Watching Fairy Terns on the Australian coastline is a rare treat Even if you don’t know a tern from a gull, you have probably noticed terns on beaches, rivers or lakes. In appearance they are like a slimmer, sportier version of a gull. But what really makes them noticeable is their striking method of fishing. […]
The Wild Side of the City
The mirrored surface of the black water shimmered almost imperceptibly as a bunyip raised its scaly head through the congestion of waterlily leaves. If such a creature existed, the shaded lagoons of the Tondoon Botanic Gardens, on the western outskirts of the Queensland city of Gladstone, would undoubtedly be its chosen habitat, but the mythical […]
Canning Stock Route, Well Done
A track 1850 kilometres long that runs from Halls Creek in the Kimberley region of WA to Wiluna in the mid-west Carrying a double action revolver on the Canning Stock Route to intimidate is not highly recommended. Actually it’d be somewhat frowned upon today if you did, but for Len Hill, an innocent adventurous eighteen […]
Axeman Ready
The Australian Axeman’s Hall of Fame “Axemen, stand by your logs!” A hush falls over the crowd of spectators as six men stride to their places for the final of the Standing Block – lengths of hardwood, about a metre long and 375mm thick, clamped vertically on metal stands. Each man is clad in cream […]
The Mary River
The Top End’s wetlands are truly amazing and none more so then the Mary River National Park, and its jewel, Corroboree Billabong – a flood plain ox-bow lake. There is nothing like it anywhere else across the tropics and it rivals anything that the Kakadu National Park to the east has. The Rock Hole, upstream […]