Don’t Forget Your Pool Noodle!

Ahh! The humble pool noodle! The cylindrical, colourful piece of buoyant foam. On our road trip, there have been a number of occasions where the pool noodle has transformed a beautiful waterhole into something truly magical. Of course, a pool noodle can be used in any waterbody as a flotation device. The best, in my opinion is for swimming in a beautiful location, where the pool noodle, eliminates the need to physically keep oneself afloat. You can then drift along, enjoying the serenity and the magnificent surroundings. This is particularly useful in fresh water situations where you have less buoyancy than in salt water.

Pool Noodle. Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_noodle

Here is a list of stunning places around Australia where you should not forget your pool noodle! Float away, chillax, feel the serenity and marvel at the scenery. This list is not in any particular order because honestly, I could not order them. They are all truly special places!

ORMISTON GORGE, TJORITJA / WEST MACDONNELL NATIONAL PARK, NT

In this part of Australia, you are almost certainly going to be hot, hot, hot! Cool off with a refreshing swim in Ormiston Gorge. In fact, take care, some parts are so cold, you can get hypothermia! Lay back with your pool noodle and look at the sculptural, red rock bordering this swimming spot. Feel special because the vast majority of people in this world will never get remote enough to enjoy this unique place.

Ormiston Gorge

LAKE ARGYLE, NEAR KUNUNURRA, WA

For a closer look at Lake Argyle and the dam, head to Lake Argyle Resort. Bear in mind, despite the vastness of the lake from the various vantage points in this area, the actual lake is much, much bigger and cannot be seen in it’s totality from the ground. From the resort there are walking trails that take you down to Lake Argyle where you can swim. There are freshwater crocodiles in the lake but there are much more timid when compared to their saltwater counterparts.

Lake Argyle- only a tiny part, the vast majority cannot be seen from this vantage point.

LELIYN (EDITH FALLS), NITMILUK NATIONAL PARK, NT

In this delightful spot, there is a huge waterbody and a waterfall at the far end. Despite how hot the climate is, the water feels almost too cold when you first get in. It’s quite a long swim to get a closer look at the waterfall but don’t worry, you have your pool noodle to make the journey easier!

Edith Falls. Image from https://www.ourterritory.com/katherine_region/edith_falls.htm

EMMA GORGE AT EL QUESTRO, WA

Venturing out from Kununurra, it is worth making a day trip to Emma Gorge. This is the only site in the El Questro area readily accessible to 2WD. The hike to the waterhole takes about an hour and is quite rugged in parts. It’s worth it for the spectacular landscape on the way as well as the magical, cool, waterhole. Coming upon this beautiful waterhole at Emma Gorge makes the sweaty hike worthwhile. Swimming is OK in the cool, refreshing waters of the waterhole but beware a resident freshwater crocodile! To the right most side of the waterhole is a small thermal spring which is lovely if the water is getting too cold for you.

Emma Gorge

KATHERINE HOT SPRINGS, KATHERINE, NT

These natural thermal springs are within the town of Katherine. They are a lovely spot to relax after a long day of driving or sightseeing.

Katherine Hot Springs

THE GROTTO, WYNDHAM, WA

On the way to Wyndham, a “must see” stop is The Grotto. There is a hike down of 144 steps to get to a gorgeous, refreshing swimming hole. This is really a special place!

The Grotto

ELLERY CREEK BIG HOLE, TJORITJA / WEST MACDONNELL NATIONAL PARK, NT

This is a spectacular waterhole. Imagine swimming, dwarfed by these immense red cliffs towering over you on either side. Float around with your pool noodle and ponder our minuscule existence against geological time!

Ellery Creek Big Hole

BITTER SPRINGS, ELSEY NATIONAL PARK, MATARANKA, NT

Firstly, the picture below, does not do this location justice. It’s far more beautiful, if you can be believe it. The water is crystal clear and naturally, an unbelievable shade of blue-green. The waterhole is shaped like a “L” with a gentle current flowing in one direction. It’s a hot spring so the water is a lovely temperature. The thing to do is to get in at one end and drift gently downstream with the current. As you drift along, admire the scenery in the dappled light filtered through the palm fronds on either side. When you reach the other end, get out, and walk back to the start and float gently downstream again! Repeat! Bliss!

This spot can get busy so if you are after that perfect photograph, best to select an off-peak time to visit.

Bitter Springs. Image from https://lovefamilylifetravel.com/mataranka-hot-springs/

BERRY SPRINGS NATURE PARK, NT

At the start, I said I could not order the places but I didn’t say that I couldn’t pick a favourite!! My favorite place to take my pool noodle is the waterholes at Berry Springs Nature Park. This gorgeous spot is only a 40 minute drive from Darwin CBD. Take a picnic and your pool noodle. There are toilet facilities. This place does not allow swimming in the wet season due to crocodiles but as dry season approaches, the rangers trap them and open the waterhole when it is deemed safe. Check on their website to confirm they are open before driving over.

Make a day of it by visiting Territory Wildlife Park to see some local wildlife. My hot tip if you do visit this park is to attend all the daily talks and presentations. They are all excellent and in particular, the bird show is sensational! You can also visit Crazy Acres nearby for some locally made mango icecream using locally grown mangoes! End your busy day with a nice meal at Berry Springs Tavern or Darwin River Tavern. Both are very good.

In Berry Springs Nature Park, there are three areas to swim. There are 2 large pools and a smaller section with a waterfall. There are steps or a ladder to enter each of these sections. The areas can be quite busy on weekends or school holidays. You can enter into any one of these sections and swim or float to the other sections. There are so many stiflingly hot and humid days in this part of Australia that the cooling effect of getting into the water is simply divine! It’s such a special spot and with your pool noodle, you won’t have to work on staying afloat. You can just take it all in!

Berry Springs Waterfall. Image from https://nt.gov.au/parks/find-a-park/berry-springs-nature-park
Berry Springs Pool 1. Image from https://nt.gov.au/parks/find-a-park/berry-springs-nature-park
Berry Springs Pool 2. Image from https://nt.gov.au/parks/find-a-park/berry-springs-nature-park

Do you know any super special secret waterholes? Care to share?

What is Australian Cuisine?

This is a question without an easy answer. Australians are a mixture of the Indigenous Aborigines who have inhabited the land for the last 50,000 years, the descendants of the white settlers and the waves of immigrants that have chosen to settle and make a home here. This diversity in people has led to a diversity in food. Aussies are pretty adventurous with food because we are exposed to foods from different cultures on a regular basis and the geographic isolation of Australia, makes long overseas trips a rite of passage for most young Aussies. Travelling gives people a more open minded view to all kinds of things and food is no exception.

What does the average Aussie household eat for dinner? This obviously depends a lot on their particular individual heritage. Generalizing however, it can be safe to say that these dishes are popular and would be on rotation in many households.

  • Italian Lasagna
  • Thai Green or Red Curry
  • Mexican (Tex-Mex) Dishes e.g. nachos, tacos
  • Indian Curries e.g. butter chicken, beef vindaloo
  • Asian style stir fries
  • Italian(ish) Spag Bol (i.e. Spaghetti Bolognese)
  • BBQ (sausages, lamb/pork chops, steak, chicken skewers) and salad (green salad, potato salad)
  • Fish and Chips

And for the kids, it seems like chicken nuggets are very popular!

Popular things for breakfast are Weet-Bix and Vegemite on Toast. Weet-Bix is a whole grain cereal formed into blocks. It’s very economical to purchase at the supermarket and also healthy. Eat with milk, otherwise it will be chokingly dry!

Weet-Bix-Original. Image from https://weetbix.com.au/products/weet-bix/original/

A discussion of Australian cuisine has to address native foods that have been eaten in this country for thousands of years. There are lots of them (e.g. quandong, finger lime, lemon myrtle, etc.) however, I am not an expert and to be honest, except for the macadamia nut, they are mostly, not in wide circulation, in the general population. The awareness of native ingredients has really burgeoned in the last few years as some of these ingredients purport amazing nutritional benefits e.g. Davidson Plum. Some restaurants are starting to include these ingredients in their dishes and there are often markets stalls selling products made using these native ingredients. Nevertheless, these types of food generally haven’t managed to achieve wide appeal.

The macadamia nut is a must-try as it comes from a plant indigenous to Australia and has been commercially cultivated since the 1880s. It has a high fat content and a sweet, creamy, buttery flavour. It is a little softer than other nuts. It can also be pricey to purchase. Best to purchase with shell removed, because the spherical shell is very close to indestructible.

The following sections will cover foods that you can really only get in Australia. There are foods which are stocked in every Australian supermarket, savoury foods and sweet treats. There are also some foods which despite not being specific to Australia, have become part of the psyche of being an Australian or have attained some cultural significance.

Aussie Foods You Can Buy at the Supermarket

These are all commonly available at any Australian supermarket

Vegemite

No visitor to Australia can rightly say they have experienced the country without trying Vegemite. Firstly, a few words of warning. This is NOT Nutella. Vegemite is NOT SWEET. Do NOT spread it generously on your toast or eat it by the spoonful from the jar. You are CRAZY and will HATE IT! Vegemite has a salty, umami flavour. It is very high in Vitamin B’s and is made from a yeast extract. (The British equivalent is Marmite.) For those new to the country, it’s best not to buy a whole jar as it is certainly an acquired taste. This is a staple in most Australian households and they will be happy to allow you to try a little mostly because the reactions from first timers are usually hilarious.

