Uluru.

When a Google search produces over 6.5 million results, writing anything else about Uluru becomes SO redundant I’m tempted not to use it for my Aussie ABC.

What’s left to say about this massive monolith of sandstone 348 metres (1141 feet) high, 3.6 km (2.2 miles) long, 1.9 km (1.2 miles) wide and 3.33 km² (1.29 miles²) in size? With a 10 km (6 mile) hike around the base if you choose not to take the steep 1.6 km summit track?? And the slowly oxidising surface iron giving it that distinctive red colour, an instant worldwide recognition factor and over 400,000 visitors each year???

But Uluru is WAY more than just statistics. An Uluru experience can be awe-inspiring, surprising, fantastical, adventurous, mind-blowing, healing and deeply moving.

Nothing says Australia quite like Uluru.

And nothing says Uluru quite like the nine different first impressions of the Rock shared by nine (8 + me!) travel bloggers!

1 Linda – Journey Jottings

Since I discovered Linda’s fabulous Journey Jottings products back in my early blogging days, they’ve accompanied me to a LOT of Aussie Hot Spots! But not Uluru – yet, anyway!

Linda says: ‘Everyone has seen a gazillion photos of Uluru, but its magical presence simply can’t be conveyed in 2D. And It holds surprises – Hidden delights you can only discover when getting up close and personal.’

Did you know, there are waterholes at Uluru?’

2 Neil – Bushwalking Blog

By Neil’s Bushwalking Blog standards, a tactful person would describe MY bushwalking skills as ‘average’! Perhaps I can get some hiking credibility like Neil’s on one of the Aussie Hiking Tours on his new website!

But it’s not all about the walks. Neil’s first impression of Uluru didn’t actualy involve hiking …

Neil says: ‘I was in a pretty bad place when I visited Uluru. I’ll never forget how depressed and hollow I felt as I drove out the Lasseter Highway, and then how its energy completely overcame me as I approached, and I burst into tears and had to pull over. My healing began right there on the side of the road, staring at that incredible rock.’

3 Jo – Zigazag

Jo’s fabulous travel and lifestyle blog Zigazag is a go-to for anyone who wants to discover Western Australia’s hidden secrets AND tales of travel from around the world! But Jo’s WA roots didn’t stop her from visiting Uluru – where you can see what the well-dressed mountaineer was wearing back then!!

Jo says: ‘I visited Ayers Rock in 1983 when I was working in Alice Springs. I can remember driving for what seemed like hours along a corrugated red road that made my fillings jangle, and arriving finally at a small hotel, or was it a roadhouse then, I can’t remember where I was told I could pitch my tent. Problem was I’d forgotten the tent pegs so I had to borrow some string to hitch it between two bushes.

Ayers Rock was such a quiet place back then and for me it had an ethereal quality about it and really did change colour at different times of the day. We were encouraged to climb ‘the rock’ when I visited although now I believe it’s actively discouraged. I can remember standing on the summit at a quiet spot on my own, hair billowing in the breeze, wearing a wrap around skirt and a green sweatshirt and feeling at one with the world in that vast horizon in a spiritual place.’

4 Annie – Go Camping

Full of advice about the Aussie camping scene along with gadgets, recipes and bizarre camping must-haves, Annie’s blog Go Camping is the place to be when you’re planning a road-trip or camping holiday.

Annie says: ‘My first impression of Uluru was that of stunned amazement – I had seen so many photos of it over the years, but nothing prepared me for its size and beauty. It really is awe inspiring when you are up close to it, and walking around the base, seeing all these different aspects of it.

Must do for every Aussie!’

5 Andy – Travelling Type

After getting my regular fix of out-of-the-way Australia from Andy’s blog Travelling Type, he inconsiderately moved overseas to live and work and the Aussie posts thinned out. SO … as revenge, I’m hoping this post makes him homesick as hell!

Andy says: ‘When I first sighted Uluru, it was apparent to me how vast the landscape was surrounding it. However, it wasn’t until I got up close to this whopping rock that it really impressed me, far more than I thought it would, as there are many folds, caves and ridges that lay within.’

6 Mandy – Travelling Australia With Kids

I’ve never travelled Australia with kids and probably never will. But I certainly agree with the concept behind Mandy’s great blog Travelling Australia With Kids – especially if it makes those kids grow up to appreciate the awesome natural attractions in OZ. Like Uluru!

Mandy says: ‘Something somewhere inside stirred and I felt like it was connecting with my soul! All sounds a bit spiritual, but seriously I was moved on a level I had not experienced before. I just wanted to look at it and experience it and absorb it. Hence 163 photos!

I could go on and on! We stayed at the nearby caravan park and I would wonder where my hubby was and he would be up at the lookout and vice versa. Every moment we could we would be just staring at it, transfixed almost, it actually became a bit odd as if it was drawing us in. But we just could not stop.’

7 Amanda – Adventures All Around

We’re both Aussie travellers, bloggers and red-heads, so that makes Amanda and I virtually twins, right? Apart from a few trifling details like her radio show, overseas travel and a few years in age! Amanda’s first time at Uluru was a very different experience as she writes on her blog Adventures All Around!

Amanda says: ‘I’d seen all the pictures and heard all the stories, but still nothing prepared me for what it feels like to be in the shadow of Uluru. To look up at that huge rock and see the caves and crevices and the colours.

Pictures don’t do it justice and my words won’t either. It’s something that needs to be experienced and that I hope to experience again.’

8 Michela – Rocky Travel

Michela’s travels in Australia, documented on her blog Rocky Travel, put many Aussies to shame. Her Top Tips for planning a road trip to Uluru are great advice – and she’s the only blogger to date that I’ve met face to face!

Michela says: ‘I vividly remember the feeling I had while approaching Uluru by car the first time. From the distance the Uluru growing bigger and bigger into its mighty shape. It was a strange feeling, a mix of awe, bewilderment, excitement, and a deep peacefulness. Right now by looking back at that moment I get shivers.’

9 Red Nomad OZ – RedzAustralia

On the 100 km trek along the road to Uluru from Curtin Springs, where we’d staged a two-person protest against the high cost of accommodation closer to the Rock, I was distracted by wildflowers lining the road – the result of a wetter than average year.

But then I looked up out the car window and there it was dominating the landscape and pulling us towards it like a magnet – maybe there’s something in the ley lines theory after all! I just HAD to get closer – but when I saw the WAY steep and exposed track to the top, I just knew I wouldn’t be climbing it.

So big it made the huge rocky domes of nearby Kata Tjuta look like marbles, Uluru’s ever-changing colours are endlessly fascinating. And the rocky pools, waterfall spots and wave-like formations made the base walk a wonderful experience.

Wanting a part of the rock made me almost see the point of those kitschy Uluru snow dome souvenirs too.  So I bought one – and it looked a bit like THIS!

With those 6.5 million results from the ‘Uluru’ Google search, I have no fear that this’ll become the definitive ‘go to’ post for travellers seeking information and inspiration about Australia’s iconic rock.

But travellers unedited first impressions never lie – so if you’ve been thinking about visiting or re-visiting Australia’s BIGGEST Rock Star, then DO IT NOW!

Have YOU been to Uluru? What was YOUR first impression of Australia’s TOP Rock Star?!

Want MORE?

• Uluru, Northern Territory
• Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
• Central Australia
• TOP 7 Central Australian RED HOT Spots once you’re done with Uluru!
• MORE RedzAustralia Aussie ABC

The post U is for Uluru: 11 Photos; 9 Bloggers; One Awesome Rock! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

Ever wondered what’s out beyond the urban areas where nearly 90% of the Australian population live? There’s a LOT of wide open spaces, a LOT of natural attractions – and a LOT of TOP Aussie Tiny Towns with TERIFFIC Tourist Attractions!

The Australian Country Towns in the ABC-within-my-bigger-ABC might be small, but there’s all got something to see that you possibly won’t see anywhere else!

If you haven’t seen them, check out what you’re missing in the first instalment of A-M below – click on the town name for more information –  N-Z is right HERE!

Aramac, Queensland

If not for the distinctive White Bull, stolen with 600 cattle from Bowen Downs station near Aramac – still a grazing town – by bushranger and bovine burglar Harry Readford, he might not have been tried after his otherwise historic cattle drive 800 miles south.

Even so, Harry was acquitted! Aramac was named in typical Aussie fashion for Robert Ramsay MacKenzie who carved his initials ‘R R Mac’ into a tree. Geddit?

Bedourie, Queensland

It’s not just the awesome natural hot springs bathing pool right next to the campground or the bi-annual camel races. Bedourie – between Boulia with its pieces of Skylab and Birdsville with its iconic race meet – has its own unique piece of Australiana to boast about!

The Bedourie Oven – a clever contraption for cooking over campfire coals started here and took Australia by storm!

Charlotte Pass, New South Wales

Australia’s coldest temperature ever – minus 23 C – was recorded at Charlotte Pass, at 1765 m Australia’s highest permanent settlement, in the shadow of Mt Kosciuszko, which at 2228m is Australia’s highest mountain!

Just off the old road to the summit, Charlotte Pass is within walking distance of the top peak in OZ – how many other towns in the world can boast THAT?

