Archive for August, 2011

Top Five Cities to Visit in Australia Other than Sydney

by admin on August 10, 2011 in Cities, Featured, States, Travel, Travel Guides with No comments

While Sydney is Australia’s most populated city, it certainly isn’t Australia’s only city. In such a vast country many other popular destinations have been developed, reflecting the unique qualities of the region to which they belong to, and inviting visitors to engage in a range of different Australian experiences.

Melbourne

photo credit: vincentq

Melbourne rivals Sydney in a friendly popularity contest. It is the next most populated city in Australia and is the capital of the state of Victoria. Like Sydney, Melbourne combines business with pleasure, though is less flamboyant and relies more on its European buildings and historic trams to exhibit both class and culture.

A big draw of Melbourne is its cooler climates. Situated on the South-East Coast it provides a haven for those wishing to escape the humidity and the higher temperatures of the North and wishing to experience, in contrast to the harshness of the Australian outback, the serenity of the hidden off-coast islands that attract the penguins from the Antarctic.

Melbourne Tourist Information

Darwin

photo credit: kenhodge13

Quite the opposite to Melbourne, in location, climate and cultural noise, is the capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin. Darwin is in the tropics, boasting year-round heat, tropical thunderstorms and crocodiles. It is the launching pad to the outback, with its unique landmarks and wild beauty, and the gateway to Australia’s most densely populated Aboriginal community.

Darwin is not for the faint of heart, but rather for those seeking adventure and an in-depth look into a unique and fascinating culture.

Darwin Australia Tourist Information

Cairns

photo credit: jikatu

To the east of Darwin, also in the tropics, lies the Queensland city of Cairns. Mostly famous for being home to the world’s largest living organism, the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns slows the pace of the extremities of Darwin down to a more relaxing experience in a tropical haven, while still offering a year-round summer. Here, you can snorkel the reef, learn to dive, cruise the Whitsunday Islands, get lost in the tropical rainforest or simply sun-bake on the beach.

Cairns Australia Tourist Information

Perth

photo credit: mark i geo

Perth is the hub of the West, the capital of Western Australia and home to quite a lot of working-tourists. This city lacks the competition and the constant glare of the tourist trappings of the East and invites its visitors to simply pickup some homegrown wine and kick back in its open spaces and natural, quiet beauty.

Home to deserts, mines, farms and national parks, the vastness of Perth and its surrounding regions is striking, and for once it’s good to feel relaxed and untouched by the busy and demanding outside world.

Perth Australia Tourist Information

Gold Coast

photo credit: d.i.

The Gold Coast is everyone’s guilty pleasure. Voted the country’s most visited domestic tourist destination by Australians, the Gold Coast is the playground for people of all ages. Situated on the mid-East Coast in the South of Queensland, the Gold Coast is easily accessible to all by plane, boat, car or train. It boasts Australia’s biggest theme parks, Dream World, Movie World and Sea World, and is home to some of the countries most famous casinos, nightclubs and beaches. Here you can ride the fourth highest roller coaster in the world, throw your money around what is termed Australia’s “Vegas”, dance the night away at a beach club and simply indulge in a few days of frivolous fun.

Gold Coast Australia Tourist Information

What cities would you recommend visiting in Australia other than Sydney? Let us know in the comments!

Guest Post: Hamilton Island, Then and Now

by admin on August 9, 2011 in Aussiephilia, Guest Posts, Places to Go, Travel with No comments

After spending a year living with my parents on Hamilton Island as a child, I would get funny looks chirping “G’d on ya, mate!” and “No worries!” to my kindergarten classmates back in New England. But even as my (adorable, I’m told) accent faded, images of the hot and dusty island stayed with me. I recall things like feeding kookaburras bits of Genoa salami, scary monitor lizards blocking my path, and puff-chested peacocks screeching in the back yard. I remember sailing into the Great Barrier Reef and delighting in the clear water and the clouds of bright fish. I remember the shock of my first taste of Vegemite, (I’ll never understand it!).

I look back at photos from the time there were no high rise hotels and no buzzing beach resorts. My parents posed in front of the beat up Toyota Scout and I mugged for the Kodak with my posse of young kangaroos at the fauna park. It was a simple life and my muesli crunching, hippie parents didn’t desire more than to hike around the island, sun-worship on the pristine beaches and let their bleach blond daughter learn to swim in the aquamarine shallows.

