Perth The capital of Western Australia. On the Swan River. The river flows to the Indian Ocean. The Swan River is a major feature through the city. Often bordered by parkland between the Causeway Bridge and the Narrows Bridge. The wide river water between the bridges is known as Perth Water. Hire a pushbike. A good way to see the Swan River parkland and city views. Swan Bells Swan Bells, a major tourist drawcard are on the CDB fringe. Riverside Drive. Chimes may be heard ringing out at regular times. A cool Indian Ocean breeze is often felt in the afternoon. Commonly know as, 'The Fremantle Doctor'. Cottesloe Is a beach-side suburb of the city of Perth about half distance between the city centre and Fremantle. Popular beach and place with major surf life saving carnival's. Fremantle About a half hour drive from Perth. A major port city. Many street buskers. The home of Bon Scott of ACDC rock & roll fame. Fremantle Prison tour is recommended. It is said Bon Scott spent a short time there. Rottnest Island of Western Australia Commonly referred to as ‘Rotto’ is 18 km off the coast of Fremantle. Home to the 'Quokka'. A small wallaby. Not dissimilar in appearances to a giant rat. Daily return ferry crossings available. Traveldriven ENTER CLICK/TAP PERTH GOOGLE MAPS SWAN BELLS GOOGLE MAPS FREMANTLE GOOGLE MAPS FREMANTLE PRISON TOURS ROTTNEST ISLAND GOOGLE MAPS PERTH FIVE DAY FORECAST PERTH WATER PADDLESHIP (photo 1990s?) CYCLE RIDE BRIDGE TO BRIDGE ON THE SWAN RIVER COTTESLOE BEACH SURF LIFE SAVING WELL KNOWN FREMANTLE BUSKER, MATTY BLADE RIP OLIVER HILL BUNKER ROTTNEST ISLAND Paddy Hannan and his wheelbarrow in Perth Riverside Drive. Discovered 'The Golden Mile' Kalgoorlie. PREV WESTERN AUSTRALIA NEXT HOMEPAGE

Murtoa Stick Shed Historically known as the Number 1 Emergency Grain Store. Originally a large grain store and is now a disused wooden silo in Murtoa made available for visiting tourists. Located beside the railway to service western Victoria's wheatbelt. Some thirty km from Horsham. Mountain Ash Hardwood Timber Pole Construction Five hundred and sixty poles, up to 80-foot-long, went into constructing the cathedral like building. The Murtoa Stick Shed, as it is now known is; 870 feet long or about 265 metres 198 feet wide or about 60 metres 62 feet 10 inches or about 19 metres high at the ridge Covering an area of 170,000 square feet. Full capacity in days gone by was 3.4 million bushels or 95,000 tonnes. Expect to spend twice as long as planned walking the shed. It's much larger inside than you think. Don't get stuck for time. Traveldriven ENTER CLICK/TAP MURTOA STICK SHED GOOGLE MAPS DRIVE MELBOURNE TO MURTOA Murtoa Stick Shed carpark INSIDE THE MURTOA STICK SHED WALKING MURTOA STICK SHED PREV VICTORIA NEXT HOMEPAGE

Geelong Revival Geelong is a city on Corio Bay Victoria. Geelong is about eighty kilometres south-west of Melbourne. Population is approaching three hundred thousand people. The revival is usually held in November over two days. At North Shore on the Bay. The event has a quarter mile sprint attracting hundreds of vehicles and various show & shine area's. Up to one thousand vehicles may be displayed. Holden HQ Muscle Car A worked Holden HQ stole the show in the quarter mile event. By far the loudest idling car waiting for a turn at the lights. The spectator hill crowd rose to their feet in anticipation of a hot run down the quarter mile. The driver smoked up the rear tyres off the line with a roar of the engine. Tyre smoke bellowed over the watching crowd. All enjoyed the show. One of the strangest vehicle entrants was a lounge couch attached to an engine surrounded by bodywork in the form of a table. A glued on iced coffee bottle and a glued fruit bowl with imitation fruit. Toted as the world's fasted couch, 163 km per hour. Traveldriven ENTER CLICK/TAP GEELONG GOOGLE MAPS RIVER FRONT SHOW & SHINE QUARTER MILE SPRINTS HOLDEN HQ BURNOUT WATERFRONT WALKABOUT GEELONG REVIVAL WALK MAD MAX MAYHEM CAR DRIFTING GEELONG CITY STREETS PREV SHOW & SHINE NEXT PREV VICTORIA NEXT HOMEPAGE

