Karen Hechinger

Karen Hechinger

41 ülke gezdi Okumaya devam et

Takip Et Mesaj İstatistik

French Alps Ski Trip Gezgin
Les 3 Vallees
24 Ocak, Fransa ⋅ ☁️ 36 °F
Mike & I popped over to France to spend a week skiing the French Alps at the Three Valleys Ski Resort with some of his old ski buddies, with a few extra days added for some touristing.

The 3 Valleys ski area in the French Alps is actually 7 ski resorts:

Courchevel
Meribel
Val Thorens
Les Menuires
Brides les Baines
Saint Martin des Belleville
Orelle

Our trip plan is:
Th - travel to Lyon France, arriving Fri AM
Fri - in Lyon
Sat - bus to Courchevel (3 valleys)
Sat PM all week to next Sat AM at the ski resort
Sat AM - drive to & visit Annecy, 2 nights
Mon - drive to & visit Lyon 2 nights
Wed - fly home

This group of people I'm with are Mike's friends who are mostly retired military who met each other through a skiing club based in Germany many years ago. Super nice folks who are all much better skiers than me. (Not that hard to be). We have 3 chalets in Courchevel, with a 5 minute walk/ski to the lift. Sweet!

I skied with the group the first 2 days, and then broke off for 2 other days to stay on slopes within my skiing skill level. 2 days we found decent snow, with the other 2 days being a bit icy & challenging. I did manage to keep my feet, despite numerous "whoop di doos" on the ice.

Beautiful scenery though!

Sadly, a fire broke out at one of the luxury ski resort hotels in Courchevel. We watched as the fire crew successfully battled the attic-initiated fire. I understand no one was hurt.

People told me that the ski experience in Europe would be different than that in the US. It is! Its all about lunch, beer & cheese here. The group prides itself in the self-description "drinkers with a skiing problem".

Great fun!

Btw - can you believe Djokovic beat Sinner in a 5 set AO semifinal match? Shocker!!! His reward is Alcaraz in the final. Good luck ND.Okumaya devam et
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GezginWow!! How fun is this? The final will be fun to watch. 🎾
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Australia 2025 Gezgin
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39. Sydney & Sydney Harbour
9 Ekim 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F
What an amazing city!

Sydney is located on the east coast, 178 miles northeast of Australia's capital Canberra, and 565 miles south of Brisbane (aka Gold Coast area). It is the most populous city in Australia, and the capital of the state of New South Wales. Sydney's population of roughly 5.5 million represents approximately 20% of the country's total population.

Per Wikipedia, at the 2021 census, the most common ancestries were:

English (21.8%)
Australian (20.4%)[N 2]
Chinese (11.6%)
Irish (7.2%)
Scottish (5.6%)
Indian (4.9%)
Italian (4.3%)
Lebanese (3.5%)

I found this surprising, as my personal visual experience would tell me it is far more Asian based than the facts noted above.

The city is remarkably easy to get around in. There is little need for a car, in fact, the cost of parking is supposedly exorbitant, and I would imagine navigating your way around all of the pedestrian tourists might be a challenge. The combination of frequently running ferries, trains, and light rail (trams) around and throughout the city, along with an efficient "tap-on, tap-off" credit card payment system for each of these types of transportation, make it a walker's paradise.

We loved almost everything about Sydney. There was a plethora of eclectic cafes, restaurants, bars, hotels, business areas, shopping, and museums as well as parks and pedestrian areas filled with adult sports and children on swings. Around every corner was a different "modern day Norman Rockwell" scene.

Our hotel was in an excellent location in the CBD (cental business district), down the block from the Queen Victoria shopping building, with easy access to groceries, bottle shop (that's what they call liquor stores here), the tram, the train, Darling Harbor & its ferries. We could be in Sydney Harbour in 15 minutes. We did a walking tour of the city (Mike also did a separate tour of an older community that is part of Sydney called The Rocks), and we spent a lot of time wandering around. This might be the most inviting, inspiring & navigable city I've ever been in.Okumaya devam et
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Gezgin LOL!
11.10.2025Yanıtla
Gezgin I bet the kangaroo wasn’t happy to give up one of his family jewels 😬🤣
11.10.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
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Australia 2025 Gezgin
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38. Fish Market & Manly Beach
9 Ekim 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F
Two other sites that we visited around the outer edges of Sydney were the Darling Harbour Fish Market, and Manly Beach.