Planning my trip back to Australia almost twenty five years later is overwhelming. Though I know I’m meant to revisit Melbourne and Sydney, drive up the Gold Coast and stand in awe of Ayers Rock, I find myself unequivocally drawn back to the Whitsunday Islands of my memories. A meat pie straight after landing will make my knees weak with nostalgia I’m sure; I’ll be sure to seek out a package of Tim Tams just as hastily. But once the excitement of childhood treats subsides, I’ll have to face the new Hamilton Island.

I know the koalas are still dozing in the eucalyptus branches in the wildlife park, Coral Cove is still pure powder-white and that most of the island still is undeveloped save for bushwalking trails. I learned all of this watching Oprah though, and that is what worries me. What was Oprah Winfrey doing on Hamilton Island? So much for peace and seclusion, I suppose.

I expect far more yachts in the harbor, and many more visitors to the lavish beach resorts. I myself will be a tourist though, so the plethora of activities that come along with such growth will allow me to explore much more of the Whitsundays and Great Barrier Reef than I could before.

I look forward to a James Bond-esque sea plane landing on Whithaven Beach, paddling alongside sea turtles in a sea kayak and being treated to world-class dining options. I’m eager to finally delve deeper into the Reef on a scuba excursion and have the singular opportunity to pilot my own sailboat to isolated coastline.

Above all though, I can’t wait to visit the grandkids of my old kangaroo mates. I’ll offer them bread crusts alongside the other tourists and though they won’t recognize me I’ll be wistfully transported back to a lost era of rugged 4×4 terrain, stretches of deserted beach and effortless island living.

Noella Schink is travel writer living and working in Portland, Maine. She encourages you to use Auto Europe for your next car rental in Australia.

Guest Post: The Biggest Misconceptions About the Dangers of Living in Australia

by admin on August 8, 2011 in Aussie Oddities, Aussiephilia, Featured, Guest Posts, Life in Australia with No comments

There are many misconceptions about the dangers of living in Australia. Many of these myths no doubt began when early settlers sent letters home telling their loved ones of the strange animals they had to contend with on a daily basis, and perpetuated by Aussie travellers spinning even taller tales of the strange and dangerous creates we have here to poke fun at our stereotype. As a result many English people still won’t visit because of these myths, especially those surrounding snakes, but it’s not all myth and pub stories because Australia is home to the ten most dangerous snakes in the world.

Snakes

However, Australian snakes are not dangerous unless you try to capture or kill them. They are very timid animals that will take flight as soon as they notice you are anywhere within five metres of them. When accidently stepped on they will try to escape before resorting to biting.

There are plenty of examples of the mistreatment of snakes at the hands of people. One such incident occurred in Darwin when two men who were heading home after a long night at the pub ran across a large snake on the side of the road. One of the men decided to catch it with his left hand because he was holding a beer in his right. He was bitten as the snake struggled to get away but still managed to place the snake into a plastic bag. Probably because of all the beers he’d already had that night, he left his hand in the bag with the snake and was bitten another eight times. His mate applied first aid on the spot by pouring beer over his head and hitting him about the face but despite this, he still slipped into a coma, and stayed in a coma for the next six weeks. His left arm had to be amputated but he is proud of the fact that he retained the use of his right arm which allows him to still hold his beer, luckily he doesn’t have a spare hand to pick up snakes anymore either.

Other popular snake misconceptions include:

There is no so called ‘hoop’ snake in Australia that puts its tail in its mouth and then rolls along its merry way as would a hoop.
If you kill a Tiger Snake its mate will not hunt you down to make retribution.
Snakes do not milk cows.
Tiger Snakes will not chase you, neither uphill nor downhill.
Snakes do not hypnotise.
A Death Adder does not have a sting in its tail.

Despite many a drunken Aussies running naked through the scrub, for their own unique reasons, only 0.13 of every million deaths in Australia result from snake bites.