Dadswells Bridge, Victoria

The tiny Victorian settlement of Dadswells Bridge, at the tip of the Southern Grampians, celebrates Australia’s favourite icon with a vengeance. Sam the BIG Koala had a facelift and make-up job since this dour photo was taken – now there’s a gift shop, tavern, ice-creamery, caravan park and a REAL Koala Zoo!

BUT … Big Sam’s concrete embrace gives ‘cuddle a koala’ a whole new meaning!

Eromanga, Queensland

It’s not Australia’s geographic centre, but via a complicated (and arguable!) calculation, Eromanga is furthest from the ocean – and ergo, so are the service station, pub, caravan park and so on!

The excellent museum (furthest from the sea) is just up the road from the opal-studded miners monument (furthest from the water) in the travellers rest stop (furthest from the coast).

Falls Creek, Victoria

It’s not Australia’s highest town (see Charlotte Pass above) nor does it have Australia’s highest body of water (that’s Lake Cootapatamba near Mt Kosciuszko), but alpine ski resort Falls Creek is the next best thing.

Near Mt Bogong, highest mountain in Victoria, it’s also got Rocky Valley Lake, at 1600m Australia’s highest significant body of water – and one of its few lakes to be used for both winter and summer sports!

Gundagai, New South Wales

A funny thing happened on the Road to Gundagai, although details vary by account – but a statue of a dog who, some say, did something nasty in his master’s Tuckerbox could surely only happen in OZ!

Often referenced in Aussie folklore, Gundagai claims Australia’s oldest bakery (still operating – YESSSSS!) and a miniature Baroque Italian palace carved, ironically, by Frank Rusconi who also did the honours for the Dog-on-the-Tuckerbox statue’s base!

Humpty Doo, Northern Territory

Only 40 km from Darwin, this small town is home to the Adelaide River Floodplain and nearby Fogg Dam, both parts of a world renowned wetland system.

There’s also the BIG Boxing Crocodile, the well known Humpty Doo Hotel and a Reptile World with 300 kinds of snake! But wouldn’t you want to visit Humpty Doo just for its name?

Isisford, Queensland

It’s no secret how Isisfordians feel about certain state government decisions – their sentiments are displayed on the town entrance sign.

But Isisford is better known for the the Mother of all Crocodiles – a fossil found on a nearby property that is ancestor to all modern crocs. You can decide which attraction is the most scary over a drink at the Clancy of the Overflow Pub!

Jerilderie, New South Wales

One of the more bizarre tributes to Aussie legend and outlaw Ned Kelly is a statue made of bread tins at (of course!) the Jerilderie Bakery.

Ned held up the Post Office and wrote his manifesto (known as the Jerilderie letter) here, but if you like your attractions a little less controversial, cross the road for Steel Wings – the only two windmills of their kind in the world!

Koolywurtie, South Australia

Raised on a Koolywurtie farm, Captain Harry Butler, a decorated World War 1 Ace pilot and aviator, made the first Southern Hemisphere over-water flight in 1919 across St Vincent’s gulf from Adelaide in his Bristol monoplane, the Red Devil.

Believed to be the only original plane of this type left in the world, the Red Devil is on permanent display in nearby Minlaton, where there’s also a mural, memorabilia and museum with information about his life.

Longford, Tasmania

Two Australian Convict World Heritage listed sites jostling for position, and a town awash with fine examples of Georgian architecture puts Longford firmly on the heritage trail.

Built by free convict labour, Woolmers and Brickendon Estates offer a fascinating glimpse of Australia’s colonial history. But if all that history’s a bit much, chill out in the Woolmers Rose Garden, with 460 varieties!

Madura, Western Australia

Crossing Australia from West to East (or vice versa) via the Nullarbor takes WAY more than a day. Luckily, the small community of Madura, 1253 km (779 miles) east of Perth has everything travellers need.

As well as a range of accomodation, fuel, food and a swimming pool, Madura is home of the Walers – cavalry horses used by the British Army. And it’s also home of Brumby’s Run – Hole 9 of the Nullarbor Links Golf Course which, at 1365 km is longest in the WORLD!

And on that happy note, that’s the end of Part 1 of my Aussie ABC: T is for Tiny Aussie Towns with Terrific Tourist Attractions!

Have YOU got a favourite Australian country town? Tell all below!!

And if you want to start visiting Australia’s AWESOME country towns here’s the lowdown on cheap flights to get you started!

Want MORE?

• Australian Country Towns Part 2 N-Z
• List of Australian Country Towns (Wikipedia)
• MORE Photos of Australian Towns on Flickr

The post Aussie ABC: T is for Towns Part 1 appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

Most Aussies speak English – but with a twist that turns it into Australian English, otherwise known as ‘Strine’.

Strine?

Say ‘Australian’ REALLY quickly without any too much emphasis on diction or correct pronunciation – an Aussie will be able to say it in just one syllable – and you’ll get a word that sounds almost like Strine. Get it?

We’ve got our linguistic laziness to thank for giving us the ability to mimic almost any other accent – an ability that doesn’t seem to work in reverse. Adapting our untrained vocal muscles and off-hand pronunciation to a new set of words is easier for an Aussie than it is for speakers of more rigorous languages to adapt to Strine.

Those lazy habits are also evident in idiomatic Aussie slang. Learning the local lingo – or at least a few key words and phrases – can be fun. But if you’re struggling with Strine (especially those words that sound almost – but not quite – like English) here’s a simple starter guide of Aussie slang from A-Z (with footnotes to the Aussie Slang rules’ at the end of the post).

See how many YOU understand!

Avagoodweegend (#1):  Usually heard on Friday arvo (#2) and literally means ‘Have a good weekend’.

Barbie: Shortened form of Barbecue. No self-respecting Aussie would put a ‘shrimp’ on the barbie when there’s a snag (sausage) in sight! A barbie is usually preceded by a trip to the Boozer (pub) for some – yes, that’s right – booze!

Cuppa:  A cup of tea. How much easier is it to say ‘Cuppa?’ Than ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ Unless the queen is visiting, of course! Sometimes offering a choice – ‘Cuppa, or a Cold One?’ – is appropriate so your guests can choose between tea or a cold beer.

Dunny: When nature calls, you’re caught short, or you want to spend a penny, just ask ‘Where’s the dunny, mate?’ and you’ll get directions to the nearest toilet! If you’re lucky, it’ll be a Scenic one!

Esky: Take your Cold Ones to the Barbie in an Esky and this handy insulated container will keep them cold! It’d be a rare Australian home without at least one.

Flat Out (#3): Very busy, moving very fast or going like the clappers! A short version of the phrase flat out like a lizard drinking (see below) meaning belly down, getting on with it.

Galah (#4): These colourful Australian native birds (see top photo) aren’t known for their stupidity or foolishness. But a person with these characteristics is often dubbed a silly Galah! Go figure!!

Happy as Larry (#5): Very happy, even though no one actually remembers who Larry is/was and why we are measuring our happiness against his.

Iffy: Dodgy. Not quite above board. Unclear. Can describe people, activities or situations.

Joe Blake (#6): Snake. Continuing the proud tradition of stealing borrowing from the Brits that triggered a mass banishment to the colonies in the first place, us Aussies have adopted rhyming slang as our own. Not to be confused with Mad as a cut snake which describes an angry or deranged person.

Knock: A useful word with multiple meanings. To knock is to poke fun at; a knocker is one who knocks; to knock back is to refuse; and to knock off is either to steal something or finish work. Or both.

Lurk: A strategy to outwit your boss, or find a way around rules and regulations is a good lurk. Knowing all the lurks is a valuable ability, especially if it also benefits your mates.

Mate: Friend, buddy, chum, pal. Oddly enough, most of these are also dog food brands. The most common Australian phrase, and the most mispronounced (by new chums) is G’day, mate! Your friends can also be your Scumbag mates – either a compliment or term of derision depending on who’s doing the calling!

Ned Kelly: Bushranger known for courage under fire. A brave person is as game as Ned Kelly. However, a person who tries to ‘put one over’ (ie trick or cheat = highway robbery) is also known as a ‘Ned Kelly’

On ya: Or more commonly, on ya, mate! Abbreviated form of ‘Good on you’.

Perish: Die, or come close to death through starvation or poverty. Doing a perish is the activity leading to the ultimate conclusion of starvation or poverty.

Quack: Doctor. Originally applied to an unqualified doctor, it’s now applied to ANY doctor.

Ranga: Redhead (see below).  But a redhead can also be called Blue (#7)!

Smoko: Pronounced ‘Smoke-oh’, it refers to morning or afternoon tea

time when taking a break meant boiling the billy (ie making a cup of tea over an open fire) and having a cigarette.

Tucker: Food. Qualifiers can be used to define food types such as good tucker for food that’s bonzer; or bush tucker for food with native ingredients, or that has come from the land.

Up yourself: An insult applied to a person who think s/he is better than others, or is showing off.

Veg Out: Relax. Pronounced ‘Vedge’, and refers to vegetables which are known for their lack of intellectual ability. A veggie or vego is either a person of limited intelligence or a vegetarian.

Wombat: A wombat is an Aussie animal who eats roots and leaves. It’s a derogatory term when used by females to describe a male with these habits – root being a euphemism for sexual intercourse. It’s often a term of admiration when used by a male to describe another male. Go figure.

