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More Than 70% Of The World’s Opals Come From Coober Pedy

By: Christina Pfeiffer

Around 70 per cent of the world’s opal is chipped out of the ground in Coober Pedy. So it comes as no surprise that the South Australian Outback town is a regular stop for savvy opal dealers from Hong Kong who travel there several times a year to choose the best stones.

“It’s not uncommon for 20 to 30 Hong Kong buyers to be wandering around town each month. Most of us own dugout homes and keep cars here,” says Jacky Lam from Hong Kong’s Wing Wah Opal Company.

Opal was discovered in 1915 but it wasn’t until the 1960s that hundreds of enthusiastic young men from Europe flocked to Coober Pedy to mine small parcels of land.

After decades of mining, the opal fields are covered with mounds of debris from prospecting shafts and the hills are a warren of underground dwellings. These homes range from one-room hand-dug bed-sits to rambling subterranean mansions furnished with swimming pools, solid gold bathroom fixtures and wine cellars.

More than 60 per cent of the town’s 3,500-plus residents live underground. In summer, when outside temperatures reach a sizzling 50°C, these underground homes keep cool (around 22 - 26°C) while in winter, the snug dugouts keep its occupants warm without the need for artificial heating.

One of Coober Pedy’s attractions is Faye Naylor’s Underground Home, which was dug out 40 years ago by a single woman. Naylor was the first to come up with the idea of turning her cramped bed sit into an underground home. Today, her display home has five rooms, a wine cellar and a swimming pool.

Visitors keen to shop for opals will not be disappointed as there are several underground opal shops in town. At the Umoona Opal Mine & Museum, visitors can wander through underground tunnels and scour display cabinets in the showroom for rings, earrings and necklaces.

Opal mining is addictive. “Once you find opal, you just can’t stop”, says Guenther Wagner, a former travel photographer from Germany. Guenther visited Coober Pedy on a photographic assignment 38 years ago and is still there. He runs the Down ‘n Dirty Opal Tour where visitors armed with hard hats, torches and hand picks are allowed to hack at the walls of the Opal Quest Mine for a chance of finding opal.

Over 45 nationalities live in Coober Pedy. There are two a-la-carte restaurants, a Chinese restaurant, pizza parlours and cafes. The popular Tom & Mary’s Greek Taverna is a hub of activity at dinner time. Also worth visiting are the underground churches and art galleries.

Almost everything is brown, including the 18-hole Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Course which provides reciprocal rights for its members to play nine holes in St. Andrews’ Balgove course in Scotland. The catch is this only applies during the month of January when the Scottish weather is inclement.

The one patch of green luxury in town is the football field, which is put to good use during the annual Opal Festival. Croatians, Serbians, Bosnians and Greeks can be found relaxing over a friendly beer while cooking lamb on the spit.

To capture the ambience of opal mining, wander through the tunnels in the Old Timers Mine, an opal mine discovered in 1916. The dimly lit tunnels are a mining museum filled with life-sized mannequins positioned to educate visitors about the daily life of an opal miner. It’s an eye-opening experience to learn how miners crouched in tiny grottos, climbed shafts using rough foot holes hand-picked into the walls and wheeled around heavy barrows of dirt.

Coober Pedy’s stark landscape has captured the imagination of apocalyptic filmmakers who left props (such as a huge alien spaceship which sits parked in front of the Opal Cave underground complex) from movies such as Red Planet and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. For movie buffs interested in walking in the footsteps of Olivia Newton John, Mel Gibson and Val Kilmer, Coober Pedy might be just the spot.

Where To Grab A Drink While Down Under

By: Karen Halabi

Next time you’re passing through a country town, head for the wide verandahs and cheery atmosphere of the local pub. Here you’ll discover the soul of a town; it’s where the beer is cold and the yarns are spun.

New South Wales
Apart from the legendary Pub With No Beer, NSW is dotted with quirky and colourful character pubs.

In the tiny township of Tilpa, 130km north of Wilcannia, in far west NSW, there’s a classic pub called the Tilpa Hotel. The interior of this old corrugated iron pub is plastered with graffiti from its many adorning fans. And, for a $2 donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, you too can leave your mark on the pub’s tin wall.

In nearby Broken Hill, call into the Palace Hotel, the historic, three-story pub with long verandas and elaborate cast-iron balustrades featured in the movie, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, or visit the Silverton Hotel in the former mining ghost town, known for great hospitality and quirky locals.

