Adventures Around The World

Making our way inland towards Canberra, we stopped at two sets of short walks to magnificent falls. -S 🇦🇺

Carrington Falls, Budderoo National Park

Fitzroy Falls, Morton National Park

After returning to the Blue Mountains for the morning, we finally made our way back towards Sydney for the “start” of our drive towards Melbourne, where we’re returning the campervan in a little over a week.

Royal National Park

Our first stop was Royal National Park, just south of Sydney. There wasn’t specific we wanted to see or do there, except to pay homage to its very existence. You see, its claim to fame is being the second national park in the world, just a few years behind the incomparable Yellowstone. In fact, it was simply called The National Park for the first 75 years of its history, maintaining its “the” status even while numerous other national parks were established throughout Australia. Finally in 1955, to commemorate an official visit from Queen Elizabeth II in 1955—the first British monarch to visit Australia—the name was changed to Royal. I’m sure it helped reduce confusion, too.

Given our schedule, we only spent a couple hours in the park, first stopping at the visitor center, which is primarily a small cafe and gift shop, and hanging out at the nearby river.

We then made it over to the famed Mattawolla area, checking out the small waterfall (guarded by a tall fence to prevent cliff jumpers, though we watched numerous people do it anyway) and the local swimming beaches.

While the park is now a UNESCO-listed Biosphere Reserve, it was primarily designated as a recreational park for Sydney residents, and you can certainly get that vibe during a visit. It’s too bad we didn’t have time for a hike there.

Grand Pacific Drive

After departing Royal National Park, it was time for some coastal driving along the Grand Pacific Drive, which begins near the park’s southern boundary. The highlight of the scenic drive is the Sea Cliff Bridge, a curving affair that jets out over the rugged coastline. This bridge apparently elicits exceptional pride from Australians. It was fun to see, but we didn’t loiter around too much; it was already late in the day at this point.

We did manage to pair dinner with a brewery stop, at Five Barrel in nearby Wollongong, before heading off for our campsite. -S 🇦🇺

In places where swimming might be a bit dangerous, many communities in Australia have built rock pools. These are public swimming pools built into shoreline rock adjacent to the ocean (and often naturally refilled with seawater during high tide) that offer residents a safer—and quite scenic—swimming experience. -S 🇦🇺

The Blue Mountains west of Sydney are renowned, and they didn’t disappoint! Here are some shots from our time there. -S 🇦🇺

A quintessential view of the Blues—a waterfall cascades off a rocky escapement towards the thick forest below, punctuating what is an expansive vista.

A rare selfie

Scroll down to see what this waterfall looked like about 30 seconds later…

I’m not sure what it was about these trail blocks, but I really enjoyed taking photos of them.

They always added a bit of visual interest in each stretch of trail they were in.

Unfortunately, sometimes these steps lead up and up and up and up.

Three Sisters

And here’s that earlier waterfall moments later. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to really line up a quality shot before it was fully engulfed by the clouds.

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While the dense carpeting of tall trees dominates the valley floors, this stand of eucalyptus caught our eyes (or maybe we were just craving some broccoli).

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Here are some other sites around Sydney we happened upon while we wandered. -J 🇦🇺

First and foremost, the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. (Don’t worry, there are more photos of the Opera House below!)

We ran across this ornate iron canopy that only said “Keep The Pavement Dry.” Apparently this is an old drinking fountain with an admonition against “sloppy drinking.” It was 1 of 8 installed in Sydney during the mid-1800s.

In this same park was an obelisk placed at the site from which all public roads into the interior of Australia were measured from.

An interesting fountain, unusual buildings, and a night scene.

The Museum of Sydney, built over the foundation of the First Government House and the location of the home of New South Wales’s first governor, Arthur Phillip. To map Sydney in 1831, 8 boundary stones were laid marking the edges of the city, the 7th of which is now housed in this Museum.

Sydney’s oldest Pub (Fortune of War) (1828).

And Sydney’s oldest pub brewery and oldest continuously operated hotel (Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel) (1841).

