An American visiting Oz, Ian Cole, was snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef last Saturday when he was left behind by tour boat operators. The crew either forgot to take the all-important head count, or they counted wrong, and they left without him. When I was planning to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, I knew it was going [...]
Category Archives: Holidays
Coach Captains
In Australia, the term “Coach Captain” has nothing to do with sports and everything to do with tourism. A coach captain is a tour bus driver, and the post garners a great amount of respect. The coach captain’s uniform includes stripes on the shoulders, and the best tour operators know the value of a good captain. Here’s an article if you’d [...]
Rotary in the Outback
While driving through the Northern Territory in the “Red Center” of Australia, I stayed in Alice Springs for three days. It’s a place made famous by the book A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute (1950), but there are other reasons it’s getting noticed these days. Rotary International holds an annual event that is one-of-a-kind. Aussies have a great [...]
January 26th is Australia Day!
January 26th is Australia Day, a day similar (sort of) to our Independence Day in America except Aussies are so laid back (and it’s a relatively new celebration) that they don’t really know why they have the day off. They just know they don’t have to go to work and it’s time to go “On holiday”! [...]
Christmas in Australia
Australia, like America, is a multicultural nation representing many different religions and nationalities, and when it comes to Christmas, Australia celebrates much like America does. There is Santa Claus, tree lighting, house decorating, caroling, presents, enjoying time with family and friends, and lots and lots of food and drink. Many Aussies say they enjoy grilling shrimp on the barbie in their [...]
