Amazing Australian Adventures

The Death-Trap Dam Wall Dunny – Australian Scenic Loo #35, Blowering Dam

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:35:00 +0000

Blowering Dam Scenic Public Toilet - the RED circle marks the spot! Via Tumut, New South Wales

The chances of the overly excitable, the imaginative and the paranoid of finding their Blowering Dam Wall public amenities experience more than a little stressful are better than average.

View from the Blowering Dam loo, via Tumut, New South Wales

While answering nature's call in this relief station's unusually picturesque setting amidst the heavily wooded Tumut River Valley is a positive pleasure, its placement is a potential death trap.

And while considering the possible perils would probably only occur to the excitable and/or imaginative and/or paranoid, that doesn't make them any less real.

Because behind the 114 m (374 ft) high dam wall towering above the amenities and stretching for 747 metres (2450ft) is holding back 1.6 MILLION megalitres (sorry, Imperial measurement countries, you're on your own with this one) of water! When it's full, that is.

And this little loo in the picnic area below the dam wall is right in the firing line!!

Blowering Dam on the Tumut River 13 km upstream from the small town of Tumut in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains in the New South Wales Riverina Highlands isn't Australia's biggest lake, nor is it a natural one. Completed in 1968, it's not even the biggest lake in the Snowy Mountains Scheme for irrigation and hydro-electricity of which it is a part.

Blowering Dam from Dam Wall, via Tumut, New South Wales

But the staggering view from atop the dam wall is a fitting place for the successful World Water Speed Record attempt on 8 October 1978.

Although it's doubtful that still current world record-holder Ken Warby was taking in the view while travelling at 511 kph (317.6 mph) in his boat 'Spirit of Australia' … there's an 85% chance of a fatality amongst those who have attempted this feat!

See that white speck? Yep, that's a camper ... Blowering Dam, New South Wales

Nowadays, there's plenty of room for camping, fishing and water sports around the edge of the dam's 44.6 km2 surface area. As we saw on our March 2012 weekend visit. But the picnic area below the dam remained strangely devoid of visitors … did the locals know something WE didn't know??

While the odds of a dam wall failure delivering a 1.6 million megalitre Royal Flush instead of the 12 litres usually required for loos of this vintage are pretty long, low risk isn't quite the same as NO risk, is it?!

This local was sitting tight in the Blowering Dam loo ...

Not to the neurotic, anyway!!

Or is that just me?

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The Bizarre Back-of-Beyond Bakery – Farina, South Australia

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:56:00 +0000

Is that a Bakery I see before me? Farina, Outback South Australia

The sign shimmered through the haze of dust and heat like a mirage. Or the product of too much wishful thinking. Or the BEST kind of fantasy ...

Old bottles, Farina Ruins, South Australia

Whichever it was, the Bakery Baking Today sign at the Farina turn-off in the middle of the South Australian Outback just HAD to be too good to be true.

Because over 600km (370+ miles) north of Adelaide, the last stretch of continuous bitumen for several hundred kilometres had receded into the middle distance behind us to the south.

We'd already passed the beginning of the tyre-shredding Strzelecki track, a notorious stretch of dirt through the Strzelecki desert connecting tiny Lyndhurst with Innamincka, 469 km (291 miles) to the north east.

The Underground Bakery, the Marquee and a random ruined fireplace! Farina, South Australia

And now, we were travelling north towards Marree, a remote outpost at the southern edge of the Lake Eyre basin and home of legendary Outback mailman Tom Kruse. Yes, that's his real name.

Farina Bakery Marquee from General Store Ruins, Farina, South Australia

From Marree, the only way out was either east along the Oodnadatta track, a 607 km (377 miles) dirt track through the remote Outback that joined the Stuart Highway at Marla; or the fabled Birdsville track to – you guessed it – Birdsville, 519 km (322 miles) further north.

Yes, we were on the outskirts of Australia's Boys Own Adventureland – a 4WD and/or motorcyclists' heaven traversed by groups of three (WHY ALWAYS THREE???) blokes – and we would, for the first time, visit the start of each of these iconic tracks in one day.

Now, en route to Marree, Farina was a ghost town full of ruins.

Wasn't it??

The white marquee rising incongruously above the partially restored stonework of the Farina ruins in the distance suggested otherwise.

Bron and Syd, Farina Bakery Volunteers, Farina

As did the banner indicating South Aussie icon Laucke Flour's personal interest in this little bakery in the middle of nowhere.

Clearly, further investigation was required, so I turned to Pilchard – but the car had already swerved towards the turn-off. No bakery-seeking-sensor required in THIS car!!

As we drew closer to the knot of vehicles gathered around the cluster of old buildings surrounding the marquee, the smell of freshly baking bread gave the game away.

Yes, there really WAS a fully functional bakery in this remote ruin. And judging by the roaring trade being done with the constant arrival of incredulous visitors from both north and south, a Back-of-Beyond Bakery was just what the doctor ordered.

Martin, Farina Bakery Baker extraordinaire!

In a masterstroke so civilised it should be made mandatory, the underground Bakery was the first building to be restored to full working order by the Farina Restoration Group Inc (FRG).

Ironic, given that Farina is, of course, the Latin word for flour. And the town was so named in expectation of it becoming the 'Granary of the North'. Sadly, the unpredictable climate, remote location and lack of water ultimately meant its decline, despite its one-time position as the railway head for all northern lines.

But in one of those undeniably symmetric coincidences, Farina is finally living up to its name, with the Bakery now a focus for fund-raising, publicity and – of course – a completely unexpected opportunity for an excellent Back-of-Beyond Bakery pig-out.

Bakery Props, Farina, South Australia

This was one of those times that sacrificing myself for the sake of my blog became not just a duty, but a pleasure*!

Bron and Syd, volunteers from FRG that keeps the Bakery operational for 6 weeks in May and June, expertly fielded queries, served customers and – in my case – mopped up the coffee I overturned in the excitement of finding this bizarre bakery.

All while posing for photos!

The FRG, now about 5 years old, was founded by Tom Harding who with current station owners Kevin and Anne Dawes, saw Farina's potential as an historic site and set about restoring it as a tourist attraction.

Apart from partnerships with various organisations and professional stonemasonry, all work is done by volunteers.

Those who are planning a similar venture should not underestimate the effectiveness of the Bakery drawcard … word of mouth is already working its magic as winter's onset signals the start of the Outback Adventure season and all sensible travellers head north for warmth.

Farina Campground, Outback South Australia

Of course it helps that Farina station has also set up an excellent campground with barbecues, fire pits, toilets and hot showers, all for $5 per person per night. It's an excellent staging post en route to the rough stuff of the tracks further north. But it's an attraction in its own right with walks along the river and no-longer-used railway tracks, and story boards detailing the history of the town's rise, fall and restoration.

Farina Railway Bridge - part of the old Ghan Railway, South Australia

The Group's volunteers stay on site in the campground for the annual restoration activities in May and June – some are reportedly the bakery's best customers – and work on a roster system to ensure the bakery stays open.
I almost joined up on the spot!

Bron with the Goods, Farina Bakery

Of course it also helps that the Bakery goods are absolutely top shelf – the old Scotch oven in the underground kitchen turns out an astonishing array of sweet, savoury and plain bread rolls, sausage rolls, individual and family sized pasties.

Martin, the baker du jour, dexterously whipped trays of superbly baked goods out of the oven while telling us he'd co-opted a few of his baker buddies to volunteer for a stint at Farina.

'Well, they USED to be my friends,' he laughed, while proving – at least to MY satisfaction – that 80 years of disuse didn't seem to have affected the oven's effectiveness.

Its underground location probably also helped to preserve it – one of the many storyboards produced by the FRG and dotted around the ruins mentions the destruction of outside dunnies in violent storms … which means no Scenic Public Toilet pic from the Farina ruins.

But I digress ...

A Portal to Paradise? About to descend into the Farina Bakery depths ...

After a particularly dry summer and autumn, driving to and from Farina across the arid lands of the South Australian Outback – driest part of the driest state in the driest continent on earth – there's no mistaking the hardships faced by the early settlers in towns like Farina where today's green and fertile pastoral country could be tomorrow's dust bowl.

But the FRG's hardy bunch of volunteers are putting Farina back on the map by offering their unique Bakery at the Back-of-Beyond experience!

And that puts it well and truly on the map for THIS Aussie traveller!

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* Oscar Wilde said it first, and best

Weird Stuff #9 - Magnetic Hill, South Australia

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:42:00 +0000

The Magnetic Hill Magnet, via Orroroo, South Australia

Discovering the Daleks of Khancoban in a remote Snowy Mountains hideaway was, I thought, the pinnacle of my paranormal participation in the world of real-life Australian sci-fi.

But that was before South Australia's Magnetic Hill struck back.

Pushing for a place in the paranormal pantheon, and surrounded by this mid-North peaceful pastoral panorama, the sign promised a strange and bizarre extrasensory experience.

Magnetic Hill sign

And raised a few questions ...

Like would we be able to stop the Magnetic Hill tractor beam from sucking the car off the face of the earth and into some interplanetary vortex?

Or at the very least, off the edge of the hill??

Which way would a hip-replacement recipient roll???

And … perhaps most importantly – what WAS our car really made of????

Ready to ROLL, Magnetic Hill, South Australia

Putting aside the real possibility of being beamed into another dimension, we followed the instructions carefully.

In the interests of full disclosure I offer the following disclaimers:

Pilchard SWEARS he didn't touch any of the car controls
The angle of the shot doesn't fully capture the slight incline behind the car
Out of the force field the car behaved quite differently
The tremor visible on the footage is caused by either the magnetic force field OR the excitement of this extraordinary experiment ...
The resulting video quality may mean some features of this exciting moment have been lost forever ...

Just between us - my first thought was that the car must really be made of plastic ...

SO ... is Magnetic Hill an elaborate prank? Or a real touch of the Paranormal?? Or is the explanation a little more prosaic??? YOU decide!!

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RED Alert #9: RED turns to BLUE in Geneva!

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Fri, 10 May 2013 11:58:00 +0000

Kath and Sapphire ... in Spain, so they can't be goofing off, right? RIGHT???

I first 'met' my RED Alert guest KATH through her blog Gone Chocco, now sadly inactive BUT required and compelling reading for anyone with more than a passing interest in the wonderful world of chocolate. Of course this led me to her non-food-related blog, Blurb from the Burbs, which with a enviably cunning and deft sleight of hand was reborn as Goofing off in Geneva when she, husband Love Chunks and daughter Sapphire moved to … well, yes, I'm sure you get the picture.

Of course I 'followed' her halfway across the world to see what happened. And when Kath commented that I'd made her cry on a blog post about South Australia's Yorke Peninsula (I hope due to homesickness, rather than poor photo quality) she became one of my muses. Not that I deliberately try to make her cry.

But I DO sometimes think of Kath when I'm choosing photos …

RED: Kath, welcome to RED Alert. What's your favourite colour?
KATH: BLUE!

RED: Thank you! That concludes today's interview!!! Only kidding … I guess we can take a break from RED if you want, so selected this one especially for you …

Port Clinton Public Amenities Block, Yorke Peninsula

RED: Although I'm sure you'll agree the touch of RED sets it off superbly! As do the roses in your pic of Sapphire's FAB BLUE fingernails! Do you find it disturbing that she MAY be moving away from RED?

No WAY is this Goofing off in Geneva!!!

KATH: She’s always been a green and blue girl and her bedroom (which is very tastefully done) is testament to this. Perhaps red clashes with her blue eyes...? Plus, what teenager wants to wear a colour that her MOTHER favours?

RED: Hahaha … and yet your favourite colour is … what was that again?? Maybe BLUE is the new RED! Or maybe combining them is the fashion statement of the twenty-teens?? Why ISN'T RED your favourite colour?
KATH: RED always seemed too bright and commanding and, being so white, it always highlighted any time I blushed or felt hot or had a new pimple forming on my fluorescent face....

Fashion Accessory? Or Going CHOCCO?!?! YOU decide!!

RED: So it's logical that you'd choose Easter Eggs as a fashion accessory! Would you recommend them?
KATH: Yes, but only in cool climes. As someone who once ‘forgot’ that she had a bag of mini eggs in her pocket, it only ends in tears and a poo-brown coloured crotch that’s impossible to explain.

RED: Hahaha, I bet LOTS of other people found an explanation! What made you choose Cadbury Creme Eggs as your alternative eyes?
KATH: They’re rarer than chicken lips over here and were bought during Sapphire’s and my weekend jaunt to Edinburgh back in February.

RED: (Note to readers: make a KILLING in Europe with black-market Cadbury Creme Eggs) Is it any coincidence there's a Nestle poster in the background?
KATH: None whatsoever. Sapphire found an advert from my birth month and year (November 1968) (RED: Surely not!) featuring Swiss-made Nestle, bought it on e-Bay and had it framed.

RED: If you can narrow it down, what are your 3 favourite RED chocolates??
KATH: Kit Kat – who doesn’t want to eat one of those when they clap eyes on the wrapper? Foil-wrapped cherry liqueurs. Possibly an embarrassing relic from the 1970s, but I love ‘em.
RED: Me too!
KATH: Lindt Lindor in all its sizes, forms and boxes. Melt in the mouth heaven.

RED: And what's the best RED thing to eat or drink in the cold?
KATH: Vin Chaud (hot, spiced red wine). The perfect drink after skiing, especially if seated in an outdoor cafe with your puffy jacket and pants still on.

A hard day on the ski slopes doesn't count as GOOFING, does it?!

RED: Now that you've got us all salivating, did you buy Love Chunk's FINE RED jacket??
KATH: I did indeed – it’s a good colour to stand out in on a white ski field and I bought it second-hand for only 25 francs, a saving of 375 francs!

Killer RED Watch!!

RED: Bargain! Do you wear a lot of RED?
KATH: I never used to, but since Love Chunks brought me back a bright red Casio watch (RED : I'm SO jealous!) during his work trip to the US last year, it’s become an excuse to move from striped everything or black. I now have two pairs of red shoes, several red t-shirts, a spotted red handbag, a red jacket and several scarves.

RED: Before you know it, you'll be breaking out into RED all over! Does he appreciate your RED fashion sense?
KATH: Bless him; he wouldn’t notice if my face was on fire most of the time! I’ve had my hair coloured, make up on, new top and he’ll just say, ‘why have you got lipstick on, I can’t kiss you now.’

RED: For how long did Love Chunks hold that teapot pose?

I'm a little ... Love Chunk!

KATH: Not very long – he detests having his picture taken.

RED: For how long could YOU hold it?
KATH: I’d be able to do it for ages but usually wind up face first in the snow or shut my eyes at the exact second he presses the button.

RED: Hahaha! Maybe that's a better alternative to photographic 'Red-Eye'?! Is RED a factor in your relationship??
KATH: Yes. We selected the previous house and current apartment’s RED accessories together, he bought me a RED running watch and makes me laugh until I’m RED in the face.

RED: What else makes your face RED without fail?
KATH: Laughing loudly. Being embarrassed – we natural blondies have a hard time disguising blushes!And running. Even several hours later after cooling down and showering, I glow.

RED: Glowing is SO Australian! Is Australia the REDdest country you've been to?
KATH: Nothing beats the dirt of Central Australia or seeing The Rock at sunset.

RED Glow from Running!

