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Australia_oceania
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Loftus
Junee boasts some magnificent old pubs with massive verandahs dripping with iron lace. The Loftus was the town鈥檚 grandest hotel, with a frontage running for an entire block. The film The Crossing, starring Russell Crowe, was filmed there.
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Lake Ainsworth
Lying just inshore from the beach, this freshwater lake is tinged brown by tannins leeching from the tea trees along its banks. Dont fret: theyre supposedly beneficial to the skin. The Lennox Head Community Market is held on the foreshore.
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Radical Bay
Radical Bay once housed a resort, and a replacement is in the pipeline. In the meantime its a peaceful spot. You can walk across the headland to Horseshoe Bay, taking a detour down to the unofficial nudist beach of Balding Bay (3.4km return).
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Newcastle Art Gallery
Ignore the brutalist exterior as inside this remarkable regional gallery are more than 5000 wonderful works; highlights include art by Newcastle-born William Dobell and John Olsen as well as Brett Whiteley and modernist Grace Cossington Smith.
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St Luke鈥檚 Church of England
The first white settlers here were Irish timber-workers who spoke Gaelic and had a particularly debauched reputation. Buildings dating from the early days are dotted along High St and Bridge St, including the 1835 St Luke鈥檚 Church of England .
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Mount Annan Botanic Garden
The 400-hectare Mount Annan Botanic Garden is the native-plant branch of Sydney鈥檚 Royal Botanic Gardens and claims to be the largest botanic garden in the southern hemisphere. With 4000 species on 1000 acres, the claim seems entirely plausible.
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Milroy Observatory
Milroy Observatory offers the largest public-access telescope in the southern hemisphere (its a 40-in device that sits on a hilltop about 10km outside Coona). The astronomer-in-charge, Cam Wylie, runs regular 90-minute stargazing sessions.
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Mural House
This odd little attraction contains interpretations of art of various Indigenous cultures in the form of internal wall murals. You may be better off with the outdoor art in town, but if you want to actually buy some art, you can do so here.
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Miners Heritage Walk
Just beyond Rubyvale is this walk-in mine. Informative 30-minute underground tours, in which you descend into a maze of tunnels 18m beneath the surface, are available here throughout the day. Tours usually start at 15 minutes past the hour.
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Mersey Bluff
Lighthouse-topped Mersey Bluff is the most striking feature of Devonport. The red-and-white-striped lighthouse was built in 1889 to aid navigation into the expanding port, which still handles agricultural produce from northern Tasmania.
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Peel Zoo
Peacocks strut while parrots issue wisecracks as you wander around this cute little zoo, which focuses on Australian wildlife including kangaroos, wallabies, Tasmanian devils, koalas, wombats, possums, quolls, snakes and lots of native birds.
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John Riddoch Centre
In the visitor centre building, this museum casts a web over local history back to the 1850s, covering the local Pinejunga people and original Penola pastoralist Riddoch, who never gave in to misfortune and was steady and persistent.
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Gibson Steps
These 86 steps, hacked by hand into the cliffs by 19th-century landowner Hugh Gibson (and more recently replaced by concrete steps), lead down to wild Gibson Beach. You can walk along the beach, but be careful not to be stranded by high tides.
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Historical Society Museum
Dunkeld was established in the 1860s, but much of it was destroyed by bushfires in 1944. The bright Historical Society Museum in an old bluestone church has a local history collection, including Aboriginal artefacts and old photographs.
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Churchill Island
Churchill Island, connected to Phillip Island by a bridge near Newhaven, is a working farm where Victoria鈥檚 first crops were planted. There鈥檚 a historic homestead and garden here, and pleasant walking tracks looping around the island.
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Bligh Museum of Pacific Exploration
This curio-crammed museum details the local exploits of explorers Bligh, Cook, Furneaux, Baudin and, of course, Bruni d鈥橢ntrecasteaux. The engaging collection includes maps, charts and manuscripts, many of them originals or 1st editions.
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Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery
The small Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery houses an interesting collection of paintings, ceramics and drawings, plus rare books, maps and manuscripts in the library section. Regular touring exhibitions attract a few more visitors than usual.
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Western Australian Museum 鈥?Kalgoorlie
The impressive Ivanhoe-mine head frame marks this excellent museums entrance; take the lift to look over the city. An underground vault displays giant nuggets and gold bars, and theres also a fantastic collection of trade-union banners.
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Para Wirra Recreation Park
In the northern Mt Lofty Ranges, a 45km hook south of Tanunda, Parra Wirra offers 1417 hectares of walking tracks, scenic drives, barbecues and tennis courts. Emus search hopefully around picnic areas; western grey roos graze in the dusk.
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Lakes Folly
Try the highly acclaimed cabernet blend and chardonnay which are both grown, vintaged and bottled on the estate. These small production wines tend to sell out so the cellar door is closed for around four months of the year. Call ahead.
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