Adelaide to Alice - A Taste of the Outback

/
Adelaide to Alice - A Taste of the Outback

We recently did a 10-day trip from Adelaide to Alice Springs. It was an opportunity to visit the natural wonders of Uluru and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), and to experience a little bit of the Australian Outback. Its vastness means that you can spend months exploring it and barely scratch the surface. And indeed, we saw many people in extensively kitted out four-wheel drive vehicles who were doing this. But if you have limited time, don’t own a 4x4, and just want a taste of the outback, this post will hopefully give you some good ideas.

Read More

Mount Kate Walk - Cradle Mountain

/
Mount Kate Walk - Cradle Mountain

Mount Kate is a little visited peak in the Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park. It is not signposted but is a relatively easy 6 km return walk from Ronny Creek. It provides great views of Cradle Mountain, with a different perspective to most of the walking tracks in the area. It is a very worthwhile day walk. Here’s how we went about it.

Read More

Arthur River to Sundown Point Walk

/
Arthur River to Sundown Point Walk

Starting from the evocatively named ‘Edge of the World’, at the mouth of the Arthur River on Tasmania’s wild west coast, this beach walk takes you along a stretch of broad, white sand to a rocky point of great significance to Tasmania’s indigenous peoples. It’s an easy half day (4 – 5 hour) walk that gives a good feel for this dramatic, windswept coastline facing the Roaring Forties and the Southern Ocean.

Read More

Cape Surville Walk (With a Little Help From an E-Bike)

/
Cape Surville Walk (With a Little Help From an E-Bike)

Cape Surville is a little visited, but spectacular location on the Forestier Peninsula, on Tasmania’s east coast. A return walk of just under 6 kms features some dramatic high sea cliffs. The access road in is rough in parts and requires a four-wheel drive vehicle. We didn’t have one, but solved this problem by cycling the most difficult section on e-mountain bikes (EMTBs). Here’s how we did it.

Read More

Maria Island Getaway

/
Maria Island Getaway

Maria Island, off Tasmania’s east coast, is a National Park popular for camping, bushwalking, cycling, snorkelling and wildlife viewing. Pronounced Mariah (as in Mariah Carey), it has a rich history dating back millennia starting with its interesting geology, through the long Aboriginal presence on the island, a significant convict period, attempts at industrialisation and commercial ventures, to today. We recently had three days and nights there. Here’s how we spent our time.

Read More

Return to Shippies - Shipstern Bluff Walk

/
Return to Shippies - Shipstern Bluff Walk

In November 2017 we published a post describing the day walk to the famous southern Tasmanian big wave surfing spot of Shipstern Bluff aka Shippies. Four years on we’ve returned to Shippies to check out the upgrades to the walk that we’d heard had been done. This post describes these changes. The walk itself still takes four hours return following the same track. But there have been some nice improvements to amenities and signage in the intervening years.

Read More

Tasmanian Bushland Garden

/
Tasmanian Bushland Garden

As the name indicates the Tasmanian Bushland Garden (TBG) is a garden dedicated to native Tasmanian plants, particularly from the southeast of the island. It was established in 2010. It is a 20 hectare reserve of natural bushland 4 kms south of Buckland, close to Tassie’s east coast. It has 1.5 hectares of display gardens linked by well-maintained tracks and featuring a sculpture trail. We saw an item on it in the popular TV program Gardening Australia so decided to check it out.

Read More

Black Glen Falls Walk

/
Black Glen Falls Walk

Black Glen Falls is a series of five small waterfalls on the Lachlan River in southeast Tasmania. It sits inside Wellington Park, the reserve that covers most of kunanyi/Mt Wellington. The walk to the falls and back is a 4 kilometre return trip. Despite being less than an hour’s drive from home in Hobart I’d never been there before, so with regular walking companion Graeme, we went to check it out.

Read More

Caribbean Islands – Our Favourite Shots (Northern Caribbean)

/
Caribbean Islands – Our Favourite Shots (Northern Caribbean)

In 2016 we island hopped through the Caribbean. We started in the south, in the Dutch islands of Aruba and Curaçao and finished three months later in the north, in Jamaica and Cuba. In total we visited twenty one states and territories.

At this time, when COVID -19 still makes international travel virtually impossible, we’ve decided to revisit this trip via producing some posts with our favourite shots. We’ve divided this project into three parts: Southern Caribbean; Central Caribbean and Northern Caribbean. Here we present the Northern Caribbean. We hope you find it interesting.

Read More

The Growling Swallet

/
The Growling Swallet

A “swallet’ is defined as an “underground stream”, also “an opening through which a stream disappears underground”. Tucked away in a corner of Mt Field National Park in Southern Tasmania is Growling Swallet. It is a place where the Junee River disappears underground through a large cave. It is said that when the river is running hard it positively growls. I’d never heard of this place until recently when a friend mentioned it. We decided to check it out. Here’s what we found.