XXXX: A well known brand of Aussie beer promoted by the jingle ‘I can feel a 4X coming on’. Pronounced ‘Four-ex’, it’s not to be confused with a popular brand of US condoms.

Yakka: Work. Hard yakka = Hard work.

Zonked: Tired. Also Knackered.

What have I missed? Do YOU have a favourite slang term?? Or a phrase you’ve heard for which you’d like a translation???

Let me know in the comments below!

Aussie Slang Rules:

These are just a few of the general rules applicable to Aussie slang – but be warned! Every rule has its exceptions and often, neither the rule NOR the exceptions actually make sense!

Rule #1 – Run words together quickly and don’t worry about keeping syllables separate

Rule #2 – Shorten a word (including names) and add ‘o’ (or another vowel) at the end

Rule #3 – Take a phrase with intrinsic meaning and render it incomprehensible by only using the first two or three words!

Rule #4 – Adopt native animal characteristics to describe human traits – or show them to be the opposite.

Rule #5 – Long forgotten people’s peculiarities live on in the words and phrases once used to describe them. Don’t try to understand.

Rule #6 – Rhyming slang is the exception to Rule #2. If it rhymes, it’s acceptable for a word or phrase to be MUCH longer than the original

Rule #7 – A word with the opposite meaning can be used to describe a person or thing.

WANT MORE?

Once you’ve mastered the beginners version try these for a more comprehensive slang workout:

• Australian Slang Dictionary
• Going Rank Glossary of Australian Slang
• Australia Travel Search Dictionary of Australian Slang
• Australian Words via Australian National University (thank you Karol!)

And … check out A-R in my Aussie ABC HERE!

I used Aussie English -an explanation of the Australian Idiom by John O’Grady; and The Ringers Book of Outback Terms and Phrases, produced by Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre as references in preparing this post.

Next Post: The Secret Language of Trees  

Previous Post: Cruising with Crocodiles on Australia’s WILDEST River

The post Aussie ABC: S is for Slang appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

With the world’s biggest rock AND largest monolith*, Australia’s the land of the ultimate ROCK – or at least the coolest Australian rock formations! But where’s a keen rockhound to go once they’ve seen Mt Augustus (biggest rock) and Uluru (biggest monolith)??

Check out a few more Australian Rock Stars – otherwise known as distinctive and unusual Australian rock formations – with this handy guide to 12 HOTTEST Rock spots from all around OZ!

1 Bald Rock via Tenterfield, NSW

This 750m x 500m monolith around 25 north of Tenterfield in New South Wales’ Granite Belt isn’t Australia’s largest monolith. But it’s Australia’s largest GRANITE monolith!!

Thrill seekers and the time-poor can take the short, steep exposed route straight up the face to the summit – 200 metres above the surrounding plains. Those wanting a more relaxing experience (read: more cowardly) can take the longer, more scenic route through the bushland up the back. Either way, the exposed summit has spectacular views over two states – and a spectacular drop down to the bottom!

MORE about Bald Rock National Park

2 Remarkable Rocks, Kangaroo Island, SA

The remarkable shapes of these rocks sculptured by wind, water and weather at the southern end of Flinders Chase National Park on Kangaroo Island off the South Australian coast are a real clue to what their ultra-imaginative name actually means

Australia’s 3^rd largest island – an intriguing blend of superb natural attractions, wildlife, gourmet treats and beaches – is South Australia’s answer to the tropics.

But whatever their reasons for visiting Kangaroo Island, sooner or later, most visitors head for the all-natural Remarkable Rocks – where they’ll take a photo remarkably like the one above!

MORE about Flinders Chase National Park, Kangaroo Island

3 Balancing Rock & Caves – Chillagoe, QLD

I’ve still got the cool Serpentine (I think) egg I bought from a Chillagoe shop on my only visit 20+ years ago, but it’s Balancing Rock and the Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park tour I remember.

Outside, the dramatic jagged edges of the reef housing the caves tower above the classic outback landscape.

It’s just as dramatic inside – a separate, subterranean world of limestone in intriguing formations, weathered caverns and towering columns.

Back outside and the self-guided walks to the historic smelter sites, Aboriginal rock art are interesting, but it’s the amazing Balancing Rock that’ll get you snapping!

MORE about Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park

4 Tessellated Pavement, Tasmania

I’m such a sucker for names that when I heard about an attraction in a place called Pirates Bay near the township of Eaglehawk Neck on the Tasman Peninsula, it didn’t matter what it was. I just HAD to go see Tasmania’s Tessellated Pavement – one of the best known examples*** of this complex geological phenomenon involving rock fractures, polygonal blocks, erosion and sea salts. If you’re not a geologist, this is probably enough information. If you ARE a geologist, then you’ll already know WAY more than this!

At low tide, the tessellations (like mosaic tiles) make an interesting patchwork on the flat rock platform just above the water level. But make sure your cool pavement shot isn’t ruined by slipping on the wet rocks!

MORE about the Tessellated Pavement

5 Mirima National Park, Kununurra

Tiny Mirima National Park on the outskirts of Kimberley town Kununurra, with its wildlife, walks and wheelchair access, is a chance to experience the MUCH bigger West OZ attraction Purnululu (aka Bungle Bungles) in miniature.

Formed by the same process as its larger counterpart, Mirima’s sedimentary rock layers glow in the early morning and late evening light. And with the right angle of perspective and the right level of concentration, a more skilled photograper than I could ALMOST convince viewers that the shots were taken elsewhere!

But I had no time for photographic trickery – I was more interested in avoiding the 3 metre snake!

MORE about Mirima National Park

6 Devils Marbles, Northern Territory

Snapping a killer sunset or sunrise in what is arguably Australia’s most intriguing rock pile without other people in your shot can be a challenge!

But the complicated geological theory involving weathered layers of sandstone and granite that’s the standard scientific explanation for the almost perfectly spherical shapes doesn’t quite do justice to the magical setting and extraordinary light.

So forget the ‘facts’, settle back, and drink in the magic of Karlu Karlu with the story of the Rainbow Serpent. According to this Indigenous legend, those spherical shapes are the Rainbow Serpent’s fossilized eggs!

Now … isn’t that a FAR more satisfying explanation for this geological phenomenon?

MORE about Devils Marbles (Karlu Karlu)

7 Island Rock, via Kalbarri, WA

According to the tourist information brochure, Island Rock, one of the more spectacular of Kalbarri National Park’s Coastal Cliff attractions, ‘can be enjoyed from the safety of the lookout enclosures’!

But it doesn’t explain how safely walk the coastal trail atop the sandstone cliffs so high above the pounding sea below it’s almost impossible to fit them into a photo! Perhaps that’s why many tourists opt for a visit to the park’s best known rock formation, Natures Window!!

If you can tear your eyes away from Island Rock and the amazing sculpted cliff face, so treacherous to ships and bumblefooted tourists, you may be lucky enough to see whales far out to sea. But if the sheer drop gives you vertigo, turn and face inland – and you’ll see one of Australia’s most scenic loos**!

MORE about Kalbarri National Park

8 Sawn Rocks, via Narrabri, NSW

It’s an easy walk from the car park to the dramatic Sawn Rocks – Australia’s best example of the columnar jointing phenomenon more commonly called organ piping located a few kilometres from Narrabri in the shadow of Mt Kaputar National Park. Best viewed in the morning when the sun (if it’s out!) strikes the rock face, bringing out the amazing colours and shadows.

Standing underneath the soaring rock face can be awe-inspiring – until you realise that those enormous Greek temple ruinous rock columns all around can only have come from one place.

Yep, directly above!

MORE about Sawn Rocks, via Narrabri, NSW

9 Hollow Mountain, Victoria

You can’t swing a brush-tailed possum in Victoria’s Grampians National Park without hitting some kind of rock. So much so that walking through the park could give you a serious case of rock overload that only a fix from the awesome Halls Gap Bakery could cure

But I’m betting even the most jaded rockhound couldn’t fail to be impressed by Hollow Mountain, in the Northern Grampians. Exploring the wind-sculpted caves, caverns and crags can actually be more fun than reaching the summit!

And I’m not just saying that because I’m exercise-averse! No, REALLY!!

MORE about Hollow Mountain and Northern Grampians

10 Balls Pyramid – via Lord Howe Island, NSW

For pure rock star awesomeness, there’s not much to beat the 552m high spire of the world’s largest volcanic rock stack, out in the middle of the ocean and one of the only points of the mostly submerged continent of Zealandia still above sea level.

It’s an achievement to even get there. A 700+ km flight from Sydney to Lord Howe Island in a small plane that, depending on wind and weather conditions, may or may not be able to land. Then a 23 km boat journey that, depending on wind and weather conditions, may or may not actually depart as scheduled.

Once you’re on the boat, it’s easy. Unless you suffer from seasickness, in which case the hardest part of the trip is NOW!

MORE about Balls Pyramid, via Lord Howe Island

11 Bunda Cliffs, South Australia

Is it possible to have TOO much limestone??

If you’re not sure, head down south and drive the Nullarbor Plain skirting the Great Australian Bight. There’s nothing much between the road on the southern edge of Australia and Antarctica – except the majestic Bunda cliffs, ranging from 60 – 120 metres high and stretching for ~100 km.

