Category: Australia

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Eastern Australia 2019

We covered a lot of ground on our three-week Eastern Australia trip:  travelled ~100 km on foot, 200 km by boat, 280 km by train/tram/bus, 2850 km by car and 7800 km by plane (SYD-CNS-DRW-MEL). Plus of course 30000 km round trip to get there.

  • North 12°23’44″S (Darwin) to South 38°47’35″S (Great Otway) =  2919 km
  • West 130°49’19″E (Darwin) to East 151°17’32″E (Manly) = 2225 km

The distances translated to dramatic changes in landscape and wildlife, and temperatures. Mostly sunny and dry weather. We recorded travel/hiking temps between 15℃ and 43℃. With 5℃ recorded at night in Grampians, we experienced almost 40℃ swing. No wet season though. “No after dark driving” restriction affected our travel plans/choices, especially with high mid-day temps in Top-End. “No driving on unsealed road” too, but to a lesser degree. Of course we knew about these restrictions in advance.

We could not hike as much as we would like to but managed quite a few mostly short hikes – in Top-End limited to 60-90 min segments to avoid heat exhaustion. Many trails in Top-End were closed (seasonal or due to bush fires). We spent quite a bit of time watching wildlife.

Liked everything and plan to return to visit East Australia.

Australia 2019 itinerary
Sep 20 Fri Chicago ORD➜ (Qantas)➜SFO➜SYD
21 Sat
22 Sun Sydney Sydney Harbor NP Clontarf-Manly trail, The Rocks [@ Mercantile Hotel]
23 Mon Sydney Sydney Opera, Botanic Garden, Art Gallery NSW, CBD, St Mary Cathedral, Hyde Park, Town Hall, State Library
24 Tue Sydney Blue Mountains NP Wentworth Falls-Valley of the Waters trail, Echo Point, Three Sisters ➜ Sydney
25 Wed Port Douglas Daintree NP SYD ➜ (Qantas)➜CNS➜PortDouglas, Four Mile Beach [@ Pandamus Tourist Park]
26 Thu Cape Tribulation Great Barrier Reef PortDouglas âžœDubuji Boardwalk âžœCape Tribulation, Snorkeling Mackay Reef [@ Noah Beach Campground]
27 Fri Julatten Daintree Cape Tribulation ➜Madja Botanical Walk ➜Daintree Ice Cream Company ➜ Mount Alexandria Lookout ➜Mossman Gorge ➜Julatten [@ Tableland Van Park]
28 Sat Yungaburra Tablelands Julatten ➜Mareeba ➜Curtain Fig NP ➜Peterson Creek ➜Crater Lakes NP ➜ Yungaburra[@ Genazzano Campground]
29 Sun Cairns Tablelands Yungaburra ➜ Malanda Falls ➜ Nerada Tea Plantation ➜ Cairns, Botanic Gardens [@ Dreamtime Travellers Rest]
30 Mon Cairns Great Barrier Reef Snorkeling Michaelmas cay & Hastings Reef, Cairns waterfront
Oct 1 Tue Corroboree DRW-Marrakai CNS➜ (Jetstar)➜DRW ➜Marrakai, Corroboree Billabong Cruise [@ Corroboree Tavern]
2 Wed Jabiru Kakadu NP Marrakai âžœMary River âžœSouth Alligator RiverâžœMamukala WetlandsâžœJabiru, Bowali Center [@ Kakadu Lodge]
3 Thu Jabiru Kakadu NP Nurlangie, Anbangbang Billabong, Bubba Walk, Mirrai Lookout
4 Fri Jabiru Kakadu NP Cahills Crossing, Guluyambi Cruise/East Alligator River,Bardedjilidji Walk, Cahills Crossing
5 Sat Batchelor Litchfield NP Jabiru âžœAdelaide River âžœWindow on the Wetlands âžœHympty Doo âžœBatchelor âžœByley Rockhole âžœFlorence Creek and Falls âžœMagnetic Termite Mounds âžœBatchelor [@ Batchelor Holiday Park]
6 Sun Batchelor-Darwin Litchfield NP Greenant Creek and Tajateaba Falls, Wangi Falls, Walker Creek, Tolmer Falls➜ Darwin/DRW
7 Mon Fitzro Melbourne Melbourne DRW➜ (Jetstar) ➜MEL ➜ Fitzroy, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Ian Potter Centre, Yarra River Walk, Botanic Gardens, National Gallery of Victoria, CBD [@ Friends]
8 Tue Fitzroy Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Market, State Library of Victoria, St Kilda
9 Wed Apollo Bay Great Ocean Rd Fitzroy ➜ Melbourne CBD ➜ Split Point Lighthouse ➜ Lorne ➜ Erskine Falls ➜ Teddy’s Lookout ➜ Kennett River ➜ Apollo Bay [@ Stony Creek]
10 Thu Warrnambool Great Ocean Rd Apollo Bay ➜ Otway Lighthouse Rd ➜ Melba Gully ➜ Gibson Beach ➜ Twelve Apostles ➜ Loch Ard Gorge ➜ Shebrook River ➜ Bay of Martyrs ➜ Bay of Islands ➜ Warrnambool [@ 22 Banyan St]
11 Fri Halls Gap Tower Hill WR Grampians NP Warrnanbool Beach ➜ Tower Hill ➜ Piccaninny ➜ Halls Gap, Brambuk Centre [@ Grampian Nest]
12 Sat Halls Gap Grampians NP Pinnacle-Sundial Peak trail, MacKenzie Falls, Reed’s Lookout, Brambuk Centre
13 Sun MEL Ballarat Halls Gap ➜ Sovereign Hill/Ballarat ➜ Melbourne ➜ MEL ➜ (Qantas) ➜ SFO ➜
14 Mon Chicago SFO ➜ ORD
Australia video clips
Photo gallery – 335 photos
Australia birds – 117 photos
Australia animals – 102 photos
More on Eastern Australia (13 posts)

