Australien 2016-17

July 2016 - July 2017
A 350-day adventure by Katharina Read more
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  • 58.7kkilometers
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  • Day 81

    Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary (day 9)

    October 5, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    This was one of my favourite days for sure. We went by bus to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary which took us about 40minutes.
    The weather was perfect and I was just overwhelmed by this place. I had never seen a koala in real life and they are one of the cutest animals I have ever seen 💕. I was beyond happy when I got to hold one of these incredible creatures 💕.
    I think I smiled like an idiot for the whole day.
    But at Lone Pine they don't only have koalas, they have a lot of Australia's native animals.
    They have koalas, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, a platypus, dingos, wombats, wallabies and of course lots of Australian birds and reptiles.
    We watched a bird of prey show as well as the feeding of the Tasmanian devils and a snake presentation. Eric (the snake) was a non poisonous 3,5m long (very friendly) snake which we even got to give a little pet to.
    Apart from non poisonous snakes there are of course many poisonous snakes who can be found in Australia. Actually the Top 10 of the most poisonous land snakes live in Australia. We got to see the most poisonous (Inland Taipan) and the second most poisonous land snake (Eastern Brown Snake).
    Another big highlight of the day were the kangaroos. We got to feed them, pet them and take photos with them which was a lot of fun. They are some of the most relaxed animals I have ever seen 💕.
    The day was a big success and we made some incredible memories 💕.
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  • Day 81

    Fraser Island (day 10)

    October 5, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    When you have to leave the house at 6am it should better be worth it.
    I can give you a little preview it definitely was. 💕
    We left the house at 6am and made our way to the Brisbane Transit Centre where we got picked up at 7am to go on a two day Fraser Island tour.
    Our "bus" was a bit funny looking but we got to understand why later that day. But first we had to get to Fraser Island.
    From Brisbane it took us about 4h until we reached Rainbow Beach where we made a short break at the beach.
    We then actually drove on the beach with our bus to get to the ferry which was waiting for us at the shore. Probably 10 minutes later our bus left the ferry again and we were on Fraser.
    It now became quite clear why our bus wasn't a normal bus. There are no roads on Fraser Island you either drive on the beach or in the rainforest.
    It can be a hell of a bumpy ride especially through the rainforest and you will definitely be glad for your seatbelt since it feels a lot like a roller coaster ride.
    Good thing nobody got sick and we actually had a lot of fun driving around. Our tour guide and driver told us some facts about Fraser and he had a really good taste in music, too so it definitely was never boring (and thanks for the photos Rhett). 💕
    Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and the aboriginal people call this island K'gari which means paradise 💕. I can definitely see their point this island is just pure perfection💕.
    Fraser is surrounded by the ocean (salty water) but there is fresh water constantly coming from under the island up to the surface.
    This means that there are various streams, creeks and seas on the island. All of them filled with crystal clear fresh water because the water is filtered through all the layers of sand before it reaches the surface of Fraser.
    Our first stop was at Eli Creek which is one of those crystal clear creeks. We went for a swim before driving to the Maheno ship wreck.
    The ship was once 120m long but it keeps sinking into the sand so you can only see the top of it today.
    Our last stop of the day was Indian Head which is basically a cliff from which you can get the best view of the whole island. 💕
    But it was not only the whole island we got to see from up there, we also spotted humpback whales, dolphins, eagle rays, a turtle and some really big tuna.
    It was such an amazing experience there are basically no words to describe it and even though the photos are beautiful they are nothing compared to what it looks in real life.
    On our way to the resort we were staying that night we also saw on of the many dingoes who live on Fraser Island.
    After we had dinner in our resort Rhett (our tour guide) took us to the beach to show us the stars and a special surprise in the sand. I have never seen so many stars at once. We could even see the Milky Way and two other galaxies 💕.
    The surprise in the sand was equally beautiful. Every time you walked over the sand right at the shore the sand would light up in a green-blueish light. The phenomenon is called bioluminescents and is coursed by tiny bacteria living in the sand. It was just stunning 💕.
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  • Day 82

    Fraser Island (day 11)

    October 6, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    On our second day in paradise Bente and I got up at 5am and together we went to the beach (you should never go there alone because of the dingoes) to watch the sunrise over the ocean. 💕
    It was definitely worth it and breakfast was at 6:30am anyway.
    After breakfast we got back into our bus and made our way to Lake Birrabeen. Bumpy is an understatement for the ride but again we had a lot o fun.
    The lake was more than beautiful with its crystal clear blue water and white sand (if I, who would normally not even put a foot in a lake, go for a swim it needs to be a freaking special lake) and the water is actually really healthy because it contains the tea tree oil from the surrounding eucalyptus trees.
    It made our skin and hair really soft which was another added bonus.
    After a swim and some fun games in the lake we sadly had to leave (none of us wanted to).
    We drove into the rainforest (again fun ride) where we eventually went for a 2km walk. The walk was through the rainforest was amazing.
    There even was a liana swing which naturally formed and can actually carry your weight.
    Never in my life have I seen trees that massive which was really impressive.
    Our walk ended with a picnic in the forest after which it was sadly time to go back to the ferry.
    Our journey ended in Brisbane again and we truly had the most magnificent two days in paradise. 💕
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  • Day 83

