Dear Barry O’Farrell, Please Keep Guns Out Of Our National Parks
Like many people, I am not comfortable walking through bush alongside armed recreational hunters, some as young as 12.
My Top 10 Travels of 2012
From bustling Barcelona to the ghost towns of Belchite and Joadja, here are my top ten travel highlights from 2012.
Cataract Gorge – Launceston’s Jewel
Cataract Gorge was easily the most spectacular walk in Launceston and one of the more memorable stops on our Tasmania visit. With a suspension bridge, swimming pool, chairlift, cafes, Victorian gardens and even gyrating peacocks, this spot has something for pretty much everyone
Port Arthur and The Island Of The Dead
Port Arthur, Tasmania, is a beautiful, terrible place. Its history as a penitentiary is dark, having been the destination for the ‘hardest’ of convicted British and Irish criminals between 1833 and 1853. The day we visited, the coast of Tasmania was struck with violent, gale force winds and the entire Port Arthur site was without power, throwing the visitor’s centre and rooms within the intact historic buildings into an eerie darkness.
The Grand Canyon Walk
The Grand Canyon walk in the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Park, NSW, was first established in 1907. In my opinion, it is one of the best walks in Australia.
The Abandoned Brewery
The abandoned Lincoln Oakbank Brewery is slowly being reclaimed by nature. Now a haven for climbing plants, birds and clusters of spiders, the skeleton of the original five-storey tower is as beautiful as it is sad. I know little of the history of the brewery or when it closed, though a single abandoned shoe appeared to suggest something sinister in the site’s more recent history.