That makes them the longest unbroken line of sea cliffs in the WORLD!

If that’s not quite enough limestone for you, then factor in the 270,000 km² of the Nullarbor Plain itself – World’s largest limestone karst formation!

MORE about the Bunda Cliffs and Nullarbor Plain

12 Mount Moffatt, Carnarvon National Park, Queensland

Mount Moffatt, 220 km north of Mitchell, part of the Carnarvon National Park and containing Queensland’s highest plateau (the Consuelo Tableland) is worth the long drive – and the flat tyre we got the instant we drove into the park many years ago!

Its remoteness made it the ideal hideout for the bushrangers, including the violent Kenniff brothers and notorious cattle duffer Harry Redford (sometimes known as Captain Starlight), who operated in the area. And the local Bidjara people, who refused to be ousted from their land, left a legacy of rock imagery throughout the park.

But it’s the sandstone formations we came to see – an awesome array of arches, ‘chimneys’ and monoliths scattered decoratively around the park. There’s no doubt about it – these rocks ROCK!

MORE about Mt Moffatt, Carnarvon National Park

That’s just a sample – and I bet I’ve missed YOUR favourite HOT Australian Rock Formations!  Tell me below!!

Want even MORE?

• My Aussie Alphabet so far: Aussie ABC A-Q

* According to www.answers.com HERE

** Yes, it’s in my book HERE

*** According to Wikipedia HERE

The post Aussie ABC: R is for Rocks appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

The Aussie sense of humour – ie laconic crossed with off-beat crossed with extreme larrikinism – sometimes manifests itself in unusual, weird and downright bizarre ways. And that means ‘Quirky’!

But … be warned! There’s a fine line between ‘Kitsch’ and ‘Quirky’ – and an even finer one between ‘Quirky’ and ‘Tasteless’!

So I’ll leave you to decide into which category these examples of Aussie Quirkiness fall!

1. Signs and Symbols

We get that not everyone else speaks either English OR Aussie English – our brand of it. So we put some of the most incomprehensible graphics in the world on our signs.

This Kanyaka historic site sign (above) in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges has a number of strange and bizarre symbols that mean – what, exactly?? When I asked my readers to identify them in the original blog post (HERE) they came up with a surprising array of responses!

Although sometimes those world class ambiguity skills aren’t used! THIS sign just says it like it is!!

But … when crystal clear meets iconoclastic Aussie attitude, you get something REALLY quirky! Like this sign at the western entrance to Queensland Outback town Isisford!

Want MORE?

• What’s the story behind the Isisford sign?
• Have a look at the quirky Aussie travel signs I’ve found!

2. Talking Strine*

We Aussies generally have no trouble understanding both the US and UK forms of English.  But our quirky interpretation of some of its finer points – a translation of ‘English’ to ‘Strine’ – means those who’ve learned either the US or the UK version find it difficult to understand us! In fact, they often think we actually ‘talk funny’.  Who knew?

But that’s a minor detail compared to what we’re actually saying. That’s FAR more incomprehensible! Here’s a short test to see how Aussie you REALLY are:

1. Your friend Davo and his girlfriend Shazza are coming to visit. What are their real names?

2. Translate ‘Put another snag on the Barbie’

3. ‘Stubby’, ‘Tinny’, ‘Pot’, ‘Slab’ and ‘Schooner’ are all different ways to order WHAT common beverage? AND for an extra point – how do you keep it cold??

4. ‘How are ya?’ asks your mate. ‘Flat out like a lizard drinking’, you reply. What do you mean?

5. You suspect your boss has a couple of ‘roos loose in the top paddock. What’s wrong with him?

Answers at the bottom of the post!

Want MORE?

Check out my guest post about Australian slang HERE!

3. What’s on the Menu?

Where else can you get a food item colloquially known as a ‘rat’s coffin’? Usually served with a dose of ‘dead horse’?? A meat pie with (thanks to our adoption of the British habit for rhyming slang) tomato sauce doesn’t sound anywhere near so interesting, does it?!

So sometimes we serve it on a bed of pea soup and call it a ‘pie floater’.

But then we go one better.

Neither the Kangaroo or Emu are physically able to move backwards, and that’s why they’re on the Australian Coat of Arms! Admirable, yes?

BUT … apparently we’re the only country in the world to kill and eat the wildlife on our national Coat of Arms. Then we feed them as good Aussie ‘tucker’ to hapless tourists!

When you consider, however, that Australia is home of the AWESOME Tim Tam, I think you’ll agree that balances out all our other food faux pas combined!!

Want MORE? Here’s 40 foods we Aussies call our own (via CNN Travel)

4. A Day at the Races

In a country full of people who love having a wager but with only ~0.029 horses per km²**, we’ve got creative AND quirky with what we race. And bet on!

And that means racing whatever is at hand. Like Cockroaches. Or Camels. And arguably the quirkiest racing creature of all – the Cane Toad!

Despite – or perhaps because of – being an introduced pest with numbers now thought to exceed 200 million, the ugly cane toad has reached cult status downunder. With its very own line of novelty gifts, a documentary about its infamous beginnings in Australia AND Cane Toad World, a celebration of its quirky appeal, its unique qualities have made it popular on the informal sports and racing circuit!

Want MORE?

• Destructo – The most famous racing Cockroach of them ALL!

• My day at Bedourie’s Camel Races!

• Kununurra – where I lost my Cane Toad Race Virginity!!

• Cane Toad World in Gordonvale, Queensland

5. Size DOES Matter!

I once read that you know you’re Australian when it seems perfectly normal to wander a landscape littered with enormous representations of everyday objects, most commonly fruit and animals.

Aussie Big Things are in a quirky class of their own!

Yes, the Kangaroo, Koala, Crocodile and even the Aussie Galah are obvious targets.

But whoever thought of the Big Malleefowl?

Big Wool Bales??

Or the Big Ned Kelly???

And if you take a look at The Little Book of BIG Aussie Icons you’ll find MY picture of the Big Prawn!

Quirky? More like BEYOND Quirky!

Want MORE?

• Aussie Big Things

• The Little Book of BIG Aussie Icons

6. Bizarre Buildings

While weird and wacky buildings exist in Aussie urban areas too, why is it that the most ornate, thoughtfully constructed AND intriguing are found in the middle of nowhere?

Maybe it’s the relative lack of building materials, or a yearning for the luxuries of another country, or just a response to the landscape! Whatever the reason behind them, I say these bizarre buildings qualify as Quirky with a capital Q!

Maybe we just need to redefine ‘civilisation’! OR … perhaps we Aussies already have?!?!

7. Aussie Loos with Views!

I’m a loud and proud contributor to the pantheon of Aussie quirkiness with my book ‘Aussie Loos with Views!’ But I wouldn’t have been able to produce such a book without the vast selection of quirky Aussie dunnies all around the country.

My personal pick for the quirkiest of quirky Aussie dunnies is Gunnedah’s amazing Lyrical Loo!

There’s a lot of Australian Scenic Public Toilets on my blog AND more than 60 in my book!

Elevating the humble Aussie Loo to the Dunny of Distinction AND getting a book about them published (thanks to the team at Explore Australia) is Australia at it’s quirkiest!!

And if you want to prove me wrong, just buy my book and tell me EXACTLY where my reasoning is flawed!!

Go on! You KNOW you want to …

Want MORE?

See ALL the Scenic Public Toilets I’ve ever featured on my blog!

So does the evidence I’ve shown you prove Australia’s Quirkiness? Or is it all just kitcsh and/or tasteless?? Whatever you think, I’m calling Q for Quirky right here!

See RedzAustralia’s other Aussie ABC posts:

• A is for Alice Springs

• B is for Bushranger

• C is for Crocodile

• D is for Dune

• E is for Emu

• F is for Fossils

• G is for Gorge

• H is for Holiday

• I is for Islands

• J is for Jabiru

• K is for Kangaroo

• L is for Lookout

• M is for Mt Kosciuszko

• N is for Nullarbor

• O is for Opal

• P is for Patriotic

* Strine = just say ‘Australian’ REALLY quickly (ie like a true blue Aussie) and you’ll find it sounds almost like ‘Strine’

** 221000 horses according to horsetalk.co.nz divided by Australia’s landmass of 7.692 million km² according to australia.gov.au (and they should know, yes??!!)

Answers to Strine Quiz:

1. Davo = David (or MATE!); Shazza = Sharon (or ‘Luv’ if you can’t remember her name)

2. Put some more Sausages (Snags) on the Barbecue (ie Barbie)

3. Beer; keep it cold by putting it in the Esky!

4. You’re really busy

5. A couple of kangaroos loose in the top paddock = a bit mad!

The post Aussie ABC: Q is for Quirky appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

As this FAAAABULOUS January 26 gets under way, the ozone layer prepares itself for a high carbon emission onslaught and the planet’s remaining trees breathe a sigh of relief.

It’s Australia Day and almost compulsory to have a barbecue and PROVE your Aussie pride.  Do this by putting Aussie flags on every conceivable product from toothpicks to tablecloths; serviettes to stubby holders; picnic plates to paper cups.