We weren't sure what to expect at the fish market - would it be a show, like in Seattle? Not quite, but it was huge, crowded, and had lots of delicious looking prepared delicacies. I grabbed a sashimi sampler platter with salmon, octopus, tuna, & scallop, while Mile grabbed a skewer of shrimp & scallops. We tried eating outside, but an aerial attack by the birds sent us scurrying back inside. Food was yummy & fun! (I'll pass in the octopus next time - way too chewy).

Our other destination outside the city was Manly Beach, probably the second most well-known beach after Bondi. We took the ferry to the beach and the bus to a lookout point where we were told others had spotted whales! You - they were there! Another successful animal (mammal) sighting!Okumaya devam et
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Gezgin Awesome!
11.10.2025Yanıtla
Gezgin Amazing
11.10.2025Yanıtla
GezginDo you know what kind of whales?
17.10.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
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Australia 2025 Gezgin
37. The Blue Mountains
8 Ekim 2025, Avustralya ⋅ 🌙 54 °F
With a footprint of about 662k+ acres, Blue Mountains National Park is located 80 km west of Sydney and is easily accessible to Sydney based tourists via a 2 hour train ride and 20 minute walk.

When previously deciding how best to view the park, we took advice from some of the youtube travel videos, and chose to buy tickets to Scenic World, which boasts a few major features, including Scenic Railway: world's steepest passenger railway, Scenic Skyway: cable car travelling across the gorge with views of Katoomba Falls, Scenic Cableway: a cable car transporting you down 650ft to the Jamison Valley floor and forest. Sounds like a great way to gain access and see all the major attractions of the park, right?

Total bust. What a waste of $. ($40 US ea). The rides were very short, and, in my opinion, kind of lame, with limited visibility due to dirty safety windows & screens. Turns out we could have easily accessed views to all of the major attractions by just hiking around the park (which we did anyway). Maybe its entertaining for people with kids or less mobile adults, but we were not impressed.

As far as the park itself goes, the Jamison Valley, Katoomba Falls, and famous Three Sisters rock formation were all nice, but I've honestly seen better. To give credit though, I understand that there were other less touristy parts of the park that we may have enjoyed more, but we're tourists with limited time so we chose to see the highlights.

A nice hiking/walking day anyway.Okumaya devam et
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GezginEmu and Kangaroo?
17.10.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
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Australia 2025 Gezgin
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36. Sydney-Darling Harbor & Bondi
6 Ekim 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F
Our first morning after the previous night's late arrival to Sydney, I was still dozing when I heard Mike slip out the door, and thought to myself "why is he going out in the middle of the night?" A quick glance at my phone confirmed it was 10AM. Yikes! Apparently, our room darkening curtains work VERY well.

Ever the excellent travelling partner, he returned with a cup of coffee for me & we started our exploration of the city with a stroll through Darling Harbor (west side of Sydney), which offers interesting architecture, attractions like the Maritime Museum, Madame Tussaurds, restaurants & cafes, active water ferries and a huge & diverse park area for the kids, featuring a carousel, baby pool, monkey bars, & swings, all in seemingly great demand.

After grabbing a bite, we headed to Central Station to catch the light rail (a tram) north to a bus station that took us to Cogee Beach, where we started the roughly 6km coastal walk to Bondi Beach. This is a very popular walk for locals & tourists alike, made busier by the fact that it was Australian Labor Day. After freezing out butts off in parts of Tasmania, we sweated in the hot 80 degree sun on our walk. It was a pretty day and we enjoyed stretching our legs and viewing the coastline.Okumaya devam et
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GezginIs your trip really almost over?
10.10.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
GezginYup! I'm just polishing up the last few posts.
11.10.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
Gezgin Awesome
11.10.2025Yanıtla
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35. Welcome to Sydney-or not?
5 Ekim 2025, Avustralya ⋅ 🌙 72 °F
The first picture on this posts pretty much tells the story of today.