RED: Where are your favourite REDs downunder?
KATH: Port Douglas (Queensland) – RED sunset and often RED , sunburned skin; Adelaide (South Australia) – the RED brick of Beehive corner, RED roses in Eastern suburbs (where we used to live), the red stripe in the Crows’ uniforms, big red wines; Melbourne (Victoria) – the big ‘RED comb’ on the City Link tunnel (because we lived very near it in Flemington); and Victor Harbor (South Australia) – the REDish pink flowers in my parents’ garden!

RED: That's a GREAT cross-section! Just goes to show you can find RED everywhere … Have you visited many European countries since moving to Geneva?
KATH: England, Scotland, France, Spain, Luxembourg, Austria and Germany!

RED: In terms of distance, I guess that's like saying you've visited all the states in Australia! Which was the best?
KATH: Seeing my two most favourite people in the world see (and love) London for the first time and other times since.

RED: And the worst?
KATH: Marseille, France. Ugly, dodgy and very unwelcoming. A frightening place to take my parents to.

RED: Remind me not to go there … who is praying in Spain?
KATH: My goodly self. We were in the 11th Century Moorish gardens in Ronda, in the underground tunnels carved out of the cliff rock overlooking the river. The beam of sunlight beckoned me over and I couldn’t help but sing a ‘La la laaaaaa’ as Sapphire quickly snapped the moment with her iphone.

Kath in Spain

RED: Silly me. I was thinking it was something serious. But speaking of serious, what made you start blogging?
KATH: In 2005 I was at home recovering from a complete mental and physical breakdown after working far too hard, for too long for people who didn’t care what was happening to me. A friend started one up and I realised that it might be a good thing for me, too. The first entries are appallingly bad – as are a lot after that – but somehow I got into the groove of it and felt that I might have something to say that could entertain or inform or just make people feel better about themselves and their own stupidities and failings.

RED: Well, take it from me you've succeeded. What keeps you blogging??
KATH: A good question... It's a way of keeping friends and family up to date without the need to sit down every week and write a ‘Dear All.....’ email. I’ve also made some really good friends (some I’ve met in person, others I haven’t) whose feedback and opinions mean a great deal to me. Plus, my brain and fingers get itchy and an idea strikes at the strangest of times and tells me that it needs to be blogged about. I think too that when you become a regular blogger your writer’s ‘eye’ becomes sharper, noticing conversations or trends or events that should not be forgotten. All that and the need to look like I’m busy when really I’m on Cute Overload, D-Listed and better blogs than mine!

RED: Who inspires you to blog?
KATH: EVERY BLOG that I follow. Which reminds me, I need to update my ‘Links I like to lurk at’ column on the right hand side of my blog.

RED: I'll be checking that right after I hit 'publish'! What are your 3 blogging pet hates?
KATH: People who, despite you visiting their blog and regularly commenting, never repay the favour. Articles that are advertising. Keep it separate, people! And too many films, GIFs and dooflanger widgets that take ages to download and usually crash.

Milly at Bath Time - she'd rather be goofing off ...

RED: (Note to self: DON'T do these things ANY MORE!). Along with many other readers of your blog, I love hearing about your dog Milly's adventures in Geneva. How would you describe her colour?
KATH: Technically she’s a white and tan Jack Russell/Corgi mix (we call her a ‘Jorgi’) but in the sunshine she’s orange, so I often refer to her as my little orange.

RED: That's RED enough for me!! How did she get her name?
KATH: She was at the dog shelter at six months old, handed in because the old lady had died and her husband clearly wasn’t fond of her. They had apparently called her ‘Caro’ (presumably due to her caramel colouring), which we hated. Driving back home with new ‘little orange’ in the back of the station wagon, tail wagging eagerly but making no sound, Love Chunks said, “I think she’s a Milly.”

RED: How does Milly react to RED?
KATH: It’s all around her. Her bed is red, her blanket is red, the rug in the lounge room that she likes to sun herself on is red, her bath time towels are red. I guess it means ‘home.’

Rhapsody in RED

RED: HHHMMMmmm... Are you SURE you don't want to re-think that favourite colour? Do you have any final RED words of wisdom for our readers?
KATH: Hopefully one day, a RED carpet will be laid out for all of us!

RED: It's what I live for! And I hope my readers follow the RED carpet right over to your blog Goofing off in Geneva!!

Read MORE RED Alert Interviews (take it as read that they've all got an exclamation mark after the title ...):

#9 Kath (Blog): Goofing off in Geneva
#8 Iris: A Double Half of RED
#7 LadyFi: RED Glory in Sweden
#6 Terri: Terri Rocks RED ROCKS
#5 Christopher: I Must be Off in the RED Zone
#4 Diane: Adventure Before Dementia goes WEST
#3 Riet: Red and REDDER in the Netherlands
#2 Annabel: Get in the Hot Spot sees RED
#1 Jim: Holes in my Soles goes to Africa!

Life on the Edge ... Carrieton, South Australia

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Sun, 05 May 2013 09:33:00 +0000

Horseshoe Range from Carrieton, South Australia

Live on the edge from just ten bucks a night.

That's all it costs for a powered site at Carrieton's Horseshoe View Caravan Park with the Stay-2-nights-Get-2-nights-FREE deal*.

Horseshoe View Caravan Park Campsite - on the edge in Carrieton

And that's a small price to pay for a chance to explore Carrieton, perched on the edge of the vast expanse of the Minburra Plain stretching east with virtually nothing civilised to stop it until it hits the Barrier highway en route to Broken Hill.

That doesn't really count as civilisation either!

Three hours north of Adelaide on the alternative route to the Flinders Ranges, Carrieton is a hidden jewel in South Australia's mid-north that's often ignored in favour of the big ticket items further north.

But bypass Carrieton and you'll miss some of the least well known, but most intriguing and delightful Outback scenery in South Australia!

It's no hardship to stay for 4 nights – necessary to get the full benefit of the Horseshoe View's special deal. The superbly set up AND quiet little caravan park off the main road in the old school grounds the community purchased when the school was closed a few years ago has everything.

Anglican Church, Carrieton, South Australia

And if you aren't a camper, you'll LOVE how the locals have converted the old school buildings into cottage and bunkhouse style accomodation …

The locals are used to living on the edge. Yanyarrie Whim on the outskirts of town is all that remains of the watering point on the 1800s North/South Stock Route and mining trail responsible for putting Carrieton on the map.

Carrieton Rodeo and Campdraft Posters

Partly responsible for keeping Carrieton on the map these days are the annual December night Rodeo – one of the largest in South Australia – and April/May Campdraft & Gymkhana.

On the wrong side of the Goyder Line, surveyed in 1865 to determine the boundary of cropping land, the district's low and inconsistent rainfall drove many from the land leaving only a legacy of stone ruins behind.

Later when the Prince Alfred mine closed in 1907, then the railway in 1981, followed more recently by the school, Carrieton faced an uncertain future.

Johnburgh Ruin, via Carrieton

But also taking responsiblity for keeping it on the map is a determined and forward-looking progress association who refuse to let the town die.

Community owned and run, the caravan park is just one innovation to keep the town afloat. The excellent and well stocked general store – also a community initiative – means visitors don't have to leave town to purchase fuel or food.

But the REAL reason to base yourself on the edge in Carrieton is to explore this amazing part of South Australia that many Aussies haven't even heard of, let alone seen!

A selection of sightseeing options will make up several day trips – and don't forget to factor in some time to relax in the beautifully kept school grounds, and chat to the friendly locals.

So here's one version of how to spend 4 days on the edge in Carrieton:

Day 1: Eat and Explore

Drive 44 km north to the Cradock Hotel for lunch. Sightings of the ghost of former publican 'Lawrence' aren't guaranteed, but you WILL get a great meal served up with country hospitality!

Catholic Church, Carrieton

When you return, explore Carrieton's attractions like Yanyarrie Whim and the excellent 12 metre Mosaic Mural depicting the town's history on the Public Toilets (!). Ask for directions to the creek behind the caravan park and walk up the creek bed where massive river redgums and high red cliffs tower above you.

Sunset at Carrieton Creekbed, South Australia

Then set up a date with the sunset over the Horseshoe Range ...

Day 2: Ruins and Redgums

Oladdie Road, via Carrieton, South Australia

Take a picnic lunch and drive 20 km west on the Oladdie road to Johnburgh. The superb mountain scenery includes farmland, many ruins and unusual rock formations.

After looking around almost-ghost-town Johnburgh, take the Belton turnoff and follow the marvellous Bendleby Ranges to the Weira Creek crossing.

River Redgum Random, Weira Creek via Carrieton

The massive River Redgums are locally known as 'widowmakers' because a branch big enough to crush a house can fall without warning …

After lunch, return to Carrieton via the Belton road – and watch for the clouds of pink dust billowing behind you on this oddly coloured road surface.

Rhapsody in Pink: Bendleby Ranges from the Belton Road, via Carrieton, South Australia

Oh! And the scenery's not bad either ...

Day 3: Lookouts and Landscapes

Magnetic Hill Sign, via Orroroo, South Australia

Drive 35 km south to Orroroo then further south via Pekina (check out the Pub and Coffee shop!); to Magnetic Hill, an intriguing natural phenomenon.

Return via Black Rock and take a detour to the Black Rock Lookout for superb views across the valley to the Pekina Range.

In Orroroo, the Tank Hill Lookout has superb views to the north and a superb cafe in the main street. Then check out South Australia's largest River Redgum, the old Railway Bridge and the historic buildings in town.

On the way back to Carrieton, stop at Walloway, site of a nasty train crash in the early 1900s then the Eurelia railway siding for a sample of the area's history.

Black Rock Magic, South Australia's Mid North

For a total heritage experience, take a detour and return via the historic town of Hammond.

Day 4: Ranges and Rocks

Take another picnic lunch and drive 28 km west through the superb countryside of the rocky Horseshoe Range towards Moockra Tower. When the road gives out, hike to the Tower for splendid views over the Range and Willochra Plain to the west.

Ranges behind Carrieton from Belton Road, South Australia

Back in Carrieton, after testing out the golf course circumnavigating the town, make another date with that sunset ...

Old seeder at Yanyarrie Whim, Carrieton, SA

And thank me – along with the locals!! – for introducing you to this little-known wonderland. It won't take much to make Carrieton part of your South Australian Flinders Ranges, Mid-North or Outback experience.

Although my stay in Carrieton undoubtedly assisted the local community in a small way, it didn't take long to realise the locals were doing ME a favour by making it easy for me to stay and enjoy life on the edge!

* Subject to availability; 10% Seniors Discount also available

Carrieton Sunset

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Code RED, Competition and the Creative Artisan – Bendigo, Victoria!

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:51:00 +0000

Through the Conservatory Window ... Fight Scene Statue in Rosalind Park, Bendigo, Victoria

Playing the tourist on a 3 day Bendigo bender re-awakened my latent gold-mining tendencies, suppressed for too long following a ~~total lack of~~ disappointing result in the creek running through our property.

But the Bendigo region's got the golden goods! The world's biggest alluvial gold nugget – the Welcome Stranger – was found nearby. With a 71+ kg (3123 oz) record to beat, the stakes AND incentives are high!

So while strolling through the excellent Bendigo CBD's Rosalind Park, finding a hunk of melodramatic marble (albeit beautifully sculpted) instead of a large gold nugget was somewhat anticlimactic. Apparently a previous mayor thought a statue of a thinly clad youth fighting off two wild creatures yet to be found in the Aussie bush would make a fitting reward for the citizens of Bendigo.

Fight Scene Statue Detail, Bendigo, Victoria

Although the marble monolith was superbly disguised as a gift, I for one would have preferred a more practical present – like a share of the gold revenue, or a complimentary gold nugget! Or even a selection of the wonderfully artistic and creative Journey Jottings products I spotted in Bendigo's Visitor Information Centre.

And as if she'd read my mind, my favourite Creative Artisan, the FAAAAABULOUS Linda, owner and creator of Journey Jottings Map Journals and Accessories donated a prize pack of her all-Aussie products for one lucky reader to win!!

Journey Jottings Product PRIZE Pack! See below for entry details ...

All because Bendigo is just one of SIX Aussie HOT Spots featuring in my most recent guest post on Linda's Blog (yes folks, she's a sucker for punishment ...).

SO … to be in the running to win 2 Notebooks (pix below), a Puzzle Postcard and a Sydney Map Magnet, all you have to do is:

Australia Notebook Detail

Read my guest post on Linda's Blog HERE; and
Return back here to THIS post on MY blog; and
Leave a comment telling me a) which of the 6 destinations you'd most like to visit AND b) why you'd like to win!

The entry that makes me laugh the most will win – from anywhere in the world!!

You have until midnight, Wednesday, 8th May (Australian Eastern Standard Time).

South East OZ Notebook Detail

All I need to do now is disguise my Google details so I can win it for myself …

But that would be wrong ...

Because there can be only ONE winner, Linda is offering a special deal for the month of May EXCLUSIVE to Amazing Australian Adventures readers!

Order any Journey Jottings product in May from http://journeyjottings.com/ AND add 'Code Red' to the order comments AND receive another one FREE! Order 2 Notebooks, for example, and get 4! Order 3 Maps - and get 6!

Treat yourself - AND solve all your Birthday & Christmas gift dilemmas at the same time!!

So be a winner either way with Journey Jottings and Amazing Australian Adventures!

The Creative Artisan comes in many guises … for more takes on this theme from around the world, visit the City Daily Photo Theme Day Meme!

Unnatural Attractions: The Super Pit, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 09:30:00 +0000

Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mine Super Pit, Western Australia

So what creative uses are there for a whacking great hole in the ground?

A hole 3.8 km long, 1.5 km wide and 600 metres deep that can make a 680 tonne shovel look like a kitchen utensil?? Or a 166 tonne truck like a Matchbox toy???

A hole so large it's colloquially known as the Super Pit?

Red meets Shovel at the Super Pit, Kalgoorlie

That's the question the Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mine (KCGM) needs to answer in approximately 8 years time when the Golden Mile Dolorite Seam runs dry. Post-mining regulatory obligations are quite specific about mining infrastructure, pit sides and site rehabilitation.

And it'd be pretty hard to just bulldoze it over and hope for the best ...

In the meantime, the twin towns of Kalgoorlie-Boulder never sleep.

And not just because of the perfectly natural attractions of the Questa Casa, Australia's oldest working brothel, either.

The thrum, clatter and vibration of fortunes being made is a continual counterpoint to all other activity 24/7, 365 days per year.

Because here in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, perched right on the edge of the massive KCGM Super Pit, the gold rush that started when Paddy Hannan first discovered gold in 1893 never stopped.

A Truck at the Super Pit, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

And the Golden Mile on which it sits is the richest square mile of gold-bearing earth on the planet.

Although none of the extensive mining activity that's continued unabated ever since would have been possible without the vision of Irish engineer Charles Yelverton O'Connor who defied critics to plan and construct the world's (then) longest freshwater pipeline over the 530 km (330 miles) from Mundaring Weir near Perth to Mt Charlotte Reservoir at the Goldfields.

Mt Charlotte Reservoir, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Eight years in the making, The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme still supplies water to the goldfields. It's also still the world's longest steel pipeline and in 2009 was recognised as international historic civil engineering landmark, along with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Snowy Mountains Scheme.

Kalgoorlie Clock Tower, Western Australia

Mining giant KCGM has a lot for which to thank O'Connor, who tragically took his own life during a public campaign of press vilification, including accusations of corruption and incompetence before the scheme was completed and his genius realised.