For Aussies like me, there’s a LOT of things that make Australia so Australian.  So I’ve chosen 26 of those special Aussie things that top MY Australia Day Patriotic Aussie Pride list!

Australia Day!

Congratulations to anyone who’s ever been on the Australian of the Year and/or Australia Day Honours list, and a BIG welcome to our newest citizens!

BIG Things!

Love ’em or LOATHE ’em, for us Aussies it’s quite normal to wander a landscape littered with BIG fruit, animals and other random objects!

Country Towns! 

Around 90% of Australia’s population live in urban areas. So I’m calling Country Towns the next BIG Thing in Aussie tourism.

Where else can you see the quirks, the oddities, the beauty and the colours of Australia?

Dry!

Australia is the driest continent on earth, and South Australia its driest state.

Eucalyptus!

Most of the 700 species in this genus are from Australia.  It’s also the only genus in the world with species across ALL habitats.  That makes Eucalyptusa mini-masterclass in adaptation.

Even though down here we call them Gum Trees!

Floral Emblem!

Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) is the famed Green and Gold that represents Australia. Although each Australian State and Territory has a unique floral emblem, not many Australians can name them all! Can you? Test your knowledge HERE!

Gold!

Australia is home of the Welcome Stranger.  At over 71 kg it’s the world’s biggest alluvial gold nugget and was found at Moliagul near Bendigo in the Victorian Goldfields. It’s tempting to see if Son of the Welcome Stranger is lurking nearby, right?!

High Country!

At 2228 metres, Mt Kosciuszko, highest mountain in OZ, isn’t that high by, say, Everest standards. But the OZ High Country around the New South Wales Snowy Mountains and Victoria’s Alps makes a HUGE change from the Coastal fringe and Outback that usually characterises OZ!

Indigenous Culture!

Australian colonial history started just over 200 years ago. Australian Indigenous history goes back for over 50,000 years. This means Australian Aborigines have occupied the same area continuously for longer than any other culture in the world!!

Jump Up!

In a land so (mostly) flat, sometimes the only feature for hundreds of kilometres is a small hill called a Jump Up. My favourite is Swanvale Jump-Up near Stonehenge … the Aussie version.

Kookaburra!

Nothing says ‘Australian Bush’ like the sound of the Kookaburra– largest Kingfisher species in the WORLD!

If you’re unsure why they were once called Laughing Jackass, click HERE for a Kookaburra Sound Clip!

Lingo!

Understanding Australian Slang Dictionary is the REAL citizenship test, as Google translate is a FAIL for true Aussie lingo.

See how you go with this Australia Day ‘conversation’:

‘G’day mate, ayagorn?’
‘Stone the crows, she’s a hot one, mate! Chuck another coupla snags on the barbie and pass the dead horse, whaddayareckon, eh mate?’
‘No worries, tinnies in the esky mate, go for your life!’
‘Orright mate, cheers’
Translation below …*

Murray River! 

Australia’s longest river system, the Murray-Darling, stretches from it’s headwaters near Mt Kosciuszko to the sea at South Australia’s Goolwa.

National Parks!

Of Australia’s 516 National Parks, my most visited is the Grampians National Park in Victoria.

What’s yours?

Outback!

The huge and otherwise undefined ‘middle’ section of Australia.   There’s WAY more than the ‘nothing much’ of popular opinion out there. Don’t believe me? Have a look at my Outback adventures!

Poets!

The ultimate accolade to Australia’s poets is Scenic Public Toilet #8 at Gunnedah, NSW.  It’s also home of Dorothea MacKellar author of My Country – a personal favourite.

Another is Clancy of the Overflow by the extraordinarily prolific A. B. Paterson. He also wrote Waltzing Matilda – one of the 10 most recorded songs in the world.  The song is the subject of the only museum in the world (the Waltzing Matilda Centre in Winton, QLD) dedicated to a song!

Quirky!

You don’t have to look very hard to find something strange and bizarre downunder. Like a singing, piano-playing dingo. Or a sign telling you exactly what the locals think of the government. Or a gilded church steeple in the middle of nowhere. Or the world’s first ride-on lawnmower. Or a Cane Toad Race! Or the World Moon-Rock Throwing Championships! Haven’t heard of these things before? They’re ALL on my blog!!

RED!

Well, what did you expect for ‘R’?? In my opinion, Australia’s REDDEST place is Karijini National Park, although you can find RED pretty much anywhere in Australia – both the colour AND the blogger! Me!!

Surf!

Yep, that’s what we’re known for! And a whole lot of other Coast-related ‘S’ words as well … like Swimming! Sun!! Sand!!! Sunsets!!!!

Tasmania!

Often forgotten as part of Australia, the ‘Apple Isle’ is the second-largest island in the Australia group. I’ve only been to Tasmania once, an oversight I hope to rectify soon!

Uluru!

Australia’s RED heart. Do I really need to give you a photo or link??

Vegemite!

Vegemite is an acquired taste. Who knows how much longer this Aussie icon will survive with the competition from Aussie legend Dick Smith’s OZEMITE? But whatever happens, the Vegemite TV commercial from the 1950’s is a classic!!

Whales! Stretches of Australia’s extensive coastline are perfect for whale-watching in the right season. The Southern Right Whale nursery in the Great Australian Bight is a good place to start, but there’s opportunities all around OZ.

Xanthorrhoea!

A Xanthorrhoea by any other name is Australia’s most well known wildflower – the Grass Tree, able to withstand bushfires and live for hundreds of years!

Young and Free!

From the first stanza of Advance Australia Fair, the Australian National Anthem – ‘Australians all let us rejoice/for we are young and free’. Nicely ironic, considering the longevity of the Aboriginal race (see above).  But … I’d like to think I was young and free – however old I become!

Zoo!

Yeah … this is the lazy person’s Z-word. So sue me. Australia’s Zoos are pretty good though – Adelaide’s Monarto Zoo, Dubbo’s Great Western Plains Zoo and Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo. But my all time favourite Zoo-like place is the Alice Springs Desert Park!

That’s just some of what makes Australia so Australian, and ME patriotic. But what have I missed?? What’s YOUR favourite Australiana??

Want MORE?

• Check out the rest of my Aussie Alphabet HERE!
• AND … if this has got your travel juices flowing, check out some travel deals and get exploring!

*Lingo Translation:

‘Hi, how are you going?’

‘Gosh it’s hot! Can you put a couple of sausages on the barbecue and pass the sauce? What do you think?’

‘OK, help yourself to a can (of beer) in the portable cold bin.

‘All right, thanks!’

The post P is for Patriotic: 26 Reasons to ROCK Australia Day! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

Australian Opal

I didn’t understand all the fuss about SiO₂.nH₂O until 2004.

That’s when I first visited Coober Pedy.  It’s slap bang in the middle of absolutely freakin’ nowhere in the South Australian Outback.  And it’s where I first found a piece of SiO₂.nH₂O I wanted to take home with me.

You might know SiO₂.nH₂O better as Hydrous Silica. Or maybe Opal!  Down here, diamonds AREN’T a girl’s best friend. 95% of the world’s opal is sourced from downunder, so Australia comes by its national gemstone honestly!  Australian Opal Rules!

Back in Coober Pedy, there was only one thing standing between me and my Opal. A small matter of $AUD800+. A bit much for my wallet, even if it was already a tasteful ring that actually fitted me.

But then I had a scathingly brilliant idea!  Why not find my OWN piece of opal and make my OWN jewellery? It couldn’t be THAT hard, could it?

So over the next few years I disregarded the legendary BAD luck attached to precious opal. My quest took me to five Aussie opal towns, also slap bang in the middle of nowhere. That’s because the ideal climatic and geological factors in which cryptocrystalline hydrous silica (yep, that’s yet another way of saying OPAL!) forms seem to occur in the harshest, most desolate and inhospitable land on earth.

Where else but the Australian Outback!

Was my quest successful? Well … here’s a set of random adventures from each Australian Opal town!

1. Coober Pedy, SA – Australian Opal’s capital

I awoke in perfect pitch blackness and waited for my eyes to adjust to the light.

They didn’t.

That’s what happens in a windowless room hewn from the solid rock under Coober Pedy in the middle of the night. But for the absence of shackles we could have been in a dungeon. Although the locals who’d built underground to beat the heat were probably used to it.

Meanwhile, the noise from above that had woken me – a pinging sound like pebbles on an iron roof – continued.

I put aside thoughts of poison pills, ventilator shafts and being buried alive. If anyone wanted to do me in, it’d be simpler to dump me in a disused mine-shaft!

Most of South Australia’s 80% contribution to the world opal market is mined in Coober Pedy.  It’s a pock-marked paradise where the golf course (‘blacks’ instead of ‘greens’) enjoys reciprocal rights with St Andrews of Scotland.

This isolated town has what I believe to the world’s only underground campground.  The Big Winch also has the distinction of being first place in the world where we successfully demonstrated a complete lack of opal-finding expertise.

And the noise?? Rain, of course!

2. Yowah, QLD – Australian Opal Exclusive

From our vantage point high above on the Bluff, the small town was almost lost in an endless sprawl of vegetation.  It promised total disorientation if you left the main road in.

Below us was the only place in the world where Yowah Nuts – small rocky nuggets of opal – are found.

