Australia doesn’t have the massive killer hurricanes that we experience in the U.S.? I’ve just learned tonight that, apparently, they do not. This surprises me as the country is, after all, an island. I would think somewhere along its, literally, 25,760 kilometers of shoreline, mighty winds would occasionally whip up one of its many oceans [...]

The first time I traveled to Sydney, Australia, I strolled through the Royal Botanic Gardens expecting nothing but flora. Instead, I got some pretty shocking fauna. Looking up into a towering tree, I saw dozens of large, round black things the size of bowling balls hanging down. A native fruit, perhaps? No. A nearby sign [...]

I have never encountered squeaky sand before today. Never even heard of it. The New England sand on the beaches that I’m accustomed to is brown and sharp. Walk across it for a couple of hours and it begins to feels like broken glass. Strolling on the powdered sugar sand in other parts of the [...]