Australia 2003

Leider ist der folgende Text nur auf Englisch. Ich hatte ihn 2003 in Englisch geschrieben und (noch) keine Lust das ganze noch mal auf Deutsch zu schreiben...But now, let's start:

In 2003 I was travelling through Australia. This trip was split in two parts. The first part brought me from Melbourne to Alice Springs. Then, the second part, I started in Cairns heading for Sydney.

Prologue:

I hired for the first part a camper, a bush camper to be exactly. Basically I could have done this with just a normal 2 WD camper as all major roads are paved. But some reasons made me hiring a buschcamper. First, I just wanted to have 4WD, as I do have a normal camper myself. Then, even I could get to all my destinations by sealed roads, it is far more exiting to travel on unseald roads. And the rental companies don't want you to do this with a 2WD. So, I checked the internet an found Boomerang Campers. The rates were quite good, not to say they were the cheapest I could finde. First I was a bit skeptical booking a camper over the internet from a "no name" company, but then I said to myself:"No risk no fun" and booked. After about 5000km from Melbourne to Alice Spings I could say that it was the right decision. It was not a new car as you may get it from the major rental companies, but it was in good condition as far as I can say this (i.e. had new wheels) and brought me all the way up to Alice Spings.

Despite some rain showers and temperatures around 15 °C on the Great Ocean Road , the weather was super. Much better than the weather in Germany used to be at this time of year. As I arrived at Melbourne Airport on Sunday night it was something around 28 °C. We had something around 0°C in Germany at this time! I have been three days in Melbourne before I got my camper, and all days were sunny and hot. There were a few rain showers while driving the Great Ocean Road, but after this short periode of showers the weather turned into weather that I link to Australia, blue sky, sunny and temperatures around 30 or 35°C (hopefully it is not to cold when I am back home again...) Unfortunately, there was something that I never thought of planning this trip.Flies! As closer I came to the outback, as much flies were there. They were attacking you where and when ever it was possible, the eyes, the ears and nose. Everywhere. Everybody waved his hands, arms, legs or whatever fighting the flies. It may have looked funny, but it wasn't. The only thing that helped was a net over the head. Only before sunrise and after sunset there were no flies. And, strange, in bulidngs, even in open buildings like showers or kitchens on the campgrounds were no flies, never!

An other fact that astonished me was that on most places you have mobilphone coverafe. OK, in remote areas like Flinders Ranges, there was no mobil available, but at Ayers Rock Resort (Yulara, the town built to accommodate all the tourists visiting Uluru) or at Coober Pedy (about 500km n orth of Adelaide) you could use your mobile phone. Even access to the internet was often possible, somtimes by a coin operated PCs with dial up modem (i.e. Wilpena at Flinders Ranges Nationalpark)or, of course by internet cafes as in Adlelaide or Melbourne. So, you could let friedns and relatives know where you are and that you are alright. Of course, everywhere they had normal telephones, even in the remotest corner.

Melbourne

After a roughly 12h flight I had three hours at Singapore's Changi Airport before continuing to Melbourne. It was 7 a.m. Singapore time and the airport was not yet woken up entirely. As I had just 3h there was not enough time to visit Singapore. After having a awful breaktfast, I took my laptop - and this is great at Changi Airport- and connected it to the internet. For free! Surfing the net, the time passed and I had to board the plane to Melbourne.

It is strange. You get on a plane in Frankfurt / Germany. Than, 24h later, you are in a complete different world. People speak an other language. Cars driving on the other side. It is not winter anymore, but summer. The sun rise still in the east, but at noon it is not in the south but north.
OK, it was 8:20 p.m. I could not see the sun anymore, but it was still hot. After finding my way to the hotel and checking in, I had a short stroll around the block hoping to get something to eat. But, and this surprised me, even a McDonalds restaurant was already closed, shortly after 10 p.m. ! So I just got something to drink and a Mars bar from 7eleven and went back to my hotel. OK, as I figured out the next morning, there were plenty of restaurants, I just had the wrong direction. But generally, it is unlikely to find a open shop (not restaurant) after 6 p.m. in Melbourne. Just a few souvenir shops are still open. For me, Melbourne was just to relax and fight the jet lag. Of course there are plenty of things to do and see. Flinders Street Station, St. Kilda (with the only beach), the Zoo, they have a lot of parks. But nothing that made me cheering except one thing:
It is in Australia! And the weather of course: Sunny and around 30°C. For three days I walked through the city, made some pictures, did some shopping and just relaxed. Finally it was Thursday and I got my car. First I was a bit scared of driving on the left side, in a unknown town in a strange car. But it was easier than I thought! Even driving left! You get used to it surprisingly quickly.
So I made my way towards Phillips Island, about 200km south