Then, hit the Pacific Highway and head north to possibly our most famous pub of all. As country singer Slim Dusty once lamented “There’s nothin’ so lonesome, so dull or so drear, than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer”. But as legend has it that’s exactly what happened at this historic pub in Taylors Arm on the north coast of NSW. While the debate still rages as to whether this pub was in fact the inspiration for the song, one thing is for sure — with the addition of a new brewery the pub’s valuable liquid asset will never run dry again.

A little further north you’ll come across The Billi Pub in historic Billinudgel, the former home of Australia’s oldest publican, a woman by the name of Mar Ring.

Mar Ring was publican for 53 years until the age of 101. She taught former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke how to pull a beer, and was awarded an M.B.E. for community service. A painting of her still hangs over the public bar. This timber pub in the Brunswick Valley of Northern NSW, close to Byron Bay, is steeped in history, with many photos of the old township along with a good collection of memorabilia. The Billi is a good old country pub with tall stories and a friendly atmosphere, much the way it would have been in the early days.

Queensland
From Billinudgel you can head out west via Goondiwindi to Nindigully, just across the border into Queensland.

Walking into the rustic Nindigully Pub is like walking into the lounge room of the Outback. This quintessential Outback pub on the banks of the Moonie River has been the meeting point for locals for well over 100 years. It’s famous for the more than 140 Akubra hats from local farmers and stockmen which adorn the walls. Queensland’s oldest hotel, it was issued a license in 1864 after it had been shearers’ accommodation for Nindigully Station and is still in its original condition.

From here you can head north to Roma where the historic 1863 Romavilla Winery is a rarity – an Outback winery. Sample the local wines in the rustic timber and corrugated iron building, and imagine the hardships establishing a winery here.

From Roma take the Matilda Highway north through historic Outback towns such as Blackall, Barcaldien and Longreach to Winton.

Legend has it that Australia’s best known and much loved national song and the nation’s unofficial national anthem, Waltzing Matilda, was sung for the very first time at the North Gregory Hotel in Outback Winton in north-west Queensland. The Tattersalls Hotel in Winton has also been serving up genuine Outback hospitality for 120 years and is a top spot to share an icy beer with locals including miners, station owners, ringers, truck drivers, cattle buyers and shearers.

A little further north along the Matilda Highway through Outback Queensland be sure to stop and drink a toast to Australia’s hardest working dog, the blue heeler, at the Blue Heeler Hotel in Kynuna, the 100-year-old hotel where Banjo Patterson observed champagne being handed through the window to end the angry shearers strike of the 1800s. The Combo Waterhole, the famed billabong featured in Waltzing Matilda, is 20km south of Kynuna.

On the same Outback highway headed north towards Mt Isa you’ll meet locals as colourful as Mick Dundee over an ice cold beer in the historic Walkabout Creek Hotel in McKinlay in Outback Queensland. It’s famous as Crocodile Dundee’s regular drinking spot in the original movie of the same name. Known originally as the Federal McKinlay Hotel it was sold for $290,000 after the movie was made and is now the town’s one tourist attraction.

One of Australia’s most legendary watering holes is the Birdsville Hotel on the desolate Birdsville Track in Outback Queensland near the South Australian border. Built in 1884 it has been witness to history made, yarns spun and the survival of Australian mateship. It epitomises the essence of the Outback.

But even without heading so far Outback you can see some great Aussie pubs by sticking to the Pacific Highway. If you’re passing through Brisbane, stop off at the Story Bridge Hotel (formerly know as Kangaroo Point Inn), one of only a few hotels to feature architecture from the quintessential Queenslander period. Built in 1886, it’s famous for its Australia Day Cockroach Races.

Further north up the Pacific Highway on the Sunshine Coast is historic Eumundi. There is something special about a country Queensland pub with their wide balconies and timber lattice work shading dimly lit bars and swirling ceiling fans and Joe’s Waterhole (formerly The Commercial Hotel) in Eumundi is one of these treasures.

Rockhampton is Australia’s beef capital. The Great Western Hotel here is widely regarded as the home of great steak, beer and rodeos. This 116 year old pub plays host to major national rodeos and features a huge undercover rodeo arena for 1,000 people that attracts champion riders to the hotel, which also has a Saddler and Poker Saloon and Mavericks Western Wear Shop.