And, as promised, more from the Opera House. We found it interesting that each of the sail-shaped shells seems to be separated from the others and it is not just one continuous hall.

The full day we had in Sydney was rainy, so we visited a few museums. One was the Hyde Park Barracks (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), which was an interesting overview on Australia as a convict colony. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain transported many of its convicts to Australia and they became the labor force that eventually built modern Sydney and Australia.

The Barracks opened in 1819 as a dormitory to house male convicts, especially those who had just arrived. The Barracks remain intact today and visitors can see the original walls and ceiling/roof originally built by the convicts. In 1848, it was changed to a female immigration depot and then later served as an asylum for poor, sick, and homeless women. -J 🇦🇺

Despite the terrible weather we had the entire time we were in Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands, we did make it out to the Great Barrier Reef for a snorkel. (So yes, Scott finally used his snorkeling mask he has hauled all over the world!)

Although the weather made for cloudy and dark water, we still saw many amazing fish and different corals. Looking forward to coming back to the Whitsundays to see the beautiful beaches and seeing more amazing marine life. -J🇦🇺

We had a long layover in Brisbane, so we booked a tour that included a river cruise from the central city to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary—apparently, the first (since 1927!) and still leading sanctuary for these endangered animals.

The cruise featured prerecorded interpretative commentary, which was more interesting than we had expected. While you’re not passing important attractions on the ride, you do learn about the river and city. Most of the scenery, at least after you get out of the central city, are the backyard docks of residences—some historic, some elegant, but most nice but ordinary.

But you’re not here to learn about the river cruise—you’re here for the koala photos. So let’s just get right to it. -S🇦🇺

Look, I’m calling this guy Einstein, I don’t care what the sanctuary says his name is.

I get it, Mr Koala, that’s how I feel trying to get up some days, too.

I really like this quick snapshot of a young worker transporting a koala from one area to another, using a bribe of eucalyptus. She seems young and idealistic, dreaming of working here because she cares about koalas and wants to see the species survive. But her downward glance gives away her feelings now…even with its important mission, it’s also essentially just a zoo, one with captive wildlife, paraded for tourists to enjoy.

Anyway, I don’t think that’s actually how she feels. But that’s sorta the feeling we had during our visit. We were excited to see some koalas, at what we’re told is a premier koala sanctuary, but arrived to find a tourist-focused zoo—complete with additional tickets you can buy to feed the various animals.

A koala rests while the joey looks for some mischief.

A more complete view of “Einstein,” from the first close-up.

Koalas have interesting “hands,” which include three fingers and two opposing “thumbs,” designed to better grasp tree branches (the substantial claws help too).

This odd beaked owl is not an owl at all, but something called a tawny frogmouth bird. It was uncaged and free roaming in the back “nocturnal” lot, so I’m not sure if it was part of the sanctuary or not.

The sanctuary had a number of other animals found in Australia (including the farm petting zoo variety), including a reptile and insect exhibit. This was one of my most favorite photos of the day.

I forgot the name of this lizard, but it was one of my favorites at the sanctuary.

These damn lizards were everywhere. In the more popular areas near the snack bar, you had to watch where you stepped to avoid them.

Joey hanging on tight as mom starts off for another branch.

It was fun watching this young one scramble around before eventually bailing for a snuggle with mom.

Uh oh…looks like someone has gotten into the stash of “medicinal plants…”

Yep, this one too. It’s sleepy time.

Oh dear, and this one, too.

This guy’s double toenail caught my eye when I saw him. Apparently koalas have a unique adaptation where their second and third toes are fused together and appear as a single digit, but each ends in two separate claws.

A Tasmanian devil.

This is a pademelon, and it’s a marsupial that’s related to kangaroos and wallabies, but is much smaller.

A wombat sleeping in a log. Did you know that wombat poop is a square cube? Apparently that’s so it doesn’t roll away, as they use it to mark their territory.

Supposedly, this is an authentic Australian dingo…but it sure looks like a regular ol’ dog to me. 🤷‍♂️

There were plenty more animal photos, but I think we’ll leave it there at 20.