Month: April 2025

R: Road Trains

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For anyone who has ever seen a road train they are essentially very huge trucks. They carry freight on the highways especially in Australia’s outback. Previously these goods may have been carried on trains but over the years the railroads have been closed.

There are many different combinations of road trains. They can have up to 7 trailers attached and can be up to 54 metres in length. This makes overtaking them very dangerous. Our experience was that road train drivers would help guide smaller faster cars to overtake if it was safe to over take by pulling over. We however would do the opposite. Our slide on is heavy and slow so we would pull over to help the road trains overtake us. Due to their sizes they are not allowed on all roads and it was not unusual for car parks to hold the trailers if the road trains needed to go into an area where the road rules didn’t allow the complete structure.

On our travels the longest road train we saw was 50 metres. I was so surprised I took a photo. During our trip to South Australia and the Nullabor we saw so many road trains that it was easy to see why people say that without trucks Australia stops.

Q: Quandongs

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These plants are found in the semi arid deserts in South Australia. Also called wild peaches, they are native to Australia.

When we were in South Australia we were very happy to find some bushes that were also bearing fruit. I had always wanted to try quandongs. Unfortunately, I still haven’t tried a fresh one as I left the ones I saw on the tree for others to enjoy seeing. I did have a quandong pie and quandong jam on scones. I didn’t find any roasted quandong nuts to try. It turns out the quandong is an very versatile fruit with edible fruits and nuts(seeds). We also found some quandong jam and quandong chutney to bring home with us.

P: Penong – Windmill Museum

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Penong is a small town on the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia. For years it was known for its windmills due to the number of farms around that used windmills to pump their water. However, over the years technology changed the farming landscape. The windmills were no longer required. As the windmills dropped off so did the tourists who previously would stop, look st them and spend money in the town.

In order to attract the tourists back, the locals created a free outdoor windmill museum. It’s very interesting. The windmills come in all shapes and sizes. During the creation stage the locals were lucky enough to find a broken down 35ft Comet windmill. It was one of the biggest in Australia and they were able to restore it to working order. Big Bruce now stands pride of place in the windmill museum. I was surprised that windmills came in so many shapes and sizes and were able to do so many different jobs.

O: Old National Cash Register

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We found this beautiful old cash register while exploring Streaky Bay. It was made in 1907 and was used until Australia changed to decimal currency in 1966. I had never seen anything like it.

It had nine cash drawers and a storage cupboard at the front. Each drawer has a different bell tone when it opens. It has keys which list how many customers have been served, the money received, paid out or charged.

I love that it continues to be on display for future generations to admire.

N: Nullarbor Plain

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The Nullarbor Plain connects Eastern and Western Australia. Starting at Ceduna, South Australia and finishes at Norseman, Western Australia it is an almost treeless straight drive. In fact, I believe Nullarbor means treeless plain.

It has many free camps spots and everyone is discouraged from driving at night. This is due to the danger of animals crossing the road. The road that crosses the Nullarbor Plain is called the Eyre Highway and is the longest straight stretch of road in the world. (146 kilometres.)

When I was a teenager I drove with my family on the old highway just after it was fully sealed. I remember being fascinated by the straight road. Back in the late 1970’s people didn’t travel like they do today, so we were often the only ones using the road. To entertain ourselves we drove on the wrong side of the road for as long as we could. These days it is so busy. If you are lucky, you can quickly run into the middle of the road to take a photo – that’s it. The photos below are of the original Nullabarbor Roadhouse’s buildings the ones I visited as a child. Of course on the same site are modernised buildings.

The Nullarbor Links Golf Course is the longest in the world. It is an 18 hole par 72 course that covers 1365 kilometres (850 miles) from South Australia to Western Australia. It is on my husband and my bucket when we drive the whole way across. Last time we stopped at the Nullarbor Roadhouse.

M: Miyagi Zao Fox Village

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Whilst in Japan recently we had the experience of a life time. We spent the morning in the world’s only fox village, according to the road signs. It can be found in the Zao mountains above the township of Shiroishi. It was winter in Japan at the time of our visit and the Zao mountains are over 1800 metres and are active volcanoes. The area also boast some of the highest annual snowfall in the world.