South Australia
The only stopover on the 528km Birdsville Track, the Mungerannie Hotel sits on the edge of the Sturt Stony, Simpson, Tirari and Strzelecki deserts and is nestled beside the Derwent River – an oasis in sharp contrast to its surrounds.

Right in the heart of Burke and Wills explorer country, the Innamincka Hotel at Cooper Creek in South Australia once played host to early drovers who brought cattle down the Strzelecki Track. The pub’s convivial Outamincka Bar has become the stuff of bush legends and is must stop for anyone travelling in these parts.

You can’t get more Outback than the famous Prairie Hotel at Parachilna in South Australia. Built in the 1890s, the pub attracts visitors from all over the world who come to try the renowned Australian native cuisine or bush tucker, otherwise known as ‘feral food’, while drinking in the view of the magnificent Flinders Ranges.

The William Creek Pub is located smack bang in the middle of the world’s largest cattle property, Anna Creek Station which, at 23,800 sq kms is almost half the size of Tasmania. William Creek is South Australia’s smallest town. The William Creek Pub has an almost legendary status and is the only watering hole on the Oodnadatta Track between Marree and Oodnadatta.

On South Australia’s Darling River is the picturesque town of Pooncarie. With only 89 residents, a general store and a pub built in 1976, the town has a lovely old country town feel. But the first Saturday in October sees the town swell to around 1,500 people for the annual Pooncarie races. People come from all over the country, and of course they drink at the old Telegraph Hotel.

Tasmania
In a beautiful little valley called Pyengana you’ll come across a sign that says, “Pub in a Paddock 3km - Come and see our Beer Drinking Pig”.  The Pub in the Paddock is surely one of Australia’s quirkiest pubs. This 1880s watering hole sits in the middle of a paddock in Tasmania’s Pyengana Valley and is famous for its beer swilling pig, Priscilla, who can scull a watered-down stubby in seven seconds. In a pen out the back the sign says, “Hi, Geez I’m dry, I’d luv a beer”. The owner claims the pig has downed 76 stubbies in on session, “more than Boonie”. A Tasmanian institution since 1880, the pub offers hearty country meals and comfortable accommodation.

Northern Territory
The colourful Daly Waters Pub, clad in corrugated iron, is crammed with decades of Australian memorabilia. Once a popular drover’s rest, this quirky pub built in 1930, gained fame again as a stopover for pilots and passengers arriving on the new Qantas airline in 1934. Today, it is a pit-stop for thirsty tourists travelling the Explorer’s Way between Alice Springs and Darwin.

At The Mataranka Pub at Mataranka Springs just south of Katherine you can lean against the bar with its brightly coloured paintings then toddle off to see the nearby replica of the hut in which Jeannie Gunn lived at Elsey Station. Her story was captured in the book We of the Never Never.

The Humpty Doo Hotel in Arnhem Land is conveniently located for travellers heading to Kakadu. The hotel has many colourful local characters, so stop in at the famous Humpty Doo Hotel when next in this part of the world.

At the Barra Bar & Bistro on the Kakadu Highway at Jim Jim, you can cook your own local delicacies on a supplied barbecue with an accompanying buffet.

Just south of Darwin on the Darwin River Road at Berry Springs,  you’ll find the Lichfield Pub, home of the bull arena and shed, which has a 180ft long bar.

Western Australia
Over on our West Coast, The Roey, Broome’s oldest pub, lives by the saying “if it’s going to happen in Broome, it’s going to happen at the Roey”. If you stumble across a local character by the name of Swindle, pull up a chair and order a coldie because he has enough tales about pearling and gangsters to last a week.

While sunset camel rides on Broome’s Cable Beach are world famous, it’s the tales about beer drinking camels that draw attention at the Whim Creek Pub.  Half way between Karratha and Port Hedland, this pub has its own wildlife sanctuary and was once home to a camel with a penchant for beer. Don’t worry about missing the pub – it’s painted bright pink!

The biggest and best known pub in Kalgoorlie is The Exchange. It holds the record for the biggest volume of Jim Beam sold in regional WA. It was originally constructed as a shed in the late 1800s.

The population of the small goldmining town of Kookynie, 200km from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, is less than 10 people, but the town’s 1894 vintage Grand Hotel with its big verandahs and spacious rooms continues to survive. It was once the favourite watering hole for local prospectors.