Stay in Yowah for a full-on Outback experience to go with your Yowah Nuts.  This town is SO remote it’s visited by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.  The only fuel in town at the caravan park is only available to their paying guests!

I didn’t expect to meet an ex-legionnaire, whose anecdotes about life in the Foreign Legion, including the true meaning of ‘decimate’, kept us entertained over lunch at the town’s only cafe!

After that, getting a fossickers license seemed a bit anti-climactic.

Luckily for inept unlucky opal-mining tragics like me, opal can be purchased locally.

SO … I was forced to descend into true tourist behaviour.  After passing up several fiendishly expensive cuts, I bought my first ever piece of opal.

A multi-coloured shard of Yowah Nut cunningly carved into a pendant.

Although I have to stand right for the sun to illuminate its colours, at only $AU25, it’s a reminder of what awaits our return to Yowah.

3. Lightning Ridge, NSW

As we left the Lightning Ridge Visitor Information Centre, I was asked the dumbest question in living memory.

‘D’ya reckon we’ll like it here, love?’ the the most inebriated of a clutch of beer-swigging Grey Nomads asked.  He drunkenly staggered against the door as he held it open for me.

Say what?

But Lightning Ridge is memorable for a whole lot of other reasons. We followed the ‘Car Door’ self drive tours to the Corcoran Opal fields – the richest stretch of black-opal-bearing soil on earth.  We also saw enough quirky attractions to make us wonder exactly what was in the super-heated bore water bubbling up from the Great Artesian Basin way below into the hot baths full of tourists exhausted after a day in the diggings.

Quirky Lightning Ridge

Think Flying Combi, the Chambers of the Black Hand, the Black Queen Experience and Amigo’s Castle! AND it’s home of the self-proclaimed ONLY black-opal-mining Cactus Farmers in the WORLD!! Black opal requires a tonne of equipment to reach the depths at which it is found.  So our short stay was spent exploring the place where legendary and prolific Aussie author, Ion Idriess worked and wrote ‘Lightning Ridge’ over 100 years ago.

Ironic, though, that any one of his books is now worth more than all the Australian opal Pilchard and I have EVER scavenged put together!!

4. White Cliffs, NSW

Call me a coward, but I can’t face the overhang of a LOOONG ladder tilting backwards into oblivion with nothing between me and the bottom of the mine shaft.  That’s why I did my ‘research’ on the surface while brave boy Pilchard went below for a mine tour.

The good news is there’s almost as much opal on the surface these days.  It’s hidden in the cast-offs surrounding the deserted mine-shafts scattered over the surface, if you don’t mind worthless smaller pieces! Tragically, the collection of ‘colour’ Pilchard and I found after a hard day digging won’t even make jewellery, let alone our fortune.  But I finally got the thrill of the quest and why people keep coming back for more.

Besides, White Cliffs is the only place on earth with unique Australian Opal Pineapples!

As a special treat, the owners of the Red Earth Opal Showroom and Cafe who’d shown Pilchard through their mine, threw in an above-ground mine-shaft tour for free for me.

A real bargain considering it normally costs 50c!

And what’s NOT to love about the place I spent 7½ minutes in paradise?

5. Quilpie, QLD

A bakery run by a gun shearer who still holds the world record for the most sheep shorn in one day is one of many distractions from Quilpie’s main business of mining boulder opal. Hell, with its own HOT Artesian Bore baths and in-season entertainment, you don’t even have to leave the Caravan Park to find yourself a good time!

It’s also not far from Eromanga – arguably furthest spot from the ocean in any direction in Australia.  With attractions like these, you could stay in Quilpie for a week without even thinking about Opal.

The ‘Deuces Wild’ Opal Mine is SO remote a rescue party is sent out (at your expense) if you’re not back by 5:00pm. The distraction of Bourkes Parrot, a lifer for twitcher Pilchard, was almost enough excitement without hunting for the elusive opal.

On the claim, our ever-growing opal-mining ‘expertise’ resulted in some seams of ‘colour’ running through the rock. But while they look nice in the sun, I’m not sure how they’ll become my Opal Ring …

The Quest for Australian Opal Continues

To date, the unkind could successfully argue my quest for my own piece of SiO₂.nH₂O jewelry has been a fools errand! But in the process, I’ve discovered an intriguing sub-culture out on the edge which I’m not yet done exploring.

SO … watch this space – and maybe next time I’ll hit the Australian Opal jackpot!

Want MORE?

• Opal according to Wikipedia
• Coober Pedy, South Australia
• Yowah, Queensland
• Lightning Ridge, New South Wales
• White Cliffs, New South Wales
• Quilpie, Queensland
• MORE Aussie ABC!

The post Aussie ABC: O is for Opal! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

I was 4 – nearly 5! – the first time I crossed the Nullarbor. Christmas day, and we were on the Indian Pacific* heading for Adelaide. We’d spent Christmas eve in a pub somewhere in rough as guts Western Australian gold-mining town Kalgoorlie, but I don’t remember that.  Maybe I had blanked it out …

Many years later, I made my second Nullarbor crossing, this time as an adult by car along the Eyre Highway. And while it was hot, dry and dusty with a killer sand-laden wind fresh from the furnaces of hell, I couldn’t suppress the frisson of excitement that travelling this iconic landscape gave me.

Because the Eyre Highway’s 1660 km length**, crossing two monster states, three time zones and the world’s largest limestone karst shelf covering 200,000 km²makes a Nullarbor crossing the ultimate Australian rite-of-passage road trip!

The Nullarbor is WAY more than just a long, dusty drive from A to B.

With unique Australian AND World Exclusives jostling for position amidst magnificent coastal scenery, remote roadhouses and the opportunity to be truly alone, who WOULDN’T want to experience the wonders of the treeless (Null = none; arbor = tree) plain?

BUT … if you’re having trouble picturing how a Nullarbor crossing – perhaps the ultimate Australian travel adventure – is a good thing, here’s 6 trip-teaser things to see and do on the Nullarbor Plain so you can see what you’re missing!!

 1 The Golf:

OK, you’re on the Nullarbor on (arguably) Australia’s greatest road trip and I’m talking GOLF??

Yes.

Even if – like me – you’re NOT a golfer, you’ll surely want to add a World Exclusive like World’s LONGEST golf course to your repertoire, right??

Nullarbor Links stretches 1365 km (848 miles) over 18 holes from the ‘CY O’Connor’ and ‘Golden Mile’ holes in Kalgoorlie to ‘Denial Bay’ and ‘Oyster Beds’ at Ceduna with 14 other aptly named holes – think ‘Skylab’ at Balladonia, ‘Nullarbor Nymph’ at Eucla and ‘Dingo’s Den’ at the Nullarbor Roadhouse – along the way. And you don’t have to lug a whole lot of (to me) superfluous golfing gear around either! Hire clubs at each hole!!

MORE about Nullarbor Links!

2 The Bight:

Once across the border into South Australia, the highway skirts the Bunda cliffs with their white base of Wilson Bluff Limestone.

A dramatic edge to the Great Australian Bight – that 1160 km long mouthful shaped chunk that eats into Southern Australia – the impressive 200 km of unbroken cliffs is part of the longest sea-cliff line in the world.

From here, there’s NOTHING between you and Antarctica except what we Aussies call the Great Southern Ocean. To the rest of you, it’s just part of the Indian Ocean.

MORE about Great Australian Bight and Great Australian Bight Marine Park

3 The Whales and other Wildlife:

Between May and October each year, up to 60 Southern Right Whales migrate to this area to breed and calve. One of the best places to sight them is the northernmost tip of the curve of southern coastline, imaginatively called Head of Bight!

Get below the cliff line on the Great Australian Bight Marine Park’s viewing platform that puts you as close to the whales as you can get without getting wet! But don’t just drop in like we did – break your journey at the nearby Nullarbor Roadhouse so you can spend all the time you want whale watching.

If whales aren’t your thing, birdwatch at the Eyre Bird Observatory – Nullarbor Quail-thrush is only found on the Nullarbor!

Failing that, foolishly driving from dusk onwards will virtually guarantee sightings of wildlife up REAL close …

MORE about Head of Bight’s Whale Watching AND Eyre Bird Observatory

4 The Exclusives:

A Nullarbor road-trip really is the best way to appreciate Australia’s size and scope as well as some experiences to be had nowhere else in Australia – or the World!

During the trip, experience the longest straight stretch of road in Australia!

Just how long IS 90-mile straight?? Of course … it’s 91.1 miles (or 146.6 km)!!

And if you miss the bight and longest line of sea-cliffs in the world because you’re travelling by train, make up for it by riding the longest straight stretch of railway line in the world – 478 km (297 miles).

Under the world record breaking limestone karst, worn by the weathering of millenia, lies the world’s longest cave system complete with rockholes and blowholes, including Koonalda Cave and Murrawijinie Caves near the Nullarbor Roadhouse.

At 2.5 million acres, Rawlinna station is the biggest sheep station in the world!

Yes, that makes it bigger than quite a number of countries … although the dry sheep equivalent out here is pretty low!

Taking a photo of the big nothing emptiness isn’t too difficult … on roads this long, there’s not a lot of other traffic to get in the way!

5 The History:

Perhaps because of its isolation, harsh climate and unique features, the Nullarbor’s fascinating history can be experienced along the way.

