AUSTRALIA

Page 1 (this page): Sydney, NSW , VICTORIA , SOUTH AUSTRALIA , WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Page 2: TASMANIA: Wombat , Tasmanian Devil , Russell Falls, Mt Field NP , Freycinet NP , Maria Island NP , Cradle Mountain-Lake Saint Clair NP, Overland Track

Right: Ocean waves erode the 12 Apostles Marine National Park, Victoria as seen in 2003. The 50-meter high sea stack on the left collapsed on July 3rd 2005.

Photographs Copyright 2004 by Tom Dempsey. I last updated this page on March 5, 2010.
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Australia Travel Tips

My wife and I left Seattle's winter for 7.5 weeks exploring some great parks in southern Australia, January 26-March 18, 2004, in the southern summer. We may visit northern and interior Australia in a future September or October. Jet lag to Sydney is only -5 hours from Seattle (plus one day), and we adjusted our sleep patterns within two days. We most enjoyed Australia's unique animals and plants, which are exotic to our eyes. In hindsight, we could have shortened the trip by several weeks by flying straight to the highlights instead driving extra distance. The size of Australia challenges the traveller to prioritize visiting far-flung areas of interest. Fly to each major city (such as with Virgin Blue Airlines), rent a camper (Apollocamper.com) or car (Bayswatercarrental.com.au), and stay at the convenient Caravan/Holiday Parks. A camper conveniently lets you show up in most parks without a reservation, provides a kitchen, and carries all you need without reshuffling luggage. We enjoyed Melbourne and Perth via separate round trips in campers. A camper would have been a more relaxing way to go in Tasmania, where we rented a car and had the worry of reserving lodging at least several days in advance even in "shoulder" tourist season. I adjusted to driving on the left within one day; Carol was more cautious but also quickly adapted. Traffic flows flows smoothly around the many roundabouts instead of being impeded by stop signs. Be prepared for narrow bumpy roads with fast traffic.
        Itineraries: For a great short trip, go to the beautiful Sydney area for a few days, then hasten to Tasmania, which offers wonderful variety and lovely wilderness on a compact island. To extend the trip, consider flying to Adelaide and visiting Kangaroo Island for wildlife, coastal scenery, and geology. Fly to Melbourne and visit Wilson's Promontory National Park for great wildlife, estuary, and coastal scenery. If you like beaches and waves, drive west of Melbourne on the Great Ocean Road. The flight to Perth, Western Australia, is pricey and the driving lengthy before you reach interesting places, but once we arrived in the Walpole area, I really enjoyed the old growth forests of amazingly tall tingle and karri trees, which are found nowhere else on earth. I most enjoyed the fascinating native Australian birds, marsupials, reptiles, eucalyptus and other wild and unique living things -- visiting the real Australia beats any zoo or garden.

Sydney and nearby parks, New South Wales

Below: Tom walks in Royal National Park, near Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia (self portrait with tripod).

Right: Many ferries, water taxis, and other boats bustle under the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Left: Sacred Ibis, a bird commonly seen in Sydney. One of the many pleasures of Sydney is the abundant population of unusual flying creatures, including big fruit bats (flying foxes) in the downtown Royal Botanic Garden.

Left: Opera House, Sydney Harbor, New South Wales.

Below: We loved seeing the wild Sulphur Crested Cockatoos foraging in the Royal Botanic Garden and at bird feeders in Kings Cross, Sydney.

Left: Eucalyptus bark peals off into many colorful patterns in Royal National Park. This park offers a great 7-mile day-hike loop through native Palm Forest, bluffs, and beach, a convenient day trip by rental car or train, south of Sydney, NSW. A 3-foot long goanna (monitor lizard) surprised me with its boldness and size. A pair of huge forest parrots impressed us also. Best of all, I spotted a rare Lyrebird running silently across the trail in front of me.

Left: A small grub forms these wiggly patterns under the bark of the Squiggly Bark Gum, Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park (14 miles north of Sydney), NSW.

Below: Eucalyptus Bark, Royal National Park, NSW.


Left: The budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) (also called parakeet, shell parakeet, or budgie), is the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus. The budgerigar is found throughout the drier parts of Australia and has survived for the last five million years in the harsh inland conditions. This small parrot belongs to the tribe of the broad-tailed parrots (Platycercini), which are sometimes considered a subfamily (Platycercinae). Though budgerigars are often called Parakeets, especially in American English, this term refers to any of a number of small parrots with long flat tails. I photographed this bird in the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, Washington.