Phillips Island

The most famous thing on Phillips Island is the penguin parade.
Every night, just after sunset, some hundred penguins emerge from the sea waddle over the beach to their nests. And some thousands of tourists waiting at the beach to see this. A couple of meters behind me were a group if Japanese. As the first penguins came out of the sea, they were cheerig, pointing and talking. As I can not Japanese, I could actually not understand what they were talking about, but it sounds like: 'Look, there is coming our food, I like mine fried, please'
Unfortunately you must not take photos! The rangers get very angry if they finde somebody taking pictures. Even somebody with a camera attached to mobilephone got trouble!
The point is, the penguins could get confused when thousands of camera flashlights turning the night into a thunderstorm. And, as many cameras decide on it's own when it is to dark without flash, people are not able to disable the flash. Even if it is absolutely useless (i.e you want to take a picture from a skyline while sunset) the camera switches on the flash. I think this is the reason why you are not allowed to take pictures of the penguins.

The Great Ocean Road

Well, it seems that each travel guide has it's own definition where the Great Ocean Road starts and where it ends. For me, it started at Torqay, which is about 120km south west of Melbourne and it ended at Port Cambell. It might not be the official start and / or end point, but before Tourqay and after Port Campbell (if you drive from east to west)it is unlikely that you finde breathtaking roads and coastline. And this is what the Great Ocean Road stands for. The most spectaculare part goes from Anglesea to Apollo Bay, but the most famous highlights are just before Port Campbell. Driving the Great Ocean Road is breathtaking. From every lookout you have an other great view of blue water with white crests, cliffs and beaches. The highlights are the Twelve Apostles (unfortunately you can't see all twelve from land) and the London Bridge. Till 1990 you could walk over the bridge, in 1990 collapsed the first part and two tourists were stranded on the outer rock and a few hours later rescued by a helicopter.During school holiday, it could get full, according to my guide book. Well, I 've been there during off peak season so I had much of the road for me alone, even on a weekend.The weather was not as good as it was in Melbourne. I had some rain showers, even with hail, strong winds and it was (compared to Melbourne) with 15-20°C quite cold. But the dark clouds made the landscape even more dramatically, especially when the sun came out, too.

If you have got more time, the hinterland has some nice waterfalls or national parks as well. Good for hiking and relaxing. By the way, those German words are verry funny. I have read an Australian newspaper recently. Everybody was concerned of war in Iraq. In one article they were talking about "blitzkrieg". Mmhhh, something is strange here, I thought first, but could not say what. A few seconds later I figured out what confused me. It was the word 'blitzkrieg' between all the Englisch words. It was the same when I read 'hinterland' in the Lonley Planet travel guide the first time.

Here are some additional information :http://www.greatoceanrd.org.au

Flinders Ranges

After the spectacular coastline of the Great Ocean Road, I drove all the way up to the Flinders Ranges, about 370km north of Adelaide. You can spend weeks there with hiking. As I had not so much time, I stood only two nights at Wilpena Pound Resort. Wilpena Pund is the best know feature of the Flinders Ranges. This is a about 80 sq km covering natural basin. You'll have the best view of the whole pound from helicopter but there are also several hiking paths leading to lookouts and plenty of wildlife. If you have a 4WD, there alo some nice tracks through the park and, if you obtain a permitt from the rangers at Wilpena, there is the possibility for bushcaming along those tracks. There is a normal campgroung at Wilpena Resort, but you should have a flashlight, as the campground is barely lit. Otherwise you may be running into a kangaroo ;-)

Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy is about 500km north of Port Augusta (which is about 300km north of Adelaide) and about 600km south of Alice Springs. But almost 2800 people are living there. The name 'Coober Pedy' is from the Aboriginal language ('kupa piti') and said something like ' White man in a hole'. And there are many holes with many white men inside.