We arrived at the airport at 12:30 for our 2:30 flight to find that it had been cancelled. No, not due to the gusting winds that almost knocked us off our feet, but rather to some flight crew issues.

Long story short, I frantically searched for travel options on my phone while we queued up to get in-person assistance. With nothing to be found on-line we mentally prepared ourselves for sleeping at the airport that night, and were quite pleasantly surprised when they still had room on the 7:30P flight that evening. Yes, a tedious 6 hours to kill at the airport, but given the alternative, we were grateful to be arriving in Sydney same day.

AND, we were greeted by the hotel receptionist with a free bottle of wine to thank us for choosing the hotel for a 5 night stay. Yay!

So, just a little about Sydney: with a population of 5.5 million people, Sydney is the most populous city in Australia, and the capital of the New South Wales territory. Originally a British penal colon, its current status is a vibrant, modern city known for its lively harbor, magnificent beaches, and diverse cuisine. We're so happy to wind up our trip here and have high expectations for our grand finale.Okumaya devam et
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34. Tasmania - Botanical Gardens
5 Ekim 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F
With a 2:30 flight, we needed to drop our rental car by around noon to catch a shuttle to the airport. The left us with about 2 hours to kill after our 10A checkout, so we decided to swing around to the Royal Botanical Gardens for a few hours.

We got there by 10, and it was delightfully quiet our first hour there. I've been to various gardens before, and tend to overdue it on the pix. No difference here. I took pix of everything. You may want to skip this post.Okumaya devam et
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GezginLove the botanical pictures. Mike, remind you of Butchart Gardens?
10.10.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
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33. Tas-Hobart-Mt Wellington & Markets
4 Ekim 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F
With a day and 1/2 to left before departing Tasmania, we left the midlands and headed 2.5 hours south to Mount Wellington, a towering natural landmark that rises 1,271 meters (4,170 feet) above sea level, forming a dramatic backdrop to the capital city of Hobart.

Officially dual-named kunanyi / Mount Wellington, the summit is accessible by a scenic 22 km drive from Hobart’s CBD where stunning panoramic views of the city & various harbors awaited us.

We were once again caught unaware of the drastic temperature difference between the sea-level city and the mountain peak. It was so windy & cold that we grabbed our pix and rushed into the sheltered observation deck for respite. I braved the weather one last time by climbing up to one of the peak points, then we bolted to the car, fired up the heat & headed down to town.

The next day we visited the vibrantly active Saturday Salamenca markets. I think this is the largest pop-up market I've seen, sporting crafts & gifts, snacks, food & drinks, clothing & artwork. A fun morning.

Tomorrow, we head to Sydney. Bye-bye Tas, we really liked it here!Okumaya devam et
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Gezgin There she goes!
9.10.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
GezginI knew you'd say something here!
11.10.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
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32. Tasmania - Cradle Mountain & Wombats
2 Ekim 2025, Avustralya ⋅ 🌧 39 °F
Cradle Mountain is located in the central highlands of Tasmania, in Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park. It has a sub-polar ocean climate, with its average temperatures in October range from 35 - 51 degrees F. The 6-day hike to the summit is a very popular amongst hikers, but warnings about the drastic and quickly changing weather conditions are posted all over.

Mike & I unfortunately encountered some of this bad weather on the day we visited, and although we only planned to do several short hikes, we had to cut our day short due to freezing temps, and rain that turned to hail & snow.

We did, however, achieve our goal of seeing wombats in the wild. The wombat is a fluffy marsupial that resembles a very small bear, but is actually more related to a koala (which, btw, is not a bear). We had seen them at Caversham Park in Perth, but only held on the laps of staff members there, and we were thrilled to catch them in their natural habitat.