Several settlements and roadhouses are built around the Telegraph line, like Eucla, near the WA/SA border, once the busiest Telegraph Station outside the capital cities when it opened in 1877. Drowning in sand, the ruins can still be accessed by 4WD.

The Eyre Bird Observatory was once an historic Telegraph Station, itself on the site of a watering hole used by Edward John Eyre during his Nullarbor Crossing. Back on the highway, nearby Cocklebiddy was once an Aboriginal mission. Indigenous legend and history is further explored at the Head of Bight Interpretive Centre.

If you can remember back to 1979, spare a thought for Skylab when you reach Balladonia – debris was found at Woorlba Sheep Station 40 km east. A Cultural Heritage Museum in the hotel complex also recreates the area’s history including Aboriginal Dreaming legend and Afghan Cameleers.

To cement YOUR place in history, pick up a Nullarbor Crossing Certificate from the Norseman Tourist Centre OR from the Port Augusta Wadlata Visitor Information Centre – depending on from which end your trip started!!

6 The Nullarbor Nymph:

The story of a blonde white woman living among kangaroos on the Nullarbor Plain was first reported, perhaps unsurprisingly on the day after Xmas, 1971.

After some footage of a woman wearing kangaroo skins was released – did I mention she was half-naked?? – the small town of Eucla (then with a population of 8) on the Western Australian side of the border with South Australia, was swamped by journalists from around the world.

Sadly, the Nullarbor Nymph was outed as a hoax in 1972, although perhaps she remains a subliminal fantasy for in the ‘best’ Aussie tradition, the story of the nymph has been immortalised in a (you’ll not be surprised to hear low-budget) film.

Most – if not all – travellers won’t get to see the nymph, so will have to content themselves with this Aussie BIG Thing at the Half-way Across Australia mark instead …

MORE about the Nullarbor Nymph AND more about the FILM and Kimba’s BIG Galah!

Just between us, this is only the beginning … there are WAAAAY more than these 6 things to see and do on the Nullarbor!  But I’ll leave finding the rest up to you!!

Interested? Intrigued?? Incited??? THEN … Read MORE:

• The Nullarbor Plain, South Australia and Western Australia
• Travellers Guide to the Nullarbor

ALL the Aussie ABCs:

• M is for Mount Kosciuszko
• L is for Lookout
• K is for Kangaroo
• J is for Jabiru
• I is for Islands
• H is for Holiday
• G is for Gorge
• F is for Fossils
• E is for Emu
• D is for Dune
• C is for Crocodile
• B is for Bushranger
• A is for Alice Springs

* Famous Australian train running from Sydney to Perth ie between the Indian and Pacific oceans!!

** From Norseman, Western Australia to Port Augusta, South Australia – with the accepted limits of the Nullarbor Plain being the ~1200 km from Norseman to Ceduna. The actual distance from Perth to Adelaide is 2700 km.

The post Aussie ABC: N is for Nullarbor appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

‘Good on ya, love,’ a bloke sang out, one of a trio of pensioners trotting past me as I trudged wearily up the last slight steady impossibly steep incline before the Mt Kosciuszko lookout. Leaving the summit behind I only had 2km of the 13 km (8 miles) round trip summit hike to go, and altitude sickness was kicking in.

At least, that’s the only way I can explain the shortness of breath that had turned this last uphill stretch into a taxing climb.

‘You’re the only person we’ve passed all day,’ chirped the pensioner in the exact tone of voice that made me want to slap him silly as the trio left me in their wake.

Cheeky beggar!

Pedantic peak-bagging purists don’t include Mt Kosciuszko as a valid ‘climb’ for the 7 Summits despite it being Australia’s highest point.

Puncak Jaya (aka Carstensz Pyramid) in Papua, New Guinea is more than twice as high, they say.

And the Australian continent includes New Guinea, they say. And the island of New Guinea is on the Australian continental shelf, they say. The purists climb both, thus extending their 7 Summits to 8 peaks. That SO makes sense … NOT!

Although that COULD be the terminal laziness that dogs my footsteps talking …

The smart money says the REAL reason to exclude Mt Kosciuszko has nothing to do with peak bagging and everything to do with mountaineering elitism.

The ambitious scope, rigorous training schedule and technical skill required to complete the 7 Summits make it a challenge so great that only ~350 climbers have completed since it’s 1985 conception …

… compared to the estimated 100,000 climbers who conquer Mt Kosciuszko each year.

So hardly a mountaineering exclusive, although people like me DO take training seriously and prepare for the rigours of the 2228m (7313 ft) summit ascent by a test climb on Mt Wycheproof, the world’s smallest mountain!

Yes, you heard it here: The summit climb is embarrassingly easy!

Especially given the most difficult section of the climb – the 600 m (1982 ft) elevation from ski town Thredbo to the Eagle’s Nest restaurant (highest in OZ) – can be completed by chairlift.

YESSSSS!

From there – a tiny 3.5° C (38° F) the day we climbed – we were above the tree line with a 6.5 km (one way) trek to the top undulating upwards over a 300 m (991 ft) elevation.

Its place in the 7 Summit pantheon isn’t the only controversy surrounding the mountain. A neighbouring peak was originally thought to be the highest and dubbed Mt Kosciuszko, with the current Mt Kosciuszko called Mt Townsend. When a survey showed the mistake, the names were switched so that Kosciuszko remained the name of Australia’s highest peak!

Although ‘peak’ isn’t the right word – it’s more of an imposing rounded dome rising above the surrounding landscape often enough to provide a tantalising glimpse of journey’s end. Or at least the half-way mark because the shortest way back is to return to the chairlift the way you came.

But all that is well in the future at the start of the hike with spectacular views WAAAAAY down to Thredbo and up along the rocky Ramshead Range. The kilometres pass quickly along the raised metal walkway that took 17 years to construct that protects the fragile alpine heathland.

It’s a nostalgic moment as we cross the headwaters of the Snowy River. Pastoral country until being phased out in 1969, Aussie poet ‘Banjo’ Paterson’s classic poem ‘The Man From Snowy River’ superbly captures the legend of this wild high country before the National Park was proclaimed in 1944 and the river harnessed for the Snowy Mountains hydro-electric scheme from 1949.

We climb up to a saddle from the river, and now the Australian records come thick and fast.

Lake Cootapatamba – highest lake and one of 5 mainland glacial lakes; Rawson’s Pass, overlooking highest permanent settlement Charlotte Pass, and location of highest Scenic Public Toilet at 2100 metres; then the final ascent – a relentless climb along the old Charlotte Pass road circling round the dome to the top.

And the staggering 360° view over the Main Range, Monaro tablelands and Victorian High Country.

Explorer Count Paul Strzelecki, whose commemorative statue in nearby Jindabyne portrays him as a cross between previous OZ prime minister Bob Hawke and Dracula, was the first to actually record a climb in 1840, although the peak is likely to have been climbed beforehand by local Indigenous people, who called the mountain Tar Gan Gil, and white settlers.

Until 1974, when the road was closed to traffic to help preserve the fragile environment, visitors could drive to the Mt Kosciuszko summit.

And I’ll bet the couple who pushed a pram all the way, and the young man carrying two small children in a backpack wished the road was still open …

Waiting our turn for the obligatory summit shot while an endless stream of school groups took more than their fair share of time at the marker cairn, the clouds rolled in – and justified the winter clothes we’d bought in far below Jindabyne! Although it was worth the purchase price to hear the young salesman describe his phobias – Snakes and even a recent snakebite didn’t bother him; but Spiders? No way! Mad fool!! But I digress …

The return trip punctuated by the obligatory tinkle in the highest public toilet in OZ, countless rest exhaustion photo stops, and a voluntary go-slow when I tired of the student wisdom pouring out like … well, lets just say waste … behind me.

‘Sir said life is short,’ one adenoidal youngster stated to a gaggle of giggling comrades. ‘That is incorrect. Life is the longest thing you do,’ he concluded triumphantly.

Words to live by? Words to live without … they passed me, chattering inanely …

The only cure for altitude sickness is to lose altitude quickly, which the Kosciuszko Express chairlift descent delivers in spades.

It’s almost impossible to take photos while indulging in a long, silent scream with both hands locked in a white-knuckled death grip on the ‘safety’ bar – the only thing between me and the 600m drop to Thredbo …

And just like that, my birthday present Kosciuszko adventure was over, leaving me with a fine sense of anti-climax and an almost irresistible urge for a tacky piece of memorabilia like a ‘Kozzie’ snow dome or a ‘Get High’ T-shirt to mark the occasion.

But I settled for posting some photos on Flickr and writing this blog post instead.

Besides … I’ve been to the Mt Kosciuszko summit before!

As shown by this photo from the year … well, I’m sure it’ll be immediately identifiable by the superb example of what the well-dressed mountaineer – a random stranger lucky enough to be captured by Dad’s camera – was wearing! A small clue – we apparently drove to the top …

Tragically, this means I can’t claim to have climbed it twice – but even if I could, it probably doesn’t count if I can’t remember it …

So I’m claiming Kosciuszko as Peak #1 in my 7 Summit Challenge! But don’t hold your breath for the next instalment – I’m going for the slowest 7 Summits ever!

