Travelling Our Aussie Stock Routes

Published by RV Daily – free E-mag

The Longest Shortcut in Australia – Leonora WA to the Border NT

Traveling between Leonora and Docker River stretch of the Outback Hwy  of WA & NT, is mostly all dirt… 870 odd klm of it with more to come, notoriously it is seen as the ‘better’ bit of track. This aside from one or two sealed bits at the two or three road house stops where the flying doctor can land. They are straightening out the kinks along this stretch in preparation for sealing by 2028 and you can see where the new sections have been prepared which makes the going easier. You do need a permit to travel along this stretch and this can be obtained online at www.daa.wa.gov.au/en/Entry-Permits/EP_Y_PermitForm/ They usually allow 3 days to traverse the distance.

Principality of Hutt River, WA

Near 600klm north of Perth in WA, in a quiet valley, sits Australia’s only Principality. The  75sq klm, former sheep station and wheat farm of Hutt River, sits just off the coastline of SW WA and is Australia’s only Independent Sovereign State and micro-nation. In a  secession from the Government of Aus’ in 1970 the Principality was born in the controversy of a new Province. The secession was inspired because of wheat quota’s, unfairly distributed by the WA Government of the day, that would have proven a great hardship for the station, destroying the livelihood of a collection of Aussie families. Appeals against the fractional wheat quota were unsuccessful, so Prince Leonard seceded, and in doing so he created an independent province to survive. Survive he did, and what was to become the only Principality or micro nation within the borders of Australia. The Province, now a Principality was born.

Crystal Cave – Yanchep National Park WA

Fresh from our journey through the Oondiri Caves and not far from our discovery of the Mole Creek Caves (upcoming in the free on-line mag’ RV Daily), our mind is still focused and fascinated with the Limestone Karsts of Aus’. As such, knowing that Western Australia’s SW region has large Limestone Karsts in their own right, the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Karst and the Swan Coastal Plain in particular, we started to take a good look around Perth where we are now stationed for a month or two.

Up There, Our Heads in the Clouds – Ben Lomond, Tas

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

One of the things that we didn’t expect to find in our travels around Tas’ was the beauty of Ben Lomond and its tabletop plateau, which is Tasmania’s primary Ski Resort and a spectacular alpine region of the Apple Isle. We never actually gave it a thought… we knew about Cradle Mountain and its glorious landscape, often shrouded in clouds.

The Cradle in the Mountain

There are usually two things which every traveller or tourist plans on when they come to The Apple Isle. One is to visit the iconic and unique Port Arthur, the infamous penal settlement and model prison of its colonial era. It once was a place of immeasurable suffering inflicted on the convicts and those born to poverty, in another time. The other is to chance their luck on hopefully experiencing the beauty of Cradle Mountain.

Cradle Mountain is part of the Tasmanian World Heritage area’s to be found in the central and South West of this gorgeous Isle. It is a World Heritage site for a very good reason. The Cradle Mountain and Lake Snt Clair National Park is simply stunning in its natural beauty and rare, breathtaking wilderness, but this is not only why it proudly carries a World Heritage Listing.

Parks Victoria – Touring East Gippsland

Freecamping is one of the greatest pleasures there is in being a traveller. Not  because it is free, as inexperienced travellers imagine, but because of the freedom. It isn’t about camping in rest area’s and skipping those Caravan Parks but more about the involvement you have with the Aussie bush, the forestry area’s, the National Parks and those precious Reserves that dot the country.

Freecamping is Really About Community

Freecamping is really about Community and I have long held the opinion that any and all towns worthy of their name should have a rest area, or freecamp, freely available to travellers, as they once historically did in Australia. The history of the evolution of the provision of camps for the traveller goes right back to the very first days of the colony when Governor Phillip set up camp on the shores of Botany Bay… then found a better spot and moved to Sydney Cove. Free camping is not only about the travelling community, but also about the communities the travellers move into. Even Governor Phillip recognised this in his endeavour to build a relationship with the locals. But it is something that today has been lost to the demons of commerce.

Discovering Australia & Her Lore – Oldies at Large

Newly released is the third edition of the popular books from the ‘Oldies at Large’ series. These are a collation of travel and touring logs, compiled into e-books for my readers to enjoy. This new release is the touring adventure blogs for 2015, accounts that are freely available on my blog site here at WordPress on the internet.

Summer in the Victorian High Country

For most Aussies, the high country brings to mind brumbies, snow and beautiful gums. It is all that in the winter, but visiting the high country in the summer is a delight. While the country on the low-lands roasts under the summer sun, the high country enjoys usually mild temps’, winds… albeit that they race, and the beautiful sight of the grand old ladies of the forests shedding their coats for the new season.