In the bad old days, a clutch of smaller companies and individual holdings jockeyed for position and battled for survival along the Golden Mile. Then – depending on ones point of view – visionary entrepreneur/environmental vandal Alan Bond started buying up the leases with a view to merging into one big company – and one giant pit. Economies of scale, and increasing size of operation mean greater profits all round.

But just how worthwhile is this consolidated venture? According to signage at the Super Pit lookout, 1600 tonnes of material is processed each hour – containing gold valued at around $AUD70,000. All up, around 800,000 ounces of gold per annum are taken from the Super Pit and neighbouring mine, Mt Charlotte.

SO worth it, that maybe I'll become a 'Void Engineer' after all …

I'll never understand why this wasn't presented as a valid career path in High School careers class – its appeal as a passport occupation conversation starting point is FAR greater than 'nurse' or 'teacher'. I guess those same folks who many years later failed to predict the Global Financial Crisis were cutting their teeth by not being able to predict a future mining boom at that point ...

It's a LONG way down ... Super Pit, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

From the vantage point of the lookout, it's hard to believe the trucks crawling like ants way WAAAAAY down in the depths of the Pit are HUGE machines worth $AUD4 Million.

Or that the shovels loading each truck with the 4 scoops of high grade ore it takes to fill it weigh 680 tonnes, hold 55 tonnes (and 36 m³) and cost $AUD10+ Million!

Or that each load of this high-grade ore averages gold worth over $10,000.

But on this clear and sunny Outback winter day in August 2012, we only care about the Pyrotechnic Demolition Explosion Choreographer! Although such people are far more likely lumbered with dull, meaningless titles like Blast Engineer ...

As speculation ran hot over the day's exact blast location in the public viewing area overlooking the Super Pit, I could have run a book if I'd had even a little of Bond's entrepreneurial spirit.

Blasting at the Super Pit, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

The Visitor Information Centre in Kalgoorlie's main street is advised of Super Pit blast times, and visitors are welcome to take the rocky road to the caged-in viewing area. It's a fine view even without the blasting, no matter what the closet pyromaniacs tell you.

Over an hour after the advised blasting time, the countdown started and cameras poised, ready to capture the moment.

It took us awhile to realise the dust and smoke at the top of the Pit was actually the explosion, with Pilchard and several small children devastated the whole cliff face didn't fall away.

But, we'd seen a real, live Super Pit explosion!

Blasting at the Super Pit, Kalgoorlie

Returning to our campsite seemed a bit anti climactic after that. Strangely, I was finding it quite easy to resist the excitement of purchasing a Black Caviar poster from our campground neighbour. Given that Black Caviar is a horse – albeit the greatest racehorse in living memory – who signed the poster?

But I digress.

So to balance the unnatural with the natural, we took a walk in nearby Karlkurla Bushland Park. Although spectacular, however, landscape like this hasn't been seen along the Golden Mile for over 100 years.

Karlkurla Bushland Park, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

It's difficult to imagine Kalgoorlie-Boulder without the iconic Super Pit continuing to keep gold mining front and centre. Invoking St Barbara – patron saint of mining, in case you were wondering – just won't cut it once the gold stream runs dry.

While it's tempting to suggest that the Super Pit be fully restored to the original landscape, to completely erase all signs of 'unnatural' mining activity would be to erase Kalgoorlie-Boulder's heritage.

Unnatural Attractions: Kalgoorlie Mining Activity

If that happened, the Pipeline and all other traces of human habitation – also 'unnatural' – should be erased as well to be consistent. Which would be a unnecessary and unrealistic.

So what's an environmentally conscious, community-minded Super-mining company to do with their enormous hole in the ground?

My suggestions:

World's highest Below-Ground-Level Bungee-Jump. Or Sky Dive
World's first Outback International-Standard Ice-Skating Rink
World's largest Below-Ground Cemetery and Crematorium

Section of Super Pit, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
World's first underground Arboretum and Botanic Gardens

Yeah, OK. I'm not as creative as I sound.

SO … what would YOU do with the largest defunct open pit mine in Australia?

Read MORE:

KCGM Super Pit
Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia
Western Australia's Goldfields

The Pines, the Portal and the Parallel Universe!

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:03:00 +0000

Sugar Pine Walk, Bago State Forest, New South Wales

I'm convinced the Bago State Forest has a portal into another world. Or at the very least, to a parallel universe ...

A few hundred metres down Kopsons Road, off the main road between Batlow and Laurel Hill on the South West Slopes of the New South Wales High country, and you're already in a part of Australia that doesn't look anything like anywhere else in Australia.

Then take just a few steps into the forest – and the world as you know it disappears …

For a start, the pine needles – probably inches thick – muffle the sound.

Walker in the Woods, Sugar Pine Walk, Bago State Forest

Incidentally, fellow Australians concerned that I've reverted to the distant past by my lapse into the long abandoned imperial measurement system of yesteryear need not fear. I'm just paying homage to the provenance of the magnificent Sugar Pines (Pinus lambertiana) towering above me.

Sugar Pine Bark

Because they're native to the US Pacific Coast and common in well known Yosemite National Park, where the tallest recorded specimen, 'Yosemite Giant' at 82m (269 ft) was found until it succumbed to bark beetle attack in 2007.

I'm also paying homage to the great age – greater even than mine – of these spectacular Sugar Pine specimens. Planted in 1928, the trees were still going strong during our March 2013 visit; hardly surprising given their life span in their natural habitat has been estimated as up to 800 years.

Besides, 'centimetres' just doesn't scan …

Needles and Pins

So what's a forest of North American timber doing in a country where the ubiquitous eucalypt – the only genus in the world found in every habitat from Coastal to Alpine – is far more likely to be the tree du jour?

And when, despite the notorious Sugar Pine longevity, they're so prized for timber they'd normally be felled long before reaching this stupendous size??

AND when past experience reluctantly informs us that cash-strapped governments aren't always known for planning beyond the next election, let alone leaving a lucrative 2.4 hectare stand of Sugar Pines uncut for 85 years???

Maybe it's just another manifestation of the magic in the air …

Sky High at Bago State Forest Sugar Pine Walk, New South Wales

Wandering the walk – thankfully short, our 13 km Kosciuszko challenge only a few days past – through the Sugar Pines, time stands still and the warmth of the day does not penetrate. A family enters the forest behind us, children uncharacteristically quiet, and take a side track.

Sugar Pines, Bago State Forest, New South Wales

Do they reappear? Not while we're watching …

… perhaps the portal worked for them?!
But I'm too intrigued by the challenge to the first-world dilemma of childhood obesity inherent in these prodigious pines.

An inbuilt mechanism prevented the Native Americans, for whom the sugary sap from the heartwood was a delicacy, from over-indulging in the crisp, candy-like beads.

Because eat too much, and the sugar's laxative properties would kick in!

The fat kid solution is so obvious I bet no one's actually thought of it!

Do I detect a consultancy opportunity coming on???

The staggering natural beauty of this plantation of the largest of the pines is enough to warp time and give the visitor a taste of a universe where things work differently.

Sugar Pine Portal

And a glimpse of what could be in such a world.

Perhaps that's the portal's REAL magic.

Read MORE:

Aussie ABC: M is for Mount Kosciuszko

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 12:36:00 +0000

Mt Kosciuszko from Charlotte Pass Lookout, Snowy Mountains

'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.

Ramshead Range, Mt Kosciuszko Summit Hike

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.

Kosciuszko National Park from Mt Kosciuszko Summit

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!

Looking down to Rawsons Pass Loo - Highest Public Amenities in OZ!

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.

Blue View to Thredbo

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!

13 km to go! Start of Kosciuszko Summit Walk

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.

Looking towards Victoria - and a bunch of schoolboys ...

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.

Kosciuszko Dead Ahead! 4.5 km to go ... Snowy Mountains, New South Wales

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.

Headwaters of the Snowy River, Mt Kosciuszko Summit Track, Snowy Mountains

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.

View over Lake Cootapatamba, Australia's highest lake, Kosciuszko Track

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

Explorer Paul Strzelecki Statue, Jindabyne, New South Wales

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 top. 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 …

Summit Proof Shot! Who are these people??!!

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 …

No thanks, I can jump from here! View from Kosciuszko Express Chairlift

The only cure for altitude sickness is to lose altitude quickly, which the Kosciuszko Express chairlift descent delivered 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 …

Thredbo getting closer ...

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 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 …

Mt Kosciuszko Summit in 19??

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!

Read MORE:

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

RED Alert #8: A Double-half of RED!

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 07:23:00 +0000

Culture in the Box!

Be honest. If YOU saw a blog called Double-half or One Ten without Ham you'd just HAVE to check it out, right?

I first saw Iris' blog name in the sidebar of one of the blogs I followed so, unable to resist, I took the link. And that's how I 'met' Iris! Although she's on the other side of the world in Germany, she's a BIG fan of Australia so we virtually visit each other via our blogs quite frequently!

The photos on her blog are full of RED – so my brilliant analytical mind immediately deduced that this could be one of her favourite colours! Which, as I'm sure you'll agree, makes her the obvious choice for RED Alert Guest #8!

RED : Welcome, and thank you for agreeing to be my next RED Alert guest! You've travelled to Australia twice in the 1990's. What are your favourite memories?
IRIS: I´m so thankful my parents made it possible for me to travel your beautiful place for 6 and later another 7 months. Whenever I feel bad I think of the clear-blue sky at night, the Southern Cross. Western Australia is my fave.

RED : You've probably seen more of OZ than many Aussies! What are your 3 TOP places to visit?
IRIS: Perth, Broome, Carnarvon. Seems like I'm a bit stuck in WA! Loved the Outback, the driving, the stars at night. But I have sweet and funny memories of the rest, too! A retiree who obviously thought "Oh! Guys from WA - and they won´t fit in the deep-garage!!!!" He gestured like crazy, we knew we had about 2-3cm left. Still makes me laugh. Mean, I am, huh?

RED : And your least favourite Australian place?
IRIS: I guess that was Hervey Bay - the (free) showers were awfully cold. I didn´t give Adelaide or Melbourne much of a chance, either, sadly (time-problem).

RED : That's what 'next time' is for, right? What is your favourite colour?
IRIS: It is indeed RED . And green!

COOL Red Keyboard!

RED : Good answer! How do I get one of those cool RED keyboards?
IRIS: Go to Saturn! :-) No really! http://www.saturn.de/!! Aren´t keyboards like that available in your place? I can send you one!

Red Card

RED : Haha! I wonder will we ever get to go to Saturn for real in our lifetime … That's a cute card! What do the words mean?
IRIS: The card says "There are days full of happiness. Think back to them when things arent just good right now”. And in RED - "everything will be ok".

RED : It's nice to be reminded of happiness. What makes you happy?
IRIS: Health, love and good weather! Family!

RED : Is this card at work or home?
IRIS: At home. At work I have the last birthday card, it shows a beach and my boss wished me "fun at work"!

RED : He must have a great sense of humour!! What does the colour RED mean to you?
IRIS: RED is a symbol for love. RED is powerful, fast. It can be warm as well as funky.

RED : That table is SO COOL! But what's on it?
IRIS: My purse - with pics of my partner Ingo... and Elmo, last one RED , like the purse (am I childish? Aww, well!)

Cool Table ... with RED Purse!

RED : Being childish is not a bad thing, is it? If so, then I'm in BIIIIIG trouble! Is Ingo happy to be next to a photo of Elmo?
IRIS: About 18 years ago (oh, help!) Elmo somehow ended up being a mascot for us - he was always with us, also throughout Australia, so, yes, I think Ingo is happy with it :-) We were the only adults without kids in "Elmo in Grouchland" in Kalgoorlie...

RED : I know that feeling! That's a cool RED box with the frog (top photo). What is it?
IRIS: It means “Culture in the tent” and it's an "emergency-suitcase" for an event I never went to so far, cause I missed it the one time I was interested! My friend put it in the advent-calendar she makes me since my Dad´s passing.

RED : What is in your emergency suitcase?
IRIS: In our real emergency suitcase is the stuff packed by the producer, oh, how lame this answer is! We never had to open it! It can be hot. Or cold. Rainy with mozzies (Autan). There is rhythm, that´s what the egg is for.

Emergency Box Contents

RED : Did you ever need an emergency suitcase in Australia?
IRIS: It may be a wonder: No! We gathered firewood with bare hands in 1995... Yes. That IS stupid, dang stupid.

RED: Sadly, I've seen a lot worse from my fellow Australians … What was the worst problem you had in Australia?
IRIS: Insects! Ewww. And I needed to go to the hospital in Wyndham, but the doc fixed me in a sec (back-problems) and didn´t want any money, either! And he gave us tips where to go next.

RED : That's just what us Aussies are like!! Well ... some of us, anyway! When are you coming back to Australia?
IRIS: That is hard to answer! I´d love to hop in a plane right now, but being realistic... it can be a while. But one day I will be back!

RED : Bring on retirement, huh?! This is just one corner of your condo and it's full of RED ! What are all these things?

IRIS: I love IKEA, at times. I need to put real pics in that photo-thingy! The pink suitcase is for my Niece, the "stuff" goes in there in time. The "stones" are for my parents. The first says, "when time ends, eternity begins", the other "You left our lives, but you stay in our hearts". I miss them so much! My Dad died 11 years ago, my Mum just recently. Cancer.

RED : I'm sorry to hear that. They are beautiful thoughts for your parents. The knife guy (below photo) is deadly - what would you MOST like him to destroy?
IRIS: Cancer.

Red Stuff!

RED: Most people I know have been affected by cancer in some way, so you will have a lot of support for that wish. There's a lot of RED in your condo – Why?
IRIS: 13 years of weekend-relationship may be the cause. Our apartments since living together have been colorful! Another wall is orange, there is a green wall and a green "chamber". Colors make us happy.

RED : The knife guy is surrounded by interesting things! Tell us about them!
IRIS: Our kitchen is too small, so this "knife-guy" lives here. With RED . And green. And a frog ;-). And with the Australian flag :-) OH!!!! No relation between those two!! Sigh! Sometimes you see things different through a lens, right? And yes, I love frogs...

RED : What is your most precious RED thing?
IRIS: A heart Ingo gave me http://www.drachenfels-design.de/) I wear it on a "necklace" of leather!

RED : I'm jealous! I want one!! What is the meaning of your blog's name?
IRIS: Originally it was "Double half" only - having everything twice due to a weekends-only relationship (with Partner Ingo), and feeling like a half from Mon-Fri. Then when we moved in together in my place I had to give up on my occasional favourite Pizza in my hometown. I don´t know the name so called it "Ten without Ham" because it´s been my favourite since I was 12 or 14 (I bet they changed the menu-card), it used to be #10 and I don´t like the ham on it. The guys know me and even my Mum ordered a "Zehn ohne Schinken" to surprise me. The Pizza guy, Nico, said, "ah, for Braunschweig!" So “One Ten without Ham”!

Knife Guy

RED : What is the best thing about blogging?
IRIS: Keeping the memories, reflect on your life more - and making new friends! And when your Spouse says, "nah, it wasn´t like that!", you may have prove you´re right (or he is! Aw, well...)

RED : Who are your favourite bloggers?
IRIS: Well, yours is one of them :-)

RED : HHHMMMmmm... Good answer!!!