Recommendation: Butter your toasted bread and take a little vegemite on the tip of your knife and spread it very thinly over your toast. It’s OK if you don’t like it at first. Most Aussies grew up eating Vegemite every day for breakfast. You can build up to it bit by bit.

Vegemite. Image from https://vegemite.com.au/our-range/

Tim Tam

Unlike Vegemite, it is absolutely impossible not to love Tim Tams! These are two biscuits which sandwich a cream filling and entirely covered in chocolate. These are Australia’s most loved chocolate biscuit. If you bring these for your overseas relatives or even to your work morning tea, everyone is your friend!!

Recommendation: Just eat them! They are yum! After you have demolished your first packet in the original flavour, you can try their other flavour variations or try the Tim Tam Slam. To do a Tim Tam Slam, you bite off opposite corners of a Tim and Tam and use it as a straw to suck a hot beverage through e.g. coffee or hot chocolate. The biscuit softens as the hot beverage channels through it into you mouth. Pop the whole lot in your mouth before it softens to the point of total disintegration!

Tim Tam Original. Image from https://www.arnotts.com/products/tim-tam/classic/original

Fantales

Fantales are an iconic Australia lolly. Lolly is the Australian way of saying sweets or candy. Fantales are chocolate covered chewy caramels. The wrapper of the lolly is literally a “fan tale” i.e. a brief biography of movie stars.

Recommendation: These are a chewy delight! Best not to pop one in your mouth if you want to say something in the next few minutes because your mouth will be glued shut dealing with all this deliciously chewy, chocolatey, caramel-ley yumminess!

Packet of Fantales. Image from https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/348170/allen-s-fantales-family-bag-lollies

Cherry Ripe

Onwards from Australia’s most iconic lolly to Australia’s most iconic chocolate bar. The honour goes to the Cherry Ripe. This is a bar of cherries and coconut wrapped in dark chocolate. This is Australia’s oldest chocolate bar dating back to 1924.

Recommendation: These are lovely, especially with the dark chocolate exterior.

Cherry Ripe. Image from https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/320108/cadbury-cherry-ripe

Arnott’s shapes

These are a line of very popular savoury biscuits. Flavours include BBQ, Pizza, Savoury, Chicken Crimpy and many others. These come in boxes which are great for a snack during a long road trip or to stash in your luggage if you fear starving in a foreign country. They are also sold in small packets which are usually used for kids lunchboxes. These are very common at Australian parties, served up in a bowl to nibble on. New and/or limited edition flavours are regularly released.

Recommendation: My guess would be that the most loved Shapes flavour was a toss up between BBQ and Pizza but the internet tells me that, based on a poll, Chicken Crimpy has been officially voted the best flavour!

Arnott’s Shapes. Image from https://www.taste.com.au/articles/arnotts-shapes-most-popular-flavour-pizza-bbq/lqcc6w19

Savoury Aussie Foods

Aussie meats

There are many jokes about being the only population that will eat our coat of arms. The Australian coat of arms features the emu and the kangaroo. Whilst the consumption of kangaroo meat is commonplace, it is much harder to find emu meat.

Kangaroo meat is highly nutritious. It’s very lean and is high in protein and iron. Kangaroos are plentiful in Australia so they can be harvested for meat in a sustainable way (although that doesn’t stop some people around the world from being concerned with eating them). Due to the low fat content, it is easy for kangaroo meat to be tough and chewy once cooked. It is much more suited to being slow cooked or in very fast stir fry. Kangaroo meat and meat products are sold in Australian supermarkets. It is easy to get kangaroo sausages, burger patties, steaks etc. These are healthier than their beef counterparts and much cheaper too! The only issue is their bold flavour which is stronger than either beef or lamb and can sometimes be too much! If you like the flavour, kangaroo meat is a very healthy choice for the frugal environmentalist!

Emu meat has yet to take off in Australia. It is purported to be tender, lean and high in protein and iron, making it a very healthy choice. It would be worth trying if you see a specialty butcher selling it!

Crocodile meat is quite hard to buy. I’ve only seen it sold at a crocodile park or at a few restaurants. It tastes and looks like a cross between chicken and fish. There are no shortage of crocodiles in the Northern parts of the country, but crocodile meat and leather products are only obtained from crocodile farms.

Feral camels are a pest in outback Australia. There is a large population of them roaming wild in the outback. As they are not indigenous, they damage the land and can foul waterholes. Unfortunately, despite this, camel meat is not widely consumed in Australia. It is generally only consumed amongst people of Middle Eastern and African heritage who have come from a culture of eating camel meat. This is hopefully changing as evidence by the Lakemba Ramadan Night Markets in Sydney where the queue for camel burgers snaked a great distance down the street.

Barramundi

Barramundi is a salt and freshwater fish which is native to Australia. It is a tasty eating fish as it has a mild flavour and lovely white flesh. You can buy fillets from Australian supermarkets and it is often on the menu at Australian restaurants. I find barramundi a little hit and miss. It is easy to overcook and can be dry. When cooked perfectly, it is a really beautiful eating fish.

Barramundi are also prized by the fishing community. In the Northern Territory, there is an annual competition held every year called “Million Dollar Fish” where people fish for “barra” in the hopes of reeling in the tagged fish that will win them 1 million dollars! No one has yet caught the million dollar fish and there are currently 8 of them swimming in the Northern Territory waterways, waiting to be caught (or possibly having already been caught by a big croc). There are smaller prizes with some people having caught barramundi fish tagged to win them $10,000.

Meat pie with Tomato Sauce

The first thing that came to mind when someone asked me what is Australian food recently was Meat Pie with Tomato Sauce. It is somewhat embarrassing to say because it isn’t a high class culinary delight and is often subjected to a lot of derision about being filled with “snouts and arses.” There are often rumours that the low quality meat pies are filled with mystery parts and waste meat. Nevertheless, the humble meat pie is an Australian food icon, and in fact with the growing sophistication of the Australian food scene, there are some really great pies now available.

It is available in every fuel station as it is a great favourite of truck drivers, trades people and road-trippers. It is also available at sporting events to be consumed with a pint of icy cold beer whilst cheering on your favourite team. Australian bakeries often enter competitions to be bestowed the coveted prize of having the best meat pie. The basic version is pie of flaky pastry in a portion for one filled with diced or mince meat with a rich brown gravy. Many variations exist but for newbies, you should always try the original first. Variations include curry chicken pies, steak pies, pepper steak pies, steak and mushroom pies, steak and kidney pies, lamb pies, bacon and egg pies, scallop pies etc. The list of variations is only limited by the imagination of the baker.

Plenty of parties and morning teas would be incomplete in Australia without some party pies and sausage rolls. Party pies are small, two bite version of the standard size meat pie.

Recommendation: Support a small town bakery by buying a good quality pie. Don’t forget to pay extra for tomato sauce. The tangy bite of the tomato sauce cuts through the richness of the meat gravy and is absolutely essential.

Meat Pie. Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_pie_(Australia_and_New_Zealand)

BurgerS with Beetroot

One final thing to end this savoury section. Australia must be the only place that puts a piece of canned, sliced beetroot into their burgers. This is not found in all burgers but when you see a burger called an Aussie burger or similar, the “Aussie” part is the addition of the beetroot.

Recommendation: Don’t knock it till you try it, then you can quickly try and forget about the whole embarrassing experience. You might not be able to if you have stained your clothes with beetroot juice! The addition of beetroot adds a nice tang to the burger to balance out the richness of the meat.

Sweet Treats

ANZAC BiSCUITS

ANZAC stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The Anzac biscuit is a sweet biscuit made with golden syrup, oats, flour, sugar, baking soda and butter. There is an ongoing debate as to whether they should be crispy or chewy but they are delicious either way.

The story is that these biscuits were sent by wives and women’s groups to soldiers abroad in World War 1 because they do not spoil during the long journey. Another story is that these biscuits were baked and sold to raise money for the war effort which led to them being called Anzac biscuits.

Recommendation: Make your own at home or buy them from a bakery or the bakery section at Coles or Woolies (Woolworths). These bikkies (biscuits) smell of oats, butter and golden syrup and are the perfect accompaniment to your morning “cuppa”, cup of tea. They are not a flashy biscuit but the simple ingredients shine in this humble sweet treat.

Anzac Biscuits. Image from https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/traditional-anzac-biscuits-2/5229a179-7755-46ab-925a-fd55081833d8

Damper

Damper is a bread made in a cast iron pot with a lid, called a camp oven. The pot would be covered with hot coals from the campfire. It is usually made with flour, salt, water and soda as the leavening agent. It was traditionally prepared by early European settlers to Australia.

Recommendation: Damper is quite easy to make and should be attempted whilst camping. If you don’t have a camp oven, you can wrap some of the dough around a stick and hold it over the fire. It is most delicious fresh and warm from the fire and with some golden syrup as the traditional topping. Variations can be made with the addition of sultanas to the dough or savoury ingredients to make it a savoury bread. Share it warm with your new-found camping friends because the next day, it will likely be hard as rock!

Damper in a Camp Over. Image from https://www.freecampingaustralia.com.au/cooking/recipes/breads/camp-oven-damper.html

Fairy bread

No Australian kid’s party would be complete without fairy bread. This is white bread spread with margarine and sprinkled with multicoloured sprinkles called “hundreds and thousands”. This colourful creation dates back to the 1920s in Australia. It’s inexpensive to make and kids love it, but has almost no nutritional value!