    Brisbane (day 12)

    October 7, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Our last day in Brisbane was again spent relaxing at the Streets Beach after two really adventurous days on Fraser Island.
    I got myself another açai smoothie bowl and a Nutella milkshake in the afternoon.
    I will really miss all of the amazing food here in Brisbane . But it is not only the food I fell in love with. I just love this city 💕.
    Brisbane is probably my new favourite city not only because of its look (and food) but also because of the overall feeling it gives you. It is a big city, it is actually the capital city of Queensland but it is not hectic or overcrowded it is just... perfect💕
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  • Day 84

    Back home, Armidale (day 13)

    October 8, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    After eight hours we are home again (in Armidale). Don't get me wrong Armidale is fine and I absolutely love my placement and the work with my kids but still saying goodbye to Brisbane was hard.
    I'm gonna miss this city, the food, the weather, the beach and of course the unlimited WIFI.
    But still being back in our own little house is nice and even the weather got better while we were away (we are still gonna have -1 degrees on Tuesday night and 16 degrees during the day but Monday apparently 25 degrees so there is still hope that summer will eventually come).
    And in only two months we will fly to Bali for our next adventure 💕.
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  • Day 127

    Blue Hole Picnic

    November 20, 2016 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Another fun trip with some of the boarders to the Blue Hole for a picnic and some swimming. 💕
    The weather was stunning and a lot of girls went for a swim while Sophie and I sat on the rocks and enjoyed the sun.
    When it was time to go back Soph decided to be a mermaid (involuntary) and went for a dip in the water. She very gracefully slipped and landed there but at least it was warm and it was definitely very funny. 💕
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  • Day 146

    Ubud, Bali

    December 9, 2016 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Next holiday, next adventure.
    We started our 8 weeks of summer holidays with leaving Australia and flying to Bali.
    After about 7 hours on a plane we arrived at Denpasar airport.
    Even though we arrived at night Bali greeted us with 30 degrees and a really high humidity.
    We were picked up from the airport and drove for about 1.5h until we arrived in Ubud.
    The villa we rented via AirBnB was incredible (especially the bathroom and our pool) 💕
    We quickly got used to walking on the streets (no sidewalks) and the crazy traffic.
    Ubud is a really spiritual place with lots of temples everywhere and offerings on the streets.
    The ricefields are a stunning view and we stayed in Ubud for a week.💕
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  • Day 148

    Cooking, Yoga and Jewellery

    December 11, 2016 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Since Bali is fairly inexpensive we spent our time in Ubud doing lots of fun things.
    We joined a Balinese cooking class where we made delicious spiced fish in banana leaves, fragrant fish curry, Asian spinach in tomato sambal, carrot and cucumber salad and black rice pudding for desert. 💕
    Another day we did a yoga class which was definitely fun but really exhausting as well especially if you consider the intense heat.
    We even made our own jewellery in a silver making class. It was a lot of work but definitely worth it. We were beyond proud when we looked at our finished pieces. 💕
    Another thing that I loved about Bali was the food. There are so many vegetarian or even vegan restaurants there which aren't expensive and have really delicious food. We went out for dinner nearly every day and my personal favourite was the Earth Café. 💕
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  • Day 149

    Elephants

    December 12, 2016 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    This was probably my favourite day from the days we spent in Bali. We got up early because we had booked a tour called bathe and breakfast with elephants. 💕
    The picked us up and transferred us to the elephant park. The first thing we got to do was wash an elephant. It was such an incredible experience to be so close to such an amazing animal. 💕
    After that we put our swimwear on, SAT ON AN ELEPHANTS BACK!!! and went into the water with them. I was basically giggling all the time because it was so much fun 💕.
    We had a shower and breakfast while watching the elephants from our table. After breakfast we went for a ride on an elephants back through the jungle.
    It was an unreal day and we were beyond happy when we went back home. A big thanks to the amazing and friendly staff of the park who took the best photos I could ever wish for 💕
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  • Day 152

    Temples and Ricefields

    December 15, 2016 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    On our last day in Ubud we decided to hire a driver for the day who took us to see some amazing temples, the elephant caves and the Jatiluwih ricefields (one of the biggest ricefields in Bali). 💕
    We had a fun day exploring and of course we took a lot of photos as well (no photos facing the camera because I and Bente had a mysterious rash in our faces ).
    At the end of the day we were sunburned because obviously we still hadn't learned that you will get sunburned here (and in) even if it is a cloudy day and you can't really see the sun.
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