My Final Australian Adventure

After finishing exams 2 weeks ago I left on a 12 day trip to some of the places I have wanted to visit in Australia but hadn’t yet gotten around to. It was a great trip and I got to see a lot of the Australian country side. My trip started in Perth, followed by a visit to Uluru (the rock in the middle of the country) and ended in Melbourne. Here are some highlights.

Perth

Visiting Perth marked my chance to venture off the east coast of Australia and to see the less populous west coast. I spent my first day exploring Perth. It is a small city that was easy to walk around and very modern. I really enjoyed my time in the city. After walking around the city a bit, I spent my day visiting the swan bells near the river (it was neat to hear them and watch people play them) and wandering around the nearby King’s Park.

Perth from Kings Park.

King’s Park was the highlight of my day. It is a very large park located on a hill overlooking the CBD of Perth. They have a botanical garden up there as well as lots of natural bush land with walking tracks. I did an absolutely beautiful hike along the edge of the hill overlooking the river and city. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

The Pinnacles

The Pinnacles are another one of the bizarre Australian natural sites located a couple of hours from Perth. I joined a tour to see them on Wednesday and they were pretty amazing in person. On the trip to the Pinnacles we stopped to look for Kangaroos and Koalas (a staple on any Australian trip), and at a very remote town that really only had a gas station (along with a 25 hr café).

The Pinnacles were quite amazing. They are located near the coast and are surrounded by large sand dunes. Scientists think they were formed over time through the compacting of sand around the root systems of plans growing on the dunes. A lightning strike caused a bush fire that burned off all the plant systems growing on the dunes exposing them to wind erosion. As the dunes moved the pinnacles were exposed leaving the structures that are seen today.

4WD!

On the way back from the Pinnacles we stopped at one of the sand dunes for 4 wheel driving in the bus and sand boarding. The sand boarding was a bit more extreme than on Kangaroo Island and driving over the dunes in the bus was a lot of fun. Quite the adventure.

Rottnest Island

I spent two days of my Western Australia adventure visiting Rottnest Island located off the coast of Perth. I took a ferry from the Perth to the Island and got to see many of the coastal views on the Swan River. There were some very impressive homes along the shores and there were some pretty costal views where the home weren’t located.

Little Parakeet Bay.

Rottnest Island is absolutely beautiful. It is a Class A Reserve and as such cars are not allowed on the island. There is a bus that takes people around the island but I opted for the more popular method of transport: biking. I spent my first day on the island biking the loop around the island to see all the beaches and bays. There were some very beautiful beaches and this was my first chance to step foot in the Indian Ocean. My second day on the island I ventured over to my favourite beach (Little Parakeet Bay) and spent the day soaking up the sun, swimming and snorkelling. For most of the morning I had the beach to my self which was pretty neat!

Sunset on Rottnest Island

Freemantle and Cottesloe

Freemantle Market.

I stopped off in the suburb of Freemantle on my way back from Rottnest Island. Freemantle is a very chill place. I walked around the shore a bit, checking out the fishing docks and visiting the Freemantle Market. After dinner I enjoyed a street side didgeridoo player. He had generated quite the crowd and it was an enjoyable way to spend the evening.

Cottesloe Beach.

The next day I visited the suburb of Cottesloe on my way back to Perth. Cottesloe is known for its beach and so I spent the day on the beach. The beach was gorgeous, the waves were big and the weather was perfect. One of my best beach experiences in Australia.

The Red Centre

Kata Tjuta at Sunset.

I spent my next few days visiting the red centre of Australia: the famous Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) and less famous but equally spectacular Kata Tjuta. I spent my first afternoon visiting Kata Tjuta. This rock formation is composed of several rock domes that are clumped together. This group of rocks is a sacred aboriginal site that is used by initiated males. As a result of this, access is fairly limited to this site and only 2 of the gorges can be visited. Similarly only initiated males are able to know the cultural significance of the site so we were really only able to learn about the geology of the domes and not learn about why it is culturally significant.