Recommendation: There is probably no need to try this one unless it is in front of you. You can imagine what is would taste like with the white bread and the slightly crunchy, sweet sprinkles. It taste like childhood when life was just simple and sweet!

Fairy Bread. Image from https://www.sweetestmenu.com/fairy-bread/

Vanilla slice

A vanilla slice is a sweet treat where vanilla custard is sandwiched between two layers of puff pastry. The vanilla slice is sometimes called a “snot block” but that’s not very nice considering how decadent a simple vanilla slice can taste. It has been compared to the French mille-feuille but the Australian vanilla slice is a much more humble treat.

Recommendation: This is a must try because you will love it! Support a small town country bakery and buy a vanilla slice to try! Extra points are awarded if you manage to avoid spilling squirts of custard on yourself when you bite into it.

Vanilla Slice. Image from https://www.theflavorbender.com/the-perfect-pavlova-recipe/

pavlova

And now, for the most famous Australian sweet treat, the pavlova! Yes, the debate still rages about whether pavlova originates from Australia or New Zealand. In this post, it is a much, beloved Australian dessert. Pavlova is a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar. It is topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit. It was named after the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova as this delightful confection is as light as a ballerina.

Be aware not to mix up a pavlova with meringue. Whilst both are a combination of whipped egg whites and sugar, meringues are baked until they are crispy and airy throughout. The beauty of the pavlova is the crisp exterior and the soft marshmallow-like interior.

It is traditional to have pavlova at Christmas time. They are a perfect light dessert to have on a hot summer Christmas day after a big main meal. They can be made ahead of time and stored in an air tight container. Cream and fruit should always be applied at the last minute so the pavlova stays crunchy on the outside. Traditional pavlova is topped with kiwifruit, strawberries and passionfruit although variations are unlimited. Homemade pavlovas almost always crack or sag during or after baking . They will never look as good as store bought pavlova’s. Nevertheless lashings of whipped cream and fresh fruit will hide every sin and your homemade pavlova will still taste awesome and be the hit of the party.

Recommendation: Trying a pavlova is an absolute must in Australia. It tastes of sweetness and fresh fruit, with the irresistible contrast of the crunchy exterior and soft interior. It is mostly air so it’s very light and easy to eat even after a rich, heavy meal.

You could purchase one from a bakery. It is reasonably easy to make one. It may not be beautiful but it will be tasty. An electric beater is highly recommended although it is possible to whip those egg whites by hand if you are willing to take on the challenge. The key thing is to ensure all your bowls and beaters etc. are spotlessly clean otherwise your egg whites won’t firm up. The alternative is to buy a pre-made pavlova from the supermarket. Whip up some cream and cut up some seasonal fruits to decorate.

Pavlova. Image from https://www.theflavorbender.com/the-perfect-pavlova-recipe/

Foods With a Cultural Significance

There are some food in Australia which we cannot claim to “own” but has a cultural significance and is part of the psyche of being an Australian.

The Bunnings Sausage Sizzle

The weekend has come! Finally! Time to get on with some chores around the garden and the house. Then you find that you’re missing an essential tool – this calls for a Bunnings Run! Bunnings is a nation-wide chain of stores (practically a monopoly) selling hardware, plants and other household items. It’s massive and it is a common joke that most people go into Bunnings to buy one thing and come out with ten things! Nevertheless, a weekend trip to Bunnings in the morning is usually accompanied by the smell of barbecuing snags (sausages) and onions. For a few dollars, you can get a slice of bread, a snag, some cooked onions and a squirt of sauce. Just perfect to keep you from being “hangry” and to help you stay focus on your weekend job list! The sausage sizzle stall will usually be run by a charity organisation and the profits from your sausage sizzle will go to a good cause (better buy two of them then).

Never underestimate the power of a sausage sizzle! At the last Australian election, a contender for prime minister made the news by being photographed eating his sausage sizzle from the side of the sausage instead of the end! This confused the Australian public and may have hurt his chances in the election as it made him look totally out of touch with the humble, working class.

Recommendation: It’s not fancy, high class food but it is only a few dollars and it’s an Australian tradition. So try one!

Bunnings Sausage Sizzle. Image from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6145595/Bunnings-reveals-secret-perfect-sausage-sizzle.html

Smashed Avo

Smashed “avo” or avocado hit the news in a big way in 2017 when a demographer commented in an opinion piece that young people should not be ordering smashed avo in cafes at $22 a pop but be putting that money towards a house deposit instead. This started a furious debate about housing affordability in Australia as millennials took great offence. Regardless of the housing affordability debate, smashed avo is a tasty dish with a multitude of variations. The only common thread is bread of some kind and smooshed up avocado. There could be an egg on top or fetta mixed through, or chilli flakes etc.

Recommendations: Avocado is an expensive fruit. Buy it at the supermarket when the price is good, anything around $1 per fruit is OK, and smash it into some good bread. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper and et voila, homemade smashed avo.

Smashed Avo with Fetta and Tomatoes. Image from https://www.goodfood.com.au/recipes/the-fat-smashed-avocado-and-feta-on-toast-recipe-20161019-gs5sm9

Coffee

Australians are very proud of their coffee. It is a known fact that Australian cafe’s make the best coffees in the world (or so some would say.) This is the reason that the American coffee behemoth, Starbucks just cannot get a decent foothold in the Australian market. Australians are much too discerning with their coffee. No café will survive in Australia if it cannot make a decent coffee. Australians seem unable to start the day without their caffeine injection and it cannot just be any rubbish. White collar workers are often seen in the mornings, lining the sidewalk at their favourite hole-in the-wall cafe. They have spurned the free coffee they can have in their office kitchens to walk out, rain or shine, to spend $4 to $6 on a barista made coffee.

The coffee language in Australia is also quite complex. Types of coffees include the flat white, latte, double espresso and the long mac which has a different meaning in different states. Errors with a person’s coffee order can result in even the most mild mannered Australian to turn into a ranting cranky-pants. This is not to mention the multitudes of different milks there are.

Recommendations: If you are coffee drinker, cafes are everywhere and many are lovely small businesses. Support them and enjoy your coffee!

Flat White Coffee. Image from https://www.baristainstitute.com/how/how-make-flat-white

Chicken Parmi

After 14 months of road-tripping around Australia, what is the dish that is served in the pub of every small town, right across this massive country? It’s the chicken parmigiana! Chicken Parmigiana or Parmi or Parma or Parmy is served up with a side of chips and salad is a pub stable around Australia. It is a chicken breast pounded flat, crumbed and fried into a schnitzel. This is then topped with tomato sauce and melted cheese. Sometimes there is a slice of ham under the cheese as well. It’s a delicious and filling dish with the crunchy chicken schnitzel, tangy tomato sauce and rich, melty cheese. There is also a “wow!” factor when receiving a good pub parmi. Sometimes the chef will beat a large chicken breast so flat and wide that the resulting schnitzel is as big as a large dinner plate!

Even though Chicken Parmigiana sounds like an Italian dish, it is not a dish traditionally made in Italy. This is similar to why spaghetti bolognaise can’t be found in Italy and why butter chicken is not actually from India. Chicken Parmi may have originated from a breaded eggplant or breaded veal dish in Italy. Chicken Parm was originated in the US from Italian immigrants before coming to Australia in the 1950s. These days, Chicken Parmi is a staple on all Australian pub menus and there is fierce competition between pubs to be crowned as the one serving the best parmi!

Whilst researching this section, to my surprise, there is a debate about whether the chips for a parmi should be served on the side or underneath the crumbed chicken! I had no idea! I think the chips are best on the side so they stay crisp but sometimes the parmi is so large that there is no choice but to put them underneath!

Recommendation: When ordering food in a small country pub, steer away from exotic sounding dishes and veer towards the pub staples of a chicken parmi and chips or steak and chips. The pub likely serves many servings of these in a day and they will usually be good. The chicken parmi is so ubiquitous, good value, filing and damn tasty, there is no reason not to partake in a few accompanied with some cold beers when visiting Australia.

Chicken Parmigiana. Image from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-05/chicken-parmigiana-helping-drought-affected-farmers-at-the-irym/11277578?nw=0

The Aussie BBQ

Having a BBQ is synonymous with the laid back Australian lifestyle. Do not mistake the Australia BBQ with the American style BBQs. American BBQs are all about cooking low and slow with complex rubs and marinades. They are much more long winded. Aussie BBQs are more about speed and slapping some dinner on the table quickly. Often times, a quick dinner would be to chuck some protein on the BBQ and whip up a quick salad. Most households would have their own BBQ. If you go to a friend’s house for a meal, it is quite likely to be a barbie (BBQ) as it is a very easy way to feed a crowd. It’s easy to cook a heap of meat on the barbie and put out some bread, salads and sauces on the table. Job done, dinner served, let’s get into the beers!

Common items cooked on the BBQ include sausages, steaks, pork chops, lamb chops and chicken skewers. More adventurous foodies may cook a whole fish wrapped in foil, corn, haloumi, beer-can chicken, vegetarian skewers and prawns. It is not uncommon to smell BBQ at dinner time wherever there are people in Australia. There are likely to be beers there too!

