We arrived at our final Aussie destination — Sydney, a visually interesting city filled with spectacular high-rises, wonderful historic buildings, harbor views and fashionable locals. The central business district is laid out very conveniently for getting around, with ferries, buses and trains leaving from…
As impressed and refreshed as Kangaroo Island left me, I found Tasmania even more captivating. We flew into the Tasmania capital, Hobart, to meet our bird guide, Ruth Brozek. Hobart is like a smaller, cleaner version of San Francisco with a nice…
The jaunt to Kangaroo Island off the coast near Adelaide was brief but thoroughly enjoyable. Green, hilly pastures inland contrast with scrub vegetation closer to the sea and giant yuccas punctuate the landscape. The island’s economy depends heavily on sheep, cattle…
Still in the vast state of Northern Territory, we flew down to Alice Springs in the arid Red Centre and assumed we’d be leaving the flies behind in humid Darwin up on the coast. Wrong. They were worse! I fully believe the…
We flew into Darwin to explore the Northern Territory, Australia’s Top End. It’s HOT country, with humidity exacerbating high temperatures. And it’s rugged country, too. We had rented a 4WD vehicle at the airport, yet the guy at the counter…
Next we drove up to the top of the Atherton Tablelands at roughly 3,000 feet above sea level. The drive through the dusty town of Mareeba took us through very dry country dotted with huge termite mounds the size of boulders. Much of the original, pre-settlement…
Back in 2005 I spent a month touring the eastern two-thirds of Australia (Western Australia remains on my wish list) and was cast under the antipodean spell of this vast, expansive country. Visitors are richly rewarded with landscapes, plants, animals…