The Natural and man-made attractions at Chillagoe Queensland

A place that has ancient aboriginal rock paintings, historic mining relics, amazing limestone caves and a unique vehicle museum would attract many people, writes Len Rutledge 

Our anticipation was high as we headed 140 kilometres west of Mareeba along the Wheelbarrow Way to Chillagoe, North Queensland and a day later we agreed that our expectations had been surpassed.

Chillagoe was once an ancient coral reef which has been transformed into spectacular limestone bluffs with a network of more than 500 caves. It is one of the most interesting and unusual places in the whole of northern Queensland.

Follow the Goulburn Heritage Trail

If you said the one thing you remember about Goulburn was the Big Merino, then you’d be in good company. The massive concrete beast, dubbed ‘Rambo’ by good-natured locals, celebrates the region’s wool and sheep industry which catapulted Goulburn along the road to economic success almost 200 years ago.

The Australian Outback is a bonanza for 'pickers' and 'junkers'

The vast Australian outback yields wonder for 'pickers' and scrapyard junkies. The dry desert air preserves many relics that would otherwise disintegrate in warmer, wetter regions, leaving a veritable museum of history scattered over hundreds of thousands of square kilometres.

South Australia's Mallee: a road trip through history

Over 100 years ago, just before the First World War, South Australia (SA) began a concerted effort to open up the Mallee region to agriculture, mainly wheat and sheep. 

The central hub of the district was Karoonda, established in 1913, growing quickly to become a major rural and commercial centre and rail yard with loading facilities for the vast quantities of grain harvested from the surrounding district, now largely cleared of the slow-growing, stubby eucalypt trees that once dominated the semiarid landscape to the Victorian border and beyond.  

The rural silo art project like this example in Karoonda
has helped bring tourists back to remote towns in SA (R Eime 2020)

Australians love Vancouver, Canada

With its mountain backdrop, interesting museums, urban beaches and wonderful Stanley Park, beautiful Vancouver is one of my favourite cities in the world. Len Rutledge recalls his time in the city.

The city will appeal to all ages and budget levels with its accommodation, restaurant, shopping and theatre/museum offerings. Unfortunately, it appears that it will be many months yet before we can visit again.

It was four years since I last visited so when I was there earlier this year, I took the opportunity to reacquaint myself with many of the things that make the city so appealing to many Australians. Amazingly, most were free.

The chequered history of Ravenswood, Queensland

Booming gold and silver mines, a railway that came and went, a population that rose to 5000 and fell to 100, 50 pubs, and a recent resurgence in mining: Ravenswood has seen it all. Len Rutledge tells the story.

Mining and tourism are now taking this fascinating town to new prosperity despite COVID-19 and the current poor economic conditions. It seems that the future is bright. Ravenswood is certainly worth exploring for its old mining relics, its fascinating buildings, and its outstanding history.

See Ice at Altitude: Scenic Flights to Antarctica

There's history and grandeur aplenty way above Antarctica. Roderick Eime, takes to the wing for a rare perspective of the southernmost continent.

“The panorama was magnificent – the jagged mountains of black and green rock and glittering snow slopes of Trinity (peninsula) towering besides, above us the clear sky, below us blue-black water and icebergs – everything frozen and still, black and blue-black and black-green and glittering white” – Captain Sir George Hubert Wilkins, Australian polar aviation pioneer

These words could have been uttered by any modern airborne explorer of the Antarctic, flying low over the frozen wilderness of the great southern land.

History on the Harbour: Before BridgeClimb there were Sydney's 'social climbers'.

Often when I’m chatting with visitors to Sydney or even just having a brag down at the pub, people ask me if I’ve ever climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. My answer is “three times, twice legally”.

The first dawn climb, December 2002. My first legal climb (Roderick Eime)

Everyone knows the famous - ‘iconic’ even - Sydney attraction known as ‘BridgeClimb’ launched in 1998. It was a big deal because the founder, Paul Cave, had taken 10 years to overcome a wall of bureaucracy to make it happen and at the time, it was the first such attraction on a bridge anywhere in the world.