I flew into Sydney December 27, 1999, and had a few days to spend in the city before New Year's. Then I did a clockwise circle around Australia stopping in Melbourne, Adelaide, Ayers Rock (near Alice Springs), Darwin, Cairns and down the east coast.
Sydney kind of seemed like your typical big city to me, though the harbour was very pretty and full of life. The hostel I stayed at was in an area called Kings Cross that was a bit dirty and run down. I did a lot of walking around the city and waiting in the park for the sun to set. Took a day trip out to the Blue Mountains. I celebrated New Year's in Sydney and got to see the amazing fireworks show down at the harbour.
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Opera House |
monorail in Darling Harbour |
Harbour Bridge and Opera House |
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Olympic Stadium |
Three Sisters in Blue Mts |
waterfall in Blue Mts |
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waterfall in Blue Mts |
Tom at Blue Mts |
another waterfall
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Sydney Opera House |
Queen Victoria Bldg (mall) |
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fireworks |
Bonnie and Mark (I shared a room at the hostel with them) |
fireworks |
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Tom, Sinead, Rob, Bonnie and Mark |
fireworks |
Sydney from ferry |
panorama of Sydney on ferry to zoo |
panorama of view from zoo |
giraffe with a view |
view from zoo |
Tom and koala at zoo |
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view from Taronga Zoo |
Taronga Zoo |
harbour sunset |
Melbourne had more of an artsy, unique feel to it than Sydney. The weather started to clear up here too and finally began to feel like summer. I wandered around the city a lot and took a day trip along the Great Ocean Road to see the Twelve Apostles.
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Yarra River in Melbourne |
streetcar and funky bldg |
NIKE Melbourne |
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Tom on a short hike through rainforest |
Shady Creek |
Twelve Apostles
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Twelve Apostles |
Tom at Twelve Apostles |
Twelve Apostles |
koala |
koala and baby |
koala |
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pastry shop in St Kilda area |
sunset along Yarra River |
Melbourne by night |
I went to Adelaide to see my friend, Melanie, who was an exchange student that stayed with my family during high school. Adelaide has a couple nice parks, but otherwise not too much to see. I took an overnight trip to Kangaroo Island and also did a weekend back to Murrayville to visit Mel's parents and home town.
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Mel and her boyfriend, Mark, at the beach |
dried up Morialta Falls |
the Remarkables (on Kangaroo Island) |
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Tom at the Remarkables |
Seal Bay |
baby sea lion
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Seal Bay |
Tom at Little Sahara |
Tom dead in Little Sahara Sand Dunes |
Pennington Bay |
Kelly Hill caves (Kangaroo Island) |
Penguins! |
St. Peter's in Adelaide |
Mel and her parents |
kangaroos out near Murrayville |
kangaroos
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Tom and Mel on steamboat |
Mark and Mel |
Ayers Rock (aka, Uluru) is in the Red Centre. It can get really hot here...luckily it wasn't too bad when I was there. The flies are really bad though - they swarm all over you anytime you try and stay still (like when taking a picture). I rented a car while here so I could get to Uluru for sunrise and sunset and out to the Olgas. Also did a day trip out to King's Canyon. At night, thunderstorms would roll in and there'd be cool lightning.
Uluru
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Tom at Uluru |
sunrise |
sunrise
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The Olgas |
Tom at King's Canyon |
Garden of Eden at King's Canyon |
panorama of Uluru |
Uluru |
I was in Darwin during the wet season - it rained A LOT while I was there. I did day trips out to Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks.
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Tom by termite mound |
bird on Alligator
River
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Kakadu Nat'l Park |
Aboriginal drawing at Kakadu |
a cookaburra |
Tolmer Falls |
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Wangi Falls |
crocodile |
Tom being fed to the crocs |
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Tom at Wangi Falls |
 Florence Falls
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I thought two weeks would be plenty of time to get down the east coast of Australia, but once I started really planning I found out it's not. I was racing from town to town and doing overnight bus trips - started to wear me out. I only spent a day in Cairns, but got to go skydiving while there. I went to Airlie Beach for sailing through the Whitsunday Islands, Fraser Island, Rainbow Beach, Brisbane, Byron Bay, Newcastle (to see my friend, Kylie) and back to Sydney.
Cairns |
my skydiving certificate |
Airlie Beach |
Airlie Beach
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Airlie Beach |
schooner I sailed on |
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Tom on schooner |
Tom underwater |
Tom with fishies
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Tom with fishies |
leaving Manta Ray Bay |
one of the Whitsunday Islands |
Airlie Beach |
Maheno shipwreck on Fraser Island |
another view of Maheno shipwreck
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spider on Fraser Island |
walking to Lake Wabby |
Rainbow Beach |
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Jayne & Tom at Rainbow Beach |
group at hostel at Rainbow Beach |
Surfer's Paradise
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Brisbane |
man-made beach in Brisbane |
Byron Bay |
Byron Bay |
Byron Bay lighthouse |
Tom at Byron Bay |
Byron Bay |
sandcastle |
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Tom & Kylie |
world's largest sundial (in Singleton where Kylie lives) |
cowboy |
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Sydney |
Opera House
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galleon in harbour
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Bondi Beach |
harbour at sunrise |
harbour sunset |
Opera House and Harbour Bridge at night |
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panorama of Sydney harbour |
