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Australia

April - June 2018
A 67-day adventure by Mates on tour Read more
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  • TravelerAustralia
    Day 2

    Gold Coast

    April 10, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    A new exciting chapter in the gap year is starting here at the Gold Coast. We arrived just in time for the Commonwealth Games, which was at first great news until we started looking for a place to stay at. Everything was either booked or exorbitantly expensive. In the end we were lucky to get a Airbnb close to the airport.
    The mission for the first few days was to find a car to get us around. Luckily we were already successful on the first day. We had a good feeling about it and so we went for it. Hopefully our gut feeling was right, but we'll see about that in a few weeks.
    As we now had a car we decided to treat ourselves with a ticket to the Commonwealth Games. There weren't many tickets available anymore but we got some cheaper ones for the Athletics. It was a fun experience unlike the football stadiums there is something going on everywhere all the time.

    Before leaving the Gold Coast in the general direction South, we visited Coolangatta and the iconic Point Danger. Named by Captain Cook because of the dangerous shallow rocks its now a scenic spot to watch the surfers and the sunset.    Read more

  • TravelerAustralia
    Day 5

    Byron Bay

    April 13, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Byron Bay is famous for its beaches, hippies and backpackers. So it was our logical first stop and we had great time here.
    The hot weather, the beautiful beach and the general relaxed atmosphere made us feel relaxed. So we spent the whole day here, walking up to the Cape Byron Lighthouse and the most easterly point in Australia. There we saw some colourful parrots and a group of dolphins. The wildlife seems to be abundant. We also explored the city center with the loads of surf shops and small bistros. And of course we spent a lot of time on the beach and in the water.
    In the evening we drank some wine on the dunes, eating chips and listening to locals making music.
    We decided spontaneously to make a bit of a detour to Lismore which is located a bit inland because there is supposed to be a Koala colony...    Read more

  • TravelerAustralia
    Day 6

    Lismore & Platypus Pool

    April 14, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    We stayed for the night in the city center of Lismore, a medium-sized town with a good atmosphere. As we wanted to explore the parks of the town in search for the Koalas we stumbled across the "Friends of the Koalas". A wildlife sanctuary located in the city that rescues, treats and prepares injured or sick Koalas for being released in the wild again.
    The tours coincided with our schedule so we decided to make a stop there first. But it turned out to be such a great experience that we stayed there for almost three hours. First the volunteering ranger told us about the things they do and how the Koala status is. Then he took us out in the nearby woods to show us one in the wild! The ones that we were able to have a closer look at were in cages and surprisingly awake. The tour was interrupted because of a Echidna was found with a spine injury and needed to be transported to the Wildlife Hospital near Gold Coast. We were able to get a look at this huge hedgehog porcupines :)
    For the afternoon we drove to Casino, half an hour away from Lismore. There is a short walk to the Platypus Pools where we hoped to get a glimpse at these shy animals. But it wasn't the right time of the day as they usually come out in dusk or dawn. Instead we saw an impressive amount of Flying Foxes in the trees along the river. We spent an hour watching them fighting, chattering and looking at us with their cute big eyes.    Read more

  • TravelerAustralia
    Day 7

    Nambucca Heads

    April 15, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    At the place we stayed for the night we met a nice woman from Poland who has been living in Sydney for some years. She quit her job two months ago and went on a road trip along the East Coast heading north. So she gave us some great advice over several glasses of goon about upcoming spots to visit.
    We went to the first one right after breakfast, Emerald Beach - really a little gem :) We stayed there for about two hours swimming and tanning before moving further South to Coffs Harbour. By the time we got there a market was going on. We took a stroll around the stands and got a free banana :) Besides that there wasn't much of interest so we decided to have a walk around the huge harbour area. Just as we arrived at the end of the pier a dolphin swam along it and chased a fish. A super random and interesting encounter.
    For the afternoon we stopped at the Nambucca Heads, a coastal/beach formation that is a busy getaway. Besides a walk along painted rocks we enjoyed our lunch there. The rock formation at the end of the walk is remarkable.
    For the night we ended up at Crescent Head, a small town which consists basically just of a huge Campground. Just in time to see the sunset and a horde of Mosquitos...    Read more

  • TravelerAustralia
    Day 9

    Nelson Bay

    April 17, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We spent the morning in Crescent Heads to enjoy the sun and beach. For our next destination we wanted to go Koala spotting. When looking online for the "best spots", it said Port Stephens but unfortunately we weren't able to find any along the Harbour. Instead we saw some big pelicans and the unique Australian kingfisher Kookaburra. A local fisherman told us about the nearby Brindisi beach that is famous for the sand dunes. He also told us that sand from there was shipped to Hawaii to create the beach in Honolulu there.
    When we came there we saw a sign "4WD access to beach". We thought that it is a great opportunity to make up for the missed 90 mile beach in New Zealand and also for testing the performance of the car in terrain. After 200 meters into the sand we got stuck because the 4WD wasn't working at all :( Fortunately some locals came by and after two hours with combined forces of about 6 people we managed to get out again. At some point a heavy duty Ute got stuck as well because of us. So the test failed pretty badly and we need to check a mechanic at some point before heading to the Outback.
    For the night we went to a freedom Camping spot next to a golf club. There we saw our first kangaroos :)    Read more

