School’s out for the holidays and if your place is anything like where I grew up that means weeks of bored kids glued to their computers, never-ending sibling squabbling and super-stressed out parents. Instead of rostering in play doh-making sessions, working out ways to disconnect the internet and stopping them from skateboarding inside the house, […]
A local’s guide to Townsville: Mark Allen from The Sweatshop
Want to know how to get the most out of a trip to Townsville? Mark Allen from The Sweatshop café (eds note: business now closed) let’s us in on the local’s secrets. For creative types There’s so much to see at any of Townsville gallery’s like the Perc Tucker or Umbrella – but the Strand Ephemera is a […]
How to find Nemo on the Great Barrier Reef
A few years ago, few people knew about P. Shermans dental practice on 42 Wallaby Way in Sydney, and even fewer knew how to speak whale. Today, Nemo and his friends are very much ingrained in popular culture so we decided to create a creature guide to the all-star reef cast and where to find them. Nemo […]
Prime paddling: 7 spots to take your kayak this summer
You know those impulse buys that seem like the best idea ever at the time but quickly become a guilty pestering mantra inside your head: “You spent a butt-load of money on that thing, you should use it more!”? That’s the relationship I have with Viking – our kayak. Viking was a shotgun purchase made […]
‘Train-ing’ to dive
If your diving certificate took precedence over a driver’s licence, or you’re not a big fan of air travel, have you ever considered grinding the rails for a diving trip with a difference? The train may not scream glamour or wild and crazy road trip, but one of the best things about letting the Fat Controller take […]
Pub of the Week: The Imperial Hotel, Ravenswood
It’s almost like a mirage… the grand Edwardian-style pub standing in what’s left of a once-bustling gold mining town. We haven’t come to the tiny settlement of Ravenswood looking for a pub, so it’s a bit of a surprise to find there are two in what is virtually a ghost town. We’re driving back to […]
The turtle retreat
Sometimes cruising the EAC can be a hairy ride – in peak traffic during November to March when thousands of lovable sea turtles arrive on the Queensland coast to breed and lay eggs, accidents can occur. Boat propellers and fishing nets cause immediate problems but one of the biggest killers is the everyday plastic bag. […]
Underwater classroom: Reef Sharks [Video]
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you probably saw the recent launch of Google’s underwater Street View on the Great Barrier Reef. However, this is not all about letting you go scuba diving from your couch with a bag of chips. It’s a rather serious scientific project aimed at understanding […]
Underwater classroom: Clownfish [Video]
Everyone has a comfort zone. Whether you make it to the drop off or just three inches outside your anemone, you know that dark and scary feeling telling you to turn back. Outside the movie screen, we don’t know of any Nemo venturing out on the open reef. If you’re a clownfish, your home is your […]
10 best snorkelling sites in Queensland
We’re pretty spoilt here in Queensland with the temperature of the ocean dropping no lower than 21°C during the coldest months of the year and in Tropical North Queensland during the summer months it can hit 28°C – warmer than most baths I’ve taken! If you want to take a closer look into Neptune’s world there are so many idyllic […]