Grindewald Swiss Village is in The Tamar Valley near Launceston. Worth a pop in to have a look . . . . . #tasmania #australiatravels #australianroadtrip #travelaus   #lappingoz  #lappingaustralia  #tasaustralia #travelingaustralia  #biglap #travellingaustralia  #wanderaustralia   #seeaustralia #roadtripaustralia #exploreoz  #exploretasmania #travelphotography  #lappingoz #lappingaustralia  #australia #roadtripaustralia    #exploroz #exploretas #thebiglap  #travelphotography #greatsouthernland #igtravel #instatravel   #australia #travels #worldingram #travel (at Tamar Valley Resort, Grindelwald) https://www.instagram.com/p/CbQuxEvPnT_/?utm_medium=tumblr

We like the free camps that surprise us. CSR North Pool near Wiluna did exactly that. Peace. Wild life. Water. With an outback, country feel. Fresh air. And the whole camp site to ourselves. We didn't get service. It doesn't really bother us to go off grid for a bit. With school and work, we set our own hours, so off grid is within our own timetable. However, the drive in, is further from the Wiluna township then I thought. Not as far as some places we've been, but far enough. Still, this is a free camp to enjoy for at least a couple of nights. The horses, the atmosphere... Just somewhere to camp up before heading to the next destination... Free. You can't really go wrong. #freecamping #freecamp #westernaustralia #bigfamilytraveling #thebiglap #bigfamilytravels #bigfamilytravelling #wiluna #travelingaustraliawithkids #travelingaustralia #caravaningaustralia #travelwriter https://www.instagram.com/p/CWf7IVhPyQd/?utm_medium=tumblr

Wine tasting 🍷 #mademoisellesnow #winetasting #wine #winetravel #travel #traveling #travelblogger #travelgram #travelgirl #travelholic #wunderlust #huntervalley #travelingaustralia #winetour #weekendgetaway (at Keith Tulloch Wine) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnLr0rWF2jv/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1g9fc5dxp8913

#tbt🔙📸 #gopro5black #downunder #australia #outback #travelingaustralia #backpacking #tarongazoosydney #sydney #2017 #koala🐨 #koalabears #nodropbearstoday #sleepingallday (bij Taronga Zoo Sydney) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAuW1a5sj47/?igshid=s6o1zdfv7s4d

Ever been somewhere so dusty even the dust was dusty? Well we enjoyed our beautiful sunset at our overnight stop but as soon as the sunset we where inundated with dust due to the dry surrounding farm lands and a massive wind storm that moved across the landscape. #TheRoK was covered in a layer of dust and well #jessijurgens ..... well..... Karen gets too emotional to relive memories through images since the once cream colour decor now has the shine of those famous outback colours 😟 . After shaking off the dust and having our morning coffee we adventured on to our Christmas stay destination,with family located in Inverrell NSW. As we had adventured faster and further than planned due to needing to push on away from the fires in WA on our first day we where going to arrive a day earlier than planned which was difficult to keep a secret cause it was like someone had posted our travels on the internet or something 😂🤣however it remained a secret to the boys cousins and they where over the moon that we had arrived so early. . In the week we had planned over Christmas to relax with family, they took the opportunity to take us out adventuring to some of their favorite spots. We visited a nice quite little river that the kids enjoyed jumping from under the lower parts of the bridge, Paddle boarding and Kayaking. we where graced by some lovely horse's that roam the area and ate the river weed which we found odd of them to do🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️Later on we all adventured out to Copeton Dam and well... Damn! its a good spot enabling us to relax with family and have a swim along with a lovely BBQ lunch. . Keep following along as next we change the THEME..... . . Don't forget if you are enjoying our content share it with your friends and family, as we would love you to join us as we go on our adventures! #TheJursAdventures #TheRoK #jessijurgens #Thejursinthejurgens #jurgenscaravans #engineeredforadventure #toyo_tyres_australia #travelaustralia #thisistraveling #holidayherethisyear #caravaning #seeaustralia #adventurefamily #adventuregram #travelaustralia #travelingaustralia #seeaustralia #adventurefamily #movingstates #ziggy #zieglerandbrown https://www.instagram.com/p/B9BrfEjgvuu/?igshid=10nztnhrn2vkf

