WHOLE safari

FINALLY.  I updated every single one of the safari posts; now not they only have the description of what was meant to happen, they also tell the story of what actually happened and what I saw.  And that's not even everything yet!  I also added photos, lots and lots of them. Enjoy!  (:

So the full safari, here we go!

• Day 1
• Day 2 
• Day 3
• Day 4 
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Day 7
• Day 8
• Day 9
• Day 10
• Day 11
• Day 12
• Day 13
• Day 14
• Day 15
• Day 16
• Day 17
• Day 18
• Day 19
• Day 20
• Day 21
• Day 22

And don't forget the new tool I added; it helps you to search anything and everything from this blog. You can see it on the left hand side, just below my profile.  Just type whatever you are after into the little box, click search, and it should give you a list of posts and links with that word. Useful for sure! (:

Still couple more photos to come,

Liisa

DAY 21

DAY 21

"One more opportunity to explore Melbourne. There's a lot of different options; we can take a ride on Australia’s last remaining tramway system, visit the Queen Victoria Markets or poke about its galleries and museums. In the afternoon we'll head off to Gundagai.  bunking at Gundagai"

YAY.  My life just got onto a new level after finding out that my camera and phone both work.  Unbelievable.  But pleasant.  Therefore I was ready to enjoy Melbourne, finally.

First we headed to Queen Victoria Market, one of the major landmarks in Melbourne.  It is said to be the largest open-air market in Southern Hemisphere, I'm not quite sure about that, but I can ensure you it's huge.

They also have the cutest little shops there.  I found my favorite one, what a princess place!  (;

And finally I do what Melbourne is meant to be for, SHOPPING!  And no more thongs in temperatures near 0...phew!   What a great buy, love them!  (:

And the best part in our stay in Melbourne!  We had so many reasons to celebrate (including our "2 months left in Australia" days) that we needed a really nice coffee shop with nice cakes and everything.  After a huge search and a lot of walking we finally found one.  Love my beautiful Norwegian! (:

Last night,

Liisa

P.S. Two months before going home!!

DAY 20

DAY 20

"Day for visiting the Southbank and the Eureka Skydeck 88, the highest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere. Skydeck 88 is the only observation deck in the world that can thrill you with ‘The Edge’ – a glass cube which projects 3 meters out from the building, almost 300 meters above the ground. We'll also be able to use the telescope to get a bird’s eye view of Melbourne. Later we'll visit the Docklands and we'll have free time to explore Melbourne.  camping at Melbourne"

Today was a nicer day than yesterday.  I was still really upset about my phone and camera getting soaked, but helped a bit trying the memory card again and finding all the photos on it.  One less thing to worry about.

We were booked to visit the Skydeck at 10am, after which we had free time to explore Melbourne till about 4 o'clock.  I quite liked it there but gosh is was FREEZING!  And because all my other shoes  were wet I was wearing thongs, probably didn't help much...  I'm not really into shopping so I was  one of the very few people who didn't buy anything else but lunch.  Oh well, good sushi at least.

Beginning of last week,

Liisa

DAY 19

DAY 19

"We'll tour part of the Great Ocean Road and see the Twelve Apostles, rising columns of rock surrounded by treacherous reefs and tides. We then head inland and arrive to Melbourne. Before returning to the camp we have time to shop and explore Melbourne.  camping at Melbourne"

This morning was the worst one I've had in a while.  Half of the tent flooded, and you can probably already guess which side it was.  Imagine a morning when you wake up and wonder why your alarm didn't go.  You pick up the phone from the tent floor and notice it's wet all over.  That shocks you enough to get you awake, and then you notice your SLR camera on the floor too.  In the puddle.  Pick it up and remove the battery - dripping wet.  The thought that the photos might still be safe crosses your mind, so you'll test the memory card in another camera.  "ZERO photos in the folder".  Can't really be happy after that.

The start of the day wasn't too great for me, so I wasn't that exited about anything in the morning.  I can only humbly thank the lovely person I was sharing the tent with for doing pretty much all the packing in the morning as I spent all my energy by being cranky...

We left the camp to drive on the Great Ocean Road, one of the world's most scenic coastal drives.  We saw the amazing coast line and the Twelve Apostles, unfortunately I was unable to take any photos.  But this is how it looked like:

By George Koncz

Lucky to have met you, have spent time with you, have traveled with you and have you as my friend.  (:

Greetings from Melbourne...

Not my day,

Liisa

DAY 18

DAY 18

"Day to head to the South Coast of Australia. We'll watch a sound and light show depicting the history of the “ship wreck coast”; a spellbinding chronicle of how Victoria’s western coastline earned its cruel distinction as the Shipwreck Coast.  camping at Warrnambool"

Travelling as always.  We got to Warrnambool way before dinner, so we had time to walk to town from our campsite and take a look.  Warrnambool was a nice little place, though not places were open.

Setting up our tents.  :)  (Read the next post and you'll find out where my smile disappeared...)