True Australian country hospitality is alive and well in our great Aussie pubs. Whatever the style of accommodation or the location, the locals will greet you with a firm hand shake and a strong stare. Our great Aussie pubs are about the people and the places, and they’re the heart of our nation.

Float Away While Visiting Australia’s Captial City

Getting up before the sun isn’t everyone’s ideal start to the day, especially if you’re on holidays. On a cool morning in Canberra, though, it’s very much the done thing if you want to try one of the best experiences in Australia’s capital.

Hot air balloons have long been synonymous with Canberra. They create a spectacular and festive atmosphere for both the local community and visitors to the Australian Capital Territory. The best departure time is early morning, just before sunrise brings Canberra’s valleys and lakes to life with a soft morning light.

Balloon Aloft started ballooning here more than 20 years ago. It collects guests at their hotel or arranges to meet them in the foyer of the Park Hyatt. Departures are from one of 20 launch sites in the region.

Before take-off, the balloon is inflated with a cold air fan. The air is slowly heated until the balloon is in an upright position. It’s now time to climb into the passenger compartment for a pre-flight briefing. More heat is added to fully inflate the giant balloon until it lifts gently into the sky.

The balloon baskets are chest height, sturdy and safely built. They allow passengers perfect views across the landscape. Weddings are often performed in-flight. On one memorable occasion, a parachuting bride and groom jumped from the balloon at 6,000 feet.

The annual Autumn Balloon Festival lights up the Canberra skies with as many as 50 beautiful balloons in special shapes and sizes including a Kookaburra, an Aussie Rules football, a giant shamrock and a Scottish piper.

In spring, what better way to appreciate the design and colour of the annual flower show, Floriade, than by hot air balloon?

From tree top height to 3,500 feet above sea level, the balloon floats over Canberra’s Parliamentary Triangle. There are fantastic views of the city and Old Parliament House, the impressive new Parliament House, the National Gallery, and Lake Burley Griffin. It’s an unforgettable experience. And, after landing in a preordained paddock, finish with a champagne and orange juice celebration at The Hyatt.

“The Wry Drive”

By: Megan Anderson

Snug. Penguin. Flowerpot. Paradise. These might sound like the makings of an enchanting fairytale, and they are. But it’s not a fairytale you read. It’s one you drive through.

As if Tasmania’s beautiful landscape was not enough, there’s endless charm, intrigue and oddball flavour to be found in many of its place names. Be they major towns or faint specks on the map, they add a fun dimension to driving the picturesque peninsulas, forests and mountain roads of the island state in Australia’s south east.

Heading north from the capital Hobart? Stop in for the curiosity value at Bagdad, Ouse and Nowhere Else (where, incidentally, the usual signifiers of a township – shop, hall, council chambers – are elsewhere). At Penguin, the townsfolk have taken their moniker to heart, festooning the footpaths – even the rubbish bins – with motifs inspired by the local fairy penguins. While you’re near the north coast, you’d be churlish not to stop at Nook. It’s not far from Paradise, in the vicinity of Promised Land.

Going south, it’s all charm on the scenic route to Cygnet, an easy loop from Hobart. Travel down through Bonnet Hill, and hug the winding coast line to see the picture book settlement of Tinderbox, where dirt roads amble high above the water. The Chimneys heralds the entry back onto the main road, which leads to the delightfully named coastal town of Snug (and, just to be thorough, Lower Snug), said to be named by sailors who were able to snugly anchor their ships in the D’entrecasteaux Channel alongside it.

Across the channel is Bruny Island, to which you can catch a car ferry from the pretty, yacht-dotted cove at Kettering. There’s more name game to play on arrival. Trumpeter Bay, Fluted Point and The Neck grace the island that’s home to sheep, artisans and a colony of fairy penguins. Locals have their own irreverent description for people who reside in the settlement of Lunawanna.

Back on the mainland, it’s hard to resist just selling up and moving in to a town called Flowerpot. Honeys Road and Fleurtys Lane are possible addresses at this tiny settlement on the flat, sheltered coast. Perhaps as a backlash to all this whimsy, Flowerpot’s near neighbour is simply called Gordon. Now there’s a good, honest name. But the trend didn’t catch. Further around the peninsula, Eggs and Bacon Bay proudly declares wryness alive and well. By the time you reach Cygnet, things are soft and fluffy once more.

On the neighbouring Tasman peninsula the place names take on a more sinister tenor. It’s perhaps fitting for the route that leads to Port Arthur, the old convict prison site with a dark and torturous history.

