Sydney is not only home to the Harbor Bridge, the Opera House and what is probably the world’s most beautiful waterfront city, it also boasts a monorail The monorail links the entertainment districts of Darling Harbor and China town with the shopping and business precincts of the city. The loop is elevated above the city streets offering a great way to get around and a different perspective on this amazing city. The monorail is ran by the city’s Metro Transport and operates from around 7 am until 10 pm in the evening. There are eight stops along the 12 minute loop and a monorail usually comes past each station within about five minutes. The monorail system commenced operation in 1988 in what at the time was a fairly controversial project, but over the 20 plus years of service the monorail has become a familiar and much loved form of transport around Australia’ s largest city taking thousands of passengers every day.
After the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House, Sydney’s Luna Park would have to be the third most famous icon on Sydney Harbour. dating back to 1935 the theme park has had a somewhat chequered, troubled and sometimes tragic existence but remains one of Sydney’s most loved places. Today the park is home to quiet a few heritage buildings and some fun amusement rides, including a historic carousel and 35 metre high Ferris wheel. Luna Park plays hosts to plenty of events during the year, including private functions and music festivals, it has also played host to major TV events like the MTV Australia Music Awards a few years back. The park is a favourite weekends and in particular school holidays, admission is free and you only pay for the rides and attractions. Make sure when visiting to take your camera on the Ferris wheel the views of Sydney harbor are just sensational. Read the rest of this entry »
Yellow Water in Australia’s remote Kakadu National Park is a huge land-locked billabong and attracts thousands of visitors every year for its unique and beautiful native flora and fauna, with many coming especially to see the salt water crocodile in its natural habitat. The park is also home to millions of migratory birds including jacana, egrets, jabiru, sea eagles, magpie geese to name a few. The best way to see the natural environment is to join one of the many boat cruises up the billabong for a close encounter with nature. Daybreak and sunset are the most spectacular times and best for seeing the wildlife. Yellow Water is close to Jabiru and is about a 3-4 hour drive east of Darwin along the Kakadu Highway. Regular tourist services operate from Darwin to the park. Read the rest of this entry »
There have been more calls for a common border between New Zealand and Australia, this time from discount airline Jetstar. By removing customs and immigration between the two countries the flights will be classed as a domestic and not an international flight, Jetstar see this is an opportunity to fly to cheaper airports like it does at Avalon outside Melbourne. The savings can run up to $60 per flight of costs that can be written off and it’s this that tourism body’s and even Australian Prime Minister Keven Rudd have been counting on to boost tourism between the two countries. There’s probably a few details to sort out before anything happens (both countries have learnt their lessons on quarantine with rabbits and possums) but things are looking promising enough that one day a weekend in Sydney is as easy as a weekend in Auckland. Read the rest of this entry »
First there was the movie then there was snakes loose on an Air India plane and now its Qantas turn to have a few snakes escape in their cargo hold. Apparently four non poisonous stimson’s pythons broke fee of their container on the way from Alice Springs to Melbourne, the mishap caused some delays as the plane had to be fumigated and sadly the snakes have now gone to a better place. Tripandom’s tip for transporting your snakes is to make sure the lid is secure on you snake container or just own a kitten instead. Read the full story over at The Age
When you think about a building that is on the heritage register you probably think of everything else but a huge fiberglass pineapple. Today the Big Pineapple was named on the heritage register in Queensland, and while many people may consider the pineapple and the fact that it now has heritage protection a bit of a joke, you must remember the pineapple has been a tourist icon of the state for some time. The Big Pineapple was built in 1971 and has attracted a huge amount of tourists over the years to not only the pineapple but also to the plantation it sits on where the Nut-Mobile ( a nut shaped train) takes tourist around the plantation of pineapples and macadamia nuts finishing up at the gift shop next to the huge plastic fruit. The Big Pinapple is located near Nambour on Queensland Sunshine Coast. Read the rest of this entry »
Melbourne Australia is known for it’s Philip Island fairy penguins but now penguins from the Antarctic are finding their home in this great city. A magnificent new exhibit costing $28 million dollars has just opened at the Melbourne Aquarium featuring five king penguins and 13 very inquisitive gentoo penguins. Bred in captivity these majestic birds have been the biggest attraction these school holidays with thousands of families visiting the aquarium to enjoy these amazing creatures. The enclosure is kept at Antarctic temperatures and is covered in shaved ice and snow there is also a huge pond where the penguins can dive and play. Visitors can view the penguins both on the snow and from a huge glass pane window on the pond. The Melbourne Aquarium is the only place you can see either King or Gentoo penguins in Australia. The aquarium also features a very interesting Antarctic exhibition so visitors can not only see and learn about the penguins but learn a bit about this cold and mysterious southern continent. Read the rest of this entry »
The biggest annual fireworks display in Australia has to be new years eve on Sydney Harbour. Sydney’s Harbour Bridge is the main stage for the fireworks and every year a new theme to accompany the fireworks is created where an icon of the theme is illuminated on the bridge as part of the display. Around 1.5 million people viewed last years event with hotels always being fully booked over the new year period. The benefit of the fireworks in Sydney is that there is so many places to view the fireworks from as the huge harbour has several great vantage spot from the Gladesville Bridge to the Heads of Sydney Harbour the most popular spots around the bridge area often fill up by the afternoon of the event with the area from Circular Quay round the Sydney Opera House to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair in the Botanic Gardens being the most popular. If you are heading to the event hit up the official website below to get the low down on where to get the best view. Read the rest of this entry »
Movieworld on Queensland’s Gold Coast is home the Wild West Falls Adventure taking visitors around a old mine site in a log boat. The attraction covers over 28,000 square metres and the huge rendered concrete and steel Wild West Falls mountain stands 35 metres over the theme park. The boat ride takes visitors on a journey through the old mine, there is a ghost town, some gun shots, geysers and teetering rocks, there’s even an exploding bridge before heading into the mine shaft for a thrilling 20 metre plunge out the top of the mountain to the ponds below at a rocketing 80 km per hour. The ride is one of Movieworld’s most popular with more than 1000 people being able to ride the boats every hour, and with Queensland’s great weather getting wet is half the fun.
The Southern Star is a new observation wheel that has recently opened in Melbourne’s Docklands. The 120-metre high revolving structure rotates at 11 metres per minute and is the only observation wheel in the southern hemisphere. The wheel houses 21 fully-enclosed, air-conditioned cabins with huge floor to ceiling glass windows and are reminiscent of London Eye’s cabins. The wheel is part of new development at docklands that brings a lot of outlet shops to the the area. Melbourne’s Docklands is part of an urban renewal project that has been underway since the late 90’s with compleation expected to come around 2015. The video above is of the wheel under construction, hit up the link below for more info and a webcam over at their official site. Read the rest of this entry »