Want MORE?

• 7 Summits
• Climbing Mt Kosciuszko – Route Alternatives
• Climbing Mt Kosciuszko – Flickr Photos
• Kosciuszko National Park
• Mt Kosciuszko Inc
• The Man From Snowy River by Andrew ‘Banjo’ Paterson
• Mt Wycheproof – World’s Smallest Mountain
• Charlotte Pass

The post Aussie ABC: M is for Mount Kosciuszko appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

Downunder, a sign pointing to a LOOKOUT isn’t a warning to LOOK OUT! – it’s a vantage or viewing point from which to better admire the surrounding landscape.  Like this completely gratuitous one above – serving no other purpose in this post but to attract your attention!

It worked, didn’t it?!

In this relatively flat land, where the highest mountain is a mere 2228 metres high, finding a suitable spot from which to survey the scenery often doesn’t require too much elevation, with many lookouts accessible by vehicle or a short walking track.

And what you see when you get there is often so extensively, ecstatically panoramic that taking a tour – virtual or otherwise – of these 14 lookouts in strategic locations around the country will show you a LOT of Australia!

Finding these AWESOME landscapes is half the fun – or at least it is with TravelSIM! Let them help you take the guesswork out of getting there so you’ve got that much more time to enjoy the scenery!

Meanwhile, enjoy the virtual tour!

1  NEW Lookout, via Boroka Lookout, Grampians, Victoria:

On many visits to Victoria’s magnificent Grampians region, we thought we’d ‘done’ all the lookouts. But in October 2012, we found a new one! SO new, I can’t find its name anywhere – and tragically can’t recall the name we saw on the sign!

On the back road between Lake Wartook and Boroka Lookout – in itself a magnificent spot – this is the only lookout from which both Lake Wartook (at right) and Lake Bellfield above Grampians Town Halls Gap can be seen – along with the great stretch of wildnerness separating them.

Read more: The Grampians

2  Five Rivers Lookout, Wyndham, Western Australia:

Visitors to Wyndham start to ascend the Bastion range escarpment well before dusk to get the best vantage point from the Five Rivers lookout platform as the sun sets over the – yes, you guessed right – Five rivers that flow into impressive Cambridge Gulf.

But the view is just as impressive by day – bear in mind this photo shows only about half of it – with the saltworks below, tidal salt plains in the middle distance and the Cockburn range in the background.

Here, you’ll find the answer to that most pressing of questions: Does the picnic ground have Australia’s most Scenic Public Toilet?

Read more: Five Rivers Lookout

3 Inspiration Point, via Point Pass, South Australia:

Between Point Pass and Robertstown in South Australia’s mid-north, an unsealed road that leads high above the surrounding plain to Inspiration Point, where the colour of the landscape depends on the season! Look back, if you dare, from the lookout to the rocky retaining wall holding the road in place. South Australia’s mid north has a fascinating heritage that’s worth exploring, and Inspiration Point makes a fine starting point.

Read more: Point Pass

4 Transit Hill Lookout, Lord Howe Island, New South Wales:

Transit Hill isn’t the highest lookout on Lord Howe Island nor the one with the most extensive view. But in the late afternoon sun, the outlook over the distinctive – and impressive – twin peaks of Mounts Gower and Lidgbird forms a Bali-Hai-esque backdrop to the rest of this little gem 600 km off the New South Wales coast.

Read more: Lord Howe Island

5 Jarnem Lookout, Keep River National Park, Northern Territory:

The spectacular scenery of Keep River National Park, only a few kilometres from the Northern Territory/Western Australian border is best appreciated on the 7 km Jarnem Loop trail. Ascending to the lookout at the highest point above the surrounding plains is the best way to experience the vast magnificence of the 360° panorama, with only rock stacks and a distant mountain range for company!

But if you’re a bird watcher, a sighting of uncommon White-quilled Rock Pigeon beats the view from any lookout!!

Read more: Keep River National Park

6 Flagstaff Hill, Port Douglas, Far North Queensland:

Make sure your car is up for the vertiginous drive from sea level to ex-fishing-village-now-tourist-town Port Douglas’ best vantage point – through billions of dollars worth of prime coastal real estate. If you like the view over Four Mile Beach, there’s a block of land for sale just below the lookout platform.

Imagine waking up to that view, while directly behind your new home, throngs of tourists scale the heights to admire the sights by day and night!  Anyone who gets to this idyllic spot should thank the local council who, despite pressure from the locals (yes, the ones who live in those $multi-million properties) to close the public access road to the summit, kept it open!

Read more: Port Douglas

7 Mt Wellington, via Hobart, Tasmania:

Tragically my only visit to the Apple Isle, as Tasmania is affectionately known to the rest of Australia, was for a conference.  That meant I didn’t get to see anything except the inside of the conference venue. Until the last day when in the hiatus between conference end and flight departure I booked a tour to the top of Mt Wellington, 1270 m above Hobart and the Derwent river below.

This glimpse of the vast and untouched natural wilderness – for which every Australian should say ‘thank you, Bob Brown’ – has been a six year teaser for touring this often forgotten corner of Australia. BUT … at least this gets Tassie on the board for my blog!

Read more: Mt Wellington,Tasmania

8 Mt Warning, via Murwillumbah, Northern New South Wales:

The steep ascent to the Mt Warning (also known as Wollumbin) summit, first place the sun’s rays reach on the Australian mainland, will reward the lucky climber with a panoramic 360° view. I’ve made the 9km return hike three times – but never in the pre-dawn darkness to reach the top by sunrise!

In the Wollumbin World Heritage area, the view FROM Mt Warning’s summit lookout is one of New South Wales’ finest – but the best view OF Mt Warning is in Springbrook National Park just across the border in Queensland at the aptly named ‘Best of All’ Lookout!

Read more: Wollumbin National Park; and the Best of All Lookout

9 The Horn, Mt Buffalo, via Bright, Victoria:

It’s not all red rocks, dirt and sand from Australia’s lookouts – the Victorian Alpine region’s layer upon layer of mountainous wilderness can easily be viewed from several vantage points. The Alpine National Park crosses state boundaries with Mt Kosciuszko, at 2228 metres Australia’s highest, on the other side of the state border in New South Wales.

But the 1723 metre summit of the Horn atop Mt Buffalo – my personal favourite – is on the Victorian side of the border. Who knew you could have adventures in the cold like this?!

Read more: Mt Buffalo

10 Natures Window, Kalbarri National Park, Western Australia:

Take a break from the hordes of tourists queueing for a photo shoot at well known tourist hotspot Natures Window and admire the unframed view – to which a panorama shot does not do justice. Known for its wildflowers, the park is also a bonanza of natural attractions with deep gorges, stunning rivers and red RED rock!

To the left of the photo, a walking track leads along the ridge, then drops below into the gorge for what must be one of the most scenic walks in Australia. Ask me what it’s like next visit – because I wont let it pass me by again!

Read more: Western Australian Wildflowers; Kalbarri National Park

11 Tylers Pass Lookout, Central Australia:

At the very Western Edge of the West MacDonnell National Park, Tylers Pass marks the descent from the range into the plain below, its endlessness broken only by the massive bulk of Gosse Bluff.

An unexpected end to a day exploring the ‘West Macs’ as the park is less formally known, the road continues into what for us is absolute virgin territory. And an absolute must for next time!

Read more: Central Australia

12 Cawnpore Lookout, via Winton, Outback Queensland

It’d be difficult to accidentally find yourself in remote Outback Queensland’s Lilleyvale Hills between Winton and Boulia, but this stunning lookout with a stupendous view over spectacular rock formations only found in one other place in the world is more than enough reason to visit.

While the lookout isn’t really that far above the plains the 360° view is a great place to experience the emptiness of the Outback with a falling down fence – and highway – the only signs of civilisation. Besides, it’s great fun watching other travellers trying to drive the steep, rocky road to the top!

Read more: Cawnpore Lookout

13 Sillers Lookout, via Arkaroola, South Australia:

I’m jealous as hell. This is the only one of these awesome lookouts I HAVEN’T visited – but as (arguably) South Australia’s finest view, I couldn’t leave it out. Luckily, Wayne’s photo showing the stupendous view over the Northern Flinders ranges whilst on the world famous 4WD ‘Ridgetop Tour’ will have to do before I get there myself. Really soon!!

STOP PRESS!  I HAVE been there – read about it HERE!

Read more: Arkaroola Resort, the Ridgetop Tour & Sillers Lookout

14 Point Lookout, New England Ranges, New South Wales:

But there are no guarantees of a view from some lookouts – as we found at Point Lookout in the New England National Park. Only a few metres from the summit, 1500 metres above sea level, after a long and winding ascent through bright sunlight, the mist and fog blew in. Our rush for the lookout viewing platform too late for anything but a thick, soft whiteness, the otherworldly semi-darkness closed in around us and we were left with the haunting cry of the forest raven …

One day we’ll see what the view’s REALLY like!

Read More: Point Lookout

Sharing that killer view to EVERYONE when you get there is the other half of the fun – get the latest technology from TravelSIM so you can IMMEDIATELY make your mates jealous as hell!  Go on … you KNOW you want to!!

The post Aussie ABC – L is for Lookout! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.