The road signs begin harmlessly enough – Primrose Sands, Dodges Ferry – and the landscape is magnificent. Gently winding roads tease with watery glimpses of jade coves carrying kayakers from point to point, and playful boat sculptures grace paddocks where sheep get fat on life. The terrain is by turns lush, sheltered and ruggedly rocky. It’s dotted with ancient oaks, thick copses of upright silver wattle, a few chicken sheds and the very occasional remnant of the peninsula’s once thriving apple industry.

But once you hit Eaglehawk Neck, a distinct aroma of toughness creeps into the map. Not just at Stinking Bay. There’s also Pirates Bay, Penzance, Isle of the Dead, Purgatory Hill, and sites like Tessellated Pavement and Devil’s Kitchen. The views are breathtaking, but the map is riddled with portent. There’s even a place called Dog Bark. And, to curb any complacency, Frying Pan Point.

As if in defiance of this trend, the tiny holiday settlement of Doo Town (near the equally light hearted Egg Beach) flies the flag for whimsy again. The modest shacks bear silly names that inspired the town’s comic moniker. Doo Nix. Just Doo It. Doo Us. Much-a-Doo. It’s clear that the Tasmanian sense of levity and lack of earnestness has won out on this patch of coast. Except for that one house that doesn’t want to play ball. Erect a sign in keeping with the town’s spirit? No can doo. It calls itself Highfield. But what’s in a name.

The Reserves Where Surfers Are King

By: Gail Liston-Burgess

Sand sticks between your toes with each step you take towards the ocean. The waves tumble noisily and roll against the shore. Several surfers plough through the water tossing their boards over the heads of the breakers. Beside you a giggling teen slides ungraciously off his board then quickly launches himself back into the fray. 

This may be the first time you have donned a wetsuit and tucked a short board under your arm, but it won’t be the last. And now that Australia has five gazetted National Surfing Reserves, visitors have even more reason to sample this quintessential Australian obsession.

Surfing in Australia is open to all. No one cares how well you paddle the board or how often you topple into the surf. The only rule, if there is one, is to wait your turn at the back of the break.

“If you don’t try surfing this year it will just be another year you wish you had,” says Brad Whittaker, beach operations manager for the recently gazetted Cronulla Beaches National Surfing Reserve, just south of Sydney.

“It’s not hard to get out there and have a go,” he says. “Sure there is a wide range of surfing breaks (at Cronulla) for the experienced surfer, but this coast has plenty of options for the new surfers, and you won’t believe the freedom you feel riding a wave.”

Former professional surfer Mark Aprilvic, who has been coaching new surfers for the past 30 years at his Cronulla Surf School, endorses this message.

“We’ve taught people from six to 70 to surf. Once you learn how to paddle and the standing technique, it’s not that hard. Anyway wiping out is part of the fun.”

Surf legend Mark (Occy) Occhilupo is a local Cronulla boy who has won 12 elite surfing tour victories and seven world specialty event titles, including the 1999 World Title.

According to Occy, the surfing reserves are “paramount to protecting the surfing environment and keep places like Cronulla the way it is – with so much variety for both pro and amateur surfers.”

“I remember thinking, ‘far out, I can’t believe this’, when I started riding waves,” says Occy. “This feeling stays with you.”

“I felt like that too,” says Mark Aprilvic. “Everyone does when they start to feel the water and enjoy this environment – it’s stress release. Like you are reconnecting with nature.”

Getting to the Cronulla Beaches National Surfing Reserve is easy. Trains and buses service the area, and the beach is only a 40-minute drive from the centre of Sydney. Each of Australia’s existing surfing reserves are all a short drive from major arterial highways.

You do not have to be a professional surfer to enjoy these surfing reserves. They are open to anyone who feels the desire to dive into the sea or fling a beach towel across the sand. And you may pick up a few tips from the locals or learn new skills by joining a surfing class offered by one of the reserve’s accredited surfing schools.

There are 10,685 beaches along Australia’s 37,000-km coastline. It’s called the “ribbon of gold” for a good reason because some of the finest beaches in the world embrace this island nation.

It’s not surprising, then, that more than 80 per cent of the Australian population lives within 50 kilometres of the coast. International visitors are similarly attracted to Australia’s surfing breaks and an outdoor experience that is second to none.

