Archive for October, 2007

Swimming in Australia…With Dolphins

Saturday, October 27th, 2007

I had seen dolphin trainers on TV splash the water lightly with their hands. A dolphin would magically appear out of the water. I stuck my hand through the fence, and started to do what I had witnessed on TV. At first, Max and Jan laughed, but in no time, something came out of the water. I rubbed my hand along the head of the dolphin. It soon realized that I had no fish, and swam away a bit disappointed.

Sea World on the Gold Coast offers exciting adventures where visitors can interact with some of the sea’s most exciting creatures. On this day, Max, Jan and I were to swim with sharks and dolphins.

There were two tanks filled with the sharks. When I say tanks, I mean habitats that are quite plush for a sea creature. In one tank there were humongous sharks, the kind that you see in the movies-large, and mean looking. I was quite unsure what tank we were to be snorkelling in, but soon I was flapping my flippers in the other tank swimming with stingrays, and small reef sharks. We were not supposed to touch, but I snuck a quick feel of a stingray. It felt like a soft sponge. It turned around and looked at me and I think he or she gave me a smile.

After riding some roller coasters and water rides, we moved on to our dolphin adventure. Swimming with dolphins was listed as one of the 100 things someone should do before they pass on, so, I was able to justify spending a foolish amount on the experience.

The dolphins feel like rubber, a soft malleable rubber. Our dolphin, Sparky, was quite a funny fella. Just over two years old, his mother was born at Sea World and he now takes to the family trade of entertaining guests like myself. He did flips, swam around me, jumped over me, let me touch his belly, and even gave me a kiss…all captured in photographs, naturally.
It was quite fun, swimming with dolphins. I will remember it for the rest of my days. Dolphins have a unique aura that surrounds them and rubs off as they let you touch their soft skin.

The Song of A Whale

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007

The boat is positioned at the canal, ready to blast through the surf. The dive master tells us to hold on and I grasp firmly onto the closest bar I can find. I stick my head out over the side of the boat, much like a dog does when driving down the highway in a car. The surf splashes my face and I think to myself, “Wow, this is kind of neat!”Neat it wasscuba diving off the Gold Coast of Australia. This was my first dive since getting my PADI scuba open water certification in the USA last year. I had foolishly passed up amazing opportunities to dive in Hawaii, Brazil, South Africa, and Venezuela. I decided that I would wise up here in Australia.My two dive buddies and I surveyed the bottom of a reef not too far from the coast. I needed desperately to get off the boat because I started to feel sick rolling around on the waves. Once at the bottom, I felt like I was swimming in one of the salt water aquariums I spent so much time gazing at when mom and dad would take me to the pet store when I was just a lad.

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Australia Photo Essay - Seeing All of Australia

Sunday, October 21st, 2007

At OZtralia.tv, it is our goal to show you how great Australia really is. We do that by showing you the country through video. But as the old phrase goes, picture can speak a thousand words.Our photographer, Garrett Thompson, took these pictures while traveling around the country.

Take a peek at this Australia photo essay.

In this Australia photo essay, we show you Perth, The Great Ocean Road, Sydney, and Uluru.

Experience Kalbarri, Australia

Friday, October 19th, 2007

By: Sarah Monteith

Kalbarri is a place in Australia where one end of town is a seashells throw from the other and a walk to the main road will take you no longer than fifteen minutes and in that time you are likely to be greeted by a few friendly locals and perhaps a few more friendly flies. Car parks are made from compacted red dirt and there is a notable absence of shoe-wearing, however what this town lacks in class and quality it makes up for in character and natural beauty.

Leaving the bustle of the city behind, the only sky scrapers here are the towering gorge’s shaped and hollowed by the winds that blow across the waters and are thick with heat and salt. The sweltering summer heats excuse the casual beach attire worn from sunrise to bed time and the sand on the floors of the weatherboard houses is rarely swept, we will only bring back more from the beach tomorrow.

