Look out London - the kangaroos have invaded. In a neat campaign to promote Kangaroo Island in South Australia, the South Oz tourism gang are letting twenty brightly-painted kangaroos loose in London.

Fortunately these roos don't look like the kind that will wreak havoc on the city – they just look pretty, rather than doing much jumping or boxing. But if you're in London and spot some of these animals, take good note of where they are and you could win a trip to Kangaroo Island for four.

Go to their website for entry and if you don't win the big trip you automatically get a £100 Flight Centre voucher. But we'd definitely have our eye on the big prize, because Kangaroo Island is by far one of the most beautiful spots in South Australia – incredible scenery, great food and more than a couple live, hoppin' kangaroos.

Related Stories:
· Kangaroo Island Hunt [Official Site]
· Movie Set Travel: December Boys on Kangaroo Island [Jaunted]
· South Australia Travel Guide [Jaunted] ]]> amandak 2009-06-30T16:27:20-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/5/7/6312/23283

Every good mountain range needs a big town for a base, and the Flinders Ranges of South Australia have theirs in Port Augusta. Situated exactly two hundred miles north of Adelaide, Port Augusta likes to think it's a crossroads town because those crazy enough to drive across Australia from east to west are almost obligated to stop by.

Up until recently, Port August has been relatively devoid of such travelers, but the last decade or so has seen the town jumping on the tourism bandwagon to reinvigorate itself. A highlight of the image renovation is the Wadlata Outback Centre, a multimedia museum explaining all about life in the South Australian outback. ]]> amandak 2009-05-07T14:53:43-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/5/6/54226/94744

The lower-central Aussie state of South Australia might get dwarfed by the fame of its city cousins Sydney and Melbourne and pushed aside by the brash outback of Uluru, but it really should not be so overlooked. The Flinders Ranges are reason enough to visit South Australia, with the whole dramatic outback beauty thing combining with a majestic mountain range and a location not all that far from civilization.

Head a couple of hundred miles north of capital city Adelaide, and you're well and truly in the thick of the Flinders Ranges. We recommend beginning any exploration in the southern part of the Ranges, around Mount Remarkable National Park which absolutely lives up to its name, and either take a gentle hike from there or check out the local wineries.]]> amandak 2009-05-06T08:46:50-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/16/232242/736

Who knew that cowboy tourism is a growing industry down in South Australia? Coming up again in 2010, the Great Australian Outback Cattle Drive is on and recruiting travelers to get around South Australia on horseback.

The South Australian tourism board first put together this event in 2007, and are now planning the six trips you'll be able to take part in during August 2010. Each trip is five days long and involves a lot of horse-riding, many cows and camping in huge areas of land: the cattle station it's based around is about the size of Belgium.

You really have to visit the Cattle Drive website and see how long you can put up with the streaming audio of cows mooing and horses galloping. You can also sign up for the trips but at A$3,200 ($2,000) per person--not including the cost of getting to Australia--you might just want to listen to the website audio and imagine the actual trip.

Related Stories:
· Great Australian Outback Cattle Drive 2010 [Official Site]
· South Australia Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: CasaDeQueso] ]]> amandak 2009-02-17T16:28:43-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/1/11/23038/1824

The sometimes-forgotten Aussie state of South Australia is getting excited. It's not really because the Tour Down Under cycling event is due to begin on January 18 but more because mega-cyclist Lance Armstrong is flying in to take part.

So far the publicity machine is keeping Armstrong's arrival time in Adelaide a secret to prevent any dramatic scenes. But it's no secret that he's staying at the Adelaide Hilton with all the other competitors, so hanging out there might be the common choice for fans.

The Tour Down Under will start out in Adelaide and continue by visiting a bunch of cute South Australian towns, like the German-influenced Hahndorf out in the vineyard region. Since we can't make it down to South Oz next week we're hoping their YouTube channel will serve up a few snippets of Lance-time for us.

Related Stories:
· Tour Down Under 2009 [Official Site]
· Lance Armstrong Pumps Up For Tour Down Under [Herald Sun]
· Lance Armstrong coverage [Jaunted]]]> amandak 2009-01-12T09:30:47-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/17/20186/589

The South Australian government has stepped in to save dumb tourists from themselves by simply closing a whole desert. The 56,000 square miles of the Simpson Desert will be "closed" from December 1 to March 15 next year because the heat makes it just too dangerous.

With summer temps heading over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit and often up to 120, it's risky for anyone to head out into the wilderness, but unprepared tourists who need expensive (and dangerous) rescue missions are all too common. So for the first time, they've simply shut up shop on the desert with a A$1,000 ($650) fine for those caught there.

As far as deserts go, Australia has four of the top twenty largest ones, so they probably know what they're talking about. Dying of thirst in a desert is not high on our list of ways we'd like to go, so we won't be going desert-bashing this Aussie summer.

Related Stories:
· Too Risky: Simpson Desert Closed for Summer [SMH]
· Won't Get Fooled Again? [Jaunted]
· Australia Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jwbenwell] ]]> amandak 2008-11-21T09:05:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/2/23179/1521

Apparently Baz Luhrmann's epic Australia is just not enough: South Australian Tourism and STA Travel have decided that they want South Australia, the Movie too.

The state of South Australia, that often overlooked bit in the middle of Oz, is famous for its outback, a great wine region, Kangaroo Island and even cheap deals for redheads. Film a mini-movie of your ideas on South Australia and you could win a two-week trip around the state that will be filmed by a real film crew.

The contest opens today and you have to get your video in by December 1. Judges say that making them laugh will give you a good chance at the prize, so we're pretty sure that making fun of redheads will be part of the winning entry.

Related Stories:
· Stars of South Australia Contest [Official Site]
· Hair Color Travel: Good Deals for Redheads Down Under [Jaunted]
· South Australia Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Sentience] ]]> amandak 2008-11-03T09:30:07-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/