Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Something Different: Camel Trekking
Camels Down Under? You bet. Australia has one of the world's largest
camel populations, and even exports racing camels to the Middle East.
Camels were imported to negotiate waterless deserts in the 1900s but
were later set free. They are now a popular way to trek the country. Short
rambles of an hour or two in Alice Springs and at Ayers Rock are a novel
way to see the Outback, or you can join extended camel treks through
Outback deserts offered by a number of operators. Several companies in
Broome lead guided rides along beautiful Cable Beach.
Fun Fact
out. There are plenty of biking trails.
The rainforest hills behind Cairns
hosted the world mountain-biking
championships in 1996, and Sydney's
Blue Mountains have good mountain-
biking trails. On Rottnest Island off
Perth, it's the only mode of transport
from one coral-filled bay to the next.
All major towns and most resort cen-
ters rent regular bikes and mountain
bikes.
If you're interested in taking an
extended trip, you may find a copy of
Cycling Australia: Bicycle Touring
Throughout the Sunny Continent,
by
Australian Ian Duckworth (Motor-
books, 1996) useful. This 224-page
guide outlines short trips and eight
long trips with maps and route
descriptions. Any bookstore can order
it, or it is available for US$2.55 from
the Adventurous Traveler Bookstore
(
&
800/282-3963
in the U.S. and
Canada; www.adventuroustraveler.
com), or for £9.95 from the Quayside
Bookshop in the United Kingdom
(
&
01626/77 5436;
quaybooks@aol.
com).
Remote Outback Cycle Tours
(
&
08/9279 6969;
www.cycletours.
com.au) takes novice and expert rid-
ers, young and old, on extended tours
across the country. The distances are
vast, but the trip is combined with
four-wheel-drive travel. Itineraries
include the Red Centre, the historic
Oodnadatta Track cattle-driving route
from Alice Springs to Adelaide via the
underground opal-mining town of
Coober Pedy in South Australia, and
from Adelaide to Perth across the
Nullarbor Plain desert and through
the pretty Margaret River wine region
in southern Western Australia.
BIRD-WATCHING
Australia's
unique geography as an island conti-
nent ensures it has species you won't
see anywhere else. It is probably best
known for its brilliant parrots, but you
will see species from the wetlands,
savanna, mulga scrub, desert, oceans,
dense bushland, rainforest, man-
groves, rivers, and other habitats.
More than half of the country's species
have been spotted in the Daintree
Rain Forest area in north Queensland,
and one third live in wetlands-rich
Kakadu National Park in the Top End.
The Coorong in South Australia and
Broome in the Top End are home to
marvelous waterfowl populations.
To get in touch with bird-watching
clubs all over Australia, contact
Birds
Australia
(
&
03/9882 2622;
www.
birdsaustralia.com.au).
Kirrama Wildlife Tours
(
&
07/
4065 5181;
www.gspeak.com.au/
kirrama) operates birding expeditions
to remote regions in northern Aus-
tralia from a base in north Queens-
land. Broome-based ornithologist
George Swann of
Kimberley Bird-
watching, Wildlife & Natural His-
tory Tours
(
&
08/9192 1246;
www.
kimberleybirdwatching.com.au) leads
extended birding trips throughout the
