About four hours drive from Hobart, the very civilized capital of Tasmania on the east coast, or a couple of hours from bustling Launceston at the midpoint of the north coast, you can delve into…
As a tourist from outside Australia, you can often feel you are skating over the surface of the country even if you take the time to walk curiously through it, explore off the beaten track…
One of the great pleasures of hiking in the woods (or bush, as they say in Oz) is coming upon elusive wildlife. Anyone who has visited Yellowstone or seen deer grazing in Colorado knows this…
We know it; we're suckers for a room with a view. Especially in Tasmania, we mean not just any view, but a view overlooking the ocean, or a crescent bay, or a tide-washed beach. And…
A six foot head of shiny dark metal lies on its side, as if the person to which it belongs is sleeping. As you move closer, the apparently solid head reveals windows and seams through…
Somehow you always end up talking about fire in Australia, especially if you spend a lot of time outdoors like we do. Locals refer to certain years as familiar, but horrific signposts from the past.…
We had planned to visit the much praised Melbourne Zoo earlier this week, but heat and various responsibilities got in the way. On Friday we thought it was about time, despite continuing heat, especially after…
In Wellington, our closest shop for any food item was a pocket-sized “dairy,” or convenience store, just a few minutes walk from us. Remarkably, you could get almost anything there except fresh produce or…
Like many cities, Melbourne comprises a patchwork of small neighborhoods that once were separate towns. But their layout here is somewhat odder than usual. The streets of the central district or CBD form a grid…
After five hours and two minutes of play, Novak Djokovic sent a cross-court passing shot by Stanislaw Wawrinka to win the fifth set of their tennis match, 12 games to 10. The final game alone…