For some strange reason, cooking on the barbie in Australia is the domain of men whilst the women make the salads. In an Australian barbie, it is not uncommon to see a group of men clustered around the BBQ, with beers in hand, engaging in some banter, usually speculating about whether the sausages are cooked enough. In contrast, the women will be grouped together with wine glasses in hand having a chat. This is a generalisation of course, but have a look next time you are at a barbie. Am I right?

Recommendations: Free gas powered BBQs are available in many parks and caravan parks around Australia. So chuck some snags or chops on the barbie, get your friends together, crack open a beer and enjoy the laid back Aussie lifestyle.

Aussie BBQ. Image from https://www.australian-information-stories.com/australian-bbq.html

Beer

Australians and Beer go hand in hand. Australians drink a lot of beer and beer drinking is quite an integral part of being Australian. Beers lubricate plenty of social events e.g. sporting matches, house parties etc. A BBQ in a friend’s home is almost certainly to have an esky filled with ice to keep the beers cool. If you are invited to a BBQ in Australia, it’s usually polite to turn up with some beers (or other drinks) and maybe some nibbles e.g. a pack of chips, dips, cheese etc. This reduces the load and cost on the host and it’s just nice to turn up with something to share.

Due to the hot climate, beers in Australia are served with a stubby holder. This is a cylinder made of flexible but dense foam which surrounds your beer bottle or can. It keeps the beer colder for longer and stops your hand from getting too cold.

Recommendation: When visiting Australia, go into a local country pub for a beer and parmi and soak in the atmosphere.

Wine

In recent years, the consumption of wine has exceeded the consumption of beer in Australia. This caused a great deal of consternation at the time until the nation gave a collective shrug and got on with getting wasted. Australia has become a large consumer and even larger producer of wine. Australian wine, without being burdened with a weight of tradition, has in many instances, turned out to be superior to some of the ancient wine growing regions of the world.

Recommendation: Drive around the countryside and take in the beauty of the wine regions of Australia e.g. Margaret River, Clare Valley. the Barossa Valley etc. Drop in to a winery for a sun drenched long lunch with matching wines, a wine tasting or just to look at their beautiful landscaping. Disappointingly, wine tasting at vineyards now often attracts a fee, but if you ask around you may be able to find one which still offers the service gratis. The wine tasting charge accrues twice, since once you’ve paid to sample the product, you then get the privilege of paying a premium price for your bottle(s) over and above what you would be charged if you went to one of the many liquor stores around the country.

Sunday Roast

It is not uncommon for families to get-together on a Sunday for a roast. Of the various meats that can be roasted, an Australian favourite would be roast lamb. A whole leg of lamb, pierced in places to stuff it with cloves of garlic and rosemary, rubbed with olive oil and slow roasted till it is falling off the bone. Served with gravy made with the lovely, meaty juices and all the usual vegetable sides.

A pork roast with crispy crackling is also very popular.

Recommendation: Craving a roast without the effort, most pubs will do a Sunday roast special.

Leg of Lamb Roast. Image from https://www.australianlamb.com.au/recipes/thyme-and-garlic-lamb-leg-roast/

Summer Christmas

For many Northern Hemisphere travelers to Australia, one of strangest things is to celebrate Christmas in the height of the Aussie summer. Australian Christmas foods and traditions are therefore a little different from the cold, winter Christmas celebrated in the northern hemisphere. Christmas in Australia might be celebrated with a luxurious picnic on the beach to cool off and enjoy the weather. Usual Christmas foods here are lighter and cooler to account for the extremely hot weather. No one wants to slave over a hot oven on a hot day and turn the house into a sauna on Christmas day. As a result, seafood such as prawns, oysters and salmon are very popular on Christmas day, as well as cooking outside on the BBQ so the house stays cool. This might be accompanied with salads which are more luxurious than normal perhaps including smoked salmon or stone fruit. The cherries are in top condition around Christmas time as are the mangoes, peaches, nectarines and apricots. Dessert will usually be a lovely, light, fruit topped pavlova.

Recommendation: What is not to love about summer in Australia? Blue skies, beach days and Christmas holidays! Enjoy it!

Salmon Bay Rottnest

Conclusion – so what is Australian Cuisine?

It could be said that Australia is a cultural desert when it comes to it’s own distinctly, identifiable cuisine. I prefer to think of Australian cuisine as a reflection of its island geography and its diverse people. Here is the diversity and beauty of Australian cuisine wrapped up in a series of observations

  • Smelling BBQ wafting in the evening air and friendly people waving to you with a beer in hand.
  • Eating oysters in Coffin Bay right by the ocean where I can see them being grown.
  • Crowding with the Australian Asian aunties in the humid Rapid Creek Markets in Darwin haggling over the best local produce the tropical climate can provide.
  • Savouring plump, perfect, local, dark cherries in Tasmania at the Salamanca Markets in Hobart.
  • Having a noisy discussion with your friends about whether to have Thai, Mexican, Malaysian, Seafood, Vietnamese, Tapas, Indian for dinner tonight! Too many delicious choices!
  • Eating a whole trout in a riverside brewery caught just a little further downstream.
  • Seeing some white Australian kids ordering Shanghai soup dumplings using their Mandarin name, “Xiao Long Bao” with a perfect accent and without a shred of awkwardness at a Chinatown Night Market stall in Sydney.
  • Eating fresh fish and chips by the water whilst watching the sunset with friends.
  • Going home to family and tasting the authentic dishes of my heritage.

This is Australia’s food culture – diverse, delicious and fresh. We are so lucky! Happy Eating my dear readers! Food is life and love and all things good so enjoy it!

Are there some aspect of Australian food that I have missed? Let me know!

Blue Mountains – a worthy major attraction!

The Blue Mountains, a mere hour out of Sydney and also accessible by public transport, is a major attraction in this part of Australia and justifiably so. The scenery is simply impressive. On the days we were there, it had been raining solidly for weeks so we were lucky to see the waterfalls engorged with water which made up for the grey, overcast skies.

Unfortunately, I felt the visit was marred by a few negative aspects. The visitors centre was hopeless. After such recent bad weather, we were relying on them to tell us which walks were open and which ones were closed due to bad weather. They were unable to do this. This should have been one of their fundamental functions as it has a safety consequence. Only a few days prior to our visit, there was an emergency rescue of people who were stuck on a trail closed due to weather damage.

Also, beware, there is only paid parking near the visitors centre and it wasn’t cheap! This is annoying as the visitors centre is the trailhead for many of the most famous walking trails for the Blue Mountains. After lapping Australia and enjoying free parking in all but the absolute centre of the major capital cities, this was a disappointment and a shock.

The signage on the walking trails were also a bit confusing for such a major attraction.

Nevertheless, as you can see from my photos, this area is absolutely magnificent.

Lucky to be there on the first fine day after weeks of rain. The waterfalls were at their voluminous best!
Spectacular waterfalls engorged with a lot of recent rain
This rock looks like the spiky back of a dinosaur!
Despite the overcast day, this was still a spectacular view.
Blue Mountains
Three Sisters, Blue Mountains
Blue Mountains
Blue Mountains

Roma Saleyards and the Origin of Oil and Gas in Australia

With a population of about 7000 people, the town of Roma has a couple of claims to fame. Firstly, it is the location where the first oil and gas industry originated in Australia. Secondly, it hosts the largest cattle selling centre in Australia.

The Big Rig in Roma, is the major tourist attraction in town. Learn the story of how oil and gas first flowed into the nation. There is good historical information as well as old machinery, rigs and equipment to look at.

We were extremely disappointed to be unable to time our trip to Roma to catch the weekly live cattle auctions at the saleyards on Tuesday mornings. This would have been an awesome sight as this place sells a massive number of cattle from New South Wales, Northern Territory and Queensland. There are tours of the saleyards and you can watch the live auction on Tuesday mornings. If you miss out on the live auction, there is an excellent interpretive centre which is free entry for the public. This is a modern facility and very well done. You can also wander around the empty saleyards and just marvel at the scale of this operation.

Roma Saleyards
Roma Saleyards

Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo

For animal lovers, the Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo is a great place to visit. It is quite obvious in their set-up that they prioritize the animals. They really care for the animals. Your ticket is a little pricey but allows you to visit on two consecutive days. The property is large and you can walk, cycle or drive, cars or golf buggies, through the zoo. As the property is so big, covering it all on foot (especially on a hot day) can be tiring. Golf buggies and bicycles are available for hire or you can bring your own bikes. On the first day, we cycled through the zoo. On the second day, we drove through the zoo. It is worth planning to visit on two days because you will see something different.

Even if you don’t want to pay for entry, there is a fantastic viewing area that can be accessed for free near the cafe at the front of the zoo where you can see the Spider Monkeys and Lemurs. The set-up for these animals is very well done and gives you a great view of how adept and proficient they are with living in the trees.

The zoo has a clever way of hiding the fences for the enclosures in low points so when you look at the animals, the fence is not in your line of sight. This results in great photos without a fence in the way. This is the case for the less dangerous animal. For the more dangerous animals, the fence is quite clear and give a good indication of how dangerous the animal might be. The enclosures are large and the animals look comfortable and well cared for.

You can feed the giraffes carrots at Dubbo Zoo. It’s quite something to see these elegant, tall animals dexterously extricate carrots with their long blue tongues from people’s hands.
Hippos looking to placid and harmless despite their killer reputation.
Cute Meerkat
Rhino
We were very lucky to be able to witness two Galapagos Tortoises mating.

