MissyWombat

Worth the bikeride!

And I know that photos of the Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell are only mere shadows of the real things.

Any city that encourages such creativity is worth visiting.

but if you have young children I can definitely recommend the Kids park that is there. Fantastic facilities. Free. Spend a few hours.

There are quite a few good geocaches in this park and its a great way of doing the different tracks. We did them with a baby in a Mountain Buggy jogger stroller and a then 3 year old which actually worked really well [but they don’t mind long walks!]. We saw echidnas and the occasional snake, and the wildflowers are very pretty.Great views.

This little beachside town is not as touristy as some of the other spots but has plenty of attractions of its own. The Arthurs Seat State Park is definitely work visiting as is Heronswood if you love heirloom gardening and great organic food.

We are keen geocachers [www.geocaching.com] and found that this was a fantastic low-cost family friendly way of checking out the countryside and getting to see some incredibly picturesque places.

This town also has an Italian background and I can definitely recommend the pizzas made here if you want to get takeaway.

This is where I would like to end up.

A great area for a break just outside the city and weekends away. Great wines, food, beaches with lots to do.

You will have to come here just to see this beautiful place that is featured in the opening sequences.

Best way – take a picnic dinner, sit on the pan and watch the sunset. Don’t forget your camera as you cannot take a bad photo of the place.

I loved living in the Alice. I worked at the hospital and lived on their grounds. It is a great base to travel from. You don’t need a car in the township itself – the climate is perfect for biking and walking.

Don’t go walking around the Todd River by yourself especially at night. Its actually quite dangerous as you may be accosted by a violent drunk. Remember that traditional spearings, injuries from nullanullas etc are seen in the local emergency department.

I love the Western Macs and it was not unheard of to organise eating out for dinner at Glen Helen [about 1 hours drive out] and then staying overnight. Ormiston Gorge and the Pound walk are a favourite. In the Eastern Macs I love Ruby Gap. You need to use a 4WD and be able to drive over rocks for this one which is always fun. Or picnic dinners at Rainbow Valley at sunset.

One thing that is not in the usual tourist literature is gliding which is just outside town on the northern side. It is done using a winch for takeoff which is a really novel experience and it is fantastic being in the air in the silence sharing the thermals with the wedgetailed eagles.

If you are into geocaching [www.geocaching.com] check out the local caches. Great way of getting a really fantastic view of the place.

Re backpacker accomodation, I recommend Melanka Lodge for being a good place to party cheaply and not to stay. And my experience of their Uluru/Olgas tour means I can’t recommend them -I couldn’t fault the location but the particular tour I went on took some dodgy and potentially dangerous practices with a lack of waterbottles etc.

Lovely place to visit.

Can recommend staying at the youth hostel [YHA] if you like to save your pennies. It’s at the top of the main street, only a couple of minutes away from places like the Sheraton [a popular conference venue]. I’m the type of person who just wants a room to myself to sleep in and who doesn’t mind sharing a bathroom especially if it means I can spend the money I save on accommodation costs on the local sights and eating out.

Even if you eat in at the YHA the food is very good and of course you always meet interesting people there.

The shops cater to the well-monied so bargains can be a bit hard to find.

The local walks are great. The beach when I was there was a bit tragic. They have an issue with losing the sand from the beach. Not so good if you are a sunbathing on sand beach bunny but if you are into surfing, you will have lots of company.

and one task was planning a weekend away in Italy and you had to pick a location in a region. I ended up going for Amalfi. There is a very nice ex-monastery which caught my eye as being perfect as a base. The food of the area really appeals too.

I had haver even thought about going to Italy before this but now it is definitely on my must do list for a European trip.