Travelrific®
A blog for travel enthusiasts. Listen to our podcast at Travelrific® Radio, and visit our Wanderful Places® Travel Shop!Archive for australia
Outback Railway 80 Years On
By Linda Tancs
Named for the Afghan camel drivers who once explored its unchartered territory, Australia’s famed railway, The Ghan, celebrates 80 years of service this year. Led by its fire engine red locomotive, the train traverses the breaktaking landscape framing Australia’s Outback. Originally routed for Adelaide to Alice Springs, the journey now includes a Darwin extension. City slickers need not worry. Connections to the legendary railway are available on Indian Pacific and The Overland for guests travelling to or from Sydney and Melbourne. All aboard!
When Pigs Fly
By Linda Tancs
Victoria’s largest public event is taking place now through 27 September at the Royal Melbourne Show in Australia. Like a county fair, the show includes livestock, rides, exhibitions, food and competitions. Perhaps the most engaging contest of all is the pig racing and diving show. Held five times a day during the entire fair to accommodate its loyal followers, the show features flying pigs aiming for a perfect score of 10 as they dive in the water. And the crowd goes hog wild, as they say.
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Where the Kangaroos Roam
By Linda Tancs
Kangaroos are everywhere in Australia–no less so at Kangaroo Island. But that’s not the only form of abundance waiting for you in this 1700-square-mile piece of paradise just 30 minutes from Adelaide. The place is teeming with wildlife, but what else would you expect on an island that is about one third protected national park land? No worries, there’s more than kangaroos and koalas to see. From spa treatments to sand dunes and cavings to Clifford’s Honey Farm, there’s something for everyone. As English playwright Douglas Jerrold once observed about Australia, “just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest.”
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Eight Hours Rule
By Linda Tancs
The overnight winter storm along the northeastern U.S. has resulted in a day’s rest for labor along the seaboard and beyond. So, too, down under (minus the snow) where today marks Labor Day in Western Australia. Marking the eight-hour working day resulting from a decades-long struggle toward equitable working hours and conditions, this public holiday is celebrated in other territories on the second Monday in March, the first Monday in October and the first Monday in May.
Answer to the trivia question of 26 February: Johann Maria Farina gegenüber dem Jülichs-Platz GmbH seit 1709.
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The Best Job Ever
By Linda Tancs
Wanted: island caretaker.
Duties: swim, snorkel and sail; feed fish; collect mail. 12 hours per month.
Salary: AUD $150,000 for six months
Qualifications: none
Sound good? Apparently, 9000 applicants (and counting) thought so. Between now and 22 February, those interested can apply for the position of caretaker on Hamilton Island in Australia, sponsored by Tourism Queensland. Tourism officials will pare down the list in May, and the winner will start on 1 July.
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Rollin’ On the River
By Linda Tancs
They say the wheels of progress move slowly. The problem is when they stop moving at all. In Singapore, the city’s observation wheel, the Singapore Flyer, stranded almost 200 tourists riding in its capsules overlooking Marina Bay for six hours last month due to a fire in the control room. This isn’t the first mishap for a giant ferris wheel. The London Eye likewise stranded passengers a while back due to a mechanical fault. The good news is that the error there was fixed in an hour. The Flyer has been closed for evaluation since the incident. Hopefully, it will open again in time for New Year’s celebrations in February. The Singapore Flyer is the world’s largest observation wheel at a whopping 541 feet, followed by the London Eye at 443 feet and Australia’s Southern Star in Melbourne at 393 feet. With a little tweak here or there, let’s say good things come in tall packages.
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A Spirited Gecko
By Linda Tancs
East of Australia in Espiritu Santo (Holy Spirit), an island of the Vanuatu archipelago, scientists discovered a new species of gecko living amidst the treetops. Measuring just three inches in length, the little bugger goes by the name Lepidodactylus buleli. If scouring the canopy of a thriving ecosystem isn’t your cup of tea, you might be interested in the beach life and diving opportunities that this unspoiled paradise, known as Santos, has to offer. Champagne Beach, for instance, is regarded for its Bermuda-like pink sands and clear waters. Off Million Dollar Point, divers can scope out the refuse ditched by the U.S. military after Pearl Harbor when the area was used as a supply station. Whatever you do, let the spirit move you.
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