About an hour south of Dubbo is the Peak Hill Open Cut Gold Mine. This mine only ceased production in 2002. There is a walking trail and informative signs.

Peak Hill Open Cut Gold Mine

Why VanLife is Superior to Other Forms of Travel

I’ve travelled around the world a lot – by car, plane, train, bicycle, you name it. After 14 months of travelling around Australia in a van, I feel I’m qualified to make a bold claim about Van Life: it’s the best! I consider this mode of travelling to have a lot going for it. I’m comparing it specifically to long term travel with luggage, where you often will be using public transport to get around and then paying for AirBnbs, hotels, hostels etc. I am aware there are other more luxurious ways of travelling if your wallet allows, but even for some of those alternatives, I believe VanLife is superior!

Your own bed every night!

One of the annoying things about travelling is having to get used to new beds and rooms all the time. For those of us who are light sleepers, this can result in broken sleep. In the van, we take our bedroom everywhere with us. We prioritized a high quality mattress in the van so we slept comfortably every night. The van provided us with a safe, familiar sanctuary every night. It’s a real comfort to snuggle into your own bed, with your own bedding and our night things exactly where we like them every night and have a good solid sleep. After a good night of sleep, one is always more cheerful and resilient to take on whatever the new day may bring.

No time and less money wasted looking for accommodation

Accommodation forms a large proportion of the costs when travelling. When travelling in a long term way, a lot of time can be eaten up looking for accommodation which meets all the requirements at a sensible price. Travelling with our van eliminated the constant time consuming search for decent (and appropriately priced) accommodation. The cost of camping or staying in caravan parks is also significantly cheaper than hotels or Airbnbs. Plus, we have the luxury of our own bedroom every night. Win, Win, Win!

So much flexibility

The best thing about VanLife for long term travel is flexibility. Your plans can evolve depending on the circumstances. One example is to design your plans to follow good weather. We did this and entirely avoided the winter of 2021. We enjoyed so many days of stunning, beautiful, Aussie weather. This has the added advantage of seeing all the sights at their best. Another example is avoiding rainy areas. We could see that the areas close to Sydney were experiencing floods and weeks of rain so we avoided the area until the weather improved.

Other examples of how flexible VanLife is includes;

  • Taking a nap when you are feeling tired, regardless of where you are – just pull off the road and roll into bed;
  • Moving on if a place is disappointing; and
  • Keeping an eye on the news, pre-empting and outrunning a Covid lockdown.

Self Catering

Food can be a fun part of travel but when travelling long term, it can become very tiresome, time consuming, unhealthy and expensive to constantly eat out and the ability to self cater can be limited. When travelling with luggage, we could go to the supermarket for a cheap meal but we were limited by what cooking facilities were available and the lack of even the most simple of staples e.g. oil, salt, herbs and spices. You tend to end up with stuff you can eat raw or pre-prepared food eaten cold e.g. tuna, sandwiches etc.

With the van, we had room for lots of food including the usual pantry staples like flour, rice, canned food etc. A portable burner sufficed for making hearty, filling and healthy one pot meals. It meant that we could save a lot of money on food and eat the sort of food that we liked and made us feel good. It’s not the same as a real kitchen in a house but the view is often much better and everchanging!

The other upside is the flexibility to eat when we wanted. When travelling with luggage, in a strange new city, you are often wandering around hungry and searching for the most economical place to buy decent food. With the van, we could just pull over and get out whatever we wanted to eat, whenever we wanted to eat it. No more “hangry” related issues!

Free to make your own itinerary

Traveling in the van without a strict schedule, we could design our days to our liking. This meant being able to alter our plans depending on the weather or being flexible with our plans depending on how we felt. If we woke up feeling a little under the weather, we could take an easy day. We were not restricted and tied to plans as you would be if you were part of a tour group for example.

Check out my post covering the tools you can use to help plan and managed your own road trip.

You can have more possessions on your trip vs luggage

It’s sometimes nice to carry some extra things on your trip for those times when they come in useful. Things that come to mind are tennis rackets, snorkeling gear, more clothing and shoes, your own towels and linen etc. These little things can give you more options on your trip, save some money and make a long trip more sustainable as it removes some of the discomforts of being away from home. In a van, despite being a minimalistic way of living, you can carry so much more than in a suitcase and it makes for a more comfortable way of traveling. In addition, because things are organised in cupboards and drawers, it’s much easier to get to things – beats rummaging through your suitcase to find that missing pair of socks!

Different kinds of attractions

One of the big advantages of having a vehicle is the type of attractions that are accessible vs relying on public transport e.g. buses or trains. Public transport is only economical when servicing large population centres. It will not take you to bushwalks or remote attractions. Traveling by public transport is more of a city to city, hopping affair and what you can see is more limited to city type attractions. Whilst these are fantastic, there are also plenty of natural attractions and other things to see outside of major city centres. Getting a good look at the suburbs is also a much better way to understand how the average person lives. This is why having a vehicle is so much more powerful than just using public transport.

Ready for whatever the day brings

When you are in a new place, you have no idea what you might encounter and it’s often hard to plan what you might need during the day. It’s not fun lugging around a giant backpack of stuff to cater for the “what-ifs” of the day. It’s awesome with the van because all our possessions come everywhere with us. If we come upon a lovely beach and want to swim, we have our bathers and snorkeling gear in the van. If we see a free tennis court and feel like a hit, we grab our tennis rackets and balls and off we go! If we feel like lunch, we stop and get some lunch stuff out of the fridge and pantry. We never have to think about what we need to pack for the day. If we feel like a break, we park the van, lounge in bed and chill out till we feel like moving again. I cannot think of any other form of travel that allows you this indulgence; a midday nap!

Your Van can be a Blank Canvas

If you’re handy, or if you’re learning to be handy, your van doesn’t have to be a static space which never changes. During our travels, we made a number of changes and improvements to increase our comfort and personalise our space. Youtube and Instagram are not just tools for people to encourage envy, they can also be a great source of ideas, education and amazing tips on how to get things done. Evolve the van to make it your own. It allows you to be creative and also learn new skills.

With VanLife, you can truly “Make It What you Want”!

Does this make you want to experience VanLife? Are there other advantages that I have not mentioned? If so, leave a comment.

Road-tripping the Beautiful Island of Tasmania

Tasmania is a wonderful place to do a road trip as the distances between places are not too large, there is a diversity of landscapes, the roads are decent and there are caravan parks in every small town. You can take your own vehicle from the mainland of Australia on the ferry, Spirit of Tasmania or you can hire a vehicle or campervan in Tasmania. Itineraries of various lengths are available online. We took a duration of 24 days to explore the state. As we have been to Tasmania before, we skipped a lot of the East Coast. Nevertheless, as you can see from this map, we saw a lot of the state.

Road-tripping Tasmania

Following is a day by day breakdown of our trip and the highlights of what we saw.

Day 1 – Melbourne to Devonport

The only way to get your personal vehicle over to Tasmania from the mainland is on the Spirit of Tasmania. The price for tickets however is eye-watering so before you go, consider the economics of your holiday to justify the price. For short trips, it may be cheaper to fly and hire a car or campervan than to take your own vehicle. We chose to take our van because it doubles as accommodation thereby reducing our travelling costs.

Money can be saved on the Spirit of Tasmania by timing your trip to avoid peak periods like the summer school holidays. This has the added advantage of avoiding crowds and reducing the chances of accommodation being booked out. Book your ferry ticket without the extra costs of a bedroom or a recliner. The hot tip is that if you head up to Level 9, there are couches! Make a bee-line for these when you get on the ferry and commandeer these so you can have a comfy snooze during the long 9 to 11 hour journey.

Food and drink is available for purchase on the long ferry ride but to save money, BYO your own food and drink. You can bring a flask of hot water or there was free hot water available at the coffee maker at The Pantry onboard. Quarantine restrictions on fruit and vegetables is strict on the way over to Tasmania but bringing our own food added only very minimal extra time and hassle to the trip.

Check the weather before you go and be prepared with seasickness prevention strategies. On both legs of our journey, we were lucky with reasonable weather. The sea was not too choppy.

The ferry ride to and from Tasmania takes a long! time It goes for about 9 to 11 hours and for most of the trip, there is no mobile data signal. There is a paid cinema onboard but you should be prepared with your own ways to pass the time e.g. a novel, movies, knitting, snacks etc.

The queue to get onto the Spirit of Tasmania
Spirit of Tasmania

When you get to Tasmania, consider if you need to buy a National Park pass. Visiting National Parks in Australia is usually an economical way to see some sights. The costs for most states and territories is about $15/vehicle/day. Most national parks in NSW and Victoria are actually free to visit. By contrast, the National Parks in Tasmania charge $40/vehicle/day. If you intend to visit a few, the cost will add up. We purchased a 2 month pass for $80. This was a worthwhile purchase as a significant proportion of Tasmania is considered National Parks and if you have made your way over for visit, it would be disappointing not to see all the natural sights.

Day 2 – Devonport

The Spirit of Tasmania docks in Devonport. Before heading straight off for your trip, take some time to explore this area. It’s hilly with dark, fertile soils. This productive farmland is perfect for growing vegetables, potatoes and poppies. These poppy fields are easy to identify when driving past as they are surrounded by barbed wire fences and stern signs. Tasmania is one of the world’s largest legal producers of poppies for pharmaceuticals. The vegetation and farm land gives this area a feel reminiscent of the UK.

