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День 28
воскресенье, 21 сентября 2025 г., 12:00
☀️ 77 °F
Высота: 49 фт
Австралия City of Swan -31.892206, 116.00480731°53’32” S 116°0’17” E
1 1
27. South coast - Albany & Denmark
21 сентября, Австралия ⋅ ☀️ 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.Читать далее
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Путешественник Wow!
25.09.2025Ответить
Путешественник Whoa!
25.09.2025Ответить
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Australia 2025 Путешественник
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День 31
среда, 24 сентября 2025 г., 11:22
☁️ 63 °F
Высота: 128 фт
Австралия Melbourne -37.8159, 144.966937°48’57” S 144°58’1” E
28. The Great Ocean Road
24 сентября, Австралия ⋅ ☁️ 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.Читать далее
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Australia 2025 Путешественник
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День 34
суббота, 27 сентября 2025 г., 13:00
☁️ 64 °F
Высота: 79 фт
Австралия Melbourne -37.814245, 144.96317337°48’51” S 144°57’47” E
1
29. Melbourne & ARF
27 сентября, Австралия ⋅ ☁️ 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!Читать далее
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Путешественник Cool architecture!
04.10.2025ОтветитьПереводить
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День 36
понедельник, 29 сентября 2025 г., 12:29
☀️ 54 °F
Высота: 335 фт
Австралия Freycinet National Park -42.318389, 148.27705742°19’6” S 148°16’37” E
30. Tasmania - Freycinet NP
29 сентября, Австралия ⋅ ☀️ 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"?Читать далее
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Australia 2025 Путешественник
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День 38
среда, 1 октября 2025 г., 12:04
☁️ 55 °F
Высота: 16 фт
Австралия Launceston -41.4391, 147.130141°26’21” S 147°7’48” E
31. Tasmania-Cataract Gorge & Penguins!
1 октября, Австралия ⋅ ☁️ 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.Читать далее
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ПутешественникMike, what is it with you and suspension bridges?
10.10.2025ОтветитьПереводить
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День 39
четверг, 2 октября 2025 г., 12:07
🌧 39 °F
Высота: 4 961 фт
Австралия Cradle Mountain -41.684645, 145.95130441°41’5” S 145°57’5” E
32. Tasmania - Cradle Mountain & Wombats
2 октября, Австралия ⋅ 🌧 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.Читать далее
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ПутешественникLove all the animals!
10.10.2025ОтветитьПереводить
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День 41
суббота, 4 октября 2025 г., 14:25
☁️ 68 °F
Высота: 26 фт
Австралия Hobart -42.8772, 147.33142°52’38” S 147°19’52” E
2
33. Tas-Hobart-Mt Wellington & Markets
4 октября, Австралия ⋅ ☁️ 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!Читать далее
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Путешественник There she goes!
09.10.2025ОтветитьПереводить
ПутешественникI knew you'd say something here!
11.10.2025ОтветитьПереводить
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Australia 2025 Путешественник
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День 42
воскресенье, 5 октября 2025 г., 10:00
☁️ 70 °F
Высота: 43 фт
Австралия Hobart -42.882509, 147.32812342°52’57” S 147°19’41” E
34. Tasmania - Botanical Gardens
5 октября, Австралия ⋅ ☁️ 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.Читать далее
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ПутешественникLove the botanical pictures. Mike, remind you of Butchart Gardens?
10.10.2025ОтветитьПереводить
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Australia 2025 Путешественник
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День 42
воскресенье, 5 октября 2025 г., 22:30
🌙 72 °F
Высота: 312 фт
Австралия Sydney -33.869844, 151.20828533°52’11” S 151°12’30” E
35. Welcome to Sydney-or not?
5 октября, Австралия ⋅ 🌙 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.Читать далее
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День 43
понедельник, 6 октября 2025 г., 13:30
☁️ 81 °F
Высота: 52 фт
Австралия Sydney -33.891381, 151.27341533°53’29” S 151°16’24” E
1
36. Sydney-Darling Harbor & Bondi
6 октября, Австралия ⋅ ☁️ 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.Читать далее
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ПутешественникIs your trip really almost over?
10.10.2025ОтветитьПереводить
ПутешественникYup! I'm just polishing up the last few posts.
11.10.2025ОтветитьПереводить
Путешественник Awesome
11.10.2025Ответить
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День 45
среда, 8 октября 2025 г., 06:00
🌙 54 °F
Высота: 1 030 фт
Австралия Blue Mountains City Council -33.609741, 150.40522433°36’35” S 150°24’19” E
37. The Blue Mountains
8 октября, Австралия ⋅ 🌙 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.Читать далее
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ПутешественникEmu and Kangaroo?
17.10.2025ОтветитьПереводить
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День 46
четверг, 9 октября 2025 г., 09:53
☀️ 73 °F
Высота: 43 фт
Австралия Sydney -33.797873, 151.28909533°47’52” S 151°17’21” E
1 1
38. Fish Market & Manly Beach
9 октября, Австралия ⋅ ☀️ 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!Читать далее
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Путешественник Awesome!
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Путешественник Amazing
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ПутешественникDo you know what kind of whales?
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День 46
четверг, 9 октября 2025 г., 12:01
☁️ 77 °F
Высота: 292 фт
Австралия Sydney -33.8242, 151.205933°49’27” S 151°12’21” E
2
39. Sydney & Sydney Harbour
9 октября, Австралия ⋅ ☁️ 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.Читать далее
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Путешественник LOL!
11.10.2025Ответить
Путешественник I bet the kangaroo wasn’t happy to give up one of his family jewels 😬🤣
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Окончание поездки
10 октября 2025 г.