Australia

the glorious Grampians

a selfer with the sky and rocks

After Adelaide, we drove east towards the Grampians, a national park in Victoria about 250 kms west of Melbourne. According to wikipedia, the Grampians Park was listed on the National Heritage List in December 2006 for its outstanding natural beauty, and also for being one of the "richest Indigenous rock art sites in south-eastern Australia." Not wanting to miss that superlative, we set off- looking forward to spotting some Aussie wildlife in the wild, hiking, and getting into the Christmas spirit. Grampians did not disappoint. We stayed in a great cabin in the town of Halls Gap- it was the first proper cabin we'd stayed in, with all the comforts of home (including a fireplace, spotless kitchen, cozy den, and two bedrooms with clean, soft duvets.) The bonus? Kangaroo watching every evening and morning on our porch:

coffee?

beautiful bird in front of our cabin- Australia doesn't do boring, brown birds

approaching the Grampians

kangaroo crossing!

gorgeous vista in the Grampians National Park, Victoria, Australia

baby Chritmas tree at our cabin in Halls Gap

We decided to do a day-hike:

funky rock formations

look-out at the "top" of the hike

rock scramble!

We also took a drive to check out some of the Aboriginal rock art for which the Grampians is especially famous...

Aboriginal handprints in the rock- thousands of years old

more rock art- see the white figures? they look like stick people...

After a few days in the Grampians we were ready to hit the Great Ocean Road, and celebrate Christmas for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere.

We flew from Cairns in Queensland to Adelaide in South Australia on December 12th. The flight crosses over some remarkably red, vast and arid land on the trip down. Although we didn't get a chance to travel much into the Australian Outback on this trip, we were nevertheless eager to see it from the air.

Once we arrived in Adelaide, we went through the stress that is trying to get a rented car to take in one direction, a week before Christmas. Somehow we managed, and the four of us piled into a compact, bound for Adelaide Shores campervan park. At the park we rented a cabin- pretty snug, but comfortable enough for four adults. The park has access to a pretty nice beach- though the water was COLD... and instead of stingers, we now had sharks to contend with. But I'd take it all for a frontyard like this...

the beach at Adelaide Shores caravan park

Soaking up the sun in South Australia

very cool sunset over the great southern ocean- or indian ocean- depending who you ask

Megan decided to apply to grad school while in Adelaide, which was no easy feat given our general lack of a computer, local phone, fax machine, internet access, or printer. Several days spent at the Adelaide public library ensued- including some pretty frantic essay editing, as computers at the library are limited to a one hour only time limit. While taking care of this, Linda and Chuck saw the sights of downtown Adelaide... and Catt managed to catch some good boomerang pics at the South Australian Museum:

boomerangs galore!

While in Adelaide, we decided to hit up the Barossa Valley, a famous wine region known internationally for its shiraz- though packs a pretty good punch with its cabs, grenache and semillon, as well.

Wine tasting in Australia is awesome. I've tasted in Europe a bit, and several spots in the U.S. and I can say without reservation that the Australian experience is definitely superior. Sure, the wines elsewhere in the world are equally diverse, tasty, and surprising, but it's the laid-back friendliness and TOTAL lack of pretension that makes Aussie tasting rooms so pleasurable.

Catt navigating the vino trail

Yaldara Estates, Barossa Valley, South Australia

at Peter Lehmann's

some lunch with that wine?

Lunch in the Barossa Valley

After a few days in South Australia we were ready to move east- and on to the Grampians National Park!

After the Great Barrier Reef we hired a car and had a chance to do a little bit of exploring in some of northern Queensland's less famous- but still beautiful- areas. First off were the Atherton Tablelands.

Giant Cathedral Fig in the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, Australia

From Wikipedia:

The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It is located west to south-south-west inland from Cairns, well into the tropics, but its elevated position provides a climate suitable for dairy farming. it has an area of around 32,000 km² with an average altitude between 600 and 900m AHD.

The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River, which was dammed to form an irrigation reservoir named Lake Tinaroo.

The area was originally explored for its mining potential where deposits of tin and a little gold were found.

There are plenty of beautiful waterfalls to visit in the AT, and we visited several.

The water was freezing!

swimming hole in Atherton

The Atherton Tablelands are also home to some truly enormous cathedral fig trees:

There I am in the bottom, left-hand corner (to give you an idea of how massive this tree was)

Atherton is also home to quite a bit of opal mining...

We also took a cable car from the tablelands to the Daintree Rainforest, the largest contiguous area of rainforest in the whole of Australia, and at 165 million years old, the oldest rainforest in the world. Although it only accounts for 0.2% of Australia's total land surface, within Daintree one can find 30% of frog, marsupial and reptile species in Australia, and 65% of Australia's bat and butterfly species, and 20% of bird species. The cable car trip was pretty awesome, with several stops along the way where you could better acquaint yourself with different zones of the forest, and the flora and fauna.

Daintree Rainforest from above

The coast of northern Queensland from the air

Cheesy photos of us in the cable cars

After the cable car trip, we drove back to the coast and continued north to Cape Tribulation, the last pit stop on a paved road in northern Queensland and named so by Captain Cook in the 18th century. To travel north of Cape Trib, a 4 wheel drive (and rations) are necessary for the journey on unsealed track north.

Just like elsewhere, there are marine stingers present in the waters around Cape Trib. Boo, no swimming at the beach.

Beautiful beach in the Daintree

At Cape Tribulation, Meg and Catt

After finishing up in the Daintree, we drove back to Cairns and flew to Adelaide, South Australia... adventure to continue!