Hot Springs – Outback in NSW:

We are off on our adventure into Outback NSW, and the weather if freezing (for a Qld’er) compared to the coast. But teaching the Grandson to light a camp fire was a lot of fun… and he has proven proficient at toasting marshmallow’s which is always a plus as we head into camp at the Pilliga Hot Bore. 

Australia’s First Slaves & Servants

Two hundred years ago this year, a branch of my family arrived into Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania).  It was a penal outpost then, one envisioned by those in authority of the day, to take in the tens of thousands of convicts over the next seventy years.

These were people expelled from the British Isles as the “Upper Crust” attempted to deal with those living in poverty, the destitute. Those often starving lower class and the disenfranchised. People who were mostly a product of the industrial revolution of the day, that was being experienced in their own country that of the British Isles.

Back on the Track – Enjoying Outback NSW

It’s been something of an hiatus for me as family envelopes time. Travel however is still very much part of our world and revisiting those places we love, very much part of out time. But it is time to hit the tar… a very much anticipated event.

Given time and inclination I plan… and the planning for this trip has taken time-upon-time. Taking friends and family along with us is something I love to do, such as including the Grandies while we tour, or even bringing them to us on those much enjoyed occasions. It all makes for those special memories. This time we have my Sis’ in tow… and I’m looking forward to the fun and games we can get up to as we drive ‘The Man’ to distraction.

Australia’s Longest Shortcut – The Red Centre

From Docker River to Boulia, the scene is that of an ancient landscape, weathered down over eons of time from an epoch in Earths history that saw the very earth rusting. Born of this time are the burnt ombre’s, reds and sun bleached sands left by time. Travelling on what is the end tail of the Outback Hwy you will encounter both dirt track and welcome tar. The most spectacular highlights are the ancient rocks of the Red Centre, the magnificent gorges of the MacDonnell Ranges… or the Caterpillar Ranges, to use an Aboriginal description that has been a reference for thousands of years.

The Murrumbidgee – Carolling with the Cockatoo’s

We have settled back into the big island of Aus’… attended to all those pesky needs that consume you when you hit home ground… and then we’ve taken off again. We  are currently on our western run across the continent to Perth where we plan to spend most of this year exploring the western coast.

Tasmania and Travellers Rest Area’s

Having just returned from our adventures in Tasmania we are growing once more accustomed to the life of the traveller as we move up through the eastern seaboard. We are at the present preparing to cross the Oondiri Plain once more and spend the winter months in WA but more about that later.

A Tassie Christmas Season

Touching ground on the most southern road in Australia in the remote SE of Tasmania was a special moment for us. We spent a few days down in Cockle Creek, at the National Park camp, which only required the wonderful ‘National Park Pass’… a must for the Tassie adventurer. There are a few public camp spots at the end of the track as well, but we found the NP camp the most accommodating and certainly worth every cent of its relatively meagre cost for the Parks Pass which covers so much of Tas’.

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.

Discovering the Little Penguins of Tasmania

One of our very first delightful discoveries in our exploration of Tas’ was the many colonies of Little Penguins, also known as Fairy Penguins, that range along the coastline in colonies. Predominantly found in the shelter of the northern stretch of island, but running well down the east coast and in colonies all around the coastline of the island, these little penguins live in an intrepid harmony with the rest of the population.

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.