Coober Pedy, the opal capital of the world, is a hot and dusty place. In 1915 a teenager (aged 14) found the first opal while waiting for his father who was searching for water (ok, basically, they were searching for gold, but sometimes water is much more valuable). His name was William Hutchinson, and that's why Coober Pedy's main street is called Hutchinson Street.They still find opals there. While mining in the town area is strickly prohibited, there are large mining areas around the town.Many people live in old mines, called dogouts, but with all comfort of modern living, like electricity, water (water is quite expensive), TV and so on. The big advantage of dugouts is that the temparature is between 20 and 24 °C all year. Doesn't matter if it's 50°C outside (in the summer) or below 0°C during (winter) nights.

Even churches (5 or 6 different), schools, hotels (even a campground) and pubs are underground. Although mining is prohibited in town-area, some people did finde a way digging in town. They do not call it mining, but building an underground swimming pool or even a squash court. Well, you just have to know how to deal authorities ;-)

Today mining is still a hard job, though machinery makes it a lot easier. First a tunneling machine 'diggs' then all the dust is sucked up by 'blowers'. They work like big vacuum cleaners, building all those little hills, called 'dumps'. Even it is a dusty and hot place and has a bit of a ghosttown, I liked it!

For a deeper look into Coober Pedy: http://www.opalcapitaloftheworld.com.au

Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park

(Ayers Rock and Olgas)

The probably most famous Australian landmark is (Ayers Rock). It is exciting driving the Lasseter Highway coming from Erlunda, excpecting to see Uluru behind every dune or road bend. But the first rock which appears is Mount Connor. For Uluru you need to drive 150km more. Then, suddenly, you see it. It's great. The first stop is probably at Yulara. This is the service village for the national park with all facilities tourists need. But of course it's not worth travelling hundreds of kilometers, but Uluru is. I think.

The best time to see Uluru is while sunset or sunrise. But be careful, Uluru lays in the Northern Territory. And, at least 2003, they did not join the dayligt saving time (like South Australia did).This may result in waiting longer as expected fur sunset or you got up one hour to early for sunrise.While waiting for sunrise or sunset, it's funny to look at all the other people. Especially while sunrise. Buses coming, many, most Asian, people emerge from the coach. Everyone get's a campingchair (probably they could not yet stay themself this early morning). While the tourists watching the sunrise, the driver or a guide or whatever, sets up a couple of tables. Puts containers with coffee, tea or whatever on the tables. They even have a gas oven to make fried eggs.A few minutes and many photos after sunrise, they have breakfast. 30 Minutes later all is stored back somewhere deep in the bus, the people got on the bus again heading for the next destination.This watching is not as beautiful as Uluru while sunrise, but much more funny. Here is my tip: First see the sunset. Than have a short sleep and be back at Uluru for sunrise, but watch the tourists. Aboriginies don't want you to climb Uluru. They let you climb it, but they don't want you to climb it. Anyway, if you intend to climbe Uluru, you should be early, as it may happen that the climb is closed during he day because high temperatures or high winds at the top. Even if you do not climb it, you should stop at the start of the climb and do a short walk. The longer base walk leads you on a path about 10km around the rock. Look at the people climbing Uluru from a short distance. The climbers are looking like ants.

Not as famous as Uluru but at least as wonderfull is Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) about 30km west of Uluru. There are some great walks. The Valley of the Winds trails leads you over a about 8km circuit thrugh fantastic rocks. But you should be early as well, especially on hot days. The rangers colseing this trail at 11 a.m. if the forecast is 36°C or above.

