The last day in Oceania comes to an end.
I have to pack my bag, Southeast-Asia is the next destination. But before that, I take my time for this post which serves as a bottom line for the last time here in Australia.

We moved northbound, direction Brisbane. For in that area you find the ‘Australia Zoo’.
This zoo is founded and built by the parents of Steve Irwin.
Many know Steve Irwin as ‘The Crocodile Hunter’ from countless, partly daring, documentaries all around his greatest passion, the animal kingdom.
The zoo still is a zoo, where animal are in cages, though they are fitting and spacious. Steve Irwin’s life’s work is mentioned at every corner, as his family still is present and keeps up his legacy in the great zoo…

But before we arrived, we had to make some long way. The days here are that short, you have to work with the sunset a few hours after waking up already…

We placed our funds in a fine camping site right next to the zoo and saw some colourful birds in the trees. These Galahs are as common in Australia as blackbirds back home… 🙂

After the long car ride we were all fed up with driving and went for the 2-day-admission, so we could visit the zoo all relaxed and without any pressure…

Of course the zoo features the iconic Australia animals as stars! And crocodiles are ever-present in any colour or shape, of course. They were Steve’s favourite, without a doubt…

The great animal show presents the most spectacular beasts with pomp and splendour!
The centre piece are of course the crocodiles, which you want to handle with care! 😀

Steve Irwin died in 2006, being stabbed to the heart by a stingray during filming. That way, his life got to a sudden and greatly mourned end.

One of the most impressive animals to me, was the cassowary. Just look at the thing, the dinos still exist!!

2 days are enough even for a pretty big zoo and without stress we had seen the lot of it.
For a little donation you can take a look inside the wild life hospital. In there, emergency cases are taken car of, which you can see quite some in a short visit.

We didn’t see much of Brisbane, as my plane takes of from the neighbour city, Gold Coast. Thus, we spent the last days here and relaxed with some last treats…

And this concludes my rather short adventure in Australia…
Soon I will, if it is possible, tell you about my experience in in Southeast-Asia. For soon, I will stand alone again. In the foreign. On the journey.

Can you imagine that the only copy of the following pictures had been deleted? A mistake of mine led to this perfect scare.
The great day in Sydney, especially great on the pictures side, would be left only in my memories!
But thank god I knew a way to get pictures back even beyond the recycle bin on the computer…
So, this post is just as usual and seemingly for granted features pictures:

We got to spend a day of our journey in Sydney.
The biggest city in Australia was foreign to us both, so we parted and spend our day each the own way…

In the end I was more than satisfied, as my expectations got far more than exceeded!!

My goal: A nice cup of coffee, capturing the city for my readers, eat something nice and maybe even experiencing some culture inside the Opera House itself.

Sydney is the biggest city I have ever visited. That is why the skyscrapers made a huge impression on me. Also, some historic sites are well preserved.

The day was clouded by the prospect of rain and its foreshadowing clouds, because of which I didn’t plan on having much activity outside.
Nevertheless, I got a surprisingly fabulous sunset which I got to capture next to the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

My thirst for culture was to be quenched by a visit at the seasonal Opera on the Harbour. This year, ‘Turandot’ would be featured. A Chinese tale about a horrifying princess, a stubborn prince, true love and heroism.
For a first-ever opera visit, it is no bad thing to look out onto the Sydney Opera House over the water, is it? For the stage is situated on the opposite side of the harbour.
And to have the first opera of your life backed with fireworks, feeling lucky about the bargain at the remaining tickets sale and having no rain at all, against the forecast; all that made the experience whole! On the premises they served Asian food in style, so I could satisfy my culinary needs at the same time.
What else can I say?

On the way back I got to a place I had looked for a long time now: A place above the highway at night. The conditions might have been less than ideal, but look at my Headlight-Stripes-Arrangement anyway:

For a single day I have experienced very very much of Sydney!

There is no better headline for the last few days.

On the way to Sydney, where we have arrived and want to see the city tomorrow, we had to have our car repaired.
In the middle of nowhere we noticed some fluid leakage. This nowhere was Bairnsdale, an idyllic city 3 hours west of Melbourne.
As we noticed the things with the car on the Saturday night, we decided not to continue out of caution.
On Sunday, no workshop was operating, so we had a whole day to kill in that little town. Thus, you see one or the other cafe and shop from the inside, where you would have just zoomed by…

On Monday, at the workshop we got promised the fix on the same day, but it would take some time. We could have a look around the city for the day, using a rental. And so we did; again. Some more places we visited and in the end we pretty much knew our way around Bairnsdale…

Up to Sydney, our way led us by some more attractions:

That way, a plan gets mixed up a little and you just go with the flow, instead of surfing the big waves only. Pretty relaxing, I must admit…

My travel plans for the 10-Day-Southeast-Asia-Crash-Course get more important now. One adventure chases the other, you don’t get much time to catch your breath. But for that, time is just too precious, isn’t it? Mind agrees, body disagrees…

In our car, we rode out of Melbourne then.
Direction Great Ocean Road.

This part of the coastal line offers many stations and didn’t leave us disappointed! On the contrary!
See here some impressions of the far and wide country:

Late that night we arrived at the 12 apostles, a remarkable chain of free-standing rock pillars, of which not all 12 exist anymore.
Punctually at sunset we joined hundreds of tourists to take our pictures…

Back in Melbourne, we followed the advice of our fellow travelers and ordered a ‘Freakshake’.
It’s something else… 🙂

Now we are on our way to Sydney. One of the many stations on my journey home…

Up high.
Down low.

Scattered clouds. Window seat. Wing. Daybreak. Picton! Next to it Blenheim. The gate to the South Island. My heart is filled with content, seeing the country I have traveled for the last time at dawn of a new day.

The plane swiftly carries us over the sea towards Melbourne. We land there. And we are in Australia.

Suddenly, New Zealand is far away. And we find ourselves in a city that holds almost as many people as New Zealand as a whole.
Gigantic skyscrapers make our heads tilt. We realise very quickly: Australia is somewhat larger of an undertaking.

The first days I struggle through a clogged ear from the flight. It was to take a few days, until the water had vanished and I could hear the same on both ears.

Another hurdle we took and now we are owners of a massive backpacker’s station wagon. This car is to bring us up to Brisbane and to be Elvis’ loyal companion from there. Or to be replaced with an off-road truck. All up in the air. 🙂

The first stop with the new vehicle we took at the St. Kilda Beach. Fittingly, we arrived at sunset…

Thus, the adventure Australia awaits! I will let you know of all impressions.

Next to that, anticipation and longing for home rise every day. Soon I will wake up in my own bed again and only think back on how many beds I woke up in…
And I will cherish these memories.

At this point, saw news: Poppy (from popcorn), one of the chickens at the flat in Hastings, died. To her I said the last goodbye back then…