Australia Off The Beaten Path Tips by craic

Tourists often ask me ....

... can we see kangas in the wild?

And I reply - Well, you see, the thing about kangas and wallabys is they are a bit naughty.

We have plenty around us - even a semi tame one who often comes into our paddock with her joey - but when we have overseas visitors she vanishes - so I take them for a walk in the bush to known sighting places at the right time of day (morning or evening - they sleep in the middle of the day) no kangas!

They are protected so they are quite tame - just stare at you, or loll around.

Unless you have overseas visitors when they hide in the bushes and giggle.

Seriously though, I have heard of bus trips in the Blue Mountains and places like that that have established feeding points so you can almost guarantee to see kangas in the wild.

In a bus or a train in the morning or at dusk keep your eyes peeled - bound (joke) to see some.

If you are driving at night or in the early morning or at dusk keep your eyes more than peeled or you might suddenly see one close up as it comes through your windscreen on top of you.

When I first came to Oz in the 70s I was desperate to see kangas and koalas so we went to the zoo.

Koalas are a disappointment, they do very little and what they do do is very slow. But kangas are so graceful and amazing.

Go to a zoo or a park so you don't miss out - and ask around when you are in a more rural area (well, even Canberra actually, because the road to the airport is littered with dead kanga bodies) and I am sure people will tell you about (or even take you to) known kanga sighting places.

I still haven't seen a koala in the wild.

The Rock

I know this place exists. I have passed through it on the train to Melbourne. It is between Henty and Wagga Wagga.
But it is not on VT's database - nor could I google up anything about it.
According to google there is only one rock in Oz and that is Ayers (Uluru) Rock.
(Oh and plenty of rock music, of course.)
But it is a pretty nice rock, as one approaches the station one sees a big rock and one thinks -I know why they named this town The Rock.
It is not off the beaten path. Of course it isn't. It is on the main trunk line between what used to be called Port Jackson and what was almost named Batmania. (John Batman had quite a bit to do with founding Melbourne.)
But if it aint on VT's database and you can google nothing about it, it might as well not exist.
Maybe the locals like it that way.
Very nice rock, by the way. Quite noticeable.

(People with more advanced google skills have told me you can find info about it. So apparently it does exist in cyberspace - just it is hard to find.)