The fox village is over 30 years old and houses over 100 foxes. There are 6 types of foxes here – red foxes, silver foxes (the black ones), blue artic foxes, white artic foxes, platinum foxes as well as cross foxes. My favourite foxes are still the white artic foxes although the platinium and black foxes fascinated me as I had never seen them before.

They live in a fenced open area and have little fox house to sleep or rest in. Otherwise they move around freely doing what foxes do. They played. There were several fights. Some slept. Some appeared to hump each other. Others rolled around in the snow. They are very comfortable living this life while hundreds of visitors walk around with them taking many photos of them. We are warned on entry not to get too close or pat them as even though they are very cute they are still wild animals and will bite. If the foxes came up to us we were told to keeping moving.

You can only feed the foxes from one place. It is like a big hut that is off the ground with viewing platforms all around. The foxes know that this is where they can get food and many would get underneath to beg, jump and look cute to get some food. It was fun to pick your favourite fox then attempt to throw the pellets well enough that your fox could catch it in his/her mouth. You had to be strategic as there were definitely some pushy one who would try and steal the younger foxes food.

As you first enter the village there is a petting area where you can pay to cuddle a fox. Many people lined up for this experience, we just watched their enjoyment form the side.

If ever you have the time I would recommend visiting this special place. It was easy to get to via the bullet train and taxi and not speaking Japanese wasn’t a problem.

L: Lion 360 Degrees

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At Montaro Zoo we gave ourselves a special treat. We joined the Lion 360 degrees tour. This bus tour took us into the lioness enclosure to watch them being feed. We stood under a metal dome. We had 100% access to all the lioness who came up for a feed. Some of our fellow travellers were lucky enough to experience hand feeding them, although to be honest I still haven’t decided if I’m not sure what my answer would have been had I been asked.

Watching them play and eat was amazing. They seemed to enjoy our company and sometimes seemed to play up just for our cameras.

After the feeding we were taken on tour of the lioness and lion cub enclosure. It is a very large space. In the wild lions don’t eat everyday so not all of them come up for a feed daily. They were in various groups and I loved seeing the cubs playing like they didn’t have a care in the world.

K: Kelpie Centre

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Kelpies are amazing working class dogs that can muster sheep and other animals with little or no assistance. The Australian Kelpie is known to be highly intelligent, loyal and tenacious.

Casterton Australia is known as the birth place of the Australian Kelpie. I had wanted to visit since I read a novel based on the history of the breed and realised where they came from. To honour its roll in Australian history Casterton is home to the Kelpie Centre. It is full of all things Kelpie and educates those who visit on the history of the breed.

Unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of time in the area so I plan to one day to go back and explore it more thoroughly.

J: Japanese Gardens

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On a recent holiday to Cowra, Australia we visited the Japanese Gardens. They were spectacular and so serene even in Australia’s hot weather. The day we went it was 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 Fahrenheit). So hot. Yet somehow because of the gardens design, we weren’t hot. There was plenty of wind and shade to keep us cool.

The Japanese Gardens cover five hectares and are on the site of the World War two prisoner of war camp. They were established to recognize and develop the historic and ongoing relationship between the people of Cowra and Japan.

These authentic Japanese Gardens are the largest in the Southern hemisphere and contain a traditional Edo cottage, an authentic open air tea house as well as a Bonsai house. I loved the Bonsai and was fascinated by how small these otherwise really big trees were. Kids could feed the Koi carp in one of the lakes and did because they were huge. I loved that they had left some of the original gum trees in the area to show the connection with Australia.

I: Ice Museum

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Fairbank’s Ice Museum is in an old theatre. From the front it didn’t look modern but as we had travelled from literally the other side of the world we decided to go in anyway. At first it didn’t look like much and then the owner came out and guided us through the exhibitions. The secret was to go through the door and ride the slide. It was great fun and I wanted to do it again, but he was excited to show us what was next. I’m pretty sure it was the first and only ice slide I had ridden.

The owner had been an ice carver for several decades, he had amazing skills and had won many competitions. After showing us all of his sculptures, he gave us an ice carving demonstration. WOW. We were in awe. We had never seen anything like it.