Other sights in Pacific
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Aquabumps Gallery
Photographer/surfer Eugene Tan has been snapping photos of Sydney’s sunrises, surf and sand for 10 years and his colourful prints hang in this cool space, a splash from Bondi Beach.
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Paronella Park
Mena Creek’s main claim to fame is the unusual Paronella Park, which features the ruins of a Spanish castle hand-built in the 1930s. Floods, fire and moist tropics have rendered these mossy remains almost medieval. Entry includes free camping in the adjacent caravan park and a night tour at 6.20pm and/or 8.30pm.
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Port Arthur
Port Arthur is the name of the small settlement in which the well-preserved Port Arthur Historic Site is situated. In 1830, Governor Arthur chose the Tasman Peninsula as the place where prisoners who had committed further crimes in the colony would be confined in an allegedly 'escape-proof' natural prison. The town is also the site of the tragic April 1996 massacre in which a lone gunman opened fire on visitors and staff, killing 35 people.
Between 1830 and 1877, about 12,500 convicts served sentences at Port Arthur and for many it was a living hell, though convicts who behaved well often lived in better conditions than those they'd experienced back home.
The penal establ…
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East Coast Museum of Technology & Transport
The East Coast Museum of Technology & Transport is an improbable collation of rusty tractors, lawn mowers, engines, spanners, ploughs, ovens, chainsaws, trucks, pumps, harvesters, motorbikes and so on – a shrine to peoples’ inventive capacity or their ability to horde junk?
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Blue Baths
Within the Government gardens are the gorgeous Spanish Mission–style Blue Baths, which opened in 1933 (and, amazingly, were closed from 1982 to 1999). Today you can visit a small museum (open 10am to 5pm) recalling the building’s heyday, with recorded anecdotes and displays in the old changing rooms. If it all makes you feel like taking a dip yourself, the heated pool awaits. Ask about occasional dinner-and-cabaret shows (per person from $125).
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Waipu Museum
The original 934 British settlers came from Scotland via Nova Scotia (Canada) between 1853 and 1860. These dour Scots at least had the good sense to eschew frigid Otago, where so many of their kindred settled, for sunnier northern climes. Their story comes to life through holograms, a short film and interactive displays at the Waipu Museum.
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Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park
The preservation of this region as a national park is due in part to Austrian immigrant Gustav Weindorfer. In 1912 he built a chalet out of King Billy pine, called it Waldheim (German for ‘Forest Home’) and, from 1916, lived there permanently. Today the site of his chalet at the northern end of the park retains the name Waldheim.
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Crocodylus Park & Zoo
Crocodylus Park & Zoo showcases hundreds of crocs and a minizoo comprising lions, tigers, a Persian leopard and other big cats, spider monkeys, marmosets, cassowaries and large birds. Allow about two hours to look around the whole park, and you should time your visit with a tour, which includes a feeding demonstration.
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St Faith’s Anglican Church
The historic St Faith’s Anglican Church is intricately decorated with Maori carvings, tukutuku (woven panels), painted scrollwork and stained-glass windows. One window features an image of Christ wearing a Maori cloak as he appears to walk on the waters of Lake Rotorua.
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Point Nepean National Park
The peninsula’s tip is marked by the stunning Point Nepean National Park, originally a quarantine station and army base and off-limits to the public. Quarantine is a legendary surf break at the Rip, and is still only accessible by boat.
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St John’s Cathedral
East of Roma St Parkland heading towards Fortitude Valley is St John’sCathedral, a fine example of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture. The building was recently completed according to its original design, 102 years after construction commenced.
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Butterfly & Orchid Garden
Kids (little or large) with a fairy complex will adore the Butterfly & Orchid Garden, north of town within the Dickson Holiday Park. It’s an enclosed jungle full of hundreds of exotic flappers.
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Buku Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre & Museum
The Buku Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre & Museum, 20km southeast of Nhulunbuy, is one of Arnhem Land’s best. No permit is required to visit from Nhulunbuy or Gove airport.
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Zebra Rock Gallery
Zebra Rock Gallery, on the Ord River about 15km from Kununurra, produces jewellery and sculptures from the unique zebra rock found around Argyle Downs Station.
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Raglan & District Museum
The small, musty Raglan & District Museum explores the stories of local Maori and Pakeha pioneers through artefacts, photos and newspapers.
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Westbury Maze
Lose the kids in the hedges of Westbury Maze, then recover in the tearoom.
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Bridestowe Estate Lavender Farm
Bridestowe Estate Lavender Farm is near Nabowla, 22km west of Scottsdale. It’s the biggest lavender farm in the southern hemisphere. Admission charges (per person/vehicle $4/12) apply during the flowering season from mid-December to late January (a purple patch?) only, which covers a guided tour; the rest of the year it’s free. Try lavender-flavoured muffins and ice cream at the cafe.
