Australia

Benefits: Good beer (my favourite one the VB - Victoria Beer) and great Wine, excellent backpacker hostels (finally I could try them on my trip), Low population rate (just 20 Millions); good coffee (happy to get some espressos again).

Concerns: Winter time, therefore short days thus everything closed very early

Places visited (& days): 16 days from 27 July till 13 July - Adelaide and around (5 days), Melbourne (3 days), Sydney and around (6 days) and Ayers Rock (2 days)

Transport (time or distances): Flight from Bali, via Singapore, to Adelaide (2h30 + 6h30); Bus from Adelaide to Melbourne (700 km - 10h ); Bus from Melbourne to Sydney (950 km - 12h); Sydney - Ayers Rocks flight (2, 5 hours)

Currency: 1 Euro = 1, 59 Australia Dollars (AUD)

Funny Experiences : Walking around Ayers rock, we (David and myself) underestimate our time. The problem was that the last bus was leaving at 17h00. At 16h00 and realizing that we would never make it, we started to run but even that was not enough. Then we realized that the only way was to hitchhike. To my surprise nobody stopped! Already after 17h a young guy finally gave us a ride and drove quickly. We were lucky to catch the bus, because sleeping in the desert with low temperature would not have been the most exciting experience.

Gleneld (beach town, 10 km from Adelaide)


It was impossible to cover all the country (it' s huge as USA without Alaska!). So my decision was to visit the southern coast and if I had time go to Uluru.

I was very happy to visit one of the Pacific countries and go back to the cool temperature - Winter time (7 Celsius degrees when I arrived).

Wine tasting at Barosa Valley

First stop was in Adelaide were I landed from Bali. It is not a big city and there is not so much to see in town (I would say, the Victoria Sq). Around Adelaide, there is a lot to see and to do. My favourite visits were a day trip to the Barosa Valley (55 km away) where I had the chance to taste excellent wines at Chateau Yaldara, Grant Burge (Jacobs Creeck) and Langmeil; a one-day tour to the Kangaroo Island where I could see a lot of wildlife (sea-lions, fur New Zealand, koalas, kangaroos) and the remarkable rocks!; and a short visit to Gleneld, a relaxed seaside town just 11 km from the centre of Adelaide.

Sea Lions - Kangaroo Island

Koala - Kangaroo Island

The Remarkable rocks - Kangaroo Island

New Zealand fur seals - Kangaroo Island

Kangaroos - Kangaroo Island

2nd stop was at Melbourne. I took a bus from Adelaide (10 h) to cover the 700km. Arriving there, I had a an excellent surprise and now I understand better this "battle" against Sydney to see which city is ranked as the number one. Melbourne has great buildings (nice views from the Rialto towers), top museums (I loved the immigration one) and is very clean. The Yarra river and all the sports facilities and events in town (Olympic Games, Tennis Open, F1 racing at Albert Park, MCG - Melbourne Cricket Ground), give the city a special flavour.

City view from the Rialto towers - Melbourne

The Yara river - Melbourne

I visited the Docklands Waterfront, Federation Sq, Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne's Aquarium, Block arcade (similar to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan), Royal Botanic Gardens, the Shrine of Remembrance Memorial (Victoria's memorial to the men and women who served Australia in armed conflicts) and the Telstra Dome (home of 5 different Australian Rules Football's team- Australian favourite sport) with its sliding roof!

Shrine of Remembrance

Telstra Dome tour - Melbourne

Again by bus, but this time during the night (12 hours drive to cover the 950 km), I travelled from Melbourne to Sydney. As usuall I didn't book anything and for the first time in my trip I could not find any hotel in the city when I arrived. The reason was obvious: it was weekend; already school holidays; there was the Live Earth concert and the Australia-South Africa rugby match. After several hours searching the only alternative was to go to a backpacker hostels at Bondi, famous place for its beaches and good waves to surf!

Bondi beach - Sydney

Darling Harbour - Sydney

Beer time - The Tuga with Xavier at Sydney Olympic Park

But before the game the main attraction were the Bundaberg girls

Australia vs. South Africa

The rugby match was a great experience. I am used to seeing and playing a lot of sports (tennis, soccer, skiing, kite-surfing...) but not rugby. Since it was an important match (it is always important when Australia (the wallabies) play against South Africa (the springboks) but nothing is comparable when they play against New Zealand (the all blacks). On my way to the game I met Xavier (from France who was working in Sydney) He used to play rugby and therefore during the game, gave me a lot of explanations. Australia won but was had to recoup from 0-17 to win the game with a final score of 25-17!

Sydney's Opera House

Opera House and Harbour Bridge - Sydney

Sydney's from the Circula Quay

Most of the time was spent in the city to visit the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Darling Harbour (huge waterfront), Circular Quay. Nearby Sydney (just 103 km away) I did a one-day trip to trek the Blue Mountains

Blue Mountains

Party in Sydney

Visiting all the southern coast (from Adelaide to Sydney) it took me more time than I expected and each additional day spent here was one less in New Zealand because I had already a flight from NZ to US at the end of the month. Visit or not Ayers Rock was a tough decision since it was so very far from Sydney (2,5 hours flight) and also very expensive due to last minute bookings (just the highest fares available).

David and Pedro at the top of Ayers Rock

David (one of my friends that I met in Kangaroo Island) also joined me. We had a great time since nothing in the world can be compared to Ayers Rock (huge sandstone rock in the middle of the dessert; remarkable colour diversity during sunset). Other great sights around Ayers Rock are the Kata Tjuta (Olgas) and the Kings Canyon (unfortunately no time to visit it).

The Tuga enjoying the sunset at Ayers Rock

It is forbidden to climb the mountain but everyone does it. On the other hand, to walk around it, there are a lot of spots where taking photos is not allowed and here, it seems that everyone respects it.

Walking around Ayers Rock


Kangaroos at Kata Tjuta