Photo of the Week: Aboriginal Embassy

I was shocked when I visited Canberra, Australia and spotted a shack that our tour guide described as the Aboriginal Embassy.  The idea of an embassy began in 1972 when four Aboriginal men planted a beach umbrella outside Australia's capital building in Canberra to protest the government's response to Aboriginal land rights.  The protest grew and continues to this day.  

Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, Australia

This photo is of the current Aboriginal Tent Embassy that is located on the lawn outside of the Old Parliament House in Canberra, Australia.  The embassy is not formally recognized by the Australian (or any other) government.  

Photo of the week is part of "Photo Thursday," started by Nancie at the Budget Travelers Sandbox. Please visit her site to check out other amazing photos!

Top 5 Sites Grampians National Park

Grampians National Park, located in Victoria, is one of Australia's most rugged parks.  The 168,000 hectare park is well-known for it's beauty, wildlife, and aboriginal history.  Like much of western Australia, wildfires and flooding are constantly change the face of the park, meaning the park could look drastically different each time you visit!  If you are lucky enough to visit Grampians National Park, add these spots to the top our you list of places to visit.

Wallaby in Grampians National Park

5. Wallaby Spotting

I was amazed by how many wallabies freely roam in and around Grampians National Park.  The wallaby, which seem to prefer the rugged forest terrain of Grampians, is slightly smaller than a kangaroo.   While native Australians are not impressed by the site of a wallaby, I couldn't get stop taking pictures of these animals!


4. Reed's Lookout 
Reeds Lookout offers views over  Lake Wartook, Victoria Valley, and the Mt Difficult Range.  The lookout is only a short from a car park. 

Boroka Lookout, Grampians National Park

3. Boroka Lookout

The Boroka Lookout provides visitors with one of the most spectacular vantage points in all of Victoria.   From the lookout, you can see Wonderland, Halls Gap, and the Mount Williams Ranges.  Better yet, the lookout is only a short walk from a car park, making it easily accessible. 

2. Ngamadjidj Rock Art Shelter 
The Ngmadjidj Rock Shelter is an important rock art site in Aboriginal History.  The site was originally a Aboriginal camping place.  You can view Aboriginal rock art depicting the dancing spirit.   Ngamadjidj Rock Art Shelter is located only a short distance from a car park.   

1. MacKenzie Falls

MacKenzie Falls, Grampians National Park

MacKenzie Falls in the most popular site for most visitors to Grampians National Park.  What makes MacKenzie Falls so special is that it flows year-round, even during droughts.  It is best viewed from June to October or after a heavy rainfall.  Unfortunately, MacKenzie falls can currently only be accessed from the top, as heavy flooding in January 2011 wiped out the trail to the base of the falls.  Check here for updates on trail conditions. 

 For more information about Grampians National Park, visit their website here. 

Best Place to Photograph Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House from the Botanic Gardens

The iconic image of Sydney, Australia is the Sydney Opera House.  As a first time visitor to Australia, I wanted a great picture of the Opera House (and Harbor Bridge) to show to my friends and family back home.  However, the Sydney Opera House is so large that you can only capture a small portion of the structure while standing on it's grounds.  I wasn't sure where I could best capture the entire Opera House.  I asked several locals and got the same answer;  the Royal Botanic Gardens are the best place to take pictures of both the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.      

What to Expect

Sydney Opera House from Ferry

The Royal Botanic Gardens are located on Sydney Harbor, bordered on the East by Macquarie Street.  Once you are in the gardens, head toward the peninsula where Mrs. Macquarie's Chair is located. Mrs. Macquarie's Chair is a sandstone bench that was carved by convicts in 1810.  The peninsula juts into Sydney Harbor, surrounded by Farm Cove and Woolloomooloo Bay.  From the area around Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, you get fantastic views across Farm Cove of both the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  For the best photos, visit the park around dusk to watch the sun go down behind the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.  Click on this link to see a map of the area or here to find out more about the Royal Botanic Gardens.  