IRIS: In general I like to come back to Australia via blogs at least, so these are great, too (just a few!):

And although I don't have kids, I also love family blogs, especially these:

RED : I look forward to reading them! Do you have a favourite quote?
IRIS: Despite not liking sweets I love the quote used in Forrest Gump, "Life is like a box of chocolate - you never know what you get." I´m glad for not knowing, life would be awful at times!

RED : Do you have any RED words of wisdom for my readers?
IRIS: I do! Visit the beautiful RED places in Australia! And don´t wear white clothes doing so ;-)

RED : Hahaha! Couldn't have put it better myself! Thank you Iris! If YOU have some RED photos and would like to be my next ~~victim~~ guest on RED Alert, let me know! I'm sure you won't regret it ... no, REALLY!

Want MORE? Read ALL the RED Alert Guests:

#8 Iris - Double-half or One Ten Without Ham (blog)
#7 ladyfi - Red Glory in Sweden
#6 Terri - Terri ROCKS Red Rocks!
#5 Chris - I Must Be Off in the RED Zone!
#4 Diane - Adventure Before Dementia Goes WEST!
#3 Riet - Red and Redder in the Netherlands!
#2 Annabel - Get in the Hot Spot sees RED!
#1 Jim - Holes in My Soles goes to Africa!

And ... for even MORE, visit Our World Tuesday for glimpses of life from all round the world!

The Landslide Legacy – Australia's Scenic Public Toilet # 34, Wool Bay

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:26:00 +0000

Wool Bay Jetty (and public loos) from old Limestone Kiln, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia

Looking down over the steep limestone cliff into the multicoloured waters of the Southern Yorke Peninsula's Wool Bay can be a parallel universe moment as the flat and unremarkable pastoral country – often dry and arid – gives way to the vividly coloured and splendid panorama of the bay.

Wool Bay from the Jetty, Yorke Peninsula

High on the cliff the now disused limestone kiln, the only remaining one of several which once gave this tiny town its purpose towers above the jetty that gave the town its current name.

The jetty, while built for limestone transportation, is apparently wide enough to roll a bale of wool down and therefore became known as the Wool Bay Jetty. Of course whether anyone ever indulged in the (tragically) lost art of jetty-wool-bale-rolling is unknown AND irrelevant – because the fact of being able to was enough to change the town's name from Pickering to Wool Bay.

Wool Bay Limestone Kiln from Loos, Wool Bay, Yorke Peninsula

Just as well it wasn't re-named 'Limestone Bay'.

Despite the fanfare and great expectations of the opening ceremony on 11 August 1910, the variable wind conditions meant that although Miller's Lime Kiln Co became the main supplier of lime for the Adelaide building industry, the three clifftop kilns were not successful.

Wool Bay's Limestone Landslide Legacy, the Temporary Toilets! South Australia

So what's a nice temporary toilet doing in a place like this?

Clifftop sign, Wool Bay

Previous Loo site, Wool Bay

A couple of years ago, an uncharacteristically heavy storm dumped so much rain in the area that the fragile limestone cliff above the previous 'permanent' public amenities collapsed and took out the loo.

BUT … every cloud has a silver lining!
The magnificent coastal views from the new amenities for the many visitors who use the jetty for fishing, diving to spot leafy seadragons and other recreational pursuits are far more extensive than from the old site!

The waters of Wool Bay

The panorama from the top of the old limestone kiln is enhanced by the distinctive 'building site blocks' that add a focal point to the car park and wharf!!

Limestone Kiln, Landslide and Loos from the Wool Bay Jetty

And the temporary toilet's convenient location virtually on the jetty ensures far less 'down time' when nature calls!!!

What's NOT to love?!?!

SO … who needs a lasting loo when these fine fly-by-night fixtures are already a semi-permanent part of the Wool Bay jetty landscape?

The legacy of Wool Bay's limestone landslide might just turn out to be permanent after all!!

Watch this space ...

Read MORE:

Wool Bay, South Australia
Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
MORE Australian Scenic Public Toilets

The Conveniences Context: Wool Bay Jetty, Loos and Limestone Kiln with Pt Giles Jetty in the background

Birds, Ballads and Billabongs: Australia's Wild West!

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:43:00 +0000

Birds of Marlgu Billabong

It's hardly surprising, given the lyrics of Aussie folk ballad Waltzing Matilda* are responsible for most people's entire knowledge of billabongs**, that to visit a real one raises certain expectations.

So the unexpected dearth of swagmen, coolibah trees, jolly jumbucks and troopers at the Marlgu Billabong, oasis in the Kimberley west of Kununurra, was a staggering disappointment.

BUT ... at least we didn't have to wait long to find out why!

Bizarrely, while technically accurate, the two-sentence teaser from the Glove Box Guide to the East Kimberley didn't fully capture the essence of Marlgu Billabong or prepare us for its many attractions.

A boardwalk and shaded bird hide have been constructed over a billabong within the Parry Lagoon Nature Reserve. A birdwatcher's paradise.

The extensive Marlgu Billabong, via Wyndham & Kununurra, Western Australia

Although that would – and did – capture a twitcher's attention, it probably wasn't quite enough to reel in the crowds this unexpected jewel-like Outback oasis deserves.

En Route to Marlgu Billabong, via Wyndham, Western Australia

And the roads in weren't doing it any favours either.

But then, it's probably just as well. Massive crowds at Marlgu – an Aboriginal word meaning 'wild bird' – Billabong would almost certainly affect the quality of an experience dependent on listening, observing and patience. But bigger crowds would significantly enhance my own secret indulgence – people watching!

Pas de Deux: Green Pygmy Geese at Marlgu Billabong, Western Australia

And watching the visitors who think Marlgu Billabong is an amusement park with performing animals just waiting for their pix to be uploaded onto a random strangers FaceBook page are funniest of all. Because the creatures who frequent this remote and sometimes inaccessible spot are wild, unpredictable and – oddly – don't seem to have the tourist experience at the top of their agenda!

But a quiet observer is usually rewarded … and although it's possible to come here and NOT see anything, that didn't happen to us!

Kimberley Landscape near Marlgu Billabong, Western Australia

On the alternative back route (read 'rough 4WD track') from Kununurra to Wyndham, the Parry Lagoon Nature Reserve of which Marlgu Billabong is a part, is a RAMSAR*** wetland of international significance as it's on the shorebird migration route.

Magpie Geese in flight above Marlgu Billabong, Kimberley, Western Australia

Although shorebirds are the last thing you'd expect to see after driving through the magnificently dry and arid East Kimberley landscape en route to the Billabong. The parched dry season landscape doesn't look as if it's EVER been wet, let alone wet enough to support a large and thriving permanent waterhole.

That isn't just used by the birds ...

None of the 60+ bird species we observed on our two July 2012 visits (totalling 3-4 hours) seemed overly concerned by the ever-present – and quite large – crocodiles that delighted the random selection of tourists who actually saw them.

Maybe because the big crocs rarely bother with such small prey – the energy burned by catching them is far greater than the small amount replaced by eating them!

They're after larger prey. Like swagmen and jumbucks ...

Killer photographs aside, witnessing direct interaction between the crocodiles and the bird life would have been a bit ghoulish – so thankfully, despite the aggression imbalance, the scene remained peaceful and serene.

Our caravan park neighbour also seemed happy enough not to be involved in a direct human/croc interaction, albeit for different reasons. Upon hearing he was to travel northern Australia in a campervan, his Swiss friends were apparently convinced he'd fall victim to a crocodile attack.

'So I CAN'T be taken by a crocodile, you see,' he explained. 'I'd never live it down!'

Telegraph Hill, Parrys Lagoon Nature Reserve via Wyndham, Western Australia

I'm sure the car hire companies would be intrigued by footage of the random selection of vehicles jolting down the rough, rocky track to the waterhole from the old Telegraph Station on – yes, you guessed right: Telegraph Hill – overlooking the Billabong.

But inadvertent entertainment aside, they were only a brief distraction from the main attraction – starting with the pair of Brolga in the carpark, the massive selection of ducks in the shallow waters surrounding the main pool, the astonishing array of birdlife on the billabong itself, and – of course – the crocodiles!

Brolga at Marlgu Billabong, Kimberley, Western Australia

The non-existent amenities block and the crocodile's natural tendency to police taking nature's call from behind a tree ensure most visitors move on after a relatively short visit. Whether or not it's a deliberate strategy to reduce human impact, tragically it means the billabong won't be featuring in my Australian Scenic Public Toilet series …

… and also turns the Waltzing Matilda fantasy tableau - a swagman boiling his billy while camped beside the Billabong with a freshly killed sheep ready to roast – into Waterhole Massacre.

Crocodile at Marlgu Billabong, Western Australia

But with all the crocodile, tourist and other wildlife action, who cares?

Kimberley Landscape near Marlgu Billabong

* Refer to lyrics from Waltzing Matilda, arguably the most popular Aussie song of all time

** Billabong = Oxbow lake

*** Ramsar Wetlands

Read MORE:

Marlgu Billabong & Parry Lagoon Nature Reserve
Aussie Crocodile Hot Spots
Waltzing Matilda
Click HERE to see Slim Dusty singing Waltzing Matilda

1000 Words About … Pedestrians Crossing!

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 08:53:00 +0000

Pedestrians at the start of the Tunnel Creek Crossing, Western Australia

The advantages of long legs were immediately apparent as we entered the enclosing darkness of the Tunnel Creek cave system east of Derby – and stepped into the thigh high cold water.

Sparing a thought for legendary Indigenous leader and activist Jandamarra, who used these remote caves in the depths of the Western Australian Kimberley region along the infamous Gibb River Road as a hideout in the late 1800's, I felt for the creek bed I couldn't see through the gloom with every step.

Eerie in the dim light of our torches, intricate limestone formations towered above as the creek swirled silently around my legs and a keyhole of light in the distance showed the end of our crossing.

Pedestrians at the other side of the Tunnel Creek crossing, Kimberley, Western Australia

Inaccessible during the wet season when Tunnel Creek sometimes fills the vast caverns of remnant Devonian Reef dwarfing the tiny pedestrians crawling beneath it, the most dangerous part of our dry season ~750m crossing to the oasis at the far end of the caves was the possibility of wet – um – nether regions!

Back home, we should be so lucky if our crossings as urban pedestrians were as danger- and trouble-free!!

Tunnel Creek just before it enters the cave system, Tunnel Creek National Park, Western Australia

'Pedestrians Crossing' is the City Daily Photo community theme for this first day of April. Why not go HERE for the different interpretations of this theme from around the world?

Read MORE:

Tunnel Creek National Park and Gibb River Road
Jandamarra
1000 Words About ...

RedHeads ROCK the Liebster Award!

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 10:11:00 +0000

She travels.

She blogs.

She's a REDHEAD!

She's a LOT like me!!

SO … what's NOT to love about Vicki of redheadedtravels.com fame?

Especially now that she's passed me the poisoned chalice of the LIEBSTER Award …

It seems that the origins of this blog-lovin' award that recognises blogging fabulousness (well, I got it, didn't I?) by highlighting selected blogs and profiling the bloggers who made them happen have been lost in the mists of time!

So, today I'm sticking with Vicki's rules – here's how to play!

Share 11 Random Facts about yourself
Answer Vicki's 11 questions
Share the ~~pain~~ joy by nominating another 11 bloggers. Give them your own 11 questions to answer; and tell them you've nominated them!

Red Nomad Revealed: 11 Random Facts about ME!

My left eye is blue and my right eye is black. I've scared a lot of young children by pretending I'm an alien …

Red & Pilchard at Mt Kosciuszko Summit - Highest Point in Australia!

… which technically I am. I was born in New Zealand! But if you want to observe a real, live deportation, you'll be disappointed. I'm an Australian citizen!!

AND … a loud and proud Aussie traveller. Just don't ask me where my favourite place is – I'm so fickle it's generally the last place I've been to! At this point, that makes it the Snowy Mountains ...

...where the highest I've ever been (without flying) is 2228 metres – the top of Mt Kosciuszko, highest point in Australia …
… which I climbed to celebrate a significant birthday. I'll leave you to guess which one!

BLACK Sunset at Lake Pamamaroo, Menindee Lakes, New South Wales

BLACK is my favourite colour. But for those ~~pedants~~ purists who insist it's NOT a colour, RED comes a very close second …

What's NOT to love about RED? When it looks like this Eucalypt bark in the Snowy Mountains, that is!

… closely followed by other colours like Blue. And Green! Actually, ALL the colours of the Rainbow – so I've started some Pinterest boards to capture the Colours of OZ!

But RED features prominently in many parts of OZ – including my choice for quintessential Aussie landscape photo!

Dingo at Ormiston Gorge, Central Australia

I'm loudly and proudly an amateur photographer! My photos complement my diary as a visual record of what I actually see on my travels ...

Sugar Pines near Batlow, New South Wales

… which means I rarely leave the house without my 'camera equipment' (aka one point and click camera) …
… and I leave creating art by post-production photographic manipulation to the experts! If my camera doesn't do it, it doesn't happen SO ... this is as good as it gets for me!

RED HOT: The GRILL – from Vicki:

My answers to Vicki's questions:

1 What is your favourite Ice Cream Flavour?

I've been told not to bother turning up to dinner parties unless I bring my own concoction involving fresh cherries, cranberries, brandy, nuts, lemon juice, brown sugar and ginger swirled through a homemade vanilla ice cream base and covered in chocolate sauce. OMG I love my own cooking ...

2 What is something you wish you could do really well?

Oldest Bakery in Australia - Gundagai, New South Wales

Lose weight! But … that's probably not going to happen in THIS lifetime with so many as yet undiscovered Aussie bakeries just waiting for a Red Nomad OZ visit!

3 If you had the chance to have lunch with one person (living or dead) who would it be?

That would depend on the lunch location.

So for example, it it's in the Outback, I'd choose Aussie poet Andrew 'Banjo' Paterson or Eulo Queen Hotel publican Isabel Robinson. In Central Australia, I'd choose activist for Aboriginal rights Olive Pink or Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira. In the Riverland, I'd choose Aussie author Nancy Cato or explorer Captain Charles Sturt.

But for lunch on top of Australia's highest mountain Mt Kosciuszko? There's only ONE choice!! Pilchard's the man!

The Big Trout, Adaminaby, New South Wales

4 What makes you smile?

The anticipation of finding another Aussie BIG Thing! Or a cool Travel Sign!!

5 What activity recharges your energy?

Apart from travelling and eating?

That frisson of excitement when landscape, experience, colour, texture and novelty amalgamate into an instant of such staggering perfection I gasp involuntarily. And try to photograph it!

6 What is the best Festival you've ever been to?

I'm an each-way bet kinda gal. So it's a toss up between the Bedourie Camel Races and the Kununurra Agricultural Show!

Camel Racing at Bedourie, Outback Queensland

How DO you decide between a) eating a plateful of Cocky's joy while watching the boys from the bush clear the racetrack after a whole mess of camels have thundered down it; or b) watching your very first Cane Toad race while sucking down a frozen chocolate coated banana with a mango smoothie chaser??

A little diversion before the race - Thommo's strange way with Cane Toads ...

7 What social network do you use the most?

The 'actual' one. You can't beat talking to real, live 'people' – even better if they're literal 'friends' – using actual 'words' in a 'conversation'.

Old Pub sign, Hamilton Hotel via Winton

But its also gr8 2 cre8 Twttr msg 4u with linx 2 cool #OZ #travel stuff & killer #Aussie pix 2 make u ask OZ? YNOT? All in ONLY 140 chrctrs!

For a piece of THAT action, visit @RedNomadOZ!