Watarrka National Park

(Kings Canyon)

Well, there is not much to say about Kings Canyon except it is great as well. And stuff like bread, gas and so on seems to be even more expensive than at Ayers Rock resort. They have two good walks around Kings Canyon. One is quite easy, just follows the creek to a lookout. The other is, at least for the first part quite strenuously. You have to climbe the edge of the canyon as the trail follows the canyon edge. Once you climbed it, the hardest part is done. And there are much great lookouts. Unfortunnately their were again loads of flies. If you does not wear a net around your head, they go into ears and nose. And, if you breath with a open mouth (i.e. while climbing the canyon edge) it is quite likely that you swallow some...Bon appetit !

Alice Springs

After leaving Kings Canyon, the next destination was Alice Springs, or just Alice. But even Alice seem s to be a modern city with shopping centers, supermarkets and every thing people need, it is in the middle of nowhere.If you want to visit Uluru this is the best place to start. Every big car rental company has a branch and the airport provides good connections to all major cities around the country. Many tour companies are offering trip to Uluru, Kings Canyon or elswhere. And you can read your emails and surf the internet (even connect your own laptop to the internet) here as well.

But teher are many things to see and visit in Alice Spings as well. There is aRoyal Flying Doctor (RFD) base, the School of the Air could be vistited. Maybe I expected too much or it was just the wrong time, but at both, the RFD and the School Of The Air, the main part of the visit was a video they showed. OK, the RFD had a small museum as well. But in general it seem to be very popular to show videos (at Unmoona Mine in Coober Pedy they showed even two). But you should not expect to see water in Alice's Todd River as it is mostly dry, and if there is water in, the water will mostly not go as far as the Simpson Desert (just a few hundred kilometers away). It is evaporated and sucked up by the dry soil before it can get there. Despite this, late September each year they have a regatta there. The boats are bottomless and the crew's leg stick out and they just run. Sounds crazy but funny. Unfortunately I have been there in March.I liked Alice Springs, but after a couple of days I was happy boarding a plane for Cairns.

Cairns

This is like coming to an other country. The landscape here is complete different. Everything is green. It is still warm but the air is not as dry as in Alice Springs. You are sweating even writing emails :-). After I got my car and dropped my luggage at the hotel (which was very good by the way) I had a stroll for some food. There is no lack of restaurants, from take aways to good seafood. I spent the next day with some shopping and walking around the city, just relaxing and booking a Great Barrier Reef tour.

This is really great! Swimming and snorkeling between fishes and corals. Absolutely great. Unfortunately, like with most great things, time passed to quickly. Instead going to Kuranda the next day, a second Great Barrier Reef tour would have been the better choice. There are three ways going to Kuranda by car, by railway and by Skyrail. I think Kuranda is not a must and therefor the way how you get there is important. By car is boring. There is the Scenic Kuranda Railway. If you start at Cairns try to get a seat at the right window (if you go from Kuranda to Cairns, it is obviously the left), the view is better. The railway winds over 34km from Cairns up to Kuranda, passes 15 tunnels and several bridges. The third way is the skyrail. This is a 7,5km long gondola cableway.It runs from a suburb of Cairns over the rainforest with two stops to Kuranda. This is the most exciting way, but you can combine the railway and the skyrail. As mentioned earlier, Kuranda is not a must. Every travelguide mentioned the famous Kuranda Marktes, but basically, most you finde are souvenvir shops. There are a few other attractions. A Koala Garden, quite small and with 13 AUS Dollar too expensive, I think. I did not visit the other attractions like a butterfly sanctuary and Birdsworld, but I guess they are as expensive as Koala Garden and not much bigger. So, better do a two day trip to the reef and forget Kuranda is my tip.

Cape Tribulation

After almost 4 weeks traveling with and in a bushcamper, it is quite different having a normal car. It's not the car which is different, but everything else. You can't just stop for a night at a nice place. Now you need a motel. With a camper you have all your food with you. Unless you have a small fridge you can not take most food with you, now. Even cold drinks are not as easy as before . I bought a esky (cool bag) so I had at least some cold drinks during the day and could keep some food fresh. Leaving Cairns after 3 days, I was heading north. The destination was Cape Tribulation. To get to Daintree and the Cape Tribulation National Park you need to cross the Daintree River by ferry. Near the ferry you can book a crocodile tour. After crossing this river, you are surrounded by jungle. The road is often small and winding but paved all the way up to the Cape Tribulation National Park. But with some great lookouts.