Below: Blue Mountains National Park (a day trip, west of Sydney, NSW) offers many nice hiking opportunities. We walked the "Grand Canyon," a 3-mile loop through a slot canyon which shelters a spattering stream, tree ferns, tree grass (with blooms), and other interesting plants. In the year 2000, UNESCO listed the Greater Blue Mountains (of which one quarter is Blue Mountains National Park) as a World Heritage Site.

Below: Fire is a necessary and natural part of the lifecycle of eucalyptus forest, to the dismay of people in adjacent cities. Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park (14 miles north of Sydney), NSW

Victoria

Below: Crimson Rosella, Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park, Victoria.

Left: The Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus, which means gigantic large-foot) roams freely here at Halls Gap Lakeside Caravan Park, which is surrounded by Grampians National Park, Victoria, Australia. This large kangaroo, also known as the Great Grey Kangaroo or Forester, has a soft grey coat, and is usually found in moister, more fertile areas than the Red Kangaroo. Indigenous Australian names include iyirrbir and kucha. The Eastern Grey Kangaroos live in open grassland and bushland near the major cities of the south and east coast of Australia, and are much more commonly seen than the Reds, which live in the outback. Like all kangaroos, it is mainly nocturnal and crepuscular, mostly seen at dawn or dusk.

Below: Two Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) stand here at Halls Gap Lakeside Caravan Park, which is surrounded by Grampians National Park, Victoria, Australia.

Left: Whale Rock, and Tidal River, at Wilson's Promontory National Park, Victoria.

Above: Wilson's Promontory National Park, Victoria, offers a beautiful variety of coastal scenery, tidal estuaries, and easily seen wildlife.

Below: We enjoyed walking the beautiful wild beach at Gibson Steps, at 12 Apostles Marine National Park, Victoria.

Left: Two baby kangaroos suckle milk from nippled bottles at Emu Park Holiday Park, in the Wartook Valley, in the Northern Grampians region, Victoria, Australia.

Below: The 12 Apostles are a spectacular formation of seastack rocks (or haystacks) on the Victoria coast, as seen below in 2003. The 50-meter high sea stack on the left collapsed and began washing away on July 3rd 2005, leaving 8 remaining Apostles in 12 Apostles Marine National Park.

South Australia

Left: Children explore the abstract forms of the Remarkable Rocks.

Below: The last rays of sunset strike the Remarkable Rocks in Flinders Chase National Park, Kangaroo Island, South Australia.

Travel tips for South Australia

• If you use one company to book a camper (Apollo Campervans) or car (Bayswater) at your different flight destinations, you will get a discount for the total length of time that you rent with that one company in Australia. Make sure that your Adelaide car rental agency allows you to take the car ferry to Kangaroo Island - some don't allow it.
• Kangaroo Island:
• Kangaroo Island is one of the best places in Australia to view wildlife and some remarkable geology. The two nights that we spent here were not enough - this island is worth a week of your time.
• When to go: March to May and August to October are probably the best times to visit Kangaroo Island.
• Getting there: To save time, I recommend flying to Adelaide and renting a vehicle to visit Kangaroo Island - or if you can afford it, fly to Kingscote Airport on Kangaroo Island.
  
• Compare the cost of bringing a car on the ferry versus flying directly to Kangaroo Island and renting a car there. For one person, flying might be a better value, but for two people, driving may be better, depending on your budget. If you can afford it, I recommend flying.
• Book your car ferry to Kangaroo Island several days in advance to assure a spot.
  
• Speaking from experience, I recommend avoiding the fatiguing drive from Melbourne to Kangaroo Island and back (unless you take more than the 11 days that we did). The best scenery on the "Great Ocean Road" in Victoria is between Melbourne and Port Campbell, with the 12 Apostles as the highlight, which is best seen as a round trip from Melbourne.
• Flinders Chase National Park:
• The campgrounds at Flinders Chase National Park are some of the best places to view wildlife in Australia: goannas, common brushtail possums, kangaroos, cute wallabees, plus we heard koalas screeching in the trees. 
• We saw 8 live echidnas (a spiny mammal resembling a porcupine, but hatching from eggs) along the roadside as we drove just before sunset to see the Remarkable Rocks.
• Don't miss seeing the Remarkable Rocks, especially at sunset. Short nature trail.
  
