Midsemester Holiday: Adelaide, Kangaroo Island & Tasmania!

I have spent the past ten days traveling around Australia for the midsemester break with my friend Katie from Oregon. We have seen a lot of the country and had a great time. I cannot believe how beautiful this country is. Here is a collection of stories and pictures from my week of travels.

Adelaide

We started our adventure in Adelaide which is located in Southern Australia. My first impressions of Adelaide were not that great as the city is not as clean and modern as Brisbane; however, as we spent more time wandering around it grew on me. The city has a lot of older buildings from the early colony days that give it a lot of character. The newer buildings in the city tend to be more of 70s architecture which I think is why the city seems to be a bit more dreary on first glance.

The Botanical Garden: This picture doesn’t even begin to show the amazing root system of this tree.

We did a walking tour around the city and I began to see the things that I appreciated about the city. The older buildings were of course great, but even better (in my opinion) is the layout of the city. The city centre is surrounded by a ring of green space (parks, a river, etc) that means regardless of which direction you walk when in the city you will eventually hit a park. I really enjoyed the time we spent in the botanical gardens and along the river as I think it is a nice break from the pace of any city.

The Infamous Black Swan of Australia.

We also visited the Central Market which is an open air food market open most days in Adelaide. On our first day there we found a delicious bakery and enjoyed breakfast from their every morning we were in the city.

Adelaide Opera House. It is based off the Sydney design minus the sails. I think the sails are the best part of the opera house but apparently this one has better acoustics.

Glenelg

On our second day in Adelaide we opted to go to the sea side suburb of Glenelg. It was just a twenty minute trolly ride from the city centre. The ticket taker was very fascinated that we were from the states (although he was one of many on the trip that thought we had a more Australian accent than American…which was surprising to me) so we spent most of the ride chatting with him. He is planning on visiting the states next year and wanted us to tell him where to go. I think he didn’t realise how big the country actually is.

The Beach. This is one of the few beach pictures I’ve taken in Australia where I’m not where a jacket!

Being that Glenelg is on the coast we spent a lot of time enjoying the beach. The water temperature (and air temp in the morning) is still a bit on the cool side for actually swimming (especially in the more southern parts of the country) but the beach was enjoyable none the less. This was one of the first Australian beaches that I have seen many good shells at and so it was fun to walk along the coast looking at all the shells and some other interesting sea life that had washed ashore. We even got to see a sea lion hanging out on the side of the water. He provided us with lots of entertainment.

The Sea Lion!

We also enjoyed the South Australia museum, browsing the shops and finding the site where South Australia became a colony. This turned out to be a long walk to a dead tree but we can say we’ve seen where South Australia began so I guess that counts for something .

The town hall which was now the South Australia Museum.

Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo island was my favorite stop on the trip. It is the third largest island located of the coast of Southern Australia and it has SO much to offer. This is a must visit place if you ever find yourself in Australia.

Pennington Bay.

On our first day we took a ferry over from mainland Australia and then began our exploring. Our first stop was at Pennington Bay, an absolutely gorgeous bay, that provided me with my first chance to see and put my toes in the Great Southern Ocean. I was most impressed by the size of the waves and the crystal blue colour of the water. It was beautiful.

Two Males Fighting on Seal Bay.

From here we went to Seal Bay where we got to see Australian Sea Lions up close and person. We were able to walk on the beach a mere 8 meters from them. These animals are pretty lazy when they are on land: they go out to fish by themselves for three days (since they are alone they have to stay awake the whole time) and then return to sleep for another three days. Since it is nearing breeding season we got to see a bit more activity as the males would fight with each other if they got to close to their territory. It was quite entertaining to watch.

Mom and Baby.

Little Sahara.

After this it was on to Little Sahara: a series of sand dunes found in the middle of the island. The thing to do in this part of the island is to go sand boarding so we got to try our hand at surfing and sledding down the dunes. Sand isn’t as soft as it seems when you fall off speeding down a hill of it .

Sledding Down the Dunes.

Our last stop of the day was looking for kangaroos and koalas in the wild. It is so crazy to go a round a corner and see a bunch of kangaroos just lounging around a field. These animals are so different than I would expect because you rarely see them jumping but more often find them sauntering around on all fours or just laying down. We also got to see a bunch of koalas up in the gum trees and were pleasantly surprised to even find some that were awake!

Koala!

Our second day on the island was even more action packed than the first. Our first stop was the remarkable rocks, a grouping of many interestingly shaped rocks that have formed over the course of millions of years as a softer rock eroded away from the hard magma they are formed out of. This was especially awesome because we beat the large tour groups to the site and had the area to ourselves!

Remarkable Rocks.

