Ingredients like fruit, dairy, vegetables and shellfish are so good that, when fresh, they work even when thrown together carelessly because the flavors sing and glow and leap off the plate. But the young chefs of Oz are learning skills quickly. Many trained overseas and are creating a distinctive style. It's very exciting. Oz is also a very easy country in which to travel.
Traffic is sparse outside the main cities.
Prices are low except for gasoline which is about double the American price. Even modest motels all have refrigerators, irons, ironing boards, barbecue's and laundries. The restaurant scene is much more sophisticated than on our last visit in 1988, but finding the best ones is a challenge for foreigners. We were lucky to buy the January copy of a magazine called Australian Gourmet Traveller which contained a pull-out section called The National Restaurant Guide. Ninety per cent of its recommendations were dead on.