Total stay: 24 Nov - 22 Dec (28 days)
We love Australia for several reasons; 1) Aussies are easygoing people
and their no-worries attitude made us feel comfortable and relaxed. 2)
Abundance of wild animals. 3) Great dining. 4) Endless beaches for
yourself.
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Fast Facts
Capital: Canberra
Known for: endless beaches, Great Barrier Reef, kangaroos, koalas, venomous reptiles and spiders, Sydney Opera House, Wine
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia
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Melbourne
24 - 30 Nov
St. Kilda, were we stayed at was a relaxed suburb with great range of eating places and bars.
Experiences from Melbourne;
- St. Kilda beach - Located just in the middle of the suburb. Flies were pretty annoying, trying to enter our body through every single hole.
- St. Kilda botanic Garden
Great Ocean Road - To explore this stunning road (some says it's some of the planet's most beautiful coastal scenery), we rent a car and drove for 8 hrs. We made a stop at Bells Beach, where the Point Break film with Patrick Swayze was made. Since 1973 Bells Beach has hosted the Rip Curl Pro. Second stop was at Aires Inlet to check out some of the prettiest beaches here. Third stop was at Lorne.
- Phillip Island is famous for Penguin Parade and every night at 20.30 (mostly on time) penguins emerge from the sea and as a huge colony they walk up together to their beach nests. They are very small and amazingly cute. During our visit they jumped back to the water several times as they were probably feeling some kind of threat that was not visible for us. We watched them from a platform on the beach while they were making up their minds and followed them to their noisy nests, where the kid and the other parent were eagerly waiting to their meal to appear. It wasn't possible to take photos of the sweat creatures, because the flash disturbs them, but inside the center we saw baby penguins being feed inside their nest. Penguins tend to hide under the cars at the parking, so we had to be careful when we drove out.
Perth
30 Nov - 22 Dec
Aneta's brother just graduated after 5 years chiropractic study. Her mother with her younger sister came to visit. We spent a lot of time together driving around Perth and exploring its many sites as;
- Fremantle - Has a colonial look with all the streets and houses and has best Italian home-made ice-cream and pizza. Also has very laid back atmosphere
- Cottesloe Beach - Relaxed at the huge and windy white beach
- Perth's National Park - clapped a wombat, feed lazy kangaroos, watched Tasmanian devil, koalas (they sleep 20 hrs a day) having a break for eating and many other
- Perth ZOO - We were invited to a BBQ Christmas Party at the ZOO. The animals were from all over the world: giraffes, rhinos, many species of monkeys, lions, birds, snakes and plenty more
- Margareth River - A couple of hours driving from Perth this place is famous for producing great wine. We chose Vasse Felix Winery and spent an afternoon testing their products and having an incredible tasteful lunch. It included a Wagyu beef (like Cobe meat from Japan, but in Australian way), which was so tender that a knife wasn't needed in order to consume it
- Burnbury - On the way from Margareth River we spent a night in Burnbury to visit the Dolphins Discovery Centre. A couple of dolphins came to the beach the next morning and had a curious look at us. We stood in the water up to our knees and they circulated in front of us.
We joined for a swimming trip with wild dolphins. We were equipped with snorkel gear, fins and wetsuit. We did see many dolphins and jumped of the boat in to the water almost immediately, but unfortunately they weren't interested to interact with us
- Kings Park - A huge park where people come for a walk or to relax with a picnic. It has diverse plant and tree life from many places in Australia and it's a amazingly peaceful place
- Rottnest Island - A short boat ride from Perth this island has clear water and cute small animals called quokkas. We took a bus around the whole island and stopped at a couple of beaches
- Raf's registration (graduation) from university. Met his teachers and had champagne with his colleagues from school.
*Source Lonely Planet Travel Guide (Victoria & Melbourne 2008)
Australia photo collection:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/perove/collections/72157611401126163/
Australia Cavalcade
Map of Australia
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