Mersey Bluff Lighthouse, Devonport
Poppy Fields, near Devonport, Tasmania.
Tasmania is a global leader in poppy growing to supply the pharmaceutical industry for medications like morphine and codeine. These poppy fields were plentiful especially in the rich soils of the north of Tasmania. They are always surrounded by a barbed wire fence and serious warning signs.
Wollemi Pines at The Tasmanian Arboretum in Devonport. These are some of the oldest plants dating back to the time of the dinosaurs!

Day 3 – Burnie

Burnie is an industrial town. It is not a pretty touristy town, but rather a practical town with a port focused on forestry and farming. Check out the Upper Burnie Lookout for an overview of the town or do the Fern Glade Walk in the hopes of spotting a platypus. No luck on the drizzly day that we went, but a lush, fern filled walk nevertheless.

Day 4 – Stanley

My favourite place in Tasmania was Stanley. This touristy town boasts some beautiful beaches, super cute little penguins and of course The Nut. The Nut is an ancient volcanic plug and it forms an imposing landmark to guide you into the town of Stanley. The town itself is located at the base of The Nut. It is super tidy and well kept with many charming and heritage style vacation rentals.

When in Stanley, getting to the top of The Nut is a “must do”. This can be done by chair lift or on foot. The view of the town and adjacent beaches is lovely from the top of The Nut. The beaches in Stanley are gorgeous but too cold for the usual beach activities for most of the year.

Our absolute highlight in Stanley and potentially the highlight of our entire trip to Tasmania was seeing the Little Penguins at night. These little cuties are called interchangeably Little Penguins, Fairy Penguins or Blue Penguins. In Stanley, there is a well set-up viewing area at Godfrey’s Beach where you can see these penguins come home at night from a day out at sea. The penguin viewing area is well set-up with boardwalks, informative signage and clear instructions.

It was surprising to see how many people were out to see the penguins as darkness fell. Be sure to rug up as the cold coastal winds were biting. Amazingly, despite the large number of people, everyone was compliant in using only red light to illuminate the area to spot for penguins. White light distresses them. There are similar penguin viewing set-ups in many of the coastal areas around Tasmania. They are definitely worth braving the cold to see as they are totally adorable! They also make a wide range of the most unexpected and bizarre noises. Our camping in Stanley was accompanied by the strangest variety of noises in the night due to these little creatures.

Seeing the Little Penguins were such a highlight of our stay at Stanley. This is at Godfrey’s Beach Penguin Viewing Platform. The set-up is really well done with an elevated boardwalk and informative signs. Everyone abided by the requirement to use only red light to avoid disturbing the penguins. They are super cute and such little characters! They also make a huge range of very strange and unexpected noises. There are lots of penguin viewing areas dotted around the coast of Tasmania. Rug up, brave the cold because the experience was so worth it despite being too dark to take a decent photo.
Stanley the Nut
View from Stanley the Nut
View of the town of Stanley from the Nut

On the drive to Stanley, stop near the Table Cape to check out the views and stretch your legs on a hike to Dip Falls.

Dip Falls
Views near Table Cape

Day 5 – Tarkine Drive

From Stanley, reserve a day to do the Tarkine Drive. It’s manageable for a day trip and is a sealed road through diverse landscapes like dairy country, rainforests and wild coastal areas.

The crown jewel of the Tarkine Drive is the Trowutta Arch. The reason is obvious when looking at the photos below.

Trowutta Arch State Reserve
Trowutta Arch State Reserve
Trowutta Arch, Tarkine Drive
The lush ferns at Trowutta Arch State Reserve
Breathe in the sea air as you are buffeted by winds at Couta Rocks, Tarkine Drive
Edge of the World Lookout, near Arthur River, on the Tarkine Drive. See where the tannin stained river water reaches the ocean.

Day 6 – Waratah

Waratah is a sweet little town with a population of only 245. It was once a mining boom town but no longer. It has a friendly main strip. The picturesque Waratah River runs through it and claims to have platypus in it. There is also the spectacular Waratah Falls right in the centre of town. Due to it’s proximity to Cradle Mountain, the Tarkine Drive and Burnie, this little town is worth a visit.

Waratah Falls

Day 7 – Cradle Mountain National Park

Before dashing out of Waratah to head to Cradle Mountain, it is worth a small detour to see Philosopher Falls. It’s a multi tiered waterfall with a well maintained, lush, rainforest walking track.

Philosopher Falls

No trip to Tasmania is complete without visiting the Cradle Mountain National Park. As it is the most popular national park in Tasmania, it has excellent signage and infrastructure throughout. It is probably experiencing a lull during the pandemic without busloads of tourists. Our visit was only for about 5 hours as camping in this national park books out early during school holidays and is very expensive. We drove in, tried to squeeze in as many hikes as possible and headed out afterwards to Tullah for the night.

Cradle Mountain National Park
Cradle Mountain National Park
Wombat at Cradle Mountain National Park – this guy was really brazen and busy doing it’s thing and ignoring all of us! Check out the cubic scats (poops) just beside it. Wombats produce cubic scats! How amazing!
Cradle Mountain National Park
Cradle Mountain National Park – super pricey to get in but excellent infrastructure. This national park must be one of the most visited places in Tasmania.
Tullah Lakeside Lodge – An unexpectedly wonderful end to a day of hiking. We camped overlooking this gorgeous lake and had a great meal at the lodge.

Day 8 – Strahan

Onwards to picturesque Strahan, which is pronounced in a way that rhymes with lawn. On the way, stop off at one of the highest waterfalls in Tasmania. At 104m, Montezuma falls is quite a spectacle. When in Strahan, the Gordon River Cruises were highly recommended but were totally booked out. Visit the Morrison’s Huon Pine Sawmill for a free tour at 3pm for an interesting look at saw milling, the old fashioned way.

Suspension Bridge – Montezuma Falls Walk
Montezuma Falls
Strahan

Day 9 – Queenstown

After so much natural beauty thus far on our journey around Tasmania, the areas around Queenstown provided a stark contrast. Queenstown was once a mining boom town. Unfortunately, these areas have been denuded by over-mining and copper smelting. The trees were cut down to fuel the mine’s furnaces and the sulphur fumes from the copper smelters caused plants to die. As a result, the area looks like a “moonscape” and the tops of the hills are sad and barren as a reminder of what can happen when mining is performed without care for the impact on the environment. These pictures don’t show how shocking the landscape looks. With time, the land will heal and signs of the nature creeping back is evident.

Spion Kopf Lookout
Iron Blow Lookout near Queenstown

Day 10 – Mount Field National Park

Onwards to the most unexpected find of the trip, Mount Field National Park. On the way to this national park, stop off at Nelson Falls and Donaghy Hill Nature Trail for a stretch break.

Nelson Falls
Donaghys Hill Lookout

Mount Field National Park is very close to the city of Hobart yet it feels like different planet. The highlight is the walk that boasts three impressive waterfalls, Russell Falls, Horseshoe Falls and Lady Barron Falls.

Russell Falls, Mount Field National Park
Lady Barron Falls
Horseshoe Falls, Mount Field National Park

The camping at this national park is excellent. Serene riverside camping is available as well as hot showers! The whole area is lovely and picturesque.

Riverfront Camping at Mount Field National Park
Mount Field National Park – very close to Hobart. A wonderful place to camp with great waterfalls and walking trails.

Day 11, 12, 13, 14 – Hobart

Hobart is a very pretty albeit hilly city. The Tasman Bridge and the surrounding view looks magnificent on a fine day. The area around Constitution Dock is lovely. Their botanic garden is very orderly and well labelled. No visit to Hobart is complete without visiting the weekly Salamanca markets and the MONA art gallery. The markets are quite big and crowded but there are lots of interesting things to see and eat including local cherries which are super sweet.

Hobart Botanic Gardens
Hobart Botanic Gardens

The most spectacular way to approach MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art, is to approach by ferry. It is located in a beautiful coastal location with grape vines growing on the property. It’s a beautiful spot to sit out on the grass in the sun with a picnic listening to the live music.

This museum is privately funded and houses many bizarre works. It is definitely not safe to bring the kids! One of the highlights is Cloaca Professional, an art installation which replicates the human digestive system thereby turning food into faeces. Unfortunately, on the day we visited, we missed pooping time. Beware, the entire room smells……!!

Art at MONA – many of the art works at MONA are confronting, depraved and disturbing. Not a place to bring the family!
MONA – this part of the exhibit had interactive sound effects as you walk through the tunnel.
Hobart

Day 15 – Bruny Island

Bruny Island is a lovely daytrip if you are in Hobart with a car. Take the ferry across and go for a drive. The Neck is stunning and there are some beautiful views from the Fluted Cape Walk.

The Neck, Bruny Island
Fluted Cape Walk

Day 16, 17 – Port Arthur and Eaglehawk Neck

Tickets into the Port Arthur Historic Site includes a boat tour of the bay. There are a bunch of historic buildings as well to explore at this convict site. We went there on a stunningly beautiful, blue sky day. The place looked lovely for a visit but it would not have been so nice to be imprisoned here.

Port Arthur Historic Site
Port Arthur Historic Site
Port Arthur Historic Site – sculpture at the historic boat building area. The boats built by the prisoners here was of good quality and so cheap that it had the commercial boatbuilders complaining.