“The beaches belong to everyone,” says Brad Farmer, the National Surfing Reserves Chairman.

“Anyone can be a surfer. It’s part of Aussie culture. We wanted to create National Surfing Reserves around the country for everyone to experience surfing. Cronulla is the fifth National Surfing Reserve in Australia and there are 24 more on the way.”

The first of Australia’s National Surfing Reserves was Bells Beach in Victoria. The reserve was established to protect the coastal environment and the beach culture that emerged along this coastal fringe in the 1960s and became so much a part of the Aussie way of life.

Bells Beach is the home to six lauded breaks, as well as the longest running surf contest in the world – The Rip Curl Easter Pro – and the birthplace of the iconic international surfing labels Rip Curl and Quicksilver. Many visitors say it is almost a religious experience to touch the sand or dip a toe in the water.

Australia’s second surfing reserve was dedicated at Angourie in northern New South Wales in 2007. The surfing fraternity considers the right-hand point break at this north coast surfing village to be hallowed territory. On any given day you could be paddling at the back of the break alongside surf legends such as Nat Young and Mark Richards, or American champ Kelly Slater if he happens to be in town.

Lennox Head was the next to make the list. At the heart of the surfing hub of the far north coast of New South Wales, Lennox is renowned for its tough right-hand break off the point.

Crescent Head, also in New South Wales, became a surfing reserve in June 2008. This surfing hot spot was the breeding ground of the longboard surfing in the 1950s. Today Crescent Head attracts longboard riders from around the world.

National Surfing Reserves:

• Bells Beach, Victoria –71 kilometres from Melbourne, off the Great Ocean Road. Visit during the Rip Curl Pro from 7 to 19 April 2009. Learn to surf with Southern Exposure Surf School.
• Angourie, New South Wales – Located less than 30 minutes south of Yamba, northern New South Wales. Enjoy year-round surfing with fewer surfers during the week. Yamba-Angourie Surf School will teach you the basics.
• Lennox Head, New South Wales –15 minutes drive south of Byron Bay, northern New South Wales. Lennox Head hosts the annual Lennox Longboard Classic in August and Gromfest Junior Surfing Event in July. Best breaks are between May and August. Kool Katz Surf School provides instruction.
• Crescent Head, New South Wales – 19 kilometres southeast of Kempsey, on the mid north coast of New South Wales. Malibu board hot spot with the Malibu Classic in May each year. Get ready for the waves with Crescent Head Learn to Surf.
• Cronulla Beaches, New South Wales – 40-minute drive from Sydney. After a five-year hiatus, Pro Surfing returns to North Cronulla Beach with the Australian Open surfing event in March 2009. Cronulla Surf School offers classes for beginners.

Did You Know?
Americans played a key role in bringing surfing to Australia. It was Hawaiian Olympic swimming champion Duke Kahanamoko who introduced surfing with demonstrations of boardriding at Cronulla, Freshwater and Manly in 1914. He created a sensation, especially when he stood on his head on the board. In 1959 the Californians brought the short Mailbu boards to Cronulla Beach and started a surfing revolution.

Heading Out On The Ozzy Highway

By: Michael Gebicki

Australia offers desert journeys to quicken the traveller’s pulse, journeys through rainforests and along glorious coastlines, and journeys that give a totally different view of the world. Set your wheels spinning on a modern-day odyssey, and discover a country full of amazing journeys.

Gibb River Road, Western Australia
The Kimberley is one of Australia’s most sensational landscapes. A wild, arid plateau at the top end of Western Australia, the Kimberley covers an area larger than Germany yet barely 30,000 people call it home, a place where cattle stations are measured by the million acres, where the trees come from Africa and the climate comes from the furnace, a place that seems to take its structure from science fiction. The only road across the Kimberley is the Gibb River Road, the 660-kilometre cattle track that cuts a diagonal slash across the region from Kununurra to Derby. There are plenty of tour operators in Kununurra and Broome who offer camping safaris along the Gibb River Road, but for anyone with adventurous inclinations, both Budget and Hertz have offices in Kununurra with one-way rentals of their four-wheel drive vehicles. The Kimberley is at its loveliest in its river gorges. Typical is Manning Creek, on Mount Barnett Station. Barely a two-minute walk from the campsite, the trail ends at a large rock pool where pandanus palms and paperbarks stroke the water lilies. Water brings life to this parched landscape, and there is no better place to camp for a couple of nights, dividing your time between the cool water and the warm rocks. The Gibb River Road passes a number of similar gorges – Bell’s, Adcock, Lennard River – each a reworking of the same elements of sand, rocks, shade and cool water.