8 Why did you start your travel blog?

The short version? To share the best of OZ with the world.

The long version? Check out my first post HERE!

9 Where did you get your first passport stamp?

HHHMMMmmm … too young to remember. Quite possibly Fiji – but I was on my Mum's passport then. Does that count?

Arty Sunset Shot - Boab tree at Derby, the Kimberley, Western Australia

10 What one item do you never travel without?

It's a tough choice between good maps, travel insurance and ear-plugs. In fact, I can't decide. So YOU tell ME – which is the most important?!?!

Snake on the road, Mt William, Grampians, Victoria

11 Dogs or cats?

Neither. A mongoose is the ONLY choice for an Ophidiophobic.

Share the Liebster LOVE:

And here are the lucky(!) bloggers I've nominated (in no particular order) …

Saucy Kod at Saucy Kodz Blog
Fun 60 at After 60 – the Next 10
Jo at Zigazag Mag
Kerry at A Novel Journey
Carole M at Caroles Creative Corner
Glen at Glens Life
SFlaGuy at South Florida Guy
Jill at Life Images by Jill
Tina at Not Just Another Mother Blogger
Rose at Rose ~ from OZ
Beach Bum at Life and Times of a Carolina Parrothead

Your questions, should you choose to participate, are as follows:

What's your favourite colour?
What is the absolute BEST thing to eat?
You're on a deserted island and you can choose one person to join you. Who is it?
What scares you rigid?
What's your favourite way to pass the time on a long journey?
Where are you going for your next holiday?
If you were to visit and/or travel in Australia, what would you most like to see?
What's your all-time favourite book?
What's your most popular blog post (define that however you like!)?
What was your most embarrassing moment?
What's your favourite quote?

Poplars at Lake Jindabyne, Snowy Mountains New South Wales

And as I leave you with this gratuitous arty shot of Poplars reflected on Lake Jindabyne, I hope you've enjoyed the Liebster as much as I have!

The “Daleks” of Khancoban

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 09:56:00 +0000

Khancoban Pondage at Sunset, New South Wales

Aglow in the setting sun, the Khancoban Pondage encircled with impossibly high mountains* was a calendar shot just waiting to happen**.

So picturesquely pleasing, the scene seemed perfect.

Too perfect …

Reflections at Khancoban Pondage, Snowy Mountains, New South Wales

From the vantage point of our campsite in the Khancoban Lakeside Holiday Resort we wondered if instead of just crossing the border over the River Murray from Victoria into New South Wales, we'd inadvertently stumbled through a portal into another country.

Was this REALLY Australia?

Who knew what may have been unleashed when the tunnels deep beneath the Snowy Mountain Range towering behind us were blasted over 60 years ago??

Still life with Pelican at Khancoban Pondage, New South Wales

Ahead of its time and considered one of the engineering wonders of the modern world, the complex series of tunnels, lakes*** and dams of the Snowy Mountains Scheme that harness and divert the Snowy River for irrigation and hydro-electricity flow ever downwards to the Khancoban Pondage.

Where in a setting so soporifically serene its hard to imagine what's buried within the mountains behind, we fall asleep only to awaken to the rising sun, lighting the pondage from the other side.

Dawn at Khancoban Pondage, Snowy Mountains, New South Wales

Yes, it really IS too otherworldly.

BUT … there's good reason for it.

Murray 1 Power Station, Khancoban

Just a few kilometres up the road at the start of the Alpine Way traversing the Snowy Mountains to link Khancoban with the much higher skiing village of Thredbo, the Murray 1 Power Station viewing platform looks down to an astonishing sight.

Through its windows far below, we spotted them.

Yes, although they're cunningly disguised as generators, their distinctive and unmistakeable shape wouldn't fool a die-hard Dr Who fan for a moment!

Daleks? At Khancoban??

The "Daleks" of Khancoban

Did the Snowy Mountains Scheme blasting that tunnelled under the mountains apart crack open a portal? Maybe the influx of 100,000 overseas workers who helped build the Scheme include some aliens?? Or perhaps they've been enslaved – doomed forever to produce clean, green energy for Australia, the uncanny perfection of the Khancoban Pondage a distraction from what lies beneath …

Although the authorities will doubtless deny that the Snowy Mountains Scheme was just a front to contain a Dalek invasion of Earth, it's surely not impossible.

Is that a Dalek I see before me?!?!

Is it??

* By Australian standards!!

** But not for long …

*** aka 'Pondages'

Read MORE:

G - this one's for you!

PS For a fresh look at Water from around the world, visit Nature Footstep's Waters! You won't regret it ...

Australia's TOP Toilet! #33 – Charlotte Pass, New South Wales

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 10:18:00 +0000

Charlotte Pass Amenities Block, Mt Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales

As the road wound inexorably upwards through rocky peaks and alpine meadows studded with non-operational chairlifts, the temperature dropped, then dropped some more. Fresh from the 39°C of an Adelaide autumn heatwave, we'd plunged right along with the temperature into the parallel universe of the Mt Kosciuszko National Park in the heart of the High Country.

Overlooking Charlotte Pass, New South Wales

At the 1835 metre (6020 ft) mark, the road stopped. From here, tracks led in several directions. Down the road to ski resort village Charlotte Pass, at a mere 1760 metres (5774 ft) Australia's highest permanent settlement. Along the ridge to the Main Range lookout. Up to the chairlift and lookout point across the Snowy River to the – yes, Aussie imagination runs wild – Snowy Mountains. And a track to Mt Kosciuszko, Australia's highest point.

Mt Kosciuszko (highest point at right with people at summit), Snowy Mountains, New South Wales

Named for Charlotte Adams, the first non-indigenous woman to scale the mountain, Charlotte Pass was a crossover point for the last 9 km (~5 miles) for what used to be the drive – yes, the DRIVE – to the top of Mt Kosciuszko's 2228 metre (7310 feet) peak. Now it's the starting point for one of several walking trails to the summit – from here, an 18 km (~11 mile) round trip.

Go before you go at Australia's highest Public Toilet, Charlotte Pass, New South Wales

Of course before you go, you need to GO, right?

So here on Charlotte Pass at the trailhead to the Mt Kosciuszko summit is a conveniently placed public amenities building – at 1835 metres and just below the tree line, ALMOST Australia's highest Public Toilet! But unless you catch the Kosciuszko Express chairlift from Thredbo, or climb Mt Kosciuszko from the chairlift summit, it COULD be as high a loo as you'll get in OZ! That's TOP #1!

Flame Robin at Charlotte Pass, New South Wales

Completely snowbound in winter, Charlotte Pass also trumps the rest of the country with Australia's lowest recorded temperature, -23°C (-9.4°F) on 28 June, 1994. I'll pause for a minute for the Northern Hemisphereans to stop laughing … but that's TOP #2!

From the Main Range lookout, the highest of the high Snowy Mountain range forms a magnificent backdrop to this isolated amenities block.

With Mt Kosciuszko and Mt Townsend (Australia's 2^nd highest peak), and a whole bunch of other really high mountains (by Australian standards) visible to the right of the Charlotte Pass conveniences from the Main Range Lookout, that makes TOP #3!!

Charlotte Pass Public Conveniences (circled at left) with Mt Kosciuszko (left arrow) & approx location of Mt Townsend

So if my planned assault on Mt Kosciuszko later this week is foiled by lousy weather or terminal muscle meltdown, at least I'll have had the pleasure of doing my business in ALMOST the TOP little toilet in OZ!

Read MORE:

Charlotte Pass
Mt Kosciuszko
MORE Australian Scenic Public Toilets!

PS 21 March 2013 ... HOW EMBARASSING!!!! Charlotte Pass ISN'T the highest public loo in OZ! It's not even the 2nd highest ... SO I've updated this post accordingly, and will shortly be posting about Australia's REAL highest public loo ...

6 ALMOST Secret TOP Aussie National Parks!

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 06:31:00 +0000

At LAST I've got the answer to that irritating question – Have you been to all of Australia's National Parks?

I'll just get out my recently released 2^nd edition of Explore Australia's excellent Explore Australia's National Parks! And point out that to visit ALL of Australia's 500+ National Parks would be a life-long project.

The question comes up because many stop counting after Uluru-Kata Tjuta, the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu and the Blue Mountains. But what about the other 500 or so? Over the years, our travels in Australia have taken us to some spectacular National Parks where, in many cases, we've had them all to ourselves.

Using Explore Australia's National Parks will help to narrow the field. And I'm not just saying that because I was lucky to get a complementary copy - check out the inforgraphic at left, then take a little armchair tour of these 6 less well known Australian National Parks and you'll see what I mean!!

Then keep reading to see how YOU could win a copy for yourself!

1. Great Australian Bight Marine National Park, South Australia:

Whale with Calf, Head of Bight, South Australia

Driving the Nullarbor is the ultimate road trip – part of a 4000 km journey from one side of Australia to the other, its big chunks of nothing broken only by roadhouses, rest stops and 'roos! And stopping for the obligatory photo of yourself in the middle of a long stretch of empty road with nothing all around ...

But the drive through the Nullarbor Regional Reserve is an adventure in itself with several world exclusives, including Nullarbor Links, the world's longest golf course; the Nullarbor itself, world's longest, flattest limetone formation; and the Bunda cliffs – longest unbroken stretch of cliffs without a natural harbour in the world.

Whales in Bight, with Bunda Cliffs behind, South Australia

For those unimpressed by such things, the Great Australian Bight – that big concave bit along the bottom of the continent – is a world reknowned Southern Right Whale nursery and migration path.

And on a good day – May to October – literally dozens of whales and calves can be spotted up and down the coast from the Head of Bight viewing platforms.

Such a spectacle, in fact, that I almost didn't notice the scenic public toilet!

Read MORE: Whale Watching at Head of Bight

2. Wyperfeld National Park, Victoria:

For a complete change of pace, Victoria's Mallee country is a surprise to those who thought the Outback was confined to Australia's more central parts.

Wonga Campground, Wyperfeld National Park, Victoria

Only 450 km north-west of Melbourne, visit Wyperfeld's eastern section from nearby Hopetoun or Rainbow, but for a real outback experience camp in one of the park's two campgrounds and explore the park on foot.

Dunes at Wyperfeld National Park, Victoria

With walking trails to suit all levels of fitness, the park is part of a complex lake system and is a known habitat for the endangered Mallee fowl.

During our May 2012 day trip, we saw two other cars. But we're hoping that when we return to stay, we'll be on our own!

And when you're done, drop in to nearby Patchewollock for the BIG Mallee fowl!

Read MORE: Patchewollock and Hopetoun

3. Cape Range National Park, Western Australia:

The poor relation of Exmouth's two parks, Cape Range is often overshadowed by the world famous Whale Sharks of Ningaloo Reef. And while these Western Australian Coral Coast offshore attractions are undeniably spectacular, Cape Range was so intriguing on our August 2012 visit, we saved Ningaloo for next time.

Yardie Creek Gorge, Cape Range National Park, via Exmouth, Western Australia

After escaping our campsite between the twin delights of the amenities block and the backpacker accomodation, Yardie Creek Gorge along the western side of the range running down the middle of Northwest Cape was a welcome surprise.

Yardie Creek Gorge, Cape Range National Park

It's not every day you get to see a classic Outback Gorge with a river running into the ocean!

The eastern side of the range was even more dramatic. A very rough, narrow, winding and steep drive along the aptly named Charles Knife Road revealed more rugged Outback scenery – with staggering views across to the ocean.

And in the height of tourist season, with caravan parks and campgrounds full to bursting, we lucked out with only a couple of other vehicles!

Although one contained quite possibly the only sarong-wearing Frenchman in the world ...

Read MORE: Exploring Cape Range National Park

Charles Knife Road Lookout, Cape Range National Park, via Exmouth, Western Australia

4. Keep River National Park, Northern Territory:

Described to us as the 'mini Bungle Bungles' in a nod to one of Western Australia's big ticket items, the Northern Territory's Keep River National Park actually abuts the WA border. And makes a mockery of the 1½ hour time difference! Although we left Kununurra early, by the time we'd visited the Ranger station and nearby Cockatoo Lagoon, then driven to the 7km Jarnem Loop walk trailhead, the morning had all but gone.

Jarnem Walk Lookout, Keep River National Park, Northern Territory

No matter.

White-quilled Rock-pigeon, Keep River National Park

This spectacular walk through bizarre rock formations to the 360º lookout, then down through a lightly wooded valley past more rock formations to an Aboriginal rock shelter complete with paintings was virtually people free!

Add a lifer – White-quilled Rock-pigeon – for twitcher Pilchard and I see a return to this remote Top End park in our future …

I can only imagine the views at sunset and sunrise – but one day we'll stay in one of the campgrounds for a few days and find out!

And when one day we visit the real Bungle Bungles, we'll see how it got it's nickname!

5. Paroo-Darling National Park, New South Wales:

Jolting along the rough road from remote opal mining town White Cliffs towards Paroo-Darling National Park's Peery Lake, we spotted a Winnebago parked in the middle of the road. Stopping to make sure the owners were OK, we asked where they'd come from. The middle aged couple exchanged guilty glances and seemed strangely reluctant to tell us.

Lake Peery, Paroo-Darling National Park, via White Cliffs, New South Wales

'You're not Park rangers, are you?', she finally asked. Then the penny dropped! They'd illegally stayed at the lake overnight.

'It's not really camping,' she continued. 'We're fully self-contained!'

And that was our introduction to both Paroo-Darling National Park and the new definitions of 'camping'.

Paroo-Darling National Park, New South Wales

The park is a string of seven old pastoral leases, several of which form one of the only reserves on the Darling River floodplain.

The park's only campground – the Coach and Horses – is in this section, more easily reached from Wilcannia.

In the northern sections, along the Paroo River Overflow before it meets the Darling near Wilcannia. In this part of the park, the massive bulk of Lake Peery, full during our 2010 visit, supports abundant birdlife but when dry its unique mound springs become visible.

Then we returned to White Cliffs for 7½ minutes in Paradise!

Read MORE: White Cliffs, New South Wales

6. Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park, Queensland:

Back in 1998 on our first and only visit, Queensland's Lawn Hill was considered a remote destination with the riverbanks at closest town Gregory Downs a makeshift stopover campsite before the rigours of 100 km of bulldust and gravel.

Lawn Hill Gorge, Boodjamulla National Park, Queensland

Nowadays, nearly 15 years later, it's still a long, hard 100 km of unsealed road. With either mud or dust, depending on the time of year.

But it's still one of the most spectacularly memorable National Parks in Australia, an Outback oasis with a soaring red rocky gorge system, clear water and staggering scenery. The canoe trip from the camping area up the gorge, then over the portage point into the higher gorge is an amazing experience. Get close to the wildlife too! Swim with the giant carp, spot freshwater crocodiles lurking in the gorges – and watch out for snakes in the water! My first instinct was to paddle like hell when my oar nearly hit a snake in the water; but Pilchard wanted to paddle back to see what he'd missed.

Lawn Hill Upper and Middle Gorges, Boodjamulla National Park, Queensland

I guess that's the essential difference between us!

Back at the campground's cold showers, the high limestone content in the water gave a whole new meaning to 'sculpted hairdo' ...

Expansive view from Jarnem Walk Lookout, Keep River National Park, Northern Territory

While travelling to these National Parks may take a little longer, the trip is well worth the extravaganza of stunning scenery, wonderful wildlife and extraordinary experiences you'll encounter.