On the way to or from Port Arthur, take the time to visit the sites around the Eaglehawk Neck area. There is lots to see.

Eaglehawk Neck
Devils Kitchen Eaglehawk Neck
Fossil Bay Lookout – Eaglehawk Neck
Tessellated Pavement at Eaglehawk Neck. It’s unbelievable but this happened naturally!

Day 18 – Waddamana Power Station Heritage Site

An often overlooked and underappreciated attraction in the centre of Tasmania is the historic Waddamana Power Station Heritage Site. This old power station was too remote to be pulled apart during decommissioning so it was left. This means that this well preserved site exists for us to visit today. There is, unfortunately, a long unsealed road to get here but it was worth it.

Waddamana Power Station Heritage Site

Day 19 – Ben Lomond National Park

For some alpine scenery, we spent some time hiking and camping in Ben Lomond National Park.

Ben Lomond National Park
Ben Lomond National Park
Ben Lomond National Park
Ben Lomond National Park

Day 20, 21 – St Helens

For the locals of Tasmania, in the height of summer, they would head to St Helens for a beach vacation. Its a gorgeous little beach holiday town on a hill and it was busy during the recent summer school holidays despite the lack of interstate travelers. It was filled with domestic tourists who chose to holiday locally instead of heading interstate.

Nearby is St Columba Falls and the famous Bay of Fires, with its strikingly orange coloured lichen.

Bay of Fires
Walking Trail to St Columba Falls
St Columba Falls

Day 22, 23 – Launceston

Ahh, the hilly Launceston! A city with a gorge located less than 4kms from the centre of town! It’s a great location for a walk or for those prepared to brave the chilly waters, a swim.

Alexandra Suspension Bridge – Cataract Gorge
Cataract Gorge Reserve
Cataract Gorge Reserve

Day 24 – Devonport to Melbourne

Leaving Tasmania for Melbourne on the Spirit of Tasmania was mostly uneventful except when they insisted on confiscating our butane stove cannisters. It made no sense as they allowed us to have them on the way into Tasmania by ferry.

Conclusion

Tasmania is a great place to visit during summer when the rest of Australia is absolutely blisteringly hot. The weather in southerly Tassie at this time is perfect for walking in the day while cooling off at the night to allow a good sleep. The weather is more variable than other parts of Australia as not every day will be sunny. Most days will be good.

A large proportion of the land in Tasmania is considered national park or nature reserve so there is much natural beauty in this small island. It’s hilly topography and fresh water sources make it suitable in places for hydroelectricity.

The north of the island is farmland and dairy country. The west is mainly national parks and lush, fern filled rainforests. The south bears a striking resemblance to the South West of Western Australia as it is drier and the rolling grassland is less densely vegetated. Be prepared for some hilly, windy driving when in Tasmania. The usual 100km per hour rule of thumb for travelling in Australia (except for cities) does not apply in Tasmania due to the more hilly terrain.

Tasmania is perfect place for exploring by road and a “must do” for the holiday maker who wants to escape the fast city pace and enjoy some natural beauty.

So, what is it like to road trip around Australia?

After 11 months and a full lap of Australia by road, here are my observations about what it’s like to road trip around this massive country!

The Vast Distances!

Australia is a big country and when you travel by road, you have to be aware of this, especially in remote areas where fuel, food, water and help is much less readily available e.g. crossing the Nullarbor.

  • Ensure you have supplies of food and particularly water.
  • Understand the capacity and capability of your fuel tank and plan ahead your next fuel stops.
  • Understand how you will stay alert when driving for hours e.g. podcasts, music, audiobooks, chatty hitchhiker, eye-spy games etc.
The long straight road….crossing the Nullarbor.

Wide Diversity of Landscapes

As the country is so large, there is a vast diversity of spectacular landscapes. These include;

  • Ancient, rocky, geological wonders e.g. Bungle Bungles, Karijini National Park;
  • Red, dusty outback deserts too parched to sustain anything more than shin high spinifex and termite mounds e.g. Karratha;
  • Rich, dark, fertile earth planted with fields of sugar cane or bananas in the far north of Queensland;
  • Rolling, golden wheat fields of Esperance, Western Australia
  • Wild, blue, coastlines of South Australia;
  • Big Karri forrests of Pemberton, Western Australia;
  • Picture perfect beaches of Busselton and Dunsborough, Western Australia;
  • Bustling, buzzy capital cities;
  • Lakes, waterfalls, rivers and secluded waterholes for cooling off, and
  • so much, much more!
The Pinnacles – Nambung National Park
Busselton / Dunsborough Beach
Perth CBD
Ocean crashing on rocks near the Natural Bridge, Albany.
Tingle Tree
Carlton Gardens, Melbourne
Natures Window, Kalbarri
Sugar Cane Fields – the height of the plants are greater than 2m.
Mirima National Park – only 2km from Kununurra and known as the mini Bungle Bungles
Mungalli Falls

East Coast Vs West Coast, which is better?

The east cost of Australia is more densely populated, has more fertile growing land and has more to see and do. Most of the west coast is unpopulated and there can be some long drives between destinations. As there is more fertile land for growing food on the east coast, it is understandable why much more of the population has settled on the east side of the country. Despite this, one of the most beautiful, green and fertile areas of Western Australia is in the south west of the state. This area is easily one of the most beautiful areas in the whole country. Perth also deserves a mention. Whilst Sydney and Melbourne has long been the dominant cities in Australia, Perth is a really beautiful and lovely city with a high quality of living. Similar could be said about Adelaide.

A Big Country Under a Big Blue Sky

Australia is blessed with a lot of wonderful weather. There is a beautiful blue sky here on the majority of days and the weather is so often excellent that potentially it is taken for granted. Blue skies creates the best backdrop to your travel pictures. It brings out the blue of the ocean, lakes and river as well as the sparkle and blue reflections in the glass and steel skyscrapers, thus (I think) showing them to their best advantage. It can be easily forgotten that other places such as London are often overcast, grey, dreary and drizzly.

The flip side to so much blue sky is that the sunny weather that can feel unrelentingly searing at times with shade sometimes impossible to find in areas too dry to support trees. Ensure you have a ventilated broad brim hat to protect your face when heading out into sunny weather.

Albany Wind Farm – an elegant sight in a beautiful location!

Spoilt for Beautiful Beaches and Coastline

Australia is a big country and correspondingly there is a lot of coastline. Some of these coastlines are wild, rocky and turbulent with a devastating shipwreck history. Other parts of the coast are calm and safe for young families. There is so much beautiful coastline and beach in Australia that it is relatively easy to find a section of beach for yourself. There are plenty of deserted beaches in the more remote areas and even in the more populated areas, it is reasonably easy to avoid being too crowded. By contrast, many European countries section off their beaches with much of it considered “private beach”. Payment of a fee is expected on a “private beach” as well as additional payment if you want to use a sunchair and/or umbrella. There is almost no such thing as a private beach in Australia. Going to the beach is a free, budget friendly activity and what’s not to love about that!

Shipwreck – Fraser Island
Esperance – yes, the water is really this colour!!

Free or Cheap Attractions

Australia is an expensive place to travel when compared to other countries in South East Asia or India. Accommodation and food costs can add up as well as entry fees to paid attractions like theme parks, tours etc. Road tripping with a vehicle that allows you to sleep in it and cook your own meals is probably the most economical way to see the country. Despite the higher costs for accommodation and food, it is worthwhile noting that there are a lot of free or cheap things to do whilst travelling around that would be more costly overseas.

Visiting local parks and botanic gardens are free. These are often well planted with an interesting and diverse range of plants and may be adjacent to picturesque lakes and rivers. They often include additional amenities such as picnic tables, public toilets and sometimes BBQs.

Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne

Exploring a town or city is also free unless you join a paid tour. With all the information available on the internet and easily accessible on your phone, it’s easy to learn more about any location. Explore the main street of a small town or drive/cycle along the waterfront roads to gawk at the fancy, expensive houses! Most towns or cities that are built by the water, whether it is a river or the ocean will often have a nicely built waterfront area perfect for a lovely, scenic stroll.

Beaches are free and freely accessible in Australia, in contrast to the paid private beaches e.g. in Europe or areas where private property is built in a way that blocks free public access to the beach e.g. Asia or Europe.

There are many free lookout points in Australia and access to national parks is relatively cheap when considering that the rangers have the never-ending battle keeping out invasive plant species and feral animals, ensuring the walking trails are safe and maintaining toilets and other amenities. National parks are areas of stunning, untouched natural beauty. In other countries, access to a place of striking natural beauty usually comes with a cost, usually with stalls hawking touristy wares and it may have been spoilt by too much human traffic.

Kiama Coastal Walk

Free Amenities

The best thing about Australia as a traveler, is the provision of decent, well maintained amenities. These include public toilets, overnight rest stops, picnic tables, parks, lookouts and BBQs. These amenities, especially toilets, are available in even the smallest, remote towns and they are kept in decent condition. I’m not sure who cleans and maintains these but my bladder is grateful! Other options for free toilets include service stations, road houses and restaurants. Even in the most remotest locations, there are pit toilets at overnight rest stops. For those of us who travel overseas, you will know that clean, free toilets are quite hard to find in some places. Even if you can find a toilet to use, it can be quite a horror show! This type of abominable ablution situation is pretty much non-existent in Australia!