Dingos

The Australian public rushed to support the Dingo, Australia’s native dog, when it was famously accused of eating a baby in August 1980. Lindy Chamberlain claimed a Dingo had stolen her baby from her tent while camping at Uluru in Central Australia. People rushed to buy tee shirts reading, ‘The Dingo is innocent’. She was eventually convicted of the murder of her child, a conviction that was later quashed. Many Australian to this day are still adamant that the Dingo was innocent.

Crocodiles

Crocodiles have relatively weak jaws, much weaker than the jaws of a shark. They therefore have to hold their prey underwater to drown them in order to kill them. It is also a misconception that Australian men wrestle them for sport. However, this is a story that goes down well in bars in America and England to impress a pretty young damsel, backed up by the famous croc conservationist Steve Irwin and his unique promotional methods.

Spiders

Of all the spiders in Australia the Funnel Web is the most dangerous. When disturbed it will stand on its back legs rocking back and forth, with deadly poisonous venom dripping from its fangs. However, it is a misconception that Funnel Web spiders commonly live in houses. Their contact with humans is very rare as they more commonly dig themselves a burrow in soft ground outside, living on cockroaches and beetles. A Funnel Web spider can grow to 4.5 cm in length and has fangs the size of cat’s claws that can pierce a fingernail. Its poison only affects primates for some unknown reason meaning that native animals such as koalas, rats, magpies and possums are immune.

When living in Australia you will seldom see any of these animals, snakes tend to keep to themselves and are long gone before you have a chance to see them, meaning you have to actually go out of your way if you want to see them. Dingos are on the verge of extinction and the Australian government is contemplating making them a protected species. Crocodiles are confined to the tropical north of the continent where it is unwise to swim in certain areas where they are known to live, otherwise you will seldom see one, and Funnel Web spiders are seldom seen during the daylight hours as they confine their movements to the night because of their many predators.

Australians, like the inhabitants of most other western countries, are in more danger from motor cars, fatty foods and a lack of sufficient exercise.

Kristy Ramirez writes for Life Insurance Finder where she helps people to compare life insurance quotes and select the best life insurance policy to meet their needs at the best possible price.

Life in Oz: The Water Issue

by admin on August 1, 2011 in Blogs, Life in Australia, Life in Oz, Western Australia with No comments

One quick glance at an atlas will remind anyone that there is no shortage of water here in Australia. Unless, of course, you want to drink it. And then it becomes a whole other issue.

Fresh water comes at a premium in this country. Rivers, largely found near the perimeter of the country, are the domain of the farming industry. People who like to play in water hop over to their nearby patch of ocean. People who like to drink water hang out at the water catchment areas. These rain filled reservoirs are strictly off-limits to human (and their pets) recreation but that doesn’t stop the masses from trekking to their shores. Picnic tables and grills are set up by the local shire so people can eat their lunches while looking at the water in the catchment. Coming from an area of the planet where moisture arrives plentifully year round and its usually full reservoirs are far more people-friendly, I thought this behavior was rather amusing when I first arrived. But it is serious business for Australians who know and consider this is their only potable water source.

Until recently.

Despite the massive floods you may have heard about in Queensland, most of the remaining states are nervous about the lack of it. Rivers are being overtapped for irrigation water (the Murray-Darling an infamous example), water lotteries for farmers are random and often considered unfair and , here in Western Australia, the catchments are drying up for the increased demand for water and the lack of rain. The South Dandenup catchment we visited recently is at 27% capacity. WA is collectively praying for a wickedly wet winter to make up for last year’s abysmally dry one.

But it is more than just our next glass of water from the tap is of concern. Immigration policy officials, for example, are monitoring the situation closely. It is predicted that the population of Australia will balloon from its current 21 million to 36 million by the year 2050. Current water resource simply cannot support that people increase. Something has to happen. Clamp down on population control or rethink the drink.

And so the ideas are being bandied about. Exhortations to conserve water are ever more strident. Ocean water desalinization, once thought too expensive a process to be viable, is now being reconsidered. And recently it was announced that the absolutely unthinkable was being developed for beta testing: household and light business waste water will be diverted from its path to the ocean and on to treatment plants for cleaning and recycling into the fresh water supply. An abhorrent idea just several years ago, Aussies are now willing to give the idea a listen. It’s a mark of the desperation felt.