Some say that the Sun God lives on this unspoiled coastline. His temple is the beach which visitors ritually lay themselves upon. Music of waves crashing filters through the sea side town where all roads lead to the beach. Kalbarri is sandwiched between thousands of kilometers of vast desert and farming properties to the east and the Indian Ocean and Murchison River to the West. Being located 591km north of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, ensures that only a handful of tourists travel the distance to the pristine northern coastline.

The people of Kalbarri enjoy their early starts, with a buzz of activity going on in town by the time the sun has cast its first shimmer on the water of the Murchison. The first hot loaves of bread sit warm on the shelves by 6am and for the amusement of children, pelican feeding starts at seven. This morning productivity is for two reasons. The first is that by around lunch time the gusty sea breeze blows in from the west which makes the afternoon a little uncomfortable. The other reason, being that the people of Kalbarri have a great appreciation for their majestic sunsets and afternoons are a time to unwind and literally soak up the sun. It seems as though this town runs to its own pace that is created by the elements and the relaxed approach to life.

Recommended by the West Australian Tourist Bureau as a sight seeing town, Kalbarri hosts its fair share of spectacular activities. Take a Fishing Charter, Scenic Flight, Coach Tour of the Murchison Gorge, Horse or Camel Ride, Windsurf on the river or try any one of Kalbarri’s many other features or attractions including the Wildflower Centre or Rainbow Jungle.

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Sailing the Whitsunday Islands

Tuesday, October 16th, 2007

We all had just gotten out of the water. The skipper said that the jellyfish did not come out in the morning, only toward the night. I was drying off when I heard, “look!” A fin was slicing out of the water, not more than ten feet from the boat. A tiger shark, the skipper said.Four Germans and two Americans set out to sail the Coral Sea. No, not a set-up to a bar joke was quite an experience let me tell you.First, let me say that I have never stayed in a hostel. We all went up to Brisbane on a Friday, the day before our flight to Airlie Beach, to have a night out on the town. The idea was that we were going to stay in a hostel. The minute I walked in, I walked right back out in protest. I convinced my friends that it would be much more practical to get a hotel.
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Surfing Australia’s Gold Coast

Sunday, October 14th, 2007

When it comes to riding the waves, I am not the best out there on the open water. For me, it is more about getting up early, sometimes at six, and making my way to the beach with my mates. I usually lie on my board and roll around on the waves. If I lay parallel to the beach, on one side of me is the great blue South Pacific, and on the other, is the white sand beach it is relaxing. Once in a while, I will get all excited, and paddle to catch a wave.

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Check out Australia.com

Saturday, October 13th, 2007

Not so long ago, the Australian Tourism Board launched a new version of www.Australia.com.

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Byron Bay NSW, Australia

Thursday, October 11th, 2007

Australia is a breathtaking country and has so many wonderful and diverse places to visit and one must-see location for your itinerary is Byron Bay.

This relaxed coastal village is a backpackers dream with many things to see and do, including whale watching and eating divine food from unique cafes and pubs. With hundreds of places to stay you never have to worry about finding the right accommodation. Take your pick from hotels, motels, houses, apartments, cottages, pubs and a whole lot more.

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Visiting Perth and Western Australia

Wednesday, October 10th, 2007

A lot of folks miss checking out Western Australia. When we were filming for the development of OZtralia.tv, we had a nice visit to Perth.

Perth is about a six hour flight from Eastern Australia. With that said, there is an exciting community that you really should check out if you are planning on traveling to Western Australia.

Fremantle use to be the largest city on the Eastern Coast of Australia. Perth soon became built up and down is much larger than the little Fremantle.

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Gold Coast, Australia - Indy Fever

Tuesday, October 9th, 2007

Browned bikini babes, beautiful beaches, fast cars and four days of entertainment is gracing Australia’s premier holiday destination, the Gold Coast.

If you are thinking of travelling to Australia be sure to book tickets to the Lexmark Indy 300 from October 18-21 and experience an atmosphere wilder than New Years Eve in New Yorks Times Square.

Watch champ cars and V8 Supercars screaming down straights and battling through bends as they fight it out along popular beachside tracks at speeds over 300km/h. Add in stunt shows and the SEA FM Air show and it’s sure to be an occasion to remember.

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