The issue for you is Australia is the world's largest island. Most of it is
desert. Most of the population lives within a couple of hundred kilometres
of the ocean. We only have 20 million people. What we call a mountain
range runs the lenght of the eastern side of Australia, 100 kilometres or so
inland, from there on it is basically flat, except for a few pockets in
South Aust, the Northern Territory and NW and SW Western Australia.

Much of the colours of the inland are reds, blues and browns. At that time
of the year it is Veeeery hot.

Two weeks will give you a snapshot, pun intended. You would need to spend 6
weeks because of the distances involved. We think nothing of driving for a
couple of hours to get somewhere.

My suggestion is fly between states, don't drive.

If you fly into Sydney visit Kent St, west of the Town Hall, there are
several Bushwalking stores, such at Mountain Designs, Paddy Pallins that
contain extensive books on bushwalking destinations around the nation, there
is also the Youth Hostel Association HQ and a packpackers, that are full of
day trip activities, such as canyoning, abseiling, bushwalking, site seeing
etc. These stores also have branches in the other capital cities

The point to consider in photographing our country in our Summer is the
harshness of light ie it is strong and washes out a lot of colour, forget
about photographing between 10am and 3pm unless you use a polariser and
shoot broad scenics. The gum trees also emit a eucalypt vapour which
creates a blue haze, when viewed from a distance, which is why the Blue
Mountains are called Blue. The further south you go the less an issue this
is.

If it was me.

Day 1 Arrive Syd
Day 2 Packpackers tour to the Blue Mountains and an evening walk on top of
The Harbour Bridge, if time permits.
Day 3 Sunrise shot of Sydney Harbour, featuring Circular Key, then fly to
Launceston, Tasmania, in the afternoon, about a 2-3 hour flight.
Day 4 Hire a Campervan and head in an anticlockwise direction around
Tasmania, starting at Sheffield then Cradle Mountain, stay in Caravan Park.
Visit the Wilderness Photography Gallery, a must visit.
Day 5 Day Hike around Cradle Mountain, with a dawn shot at Dove Lake. Take
you winter woolies, it can snow.
Day 6 Drive to Strahan.
Day 7. Take an all day cruise up the Franklin River and/or a scenic flight
from Strahan over the Central Tasmanian Highlands, it will knock your socks
off. Weather permitting as the next landfall west of Tasmania is South
Africa.. it rains a lot, which is unusual for Australia as there has been a
bad drought on the mainland for some time. Both are a must do..
Day 8 Drive to Lake St Clair, if you have time take the ferry to Narcissus
Bay and back then onto Hobart. Stay at my friends Hotel, The Astor Private
Hotel.
Day 9 If it is a Saturday, attend the markets at Salamanca, near
Constitution Dock, a great place to buy presents for family you left behind.
Drive to Cockle Bay, the most southern road destination in Australia, and
stay in the National Park campgrounds .
Day 10 Walk to the south coast of Tasmania, Lion rock and back, about a 6
hour round trip. There are bushwalking campsites cut into the scrub in the
sand dunes if you want to do an overnight trip.
Day 11Travel to Port Arthur for the obligatory tourist visit to the penal
settlement, interesting views too.
Day 12 Drive to Coles Bay, Freycinet National Park
Day 13 Spend the day and walk over to Wine Glass Bay
Day 14 Back to Hobart or Launceston and fly back to the "Big Island", as the
Tasmanians say, say to Melbourne.
Day 15. Fly Home

At the end of that you will be thoroughly stuffed.

If time is short drop Cockle Bay or Port Arthur, I would drop Port Arthur, I
still haven't been there.

Want to see what it is all like...?

Visit my website. It was set up so I can share the wilderness with
others... this needs to be done.
--
Geoff Wise
http://www.wises.com.au
Images of places that are reached on foot.

"Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark)" wrote in
message ...
otzi wrote:

No bears here. And for some reason some one decided to give the passenger
a steering wheel to play with. You'll thus find many drivers dropping
out, directing, pointing, arguing and ignoring perfectly good maps.
Never the less one will find a spot or two to reflect upon only the
distances between them tend at times to be a hours or days apart.

From Sydney there is inland the Blue Mountains and further inland the
Riverina area offers some capital sights. Best considered by map.

If you are considering places further afield, in Victoria there sits the
Grampian Mts. pretty but populated. (maybe not by your standards.) And
in Sth. Australia the more photographic Flinders Ranges offers a good
look. Bit more remote (?) but offering more ancient rock formations.
This area requires days rather than hours. We tend not to have the grand
canyon vistas you may be accustomed to. We can offer unlimited flat
space though. Inland NSW just about affords the curvature of the earth
from the roof of your car. Then again you can get that anywhere with a
wide angle lens.

Car hire is essential but driving here is relatively simple. Fences are
put along both sides of the road to stop folk wandering too far off the
track. Can't go wrong really as being an island you'll eventually hit the
coast you then just follow it around.


Otzi, others,
I do plan on renting a car, but will also consider
flying the big distances. For example:
How long is the drive from Sydney to Melbourne, and if you
visited places in between, what would you visit and how
long would that add? The other option would be
to fly to Melbourne, get a car and tour the Victoria
and nearby regions. Here is a link to a site that
explains different routes,
http://www.smallguide.com.au/itin-sydmel.html
but which, in your opinions, are the most interesting
and photogenic places to see?

Roger