My 25th lap around the sun and this has been a good year for travel #belltower #perth #australia #travel #travelor #travelingaustralia #tourist #building #bluesky #city #happyplace #happytime #happyman #sony #alpha #a7m3 #mirrorless #2470 #gmaster #rhhphoto (at The Bell Tower Home of the Swan Bells Perth) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6mcECjn1bo/?igshid=1ihrbznwpc8yg

Sneak pic for one of our videos! #melbourne #australia #traveler #travel #travelingaustralia #travelingmelbourne #trip #melbourneyoutuber #melbournian #melbournelifestyle #melbournestyle #wanderlust #멜번 #youtuber #youtube

#vividsydney #ilovesydney #fridaynight #travelingaustralia (at Sydney Opera House) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByrqU8cgnBA/?igshid=1bfya0hisc4zq

Est-ce qu’on joue à « où sont les kangourous »? #wherearethekangaroos #kangaroossquad #toowoomba #travelingaustralia #ouestcharlie (à Toowoomba, Queensland)

Kuranda, Queensland 

Australia & the Aboriginals

“Is this all authentic”, I wonder as I am admiring the little shop in Cairns, Australia. The wooden sign above the door says Aboriginal Culture & Arts and inside you can find varieties of boomerangs, didgeridoos and everything you need to bring as a souvenir from your trip to Australia. 

The shop owner, an Aborigene with glasses almost slipping off his nose, bustles through the shop, explaining the stories behind his works. I am engrossed while looking at a boomerang painted in vivid colours when he looks over my shoulder. 

“The kangaroo in the middle represents family, the white and light blue colours are standing for light thoughts and the dark blue on the other side incorporates profound and heavy thoughts. It is important to find a good balance between those to live a happy life and your family connects everything with each other.”, is what he tells me and the next second he is already rushing on to the next person entering the shop. 

His words had touched me somehow and I am wondering how he managed to put straight something that great and important in a few words. 

As I am still standing there in awe of the truth he just revealed to me, I can hear him talking about his family who built this shop and makes all the instruments and pieces of art themselves. In here, the aboriginal culture is something special and valuable that leaves you curious about Australia’s history. I realize how “young” the now existing Australia is. The tenses between the Aborigenes and white Australians are omnipresent and in my naive opinion about racism being a problem of the past I am shocked about experiencing the opposite. Only this afternoon I saw two women fighting on the street, caught in their rage, immediately making me think of a cartoon. One of them didn’t even notice her boobs falling out while trying to pull the other woman’s hair.

As comical as this situation may sound - it was sad to watch those women not being able to overcome their culture differences and hating each other simply because of prejudices and different skin colours.

To look at these faces shaped by aggressiveness and abhorrence made me shudder because I had never experienced anything like that as a white kid from the countryside. This wasn’t just a random disagreement. It was about something bigger, something fundamental that scared me as I stood there rooted to the ground not being able to move. In this moment the history of the 5th continent seemed almost within my grasp.

When I look at the beautiful boomerang I can see the antagonism. On the one side the aboriginal history and culture is a way to merchandise Australia as a No. 1 travel destination while inequality and obvious differences are portraying the opposite. That makes it difficult to conciliate the actual situation.

“Don’t look into their eyes, they are getting aggressive”. Someone actually told me that as aboriginal teenagers were passing us, laughing loudly and joking around. Those inconsiderate words made me wonder if we were talking about animals or humans and regarding the inequality I could feel anger creeping up my throat. At the same time I was angry about myself walking around as a naive European and only now getting an idea of what it meant to represent a minority not being respected. 

With mingled feelings I am buying the boomerang and exit the little shop.

A few days later I am visiting a village called Kuranda located in the rainforest north of Cairns, Queensland. 

Here it is normal for the aboriginal people to be ignored. Tourists are changing sides of the street, embarrassed looks. I am reminded of pedestrians passing a homeless, a situation everyone has come to witness in everyday life. Nearby there's a group of Aborigenes sitting in a park, laughing and celebrating something. One of the older ones is catcalling passing tourists and I can see faces turning away in disgust. In my stubbornness I find it absurd avoiding the park and with ostentation I am walking towards the group to make my way through the park. As I come closer a provocative glimpse of the man reaches me and he opens his mouth about to say something. His expression changes immediately when he realizes the smile on my face. I am trying to show him respect and without saying anything he nods at me, turns away and scuffles back to his friends. 