By Rebecca Bachmann

In the evening we went to watch a sound and light show about the shipwrecks.  It consisted partly from a video, partly from a light show, but also from a tour in a build fisher village.  The show was good, but after the water and light show in Singapore I was expecting a bit more.  In this one the water made a screen where they played a tiny movie.  Not bad though.  It was a nice night, after whick we walked back to the camp.  We weren't allowed to take any photos during the visit, so I'll link you  the webpage of the show so you can take a closer look.

Couple more days to go,

Liisa

DAY 17

DAY 17

"We'll have a brief tour of Adelaide, before heading further South to Naracoorte. At sunset we'll visit the Naracoorte Caves to see the Bat Cave and Blanche Cave. At the Bat Cave we may be able to see the Southern Bent-wing Bat using the infrared cameras.  bunking at Naracoorte."

After a great night in a cell we left Gladstone and drove to Adelaide.  We got packed lunches so that there would be more time to spend in town.  Exploring Adelaide for 2h 15min, lets say that was fairly brief.  Well at least we got to see a tiny bit of it.  (:

Bye bye outback...

...welcome CITY!

Little walk around, grocery shopping and a nice coffee brake, that's Adelaide in 2 hours, 15 minutes.

So many new experiences,

Liisa

DAY 16

DAY 16

"We'll head down the centre of Australia towards the Southern Coast. We'll sleep in Gaol in Gladstone, and we will be taken to a ghost tour around it.  bunking at Gladstone"

During this trip my concept of a bus has changed dramatically; it's not just a long car.  It's the place to make friends, sleep, eat, have great conversations, watch movies and have the best time with  friends, and sometimes just sit for 10 hours.  :D

Or let me correct, maybe sit is not the best word to describe it, just take a look.  And this is not even  the  last day of the trip yet... :P

Anyways, we got to the jail early evening, where we just spent time till it was dark for our ghost tour. I'm not afraid of ghosts in general, but all the stories we heard about the gaol, people committing suicides in it, their spirits....oh dear.  And definitely didn't help when some smart-asses started scaring people.  The creepy stories alone were ok, but then there was the fear of someone jumping from behind the corner and scaring you.  Phew.  Night full of screaming, laughing to others, yelling, running for one's life and even tears to certain people, to be totally honest.  Well, we survived.

The corridor of our hotel:

Our room:

And the luxuries we got:

Lets call it an experience,

Liisa

DAY 15

DAY 15

"After heading East we'll head South, passing the oasis of the Marla Bore.  In the early evening we'll arrive to Coober Pedy where we'll sleep underground.  camping at Coober Pedy"

We packed our tents in dark and left the camp early this morning.  After watching the sunrise in the bus everyone pretty much fell asleep.  It's a hard life, aye!  :D

When we finally got to Coober Pedy, the opal capital of the world, we did a little tour around town.  Can't be a big one as the population is around 3000!  We visited an underground church and an opal mine museum before we got ready to bunk underground.  

In beds tonight, ahh.

From sunrise to sunset,

Liisa

DAY 14

DAY 14

"Time for a day we'll never forget; visiting Uluru! Despite the wish of Aboriginals, we may be able to climb to the big red rock. We'll also visit Kata Tjuta, which is even larger rock landmark 25 kilometers from Uluru.  camping at Ayers Rock Resort"

A big day we've been waiting for; Kata Tjuta and Uluru!  Kata Thuta is actually more massive and in a way more impressive than Uluru, but still many people don't even know it exists, well now you do. (:  The distance between these huge landmarks is nearly 50 km, though in the deserts looks like they are way closer.

And then the most famous piece of rock: Uluru.  It's possible to climb it if the weather conditions are right, in the photo below you'll see 1/3 of the way up.  It sure is an exercise, but that's not the reason why many people don't want to climb.  The Aboriginals ask you not to as it is their sacred land, and any one coming on their land should respect it.  The decision was really hard to make, especially when there was a big group pressure on you.  At the end everyone was happy; the people who climbed enjoyed it and didn't regret, and the rest were happy with their great walk around.  (:

Month changes, but the trip keeps going,

Liisa

DAY 13

DAY 13

"After we've done a short ride on a camel, we'll head to Uluru. In the evening we'll go to Sunset Strip to see Uluru while sun sets on the horizon.  camping at Ayers Rock Resort"
This morning before leaving the camp we did a tiny camel ride.  It wasn't too bad, but nothing to get exited about.

While driving, this little piece of rock caught many peoples attention.  But no, it's not Uluru yet, still about 150 kilometers to go...

After arriving to the resort at about three o'clock we had couple of hours free time.  Then we drove past Uluru and Kata Tjuta which we would see closer tomorrow.  Then we headed to a spot where from we could see the different colors of Uluru while the sun set behind us.

Everyday is a new adventure,

Liisa

DAY 12

DAY 12

"We'll head to Kings Creek Station, and go to Kings Canyon, which is the deepest gorge in Central Australia.  camping at Kings Creek Station"

Long way from Alice to Kings Canyon, but that's what we were prepared to.  Oh, you'll have to see this, the highlight of our day!  :D

By Rebecca Bachmann

Wow.  That's all I can say.  After a six kilometer walk around (or a bit more if you got lost...:D) couldn't really do much else than be amazed with what Australia has to offer.

Already over half way,

Liisa