Oz Travel-Bytes #2 

Cyclone Steve "Does His Stuff" in the Top End

The last month has proven to be a month of trials and tribulations caused in most be a tropical cyclone (aka "Steve") that blasted its way across the top end of Australia before harassing the Western coast, again and again and again. It provided some remarkable statistics with WA experiencing more rain than it did during the infamous year of 1974, made famous be the destruction of Darwin by Cyclone Tracy. Cyclone Steve was also responsible for the destruction of a few travellers' itineraries as they were caught in the middle of Mother Nature's fury, again showing the importance of using an information source like the Travellers Club to organise your travels. However it wasn't all bad news as this kind of weather also provided some spectacular eyewitness accounts of the power of the tropical north. The Fitzroy River in the Kimberley region for example is one of the most powerful rivers in the world when in full flood reaching a remarkable 15 metres in depth and stretching to an amazing 10km in width. The Kimberley region wasn't the only region to be affected as Steve made its way down the coast. The townships of Exmouth and Coral Bay went into red alert and Carnarvon suffered the worst floods in memory. Our webmaster Johno, got caught up in Cyclone Steve as well...he reckons you haven't lived until you've experienced one!

Hot Autumn Diving

Anyway enough of the grim news. Sunny old Perth was the only city in Australia to not get any rain over the last month, in fact it has been hot hot hot. We have now gone into our Autumn season and as I write to you it is 25 Degrees and amazing. The South West region, including Margaret River, Esperance & Albany is enjoying the drop in temperature and proving to be the pick of the destinations for this month. I have just spent the weekend in a town called Dunsborough (near Margaret River) diving on the HMAS Swan, which is one of the Australian navy's decommissioned ships. It was sunk in 1997 and today offers divers a great day out and some fantastic sights. I couldn't resist doing the Titanic thing!!!!!!! This is available to Open Water Divers and above for $135.00 with two dives including all equipment and lunch. There was a great hostel there that looked very comfortable and affordable. Some of you may not be aware of the advantage of doing your dive course in Western Australia so hear is a little update. You can do your 5 day open Water "PADI" licence for only $245.00, with all equipment and training supplied. This is a lot cheaper than the East Coast and allows you to do some real dives on the Barrier Reef rather than paying crazy prices to learn there. You can do your licence in conjunction with the many great tours that are available through us, and dive such sights as the Ningaloo Reef near Exmouth, and Rottnest Island here in Perth. Contact us for more info on these courses and dives.

Whale Sharks

While on the "water " topic you should all be advised that the WHALE SHARK season begins in April, departing from Exmouth. What is a whale shark I hear you ask? It's not a whale and it's not a shark. In fact it is the worlds largest fish and can weigh in at about 30 tonnes. They come to this part of the world for a few months a year to feed on the plankton made available through the spawning of the coral that makes this region world famous. An all day swim with these amazing creatures including lunch is $250.00 and needs to be booked well in advance. Perhaps do your dive course in Exmouth?

Lush in Central Oz

From the Reef to the Desert. With the ridiculous amount of rain in recent times due to cyclone Steve, Central Australia has become a huge orchard. All the plants respond to this rain by going into there flowering stages and transform the region from its famous Red sands to miles and miles of white daises and purple parakeelya. This is a sight best experienced while on a tour of Central Oz, which is one of the specialty areas of Travellers Club. They are available as 2 Day, 3 Day & 5-day tours or can be done in conjunction with packages of the Northern Territory. The peak season here is the winter season and these tours should be organised well in advance to avoid complications and disappointment. While on the subject of the Northern Territory be aware that Kakadu in the North is also about to go crazy. So if you are planning to visit this World Heritage National park in May to August (the Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls season, basically the 4WD season) let us know so that we can give you an idea of how busy it is.

Perth is about to go into its major tourist season and this one is due to be a big one with more and more people from Europe taking advantage of the cheaper airfares into Western Australia. With the chaos of the Olympics making Sydney a not so attractive destination for price orientated Travellers, the West Coast is the next best option. We believe that these are great incentives to visit WA first, but the real advantages of planning it this way must be seen to be believed.

Have you checked out all the new information on our Website this month? If not, have a look and then let us know what's happening with your travel plans. There are loads of special prices available at the moment and don't forget Australia gets its new Goods and Services tax (GST) in July and that means a price rise.

Take care, we'll have a yarn next month with more info from Perth and the Travellers Club.

Regards,

Pete, Kevin, Paul & Scotty.