Tag Archives: Australia

March 13, 2013 · 6:31 am

AUSTRALIA’S TOP 50 BIKE RIDES

The RACV Great Victorian Bike Ride - fabulous organisation, great routes and rather a lot of company.

The RACV Great Victorian Bike Ride – fabulous organisation, great routes and rather a lot of company. I’ve done this one twice, but there’s a new route every year.

Damn you, RIDE ON magazine, for publishing this list of Australia’s Top 50 Bike Riding Experiences. Now I want to do them all.

I’m able to say I can tick off a few of your selections, but still have about 45 to go. There are some MTB routes which are out of my comfort zone, but also many road rides that look fantastic.

Meanwhile I’m chained to my desk for a few more weeks, with only the occasional morning ride in Sydney to keep me sane.

Have a look at the list, and if anyone has other great Aussie routes to recommend – let me know, while I still have some knee cartilage left.

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January 23, 2013 · 4:37 am

RECONCILIATION PLACE, CANBERRA – the space we share

Reconciliation Place, Canberra.

Reconciliation Place, Canberra.


Australia Day will be upon us at the end of the week. There’ll be Twenty20 cricket, barbies in the park and citizenship ceremonies. And indigenous Australians will be prominent too.

Some may be protesting at what they regard as white Australians celebrating ‘Invasion Day’. Many more traditional owners of the land will be taking part in the official and non-official Australia Day events.

We broke our road trip up the Hume Highway with a diversion to the national capital, Canberra.

My eye was caught by this memorial I hadn’t seen before, though it’s been there for over a decade. Continue reading →

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January 17, 2013 · 9:02 pm

OFF THE HUME #3 – bordering on the ridiculous

Where are the passengers?

Where are the passengers these days?



This is a road trip, so we didn’t need to visit the train station at Albury, on the Victoria/New South Wales border. We just happened to find a motel right across from the entrance, and there are a couple of good stories attached to it. Continue reading →

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January 16, 2013 · 6:34 am

OFF THE HUME #2 – Australia’s prettiest town?

The horse and cart may be a modern addition, but the Post Office is old.

The horse and cart may be a modern addition, but the Post Office is old.

I’m open to suggestions here. What’s Australia’s prettiest small town? My bet is that it will be a short list. There are very few Australian towns worth visiting for their appearance.*

Plenty have spectacular locations by beach or forest, some have arty-crafty communities, trendy shops or lively festivals, but hardly any have attractive streetscapes.

So it was a rare treat to duck off the Hume Highway and find a place in northern Victoria where residents have gone to the trouble and expense of preserving some heritage. It seems to be paying off for them. Continue reading →

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January 12, 2013 · 6:14 pm

MERRICKS, VICTORIA – walking on the mild side

A car may come along, but it probably won't.

A car may come along, but it probably won’t.

Like most right-thinking people, we ate and drank more than was absolutely necessary over Christmas. Fortunately we did it in an area with ideal places to walk off the damage and the guilt.

I’m not talking serious hiking here, just gentle morning strolls on beach, country lanes or rail trails. Continue reading →

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January 11, 2013 · 7:53 pm

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: ILLUMINATION – misty dawn

There was just enough mist to catch the first light. Merricks North, Victoria, Australia.

There was just enough mist to catch the first light. Merricks North, Victoria, Australia.

My first Weekly Photo Challenge of 2013. A new dawn.

For more shots of this magic morning click HERE.

Taken with my Panasonic Lumix FZ24. In point and shoot mode. Nothing clever. The scenery and the light did the rest.

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