Australia

Toyota Country Music Festival 2017 – Tamworth

Tamworth Music Festival 2017The headlines on the TCMF website say that the Tamworth Country Music Festival is “Australia’s Largest Music Festival – 10 Days – 700 Artists – More Than 2800 Events”.

We headed to Tamworth to find out what people have been raving about!

Tamworth is about a five-hour drive from Sydney – it’s an easy drive passing through pretty countryside and charming towns – particularly Murrurundi and Willow Tree. In fact if you leave Sydney in the morning, the Willow Tree Inn is a great place to stop for lunch. Their award-winning Graze Restaurant and Bistro serves one of the best steaks you will ever have. Across the road is The Plains Pantry – another great place for good coffee, home baked meals, cakes and gourmet groceries.

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By |2024-01-23T16:35:48+11:00January 29th, 2017|Categories: Australia, New South Wales, Tamworth|0 Comments

Cairns – Darwin – Broome via Gibb River Road and the Kimberley

We took a month to do this amazing trip. There was a party of eight people in four vehicles (Toyota Safari Landcruisers 4WD rented from Britz).

Itinerary: Cairns to Darwin, Darwin to Kakadu, Kadaku to Katherine, Katherine to Bungle Bungles, Bungle Bungles to Gibb River Road to Broome.

Cairns

Fly Qantas from Sydney to Cairns and collect a Britz 4WD with rooftop tent – a very well equipped vehicle. We drive to Port Douglas via Palm Cove.

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By |2018-08-27T15:40:49+10:00June 30th, 2016|Categories: Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia|0 Comments

Southern Queensland Road Trip, October 2015

Goondiwindi – Miles – Roma – Carnarvon Gorge – Longreach – Emerald – Rockhampton – Brisbane –  Goondiwindi

Goondiwindi to Carnarvon Gorge
We leave Goondiwindi at 8.15am for the long drive to Carnarvon Gorge, and estimate it will take about 7.5 hours. We decide to travel via Miles, to see the Miles Historical Village & Museum.

We are in the Western Downs region of Queensland. While the Leichhardt Highway is bitumen and very straight, it is quite bumpy and not the most comfortable of roads to travel on. There is very little traffic and not much in the way of scenery.

Just beyond Condamine we cross a lovely river and come to a T junction with a sign Surat/Roma to the left, and Roma via Miles to the right. We take the right towards Miles, still travelling on the Leichhardt Highway (A5). As we get closer to Miles there are wheat crops, cattle and sheep.

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By |2025-08-18T15:02:56+10:00October 29th, 2015|Categories: Agnes Water, Australia, Carnarvon Gorge, Destination Reviews, Longreach, Queensland|0 Comments

Longreach, Queensland

Stockman Hall of Fame LongreachThere is much to see and do in Longreach. It’s a long drive to get there but if you have the time it’s worth spending a few days – the region has a lot to offer.

Longreach is located in Central Western Queensland. It is sheep and cattle country – and tourism increasingly plays an important role in the town’s prosperity. The most well known attractions are the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the Qantas Founders Museum, however we found there is much more to Longreach than that if you are visiting during the tourist season.

The tourist season is from April through to October so it’s best to plan your visit during that time, when most of the evening entertainment and tours are on.

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By |2025-03-18T17:10:11+11:00October 8th, 2015|Categories: Australia, Longreach, Queensland|0 Comments

Carnarvon Gorge, Queensland

Carnarvon Gorge Walk

Carnarvon Gorge Walk

Carnarvon Gorge is a spectacular place to visit in Queensland.

The Gorge is located in Central Queensland’s Highland Country, in what is called the Sandstone Belt. It is quite remote, about midway between Emerald and Roma (about a 3.5 hour drive from each town).

For us it was an ideal stopover on a road trip from Goondiwindi to Longreach – a place to spend a day to walk and experience the beauty of the gorge – steep sandstone cliffs, lush vegetation and Aboriginal rock art.

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By |2025-03-18T16:53:25+11:00October 5th, 2015|Categories: Australia, Carnarvon Gorge, Queensland|0 Comments

Tenterfield to Sydney via New England Hwy & Thunderbolts Way

Tenterfield – Glen Innes – Guyra – Armidale – Uralla – Walcha – Gloucester – Stroud – Sydney

Bluff Rock, Tenterfield

Bluff Rock, Tenterfield

This is a scenic drive along the New England Highway and Thunderbolts Way, between Tenterfield in the north of NSW down to Sydney. It takes about 8 hours and passes through historic country towns, through some of the New England region’s most beautiful high country, and gives travellers an insight into the lives of Australia’s early settlers. If time permits, it is ideal to break the trip and stay in a few places along the way to appreciate the sights. (more…)

Transfercar: How can rental cars be free?

TransfercarTransfercar is an online relocation service that offers free use of rental cars to travellers. In return the travellers are helping the rental car industry to relocate their cars in a cheaper way than any current relocation alternative. This is how it works: “Transfercar is an online relocation service providing really cheap (usually free) rental cars and campervan hire. With “free” we really mean the cars are free to drive, not even $1 a day! We don’t charge anything for this. (more…)

By |2018-08-27T15:41:02+10:00November 22nd, 2013|Categories: Australia, New Zealand|0 Comments

Day Trip from Melbourne to Geelong, Barwon Heads and Queenscliff

A very pleasant day trip from Melbourne is through to Geelong, Barwon Heads and Queenscliff. 

Geelong_DSCN5917_200

Geelong
Geelong is about one hour’s drive from Melbourne and is the second largest city in Victoria.

We loved the Geelong Waterfront and in particular the Baywalk Bollards track along the shores of Port Phillip Bay. We did part of the walk from Steampacket Gardens to the Art Deco Eastern Beach sea baths, however, if you have time, we recommend doing the whole walk starting from Geelong Botanic Gardens to Ripppleside Park which takes about 1.5 – 2 hours.

Artist Jan Mitchell has created over 100 colourful painted, wooden bollards along the Baywalk track, depicting characters and events from throughout Geelong’s history. Try to spot the rabbits painted on many of the sculptures – they represent rabbits introduced to Australia by an early English settler in the bay in the mid-1800s.

If time permits, the National Wool Museum and Geelong Art Gallery are also worth a visit.

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By |2025-03-18T17:11:55+11:00January 12th, 2013|Categories: Australia, Barwon Heads, Geelong, Point Lonsdale, Queenscliff, Victoria|0 Comments
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