Ever feeling like shunning the powers that be and making your own rules? Here are four Australian ‘micronations’ who have done precisely that.
1. The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands
In response to the government’s refusal to acknowledge gay marriage, a group of activists declared a cluster of Coral Sea islands off northeast Queensland a micronation in 2004. Anyone who is gay is granted citizenship and the islets even have their own national stamps.
2. The Murrawarri Republic
It may have only been declared in 2013, but for locals it’s been around for thousands of years. Claiming an 81-square-kilometre territory across the Queensland and NSW border (not yet recognised by the government), it’s the traditional land for the Murrawarri people and is open to both indigenous and non-indigenous.
3. Principality of Wy
What started as a dispute between artist Paul Delprat and Sydney’s Mosman Council turned into the makings of a micronation. The conflict began when Delprat was denied approval to construct a new driveway, an issue that dragged on for 11 years when his 750-square-metre property was seceded from Australia.
4. The Grand Duchy of Avram
Founded by anti-taxation campaigner and former state parliament member John Charlton Rudge, Avram began in the early ’80s. Although it doesn’t cover a physical land territory, the Royal Bank of Avram once resided in George Town on Tassie’s north coast, which saw Rudge in hot water for printing his own money.
A town charmingly paused in time has become a hot mountain biking destination.
There’s a forest reserve full of eucalyptus and pines surrounding town – when you combine all the greenery with a main street of grand old buildings still standing from the Victorian Gold Rush, Creswick looks more period movie set than a 21st-century town.
Grand buildings from the Victorian gold rush. (Image: Visit Victoria)
This entire region of Victoria – the Central Goldfields – is as pretty-as-a-picture, but there’s something extra-special about Creswick. I used to live 30 minutes north; I’d drive in some evenings to cruise its main street at dusk, and pretend I was travelling back in time.
It was sleepy back then, but that’s changed. Where I used to walk through its forest, now I’m hurtling down the state’s best new mountain bike trails. There’s a 60-kilometre network of mountain bike trails – dubbed Djuwang Baring – which make Creswick the state’s hottest new mountain biking destination.
Meet Victoria’s new mountain biking capital
This historic town has become a mountain biking hotspot.
Victoria has a habit of turning quiet country towns into mountain biking hotspots. I was there in the mid-2000s when the tiny Otways village of Forrest embarked on an ambitious plan to save itself (after the death of its timber cutting industry) courtesy of some of the world’s best mountain bike trails. A screaming success it proved to be, and soon mountain bike trails began popping up all over Victoria.
I’m no expert, so I like that a lot of Creswick’s trails are as scenic as they are challenging. I prefer intermediate trails, such as Down Martuk, with its flowing berms and a view round every corner. Everyone from outright beginners to experts can be happy here. There’s trails that take me down technical rock sections with plenty of bumps. But there’s enough on offer to appeal to day-trippers, as much as hard-core mountain-bikers.
I love that the trails empty onto that grand old main street. There’s bars still standing from the Gold Rush of the 1850s I can refuel at. Like the award-winning Farmers Arms, not to be confused with the pub sharing its name in Daylesford. It’s stood since 1857. And The American Creswick built two years later, or Odessa Wine Bar, part of Leaver’s Hotel in an 1856-built former gold exchange bank.
The Woodlands is set on a large bushland property. (Image: Vanessa Smith Photography)
Creswick is also full of great cafes and restaurants, many of them set in the same old buildings that have stood for 170 years. So whether you’re here for the rush of the trails or the calm of town life, Creswick provides.
A traveller’s checklist
Staying there
Inside the Woodlands, a chic 1970s log cabin. (Image: Vanessa Smith Photography)
RACV Goldfields Resort is a contemporary stay with a restaurant, swimming pool and golf course. The Woodlands in nearby Lal Lal comprises a chic log cabin set on a 16-hectare property abundant in native wildlife.
Eating there
Le Peche Gourmand makes for the perfect pitstop for carb and sugar-loading.
Miss Northcotts Garden is a charming garden store with tea room. (Image: Visit Victoria)
Creswick State Forest has a variety of hiking trails, including a section of the 210-kilometre-long Goldfields Track. Miss Northcotts Garden is a quaint garden store with tea room.
