Sightseeing in Australia - 3

This, people, is the famous Hanging Rock of the book and movie fame, "Picnic at Hanging Rock." It's located close to the Victorian town of Woodend, about an hour north of Melbourne, that I visit every year to see family. While the story in 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' is fictional, there is definitely something about this place - or maybe it's because I found it hard to separate the fiction from the fact. Either way, the first time I visited, I kept walking around and up the mysterious rocky outcrop half expecting to see the ghosts of schoolgirls. The school that features in the story by the way, is based on a real school not too far from the rock. Today there's a large domain here - and a racecourse - and it's a popular family picnic spot, complete with numerous quite tame kangaroos that hang about. Back in 2008, I took part in a camel wagon trek in the Southeast Queensland Outback area, in and around the tiny outback town of Cunnamulla. It was the beginning of one of my best trips to Australia. I've written about the trek several times already on this blog (put Cunnamulla, outback or camels into the search box for more) so I won't prattle on about it again - other than to say, if you ever get the chance to get into the Outback don't miss it. It's where you get to meet the 'real' Australians, the ones who have taken that vast, ruthless land and tried to tame it for their own - and their country's ends. It's an endless battle of wits, stamina and hard labour that breeds a special kind of crazy, raw, hilarious bunch of people that I loved.

When I visited Brisbane last - also 2008 - I was stunned to see how the city had grown since my previous visit. Construction was in full swing and there were cranes at work all over the city. There was a very positive vibe about the place that I found quite energising - and fresh out of the Outback, I was a little dazed and awestruck by both the vast numbers of people and dwellings. I can't imagine how the city must look now, after the recent devastating Queensland floods and Cyclone Yasi's aftermath, but hopefully, the resilience of those Queenslanders will have the place looking bright and sparkly again soon. It's not as though they're strangers to the tyranny of weather after all.

Adelaide 2007 - another terrific trip. I'd heard so much about Adelaide for so many years, I never knew what to expect. But I adored the place. It's such an easy city to get around. It's small and very very cosmopolitan. Factor in its proximity to vast wine regions, the Adelaide Hills and the stunning Fleurieu Peninsula and there's every reason to put it near the top of your Australian Must-Visit list.

Going Solo

South-west Queensland, Australia. April 2008. Ajr

This single tree in a flat plain of crisp, golden grass somehow sums up the vastness of the South West Queensland outback in Australia. I took this photo as I shuffled across this spectacularly endless landscape on the Charlotte Plains Camel Wagon Safari, which progressed at the perfect pace for considering the grander scheme of things. www.charlotteplains.com.au

Camel Chase

Australian Outback, April 2008. Ajr
It didn’t matter how many times I heard the fact that Australia has the largest population of feral camels in the world, I was always surprised to turn around and see a camel chasing our wagon. That was on my recent Charlotte Plains Camel Wagon Safari in the Australian Outback and this was my favourite camel, Benny, who enjoyed roaming at will while his fellow camels hauled our wagon. That’s him nosing up to my camera on the post I wrote a few weeks back too. He likes the company of humans and he completely won me over with his cheeky, infectious personality. www.charlotteplains.com.au

Camel Capers

Let me introduce Willie the Camel Man of the Charlotte Plains Camel Wagon Safari – an amazing experience that brings you up close and personal with Willie Cooma and a selection of his 22 camels. And if you’re one of those people who have always assumed that camels are foul, biting, spitting, temperamental creatures, let me the first to assure you that not all camels are ‘created equal.’ Willie has a passion for these animals. He trained racing camels for 15 years, he’s captured wild camels in Australia’s Simpson Desert and he’s travelled over 45,000 kilometres around Australia with two of his favourite animals, Snow and Benny. That all makes for an astonishing rapport and spending two days travelling with others in Willie’s quirky wagon was one of the best, one of the funniest and yet also one of the most tranquil and enlightening things I’ve done. http://www.charlotteplains.com.au/ http://www.stephaniemillsgallery.com.au/

Camel Encounter

Camel Wagon Safari, Cunnamulla. April 2008. Ajr

There is much more to come when it comes to camels but here is my favourite camel photograph to get you started.

Camel Craziness

I have a bit of a soft spot for camels at the moment, which is just as well since I set off on a camel safari in the Australian Outback next week. In meantime this unexpectedly saucy little press release arrived in my Inbox yesterday, advising me of Abu Dhabi’s beauty pageant for camels. I kid you not. More than 10,000 camels from across the Gulf will be competing for millions of dollars in prize money. Camels from throughout the United Arab Emirates will strut their stuff before a panel of expert judges to decide which owners should win the US$9.5 million dollars and the 100 cars up for grabs. It’s all part of a camel festival aimed at celebrating the region’s cultural heritage. And for any of you who think this is a late April Fools’ joke , just enter ‘camel beauty pageant’ into the Google search engine and prepare to be amazed.

The Back of Beyond

I am excited and terrified all at once. One month from now I will be spending ten days in the Australian Outback – that vast red expanse that American travel writer, Bill Bryson called “the driest, flattest, hottest, most desiccated, infertile and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents – a place that has more things that can kill you in a very nasty way than anywhere else.” I figure if Bryson, a man invariably photographed wearing a tweed jacket, can go to Australia and survive the Outback, then so can I. The Outback is home to the Australian feral camel – that’s why I’m going - to join a 70-kilometre camel wagon safari from the tiny south-west Queensland town of Cunnamulla to attend the Noorama Picnic Races. I’m expecting Aussie larrikinism at its best and I’m hoping not to see a single snake – especially given that Australia is home to nine of the world’s ten deadliest. And let’s not even discuss the fact that the Cunnamulla area is home to 13 different snake species!