Tag Archives: Australia

Retour vers Sydney

Lors de mon troisième passage à Sydney, il pleuvait pour la troisième fois. Mais cette fois ci c’était la dernière pluie Australienne avant mon départ pour Dubai.

J’avais froid et j’avais de sérieux doutes en voyant le thermomètre indiquant 30 degrés; que j’ai du accepter après avoir vu une confirmation de la température ambiante.

En plein milieu du quartier d’affaires durant les heures de pointes, j’ai été surpris à plusieurs reprises par des personnes qui se sont excusées d’avoir marché sur mon chemin, me barrant ma route à moins de deux mètres.

À l’exception des ferries, les transports publics à Sydney me paraissent incohérents, à défaut de ne pas dire préhistoriques ou stupides. Cette incohérence se ressent aussi bien au niveau du paiement, des voyages et de la tarification:
– au niveau des moyens de paiement, pas de carte de crédit acceptée ni de retour de change supérieur à 20 dollars dans les automates.
– si l’on souhaite effectuer un trajet urbain combinant train, ferry et bus, soit il faut s’arrêter à chaque correspondance et se munir d’un billet pour la partie suivante du trajet ou bien à défaut acheter un pass illimité – qui néanmoins n’autorise pas certaines destinations.
– Effectuer un trajet vers l’aéroport à 15 minutes coûte plus cher que de se rendre à une destination à trois heures de distance.

J’ai opté pour le pass et parcouru quelques lignes de ferry de la ville afin de découvrir et capturer des points de vue, pour finir à Darling Harbour afin de visiter le musée national maritime. J’ai été pour la première fois de ma vie dans un sous marin.

Statue d'oiseau Tasman light
HMAS Vampire HMAS Onslow
HMAS Onslow
Sydney harbour bridge Sydney harbour bridge

J’en ai profité pour retrouver un groupe de CouchSurfing et on a passé une soirée bien sympathique.

Niveau cuisine, étant fan de cuisine asiatique, j’en ai eu pour mes papilles gustatives en entrant dans un restaurant coréen où aussi bien le menu que les personnes étaient coréens.

Le dernier jour, je suis allé me baigner avant de repartir vers l’aéroport et embarquer, avec ma serviette mouillée.

Newcastle

Newcastle (New South Wales) is situated about 150 kilometers north or Sydney and is one of the oldest city in Australia. Its harbour is among the largest of Australia where huge cargo boats enter the Hunter River from the ocean. The journey from Sydney took about 3 hours.

Walking in and around the city is very nice, especially along the beaches to Nobbys Head Lighthouse and the Hunter River; courageous hikers can walk across The Great Northern Walk to Sydney on a 250 km long track.

The industrial’s background that declined since the 70s is still visible in the city’s architecture. The Christ Church Cathedral, which I thought was the “new castle” first, is quite impressive and dominates the view around the city.

Newcastle cathedral Pelican
The Beacon Playground

Les Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains sont à deux heures de Sydney et accessibles par un train qui circule à fréquence régulière pour un tarif tout à fait honorable de 11$ Australiens. Dès que l’on arrive après Emu Plains, le décor change radicalement pour laisser place à des montagnes… bleues! En effet, les essences d’eucalyptus donnent une impression bleuâtre. Le coucher de soleil fut sensationnel!

À l’origine, certains prisonniers anglais incarcérés sur le continent Austral pensaient que de l’autre côté de ces montagnes infranchissables se trouvait la Chine et nombreux sont ceux qui ont tenté au périple de leur vie de se rendre de l’autre côté, où finalement, l’environnement est bien plus hostile et sec.

En une journée, j’ai enchaîné les circuits pédestres : soit un circuit de 8h, 6h et de 4h. Dans l’après-midi le temps s’est violemment dégradé (orage, pluie battante, brouillard) après avoir assisté à un spectacle impliquant de gros nuages descendant du haut de la montagne, mais cela n’a pas stoppé dans mon élan car j’étais bien équipé et pris toutes les précautions, comme ralentir mon rythme ou utiliser mes deux mains pour m’agripper aux roches, et plus l’endroit est très fréquenté. En raison de l’humidité, j’ai fortement limité le nombre de photographies prises au long du chemin pour éviter de salir et d’endommager mon équipement, mais à défaut j’ai marché une partie de mon trajet avec un local passionné de photographie.

