Post by: scotsman on February 28, 2016, 12:49:20 PM
A herd of wild kangaroos grazing on a peninsula - 30' tall cyclone driven waves crashing on the rocks below.
Post by: scotsman on February 28, 2016, 12:50:45 PM
Post by: Mark251 on February 28, 2016, 03:38:15 PM
Post by: RadSav on February 28, 2016, 03:43:58 PM
Post by: scotsman on February 29, 2016, 02:42:34 AM
Where in Australia is the ranch? This is a BIG country.
The direct flight from Sea Tac to the east coast of AUS is roughly 14 hours. We broke that into two sections by making the first leg an overnight stay in Honolulu, then the following day Hawaii to brisbane. That makes it a more palatable 6 hrs / 9 hrs. Our final leg will be a flight across to Perth on the west coast - another 5+ hours.
That plan also got its the best rates. Alaska airlines to Hawaii was cheap. We took Hawaii airlines to brisbane, also surprisingly reasonable. A great benefit of this flight is its rarely full. The plane was less than 1/2 occupied so we could actually find empty rows to lie down flat to sleep.
One factiod about Australia is there are more things that can kill you or generally make life miserable than anywhere else in the world. Everything from 11 different species of snakes, to bees, jellyfish and even innocent looking plants sting, burn, or have lethal venom. A pretty shell on the beach may harbor a hermit crab type critter that can kill a large mammal. Just do your homework - people here take 'em in stride.
A counterpoint is that Australians are the most friendly people on earth. Soon as they hear our American accent they go out of their way to make us feel accepted. I have only been here once before (on R&R from Vietnam 50 years ago). I was treated wonderfully then and was a bit concerned things had changed. No worries, mate!
Post by: RadSav on February 29, 2016, 03:12:58 AM
Where in Australia is the ranch? This is a BIG country.
Thank you very much for that reply. That is helpful!
I know very little about Australia geographically so excuse me if none of this makes sense. I have studied a fair amount on the animals there as well as the poisonous snakes and vegetation. Just paid little attention about each region and it's relationship to major population centers. Never figured I could ever afford and/or find the time to hunt there so :dunno: Hadn't heard about that hermit crab. Sounds like a walk in the tide pools might not be high on our list of things to do. :chuckle:
The hunt would be on multiple ranches depending on what game and quality of game we wanted to chase. The smallest ranch is suppose to be in the neighborhood of 10,000 acres. Hopefully you can make sense of these locations - Northern Queensland, Brisbane Valley, Coburg Peninsula, Toowoomba. Not sure if these are states and cities, territories and cities...or what. Very early in the discussion stages at the moment. Most of the topics have been about broadheads, trophy Red Deer and other antler/horn candy!! Figured once I got caught up on work I would break out the map and try to better understand where all this is.
Post by: JKEEN33 on February 29, 2016, 06:06:19 AM
Post by: SemperFidelis97 on February 29, 2016, 07:17:23 AM
Post by: pianoman9701 on February 29, 2016, 07:21:55 AM
Post by: scotsman on February 29, 2016, 01:42:26 PM
Tow of the locations you mentioned are easy to get to: Brisbane valley and Twoomba look like they are less than a days drive from the airport in Brisbane. But the other places are at the very northern tip of Queensland over a thousand miles away.
And don't forget that the roads here are right hand drive. It took me several days to start to feel comfortable driving and I still have to be on alert all the time.
Photos from the rainforest...
Post by: Sumpnneedskillin on February 29, 2016, 02:28:03 PM
Two places/things to do that I recommend:
Townsville (or anywhere along the NE coast) - take a snorkeling/diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef.
Syndey - take a day and go visit the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains National Park near Katoomba.