As many of these photos suggest, Australians seem to have a great sense of humor about themselves and their country–making a visit seem even more enticing. Especially when you combine that with the unique animals and natural wonders. Did you know Australia has camels and penguins as well as its most famous and beloved cuties?
FIRST, SOME AMUSING SIGNS
I have no idea what this sign means. No walking your sheep on the road?
O.K. Before we move away from signs, I have to add this one even though it’s from New Zealand, not Australia (because there are no wild kiwis in Australia.)
An albino kiwi. Too cute.
ANIMALS
Though the unique, interesting and often cute animals of Australia could easily fill an entire post, these images are picked mostly because they highlight the interaction of the animals with their human neighbors.
Camping hazard, like raccoons and bears in the US?
Yikes!
A tourist attraction?
I believe this is a frilled lizard.
An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 Camels, imported into Australia between 1860 and 1907, were used as draft and riding animals by people pioneering the dry interior. With the introduction of motorised transport in the 1920’s, large herds of Camels were released and they have established “Free-range” herds in the semi-arid desert areas of Australia. The estimated population of camels is 150,000 and 200,000.
Called fairy penguins or little penguins found in S. Australia and New Zealand.
Of course Australia’s Great Barrier Reef deserves it’s own post, so here’s a taste. Stretching over an area of approximately 133,000 square miles (344,400 kilometers) the Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world’s biggest single structure made by living organisms. It is composed of over 2900 individual reefs and 900 islands.
NATURE
Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a massive sandstone monolith in the heart of the Northern Territory’s Red Centre desert, 450km from the nearest large town, Alice Springs. It’s sacred to indigenous Australians and believed to be about 700 million years old.
The unique orange, grey and black stripes of the Bungle Bungle range are the result of alternating bands of sediment, each with different clay content. Deposited in the Ord Basin 375 – 350 million years ago, the effects of wind from the desert and rainfall over millions of year shaped the domes. Photo by Paddy Ryan.
Kennedy Range National Park, honeycomb rocks.
King George Falls, The Kimberley region in Australia’s west.
More Kimberly region
More Kimberly.
Cockburn Range, El Questro, Kimberley
Eroded Rock Formations, the Pinnacle Desert, Nambung National Park, Western Australia
Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory.
From the wetlands of Kakadu.
Magpie Geese at the freshwater wetlands, Kakadu National Park. Image by Simon O’Dwyer.
Aboriginal rock art found in rocky outcrops that have afforded shelter to Aboriginal inhabitants for thousands of years, Kakadu.
Image by Dustin M. Ramsey (Kralizec!)
Image by Toursim NT, Image by: gallery Tourism NT. Via Wikimedia Commons
A river in Kakadu National Park, Australia
More Kakadu from the air.
Cape Crawford in the Northern Territory.
Cape Crawford. Picture by Vanessa Hunter
Murphy’s Haystacks are ancient, wind-worn pillars and boulders of pink granite estimated to be over 1,500 million years old set in the middle of a wheat field.
Murphy’s Haystacks again.
Wave-Rock by Christof In Oz
“The 12 apostles”rock formations in Southern Australia named that even though there were never more than 10.
Apostles at sunset.
The Pinnacles are limestone formations contained within Nambung National Park in Western Australia. The raw material for the limestone came from seashells in an earlier era that was rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime-rich sands that were blown inland to form high mobile dunes.
More Pinnacles
The following are a few random images where I lack most info except to know it is Australia.
Thanks to John and Howard.
hi Dusky, good to see you spreading the word on our unique country can enjoy our country.. I’ll always send you any photos I receive so everyone can enjoy our sights. Contrary to some overseas perceptions, we don’t have corroborrees in the main street unless you are visiting places like outback Alice Springs.
you will also find kangaroos, emus etc. in some outback towns and in times of extreme drought we some times find them in suburban golf courses where they come looking for food and water.
keep up the good work
cheers
john
THANKS
Spent time in Oz and would be happy to live there. Sadly the daughter is here in Minnesota. Thanks for an awesome collection Dusky. I can always count on you for amazing and fun photos.
