Think of it as a friendly parallel universe Florida & California, circa 1960 and you're kinda in the right place. It doesn't feel very "foreign" to an American -- not to me anyway. Oh, and if you're here next month, you'll hit the national elections.

10 days isn't a lot of time for a big country, and you don't want to spend too much time in transit. . .Oz is a relaxed place, and you should be relaxed in it. Some people love "hitting all the spots", but me, with ten days, I'd pick maybe three stops at most.

Melbourne probably still will be cold (for Australia) in September. The 10 hour drive way of traveling Sydney to Melbourne ain't scenic-- its the Hume Highway . . . its kinda like the I-5 from LA to San Fran. The scenic route takes a couple of days . . .

There's wine country outside of Sydney as well, the Hunter Valley. The weather there in September is likely to be better than it will be in the Yarra (outside of Melbourne).

For September, Tropical North Queensland is a great idea. I just swam in the Coral Sea, which is a pretty perfect temperature right now. There are boat trips out to the Great Barrier Reef, some leave from Airlie Beach, some from Cairns, some from Townsville.

One of the trips that many Australians want to do is the Daintree River, north of Cairns. Deep tropical rainforest, largely untouched. Its something like the Amazon, with nice big crocodiles. . . North Queensland is also your best shot of seeing platypus, if that were on your agenda.

Brisbane is a great city, a real surprise to me . . . amazing food, great lifestyle.

All in all, if you're coming in September, I'd skew North. Its the "dry season" in places where it often pours rain, its warm and the Reef and the rainforests are true natural wonders of the world.

Pretty soon we're going to have the change the title of this thread to "Scaring the Living Daylights out of Mrs. WineBevis":D

If you fancy a trip to the Daintree Rain Forest, it would be well worth the time. You can drive from Cairns and it would take 2-3 hours. You can also fly from Cairns if time is tight, that is if you don't mind riding in a single engine prop plane and landing in what is little more than a strip of pasture land (I am not making this up).

However I would highly recommend a guided trip through Daintree, first so you understand what you are looking at and for safety reasons. When we met our tour guide he had a four wheel drive SUV outfitted with a snorkel. You read that right...a snorkel.:eek: This was for those times when he needed to drive through deep water and not stall the vehicle out. He also pointed out that beside the bridges in the rain forest there were vertical clearance markings, designed to show how far OVER the bridge the water was currently cresting.:eek: Apparently in the rain forest is has been known to rain 10 inches in one hour.

Australia...gotta love it!:thumbsup:

Didn't notice this when I was there, but:

"Australia is today ranked as one of the fattest nations in the developed world"

http://www.modi.monash.edu.au/obesit...-in-australia/

Every Australian I met looked in good shape, including the women :thumbsup:

Trust me mate, the way we're going, we're gonna take over The US for being fat ;):):D:(:mad::o:cool::thumbsup:

Just go too any major shopping center and have a look around, More specifically, a food court. I like most of the food and a quick meal, but the most popular ones are McDonalds etc :mad: if there is one. The places in the food courts serve half healthy stuff, but most elect too eat the other crap.

I googled 2 pic from my hometown .... And it accurate

http://thumbnails105.imagebam.com/27...2270605502.jpg http://thumbnails107.imagebam.com/27...c270605503.jpg

:(

Kiwis'll thrash yas, like always.:p:rolleyes::(:eek:

Wellcamp-Leyburn-Sydney
 

I drove back to my place from the farm yesterday. Here are some photos.
Driving the direct route it's 870kms, which from go to whoa takes 10hrs:20 to 10hrs:30. Yesterday I took a diversion via Leyburn to take in the annual Leyburn sprints, which adds about 30mins to the travel time.

Leyburn was a WWII airfield which was used for motor racing after the war, incorporating public roads. It held the 1949 AGP. To celebrate this the town in recent years has two days of sprints, but around the houses, not on the original circuit.

It's pretty country to drive through to get there, the farmland of the eastern Darling Downs changes gradually from rolling hills to blacksoil plains as you travel south west.

http://img134.imagevenue.com/loc336/..._122_336lo.jpg http://img148.imagevenue.com/loc345/..._122_345lo.jpg http://img248.imagevenue.com/loc75/t...6_122_75lo.jpg http://img264.imagevenue.com/loc362/..._122_362lo.jpg http://img183.imagevenue.com/loc252/..._122_252lo.jpg http://img256.imagevenue.com/loc13/t...0_122_13lo.jpg http://img218.imagevenue.com/loc647/..._122_647lo.jpg

The old building is (I think) the old Cobb & Co staging post at Leyburn. Colonial settlement in the area started in the late 1840s.

http://img167.imagevenue.com/loc748/..._122_748lo.jpg http://img37.imagevenue.com/loc257/t..._122_257lo.jpg http://img231.imagevenue.com/loc47/t...1_122_47lo.jpg http://img202.imagevenue.com/loc367/..._122_367lo.jpg

On the road again towards Warwick. The country changes to low scrubby sandstone ridges. It got colder and wetter, down to about 7°C in the early afternoon. Wattle coming out in the high border country.

http://img167.imagevenue.com/loc1145...122_1145lo.jpg http://img25.imagevenue.com/loc38/th...6_122_38lo.jpg http://img133.imagevenue.com/loc368/..._122_368lo.jpg http://img267.imagevenue.com/loc361/..._122_361lo.jpg http://img41.imagevenue.com/loc197/t..._122_197lo.jpg http://img284.imagevenue.com/loc505/..._122_505lo.jpg http://img269.imagevenue.com/loc86/t...3_122_86lo.jpg http://img264.imagevenue.com/loc580/..._122_580lo.jpg http://img247.imagevenue.com/loc151/..._122_151lo.jpg http://img285.imagevenue.com/loc536/..._122_536lo.jpg

Uralla. Had a short break at about 16:00. Wintery-looking sky at the lake.

http://img149.imagevenue.com/loc382/..._122_382lo.jpg http://img238.imagevenue.com/loc61/t...9_122_61lo.jpg http://img144.imagevenue.com/loc386/..._122_386lo.jpg http://img14.imagevenue.com/loc260/t..._122_260lo.jpg http://img280.imagevenue.com/loc177/..._122_177lo.jpg http://img266.imagevenue.com/loc45/t...6_122_45lo.jpg http://img172.imagevenue.com/loc150/..._122_150lo.jpg http://img162.imagevenue.com/loc555/..._122_555lo.jpg

Coming down off the Great Divide, late afternoon. Watch out for roos, and cattle. The sun about to set, looking down towards Barrington Tops. Tiger country, if we had any tigers.

http://img243.imagevenue.com/loc446/..._122_446lo.jpg http://img273.imagevenue.com/loc467/..._122_467lo.jpg http://img199.imagevenue.com/loc403/..._122_403lo.jpg http://img11.imagevenue.com/loc538/t..._122_538lo.jpg

On the freeway at night in the VW, with just over two hours to go. I really like that instrument display and lighting.
The traffic was light coming into Sydney, for which I was grateful. I left the farm at 08:00, 45 minutes to Leyburn, left Leyburn at 11:20 and got to my place at 21:10.

I'll post a link to more car photos...here it is:

http://www.vintage-erotica-forum.com...&postcount=324

Spot On Mate:thumbsup:,
[and you must add Condescending] :mad:

Did this guy appear on the news?