Rainforest Way, New South Wales and Queensland
About 23 million years ago, the volcanoes that lie along what is now the border between Queensland and New South Wales began bubbling lava. When they had finished three million years later, layers of lava and ash had spewed over a huge area. What remains today is a rippling landscape of high peaks and green valleys, and a biological wonderland. Over the eons, the lava laid down by the volcano has broken down to a lush, red soil colonised by subtropical rainforests so rich with life that the region is home to 14 national parks with World Heritage listing. The Rainforest Way is a 650-kilometre circuit drive that showcases the best of the region. The drive is broken down into a series of seven touring routes that fit neatly into a one-day format. Centrepiece of the Rainforest Way is the rhino-horn spike of Mt Warning, a plug of solidified lava that towers above a landscape of surreal beauty. Pillars of bare rock rise from subtropical forests, and in the mornings, the peaks float on cloud pillows. Where the forest has been cleared there are dairy farms, banana and macadamia plantations and sugar cane farms, and sleepy country towns under siege from the surrounding vegetation. Larger towns along the route such as Murwillumbah, Kyogle, Lismore and Beaudesert offer accommodation, but there are also many rainforest lodges where guests wake to the sound of birds and the smells of the forest.

Sunshine Coast Hinterland Drive, Queensland
Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is rightly famous for its beaches and the resort lifestyle that flourishes in coastal towns such as Noosa. Yet just a few kilometres inland is another world, the cool, moist heights of the Blackall Range, where waterfalls tumble from the lip of the escarpment in a glistening arc and disappear into subtropical rainforests. The most distinctive features of this landscape are the Glass House Mountains, a series of sharp-sided volcanic peaks that rise suddenly from the coastal plain. The main visitor activity within Glass House Mountains National Park is bushwalking, and although the trails are short, most have fangs. Perched in the heights of the Blackall Range, the village of Montville subtitles itself ‘The Creative Heart of the Sunshine Coast’. A truly eclectic blend of architectural styles have taken root here – Tudor houses, stone cottages, Bavarian chalets, an old water mill and traditional Queenslanders – set against a backdrop of panoramic views over the coastal plain. Just to the south is the Mary Cairncross Reserve, a 52-hectare remnant of the magnificent rainforest that once covered the Blackall Range. Within the reserve a walking trail winds among the giant strangler figs, with frequent sightings of wallabies, bandicoots, echidnas, goannas, whipbirds, bowerbirds and kookaburras along the way.

The Great Ocean Road, Victoria
The Great Ocean Road is one of Australia’s definitive wonders, a dazzling, heart-stopping, 250-kilometre drive along the southern coastline of the continent.  In the east, the Great Ocean Road begins at Torquay. This is Australia’s Surf City, home to the world’s largest surf museum, several enormous surf gear shops and Bell’s Beach, scene of the Rip Curl Pro Surf Classic, the headline event of Australia’s surfing calendar. The next town, Lorne, is the beach belle of Victoria’s coast, with a lively café culture to go with the stirring views across the broad, sandy crescent at its feet. Between Lorne and Apollo Bay the Great Ocean Road sprints along the base of the cliffs with the foam off the waves almost licking the wheels of the cars before it ducks inland to skirt Great Otway National Park, where soaring forests of manna gums and mountain ash erupt from an understorey of tree ferns that surround them like lacy green petticoats. The Great Ocean Road returns to the coast at Princetown, and for the next 35 kilometres, the scenery meter runs off the dial. Here the limestone cliffs along the southern fringe of the continent are besieged by a raging Southern Ocean that has left tall pillars of more resilient rock stranded 50 metres out to sea. The scenery reaches its climax at the Twelve Apostles, where the rock stacks are huddled photogenically close together. This is easily the most famous stretch of coast in Australia. Each corner delivers another even more spectacular combination of cliffs, islands and battering sea, each scene demanding a stop.

