Author: Fiona

  • Kakadu National Park

    Kakadu National Park

    Kakadu National Park was the first place in Australia where we got a feel for and an appreciation of Indigenous culture. The whole topic of colonial history, Aboriginal relations, land rights and restitution is a minefield and I know better than to comment extensively on matters I only have a vague understanding of. Suffice to…

  • Darwin

    Darwin

    Many people enjoy Darwin, but I failed to see the appeal entirely. Hot, humid, swarming with disease-bearing mosquitoes. While Northern Queensland also has all of the above, at least Cairns and Port Douglas have a few things between them to recommend the towns. Darwin is architecturally unattractive, and entertainment largely consists of the kind of…

  • Port Douglas

    Port Douglas

    Six of us checked in to a beautiful three-bedroom holiday home in Port Douglas, 10 of us stayed for a week. After some complex calculations involving the number of nights slept in a bed, number of nights on floor or couch, number of days in a car per person, and individual travel budget restrictions, we…

  • Cairns

    Cairns

    Once we got to Cairns, north of the Tropic of Capricorn, I was well and truly out of my comfort zone. At 34°, it was hot and humid, and I was wilting. As is the case along most of the Queensland coast, swimming in the ocean is not a good idea, with sharks, crocodiles and…

  • Airlie Beach

    Airlie Beach

    Our two days in Airlie Beach were made memorable mainly by the amazing group of people who coalesced there. It was as if all the silliest planets had aligned for a full goon party that ended up lasting over a week, taking us from Airlie to Cairns, Port Douglas and beyond. Barely an hour after…

  • Fraser Island

    Fraser Island

    Between Sydney and Brisbane, we had already joined what is essentially the backpacker highway, but we didn’t really get into the spirit until we hit Northern Queensland. If there is one must-do experience on the “highway” that every backpacker can agree on, it’s Fraser Island. It remains one of the best things we did on…

  • Brisbane

    Brisbane

    As any non-Queenslander will be happy to inform you, Queensland is the Texas of Australia. In that case, Brisbane must be the Austin of Queensland. We were pleasantly surprised by the city and what it had to offer, as well as impressed with the ease of getting around. Between the free city bus loop, free…

  • Surfer’s Paradise

    Surfer’s Paradise

    After hippie-dippy Byron Bay, crass and flashy Surfer’s Paradise couldn’t have provided a more marked contrast. The seaside resort offers a depressing lesson in destination marketing. Step One: Give your place a great name, one that rings of holiday and adventure, sunshine and beach. Step Two: Do whatever you want, people will flock to your…

  • Byron Bay

    Byron Bay

    As we headed North from Sydney on the train, choosing our next destination was a matter of picking places we had heard of and that potentially had more to offer than just a beach. After the drive from Melbourne to Sydney (twice), we had just about had our fill of beaches and Byron Bay wasn’t…

  • Day trip from Sydney to Palm Beach

    Day trip from Sydney to Palm Beach

    Known to many as the location of the fictional Summer Bay, setting of Home and Away, Palm Beach attracts a few fans, but not nearly as many as you might expect. In fact, you really need to know what you’re looking for, because zero effort is made to point out the locations. We were woefully…