 As simple as that. 

So here's my question: Why aren't we trying to make our own opinion before copying other people's comments? I think it's not surprising if Aborigenes are acting out if they don't even have the chance to prove different before being stuck into a box right away. This is regarding all minorities that are obviously not wanted in society but still have to make something out of their situation, regardless of their personal history and circumstances. I think it proves enormous arrogance estimating ourselves better than others when that's obviously not the case and especially when we don't have a clue about the background of a person.

Why can't we just treat everyone the way we want to be treated? 

Is that too much to ask?

Dough Boys Islands the most Northern tip of Tasmania at Woolnorth . . . #tasmania #australiatravels #australianroadtrip #travelaus   #lappingoz  #lappingaustralia   #tasaustralia #travelingaustralia  #biglap #travellingaustralia  #wanderaustralia   #seeaustralia #roadtripaustralia #australiancoast (at Woolnorth Point) https://www.instagram.com/p/CbHh3nePrkc/?utm_medium=tumblr

READ NOW - the newest post about Talia Cave on the Eyre Peninsula and how I went head-to-head with a kangaroo to save our overly energetic, but inquisitive dog! Sadie was a little hurt and I had a few bruises, but apart from that everyone, including Skippy, is A-Okay, but lesson learned especially for Miss 16. There are reasons I tell her to do a proper scout with Sadie ON LEAD first before letting her off on a run. However, everyone, from teenagers to 12-month-old dogs, has to make mistakes in order to learn the lessons! https://bigfamilytravels.org/talia-cave-the-tub-boxing-with-a-kangaroo/ #nofilter #aroundaustralia #bigfamilytraveling #bigfamilytravelling #bigfamilytravels #vanlife #thebiglap #freecamping #freecamps #travelingaustraliawithdogs #travelingaustraliawithkids #travelingaustralia #travelwriter #travelgram #tourismaustralia #sammiewilson #eyrepeninsula #taliacaves #woolshedcave #thetub #southaustralia #boxingakangaroo (at Streaky Bay, South Australia, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQSZ_UhHiDl/?utm_medium=tumblr

See ya 'Straya. 👋 - #travellingAustralia #travellingsoutheastasia #travellingtheworld #love #loveAustralia #melbourne #instatravel #wanderlust #instaaustralia #travelblog #travelgram #travelbug #travelinspiration #alifewelltravelled #lovetotravel #lonelyplanet #iwannagopro #travelingsoutheastasia #travelingaustralia #travelingtheworld #happyplace #travellingaustralia #travelling #melbourne #mornington #morningtonpenninsula (at Melbourne, Australia)

The kids loved this beautiful little spot near Bellingen. #mappinghappiness #buslifefamily #aussiebuslife #buslife #homeiswhereyouparkit #minimalism #rvlife #skoolie #skoolieconversion #tinyhouse #tinyhouseonwheels #travelingwithkids #hippietribe #travelingwithkids #travelingaustraliawithkids #travelingAustralia #diycamper #rvfamily #travelingaustraliainabus #freedomcamping #serenity (at The Promised Lands) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7HM_5ShZe8/?igshid=1aozu4o2hm5fi

The famous 90 mile... You did it, we did it, many more will do it and some will do it allot. 🤠 . #TheJursAdventures #TheRoK #jessijurgens #jursinthejurgens #jurgenscaravans #90miles #90mile #90milestraight #straightroad #drivinghome #caravaningwithkids #travelingaustralia #familyadventures #roadtrip #exploreaustralia #ig_australia @jurgenscaravans (at 90 Mile Straight) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsMScASFSMe/?igshid=1o4srkk07kg9y

Check this collection out nice mix of off-road speed and class #panorama #australia #travelor #travelingaustralia #tourist #cars #collection #happyplace #happyman #sony #alpha #a7m3 #mirrorless #rhhphoto (at Margaret River, Western Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/B448BE8HF_l/?igshid=1egbaol3au8w2