Sometimes on a tour, it's not about the where or the what, but the who. A good, entertaining tour guide can make all the difference, and some of them become legends in their own right.
This phenomenon occurs all over the world, and Australia is no exception; there are a few tour guides that are so unique that it becomes worth doing the tour just to meet them. We've picked out five of the best.
The self-styled "cryptonaturalist" is always ready to leap in front of a TV camera whenever the subject turns to mysterious creatures that almost certainly don't exist. He's made tracking down the possibly paranormal his life's work since spotting a hairy creature in New South Wales'
Brindabella Ranges in 1994, occasionally making time for a shameless publicity stunt.
He received worldwide fame after uncovering the location for the Australia-set series of Survivor and throwing the contestants chocolate bars from a helicopter.
Tim also runs the Weird Canberra Ghost and History Tour every month in the national capital. The tour takes in a series of tales that should be taken with a pinch of salt — such as a former prime minister haunting a hotel — but are never conducted with anything less than total enthusiasm.
Carl Johanson
Carl works in the gardens team at the Thala Beach Lodge near Port Douglas, but has a secret double life as Coconut Man. Okay, so he doesn't wear his pants outside of a tight lycra bodysuit, but he is trying to single-handedly rescue the coconut's reputation after what he portrays as a smear campaign from the vegetable oil industry.
He swears by them as a miracle food, capable of doing everything from preventing cancer to banishing cellulite.
He's so keen on coconuts that he now runs a tour through Thala Beach's coconut plantation, explaining the health benefits of coconuts and his own regime. He gets through plenty of coconut oil every day, and will eat a coconut instead of going for a run — he says it increases the metabolism.
As part of the tour, Carl demonstrates how to open a coconut (clue: a big metal spike is rather useful) and explains the difference between coconut water, milk and cream.
By the end of the two-hour tour/sermon, most guests leave as converts, ready to buy as many coconut products as possible on their next shopping trip.
Rod Sheridan
Originally from South Africa, Rod Sheridan struck gold when he hit upon the idea of letting hordes of backpackers get a biker experience.
His Scooter Roo Tours take out convoys of inexperienced easy riders around the quiet back roads of Agnes Water and 1770 in Queensland. All are mounted on choppers, which have been given paintjobs to look suitably rebellious and can be legally utilised by anyone with a provisional driving licence or above.
But a key part of the appeal is Rod himself — there's a very good reason that he plasters pictures of himself all over the promotional material.
He fits the biker image perfectly — tight jeans, permanent bandana and ridiculous handlebar moustache. For many of the people on the tour, the chance to get a photo with him is just as cool as riding the chopper itself.
In 1963, Rodney Fox was attacked by a great white shark. He was badly injured, and lucky to survive. Any sensible person in this situation would swear off sharks forever, but Rodney devoted his life to the creatures.
Rodney has been behind the camera for some of the world's most famous shark footage, and was one of the pioneers of cage diving.
His company runs reasonably regular multi-day shark spotting and diving expeditions from Adelaide, and although Rodney isn't on board for all of them, on special departures he becomes the entertainment. Rodney is well known as a public speaker and storyteller, and on the expeditions where he's on the ship, he'll inevitably recount his close brushes with a toothy death.
Paul Smith
Paul isn't particularly eccentric, but his job is downright bizarre. He runs a pest management company called
Boar Busters, and is tasked with capturing feral pigs in Far North Queensland. They cause huge damage to banana farms, cane fields and World Heritage-listed rainforest, and Paul knows everything there is to know about catching them.
As part of his mission to educate about feral pigs, he runs tours which shadow him and his team as they go about their everyday work. This involves trudging through muddy, leech-filled rainforest as Paul investigates pig wallows and explains how much damage they cause.
He really knows his stuff, is truly passionate about containing Australia's little-known piggy problem and takes his customers on one of Australia's weirdest days out.
Have you experienced a fair dinkum Aussie tour guide to add to the list? Tell us about him/her.
