Posts under ‘Australia’

During Darwin’s Dry Season from May to October the Mindil Beach Market is one of the most popular attractions. Operating on Thursday and Sunday evenings along the beautiful foreshore of Mindil Beach the markets attract thousands to the huge range of art and craft and one of the best selections of multicultural food you could find anywhere. There is food from over 20 countries, Greek, Italian, Thia, Indonesian, Timorise just to name a few and of course the good old Australian tucker, including some of the more unusual treats, like camel, crocodile, possum, kangaroo and the Territory’s favorite fish barramundi. There is also a great selection of the freshest of tropical fruit. Many of the stalls sell magnificent Aboriginal artworks including paintings, carvings and other handycrafts. There market also features some fantastic entertainment including local bands, comics, buskers and roaming entertainment- fun for all ages.

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The Boeing B52 bomber is one of the biggest planes on in the US military fleet with a massive wing span of over 56 metres and a payload of nearly 30 tons this plan is an amazing engineering feet.

There are only three other B52 bombers on static display outside the USA, One in Guam, South Korea, England and at the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre in Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.

The museum only minutes from Darwin’s city centre and close to the International Airport has a wealth of aviation displays including a very good World War II display with actual wreckage’s of planes shot down over Darwin during the war. The Museum is open 7 days a week and is well worth a visit.

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The Murray River bordering Victoria and New South Wales in Australia was once the country’s busiest highway with paddlesteamers shipping cargo up and down the mighty river system. Today the legacy continues with several paddlesteamers still sailing the river today cargo has been replaced with excited tourists. The Emmylou at Echucha is one of the more grand and popular of the vessels. This paddlesteamer dates back to 1906 and was beautifully restored during the 1980’s. She is in fact the only wood fired paddlesteamer in the world that offers overnight cruising. There is nothing more tranquil than standing on Emmylou’s wooden deck listening to the kookaburras, frogs and the spinning water wheel while cruising up the mighty Murray River at a leisurely pace. Read the rest of this entry »

The Eureka tower is a 92 story residential skyscraper which has just opened in Melbourne Australia. It now offer’s one of the worlds most scary experiences a walk in a glass cube 88 floors above the city. Called Skydeck 88, visitor enters a glass cube with opaque walls this is slowly extended out 3 metres from the building then with the magic of the latest LCD technology the glass becomes clear and there is nothing than glass holding you in 88 floors and 300 metres above Melbourne offering 360 degree views of the city. The ride is one of the scariest 5 minutes you will experience.

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Shepparton is in central Victoria in the Southern State of Victoria and is known for its fruit growing and more recently its painted cows. The city has come alive with plastic cows all painted in different styles and colours by local and some quite famous artists including Ken Done and indigenous artists Kevin Atkinson and Melinda Solomon.

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How’s this one kids, a huge rocking horse, well it doesn’t really rock unless its pretty windy but is sure is cute. This great family attraction can be found in the Barossa Valley in South Australia’s wine country at Gumeracha about 40 minutes drive from Adelaide. After a few of those beautiful wines you might think you are seeing things but this horse is real. It is actually the outside a toy factory which manufactures a range of wonderful wooden toys. The rocking horse is a very popular attraction with thousands climbing it every week- and what’s even better you can get a certificate of achievement award for climbing this monstrous pony and the views of the rolling hills are great.

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Charters Towers is about 130km south west of Townsville in central Queensland Australia. It is known for its rich mining fields of gold and tin and also its tasty beef. Visitors to Charters Towers can call in and see the trill of the weekly cattle sales every Wednesday at Dairymple Saleyards just out of town. Charters Towers is not only the beef capital of North Queensland it is home to some beautiful historic properties which are reminders of the rich times of the Gold Rush. The town was one of Australia’s richest towns in the late 1800’s Today the region has so much to offer, heritage, friendly hospitality and some of the coldest beers and freshest steaks you will find anywhere in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

The Melbourne Cricket Ground or MCG or even more familiar the G is Australia’s favorite sporting arena. It has served as a home for the 1956 Olympic Games, 2006 Commonwealth Games, Its seen the Pope and huge music artists including Madonna, The Rolling Stones and U2 play there but it is best known for its sport in particular Cricket and Australian rules football (AFL). Known as the peoples ground, the arena has recently been upgraded with state of the art facilities and can hold close to 100,000 fans and has one of the world’s largest playing surfaces measuring 174 x 149 metres. There are 6 massive light towers with 884 computer controlled lights to eliminate any shadow in night games. Two huge LCD screens and some of the worlds best corporate and hospitality facilities. The MCG is also home to a great sports museum where many Australian sporting treasures live and the centre also offers tours of the ground when it isn’t game day. But to experience the MCG at its best catch a game of Aussie Rules Footy or some international cricket.

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Well unlike Ogdenville, North Haverbrook, and Brockway Sydney didn’t quite need a monorail to put it on the map but they have one anyway and it is a great way to get around the city. The Sydney monorail first opened in 1988 as a way of getting people to the city’s new playground Darling Harbor. Today it is an important form of transport moving thousands around the city every day. The monorail links many of Sydney’s entertainment complexes including Paddy’s Market, China Town, Darling Harbor, The Exhibition and Convention Centres, Aquarium and IMAX with the downtown shopping and business district of the city. For a few small dollars you can loop the city gliding high above the traffic and pedestrian flow for a great view of Sydney.

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In the late 1960’s city planners and designers thought the old Rocks area would make a great place for a futuristic (60’s style) high rise precinct. The entire area was to be bull dozed including some of Australia’s oldest buildings and replaced with steel and glass buildings of the day. Fortunately enough people had enough passion to stop this plan from becoming reality. Today the area is one of Sydney’s jewels, and the grand old lady has a few of them. Set under the Sydney Harbor Bridge the Rocks today is a tourist and leisure area with dozens of restaurants, hotels, cafes, craft and tourist shops and some of the countries oldest pubs. Saturdays and Sundays are made even more special with a huge craft market stretching the length of the Rocks. Many of the buildings have been restored to their former glory and will hopefully grace Sydney for centuries to come.

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