Blogs from Australia, Oceania - page 4446

We had a bit of a weekend drive, 2,500 Kms around the alpine region of the state of Victoria. The purpose of the trip was to visit the town of Bright where they were holding the ‘Festival of the falling leaves’. In most countries a few deciduous trees losing their leaves would not be of any great significance, in Australia the trees are all evergreens and lose their bark not their leaves; the sight of a few introduced trees showing their autumn colours is certainly worth a look to us. Up to a few years ago the area that we visited would probably have been covered in snow during early May but with the climate changes now it doesn’t seem to happen until the end of the month. The temperature was cold though and it is ... read more

G'Day mates Yesterday we were at a rodeo, this morning we are visiting one of the limestone caves, for which Chilligoe is well known. The ranger who takes on the tour is very pleasant and informative, the stalactites and stalagmites are very impressive as are all the caverns and false floors. But as soon as the tour is over, it’s back on the road! Traveling from Chillagoe the road alternates between gravel and bitumen, and we just can’t keep up with Karl in his truck, however he waits for us, good job as we’re not sure where we are going!!!! From Cairns we have traveled up through the Tablelands and into Savannah to get to Chillagoe.. Savannah is grazing country and the Tablelands is sugarcane and fruit growing country particularly mangoes, it’s a shame they are ... read more

I would just like to inform everyone who uses internet cafes - it is just RUDE to come in, eating something that smells as good as a Subway Sandwich. You should have enough to share with everyone. That's what they told me at school. So, I'm in Byron Bay, aka - the chilled hippie backpacker haven. It's a nice, small town. It's known for it's fantastic surfing and night-life. However, I haven't been to the beach (at day-time) yet....but I HAVE experienced the night-life. I arrived here at around 5 on Saturday, after a 3.5hr bus ride from Brisbane. I had decided to stay at the Arts Factory, because I could pitch my tent for just $15/night - whereas a dorm is $27/night! The Arts Factory bus was waiting for the Premier Coach - so I ... read more

I'm wrapping up my visit to Queensland and will fly out to Sydney today. I stayed last night and the Thursday before at Gilligan's Backpackers. It is really nice and both the dorm rooms and the single rooms are clean and the nicest I've stayed in. Cairns is the capital city and has a busy downtown. There are a ton of Japanese visitors and all the shops have japanese signs and descriptions. I went to a "zoo" on top of a Casino yesterday. Some of the keepers were at the conference. It's pretty small and located in a dome on top of the casino. They had Koalas, wallabies, bats and many birds. My times almost up at the internet. I'll write more later. ... read more

Hi All!!! Well, Australia has been a blast! We just finished our Red Centre extravaganza, and it was amazing!!!! We left Adelaide (and a very pregnant Mimi) and flew to Alice Springs. Alice Spring is just about dead center in the middle of Australia. With the next closest town being about 500 km away, it's literally in the middle of nowhere... but well worth the trip out. It's known as a hub where aborigonal art and culture and western art kind of colllide. We only had a day there, but spent it wandering around the galleries, falling in love with the artwork, and yes, we splirged, and made our first investment in art. Hey, we're like married adults now right... we can do things like that?.... So we slept in Alice for the night and got ... read more