Everywhere
Oceania
119 photographs · 12 venues
Photographs
Places worth going
All places →Aroa beachDon't missOutdoorsThe west coast is where the sun goes down and Aroa is where I kept ending up to watch it. Shallow, calm, coral rubble underfoot rather than pure sand, and a reef line close enough in that the water inside it barely moves. I have eleven photographs of one sunset here and I am not sorry about any of them. Bring reef shoes and go about an hour before it drops.AvaavaroaDon't missActivitiesThis is a dive site rather than somewhere you walk to, out past the passage on the south side where the lagoon drains out to the open sea. Big coral heads with sand between them, blue water going dark below, and enough current that you go when the boat says to go rather than when you feel like it. Two dives in a morning and I would have done a third.Death and TaxesDon't missFood & drinkDown a laneway off the Queen Street end, with a hooded skeleton painted on the wall so you know you have found it. The whole back wall is bottles, floor to ceiling, hundreds of them, and the point is that you tell them roughly what you feel like and let them make it rather than reading a list. Small, dark and busy, so go early or be prepared to stand. Best bar of the trip and the walk in through the lanes is half the fun.North Stradbroke IslandDon't missTownsDo the North Gorge Walk and do it slowly. It is a loop of maybe half an hour if you march it and about two hours if you stop at everything worth stopping at, which is most of it - the gorge with the surf pushing straight into the gap, Main Beach going off to the horizon in one direction, and an ocean that is genuinely turquoise rather than the colour people politely call turquoise. We had dolphins under the rocks, an osprey sitting on a dead branch about ten metres away, and kangaroos lying about on the grass at the end like they were waiting for us. Get the early ferry, take a hat, and give yourself the whole day rather than half of it.Oporto Harbour TownDon't missFood & drinkHad the chicken with the chilli sauce, and it was every bit as good as I remembered. Oporto was my favourite fast food place of all time until every New Zealand one closed down, so getting to eat it again after years was just amazing - succulent chicken, the best chilli sauce ever made, divine! It sits in the middle of the Harbour Town outlets, so make it lunch on a shopping morning rather than a drive of its own, and get extra chilli sauce.SailsDon't missFood & drinkA deck built out over the water with white tables on it and nothing between you and the lagoon. Lunch with your feet more or less in the sea. Book a table at the front or it is not the same thing. Highly recommend this restaurant!SandalsDon't missFood & drinkTables on the sand with the whole of Muri lagoon in front of them and a motu sitting in the middle of the view. The food was good and the view was doing most of the work, which on Rarotonga is a fair deal. Go at lunch when the lagoon is at its brightest.Symbio Wildlife ParkDon't missActivitiesLoved this place. About three hours and we had seen the whole park.
Cockatoos were sitting on the picnic tables before we had properly got through the gate. Kangaroos asleep in the shade, wallabies come right up and eat out of your hand. There is a cheetah as well, and cotton-top tamarins, and echidnas including a pale one sharing with a normal dark one.
Best bit by a mile was getting to hold a Tasmanian devil. Wrapped up in a fleece blanket, wide awake, looking straight up at me and completely unbothered by any of it. I did not expect to be allowed anywhere near one.
Under an hour south of the city. Give it a whole morning at least.The StarDon't missViewpointsGo up for the sunset. The view from the top has the river bending right through the middle of it, South Bank and the bridges below you and the hills going purple behind, and it is the one place in Brisbane that shows you the shape of the city rather than the inside of it. Get there an hour before the sun goes so you see it in daylight and then in colour. The building itself is worth ten minutes on the way in - the atrium with the plants hanging down through it is a proper piece of showing off.Coogee BeachWorth a stopOutdoorsSkip the sand and walk up to the north end. There is a natural pool cut into the rock shelf - Giles Baths - where the swell comes straight over the edge and fills it, so you are swimming in flat water with the surf going off a couple of metres away. Brilliant thing to find at the end of a beach.
It was grey and blowing the afternoon we went and it was still full of people. No lifeguard, so have a look at the swell before you get in. Best near high tide, when the waves are washing over the rim.DreamworldWorth a stopActivitiesWent for the rides and the wildlife, which I loved! Dingoes asleep in the shade, a crocodile that looked terrifying, koalas doing what koalas do, and a kangaroo that walked straight up and ate out of my hand while I crouched there grinning like an idiot. If you have kids or you actually want the coasters then it is a full day; if you are there for the animals you can do that part in a morning.New Farm RiverwalkWorth a stopOutdoorsWalk it at night. The Story Bridge is lit up and the whole city is sitting in the water underneath it, and the path takes you right along the edge of the river so you get it from every angle without trying. Twenty minutes, flat, free, and better after dark than before it.