If YOU would like to explore Australia's National Parks further, Explore Australia has a copy of Explore Australia's National Parks to give away! You're eligible to enter if you have an Australian postal address as the book will be posted to the winner.

Just tell me the Australian National Park you'd most like to visit AND that you're entering the competition in the comments below! Please also ensure that I can contact you by email.

The competition will close at Midnight, 20 March 2013, Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time, and the winner will be randomly selected. Good Luck!

Now you see it … OZ Scenic Public Toilet #32

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 08:20:00 +0000

Semaphore streetscape, Adelaide, South Australia

What's a nice Scenic Public Toilet doing in a street like this?

Who knew that exploring Adelaide beachside suburb Semaphore would reveal such an intriguing blend of almost tasteful camouflage and cutting edge convenience technology?

Is that a toilet I see before me???

Actually, who knew there WAS such cutting edge convenience technology??

Accidentally wandering into the main street's residential zone after trawling the Semaphore shops for loot, as one does, I'd already turned to go back when Pilchard nudged me.

'Look over there,' he murmured with a coded jerk of the head that the unaware and/or unkind would immediately dismiss as a muscle spasm.

I looked.

I saw nothing. Pilchard smiled evilly.

'What?' I demanded, exasperated. This wasn't the first time he'd pointed out something I would find 'exciting', like a bird on the fence or an unusual plant. But this time, apart from an undeniably attractive streetscape offset against the blue South Australian summer sky, I could see nothing.

The well-disguised public amenities on a Semaphore Street, South Australia

'Can't you see the toilet?' Pilchard asked, with more than a touch of smugness.

This time I looked more carefully. The antique lamp posts, some stone fronted cottages, a bus stop. And – another bus stop?

Actually, no.

In case you were wondering ...

The tiny structure's muted tones, a carefully executed mural showing bare-branched autumn trees behind a wrought iron fence against a sepia sky, blended in nicely with the stonework behind.

It was almost a shame to desecrate such a brilliantly cunning disguise with a blatant sign that was a dead giveaway. If approaching the building from the street, that is. As the average user probably wouldn't, given that this loo was no drive-in!

And the appropriately yellow pedestrian signs on the footpath warned that this was a potential crossing point for approaching users.

I could only imagine how much more effective such a disguise would be in autumn, when apart from the sepia, the actual trees would match their mural counterparts.

I wondered how many people mistook it for the bus stop.

Which one's the bus stop? Semaphore street, Adelaide, South Australia

No matter.

I grabbed my camera and took off.

'Do you actually need to use the loo?' Pilchard called out behind me.

'No'

It won't be tasteless if I call it 'Semaphore Reflections', right?

'That's sick,' he murmured and headed for the bus stop. Quite rightly too.

Not everyone would accept that a lone man hanging around a public facility with binoculars in hand was actually birdwatching …

While his partner was inside taking photos ...

A symphony of sterile stainless steel, automated accessories and instructive communications, enhanced by the piped music softly playing to – I guess – assist one's performance, the glare of the interior made it difficult to effectively capture the ambience in the 10 minutes I had before the door would automatically open.

I couldn't help but wonder how the visually impaired users for whom the braille translations must be intended would actually find all the signs given their random scattering around the inordinately large interior.

More than a basin - this is a WORKSTATION!

How would one know, for example, that the soap/water/dryer basin inset wasn't a urinal? And whatever one thought it was, why would one then think to test for braille instructions along it's top??

And who could guess without looking how far below the toilet tissue touch button the tissue actually emerged???

That's if it DID emerge – I would have had more luck if I'd hit the button with a hammer, or a well-executed karate kick. Neither of which would have been remotely possible if I'd actually been seated on the loo.

I hoped the next user appreciated the toilet tissue I left behind …

Other than graffiti left by the imaginatively spelt 'Ebanie' (now preserved forever right here!), the only sign with NO braille accompaniment was the instruction for exiting the amenities in the case of power failure.

Grafitti - and non-Braille instructions!

Of course while the power was ON, everyone would know exactly where to find the large exit button at the LEFT of the right-opening door, wouldn't they?

But of course I could see whether or not the door was locked by the lights next to what surely must be (or why use it) the international 'lock' symbol – an open or closed padlock, although visually impaired users might have some difficulty given the absence of a) braille or b) raised surfaces.

And while I was unperturbed by the absence of a flush-button – these clever conveniences flush themselves, an action triggered by a) using the handbasin/urinal; or b) exiting the amenities – I wondered what an illiterate person or a child would make of it.

The visually impaired person would, of course, find the braille instruction to this effect while feeling around for the flush-button, right??

Door sign, Public Conveniences, Semaphore

While tempted to see what happened when the door opened of its own accord in 10 minutes, I returned to the street. After all, in a country with few public amenities outside parks, gardens, shopping centres, service stations and rest stops, this rare example of suburban street amenities next to a bus stop MUST be in demand! Or why build it there in the first place?

Surely by now there'd be a queue??

But the street was inexplicably empty.

After a few steps, however, the solution was clear.

Of course! The camouflage was working!!

Read More:

Adelaide, South Australia
South Australia
RED in Adelaide, South Australia
More Australian Scenic Public Toilets

The Carnamah Connection

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:24:00 +0000

Carnamah Mural, Western Australia

Watch your coincidences, the writers manual said. Spread them out, with no more than three or you'll lose readers. So just WHAT was I supposed to do about all the Carnamah coincidences?

We arrived in Carnamah on Mum's birthday. Coincidence #1.

A distant relative I'd never met before was staying in the caravan park. Coincidence #2.

The Carnamah Historical Society president knew more about my background than I did. Coincidence #3!

Then there was … but wait! I'm getting ahead of myself.

Entrance to Carnamah, Western Australia

Being in Carnamah at all was no coincidence.

But although it was a) the heart of the fabled Western Australian wildflower country;b) a convenient distance from our previous camp site on the coast; and c) where my mother was raised, we approached it with some trepidation.

A selection of Carnamah Wildflowers, Western Australia

The last town we'd gone through wasn't particularly inviting (nothing will induce me to divulge its identity!), and there wasn't much about Carnamah in the tourist directories.

The new location 'lucky dip' worked both ways. Sometimes it was great. Sometimes it was OK. And sometimes it was crap.

Carnamah Streetscape

'We don't have to stay here, you know,' said Pilchard as we turned into the main street.

But my curiosity about this small town, the buckle in the Western Australian wheat belt where my mother spent her formative years, had increased the closer we got. We had to stay one night because THIS was where she'd walked three miles to school every day (whose parents didn't?). Where she lived on the family farm. Where she got her first job.

And where the wondrous wildflowers of the West of which I'd heard such glowing reports all my life actually were.

Nothing, but NOTHING comes close to the Western Australian wildflowers, I'd heard many times. Actually, EVERY time we saw any other wildflowers. Anywhere. Ever.

My nasty-girl side SO wanted to disprove that theory, I'd been almost disappointed to see what looked like 'Wildflower World' unfolding before me on the side of the road as we neared our destination.

But then we were driving down the main street and into the Carnamah Caravan Park. For a small town – hell, for ANYWHERE – this was a keeper. Neat layout, level sites (some drive-through), off the main road, new amenities, FREE WASHING MACHINE! Score!

Carnamah Bell (Darwinia carnamah)

Then to the Visitor Information Centre – and Score! The friendly helpful volunteer told us exactly where to find Mum's favourite – the Wreath Leschenaultia. AND the Carnamah Bell (Darwinia carnamah), exclusive to Carnamah! Score!!

Out on the street, Black Cockatoos circled over the pub, singing their sad, sweet song. But these sounded different. They WERE different! Carnaby's Black Cockatoo only found in Western Australia and a lifer for twitcher* Pilchard! Score!!

It almost made up for not finding a bakery.

And as we walked the town's botanic garden trail in successful search of the not-so-elusive Carnamah Bell, we agreed we'd lucked out. A family connection and a clutch of coincidences weren't the only reasons to explore this area.

Carnamah Farming Country, Western Australia

Mum spent her early years out of town on a farm. During the Depression of the 1930's, local farmers, including my grandfather, had petitioned the government for a school, then donated time and materials to construct a suitable building. My mother and her siblings were among the Billeroo school's first pupils, and my mother its last teacher.

I had to at least try to find it. Or what, if anything, was left of it.

The Carnamah Historical Society's excellent website and databases gave a lot of detail about the area and its people – including my grandfather and the farm. Supplementing the actual museum, the website included a virtual museum and blog – a mini-masterclass in historical data management (Score!).

Fields of Everlastings near Carnamah, Western Australia

And their blog had a post about wildflowers in the area. Yes, they looked mighty fine.

So why not spend an extra day here, and see the sights?

Downtown Carnamah, Western Australia

Back at the caravan park, the neighbouring van turned out to contain my grandmother's nephew, and therefore my 2^nd cousin once removed. He'd dropped in to Carnamah on his way home to see if anyone knew what had happened to my grandmother's family. He'd apparently asked at the Visitor Centre about 10 minutes after I'd been there, and coincidence blessed with the magic of small town connections had done the rest!

But so far, I was drawing a blank on the school location.

Tathra National Park Wildflowers, Western Australia

Pilchard and I had always planned to return home via Carnamah, but arriving on Mum's birthday was also a coincidence. When I rang later that night and told her where I was, she didn't believe it at first. That changed when I asked for directions to the school. But unfamiliar with the relatively new caravan park, she could only give me a rough idea.

But no matter. Already elated by the cousin coincidence and Carnaby's Cockatoo and Carnamah Bell sightings, I was beginning to feel my connection to Carnamah. Almost.

Wreath Leschenaultia - not fully out!

The next day, our hunt for the wild wreath leschenaultias took us the back way to Perenjori. Whatever you're thinking is the correct pronunciation probably isn't, but after channelling the vibe, I could rattle off 'P'renjsh'ree' like a local. AND put it firmly on the 'Wildflower World' map!

After being in Carnamah 24 hours, I'd already had several independent referrals to the president of the Historical Society, who apparently knew everything there was to know about the area. But I hadn't visited him at the historical museum. For a start, it wasn't going to be open during our visit. And I'm not particularly nostalgic, sentimental or family oriented, so did it really matter if I found the school or not?

Anyway, what would a total stranger know – or care – about my long-ago connection to Carnamah?

A sign - Pot of Gold at Carnamah Caravan Park, Western Australia

After a hard day on the wildflower trail, the sky darkened into a sign – of sorts. And another caravanner – who turned out to be no relation whatsoever – suggested that as she'd lived here, my mother would appreciate photos of the Tathra National Park wildflowers. Coincidence?

Actually, more like Score! After booking in for a 3^rd night, we discoveredthe national park's unspoiled, rain-enhanced beauty was a photographer's fantasy. Who knew wildflowers could look like this? And as another back road tour took us to Carnamah via Three Springs, another town I'd heard Mum mention, the canola fields glowed in the sunlight.

But, the Billeroo school location still eluded us. No one at the Visitor Centre knew where it was. But in an almost miraculous coincidence, the Historical Society Museum was open. And when I finally met president George Fowler, 'Coincidence' and 'Score' for once combined as I found my family's next farm neighbour; my uncle's best friend; and a motherlode of information about the area all rolled into one.

The Silver Bullet at the Billeroo School site, via Carnamah, Western Australia

And THAT coincidence made my Carnamah connection complete.

We came to Carnamah for several reasons. But now we've got several reasons to return!

Red and George at the Carnamah Museum, Western Australia

Read More:

Carnamah Historical Society Blog AND My guest post about my experience in Carnamah and with the Carnamah Historical Society
Carnamah Historical Society Website
Western Australian Wildflowers
More Carnamah Photos on Flickr
Carnamah

* Twitcher = Bird watcher. Don't ask me why ...

Red & Pilchard's Ultimate All-Australian Travelling Café

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:20:00 +0000

The Ultimate All-Australian Travelling Cafe sets up at Dales Gorge Campground, Karijini National Park, Western Australia

It doesn't matter where we are.

Cool Waters Caravan Park, Cairns, Far North Queensland

Or how far we've travelled.

Or how hot it is.

Or cold.

Or what time of day.

Whether it's time for a snack, a meal, a nightcap, morning tea or midnight feast.

We can always drop in to Red & Pilchard's Ultimate All-Australian Travelling Café.

Because it's ALWAYS open.

For us ...

... and serves up food just the way we like it!

With fresh, local ingredients.

Like food from our favourite bakeries.

Or fast food.

Or even good, old fashioned home-cooked meals.

But Red & Pilchard's Ultimate All-Australian Travelling Café isn't open to just ANYONE! Its exclusive membership deals are just for two.

The Café has a visitor, Wyndham Caravan Park, Western Australia

Usually.

BUT … there's an occasional dispensation for a special guest, or a mate.

Lake Pamamaroo, Menindee Lakes, New South Wales

But the best thing about Red & Pilchard's Ultimate All-Australian Travelling Café?

Against a fascinating and ever-changing backdrop – tropical, desert, coastal, inland, rocky, sandy, scrub, bushland, beach, mallee, lakes, rivers – the Café provides an oasis of stability.

Breakfast is served, Ormiston Gorge Campground, Central Australia, Northern Territory

Because no matter how dramatic the changes to scenery, weather or company, the Red & Pilchard's Ultimate All-Australian Travelling Café Chairs have remained the same for nearly a decade.

So whatever adventures we're having on the road, we come home to Red & Pilchard's Ultimate All-Australian Travelling Café.

Swanvale Jump-up, via Stonehenge, Outback Queensland

And our Café Chairs!

The City Daily Photo community today celebrates the 1^st of March with its take on Café Chairs. This is mine. For other perspectives on Café Chairs from around the world go HERE!!

Waikerie Caravan Park, Waikerie, South Australia

7 Days ... from Adelaide to Darwin!

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:55:00 +0000

Mindil Beach Sunset, Darwin (pic by Pilchard)

Does it REALLY take 7 days to drive the ~3000 km from Adelaide to Darwin?

Source: http://www.goingrank.com.au/geography.html

Only if you want to see a few sights along the way on a REAL adventure! Car hire is the best option to experience a cross-section of Australia's unique countryside from the dry south, through the Red Centre deserts to the lush tropical north!

AND come to terms with the vast distances that road-tripping in Australia demands!

So follow my rough guide from Adelaide to Darwin via Uluru – with LOADS of optional extras! BUT … be warned! It might just mean your epic trek takes a few extra days!!

Day 1: Adelaide to Woomera

Distance: 487 km

Driving Time: 5½ - 6 hours (allow extra time for rest, food and sightseeing stops)

Scenery: Varied. After leaving Adelaide, drive through the scenic Clare Valley wine region; then along the edge of the Flinders Ranges to Pt Augusta. At this point, you're still on the Adelaide Geosyncline (yes, I'm showing off!)(Dad, are you reading this??) landform.

Island Lagoon, via Woomera, South Australia

It's all Outback from Pt Augusta, and the drive along the Stuart Shelf, an extension of the Adelaide Geosyncline, is unremarkable but for some unexpectedly spectacular land formations.

Points of Interest:

Salt Lakes and Claypans, including Pernatty Lagoon and Lake Windabout
Island Lagoon Lookout and Nurrungar – now closed, this joint US/OZ facility was the site of several protests, most notably by current Senator Peter Garrett, one-time front man for Aussie rock band Midnight Oil
Woomera Heritage Centre & Missile Park within the western world's largest land-based missile and rocket range

Enter the Woomera Prohibited Area (well … it gave ME a thrill!) 7 km off the highway from Pimba. The outdoor missile park's unusual collection of relics from rocket range days is all the more bizarre for its location.