Thank You !!!
wonderful-tremendous.. I correspond with a gentleman from Australia,,Richard. Also remember you Aussies from WWII on small island. Your sense of humor kept me from going bonkers.
Some of us looked forward to getting rest and recreation in Australia but the war ended before we could do that. There are things very very special about Australians..We are fortunate to
have you sharing the world. God bless everyone of you..
Australia is at the top of my wish list…Thanks for the awesome photos so I will know where to go, and where not to go…; )
Great photos Thanks.
Thank you once more for the incredible photos. Funny and enlightening. Never have seen such unique landscapes.
enjoy your emails immensely. Thank you for giving me a look at the world
FELIZ VIENDO LAS HERMOSAS Y ORIGINALES FOTOGRAFÍAS.
MUCHAS GRACIAS.
LAS COMPARTIRÉ CON MIS FAMILIARES Y AMIGOS.
RECIBAN UN SALUDO DESDE CHIGUAYANTE-CHILE.
Always interesting. I save all of your postings to share with family and friends. Thank you and keep up the good work.
Wonderful & beautiful presentation of the country down-under.
Such beauty! such humanity, Such fun!
Love,
Heather Preston
Estoy feliz de saber que alguien de Chile está disfrutando de mi sitio.
Don’t believe everything you read / see, while most of these are Australian some are not, for example we’re in km’s, not miles so clearly the first photo is from another country, looks American to me, there’s a few others but mostly Australian.
Absolutely beautiful and some very amazing signs. Thanks
Would like to visit this strange beautiful place. The last post of a woman with a muzzled, shackled animal was horrific. I am glad you posted it however so we see a darker side of Australia and its treatment of animals. Good grief….this woman acts like this is ok…just doing her shopping? Where are the animals forelegs? Strapped down too? Phooey on doing this to an animal…any animal!
Kevin,
Thanks for telling me though I must admit I’m sorry that first image isn’t Australia because it fits perfectly and was one of my favorites. Someone else told me that Satan’s Kingdom is in the US so I’ve removed that one. I appreciate the feedback.
Kevin,
Thanks for telling me though I must admit I’m sorry that first image isn’t Australia because it fits perfectly and was one of my favorites. Someone else told me that Satan’s Kingdom is in the US so I’ve removed that one. I appreciate the feedback.
Great photoes.
Thanks
Awesome.. and the last picture of the woman shopping for groceries totally cracked me up.
Paper? Plastic? or pouch?
THANKS MUCH; Photos are totally fantastic- would love to visit !!!!
Wish there were more people with Australians’ sense of humor, not only in Australia.
Concerning the last photo; I want to believe that it is a clever imitation of a kangaroo, otherwise SHAME ON WHOEVER DID THIS TO A LIVING ANIMAL!!!
judith
Beautiful! We’ve been to Australia and really enjoyed it. But we missed most of these scenes. We must return, but will send your email to the tour guide first. Thanks.
I enjoy your photos so much. Good to see that some of Australia’s
sites have an overlapping of U.S. sites ….that there are some likenesses and also many differences. Great beauty lies there. Thanks for the education!
Humorous signage, great rock formation and vastness wilderness
great photographs. thanks.
Thank you very much. I am very grateful for this information described in the beauty of your photography.
Thank you, I love looking at all your wonderful photos, in all categories, and I always look forward to to receiving your emails…..
Beautiful country! Beautiful photos! Your comments are very good…
What a pity that Australia is so far from the serious world.
Jiri
P. S.:
I am a little Australia in the middle of Europe (Germany). Alone…
Super: lindas y maravillosas fotografías! espero siempre,contar con ustedes,sus correos y hermosos contenidos. “gracias”
I do believe the first photo is from a road in northern Arizona, USA. Been there and it is a long stretch of basically nothing!
