The Magazine for Australian Travellers

October 2005

GREAT PLACES TO GO

Cutta Cutta Caves

The Northern Territory town of Katherine has a secret treasure deep underground.

Great walking on Fraser Island

Melanie Ball heads away from Fraser’s coast to focus on the middle of the world’s largest sand island.

Campsite reports

Our campsite reporters find the best places to camp, this month in Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.

CARAVANS & MOTORHOMES

Waltzing with Matilda

New owner, new factory and new model motorhomes.

GOOD GEAR & GADGETS

Walkabout

Go on the greatest bushwalk, live the Snowy River legend and travel with a greener outlook – find out how in Walkabout this month.

How to photograph Australia

A new book by Steve Parish can help us to make our holiday pictures much better.

CAMPERS’ TALES

Cruising Australia

Aussies are planning for a life of leisure in their retirement – and, apparently, we’re very good at it.

The good life at McLaren Vale

This area in South Australia is truly gorgeous.

Hit the Spot

A seafood feast awaits at Airlie Beach.

The hazards of helping out

Adrian Ryan has some tales of woe to tell – he’s helping out a friend.

Dismal Swamp

This place in Tasmania is anything but dismal.

Outback wings and
stockmen’s things

Jim Foster takes us for a tour around two Australian icons.

Campfire cooking

Derek “The Camp Oven Cook” Bullock doesn’t need a campfire to make a camp oven feast.

JUST FOR READERS

My Favorite Place

The tantilising glitter of garnets has won for a reader a pair of great daypacks from Snowgum.

GETAWAY VEHICLE

Facelifted Forester

Subaru’s popular soft-roader Forester has increased its appeal.

CATCH A FEED

Snapping happy

This month, Paul B. Kidd offers some tips on getting better fishy photos.

REGULAR FEATURES

Readers’ Letters

Advice on locating a doctor wherever you travel is discussed this issue.

Aussie Cross Quiz

The visitor centre is surrounded by blackwoods and is also the start of the giant slide.

in Australia’s great

outdoors

Anything but dreary

The Webster dictionary defines “dismal” as “gloomy, dreary, cheerless”. No doubt this is exactly how government surveyor John Wedge felt back in 1828, when he and his party were sent to explore the region. It is said that they were so desperate to stay dry while struggling through the wet, spongy land, that they slept in trees at night. No wonder they despairingly gave it the name “Dismal Swamp”.

Luckily for us, in the 21st century conditions at Dismal Swamp have changed somewhat.

Granted, it is still a swamp – or to be precise a sinkhole, one of the largest in Australia – but a few improvements have been made to allow today’s visitors to experience this unique area in comfort and ease.

First, it has a boardwalk to enable visitors to stroll around and enjoy the surrounding vegetation. Then there are the unusual sculptures scattered throughout. And finally, just for good measure, a giant 110 metre slide has been built from the visitor centre to the swamp floor. This we had to see, so we immediately put it on our list of must-sees for our trip around Tasmania.

The young receptionist at the
visitor centre cheerfully took my money and handed over four maps, which were apparently our admission passes.