  • TravelerAustralia
    Day 10

    Blue Mountains

    April 18, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Our today's aim was to get to the Blue Mountains, a famous National Park just an hour away from Sydney. The first thing we realised is that the temperature is easily 10 degrees less than in the coastal area.
    We stopped at the Wentworth Falls for a hike to several lookout points and the falls itself. They are situated in a steep cliff with amazing brown-red colours in the middle of intense green forests. A beautiful landscape and not what you would expect in Australia.
    The next and last stop for the day were the "Three Sisters" at the Echo Point. A rock formation that is sacred to the indigenous Aborigines.    Read more

  • TravelerAustralia
    Day 12

    Sydney

    April 20, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Exact one week after we started our road trip in Australia we arrived in Sydney. The single city that stands so representative for Australia with the Sydney Opera and harbour. We've booked an Airbnb about half an hour by train outside of the city center so we don't have to drive there.
    After checking in and refreshing ourselves we booked a harbour cruise tour in the afternoon with a tall ship. So we still had two hours left to explore the city center and historic spots along the harbour. The core is easily explorable in two hours and we got a good overview of Sydney. The city has a really good ambience combining historical and modern buildings. Afterwards the tour on the ship through the harbour was great. Luckily we stayed dry and the crew told interesting stories. Besides that we got a great view of the Opera House. It also offered some hands-on experience by setting the sails. It was definitely worth to do the trip and see the city from a different angle.
    Afterwards we waited until the sunset to walk once more around the harbour to see the city illuminated. Occasionally there was a light show on one of the buildings at the Opera House.

    For the next day we took the train to Bondi beach. Apparently this is the most famous beach in Australia. It is a nice beach but nothing too special despite being extremely busy. From there we took the walk along the coast to Bronte beach which is a tourist must-do and actually pretty nice.
    In the afternoon we drove down in direction of Canberra and ended up at a camp spot near a lake.    Read more

  • TravelerAustralia
    Day 13

    Canberra

    April 21, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We got up at 6 and had breakfast with a view over large plains. According to Google it's supposed to be a lake but we couldn't see any water. Some kangaroos looked at us curiously at the picnic table.
    Two hours before the Australian War Memorial opened we were already there. Luckily there was free WiFi available so we planned our next stops. We made a pretty quick round through the museum before moving on to the next museum. The National Museum of Australia sounded like a promising place to learn more about the country. Unfortunately there were not a lot of information available but we still spent some hours there.
    A short stop at IKEA for a blanket and a snack later we hit the road in direction of the coast. More specifically the Murramarang National Park with "Pebbly Beach". It is famous for the kangaroo colony that lives, eats and relaxes right in the dunes next to the beach. And we were lucky to arrive there right before dawn, which meant that the whole colony was out on the grass. We spent almost two hours watching these adorable animals.    Read more

  • TravelerAustralia
    Day 14

    Sapphire Coast

    April 22, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    After an early morning walk of two hours (in hope of finding Wallabies and especially Wombats) we drove a short 10 kilometers to the township of Narooma.
    Initially we just wanted to look at a hole in a rock formation that resembles Australia but in the end we stayed there for three hours. First we explored the local Sunday market where I finally got a hat. Then we checked the rock and the surrounding salt water pools. By chance we encountered a colony of Australian fur seals that were playing, relaxing and hunting close to the shore. I could spent hours watching them! Then an older lady from the area told us about some stingrays that live on the other side of the bay. That was an opportunity that can't be missed, so we were lucky to see these elegant swimmers in a safe yet close distance.
    For the afternoon we went to Eden - a lovely little harbour town famous for seafood and killer whales. The area is also famous for the cheeses, so we stopped at two occasions to have a cheese tasting. Its been some days since we were swimming in the sea so we did it at a beach close to Eden but both the water and outside temperatures start to get a bit chilly.

    For the night we stayed at an RV motorhome park that is currently unmanned and therefore free :) It also offers a bushwalk where we saw some wallabies roaming in the dusk.    Read more

  • TravelerAustralia
    Day 15

    Wilson Promontory National Park

    April 23, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    We got up at 6 again to search the nearby walk for wildlife. Yet again we only found some wallabies and kangaroos but still not the highly anticipated wombats. Just their burrows and droppings. But we had planned to go to one of the best spots for wombat spotting so it wasn't really bad.
    After breakfast we headed to the nearby town of Lakes Entrance which is part of the Gippsland, am area known for its wildlife. There we investigated about walks in the park and also did a short walk along the beach on a boardwalk. In the early afternoon we arrived at Foster, the closest town to the park. We knew what we needed to know about spotting wombats and finally we were successful!
    After 15 minutes into the park was one roaming along the road. One and a half hour later we had seen three wombats and took over a hundred pictures. And in the end it was worth all the effort to see such unique animals in the wild :) Additionally we saw some emus on a nearby plain as well.    Read more

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