Kata Tjuta up Close.

Uluru: The Rock

The second day I visited Uluru. I started the morning with a sunrise base walk around the rock. This was my favourite part of the visit because I got to see how the cultural stories are seen in the rock. Also the rock itself is very amazing up close because the structures are very diverse, the surfaces are amazing and the landscape around the rock is beautiful. I was very surprised by how green everything was and all the trees in the landscape – very unexpected to me.

Uluru Up Close at Mutitjuli Waterhole.

Close Up.

Site of our Breakfast Stop at Uluru.

Kantju Gorge, Uluru.

Both nights I watched a sunset – the first day over Kata Tjuta and the second night over Uluru. The rocks are supposed to turn bright ride at sunset but I (and most of the people around) had some what of a difficult time seeing this. Difficulties aside, the sunset over the outback was pretty spectacular making up for this.

Sunset over the Outback.

Melbourne

My last destination on my trip around Australia was Melbourne. I have been looking forward to this visit since before I arrived to Australia as there were a lot of places I wanted to see in the area and the city didn’t disappoint.

Melbourne

Melbourne is a great city that has the most culture of any city I’ve been to in Australia. The city reminds me a lot of an English city both in the way it is designed. The primary mode of public transport are trolleys including a free city circle tram that takes you around the main city sites. There is lots to do in Melbourne and I especially enjoyed Federation Square and the Botanical Gardens.

Melbourne Tram

Yarra River

Santa. Not the best picture but if you look closely you can see the fake snow over Santa’s head.

While I was in Melbourne, Myers (the big Australian department store) had their Christmas Parade. It reminded me a bit of the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. The day of the parade it was about 30 degrees (90 Fahrenheit). Two things stuck out to me during the parade: the first was an announcement during the waiting period for the parade. An announcer came on welcoming people to the parade and reminding everyone to ‘protect themselves from the elements and put on sun cream which was available at the first aide centres’. After this they turned on Christmas music – the first song of which was Let it Snow! A bit ironic if you ask me. This strange situation was enhanced when Santa finally appeared at the end of the parade. He was accompanied by a cloud of snow it was a really strange thing to experience.

Great Ocean Road

One highlight I was especially looking forward to was the Great Ocean Road. It was built after an Australian road works official visited the Ocean Road along the California coast in California in the 1920s. He was so impressed by this coastal drive that he decided to build his own version of it in Australia.

The Great Ocean Road is divided into three parts: the surf coast, the green coast and the shipwreck coast. The surf coast was filled with beautiful surf beaches that border to the Southern Ocean. This included the beautiful Bells Beach which is world famous for its wave break. Most of the towns along the Great Ocean Road are on this part of the coast and they are all quintessential seaside towns.

After the surf coast the road moves inland to the segment known as the green coast. This area begins with forest and rainforest and ends with pastures and farmland. We stopped at a National Park and took a hike through the rainforest. This part of the rainforest is known for its carnivorous snails – the only of the kind in the world.

12 Apostles.

My favourite part of the coast was the shipwreck coast. This is the most famous part of the coast where the 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge is located. The cliffs on the coastline were quite amazing, especially the contrast of the colours against the water. The only way to describe it is magnificent.

London Bridge

Phillip Island

The Nobbies on Phillip Island.

Another highlight of the Melbourne area was Phillip Island. The coast and island itself was beautiful but the real attraction is the Little Penguins that come to shore every night. These penguins are only about 30 cm tall and come on shore in groups of 20-30. The night I visited about 800 penguins came on shore and it was really fun to watch them waddling across the beach. It was quite amazing and one of my favourite Australian wildlife experiences.

Little Penguin. You couldn’t take pictures at the penguin parade but this one was at the Nobbies.

A Shy Penguin

I’m now back in Brisbane (and have been for the last few days). Tomorrow I leave the country and head to New Zealand for a week of exploring. It’s hard to believe I am on my journey home. I’m going to miss Australia.