Welcome to Roaming Down Under, where I share places and experiences from my travels in Australia and New Zealand.
What you'll find here ...
Original photos. My unbiased accounts of places I've enjoyed, and how others can too. Links to further information, and Google maps - to make it useful. Plus some travel-related articles.
Who it's for ...
Mainly written with independant travellers in mind ... those seeking places worth visiting, especially beyond the well-trodden tourist routes. Also armchair travellers, and anyone else interested in Australia and New Zealand.
Where?
Most of this website is about places in Tasmania, Western Australia, and New Zealand's south island. I aim to cover places all over Australia and New Zealand, but you have to start somewhere, and for now I'm focussing on the cooler southern parts.
While "roads less travelled" are my favourites, some well visited places earn a mention too. Often places are well visited because they deserve to be.
Why?
I'm building this site to showcase some of the many great places which don't get the publicity they deserve, and to encourage people to explore more thoroughly. It's also a way of using my writing and photography hobbies to document my journeys.
Using this website
- Most pages are categorised according to main subject and location. Use the links in the right sidebar to get a list of all pages for that location or category.
- On most pages, a list of links to other related pages (same location or category) will appear at the bottom.
- Many locations I've written about are also marked on the maps listed in the right sidebar - these can be used as a graphical way to explore places I've written about.
- The Articles link (top of page) contains various things I've written which relate to travel down under, but are not about any particular place.
And don't forget - larger photos are usually available by clicking on the small ones.
Updates
I plan to add heaps more to this website, but it is a long term project. Depending on available time, I hope to average two new pages every month. You can keep up to date with new additions by subscribing to my RSS feed, or checking the space below.
Most recent changes
11 February 2012 - Added Visiting Bruny Island - a large island reached by vehicle ferry from south-east Tasmania, where I enjoyed lovely scenery, deserted beaches and some wonderful cheese
28 January 2012 - Added Bruny Island cruise, about an exhilarating boat ride along the rugged coastline and towering sea cliffs of Tasmania's Bruny Island. This trip alone makes the effort of getting to Bruny Island worthwhile.
14 January 2012 - Added Plane spotting at Perth Airport, about a new (opened December 2011) public viewing area at Perth Airport for watching planes take off or land - without having to pay for parking!
6 January 2012 - Added Driving up Jacob's Ladder, a dramatic series of hairpin bends clinging to the steep side of Tasmania's Ben Lomond plateau. Includes a short piece of video shot while driving this road - in hindsight, not a practice I'd recommend.
30 December 2011 - Added Nelson Falls, a magnificent waterfall near Tasmania's west coast, just a short and pleasant forest stroll from the main highway. Not all of the good places are off the beaten track!
17 December 2011 - Added Lake Rotoiti, a short page (with video) on the large glacial lake near St Arnaud in the mountains of New Zealand's Nelson Lakes National Park
3 December 2011 - Added Ten reasons to think twice about frequent flyer credit cards to the articles section. Earning free flights by paying normal expenses with a rewards card sounds great, but could it end up costing more than the flights are worth? My own experiences shed some light on this.
Also uploaded a video to the St Arnaud page.
19 November 2011 - Added St Arnaud - a small and friendly lakeside village next to the beech forest and mountains of the Nelson Lakes National Park, in one of southern NZ's lesser visited areas.
5 November 2011 - Added Mt Frankland - a granite dome with views over the mostly unspoiled forest north of Walpole in WA. This modest peak is proof that a summit doesn't have to be very high to be worth the effort of getting to the top.
22 October 2011 - Added Milford Sound scenic flights, about flights from Queenstown or Wanaka across rugged snowcapped wilderness to New Zealand's most famous and spectacular fiord. Includes a video from a flight I did from Wanaka to Milford Sound.
15 October 2011 - I've finally entered the 21st century and joined YouTube, so that I can upload videos for this site. I've added a short video to my Dip Falls page and a longer one to document my experience of Skiing the Tasman Glacier. Many more videos are planned, including one I'm working on for next week. Some will be edited to suitable music, while others will just be brief snippets to illustrate something in ways that only moving pictures and sound can. My main content will continue to be text and photos, however, as not everyone has a fast enough internet connection to view videos ... and I have more photos than video footage.
8 October 2011 - Added Lake Pedder campgrounds, a follow-up to the previous page. With the Lake Pedder Chalet at Strathgordon having closed, these three campgrounds are the only accommodation options near Lake Pedder in Tasmania's southwest wilderness.
25 September 2011 - Added Scotts Peak Dam Road, a good gravel road accessing great views of Lake Pedder and Tasmania's southwest wilderness
11 September 2011 - Added Ulva Island sanctuary, a tranquil bird and wildlife sanctuary occupying an island off Stewart Island, at the bottom of New Zealand. A great place to look and listen for some unique birdlife.
30 August 2011 - Added Walpole wilderness by boat, about a boat trip I recently did through charming coastal inlets in southern WA with a very interesting guide
13 August 2011 - Added Skiing the Tasman Glacier - an unforgettable skiing journey on perfect powder snow, amidst crevasses and ice towers, on the longest glacier in New Zealand
27 July 2011 - Added Matai Falls - a charming waterfall in the Catlins Coast area of southern New Zealand, a region only just starting to develop its tourism potential
13 July 2011 - Added Lake Grace hospital museum, the only surviving example in WA of an Australia Inland Mission outback hospital, built in 1926 and restored as a unique museum
2 July 2011 - Added Cheese tasting in Tasmania, about Tasmanian cheese makers where you can sample the products, and be tempted into buying and eating far too much cheese ... well, I was!