In cutting our visit short, we also had time to visit the tasmanian devil park (right next door to Cradle Mtn) where we saw the devils and quolls.

After we got back to the hotel & warmed up, we questioned whether we had "wimped out" regarding leaving the park early, only to read in the news later about a young couple on the Overland Trail (the trail we were on) needing to be rescued due to their inability to handle the severe weather, and another tourist who had died the week prior due to hyperthermia. OK. I don't feel bad about leaving early at all.Okumaya devam et
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GezginLove all the animals!
10.10.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
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31. Tasmania-Cataract Gorge & Penguins!
1 Ekim 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
Travelling from east towards Cradle Mountain, we stopped for a night in Launceston, a small town with not much going on other than its local Cataract Gorge attraction. Although I've seen far more impressive gorges, the park was pretty to walk through and the peacocks (October is the end of mating season) were hilarious.

Later we travelled up to the north coast to the tiny town of Burnie, which offered a "little penguin" viewing platform. Its been cold here - we bundled up and went in search of penguins in the wild at 8PM when the area opened up, and were rewarded instantly upon arriving. It was hard to take pix - very dark and we didn't really have the recommended pink or red viewing lights, but managed to see them with lights from some of the local volunteers.

We've been so lucky so far to see most of the animals in the wild that we have been trying to track down. Roos, wallabies, crocs, penguins, platypus. Tomorrow, we're off to Cradle Mountain to seek out wombats.Okumaya devam et
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GezginMike, what is it with you and suspension bridges?
10.10.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
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Australia 2025 Gezgin
30. Tasmania - Freycinet NP
29 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F
Our 1 hour 15 minute flight from Melbourne to Hobart, capital of Tasmania, somehow occupied the whole day. We got to the airport early (due to hotel check-out times) but weren't allowed to check in (even though it was completely self-serve), more than 2 hours before our flight. Once checked, we made our way to the lounge (also unattended - we had to track someone down to let us in), to find mediocre offerings and a delayed flight. Although we boarded only about 20 minutes late, we sat on the tarmac for another 45 minutes before taking off.

Our rental car was off-site to the airport - fortunately we found our shuttle driver without too much fuss, though, since the driver was a one-man show also checking in renters & doling out cars, that whole process took another hour.

But, we're here in Tassie - Yay! Our hotel was comfy & there was a cozy bar around the corner with a 3 man band playing accordion-based French Bistro style music. An unexpected but pleasant diversion from normal pub music.

The next day we began our loop around Tasmania with a 1.5 hour drive to Freycinet National Park on the east coast where we did a very popular hike out to Wineglass Bay. We stayed that evening in Bicheno, then headed further up the coast to St. Helen's, where we toodled around the rocks and piers at the Bay of Fires.

The names of these places are starting to amuse me. Does it attract more tourists to label a semi-circular beach cove "Wineglass Bay", or to label orange lichen-ridden rocks "Bay of Fires"?Okumaya devam et
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29. Melbourne & ARF
27 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
Melbourne is a bustling city of 5.35 million people, and capital of the state of Victoria. We returned our rental car here after our Great Ocean Road trip & spent a few days doing what the locals do - watching Australian Rules Football (ARF).

We caught the national men's final match, Geelong vs. Brisbane, at a local sports bar - what a blast! The tie score at halftime (first time since 1909 that this happened) gave no indication of the runaway second half with a final score of 147-75 to Brisbane.

Although it looked like mayhem in the beginning, Mike and I had picked up some of the rules of the game after having tracked down a live ladies match in north Melbourne. The local fans were out in droves and very passionate about the game. Super fun experience!Okumaya devam et
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Gezgin Cool architecture!
4.10.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
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28. The Great Ocean Road
24 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F
The Great Ocean Road is one of Australia’s most iconic coastal drives, stretching 240 kilometers along Victoria’s rugged south-west coastline from Torquay to Allansford.