From here we went to see Admiral’s Arch. The arch itself was pretty impressive but I was more amazed by the Australian and New Zealand fur seals that live on the rocks and ocean around here. These seals are much more playful than the ones from the day before as they don’t go on such long trips out to sea by themselves. As a result we got to watch them doing flips in the water, playing on the rocks and surfing the waves. It was so fun to watch!

Admiral’s Arch. If you look closely you can see Australian and New Zealand fur seals on the rocks and in the water.

After an unsuccessful attempt to find platypuses (they are apparently really shy animals) we continued on to Hanson Bay and Vivonne Bay. Hanson Bay was a gorgeous beach that especially enjoyed because of all the colours that could bee seen in the water. There were rocks that were bright green from algae, a red river flowing into the water and the gorgeous blue ocean water all blending together to have a rainbow effect. Pictures just don’t do it justice.

The Many Colours of Hanson Bay!

Our next stop was Vivonne Bay – selected as the number one beach in Australia in 2002. Imagine the softest sand you have ever felt and quadruple it — you couldn’t even feel the separate grains. The beached stretched for miles and was not surrounded by city making it even more perfect.

Vivonne Bay!

The day ended watching wallabies and dolphins before catching the ferry back to the mainland. Like I said, the highlight of my travels.

Kangaroo Crossing!

Port Arthur

The Prison at Port Arthur.

On our first full day in Tasmania we visited the site of Port Arthur one of the convict sites in Australia. This is a very beautiful place although the history behind it is a bit ugly. It was none-the-less interesting to learn about this history that so many Australians identify with in some way or another. It is a very colourful history that gave me a deeper understanding into how Australia began as a country.

Church at Port Arthur.

Isle of the Dead

On our way back to Hobart from the site we stopped at several natural Tasmanian beauties including the Devil’s Kitchen and Tasman Arch. Both were absolutely stunning.

Devil’s Kitchen.

Launceston: Cataract Gorge

Our next day was spent traveling to the city of Launceston in Northern Tasmania. The city itself doesn’t have much to offer but it is a short 10 minute walk from the Cataract Gorge which afforded us some amazing natural views. While at the gorge we got to see a peacock displaying it’s feathers further complimenting the natural sights!

Cataract Gorge.

Peacock.

Cradle Mountain

Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake.

Cradle Mountain was my favorite place we visited in Tasmania and we really lucked out weather wise. It was raining when were picked up to head to the mountain and the driver told us we probably wouldn’t be able to see the mountain on account of the weather. We got lucky and the clouds cleared around the mountain around the time we were arriving at the park. This is even more exciting when you consider that the mountain is free from clouds about 35 days of the year. After enjoying the mountain and Dove Lake at it’s base we spent some time exploring the rain forest. The area gets a lot of rain so everything is covered in green moss making it all beautiful to look at.

Hiking around Dove Lake.

Rain Forest at Cradle Mountain.

Freycinet National Park

Wineglass Bay.

Our last day in Northern Tasmania was spent visiting Freycinet National Park. This was another instance where we lucked out weather wise as there were breaks in the rain at the times we wanted to see things and go on hikes. Our first stop at the park was at Wineglass Bay. We hiked up to the lookout and were quite amazed by what we saw. The only thing that would have made it more perfect was having time to hike down to the beach (however, this may have been a blessing in disguise as it started pouring on our way back from the lookout and a trip to the beach would have meant we were soaked!). We also went and saw the lighthouse and nearby coastal views. It was another chance to see the Southern Ocean and the water looked very welcoming (until our guide told us that it was a mere 12 degrees C, that be about 50 F). Needless to say I no longer had any desire to go swimming. I would love to go back to Freycinet some day and explore more of what it has to offer.

Freycinet National Park.

Hobart

Hobart.

Our last full day was spent in Hobart. Of all the cities we visited on the trip this was by far my favorite (although my photos don’t do it justice). The city is set on a harbor lined by mountains that is teeming with many fishing boats. Many of the buildings are original to the city and were built by convict labor. With the old buildings and the harbor the city reminds me of the quintessential fishing village.

Salamanca Market.

I spent my day in Hobart visiting the Salamanca market – a large market with lots on offer (both food and crafts), and wandering around the city taking in the sights. I’m sad to say that I don’t think I fully enjoyed the city on account of the cold and rain. It was snowing in the nearby mountains (fortunately it doesn’t snow much at the lower altitudes of the city centre) and I’d have to say I’m putting my Minnesotan roots to shame. Three months in the sub-tropical region of Brisbane (where it reaches a minimum of 90 most days) has severely impacted my ability to deal with cold. Hopefully it won’t take me long to adjust back when I return in December!

Fish and Chip Shops.

Harbor

Needless to say, it was a great trip! If you made it to the end of this I am thoroughly impressed. Sorry I have been so long winded but we saw a lot and I was having a hard time condensing it! Have a great week!