If you want to go further north i.e. heading for Cooktown, you'll need a fully equiped 4WD as the road is very rough and you nedx to cross rivers. Better you're doing this not alone. At Cape Tribulation National Park the have gerat beaches, with palm trees, just as you expect it to bee. But one thing should be considered: From October to April you should not go for a swim as teher are some very dangerous jelly fish. I am not sure if you gonna die after beeing hit by one, but it is at least close to be dead ;-). Best thing is to avoid them, but if you where hit by one you need put vinigar on your skin. All along the beach you can find it for emergencies. There are great boardwalks through the rainforest.

around Innisfail

After leaving Cape Tribulation the next day, I was driving through the Atherton Tablelands. My destination today was Innisfail.It was sweaty weather, hot and a high air humidity. My car had plastic seats, so I had always a wet T-shirt. The landscape was green. Banana and sugar cane fields. Actually I liked the red sand and the desert more than all the green.If you like waterfalls, you can finde some east of Innisfail. Innisfail is not a must. It's just a town. You have not seen any salties, yet? Try the Johnstone River Crocodile Park. Apperntly this is now called a 'park'. In 2003 it used to be called 'Johnstone Crocodile Farm'. It was nothing you must see, but if you have some time to spare it was worth a visit. I am not sure about it nowadays. But I liked Billabong Sanctuary , south of Townsville, more. It may be more expensive but you get more for your money.

Townsville

Talking of Townsville. This was my next stop. They have a pretty good aquarium there. They don not call it just 'aquarium' but 'Reef HQ'. Sydney does have one, too. I can not say which is better. I liked the reef at Sydney's more, but that does not mean Twonsville is not worth seen. If you have some time left visit both. If you running out of time I could not help you ;-) As mentioned above, the Billabong Sanctuary is worth a visit. I have been just one day to Townsville, it was a Sunday I think, so I could not tell much of townsville, but it seems to bee a nice town.

between Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast

The coast line north of Brisbane is called "The Sunshine Coast" and the coast south of Brisbane is the famous "Gold Coast". Big names. Is it worth seeing? Mhhh. If you like beaches, surfing and so on, it is worth visiting. If you like theme parks, the Gold Coast is yours. As I came from north, I first 'hit' the Sunshine Coast. According the travel guide this part is not as crowded as the Gold Coast. Well. That may be right. There are no big hotels, every thing is more relaxed and more nature is around you. But do not expect to be allone. If you like partys and action, you should go for the Gold Coast. Unfortunately it was a bit rainy when I arrived at Surfers Paradise. After checking in in a motel I was heading for the beach. Even they had a very nice beach the Gold Coast is not my thing. Actualy it is not Surfers Paradise alone, there are more cities along the Gold Coast and you do not recognize when leaving one and entering an other city. Look at the kyline then you may undrestand what I mean. Between the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast is Brisbane. All the way up from Cairns I was thinking if I should or should not visite Brisbane. It may be a nice city, but there was nothing what really attracts me. But for one eason I had to go to Brisbane. wanted to vistite Singapore Airlines. The SARS virus was spread across Asia and other parts of the world and so I want to verify if there was any change for my flight back to Germany approx. 3 weeks later. After visting Singapore Airlines I left Brisbane for the Gold Coast. One thing you shuld not miss while in the Brisbane area. The Australia Zoo. They have great shows with crocodiles, snakes or other animals and you can spend a great day there. Now, you may be asking why not visiting Fraser Island. Well, normaly car rental companies do not want you visiting Fraser Island with their cars. And I did not want to do a organized tour. But, I am coming back to Australia sometime, may be I am visiting Fraser Island later.

Gold Coast to Blue Mountains

From my point of view, there was nothing really spectacular between the Gold Coast and the Blue Mountains. But of course there are some places worth seeing. I liked Byron Bay or the Dorrigo National Park. And if you like to see some dolphines you can book a tour at Nelson Bay. After driving some 100 kilometers I reached the Blue Mountains.

Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains are the Sydneysider's backyard. Just 1h drive from Sydney. This makes Katoomba, the biggest city in this area, quite expensive and crowded on weekends. Especially during summer when all Sydney trys to escape the heat. In April it was quite cold (compared with Cairns or Alice), just around 14 °C. I did not stay at Katoomba for several reasons, I checked in to a motel at Lithgow, maybe 40km east of Katoomba and outside the Blue Mountains National Park. Most of the attractions are located around Katoomba. The, may be, most famous are the Three Sisters. An other great thing to visite are the Jenolan Caves. They have fantastic caves to show. The Jenolan Caves are about 50 or 60 km south of Lithgow, and really worth seeing. Now, I am almost at my destination: Sydney.As mentioned earlier, Sydney is approx. 1h drive from Katoomba. I wanted to arrive on a Sunday at Sydney, to avoide the daily business traffic. It happened at my last evening at Lithgow. I just had a shower and was towelling myself. Doing this, I must have have turned my head in a strange way. It came like a flsh and I could not turn my head any more. Very good if you want to drive to a strange town, isn't it? So I left Lithgow around 10 or 11 a.m. heading for Sydney.

Sydney

Sydney! The, maybe, most famous Australian town. I guess quite a lot of people think Sydney is the capitol of Australia, but, of course Canberra is.The first welcome was not as I preferred it. First thing I wanted to do was returning the car. I could do this somewhere downtown Sydney or at the airport. My first choice was downtown. Finding the way to Sydney was not difficult. But getting around downtown Sydney was quite difficult. Very much traffic, closed roads, police cars all over and I had no good map and did not know where I am and how to get out of here. After driving two times around the same block I was heading for the airport. The good thing was, signs where saying the way to the airport. Finally I arrived at the airport, returned the car and caught a taxi back to Darling Harbour where I had booked a hotel room. The driver told me that there was a peace demo was going on. That's why all the roads where closed and I had trouble finding the rental company's downtown office. Now, here is a secret tip:
Try to avoid demos while driving in a strange town.But Sydney is great. First thing I did the next moring was going to the bridge climb offfice. Yes, you can climb the famous Harbour Brdige. It' s not cheap, but it's worth. Well at least if the weather is good. Well, they even do the tours on rainy days, and accordingto their website, it is the a big kick doing it at rainy days. I had super weather, around 20 °C and sunny. It absolutely gerat walking up the bridge, and the view from the top of the bridge is great, unfortunately you are not allowed to take your camera with you. I have been to Sydney in April, just before Easter. Which is autumn down under. And the weather did now this, I had just one sunny day at Sydney. So, I was not surprised that the famous Bondi Beach was empty. And Manly Beach as well, of course. I had a few nice days at Sydney, before boarding the plane back to Germany.

Finally

I have spent amlost 8 weeks down under. And I have had a great time, but coming home is great as well ;-) I never had a vacation lasting eight weeks, and even this wast shoort for such a big and gerat country. So, I need to come back, sometime, not too far in the future. What did I most enjoy down under? Well, the Red Center was great, I like the dessert. The Great Ocean Road was great as well. And of course Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. I did not like the driving down the east coast. I do not know why. But maybe it was to green. Although the Outback was empty and dusty I liked it, and in my eyes it is not as boring as driving through endless suggar cane or banana fields. I do not now how much kilometers I was driving. If you want to know this, get a map and check it out. I had a bushcamper for the first part and a normal 4WD for the second part. Both have advantages and both have disadvantages. Especially if you want to visit big cities like Sydney or Brisbane, a normal car is the better choise, as campgrounds are usually not located in the CBD (central businuess district). And you must not enter every parking lot with a big camper. Even shopping could be difficult as some shopping malls could not be enterd with a high car. On the other hand, with a camper, you do not have to pack and unpack the car every evening, you have your fridge with you and you can cook your own food. In other words, I guess you are more independent with a camper. So, you should carefully think what you want to see and where you want to go.
Next time I come to Australia, I'm gona check the west coast and / or the north with Darwin and the Kakadu National Park out.

Of course you may send me an email or try to meet me on ICQ