Driving long distances is inevitable when road tripping Australia. This gets dangerous as the route can be boring and it can be hard to stay alert. There are designated pull-over, day or overnight rest areas available at regular intervals on the main travel routes in the remote parts of the country. These rest stops are great because you are encouraged to stop and rest. What a wonderful amenity! These rest stops must have prevented innumerable accidents brought on by tiredness. The best way to find these rest areas and to understand what amenities they have is to use theWikicamps app. Using Wikicamps, you can plan ahead to pull over for a bite to eat or a quick cat-nap or to rest overnight. These rest stops range greatly. The simplest ones are just a place for you to safely pull your vehicle off the road. Others might include shade, picnic tables, interpretive signage of the surrounding area, a nice view, fire rings and pit toilets. For those in self contained vehicles or the budget conscious, these free rest areas are a good place to sleep overnight. If you don’t have Wikicamps, these rest stops are usually pre-empted by road signage.

In regards to pit toilets, they are not my favourite but I’m grateful for them nevertheless. In remote locations, it would not be economic or practical to have anything else. Potentially, due to either better design or a drier climate, the pit toilets in Western Australia are the best in the country. They mostly don’t smell and are cleaner. Unfortunately, the ones in the Northern Territory are the worst, perhaps due to the humidity.

Mostly Safe from Crime Against Person or Property

Australia is a very safe country to travel around in. Property theft is minimal as long as sensible precautions are taken e.g. lock your vehicle etc. Carjacking, bag snatching, identity theft, rape, murder, assaults, gun violence etc. which might be a concern in other countries rarely happens here. This removes a level of constant guardedness that is required when travelling in other countries thereby making travelling Australia a much more relaxing proposition.

Caravan Parks in Every Town

Road tripping around Australia is super easy because there are caravan parks in every town and city and even at the small isolated roadhouses on the Nullarbor. These are usually in a scenic locations e.g. riverside, lakefront, oceanfront, near a National Park, close to public transport to the city etc.

Everyone is catered for at these caravan parks. If you have a vehicle but require accommodation, they will have a cabin. For those with caravans, motorhomes, tents, campervans etc. there will be powered and unpowered sites for hire. Use of the communal toilet and shower block, BBQs, laundry and usually a camp kitchen are amenities that come with the campsite. The usual items in a camp kitchen are tables and chairs, tap and sink, toaster, kettle, fridge and freezer. At times a stove and oven may be available.

The big name franchised caravan parks like Discovery Parks, Top Parks, Big 4 and Kui usually have more facilities. These may include, games room, TV room, swimming pool, spa, jumping pillow, kayak hire, waterpark, tennis court, fish cleaning area etc. These big chain franchises provide a really consistent, quality product but it can lack character after a while as they can be so similar from park to park. Beware the school holiday periods when these big parks become heavily booked out with family holidaymakers and the place looks like a parking lot for caravans!

Smaller family run caravan parks or National Park campgrounds provide a nice alternative often boasting more natural surrounds and/or a less commercial feel.

Caravan parks are a more economical way to travel especially in a family group. It will be cheaper than hotel accommodation if you only require a campsite. Self catering always works out cheaper and healthier than eating out in restaurants. These parks are often geared towards families with facilities like pools, playgrounds, jumping pillow and waterpark available for the kids to use to their heart’s content. During school holiday periods, it is not uncommon to see kids zipping around the park on their scooters and bikes, making new friends and having a great time. It’s a wholesome, active way to have a family holiday and I think a longstanding tradition among white Australians. It is much rarer to see non-white Australians using caravan parks or bringing their families for such a holiday. Potentially, this is because caravan park type holidays are quite a foreign concept to them and they are not familiar with its advantages.

Aussies Love Their BBQs

Every evening at a caravan park, there will the smell of barbecuing meat in the air. Slapping some steaks, chops and/or sausages on the BBQ is a quick and easy dinner favoured by plenty of people at the caravan park. This will usually be accompanied by a can of beer or a wine glass or three. As the demographic in caravan parks are usually older grey nomad types, it is concerning to see so much meat and alcohol being consumed. This however might not be representative of the average Australian diet. This may just be the easy holiday treat diet or that it’s really hard to miss the smell of BBQ meats in the open air. It’s much harder to discern when people are eating salad quietly in their caravans!

Small Town Community Pride

When travelling through small towns, I’ve been struck by so many examples of sweet, small town community pride. Small towns often have signs up promoting themselves as “RV friendly towns”. This is accompanied by super large pull in parking bays for caravanners with their “big rigs”. We recently have seen electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in the smallest of towns. This is a great initiative for the future as it encourages electric vehicle users to travel out further.

These small towns are always very clean and tidy with beautiful gardens, trees and flowers. There will always be clean public toilets. If there is a visitors centre, it will be staffed with a friendly and helpful person. Towns often have art or sculptures scattered about to make it more interesting or give historical context. If the small town is in South Australia it will likely have a vintage artillery piece near the centre of town. These places encourage travelers passing through to stop by having welcoming infrastructure such as picnic tables at a local park. One example of community spirit that comes to mind is a small town that covered the walls of the visitors centre and public toilets with brightly coloured art done by local artists. These were for sale at a very reasonable price but it also made for such a cheerful and colourful welcome for traveler visiting.

Actually, it seems the winning formula for a small town to attract tourists is to have an award winning bakery, some wineries and a gin distillery doing tastings.

Karoonda Silo Art

Travelling During the Covid Pandemic

It has been a strange and unprecedented time to be travelling. In general, Australia has managed the Covid-19 pandemic well enough to allow us to travel. We have been both vigilant and lucky to have avoided any lockdowns. We remain hyper-connected to our newsfeed to try to pre-empt any lockdowns and plan our route accordingly. Crossing state borders in the “before times” would be done without thought but these days, much planning and forethought is done when even considering entering a new state. It’s important to be up to date on all the requirements when crossing state borders e.g. entry passes etc. The focus on Covid when crossing state borders is so all consuming that we have a few times neglected to consider the fruit and vegetable quarantine restrictions and have been forced to consume and throw out a lot of fresh food.

Covid is so much on the front of people’s mind that when meeting new people on the road, the conversation invariably turns to something Covid related. There are unfortunately people stuck on the road, away from home due to border restrictions. It’s always eye-opening when meeting people with varying views. We met a fervent anti-vaxxer whilst soaking in the relaxing thermal pools at Innot Hot Springs.

Gnomesville – because even gnomes keep up with the times!! Wear your mask and stay at “gnome!”

Despite the constant bad news portrayed in the media, our experience with the various state health systems has been quite good. We have been able to phone up the health department to ask questions about how we would isolate without a permanent address. We have been able to book appointments for free vaccinations at differing locations to fit in with our travels. When we attend for vaccinations, it has always been efficient, courteous, professional and quick. As long as you are familiar with the most up to date regulations and comply, the entry paperwork (when required) for crossing state borders as well as the face to face border checks with the police has been trouble-free. There has personally been no room for complaint thus far.

In the last 11 months, with the exception of ACT and Tasmania, we have been to all the other states and the Northern Territory. We have therefore been able to use the various state contact tracing QR scanning apps and witnessed first hand the behavior of the general population in relation to Covid. Residents of the NT and WA are generally proud of the way their government has handled Covid. South Australians are the most vigilant with their compliance with QR check-in codes and mask wearing. People in Victoria and NSW, despite having to live through the longest lockdowns, are the most relaxed. Many do not bother to check-in to venues and others wear their masks badly.

I often wonder what it would be like to travel Australia without a pandemic. How would the vibe be different? During this pandemic, there have been grey nomads stuck interstate unable to return home and a lack of foreign backpackers and tourists. The few foreign backpacker-types left in Australia seem to have been drawn into Western Australia where there have been less lockdowns. I suspect the vibe in the camp kitchens would be very different in “normal” times. These days, camp kitchens are not greatly used as most people have their own facilities in their caravans. Perhaps if overseas travel was open, the camp kitchens would be filled with a cacophony of different languages and the smells of different types of cuisines. The big cities are definitely quieter without international students and the tourist hotspots without busloads of Chinese tourists. I feel for the big tourists drawcards like Cairns, Airlie Beach and the Great Ocean Road which would be struggling without international travelers. To an extent, domestic tourists can fill the gap but domestic tourists tend to want a different offering so the tourism business has to evolve to suit.

Is Australia too Vanilla for the Intrepid Traveler?

The classic picture of an intrepid traveler is a person experiencing massive culture shock. Perhaps they are faced with cultural norms and practices very foreign from their own and faced with food that bears no resemblance to anything they may usually consume. It might look like a person out of place in a country where they look different, do not speak the local language or dress like a local. For an English speaking person, used to the luxuries of a developed country, is traveling Australia too boring, too vanilla to excite the senses?

Maybe, but …….as the title of the blog says…..”Make It What you Want”. Travel is about contrasts. Traveling Australia is different to traveling other countries and there is so much to appreciate about travelling here. For example, the fresh air and the night sky littered with stars as can only be appreciated from a remote location. Spectacular, untouched natural beauty and well maintained walking trails that you can have entirely to yourself. The breathtaking magnitude of the vast spaces that make up Australia and the serenity that comes with enjoying a beautiful beach with no one else in sight. These are the things that make Australia special.

View of Sydney Harbour

So, what’s it like to road trip around Australia? It’s an experience of a lifetime!