Australian Travels

Getting Down Under

Australia is on the opposite side of the world.  You can’t walk there.  You can’t skate there.  And you can’t drive there.  That leaves a boat trip or flying.  Want to spend a few weeks or a full day—your choice.  Flying from here means a stopover in Toronto.  Count on a few hours wait.  

And then there is security.  Packing for the new travel reality is an art form.  Everything must be visible, easy to open, easy to repack and you can be sure it will be opened and repacked.  Use lots of clear plastic bags to hold things.  Observe the banned items list, especially in carry-on.  No letter openers, please!

That’s it.  Twenty-four hours later and you are deplaning at Sydney.

What to expect

They speak English, don’t they?  Well they do, but be prepared for differences in jargon and expect to learn lots of new terms.  Also expect to be warmer than you are here, especially in our winter.  Its summer there and temps can reach 40 degrees C in some places.  

Travel is easy, with lots of in-country flights at reasonable prices.  There are lots of hotels, and camping under the stars is a good option.  Only do that with a guide, as the wildlife can be hungry.  Local crocs have been known to eat tourists.  Dundee, where are you?  Then there are the snakes and the dingoes.

Want to stay connected.  Need to assure the folks at home that you are still avoiding the crocs?  Check out the many internet cafes.  They are everywhere.  Walk in, pay your money, sit down and start communicating.

If you want more adventure, try a few cruises.  No, this is not those old-folks luxury liner types.  These are work-your-way on a sailing ship cruises.  Climb the rigging and hoist the sails.  Jump off the rigging into the ocean.  Oh, did I mention sharks.  Just look before you jump.  Cruise the Great Barrier Reef.  Snorkle.  Scuba-dive.  Feed the sharks—feed them, don’t be their food.

Then there’s the Aussie dollar.  Think our dollar is not highly valued in monetary circles.  Well, the Aussie dollar is worth about $0.96 Canadian.  Splurge, spend lots.  There is one catch.  Products are expensive.  So maybe you should think twice.


Seeing the Sights

Expect the different, the strange, and the unusual.  You’ve heard about the animal life?  Think again.  Marsupials come in more sizes, colours and shapes than you can count.  And they are everywhere.  More road kill in a year than most countries have animals.  And then there is the fence.  It stretches hundreds and hundreds of kilometres.  Dingoes are kept on one side and sheep are on the other.  Guess which is kept from the other!  The sheep like it that way. 

You’ve probably seen ant-hills.  Check out the termite hills.  They are bigger than many houses and take much longer to build.  Like icebergs, there is more than meets the eye.  They are much further underground than they extend above ground.  And they are used for heating and cooling.  Termites move around in them as the sun moves in the sky.

Don’t expect to see it all in a week.  It’s a big continent.  There are three time zones.  It can take a week or so to just drive across.  You would be alone a lot, since most of the space is uninhabited.