#australian-setting

#australian-setting

New Zealand may be saturated with images of its treasured national bird but it is rare to see one in the flesh and this was the first time kiwi had ever set foot in parliament.

The planet's most powerful landscapes rarely announce themselves with trumpet blasts and celeb-drenched opening ceremonies. They are places shaped slowly, by water, wind and ice, and are best understood through patience rather than spectacle.

"Our iconic trains have long connected guests with some of the country's most extraordinary landscapes, and these Suites elevate that experience to an entirely new level," Chris Tallent, Journey Beyond's CEO, said in a statement.

All animals have circadian rhythms, but only humans have DST. We flip time forwards and backwards, often with little idea of how that can affect other species.

As the rust expands, it weakens the rock and helps break it apart. It's a very red part of the country, it's got that rusty hue, so you get that color getting whipped up with the strong winds.

Jessica Lingard from the Bureau of Meteorology stated that high winds and the area's rust-red, iron-rich soils created the spectacle of the blood-red sky in Shark Bay.

Frogmouths have another life that few people see: like vampires, they wake at sunset and night-hunt until dawn. These stolid creatures turn into zephyrs that silently swoop, catching prey on the ground and in the air.

It might be only 40 minutes by ferry from Brisbane, but when North Stradbroke Island, or Minjerribah, comes into focus - a soft line of bush, dunes and open water - and you roll off the barge, the city skyline feels like a sci-fi memory. It's no wonder that the locals and in-the-know Brisbanites guard this island with a conspiratorial hush.

I get there, I look and here's this little crocodile swimming around in the water. The sighting occurred at Federal Park in Wallsend, close to a local pool and primary school. Kirsop said she was met with initial disbelief when she contacted the wildlife rescue group Wires, and the Australian Reptile Park.

This December, I was on the inaugural United flight from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Adelaide Airport (ADL), the first-ever direct flight connecting the U.S. and South Australia. The nearly 16-hour flight will be happening three days a week with United Economy, Premium Plus, and Polaris business-class seats available, making it easier than ever to reach this part of Australia.

"I've had my fair share of beach vacations, but I'm telling you, there's no place like Margaret River," Hardy, the vice president of Friends of the Cape to Cape Track, shares in his tour of his home region. "You don't have access to waves like this anywhere else in the world." While Hardy happens to be a seasoned local, he explains that it's still a wave for everyone, especially at spots like Gnarabup Beach, with plenty of surf schools around to show you the ropes.

Ten years ago, if a heatwave as intense as last week's record-breaker had hit the east coast, Australia's power supply may well have buckled. But this time, the system largely operated as we needed, despite some outages. On Australia's main grid last quarter, renewables and energy storage contributed more than 50% of supplied electricity for the first time, while wholesale power prices were more than 40% lower than a year earlier.