• The campground next to the Flinders Chase Visitor Centre includes hot showers. Reserve the campground a day or two ahead if you can, or be sure and arrive early to get a spot [ phone (08) 8559 7235 or e-mail: kiparksaccom@saugov.sa.gov.au ]
  
• Be sure and do several hikes that take you out near sunrise and sunset to best see the wildlife. 
• Good hikes: Ravine des Casoars; Platypus Waterholes & Rocky River; Snake Lagoon. 
• Side trips north of Adelaide:
  
• If you like wine, be sure to visit the Barossa Valley and other vineyard areas near Adelaide.
• Mount Remarkable Gorges: 2 days walking in a loop & staying in a tent; or drive to middle of the trail and day hike a shorter loop. I haven't been there, but the gorges & scenery should be fascinating. Best August-October.
  
• Coober Pedy opal mines, photography, history, film settings
  

Western Australia

We flew to Perth (from Melbourne) and immediately drove our rental camper southwards towards some unique ecological areas found nowhere else on earth.
     In Fremantle, we highly recommend visiting the Fremantle Museum, which succinctly portrays a vivid vision of Western Australia history, including the difficult life of early pioneers (who, to their loss, ignored the valuable live-off-the-land knowledge of local aborigines); Australian concerns over possible Japanese invasion in World War II; and subsequent importation of dispossessed Europeans to populate this large empty continent.
     South of Perth, you can swim with wild bottlenose dolphins at the Dophin Discovery Center in the bay at Bunbury. On a cloudy day, we waded into chilly water and joined a line of a dozen tourists, as a single dolphin cruised around us. Volunteers in red shirts enforce the rule of not touching or feeding the dolphins, in order to keep them wild. We would have been more impressed with this dolphin experience if the day had been warm enough to snorkel more comfortably. (Much further north of Perth I have heard that you can wade in warmer waters at Monkey Mia where dolphins approach more closely in greater numbers, but feeding makes the dolphins less wild there.)

Below right: The Diamond Tree is a 51 meter (167 foot) high public Fire Lookout built into a living karri tree, located 10 kilometers south of Manjimup on the South Western Highway, in Western Australia. The impressive karri trees are only found in a few small parks in south-Western Australia, and nowhere else on earth.

Left: I was thrilled to climb up the Diamond Tree, which is a 51 meter (167 foot high) public Fire Lookout built into a living karri tree. I ascended a ladder of thick rebar posted into the tree, which created a breathtakingly airy feeling under my feet. Anyone is free to climb this tree, and access is not controlled. The impressive karri trees are only found in a few small parks in south-Western Australia, and nowhere else on earth.
     My wife Carol decided not to go up the Diamond Tree. Instead, she was more comfortable on the "Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk", a wide ramp (suitable for baby strollers) which reaches 125 feet (38 meters) above the ground in the course of its half-mile length, passing through a forest of exceptionally tall eucalyptus trees, worth experiencing.

Left: While we stop our rental camper to view wild emus, a three-car "road train" roars by in Western Australia.

Below: Fire and decomposition have cleared out the center of the Giant Tingle Tree, while growth continues just under the bark. This common process on older trees creates these large buttresses.  The tingle is a type of eucalyptus found only in south-Western Australia, and nowhere else on earth. Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Western Australia.

Above: Two pelicans, a boat and a man. Coalmine Beach, Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Western Australia.

Left: The Eastern Rosella (Platycercus eximius) is a parrot native to southeast Australia and Tasmania (and introduced to New Zealand where feral populations are found in the North Island). Photographed in the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, Washington. The bird is around 30 cm long, with a red head and upper breast and white cheeks. The rest of the breast is yellow becoming more greenish toward the abdomen. The feathers of the back and shoulders are black with yellowish margins, giving rise to a scalloped appearance. The wings and lateral tail feathers are bluish while the rest of the tail is dark green.

Below: Pelicans preen on peaceful Coalmine Beach, Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Western Australia.

Below: The call of the Australian magpie is full of fascinating bells and whistles, and is found throughout most of Australia.

Left: A black and white pelican reflects in the water at Coalmine Beach, Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Western Australia. Published in the book "Pelican in the Wilderness", 2008, by Gracewing Ltd., UK.

Below: Three pelicans walk in a row.   


Above: Three pelicans grooming. Coalmine Beach, Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Western Australia.

I shot all Australia images in 2004 on a Canon Powershot G5 camera.

Page 1 (this page): Sydney, NSW , VICTORIA , SOUTH AUSTRALIA , WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Page 2: TASMANIA: Wombat , Tasmanian Devil , Russell Falls, Mt Field NP , Freycinet NP , Maria Island NP , Cradle Mountain-Lake Saint Clair NP, Overland Track

Copyright 2004 by Tom Dempsey. Photographs or text may not be copied without permission. Click here to buy a copy of any image on this page.

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