Highlights

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Australia, day 20 & 21: Grampians to Ballarat to Melbourne

Day 20

Finally another hiking day, but only 10.5 km Pinnacle – Sundial Peak double-loop (recommended). Very nice weather, very relaxing and on quiet trails most of the time (a lot of people at Pinnacles). Lazy meandering between interesting rock formations to lookouts with panoramic views.

Pinnacle-Sundial Peak (10.5 km, 350 m total ascent)Pinnacle-Sundial Peak double-loop from Sundial Carpark to Lakeview Lookout, Pinnacle and Sundial Peak, 10.5 km, 350 m total ascent
Click on wikiloc logo for more info

We were rewarded for slow walking through forested part of Sundial Peak trail: we got to watch echidna snouting around on the trail edge. We heard more suspicious sounds coming from the bushes but we saw just one.

Echidna on Sundial Peak trail

We had enough time in the afternoon to visit MacKenzie Falls, we walked down the stairs  to the bottom and a bit along the creek. On the way back, we stopped at Reed’s Lookout for view in opposite direction to what we could see most of the day. We came back to Halls Gap, parked the car and walked again to watch hundreds of kangaroos on the green behind Brambuk Centre. We also saw five emus and a large herd of dear (not native in Australia). Joanna grilled Australian lamb chops and veggies for dinner and Angus beef burgers for lunch next day.

Day 21

Our last day.  We are returning to Melbourne, but on the way we stopped in Ballarat for five-hour visit to Sovereign Hill and Gold Museum (recommended). We liked the open-air museum, despite some doubts and fact that it was built almost entirely from scratch in late ninety-sixties: interesting collection of antiques in reconstructed buildings that once stood in Ballarat. Many of the old machines are still working, although most are powered by electric not steam engines for practical reasons. Demonstrations are interesting and live, not just talking about still objects. Our favorite was wheel making. Costumed guides/instructors were very engaged.

We arrived at MEL around 7 pm, with plenty of time to return rental car and get ready for long flight home via SFO. We drove 1280 km on Victoria leg of our trip.

Ballalrat machines video clips

 

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Australia, day 19: Tower Hill to Grampians

We started the day by watching horses training on Warrnanbool Beach. We like horses and it was pleasant experience to watch them run, swim and walk on the beach (we are no fans of gambling-driven horse racing). We walked around the Breakwater Rock Pier for a while.

At 10 am we were already in Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve (recommended). For us, it was more like  botanic garden/arborretum-type experience with many easy walks and loops on small volcanic hills, marshland and around crater lakes. With quite a few opportunities to observe animals in natural setting. True, emus are well adapted and some like to check what humans put on their picnic tables. We saw five adults plus nine chicks feeding on the grass (plants).

Emu family in Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve

Visitor Centre is the starting point and picnic site for visitors, but with many crisscrossing trails the place feels relaxing and not crowded. We did not want to join guided tour, but we overheard interesting stories, and followed one group to Fairy Island: the guides know where to find koalas. The Acrobat (as we called it) was the only koala we saw that was literally jumping between branches and climbing up large eucalyptus tree. Tower Hill was one of the nicest places near GOR. We saw 8 koalas!

Koala in Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve

We started driving towards Grampians around 2:30 pm, via Hwy C178-C216, with short coffee stop in Dunkeld (no famous meat pie, Dunkeld Old Bakery and Cafe was already closed). We managed to run-up Piccaninny trail (2.5 km return) for first hike in Grampians and interesting vegetation (grasstrees), different from what we saw next further North. We checked-in Grampians Nest on High Rd (recommended) in Halls Gap and  ran to Brambuk Centre to watch kangaroos before dark on grassy spots along the main street. Our accommodation was great, large one-bedroom apt, large living room and well equipped kitchen, sundeck with gas grill, nice location away from town centre.

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