A few years ago I
spent nearly 6 months travelling around Australia, that may sound a lot but
believe me, it only skimmed the surface of this vast continent.
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| Map of Australia |
The first
thing that struck me about Australia was it's shear size, this was brought home
to me one afternoon chatting to some fellow travellers in a Melbourne
backpackers hostel. I happened to mention that I was going to go to
Adelaide the following afternoon, as to me it only looked a couple of hours
away judging from the map I saw on the wall. When everyone had picked
themselves up off the floor from raucous laughter, I was informed that Adelaide
was a 15 hour drive away. So be warned, what looks like a couple of hours
drive on a map in the UK is about 15 hours drive in Australia.
If you
want to get a really good feel for the size of Oz I suggest you take a coach
from Perth to Sydney. I got on the bus in Perth at 8.00am on Friday
morning and arrived in Sydney at 11.30pm on Monday night. Bear in mind
that the coach was driving non-stop except for odd refreshment breaks at road
houses along the way.
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| Rubber Plant Tree in Australia |
The vast size of Oz often
means that people tend to fly between resorts rather than take to the road, but
I think this is a big mistake. The real charm of Australia is often
hidden in between the big cities, where you can drive for hours without seeing
a house, telegraph pole or human being. This is supplanted with trees and
flowers that you don't see in England. All plants that you do recognise
are super-sized too, for example there was a time when every house in England
would sport a rubber plant, and this would be kept in the bathroom and often
consist of a single stork with a couple of leaves - in Australia they are trees
its the same for umbrella plants too!
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| Herd of Emu |
You can also see amazing
animals roaming freely where in England, you would only see them in a Zoo.
I clearly remember being amazed to see a green cloud fly overhead, to be
told that they were budgerigars. I also recall coming to a crossroads on
the border between New South Wales and Victoria and finding a herd of Emu
nibbling the shrubs by the side of the road.
Crossing the Nullarbor
Plain in Western Australia is a whole new experience too, seeing amazing
lizards basking on the road and kangaroos hanging out in the
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| The Nullarbor Plain |
bush. Sadly
we also saw a great deal of road kill too, and the odd car wreck from a
collision with a kangaroo. Apparently kangaroo's are so muscular that hitting
one with a car can easily write it off. I remember hearing people talk
of it being essential to fit rhubarb to the front of your car, it wasn't until
I went across the Nullarbor that I realised that they were actually saying 'roo
bars'! These are basically the same as bull bars on four wheel drive cars
in England. Oops!
There are so many great
experiences to be had in Australia, one of which was when I went to Phillip Island with the Australian Conservation Volunteers. I spent a long
weekend, building hutches for the Fairy Penguins who parade up the beach each
evening after swimming all day in the sea. Apparently Fairy
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| Fairy Penguins parading up the beach |
penguins
build their nests into the sand along the beach and when it rains the nests can
collapse and kill the baby penguins, so the volunteers build hutches, where the
penguins have already built nests so that they can have a better chance of
survival. These little furry critters are super cute to look at but don't
make the mistake of giving them a cuddle. Their jaws, which spend all day
catching and killing fish, can take a thumb off if you're not careful.
Another great place to
visit if you are over towards Perth, is Wave Rock at
.jpg) |
| Wave Rock at Hyden |
Hyden. This is an amazing rock formation in the
outback miles from the sea, that was formed by volcanic rock hitting cold sea
water millions of years ago. I have
pictures of me surfing on a rock!
.jpg) |
| The Great Barrier Reef |
You really shouldn’t go to
Oz without visiting the Great Barrier Reef, this is firmly on the tourist trail
but it is absolutely breath taking and in my opinion one of the most amazing
places on earth, especially for diving enthusiasts. But don’t worry if you’re not, you barely
need to know how to snorkel to get in amongst an amazing array of fishes and
coral.
If you are planning a
trip, please try to make sure that your visit contributes to the economy of the
indigenous Aborigines in some way. The Aborigines have
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| Aborigine Art |
been poorly
treated by white immigrants over the years and this has had a serious impact
upon the health, well being and prosperity of the indigenous people of
Australia, who are part of one of the oldest surviving cultures in the world. One way of doing this might be to support their thriving art industry.
Obviously I could go on
for hours about the sights and experiences of Australia, but that would require
a book, so instead I will leave you with my final recommendation which is a
visit to the Daintree Forest and Cape Tribulation north of Port Douglas in
Queensland. Here you can take a night
walk through the tropical rainforest at night in search of the red eyes of a crocodile. Probably the most scariest thing I’ve ever
done on holiday, but well worth the cobwebs in your face and the Cane toads
landing on your feet.
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| Night Tour of the Daintree Rainforest |
Finally, do heed the
health advice of the Australian government and ‘Slip, slap, slop,’ to protect
yourself from the very strong sun. Do
this by slipping on a shirt, slapping on a sun hat and slopping on the
sunscreen.
Have fun and do tell us
about your memories of Australia, we would love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading, see you next week and in the meantime, I hope that you can take sometime to check out LotusTravelEssentials.co.uk happy & safe travelling. of the great items for sale on line