Ararat is a city in south-west Victoria about two hundred kilometres (120 mi) west of Melbourne, on the Western Highway. About one hundred km from Ballarat along the Western Freeway. The freeway converting to highway twenty-five km from the city. Has a population of less than ten thousand residents. Located on the Great Dividing Range. Ararat Jailhouse Rock Festival Held on the weekend after the long weekend in March. The festival begins on the Friday night with a classic car cruise along Barkly Street in Ararat. The main retail street of the town. Followed by a ticketed Rock 'n' Roll Revival show inside the Town Hall. Events and live music are on Saturday and Sunday. One such event is the Saturday morning; Show us your wheels. This event is held in Barkly Street opposite the Town Hall. Open to all types of vehicles and is hosted by Grampians Vintage and Veteran Car Club. One Tree Hill Climb The hill climb is held twice per year. A large hill on the fringe of the town. Height of 1,900 feet above sea level. The track length being 1609 metres in length. Held over a weekend in June and November. The event is generally a round of the Victorian Hill Climb Championship. The Hill Climb is free to watch and many of it's entrants come from interstate. Usually onsite BBQ food is available to purchase. The event is frequented by local car and motoring enthusiasts and organised by the Ararat Car Club Inc. One Tree Hill has a small rotunda at the top and a carpark. The sealed road is rather steep but nice to drive. Not suitable for towed vehicles. Must be thrilling to drive as an entrant in a Hill Climb. Views of Ararat and on the other side of the hill views to the Grampian mountains. Traveldriven DRIVE ONE TREE HILL, ARARAT A hill climb cyclist detailed account of One Tree Hill http://theclimbingcyclist.com/climbs/one-tree-hill-ararat/ ENTER CLICK/TAP ARARAT GOOGLE MAPS DRIVING ARARAT CITY Show Us Your Wheels 2024 JAILHOUSE ROCK MERCHANDISE HOT ROD FLAMES SHOW US YOUR WHEELS MOONSHINE DELIVERIES ARARAT JAILHOUSE ROCK WEEKEND SUMMIT OF ONE TREE HILL, LOOKING OVER ARARAT VIEWS OF THE GRAMPIANS ARE BEHIND CAMERA ONE TREE HILL, HILL CLIMB HILL CLIMB IN CAR CRASH ARARAT HILL CLIMB JUNE 2023 ARARAT HILLCLIMB 2015 ARARAT HILL CLIMB 1993 PREV VICTORIA NEXT HOMEPAGE

The most dangerous place I have ever been to. White Island White Island Volcano, North Island Active andesite stratovolcano situated forty-eight km (30 mi) from the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, in the Bay of Plenty. The island covers an area of approximately 325 ha (800 acres), which is just the top of a much larger submerged volcano. White Island is New Zealand's most active cone volcano. Continuous volcanic activity over the past 150,000 years has increased the volcano in size. The nearest mainland towns are Whakatane and Tauranga. Whakatane pronunciation is fuh-kuh-taa-nay Very similar to common curse words. Rotorua, North Island Ride a 900-metre long cableway Gondola with views of steaming geysers and bubbling mud pools on it's way to Skyline amusement park. Slight incline unlike the very steep chairlift in Queenstown. Rotorua is about one hundred km by road to Whakatane and the now discontinued White Island tour boat jetty departure point. White Island Daily Tours Daily conducted tour groups of White Island to view the island's steaming crater were allowed up until a deadly eruption occurred in 2019. An eruption in December 2019 killed 22 people and 25 were left injured on the island. All tourists were on organised adventure tours. Before this some 10,000 tourists visited White Island (Whakaari) each year. Usually by tour boat. I was one such tourist. The most dangerous place I have ever been to. At the time I was fully aware of this. This was in late 2015. Before the tour I did my White Island research. Tour leaflets were scant on the dangers. I discovered steam driven eruptions do occur on occasion with little or no warnings. A few miners in 1914 had been killed by a sudden eruption. The science agency monitoring the island were reluctant to send personal to check equipment on a frequent basis because of risk. Yet tour operations were deemed ok to visit daily. Visitor's required to wear a hard hat, carry a gas mask have sturdy enclosed footwear and wear long trousers. I knew these offered no protection for the body against volatile steam. Distal hissing steam vents and strong sulphur smells protection, maybe. Like many others, perhaps not as aware of steam eruptions as me, I thought one hour on the island is risky but a very brief visit somewhat safe. I decided to go. I made a mental note do it once and never go back. I have experienced a raging bushfire and gale force storms in a sailing boat and even an aviation forced landing. White Island was the most dangerous of all and I knew it. Walking The Volcano All were told not to deviate from the track and walk single file behind the tour leader. Near boiling shallow multi-coloured streams less than a stride wide could be walked over. Told to be careful on uneven ground and avoid ground depressions off the walking track where sulphur gas may settle. Transfer from tender to shore required thought as the water was rough and the crumbling makeshift jetty in disrepair. Heavily rusted old mining structures strewn about. Evidence of previous historical eruptions. Eruption Day An eruption on April 27, 2016, occurred at night without warning when no one was on the island. Tourist visits in 2019 coincided with a large eruption. The eruption occurred on a Monday afternoon. Killing twenty tourists and two tour guides. Although infrequent, eruptions can occur on any day, any time. However, daily visits around the island by boat or aircraft and forbidding setting foot on the island would have been a much better safer option from day one. That said, it's still a risk to go near the island. After all, it's an active unpredictable and deadly volcano. All White Island tourist actively is permanently suspended. Traveldriven ENTER CLICK/TAP WHITE ISLAND VOLCANO GOOGLE MAPS ROTORUA GOOGLE MAPS WHITE ISLAND READY TO BLOW STEAMING WHITE ISLAND VOLCANO SURVIVORS OF WHITE ISLAND AFTER THE VOLCANO ERUPTION ROTORUA PREV PAGE NEXT HOMEPAGE

