Chicago Winter 2019/2020
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
“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.
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.
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
Highlights…
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 ascentClick 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’s edge. We heard more suspicious sounds coming from the bushes, but we saw just one.
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
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).
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!
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.