Other ideas for great views of the Sydney Opera House 

• Walk across the Harbour Bridge and take a photo from the other side of Sydney Harbor.
• Climb to the Sydney Harbour Bridge Pilot lookout.  Read about it here.
• Take a ferry across the harbor for great views of the Opera House. 

  

  Sydney Harbour Bridge

Photo of the Week: Kroombit Cattle Ranch

This week's photo is from the Kroombit Cattle Ranch near Rockhampton, Australia.  I stayed at the ranch while traveling on the Oz Experience a few years back.  At the ranch, we were given the opportunity to ride horses, lasso, shoot clay pigeons, herd goats, and even ride a mechanical bull.  The two cowboys pictured are ranch-hands taking some time off to drink beer and shoot a potato gun. 

Kroombit Cattle Ranch, Australia

Photo of the week is part of "Photo Thursday," started by Nancie at the Budget Travelers Sandbox.  Please visit her site to check out other amazing photos! 

Johnstone River Crocodile Farm

Johnstone Crocodile handle with lunch

Where is the best place in Australia to see crocodiles and live to tell about it?  The answer is a no-brainer; the Johnstone River Crocodile Farm in North Queensland, Australia.  Not only will you get a chance to see live crocodiles at Johnstone River, but also wallabies, kangaroos, dingos, cassowaries, and many other critters big and small that are native to Australia.  I visited Johnstone as part of an Oz Experience stop in North Queensland.  We were promised an up-close-and-personal viewing of crocodiles, but ended up getting much more.  If you go during a feeding time like I did, you will witness a crocodile adventure show that you'll never forget!

What to Expect 

Young Crocodile

The Johnstone Crocodile Farm is filled with crocodiles, emus, and cassowaries enclosed in pens made of chain link fence.  Between the enclosures, small wallabees and kangaroos freely roam.  Our tour of the Johnstone complex was led by a young man whose face seemed to bear stress marks of a dangerous job.  The guide told us that the crocodiles often escape from there pens at night and eat the kangaroos.  He also assured us that they account for every crocodile before opening the doors to the public.  The tour was then turned over to an older man dressed in khaki who spoke to us from within the crocodile pens.  For the next 45 minutes the old man poked, prodded, and even sat on the enormous crocodiles as he fed them their lunch.  The crocodiles were not amused, and attempted to attack the old man several times.  Every time the old man placed his body in harm's way, our young guide muttered under his breath  "the old man is crazy," "I can't believe he isn't dead," and even "I can't wait to quit this job.  He's going to get me killed."  Yikes!

Old Man Sitting on a Crocodile

After the show, we got an up-close-and personal look at a cassowary.  The cassowary is a large flightless bird of Australia with a well-earned reputation for being vicious.  As the cassowary paced and us stared down from behind a fence, the guide showed us scars of where the cassowary had attacked him when he got too close to the fence.  Needless to say, none of us dared to get anywhere near the cassowary enclosure.  Our tour of the Johnstone River Crocodile farm ended with us getting a chance to hold snakes and baby crocodiles.  It was a tame ending to a tour in which we got to see some of the world's most dangerous animals.            

Just the Basics

Feeding a Johnstone Farm kangaroo

• Location: Innisfail Township, North Queensland
• Cost: 
• $28AUD Adults
• $14AUD Children (ages 4-14)
• $74AUD Family (2 Adults + 2 Children)
• Website: http://www.crocpark.com.au/
• Feeding Times: 11am, 1pm, 3pm
• Advise: Visit during a feed time, bring a camera, and stay away from the cassowary!

Photo of the Week: Whitsunday Islands

The Whitsunday Islands are the perfect place to sail, relax, and take in some of the calmest seas in Australia.  I spent three days sailing the islands with other backpackers from all corners of the world.  The best part of each day was watching the sun go down over the Queensland coast.

Sunset in the Whitsunday Islands, Australia

Sailing in the Whitsunday Islands, Australia

 Photo of the week is part of "Photo Thursday," started by Nancie at the Budget Travelers Sandbox.  Please visit her site to check out other amazing photos! 