Although it is a popular day trip from Melbourne, we decided to rent a car & take the route at our leisure. We enjoyed the dramatic cliffs, pristine beaches, and charming seaside towns along the coast.
Some of the highlights include:

The 12 Apostles in Port Campbell
A series of limestone sea stacks rising from the ocean. Funnily, there were never twelve stacks, only nine, and now seven remain due to natural erosion. Is the name just a marketing gimmick to foster interest? We saw so many stunning rock formations - this did not rank among the best for sheer physical beauty.

Loch Ard Gorge
A gorge of towering cliffs around a secluded beach, this area was named after the clipper ship Loch Ard that crashed in 1878

London Bridge in Port Campbell
A bridge made by natural rock formation, the center of which collapsed unexpectedly in 1990, thus yielding the phrase London Bridge is Falling Down.

Kennett River
We took a walk along one of the nature trails here where it was advertised that we might see a koala in the wild - which we did! It was sleeping - not surprising as the leaves they eat supply insufficient nutrition to them, thus resulting in 20 hours of sleep per day.

At one point we detoured off the coast to spend the night in Otways rainforest. Our research said Lake Elizabeth in the park might provide the rare opportunity to see platypus, which usually come out at dawn or dusk, so, after all day in the car, we braved another hour to track down the Lake Elizabeth trail & search for the holy grail. And we were rewarded for our efforts. My pic is not the greatest, but we saw it and felt surprisingly elated.

The 2 days of driving felt so long, but the breathtaking beauty of the experience was worth it.Okumaya devam et
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27. South coast - Albany & Denmark
21 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F
Before heading back to Perth for our flight to Melbourne, we toodled around the coasts of Albany & then William Bay NP in Denmark. If you like rocky coastline with rough and rugged surf, this is the place for you. Each location was more beautiful than the last.

We stumbled onto a "blowhole", an ocean cave that makes its way landward and upward, creating an outlet for waves rushing in. We did not experience any water (probably based on the tide?) but the roar and power of the wind gusting through was downright intimidating. Kinda cool.Okumaya devam et
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Gezgin Wow!
25.09.2025Yanıtla
Gezgin Whoa!
25.09.2025Yanıtla
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26. Albany - Granite Skywalk
21 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F
I woke up feeling better today and was determined to get back in the game after 2 days of mostly rest, so, after grabbing a massive breakfast at the local diner, we drove north to Granite Skywalk to check it out.

The Granite Skywalk is a suspended walkway perched atop Castle Rock in Western Australia's Porongurup National Park. Referred to as an engineering marvel, it offers two lookout platforms with panoramic views stretching across forests & farmland, all the way to Albany coastline 25 miles away. The hike there was a short but steep 3 km trail through the forest, that turned into a trek over & through a set of boulders before reaching the ladder that takes you to the summit.Okumaya devam et
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Gezgin Wow!
25.09.2025Yanıtla
Gezgin That's awesome
26.09.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
Gezgin Fantastic views, thanks for sharing!
27.09.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
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25. Margaret River & southern road trip
19 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F
We picked up our rental car the next day and drove the 3+ hours down to Margaret River, stopping at the small towns of Bunbury & Busselton, neither of which offered much in the way of attractions. In Bunbury we tracked down and hiked up the Rotary Lookout tower, and in Busselton we drove out the "iconic" jetty (their description, definitely not mine).

We arrived in the cute little town of Margaret River, known for it local wineries, where we looked forward to our "Discover Margaret River Tour", which would combine canoeing, hiking, and wine tasting with a lunch. To make a long story short, after unsuccessfully trying to locate a reminder email from the tour company, I called them to confirm, only to find out they had no record of our booking. This very popular tour was sold out, so we were out of luck. Big disappointment.

