ANY heaving throng of overweight males grunting, fronting up to each other and jockeying for position in a competitive hierarchy?

I guess it depends on who’s doing the calling

FAR less confronting (and controversial!) was the pod of dolphins.

‘It’s around about now that a lot of people get nice shots of the water,’ our guide announced as the cameras aimed towards those speedy shapes clicked, in some most cases pointlessly. She was right. See what I mean?

Cruising the Southern Ocean

As the first gusts of wind preceding the approaching storm front blew in, the sea spray hits ratcheted up a notch.  We turned for the open sea – a VERY clever way to monitor the effects of seasickness.  It was also a good tactical manoeuvre to bring the twitchers* on board, and the rest of us face to beak with the original riders of the storm.

It worked.  Even though I have no photos to prove it.

An amazing experience for non-birdwatchers and bird-watchers alike, a flock of Bullers Albatross (Thalassarche bulleri) riding the storm front swooped around us, gliding in the currents while feeding all around. Spending most of a 30-odd year life span on the wing over a 16,000,000 km² range, these Albatross land to mate and nest in a 4 km² range in New Zealand.  Thank you Wikipedia!

A rarity near mainland Australia, it’s a piece of extraordinary luck – or maybe karma – that we actually saw the albatross. If this awesome tour hadn’t already received multiple awards including Tasmania’s best tourist attraction and best in Australia, AND rave reviews on TripAdvisor I’d be nominating it for EVERYTHING!

The Return Trip

As the sky turned to lead above, we returned to the relative shelter of the coastline – Jurassic Dolerite never looked so good! After another thunder ride thrill between the rocky spire of The Monument and the cliffs we left the drenching sea spray behind and headed for harbour. Had our 2½ hours already passed? Unbelievable!!

No, 10 days in Tassie wasn’t nearly long enough. In retrospect, I could’ve spent the whole 10 days on Bruny Island – and ‘doing’ this FAAAAABULOUS wilderness/wildlife cruise over again. And again. But for now it was over.

Giving up my own personal fashion statement of the seas was like parting with an old friend as I emerged dry and warm from the wet outer layer.  With a DRY camera!  Fashion police be damned!

When being so unfashionable is THIS rewarding, whatever I have to wear I’m sure I’ll be trying it again. SOON!

Get started with the best flights for your own Bruny Island Adventure!

Want MORE?

• Bruny Island Cruises
• Bruny Island
• Tasmania
• Red Nomad OZ’s OTHER Bruny Island Discovery!

*Twitcher = Bird watcher! Who knew?!

The post Beauty and the Beasts: Bruny Island Cruises appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

If you like your landscapes complete with killer views, superb natural attractions, unusual wildlife and a touch of history, Truganini Lookout overlooking ‘the Neck’ on Tasmania’s Bruny Island ticks all the boxes.

Pretty good, huh?!

But this already FINE outlook is elevated from pretty good to perfect by its scenic public toilet. That’s it, right down there near the car park and the beginning of the OH-so-many steps to the viewing platform.

Perfect, right?!

Our day on Bruny Island just off the Tasmanian east coast south-east of Hobart hadn’t started so well. How could the Mirambeenavehicle ferry be merrily motoring across the D’Entrecasteaux Channel from Kettering to Bruny Island WITHOUT US? We’d got up early. We’d made good time on the drive south to the ferry departure point. We’d joined the queue. And when the car in front of us went up the ramp, we thought there’d be room for our smallish hire car too.

BUT THERE WASN’T!!

At least the 1.5 hour wait for the next service gave me a welcome opportunity to practice my water reflection photography skills. And my marina photography skills. And my ‘is-that-tiny-speck-on-the-horizon-the-ferry-coming-back-yet-please-goddess’ shots.

That ‘practice’ time was welcome to ME, anyway. I’ll leave you to judge by these snaps whether those 90 LONG minutes of my life I’ll never see again were 90 minutes well spent. Or not!

At least we were first in line for the next ferry service. And the day started to look a bit brighter – literally – as the morning fog and cloud rolled away and we disembarked at the Roberts Point ferry terminus AND BAKERY!! YESSSSSS!!!

But the day was to become even brighter.

Nearly half-way down Bruny Island’s 100km length is the (I can’t believe they called it that!) Neck – a (yes, you guessed right) narrow neck of land joining North and South Bruny Island and separating the D’Entrecasteaux channel from Adventure Bay.

It’s also a penguin and shearwater rookery – an apparently rare combo. And the area is significant to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people so the lookout is dedicated to the memory of Truganini, one of the last tribal Aborigines in Tasmania.

Of course we HAD to stop and check it out.

Just as well we did or we would have missed one of the most scenic Australian Public Toilets I’ve had the pleasure of doing my business in.

And I would have missed the chance to include it in my first book!

‘Aussie Loos with Views!’ is what’s kept me from this blog for so long.

That, and the ‘long service leave’ I’d earned from four years of blogging!

It’s hard to imagine that after a dramatic dunny like this that the day could get even better. IT DID! But that’s a story for another day!! Stay tuned!!!

Want MORE?

• Truganini Lookout and The Neck
• Bruny Island
• Tasmania

The post Australia’s Scenic Public Toilet #38 – The Neck, Bruny Island appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.