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Mt Field National Park
Mt Field National Park is a favourite of both locals and visitors for its spectacular mountain scenery, alpine moorlands and lakes, rainforest and waterfalls. The area around Russell Falls was made a reserve in 1885 and by 1916 had become one of Australia's first national parks. The abundance of wildlife that can be viewed at dusk makes this a great place to stay overnight with kids. When nature sees fit to deposit snow, skiing is also an option.
The park's visitors centre has reams of information on the area's walks, and on the free, child-occupying, ranger-led activities usually held from late December until early February. Also inside are a cafe and displays on the ori…
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Richmond & the Coal River Valley
With more than 50 19th-century buildings and just 27km from Hobart, Richmond is arguably Tasmania's premier historic town. Straddling the Coal River and on the old route between Hobart and Port Arthur, Richmond was once a strategic military post and convict station. The town is surrounded by Tasmania's fastest-growing wine region - known as the Coal River Valley - and there are wineries in all directions.
With the completion of the Sorell Causeway in 1872, traffic travelling to the Tasman Peninsula and the east coast bypassed Richmond. The town remained the focus of a farming community but ceased to grow - in fact, for more than a century it changed very little. It has si…
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Ubirr
Ubirr is 39km north of the Arnhem Hwy via a sealed road. It'll take a lot more than the busloads of visitors to disturb Ubirr's inherent majesty and grace. Layers of paintings, in various styles and from various centuries, command a mesmerising stillness.
Part of the main gallery reads like a menu, with images of kangaroos, tortoises and fish painted in X-ray, which became the dominant style about 8000 years ago. Predating these are the paintings of mimi spirits: cheeky, dynamic figures who, it's believed, were the first of the Creation Ancestors to paint on rock. (Given the lack of cherry-pickers in 6000 BC, you have to wonder who else but a spirit could have painted at …
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Rangiriri Heritage Centre
As you follow SH1 south you’re retracing the route of the colonial army in the spectacular land grab that was the Waikato War. On 20 November 1863, 1500 British troops (some say it was 850 – either way, there was a lot of ‘em), backed by gunboats and artillery, attacked the substantial fortifications erected by the Maori king’s warriors at Rangiriri. They were repulsed a number of times and lost 49 men, but overnight many of the 500 Maori defenders retreated; the remaining 183 were taken prisoner the next day after the British gained entry to the pa (fortified village) by conveniently misunderstanding a flag of truce. It’s worth stopping at the Rangiriri Heritag…
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Hard Times Mine
Coastal Queenslanders will tell you there's only one reason to make the 1200km plus trek to Mt Isa, and it is to visit the Australian tourism award–winning Outback at Isa . Ancient history comes alive at this museum, which is a one-stop educational stop for Queensland's outback history, from pioneering to mining to local cultures. Get kitted out in fair-dinkum mining attire and head lamps at the Hard Times Mine . You descend a purpose-built mine complete with fuming, roaring and rattling machinery. The fascinating Riversleigh Fossil Centre is also here. It features a re-creation of Australia's prehistoric fauna, and actual fossils. The centre also houses the Isa Experie…
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Jim Jim Falls & Twin Falls
Remote and spectacular, these two falls epitomise the rugged Top End. Jim Jim Falls, a sheer 215m drop, is awesome after rain (when it can only be seen from the air), but its waters shrink to a trickle by about June. Twin Falls flows year-round (no swimming), but half the fun is getting there, involving a little boat trip (adult/child $2.50/free, running 7.30am to 5pm) and an over-the-water boardwalk.
These two iconic waterfalls are reached along a 4WD track that turns south off the Kakadu Hwy between the Nourlangie and Cooinda turn-offs. Jim Jim Falls is about 56km from the turn-off (the last 1km on foot), and it's a further five corrugated kilometres to Twin Falls. The t…
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Bicentennial Park
Bicentennial Park (The Esplanade) runs the length of Darwin's waterfront and Lameroo Beach - a sheltered cove popular in the '20s when it housed the saltwater baths, and traditionally a Larrakia camp area. Shaded by tropical trees, the park is an excellent place to stroll.
At the Herbert St end there's a cenotaph commemorating Australians' service to the country's war efforts: from those who lost their lives in WWI to Aboriginal men and women whose bush skills assisted the Army during WWII to protect the remote northern coastline. Also honoured are 200 Remarkable Territorians: hand-painted tiles in panels dispersed intermittently along the Esplanade commemorate some of th…
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