Outdoor Missile Park, Woomera, South Australia

The Heritage Centre's excellent displays show the fascinating heritage of this little town on the edge of nowhere that has variously included the Rocket Range, NASA Deep Space Tracking Station and a controversial Asylum Seeker detention centre.

READ: More about Woomera

Options:

Spend an extra day exploring Woomera and nearby Roxby Downs, built in 1988 to support Olympic Dam – Australia's largest underground silver and copper mine
Combine Days 1 & 2 and save Woomera for another visit

Day 2: Woomera to Coober Pedy

Distance: 365 km

Coober Pedy from Lookout, South Australia

Driving Time: 4 hours (allow extra time for rest, food and sightseeing stops)

Scenery: Central Tablelands, with mesas, low hills and salt lakes before reaching the Stuart Range near Coober Pedy, where the landscape is dominated by mullock heaps.

Points of Interest:

Lake Hart – either a saltpan so white it'll hurt your eyes; or full of water!
Glendambo Roadhouse complex and service centre – only place for fuel and food this leg
Coober Pedy Mullock Heaps; Underground buildings and accommodation; and opal!

While passing Glendambo, spare a thought for Pilchard & I as we inched towards Glendambo after car trouble struck just over half way from Coober Pedy in 2004.

The most compelling argument I can think of for a) carrying water and b) having paid up Road Assistance membership, with a blown head-gasket, the car was, as the mechanic put it in technical terms, 'stuffed'.

Underground at Coober Pedy, South Australia

Road Assist paid for a) a motel unit; b) bus fares to Adelaide; c) trucking the car to Adelaide for repair; and d) general expenses. I still shudder to think how much we'd have been out of pocket – so DON'T leave home without it!

Staying in Coober Pedy's underground accommodation isn't for the claustrophobic – but IS something to experience at least once! And looking for Opal, either in the tourist 'noodling' area OR 'finding' it at the nearest opal showroom can be very rewarding!!

Options: Stay another night and tour the nearby Breakaways and Painted Desert; the underground churches; and a working opal mine. Then take a round of golf at the Coober Pedy Golf Course. It DOES offer reciprocal rights to world famous St Andrews in Scotland after all!!

READ: More about Coober Pedy

Day 3: Coober Pedy to Uluru

Distance: 750 km

Driving Time: 8 – 8½ hours (allow extra time for rest, food and sightseeing stops)

Road Train at Cadney Park Roadhouse, South Australia

Scenery: Varied. Once past the mullock heaps, red sandy soil and vegetation cover low hills, then the Indulkana range past Marla. Across the border, granite outcrops before entering the Amadeus basin, a former seabed.

Points of Interest:

The Dog Fence – longest man-made structure in the world!
Cadney Park and Marla Roadhouses
South Australia/Northern Territory Border
Sturt's Desert Peas, depending on time of year
Kulgera Roadhouse
Erldunda Roadhouse – a giant, caged echidna near the car park was once a prop for Expo
Mt Connor
Uluru and Kata Tjuta

Start early for a long day because – trust me on this – you DON'T want to drive at night! There'll be enough opportunities to hit stray wildlife during the day, when at least you can (mostly) see it coming!

Do I really have to tell you what THIS is?

Turn off to Uluru at the Erldunda Roadhouse. Mt Connor, at Curtin Springs station, is often mistaken for Uluru and is a tourist attraction in its own right. But there's no mistaking the vast bulk of the world's biggest monolith as it glows in the setting sun.

READ: More about Uluru and Central Australia

Options:

Stay an extra night to explore Uluru and Kata Tjuta more thoroughly.
Alternatively, take a detour to the remarkable Kings Canyon, and relive one of the more memorable scenes from cult Australian movie 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'!

Day 4: Uluru to Stuarts Well

Distance: 375 km

Driving Time: 4 - 4½ hours (allow extra time for rest, food and sightseeing stops)

Scenery: Central Desert and ranges.

Points of Interest:

Uluru and Kata Tjuta
Henbury Meterorite Craters
Dinky the singing, piano playing dingo

Spend the morning exploring the amazing Uluru and Kata Tjuta formations before returning to Erldunda and heading north to the Stuarts Well Roadhouse for a bizarre, uniquely Australian experience!

Dinky, the singing, piano playing Dingo, Stuarts Well, Northern Territory

Doesn't EVERYONE want to see a singing, piano playing Dingo?

READ: More about Stuarts Well; More about Rainbow Valley

Rainbow Valley, Central Australia (pic by Pilchard)

Options:

Stay an extra night and take a camel tour to nearby Rainbow Valley!
Skip Stuarts Well altogether and stay in Alice Springs (an extra 90 km/1 hour north)

Day 5: Stuarts Well to Tennant Creek

Distance: 600 km

Driving Time: 6½ hours (allow extra time for rest, food and sightseeing stops)

Elvis Campsite, Wycliffe Well, Northern Territory

Scenery: Spectacular ranges around Alice Springs, which flatten out into the grassy plains and rocky outcrops of the Barkly Tablelands.

Points of Interest:

Alice Springs
Aileron Roadhouse
Wycliffe Well Roadhouse complex, once proclaimed Australia's UFO capital
Wauchope Hotel
Karlu Karlu (Devils Marbles)

Wycliffe Well Roadhouse's unusual murals, strange otherworldly figurines and Elvis campsite are worth a look. Just up the road past the Wauchope Hotel are the Devils Marbles. While they're at their best at sunrise or sunset, they're worth stopping for any time!

Then it's another hour or so up the road to gold mining town Tennant Creek.

Devils Marbles at Sunset, Northern Territory

READ: More about Wycliffe Well; More about Devils Marbles; More about Tennant Creek

Options:

Stop in Alice Springs for the night before continuing with this itinerary. Leave Stuarts Well early, and you'll have the whole day to explore the many delights of Alice Springs and surrounds, as near as dammit to the Centre of Australia
Stay overnight at Wauchope for sunset/sunrise shots of the Devils Marbles. Tennant Creek is 106 km north.

Day 6: Tennant Creek to Katherine

Distance: 673 km

Driving Time: 7 – 7½ hours (allow extra time for rest, food and sightseeing stops)

Bitter Springs, via Mataranka, Northern Territory

Scenery: Barkly Tablelands grasslands and cattle station country continue to Newcastle Waters. Tropical vegetation hides many relics from World War II, before the lush tropics of Mataranka and its thermal pools.

Points of Interest:

Kunjarra (The Pebbles), a smaller version of the Devils Marbles
Cattle Stations, Roadhouses and small towns including Banka Banka, Renner Springs, Elliott, Dunmarra, Larrimah
Daly Waters Pub – a popular traveller stopover with meals and entertainment
World War 2 Memorabilia and outposts
Mataranka and Bitter Springs Thermal Pools - once part of Elsey Station, where the events of Mrs Aeneas Gunn's classic Australian memoir 'We of the Never Never' took place.

Busy Katherine, on the edge of Nitmiluk National Park (also known as Katherine Gorge), is a crossroads and stocking-up point for travellers heading west to Kununurra or east to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The thermal pools just out of town are a popular gathering point at the end of a long day on the road.

Katherine Gorge, Northern Territory

READ: More about Katherine

Options: Stay 100 km south of Katherine at Bitter Springs, and soak in its famous thermal pools. Who could resist seeing the world's biggest man-made termite mound in Mataranka's main street? It even TALKS!

Day 7: Katherine to Darwin

Distance: 316 km

Driving Time: 3½ - 4 hours (allow extra time for rest, food and sightseeing stops)

Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory (pic by Pilchard)

Scenery: Tropical

Points of Interest:

Cutta Cutta Caves
Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge)
Historic Pine Creek
Adelaide River's Historic Railway and War Cemetery
Batchelor – Gateway to Litchfield National Park

Take a morning tour to Katherine Gorge or nearby Cutta Cutta Caves before completing the drive to Darwin. Although there's lots to tempt the inquisitive along the way!

READ: More about Darwin & the Top End

Options:

Stay an extra day to explore the Katherine Region more thoroughly, including a trip to the marvellous Edith Falls just north of Katherine, for swimming and bushwalking.
Take the scenic route through Kakadu National Park to, with its distinctive landmarks, walks, tours and scenic attractions to Jabiru, then via Mary River and Humpty Doo to Darwin.
Stay an extra day in Batchelor and explore the natural wonders of Litchfield National Park!

Red in Darwin Botanic Gardens, Northern Territory (pic by Pilchard)

Darwin is an adventure in itself – you might want to consider an open-ended car rental arrangement – but it all depends on how much time you've got. It'd be easy to spend a further week exploring this Top End wonderland – but that's a whole new blog post!

Now all you've got to do is fly or drive somewhere else!

The Next BIG Thing! Glenrowan, Victoria

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 04:41:00 +0000

Big Ned Kelly, Glenrowan, Victoria

Living in a landscape populated with giant fibreglass representations of fruit and animals is quite normal to many Aussies.
Irrespective of whether or not such objects are in good taste!

Commemorating criminals by building statues and devoting whole tourism campaigns to the bushrangers who dominated the early days of colonialism is also an intrinsic part of Aussie-dom.

Irrespective of whether or not such objects are in good taste!

But I'd never seen a tourist attraction combining BOTH these Australian obsessions. Until we passed through tiny Victorian town, Glenrowan!

The giant statue of Ned Kelly dominates the main street in a town devoted to the man who is arguably Australia's most notorious bushranger.

And in the crowded tourist market capitalising on Australia's favourite anti-hero, Glenrowan stands apart. For it was here that Ned Kelly's career came to an end. His legendary capture in the epic police shoot-out that killed three of his gang members, including brother Dan, is known as the 'Last Stand'.

Bread-tin Ned, Jerilderie, New South Wales

The Kelly Gang's only foray across the border to Jerilderie, commemorated with stylish sculpture 'Bread Tin Ned' at the local bakery (how do you think I found it?!), resulted in the famous 'Jerilderie Letter' written by Ned to defend his gang's actions in the notorious Stringybark Creek shoot-out a few months earlier.

And although Ned was subsequently held and tried in nearby Beechworth Gaol before being taken to Melbourne for execution, it the Siege of Glenrowan and Last Stand that draw the crowds!

Beechworth Gaol, where Ned Kelly was tried, Beechworth, Victoria

Today, to be considered 'as game as Ned Kelly' – roughly translating as brave, determined and enterprising – is high praise for an Australian.

He really IS big! RED and NED!!

And his last words – 'Such is Life' – are part of the Aussie lingo.

Perhaps the first true Aussie larrikin, it may be why he's the subject of many books, films, poems, songs and art. Why his distinctive home-made body armour is instantly recognisable.

And why a larger-than-life Ned Kelly towers above the landscape.

Read MORE:

Have YOU photographed or blogged about an Australian 'Big Thing'? Link it up below!

5 Reasons to visit Broome in July!

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:22:00 +0000

Rock formation, Broome, Western Australia

Blue and red landscapes are often associated with other planets, abstract art or young children.

But head to remote Broome in Australia's north-western corner, and the gateway to its Kimberley region, for a distinctive real-life landscape in which red and blue form a predominant part of the scenery.

The ocean's characteristic blue hue from white clay in the water combines with the red Pindan rock and soil in a gob-smacking hit of colour that ensures a visit to Broome will be unforgettable - and if you haven't already been, inspiring you to compare the cheapest flights online!

Red Tide at Broome, Western Australia

While the colour is intrinsic to experiencing Broome in July when temperatures are at their glorious best, it's not the only reason to visit.

But I defy you to experience these 5 fabulous Broome attractions WITHOUT respect to its marvellous colours!!

1 The Beaches:

Cable Beach with Gantheaume Point in the distance, Broome, WA

The chances of finding a spot for yourself on Broome's world famous Cable Beach are better than average.

This stunning curve of sand so white it hurts your eyes stretches for 22 km so despite the Australian winter tourist season influx of travellers jostling for position at the cafe above, there's more than enough room on the sand below.

But if even the sight of other tourists on the beach is too much, go for absolute solitude just a few kilometres north, through the laid back community of Coconut Wells and over the dunes to the beach.

Coconut Wells Beach - with Dune Buggy Track! via Broome, Western Australia

Oh, all right.

There's a Dune Buggy track or two. And a couple of people WAAAAAY further down the beach. And a few shags* on a rock.

But you've got several kilometres to yourself. OK?

2 The Bay:

Roebuck Bay at Broome Bird Observatory Western Australia

It's a long hike through the mud to the Catalina float-plane wrecks that only emerge from Broome's Roebuck Bay at very low tide.

So I didn't do it.

But I didn't need to. A drive to the world famous Broome Bird Observatory on the shores of Roebuck Bay, where thousands of migratory wading birds flock along the bay's RAMSAR-listed shores along with the twitchers** trying to spot them, uncovered something FAR more intriguing.

After a couple of dunkings ...

In the rapidly rising 9 metre tide, one of the Southern Hemisphere's highest, we spotted what looked like a car roof down amongst the mangroves. It WAS a car roof. Actually, two! In retrospect, it's possible that the person driving an uninsured 4WD along the sands of the bay at low tide couldn't have anticipated being irretrievably bogged up to the axles. But the person who tried to pull him out???

But watching the unfolding drama of a double-car-extraction from soft sands between high tides was just a distraction from the pleasures of the Bay. And the Bird Observatory.

A tour to see Yellow Chat, one of Australia's rarest birds; a dawn ramble to the ocean through a dense tropical mist; scenery so superb even the most amateur*** photographer's shots look good; Snub-fin dolphin sightings from the observation platform; and an array of shorebirds so dense it takes a telescope to sort them out!

Rocks at Roebuck Bay, Broome Bird Observatory

Back in Broome watching the world reknowned 'Stairway to the Moon', where the moon rises over the Bay is a must see! Initially sceptical – it's just the moon rising over the sea as seen anywhere else in the world where the moon rises over the sea, right? - the real thing stopped my cynicism dead!

And if there's no car in the bay for entertainment, maybe the Catalinas are worth a visit instead! They're probably just as interesting. No, REALLY!

3 The Point:

Rocks at twilight, Gantheaume Point, Broome, Western Australia

There's no best time of day to visit iconic Gantheaume Point, just up the road from Cable Beach, but with its red Pindan soil and rock forming a dramatically different landscape.

At high tide, watching swimmers leaping from the red rock into a sea so blue it looks like it sucked all the colour from the sky looks like a scene from a movie set. And at low tide – approximately 9 metres lower – the rock platforms emerge from the sea, exposing strange rock gardens full of exotic corals and dinosaur footprints.

Blue and Red at Gantheaume Point, Broome, Western Australia

The brightness of day where the sea sparkles against the rocky Bingle Bingles around the Point from the lighthouse contrasts with the incredible twilight as the orange sun plunges into the Indian ocean and the rocks turn to fire.

There's always something happening at Gantheaume Point.

So visit any time. BUT ... be warned! The High tide/low tide/daylight/twilight scenes are SO different you'll want to experience all of them.

HHHMMMmmm... perhaps it'd be easier just to spend the whole day there?!

Sunset at Gantheaume Point, Broome, Western Australia

4 The Pictures:

If like me, you're a sucker for world exclusives, have a night at the movies in the world's oldest operating picture gardens – where the entertainment isn't all up on the big screen!