Read More

Four Dog-Friendly Walks in North East Tasmania

/
Four Dog-Friendly Walks in North East Tasmania

Being the proud owners of Frida, the heeler-border collie cross rescue dog, means that walks in national parks are off the menu when we want to take Frida with us. North East Tasmania doesn’t have a lot of territory classified as national parks, but it does have plenty of good, short walks within reserves and state forests where dogs are permitted. We decided to check out a few of these. Here are four good dog-friendly short walks in the region.

Read More

Waratah - A Tale of Three Waterfalls

/
Waratah - A Tale of Three Waterfalls

Waratah is a small town in North West Tasmania. The town was built to support a tin mine at nearby Mt Bischoff. It was constructed on top of a waterfall so that the diverted water could be used for mining operations. On my recent first-time visit to Waratah, I was keen to see the town waterfall. While there we took the opportunity to visit two other waterfalls in the area and a couple of other sites of interest.

Read More

Richmond Heritage Walk

/
Richmond Heritage Walk

The township of Richmond is one of Tasmania’s oldest settlements. Richmond was a convict station and military post. It is home to Australia’s oldest bridge built in 1823 by convicts. Just thirty minutes’ drive from the centre of Hobart, Richmond is an excellent day trip for anyone visiting the south of the state. In this post we describe the Richmond Heritage Walk as recommended by Clarence Council which we did recently.

Read More

Cremorne to Roches Beach Walk

/
Cremorne to Roches Beach Walk

The Clarence Coastal Trail makes it possible to walk from Cremorne to Seven Mile Beach, a distance of around 13.5kms. It is an attractive and satisfying walk. You can leave or join at several places or just do a chosen section. We have broken the walk down into two sections: Cremorne to Roches Beach (this post) and Roches Beach to Seven Mile Beach (previous post).. Read on if you want to know more.

Read More

Suzhou – China’s Venice of the East

/
Suzhou – China’s Venice of the East

The city of Suzhou, 50 kms to the west of Shanghai, is famous for its canals and gardens, having earned the moniker of “Venice of the East”. The region around Suzhou has a network of canals and attractive canal towns, all of which date back to the building of the Grand Canal, the world’s longest canal, which commenced construction in the 5th century BCE. We spent a few days in the region in September 2019 and found it both a pleasant and interesting part of the country. Here are a few highlights.

Read More

Nierinna Creek and Margate Creek Tracks, Southern Tasmania

/
Nierinna Creek and Margate Creek Tracks, Southern Tasmania

In the southern suburbs of Hobart lies the municipality of Kingborough. Within this region there are an abundance of walking opportunities, including a lot of good short walks. Along with friend Jillian I decided to combine two creek walks which we had not previously done – Nierinna Creek Track and Margate Creek Track. The walk notes and maps on the council web page showed how these two walks could be easily joined into one longer walk.

Read More

UB For Beginners (in Pre-COVID 19 Mongolia)

/
UB For Beginners (in Pre-COVID 19 Mongolia)

This time last year, six months or so before the world was hit with the COVID 19 pandemic, we visited Mongolia for a month. Most of our time was spent out of the capital Ulaanbataar, but the trip necessitated that we transit through the city on several occasions. We’d read less than flattering reviews about Ulaanbataar. However, we decided to give the city a chance and decide for ourselves what we thought of it. The result was that we were pleasantly surprised. So, if you find yourself in the city many locals refer to simply as “UB” here are a few options for how to spend a couple of days.

Read More

The Canary Islands - Gran Canaria

/
The Canary Islands - Gran Canaria

Dodgy Knees recently published a post from Ken’s brother Brett and wife Linda on their trip in 2018 to Chefchaouen – Morocco’s Blue City. On the same trip they also visited the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. Despite its reputation as a tourist hotspot they found it to be remarkably uncrowded and relaxing. Definitely recommended. Here is their report.

Read More

Marjorie Bligh - Domestic Goddess, QVMAG Exhibition

/
Marjorie Bligh - Domestic Goddess, QVMAG Exhibition

In early March 2020, just prior to strict coronavirus lockdown measures being implemented in Tasmania, we were able to visit an exhibition at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG) in Launceston entitled “Majorie Bligh – Domestic Goddess”.

The QVMAG website description of the exhibition says: “Marjorie Bligh is a Tasmanian icon, well-known for her advice on household management, craft, cooking, gardening, and even relationships….The exhibition showcases many of Marjorie's handmade items, collections, mementos from travel, scrapbooks, personal photographs, signed editions of her books, and numerous awards. In particular the exhibition focusses on her thrift and use of recycled material.” As big fans of Marjorie’s work for many years we were keen to learn more about her fascinating life.

Read More

Rice Terraces, Hanging Coffins and Kalesas - Northern Luzon Road Trip (Philippines)

/
Rice Terraces, Hanging Coffins and Kalesas - Northern Luzon Road Trip (Philippines)

We knew little about the Philippines before we decided to go. From a bit of research we learned about the 2,000 year old UNESCO World Heritage listed rice terraces of Northern Luzon. Also, in this region are extensive cave systems, a number of tribal groups with their own distinctive languages and cultures, and nearby is the city of Vigan, Asia’s best preserved example of Spanish Colonial rule. We decided that Northern Luzon was worth a visit. Here’s what we found.



Read More