Been ti Oz many times, consider it my second home.
Now living in new Zealand i spent several years in Australia working during that time i did visit a number of the above and its something you never forget the vastness is unbelievable but traveling you take nothing for granted and make sure you are well prepared for the worst
Hi Dusky
Thanks so much for posting these awesome pics of the great land where I now live.
However, feel compelled to point out that the two Kiwi photos cannot be seen in Oz. Kiwi’s are indigenous to New Zealand (I’m a Kiwi:)
I believe that for many years Americans thought that Australia and New Zealand were geographically close which isn’t so as they’re at least a 3 hour flight away.
Keep these interesting pics informing and amusing us.
Carolynn
Carolynn,
I think I mentioned that the kiwi didn’t really belong in Australia, though I must admit I thought of Aus. and New Zealand as close. I guess it’s all relative. If you’re leaving from the US, they are close. 🙂 Thanks for the comment.
Wow!! It’s hard to believe what a fanatic country we live in. Thank you for these wonderful photo’s, we have travelled a little bit, but I am in a wheelchair, and it’s limited to where we can go, but looking at these photo’s it makes one keen to keep going out there to see for oneself.
Loved, loved, loved all the pictures. I’ll never get there to see these sites – at least I can see them this way. Marvelous pics.
Loved the photos…will never get to this lovely country due to my age and condition…don’t care if the first was from USA, it was still funny. Was the last photo “staged”? Can’t imagine shopping like that! Have a feeling of closeness as we live in Melbourne, Fl and while in Europe shared a long ride on the Orient Express with a couple from your Melbourne…nice folks. Thanks so much!
Funny and beautiful thank you very much…
I have been all over Australia.The only area that I haven’t been is from Sydney to Townsville on the East coast . Was there in 92,93,94
and 2003.Climed Ayres Rock in 93.Flown over the Simpson desertin a mail plane out of Alice Springs. Took the last great train ride out of Carins on a fright train, 2 1/2 days out and back. A day flight over the Kimberleys. Took the Indian Pacific from Sydney to Perth.After leaving Perth I had a 9000 kilometer bus ticket that would drop me where I picked. Canarvon,Broom,Kathrine,Alice Springs,Cooper Pedy,Adelaide,down the coast along the great highway to Melbourne.My last trip will be from Sydney toCarins on the east coast.Forgot to mention that I worked in Exmouth for two weeks in 92. All the trips were fun.
Wow, Gene. I bet you’ve seen more of Australia than most Australians.
THESE ARE REALLY GREAT PICTURES ….. I THANK YOU SO MUCH ! WITH THE INTERNET WE CAN BE OR GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD . A WONDERFUL TRIP ….. THANX AGAIN ! GENE
TACOMA, WA.
U S A
Thank you for posting these awesome pics of Australia. They are entertaining and beautiful and I would love to visit this country some time in the future! Tacoma, WA. USA
Fantastic photos.
My Father lived in Australia for several years and told me about a lot of the photos you sent.
I did not know about such humor the Australians have.
A friend forwarded this to me and I LOVE the photos, dream of visiting your awesome country. However, after King George Falls, none of the photos would open, just titles. Is there a way you could send the rest of the pics to me? Thanks!
GREAT PHOTOS OF THE LAND DOWN UNDER WITH GREAT VIEWS OF SPECIAL PLACES. LOTS OF ONE OF A KIND PHOTOS ONLY FOUND IN THE LANDS DOWN UNDER.
The first image is Australian. Our distances were once measured in miles before they became Kilometres. As there is absolutely nothing out there, the powers that be forgot to change the sign or decided it really did not matter. The sentiment is correct for a lot of places.
The sign on the bottom left of “Satan’s Kingdom” says it is in North America, not Australia. A Google search will show you it is on New Hampshire.
Thanks for the input, Rose. My readers have differing opinions about that but yours makes sense to me. I appreciate your input.