After admiring the movie memorabilia lining the walls since its official opening as Sun Pictures in 1916, cinema-goers take their seats and don their jackets. The relative coolness of a Broome evening shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

Because despite the ~29°C July daily maximum temperature, is IS winter!

Cinema Patrons take their seats, Sun Pictures, Broome

But after the sun sets and darkness falls over the open-roofed theatre and the show starts, there's another surprise in store. WARNING: Skip the next paragraph to avoid spoilers …

Watching the generally unremarkable cinema advertising is interrupted without warning as a low flying passenger jet only a few metres above the screen screams into Broome airport. Accompanied by the odd shriek – or two – from patrons unaware of the special acoustic qualities of this unique combination of landing jet and open-roofed building!

Photos? C'mon! Do you REALLY think my shutter-button finger was THAT quick?

Luckily, one of Australia's most intriguingly scenic public amenities blocks with an ever-changing backdrop is right at hand below the big screen!

Don't miss it!!

5 The Pearls:

Willie Creek, via Broome, Western Australia

Visitors unaware of Broome's history can get a clue to its heritage from the many dead giveaways pointing to its previous life.

Like the pearl showrooms and sales outlets jockeying for position in the main shopping precincts. The well preserved pearling lugger in Chinatown's main street. The Japanese and Chinese cemeteries where hundreds of pearl divers are now at rest and commemorative statues and plaques in the main street. The inclusion of pearl meat at some of the eateries And the staggering array of pearl-related products on offer at the weekly markets!

Yes, it's impossible to ignore the rich pearling heritage of this beautiful city, the jewel of the Kimberley coast.

Blockade en route to James Price Point, Kimberley Coast, Western Australia

So when we were thwarted by an anti-mining blockade from our drive north up the coast to controversial hot-spot and whale nursery James Price Point, Plan B kicked in and we arrived at Willie Creek Pearl farm ready for action.

Which it delivered!

Although, as a recovering aerophobic, my scenic helicopter flight over the magnificent estuary system glowing with colour and light could have ended badly. But distracted by the staggeringly picturesque landscape unfolding beneath, my amateur*** photographic instincts completely counteracted any lingering thoughts about crashing to the ground and dying a horrible death.

Willie Creek and surrounds from the air, via Broome

Euphoric after the successful touchdown, I just had to buy myself a little ~~reward~~ souvenir! Who knew (or cared!) that the $9 black seed-pearl ring I selected was from the children's section? While it might not be to everyone's taste, the showroom had plenty of REAL jewellery and pearl-related artefacts for pearl purists!!

After a snack from the Willie Creek cafe, I was ready for another helicopter flight ...

… but decided to wait until next time!

Port Jetty, Broome, Western Australia

I see a repeat performance of ALL these experiences somewhere in my future. But don't leave all the good times up north downunder to me! Start right here, right now! Compare the cheapest flights online … and I'll see you somewhere up there on a sunny July Aussie winter's day!!

It's a date!!

Read More:

PS If you haven't yet seen quite enough photos of Broome, there's more HERE on Flickr!

Gantheaume Point by Day! Broome, Western Australia

* Shag (in this context) = Cormorant

** Twitcher = Bird Watcher

*** Yep, that's me!

The Travelling Stones Roll On ... Goolwa Beach, South Australia

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 22:55:00 +0000

The Travelling Stones at Goolwa Beach, South Australia

I see a lot more crowds in the Travelling Stones' future!

But that's because I know something that only two of you don't – YET!

So for their last day in Australia – on this visit, anyway – I gave the stones the gift of Australia'sMagnificent Emptiness!

Goolwa Beach, looking towards the Murray Mouth

And an experience that many overseas – and local – tourists never have.

Apart from a 4WD mostly obscured by the sea spray and mists of the Great Southern Ocean right down the end of Goolwa Beach on a mind-blowingly awesome South Australian summer day, we were alone. Just Pilchard, me and the two Travelling Stones.

The Travelling Stones at Goolwa Beach, South Australia

That's if you don't count the pelicans. Or the seagulls!

But behind the dunes, the narrow neck of the Sir Richard Peninsula separates the ocean from the mighty Murray River, as it nears the end of the long journey from its headwaters near Mt Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mountain.

And at the end of the beach is the Murray mouth – at times one of the most controversial places in a country where state and territory water rights are a political battlefield that ends in the driest state of the driest continent on earth.

The Murray River Mouth, via Goolwa, South Australia

Watching the politicians line up to wring their hands and bleat about the dying river system during every drought; or at election time; or as a launching pad for climate change policy would be comical if it weren't so tragically predictable.

But thankfully, there are no politicians in sight on this bright February day. And as we farewell these tiny dots in the vast and empty panorama of Goolwa Beach, the Travelling Stones spend their last moments together.

The Travelling Stones

For now.

Because the purple stone is already winging its way to Solitary Wanderer Aleah in the Philippines, where she'll be taking them to India!

And the pink pearl is en route to Texas where Not Just Another Mother Blogger Tina is ready and waiting, with great plans afoot!!

Where will they go next? Who will they visit?? Will they return to Australia??? And – most significantly – will they EVER meet up again????

Crossing the Sir Richard Peninsula dunes, en route to Goolwa Beach, South Australia

For the answers to these and other questions, follow the Travelling Stones' journey on their very own blog – The Traveling Stones - where each host gets to add a post about the latest stage of the Stones' adventures.

Keep checking Aleah's and Tina's blogs – once the stones reach their destinations, they'll be blogging about them and requesting new hosts before posting on The Traveling Stones.

Looking towards infinity, Goowa Beach, South Australia

Meanwhile, farewell from Australia – and if you ever get to host the stones, you'll know where those tiny grains of sand came from …

Stay tuned for the next instalment!

Read more:

Where the Travelling Stones' journey began
The Stones' 2nd Destination
The Stones reach Australia
The Traveling Stones - read more about their journey on their very own Blog!
Aleah – Solitary Wanderer
Tina – Not Just Another Mother Blogger!

My Top 7 Things to Do - Ormiston Gorge, Central Australia

noreply@blogger.com (Red Nomad OZ) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:36:00 +0000

Mt Sonder from the Larapinta Trail, via Ormiston Gorge, Central Australia

For a good time, spend a few nights at Central Australia's Ormiston Gorge and surrounds – like we did for 6 fun-filled days (and nights) in June 2012!

A geographer's fantasy, the long line of Central Australia's Western MacDonnell Ranges stretches out across the desert plains from Alice Springs full of spectacular scenery, gorges, rivers, mountains and rock formations.

135 km west of Alice Springs, Ormiston Gorge's 300 metre (985 feet) walls tower above Ormiston Creek. The doubled-over double layer of quartzite folded into itself has made the gorge's walls significantly higher than those of the other gorges in the region, and its location in the surrounding ranges means superb panoramas, wonderful walks and a marvellous base from which to experience the region.

Here's my guide to 7 FAAABULOUS experiences to have within a 10km radius of Ormiston Gorge!

1 Sunrise at Ghost Gum Lookout:

Ghost Gum at Ghost Gum Lookout, Ormiston Gorge

'Oh, you've missed the sunrise,' she said, smirking with a particularly smug condescension that almost – but not quite – masked the unfortunate inanity of her claim.

Wouldn't I have noticed if I'd been climbing the steep, narrow and rocky track to the lookout in the total darkness of the pre-dawn night?

No, the sun-drenched landscape was a dead give-away. I clearly HADN'T missed the sunrise!

I'd just experienced it in a different spot...

Secure in the superiority that one-upmanship brings to the uninformed, the couple descended into the chill of the Gorge, hung about with the several thousand dollars worth of photography paraphernalia that would prove their sunrise claims and show off their 'serious traveller' credentials.

Unused to such mindless competitiveness before breakfast, I got out my trusty single lens/single SD card/single battery/no tripod camera.

Even though the sun had ALREADY RISEN, the fine view from Ghost Gum Lookout above the towering walls of Ormiston Gorge was just begging for some amateurish clichéd landscape shots ...

As the ALREADY RISEN sun continued to ascend, the chill of the cold Central Australian desert night wore off. I wondered if the Camp Bore had left yet. The previous night, after setting everyone straight about a number of diverse topics at the communal Barbecue area, he'd inadvertently 'entertained' everyone in the campground with a DVD on 'Super-loud' setting presumably to counteract his deafness. And early this morning, he'd regaled a fellow camper who'd foolishly admitted to not hearing the dingos the previous night with a howling dingo impersonation.

Then way down in the gorge beneath us, I sensed a movement. After the Camp Bore's strangled yodelling (sadly not literal) it was quite a surprise to see the dingo moving so quietly and surely along the water's edge.

Hunting for fish.

No, really. Every year as the waterhole dries out, more and more fish compete for less and less oxygen in the shrinking pools. Then along comes a dingo in search of some easy pickings and scoops them out!

We may have 'missed the sunrise'.

But in a superb combination of poetic natural justice AND childish satisfaction (that gave my inner child a sadistic shiver of glee) WE saw the dingo.

Na na nana nah!

2 Ormiston Gorge and Pound Walk

Ormiston Gorge Walls, Central Australia

Part of the fun of this extraordinary ~7km loop trail through a cross-section of Ormiston Gorge's scenic highlights is the possibility of swimming or wading through the ice-cold water of Ormiston Creek towards the end of the trail.

But don't let this – or anything else – stop you from attempting this 3-4 hour hike. In my opinion, even though we didn't spot the Spinifex Pigeon family that EVERYONE ELSE saw, it's one of the best medium length walks in the country!

If this teaser pic isn't enough, click HERE to see what happened when WE did the walk!

3 Larapinta LITE:

Spectacular though it is, the Ormiston Gorge and Pound walk is a mere detour on the 223 kilometre/12 section hike along the West MacDonnell ranges that forms the demanding Larapinta Trail. Difficult terrain, extreme weather and remote location mean it's not for the faint-hearted – or under-prepared.

But lack of training, portable camping equipment or energy needn't prevent a 'Larapinta Lite' experience! A segment of an official section of the trail connects Ormiston Gorge with Glen Helen Gorge, a few kilometres away by road, and is quite probably one of the easier sections of the trail to attempt.

Just can't have too much spinifex ... Larapinta Trail, between Ormiston Gorge and Glen Helen Gorge

We ventured a few kilometres down this part of the track past staggering views of Mt Sonder and the Pound to a lookout point with the stunning red cliffs of Glen Helen gorge in the distance. After a fruitless search for Rufous Crowned Emu Wren, we returned the way we'd come vowing that next time we'd organise a pick up at Glen Helen Resort and walk all the way.

BUT … far more importantly, now I can add the Larapinta Trail to the list of walks I've 'attempted'!

Because no one takes my list seriously anyway!

4 Glen Helen Gorge:

Glen Helen Gorge Walls, Central Australia

In a region so crowded with spectacular gorges, time-pressed travellers wishing to avoid the risk of become 'all gorged out' can be tempted to bypass a couple of them!

Glen Helen Resort Piano

But skipping Glen Helen Gorge would be a mistake.

Not just because of the spectacular Gorge itself, either. The Glen Helen Resort offers meals and accommodation, as well as tours, helicopter flights, fuel and gas. As well as a well stocked bar.

And you can't have too much RED Rock, right?? There's more about Glen Helen Gorge HERE!

5 Mt Sonder Lookout:

Mt Sonder Lookout, via Glen Helen, Central Australia

Mt Sonder isn't the Northern Territory's highest mountain – that honour goes to Mt Zeil – but it's (arguably) the most picturesque!

Finke River from Mt Sonder Lookout

And as a real Larapinta trekker told us after climbing the mountain on the previous day's hike – 'it's a better view OF than FROM'!

Although there's something about its Namatjira-esque blue folds that draws one towards it, we (fairly easily) resisted the impulse to climb it and instead opted for the Mt Sonder Lookout a short distance west of Glen Helen.

Although it's a fine view in its own right, looking across the ancient bed of what is known as the world's oldest river – the Finke – is an added bonus.

6 Ormiston Gorge Campground:

Ormiston Gorge Campground, Central Australia

Call it coincidence, but the collection of campers coming and going at the Ormiston Gorge campground during our 6-night stay in June 2012 would have defied any B-grade movie casting director to create a better ensemble.

So much so that hanging out at camp was as entertaining as anything else the gorge had to offer.

Well, almost!

I guess you know you're getting older when just listening to the young couple 6 months into a year travelling Australia gives you a whole new perspective on young-love-speak. Sure, the “'Hi Baby'/'Hey sweetie!'” combo wasn't that unfamiliar – but after spending only 5 minutes apart??

Then the dialogue as they prepared to leave.

'Hey sweetie, have you packed the bedding?' 'Sure, babe.' 'There just seems more room than usual.' 'Well, maybe I just folded them differently.' 'You must have packed them in a particularly awesome kinda way!' 'Yeah sweetie.' 'So do you fold them up, honey?' 'No, I just throw them in, babe.' 'I'm flabbergasted!' 'Hey, why don't we make X's favourite meal when we catch up?' 'Babe, that's a GOLDEN idea!' Education and entertainment all in one, we were sorry to see them go.

But replacing them was Broken Hill artist, Eric McCormick whose vibrant works beautifully capture the magic of the desert. Eric took our breath away with a catalogue of his works inspired by a visit to Spain's Rio Tinto and we enjoyed several entertaining chats over the communal barbecue.

The aforementioned Camp Bore spoke so loudly we all knew that he and his longsuffering wife had spent the best part of 5 years on the road. And at the rate of one new campsite every few nights, my mind boggled at how many people he'd potentially annoyed and irritated during that time …

Campground & Amphitheatre from Ghost Gum Lookout Trail, Ormiston Gorge

Then there was the couple with such a faulty sense of direction that in trying to find the Gorge and Pound walk they'd ended up somewhere else altogether. We tried to explain how to access the Larapinta segment we'd done, but they couldn't find it. I wonder whether they even knew they were at Ormiston Gorge??

With hot showers and free barbecues, the $10 per night per person rate seemed quite reasonable for a site within cooee of the gorge and all its attractions. But the camp hosts still spent a good part of their day in a losing battle to keep the freeloaders from hogging the amenities the rest of us had paid for. In a vain attempt to keep the solar-heated hot water for those who'd paid for it, the showers were locked from 10am – 4pm each day.

Except on the hosts' day off when the amenities were left open all day. Word gets around – a steady stream of campervans and clapped out old cars headed in, showers apparently ran hot all day and the water was well and truly cold by the time we returned from our daily adventures ...

Ghost Gum Lookout Trail, Ormiston Gorge

Is it something in the air? Or water?? Or does this strange and magical place attract the quirky, off-beat and downright bizarre?

And if so, what does that make US????

7 Ghost Gum Loop at Sunset:

Ghost Gum Loop Trail at Sunset, Ormiston Gorge, Central Australia

The Ghost Gum Lookout is part of a longer loop walk along the Gorge's western wall, descending into the gorge and returning by rock-hopping along the creek bed. Whether or not you attempt the whole loop, it's well worth reaching the lookout in the very late afternoon.

Ghost Gum Lookout - and sign! Ormiston Gorge, Central Australia

Because looking across the gorge from the lookout is very different to the ~~sunrise~~ ALREADY RISEN SUN view as the setting sun lights up the Eastern wall.

But … far down the gorge and deep in the silence of sunset, the dingo lurked again!

Still Life with Dingo, Ormiston Gorge Sunset