If there is any silver lining at all, the head cold that I'd been fighting off for over a week had finally taken hold of me. Our alternate plan of driving down to Augusta, the southwestern tip of Australia, allowed me to nap in the car a bit (when I wasn't coughing). This was followed the next day by the beginning of our southwest road trip, through which I slept in the car the majority of the drive time, and crashed in the hotel after a hot shower at about 4PM. Huge thanks to Mike for grabbing food & bringing it back to the hotel for me, and for being such a good guy about me kind of bailing on him for 2 days.

We did stop on our way to Albany to explore the Tree Top Walk, which was advertised as a walkway bridge suspended 120 feet above the ground, allowing you to explore the area without affecting the eco system itself. We also strolled through the ground trail which took us through a tingle tree forest. Tingle trees apparently have a root system that allows them to keep growing despite being hollowed out by fire & fungus.

The trails were thankfully short, and I was happy to get back in the car & close my eyes again until we reached Albany.Okumaya devam et
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Gezgin He's definitely not normal... LOL
25.09.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
Gezgin Wow!
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Gezgin Cool
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Başka 2 yorum
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24. CWP lll (cont)
17 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
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23. CWP ll (cont) - Koalas, wombats +
17 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F
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22.Caversham Wildlife Park (CWP) - Roos!
17 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ 🌧 63 °F
Upon arriving on the train in Perth from Fremantle, we spent a few hours checking out the area via the hop-on hop-off bus, then grabbing dinner & a cocktail. We agreed we were neither particularly impressed nor disappointed in the city of Perth, and decided on our second day here to venture north via train out to Caversham Wildlife Park.

The day was meant to be sketchy weather-wise, (it did rain on & off all morning), but we grabbed rain jackets & hit the road. The park advertisement brochure looked like the park might be a little hokey - we were surprised at how much we enjoyed it.

Our walk there meandered through meadows and forest, a pleasant trail where we were greeted by wild roaming kangaroos.Okumaya devam et
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21. Rottnest Island
15 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ 🌬 57 °F
Rottnest Island, aka "Wadjemup" to the Whadjuk Noongar (indigenous) people, is a 19 sq km coastal sanctuary 18 kilometers off the coast of Fremantle. It is a nature lover's paradise, with over 60 beaches & stunning views of the Indian Ocean. The area is under administration of the WA gov't - no cars allowed (save maintenance vehicles & tour buses), and no privately held lodging (like air bnbs).

Part of Rottnest's draw is the presence of the quokka, a small, smiley marsupial found nowhere else on Earth, which has become a beloved symbol of the island. The quokka is in fact how the island got its name. In 1656 a Dutch explorer mistakenly identified the animal as a rat, and his description "rat's nest" became Rottnest.

We took the ferry out to the island to explore. The weather had been a bit sketchy and the seas were rough - barf bags were available and, since I'm a bit motion-sensitive I grabbed one just in case. (Not used) While the 30 minute ride left me a bit nauseous & dizzy, the weather improved and island experience was delightful. We loved the quokkas and the Indian Ocean (honestly the most beautiful ocean I've ever seen).Okumaya devam et
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20. WA Maritime & Shipwreck Museums
14 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ 🌬 61 °F
Btw - WA stands for Western Australia.

Strolling through the city, we stopped to visit the Maritime Museum & the Shipwreck Museum. The former was pretty good & they let us old codgers in for a discounted $10 AUD (about $6.50 US). The latter requested donation only.

We saw a submarine, fishing vessels, and the Australian boat that beat the Americans to win the America's Cup in 1983 - a very proud moment for the Aussies.Okumaya devam et
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19. Fremantle Prison tour
14 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ 🌬 57 °F
Between 1788 & 1868, more than 165,000 men, women & children were transported from Great Britian to Australia as punishment for their crimes.

The Fremantle Prison itself was constructed by convicts between 1851 & 1859. It was Western Australia's main place of incarceration until its closure in 1991.

Interestingly, the Swan River Colony (including the area that would become Fremantle), which was struggling in its economic growth & development, actually requested the prisoners, which were seen as a cheap source of labor for infrastructure development.

