In a sunburnt country.....say G'Day to Australia
In and around World
If someone is starting their travelling career and they have money in their pockets I would recomend Australia as their first venture.
Its a strange one. Familiar and alien at the same time, adventurous but exceedingly tame, easy going lifestyle as well as some of the toughest terrain on earth, embracingly friendly but at the same time biting with a cruel sense of humour.
But for a first stop you cannot better it. Accomodation is modern and good, public transport runs on time, the pavements and streets are clean and tidy, the sun shines and beaches welcome. The tourist infrastructure is good. Theres a backpacker route running from Sydney to Cairns where hostels will pick you up from the bus station, ferry you to the booze up and get you back on the bus the next day or so. You literally dont have to move from a conveyer belt of tourism as everything is laid on for you.
But if you do you will experience some of the wildest places on earth. I've never experienced silence as quiet as dusk falling in the Outback near Kings Creek Station. I've never seen terrain as distinctive as the red oxidation of the Never Never around Ayers Rock/Uluru. The earth was russet red for hundreds and hundreds of miles. The only things on the horizo were thousands of clumps of spinifex or a herd of feral camels. And the heat? The heat is blinding. Even in September it hit 36 degrees at Kata Tijuca. The sun literally blasts the ground creating oven temperatures then at night under those clear southern cross skies it plummets to 0 degrees. The coldest I have ever been in my life was in a "swag" in the Northern Territory.
For if the Northern Territory is ancient primeval Australia the cities are cities of yesterdays suburbia. Endless suburbs stretching out grouped around Sydney and Melbourne. Both cities are impressive and both want you to think so. A cafe isnt just refurbished it is given silver chairs or a glittering atrium, a jetty isnt just tiled it is given Siena red pristine flagstones. The cities are constantly refurbishing themselves and making themselves better.
And I must say if you take time out and meet the people you are in for a treat. I was lucky in Sydney and had one of the most memorable encounters of my travelling career.
Pleasant, easy and with bountiful sunshine (and flies?) Australia is the beginners course to travelling the world.
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler actonsteve
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1
24 hours on an aeroplane - touchdown in the city of Sydney
"Welcome to Sydney!"
So says the banner from Kingsford Smith airport and pull onto the motorway into town.
This is the big one. The mos... Continue reading »
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2
The crest of a cockatoo? The Opera House and around
What if cities were human? What would Sydney be?
Paris and Vienna would both be beautiful women - venerable but still attractive. London and... Continue reading »
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3
Back to the Eighties - Darling Harbour and around
Sydney is beginning to charm me.
Its a very user-friendly city. Buses, monorails and ferries take you everywhere. Travelling around the city... Continue reading »
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4
We of the Never Never - arrival in Alice Springs
There are places in the world where you have to pinch yourself that you are there...Alice Springs is one of those.
The city in the middle of... Continue reading »
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5
Majestic, Monstrous, Magnificent - Uluru (Ayers Rock)
Adjectives to describe Ayers Rock?
Majestic? Monstrous? Magnificent? Awesome? Spiritual? Magical? Exhausting?
This is the scarlet monst... Continue reading »
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6
Sentinels of the Desert - the Olgas/Kata Tjuca
What is the coldest you have ever been?
I mean, really cold. So cold you can feel the chill work its way into your bones. So cold you cannot... Continue reading »
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7
The edge of Oblivion - mighty King's Canyon NP
Well, I did it - I did all three hikes. Uluru. The Olgas and now King's Canyon.
I am proud of myself and have to say King's Canyon was defini... Continue reading »
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8
Leaving the Outback - flying down to Melbourne
Another day, another destination.
I am now in the lauded city of Melbourne, capital of the state of Victoria and proud pocessor of the titl... Continue reading »
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9
Please do not feed the possums...the Melbourne Museum and around
"Please do not feed the possums.."
A sign said that in Fitzroy gardens today. For sheer novelty value you cant beat possums invading your l... Continue reading »
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10
Kangaroo steaks & digeridoos - Victoria Market & the South Bank
I was James Bond today.
I stood over the green baize while the croupier spun the roulette wheel. I betted on black and it landed on red. $1... Continue reading »
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11
The Secret Life of Us - the beach suburb of St Kilda
Melbourne is boom city.
As I travelled down the St Kilda road today on a rattling tram the skyscrapers that flanked it looked new and impre... Continue reading »
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12
Last day in "Marvelous Melbourne" - the Immigration Museum
In the breakfast room of the Claremont this morning I picked up the "Herald Sun". There tucked away on the front page under "Magpie menaces a coupl... Continue reading »
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13
Rolling across the landscape - the rail journey up to Sydney
It is now 12.20pm and we are coasting through the Victorian countryside.
I've been aboard this train since 09.05am and wont get off until 8... Continue reading »
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14
Manly Beach, a ferry from Sydney - a thousand miles from care
Today has been a good day.The watery city of Sydney has utterly won me over and I am another convert to its charms. Alot of that has to do with nat... Continue reading »
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15
A night out down Oxford Street and romance on Lady Bay Beach
Please note this next entry is somewhat adult in flavour and not for homophobes. If you fit that category then it might be an idea to skip this... Continue reading »
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16
Waves straight off the Antarctic - Bondi Beach and Icebergs Club
I like to consider myself brave but ye gods the water was cold off the South Pacific today. Straight up from Antarctica - and I had promised mysefl... Continue reading »
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17
Goodbye to all that - Hyde Park Barracks and Oxford Street
So what do you do when you have a holdiay romance and it cant go any futher?
You make the most of it. And that is what I did today. I only... Continue reading »
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18
Enter the Dragon: Flying from Sydney to Shanghai
Shanghai!
I've reached China, Communist China which looks like something out of Blade Runner. Shanghai is a superb city. Its a relativ... Continue reading »
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19
The glitter of neon - the sparkle of Nanjing Lu and around
What is it about cities and neon lights?
Are they trying to be candles drawing people in from the surrounding areas? Is there something abo... Continue reading »
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20
Yu Yuan gardens - an excursion in Classic China
I think China may be my favourite Asian country. It hasnt got the crippling humidity of Thailand or the hawker harassment of India. The crowds are... Continue reading »
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