Mount Wellington Lookout Hobart The summit is 1,271 metres (4,170 ft) above sea level and it frequently experiences snow. Falling snow may be any month of the year. Lower sections have walking tracks and some fire trails. The lookout is about 22 kilometres (14 mi) from Hobart CBD. An enclosed summit building offers views through large glass windows which are often obstructed by cloud or fog. An outside elevated walkway gives a clearer view of Hobart city below. A distinctive feature of Mount Wellington is the cliff known as the Organ Pipes. The final few kilometres drive to the top is steep and narrow on a sealed road. Views obstructed by cloud most of the time. Winds can on occasion be over 160 km at the summit. During winter it frequently snows in the sub zero temperatures and the mountain often receives a dusting of snow. Roadside gates may be closed occasionally in winter to stop access if deemed to dangerous to traffic. Traveldriven GOOGLE MAPS ENTER CLICK/TAP HOBART https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hobart ENTER CLICK/TAP MOUNT WELLINGTON https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mount+Wellington DRIVE HOBART TO MOUNT WELLINGTON PREV PAGE NEXT HOMEPAGE

Sheffield Tasmania Is a town twenty-three kilometres inland from Devonport, Tasmania. Sheffield is a major tourist attraction. People come to see the "Town of Murals". The first town mural was painted in December 1986. Since then over sixty murals depicting the area's history and scenery have been painted on walls throughout the town. The murals attract an estimated 200,000 people to the town each year. Mount Roland At a height of 1233 metres above sea level provides a spectacular backdrop to Sheffield. Hiking tracks lead to the summit. I used Sheffield as an accommodation base for daily drives to Cradle Mountain 55 km distant and 50 minutes drive away. A very enjoyable drive in a Mustang GT. Accommodation may be scarce in the Cradle Mountain surrounds and much less affordable than Sheffield. Traveldriven ENTER CLICK/TAP SHEFFIELD GOOGLE MAPS DRIVE DEVONPORT TO SHEFFIELD TASMANIA SERVICE STATION GARAGE MURAL NED KELLY MURAL SHOP MURALS SHEFFIELD ANZAC MURAL SHEFFIELD FARM MURAL SHEFFIELD EAGLE MURAL SHEFFIELD TOWN CAFE TOWN STREETS OF SHEFFIELD PREV PAGE NEXT HOMEPAGE

Cradle Mountain is a mountain in the Central Highlands region of Tasmania. Surrounded by the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. Rising to a height of 1,545 metres (5,069 ft) above sea level, Cradle Mountain is the sixth-highest mountain in Tasmania, Australia. Drove daily from Sheffield town to Dove Lake car park Cradle Mountain. Mustang GT spirited driving. I don’t like heights but managed to hike Marions Lookout the highest point. Views of Cradle Mountain, Dove Lake and other lakes. There is an easy walking track looping around Dove Lake. The track is mostly boarded flat walkway and passes beneath Cradle Mountain. Easy walk of 2 hours. The Boatshed is on the track walk. Built 1940. Traveldriven ENTER CLICK/TAP CRADLE MOUNTAIN GOOGLE MAPS IN REALTIME DRIVE SHEFFIELD TO CRADLE MOUNTAIN MARIONS LOOKOUT WALK PREV PAGE NEXT HOMEPAGE

Halls Gap In The Grampians A small tourist town in Victoria. Located on Grampians Road, off of the Western Highway. The town is surrounded by the Grampians National Park. With a population of over four hundred. This increases many times over in holiday periods. Halls Gap is widely unofficially known as the tiny tourist capital of the Grampians National Park. Victoria. All types of accommodation, fuel, retail, food outlets and a chemist are available in Halls Gap. Icecream Treat On my visit to the Stoney Creek Boardwalk in Halls Gap I was given a free choice of icecream from the many varieties on offer in a home made waffle cone from Halls Gap Ice Creamery on the boardwalk. Not unusual to see a queue of people form at peak times. On another visit I received a triple scoop cone. Thankyou. The owners & staff of Coolas Ice Creamery knew me and wouldn't accept payment. Going into 2024 the icecreamery has changed ownership. So no more free triple scoop icecreams for me from 2024 onwards. Prices are reasonable and I don't mind to pay after a long hike for a tasty cold scoop or two, or three. Traveldriven ENTER CLICK/TAP HALLS GAP GOOGLE MAPS HALLS GAP FIVE DAY FORECAST HALLS GAP VIA STAWELL OR ARARAT VIA STAWELL IS NEARER TO THE WESTERN HIGHWAY THE MAIN STREET OF HALLS GAP STONEY CREEK, HALLS GAP STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN FLAVOUR TRIPLE SCOOP FLAVOUR IN A HOMEMADE CONE HALLS GAP STONEY CREEK BAKERY & ICE CREAMERY VENUS BATHS WALK HALLS GAP HALLS GAP EMU CROSSING EMU'S GRAZING PREV GRAMPIANS NEXT PREV VICTORIA NEXT HOMEPAGE