Cape to Cape, Western Australia
In its forests, vineyards and extravagant coastline, Western Australia’s south-west region is a showcase of Australia’s extraordinary diversity. This 200-kilometre route between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin knits this wonderland together, and although the distance is short, this is a journey to savour. South from Cape Naturaliste, Caves Road parallels the coast, swooping through luscious, rolling farmlands and canyons of karri trees that lock arms overhead to form green tunnels above the road. The wildflowers in this region have evolved colours and forms that are found nowhere else. Come spring and the landscape erupts in an exotic show of orange banksias, vivid yellow wattle and kangaroo paws. About midway along this coast, a detour inland leads to the Margaret River wineries. This is one of Australia’s premier winegrowing regions, acclaimed for its ability to produce wines of astonishing finesse and longevity. There are around 130 wineries here, and a tasting tour is essential to the full experience of the region. South of Margaret River, the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park is a favourite with fishermen, walkers and surfers, who come here to experience sublime scenery as well as a legendary surf break. The road ends at Cape Leeuwin, where the Pacific and Indian oceans meet, and a favourite spot to watch for cruising whales.

Relaxing With An Ol’ Pastime

Bullo River Station is a 1,600 square kilometre cattle station tucked away in a remote corner of the Northern Territory. Guests can ride horses, help muster cattle, view Aboriginal rock art, go fishing, and swim at the remarkably beautiful Cascades.

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune…

Shakespeare must have been an amateur fisherman. How else could he have written those words in Julius Caesar? The scene is supposed to be about Brutus’ desire to seize the moment in a Roman war, but the words just as aptly describe a moment on the banks of the Northern Territory’s Bullo River when the tide turns and big fat barramundi are there for the catching.

In fact, if you happened to be fishing at Bullo River at just such a time, there’s a good chance that you’d hear local fishing expert Trevor Bennett utter words to that effect.

Bennet has a dream job. He’s a fishing fanatic and knows everything there is to know about catching ’barra, those delicious trophy fish that Northern Territorians spend a lifetime in pursuit of. He also works at Bullo River Station, a massive Northern Territory cattle station which welcomes a handful of guests who are keen to fish, muster cattle, swim in gorgeously remote waterholes and otherwise enjoy the trappings of Outback life.

Bennett’s job for today is to maximise the likelihood that we’ll catch a ’barra for dinner. We know we’re onto a good thing when he turns up with a selection of rods and bait, then drives us out to what he reckons is one of Bullo River’s best spots for fishing.

“When you hook one,” he says, “let it run. You have to let ’em tire before you start reeling ’em in.”

They’re promising words. But the truth is that when we first cast our lines into the Bullo we get nothing but a few nibbles. The fish seem to be toying with us mere mortals standing on the banks of the Bullo, ankle deep in mud, baking in the afternoon sun.

A pair of eagles watch us from their nest in an old gum tree on the other side of the river. They’ve seen it all before, and know they may get a free feed if they play their cards right. One of them launches a reconnaissance flight, circling and then swooping underneath our fishing lines as if to assert prior claim to whatever swims beneath.

Bullo is croc-infested tidal river, flanked by mudflats and allegedly thick with ’barra. But they’re still not biting. The tide is coming in at speed, though, and we watch as the river spills inexorably across the mudflats, turning our footprints into salty puddles and then, a few minutes later, converting these puddles into pools.

Watching the tide turn is surprisingly therapeutic. Bennett, however, is getting restless. There’s a spot further up river, he says, where we’re sure to do well. But we need to be there now, when the tide is just so. We reel in the fishing lines, scramble into the ute and speed off.

After ten minutes or so, hoots of excitement fill the air. One of our party, Christina, has hooked a fish. She lets it run as instructed and eventually reels in a lovely silver barramundi. It’s big and shiny and good enough to feed a family of four.

Bennett moves quickly to despatch the ’barra by knifing it in the guts. The joy of fishing is writ large on Christina’s face. Meanwhile, somewhere beyond the Outback, the soul of a long-dead English playwright is no doubt delighted to see that ancient Roman dramas are replayed in the simple act of fishing for ’barra on the Bullo River.

Looks Like She Turns The Tables

We ran across this picture and it looks like Ginnifer Goodwin has turned the tables as she does not ‘look all that into’ her date Justin Long. The famed book “He’s Not That Into You” opened in Sydney, Australia recently at the St. George OpenAir cinema. We are excited to see how the book transitioned over to film.

From Laang to New York City

We caught up with Rachel Bastow at her New York City wellness studio. Bastow has a very unique story. From Laang Australia, Bastow went abroad like many Australians. While traveling, Bastow got a colonic. Little did she know then that she would have a studio in the Big Apple helping people from all walks of life.