Sunday, March 22, 2015

Australia by air is safest, fastest way to go




By Larry Johnston
FLORIDA TODAY


Australia is a big country. Very big.

That is the reason when my wife and I decided to visit, we took an air safari.

Self-piloted air safaris get to all of the destinations regular tours do, only quicker and without the tens of thousands of potholes Australia takes pride in. They are, therefore, more comfortable. Now you see the reason why I went this way.

Here is how our trip went:

We arrived in Brisbane in southeast Australia and were picked up by a member of the staff of Goana Air Tours. That night, we met our fellow travelers over dinner and an orientation for the 14-day trip. Orientation included sharing with us what we might see at our various upcoming destinations, as well as a more extensive warning about not touching things we didn’t know by name.

Australia, despite its beauty, is full of venomous creatures and plants. There are more things that can hurt you there than anywhere else in the world. In addition to poisonous snakes, just a few of the other deadly things there are crocodiles, jellyfish and seashells. Yes, seashells.

This didn’t phase me. I vowed to touch only one Australian native the whole trip: Foster’s Beer.

Beer brings me to a delightful aspect of the Australians. None of them is too pretentious to take a sip of beer. They are grounded and quite possibly the nicest people on the face of the earth.

The next morning, we preflighted our aircraft and took to the air westbound toward the Outback and the Warrumbungle National Park to see roaming kangaroos and beautiful exotic birds.

By the way, if you haven’t been there, much of the Australian Outback is very flat. This prompted one of pilots to remark over the radio, “This place is so flat, you could sit on your front porch and watch your dog run away for two days!”

We are going to leave our traveling heroes in the air now and continue our flight next week. Among our stops will be White Cliffs, where it is so hot the residents live underground. Follow us into the world famous White Cliffs Underground Hotel. You might need a flashlight. Caves are very dark.

Story, comments and photo:  http://www.floridatoday.com

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