Great Outdoors Australia...
Things to do Places to go and People to meet.

It's Spring time in Great Outdoors Australia now (September, October and November) and what a wonderfully invigorating and sweet time to be enjoying the Great Outdoors. There's lots of pretty flowers blossoming and the air has come alive with their beautiful fragrances. Some wood ducks have had ducklings and it's nice to see them waddling along behind their parents or confidently swimming after them on the lake.

Plovers have returned to the area and seemed to have survived the domestic cats and foxes so far - I hope the young ducks manage to survive too.

In some areas of Australia at this time of the year the flowering wattle trees flank the highways and roads. It's a magnificent site and a welcome addition of colour to our green landscape. If you don't suffer from allergies this is a good time to experience all the different fragrances that only nature can conjure up. Just imagine how hard it must be for bees to choose a flower from the smorgasbord laid out by nature.

In N.S.W. the statutory Bush Fire Danger Period is from the 1st of October to the 31st of March and fire Permits are required to light fires during this time. Depending on local weather and fire conditions this can vary. To be absolutely sure check where fire permits are required and remember no matter what the season, the devastation that an out of control bushfire can cause is horrific and cruel. The NSW Rural Fire Service has some good information that could help protect you, your family and friends or someone else from injury or death.

If you see anything that's not right remember to phone Crime Stoppers from anywhere in Australia. Help make Australia a better place to live.

Camping in the Great Outdoors is one of those Australian hobbies that can be very rewarding and rejuvenating. We're fortunate in that there isn't a land based Australian animal that likes to eat humans. Although the bites of some of our snakes (Taipan) and spiders (Funnel web) are poison and can be fatal.

One animal that is increasingly becoming a danger to humans is the wild dog of Australia. Wild dogs are causing huge losses of farm stock Australia wide, killing and maiming defenceless animals and drastically reducing farmer's incomes. Reports of wild dogs threatening and in some cases attacking humans are increasing. After repeated stock losses some farmers in the areas of high wild dog populations cannot safely keep their stock in paddocks bordering National Parks. CAUTION and a COMMON SENSE approach to personal safety must be taken in areas of wild dog populations.

In the oceans of northern Australia from Gladstone in Queensland to Broome in Western Australia lives the Box Jellyfish. This Australian animal is one of the most dangerous and poisonous in the world.

The Australian Venom Research Unit at the University Of Melbourne has excellent information and pictures on the Taipan, Funnel Web Spider and Box Jellyfish. It also has an index for you to check what other Australian animal has a bite or sting that is poison and how to apply FIRST AID for each different bite or sting.

Remember to DIAL 000 in AUSTRALIA for EMERGENCIES.

Spring time in Australia is daisy time. The ground is turned to bright yellow as the daisies come into flower. Do you remember as a kid making daisy chains by putting a hole in the stem with your thumb or finger nail and joining the daisies together? Perhaps you plucked the leaves off one at a time and played love me and love me not in the hope of knowing your romantic future?

Little Daisies from Australia

One of the easiest ways to experience what Great Outdoors Australia has to offer is to walk - and it doesn't have to be far. It could be just outside of your house and if it's night time and the weather is clear, the sparkling star filled sky can look so big and so beautiful.

If you breathe in the fresh, crisp, invigorating night air you would be experiencing Great Outdoors Australia in a time honoured way.

Or perhaps you enjoy driving 4x4s off road along bush tracks. Or the excitement of 4x4 beach driving under the light of the full moon that Australia is famous for, as you experience the overwhelming sheer enormity of night turned into day.

For those of us that are lucky enough not to be disabled or incapacitated think about our disabled friends and how we can help them to experience Great Outdoors Australia. For there are as many wonderful ways to experience Great Outdoors Australia as there are people in the world and with that, let us now begin our journey into the past, present and future.