Photo of the Week: Kennett River Koala

Australia's unique wildlife is reason alone to visit the continent.  In fact, it was the chance to see kangaroos, wombats, koalas, wallabies, and other critters that brought me to Australia.  While traveling on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, I spotted some koalas at Kennett River.  Kennett River is located about two hours southwest of Melbourne and is known as one of the best places in the world to see koalas in the wild.  Because koalas dine almost exclusively on eucalyptus leaves, which are poisonous to most other species and offer little protein, they sleep up to eighteen hours each day.  As you can tell, the koala in this photo was just waking up! 

Koala in Kennett River, Australia, Great Ocean Road

Photo of the week is part of "Photo Thursday," started by Nancie at the Budget Travelers Sandbox.  Please visit her site to check out other amazing photos! 

12 Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge

One of the 12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road, Australia

How can a nation that began as a penal colony for Britain's convicts improve it's image?  By naming one of their landmarks after heroes of Christianity!  The Twelve Apostles are one of Australia's most recognizable attractions.  They are also one of the nation's most popular destinations, with over two million visitors per year!  Located on the famous Great Ocean Road, the Apostles are worth a road trip from Melbourne.  Better yet, drive the entire Great Ocean Road from Adelaide to Melbourne.  While you at Twelve Apostles, also check out the historic Loch Ard Gorge!

What to Expect

The eight miocene limestock stacks that make up the Twelve Apostles have been formed by wave erosion from the rough Southern Ocean.  Why only eight rock stacks? A ninth fell victim to the ocean in 2005, but there has never been twelve rock formations.  I guess twelve seemed like an easier number to remember!  Don't fear Australia, there is still hope to get to twelve columns!  Geologists think that future wave erosion will create more rock stacks.

Loch Ard Gorge, Great Ocean Road, Australia

The Apostles are located in Port Campbell National Park.  The park service has also built a Twelve Apostles visitor's center, with ample parking, restrooms, and even a small snack bar.  No camping is allowed in the park, though the town of Port Campbell has accommodation for all budgets.  There are several viewing areas and walking tracks available to view the Twelve Apostles. All in all, it will take less than an hour to take in the Twelve Apostles.  For the more adventurous, the apostles can also be seen from above through booking a tour with 12 Apostles Helicopters.

The Twelve Apostles sometimes overshadow another cool site nearby, the historical and beautiful Loch Ard Gorge.  Only a ten-minute drive west of the 12 Apostles, the gorge was named after a ship that ran aground nearby in 1878.  A stairway and path have been built that allow access to the undeveloped beach.  Like the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge has been formed by erosion.  

Just the Basics

Location: The 12 Apostles are located in Victoria, Australia, on the Great Ocean Road.
Suggested Tour Operator: Wildlife Tours Australia, though the entire Ocean Road is also a great self-guided road-trip. 
Advice: Though I didn't get the opportunity, the Twelve Apostles are best viewed at sunrise or sunset.

Photo of the Week: Cassowary vs. Car

My photo this week is from a roadside near Cairns, Australia. The cassowary is a large flightless bird native to northeast Australia.  The ostrich is the only bird that weighs more than the cassowary.  Cassowaries can be vicious when they are disturbed and are capable of inflicting serious injury to humans.  Unfortunately, traffic accidents are the largest cause of death to this endangered species.

Speeding has killed cassowaries, Australia

In the sign, it appears that the car is taking the brunt of the damage from the collision. I have seen an angry cassowary before, and I wouldn't be surprised if one could take down a car in a fit of rage!

Planning a trip to Australia?  Check out my favorite book about Australia, In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson.  Photo of the week is part of "Photo Thursday" started by Nancie at the Budget Travelers Sandbox.  Please visit her site to check out other amazing photos! 

Photo of the Week: Byron Bay

Byron Bay, Australia at sunset

I traveled from Melbourne to Cape Tribulation in Australia a few summers back.  This photo of Byron Bay brings back great memories.  It was snapped while I was chilling on the beach, playing guitar, and enjoying the sunset.

Photo of the week is part of "Photo Thursday" started by Nancie at the Budget Travelers Sandbox.  Please visit her site to check out other amazing photos!