Prison conditions during the convict era (1850s to early 1900s) were harsh & brutal, with 4'x7' cells where meals were eaten. The cells contained a hammock & bucket as toilet. Prison life included chain gang labor experiences, overcrowding, and perpetual hygiene issues.

Prison riots & protests as well as public acknowlegment of conditions eventually gave way to prison reform & some improvement including larger cells, vegetable gardens for fresher food, and access to artistic materials for them to paint their cells & prison walls.Okumaya devam et
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18. Fremantle & the markets
13 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ 🌧 63 °F
We flew without ado from Boome to Perth. Well, maybe there was a little ado.

At the airport we discovered Mike left his jacket back with our friends staying at a hostel. We checked our bags, and had 30 minutes till boarding. The hostel was less than a mile away, so Mike called someone to grab the jacket & start walking it to the airport, while he started running towards them to collect it. You can't make this stuff up! Yes, he arrived back at the airport (winded & sweaty) in plenty of time for the flight. Haha.

Arriving at Perth airport we easily tracked down the train to Fremantle (1 hr train ride) where we would be staying at Fremantle Prison YHA. Our trip went smoothly. The town was definitely hopping on a Saturday night as we walked the additional half mile to the hostel.

Sunday morning we checked out the local weekend market before our afternoon prison tour.Okumaya devam et
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GezginMust be a Mike thing to leave your jacket behind 🙃
16.09.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
GezginMust be!
11.10.2025Yanıtla
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17. Broome - End of the Tour!
10 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F
We made it to Broome - yay! It is here we will say our goodbyes to all of our new friends. What a wonderful privilege it was to meet and travel with all of them.

Arriving Wed eve, I spent all day Thurs catching up on this blog. (With a bottle of wine). Friday we rented a 4WD car to head out to Willie's Pearl Farm for a tour about Broome's pearling industry, followed by a trip to Gantheaume Point on the SW corner of Broome. The point surprised us with the vibrant colors of the rock, the white sand at Cable Beach to the north, and the stunning turquoise blue Indian Ocean.

While the pearl tour was interesting, what captured my attention most was the comment that the nacre (otherwise known as mother of pearl) which is the glossy white stuff on the inside of the shell, is being tested as potential bone graft material. Apparently it is currently with the FDA for evaluation. This would allow bone supplementation without taking bone material from another part of a person's body. Perhaps instead of pulling that tooth in my mouth that has lost too much bone around it to support it, we can just inject some nacre?

Saturday we say our goodbyes to Broome and fly to Perth.Okumaya devam et
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Gezgin Wow!
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16. Tunnel Creek (Dimalurru)
10 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ 🌬 86 °F
Many of our excursions have introduced us to the various gorges, swimming holes and waterfalls that the Kimberly is known for, but today was a special treat as we visited Tunnel Creek. TC is an extensive limestone cave system extending 750 m underground, with occasional sunlight streaming through ceiling crevices, bats hanging out overhead, enormous stalactites pointing down at you (kinda menacingly) from the ceiling, and even the unexpected welcoming committee - a croc!

We had to wade in water up to our chests to get to the end, but it was a super fun experience.

But the fun didn't end there. When we got back to the truck, someone (thankfully) noticed an issue with one of the truck tires (before it blew out while we were driving). Wolfie's happiness just seriously tanked.Okumaya devam et
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GezginWading through chest high water with crocodiles 😳.
14.09.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
GezginWe only saw the croc AFTER the waist high wading. He wasn't there on our way back. Where did he go, you ask? Good question.
15.09.2025YanıtlaÇevirmek
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Australia 2025 Gezgin
15. Bell Gorge & Windjana Camp
9 Eylül 2025, Avustralya ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F
Windjana Camp was the last camping night of our trip - yay! (Did I say that out loud?)

We stopped along the way to collect firewood for our first campfire tonight.

We also hiked out to Bell Gorge to enjoy more swimming under the falls. Just before dinner we also strolled through part of the Windjana park (& saw another croc!)Okumaya devam et
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4 beğeni

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