Le soir, le brouillard était tellement dense que j’ai cru un instant me trouver au petit Grand Duché par une journée hibernale et extrêmement embrumée, au détail de la température qui était supérieure de 15 degrés par rapport à la Luxembourgeoise. Après avoir mangé une pizza pleine de graisse (appréciable après une journée en plein air et en présence d’intempéries), j’ai fait connaissance avec un officier des douanes qui était venu voir le festival de Jazz de Katoomba; et ce dernier m’a donné toutes les astuces (légales) pour pouvoir voyager en first class ou rester après l’expiration du visa sans être inquiété.

Le lendemain mon programme était d’aller essayer quelques attractions pour la photographie, telle que des passages dans le train le plus pentu du monde ou une traversée en téléphérique, mais le brouillard ne s’était pas levé. J’ai donc décidé de partir dès le matin pour Newcastle.

Papillon Montagnes Bleues
Cascade

Canberra

I felt cold when I landed in Canberra as the local temperature was only 23 degrees Celsius – compared to Brisbane with its low 40s.

This city has a lot of nice real restaurants. I had a nice dinner with redshift at the Gus’ cafe where I opted for Pumpkin and Lentil croquette with a fresh watermelon juice: awesome.

I stayed at the YHA where the people I shared the room with were working in Canberra so it seems that finding a place to live is somewhat difficult.

I left for a full day cycling to the NASA Deep Space Center via the Mount Stromlo’s observatory. The beginning of this 100 km return trip was almost flat and easy, until I cycled so fast (10 km in 10 minutes) that I would have to pay for it; which was right as my rental mountain bike was stuck at 5 km/h on the bitumen going up for an hour. It was worth the effort! On the way, the stigmata from 2003 are still visible, when the bush fires around Canberra turned very badly and was on the news headlines in Europe.

Trees on Mount Stromlo Mount Stromlo observatory
Swimming conditions sign Stop here on red signal sign
Rental bicycle, about half way to the NASA Deep Space Center Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
Instructions near Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex Old antenna

Walking in Canberra is nice but it was the only place in Australia where I managed to get lost, fortunately never for a long time! The sunset was enjoyable in the park nearby the war memorial with a picturesque view shared with plenty of wallabies!

Sunset near Canberra Shade
Thomas Cook Memorial Sunset over Telstra Tower

Inside the Canberra Centre, a brand new Apple store and offered me a piece of chocolate cake!

On the last day, I left to Sydney by coach where I transferred to the Blue Mountains by train.

Brisbane

My impression about Brisbane, capital of Queensland, was pleasant and nice even though it was very hot. For the first time, I changed my mind about cycling somewhere over the mountain nearby because of the heat so I walked instead. Now I understand the people from Brisbane I met in Tasmania who wanted to stay away from the heat.

The city used to be a huge cowboy town with a serious lack of culture (at least that’s what I’ve heard about it), so they decided in invest in culture. With all these museums, galleries and other stuff (I like this word as it can fit almost anywhere), it seems that Brisbane increased the average Australian’s culture by about two hundred percent.

The South Bank is a great place to chill out, to walk, to look thoughtfully around or to enjoy a swim; especially at night with the amazing lights.

And of course, I went to the botanic gardens and spent some time looking at the mangroves and a massive ficus benjamina.

I wish I had more time to visit Brisbane, but it was only a stopover between the Whitsunday coast and the Australian Capital Territory, so it seems that I will have to come again.

Balls Brisbane CBD
Trees Trunk
Weird branches Ice Tea

And the mangrove:
Mangrove mangrove tree

City roos Kangaroo and Queensland bottle tree:
City roos Kangaroo

(in)competent crew!

I got my boating and sailing passport filled and I am officially a competent crew. This means I am now a real beginner and I hope I will always consider myself as it; whatever experience I will acquire. Many thanks to Willo for the course and those great tips!

We had almost no wind during these days so it was very easy to sail (3 to 5 knots) compared to the introduction course.

Also, the world is so strange: some parts of Hook Island in the Whitsunday somewhat reminded me Norway.

I celebrated this success in Airlie beach lagoon! I want to sail to the islands now 🙂

boat Blue rocks on Hook Island
BBQ onboard Hook Island
Clip overboard Airlie Beach lagoon

Mackay

I stopped in Mackay for a day and did not find it especially exciting; most people seem to do a stop-over on their way as I did.

Surrounded by those typical tyre repair stores found in general in bigger cities’ suburbs, the centre is about one block and a half where it is difficult to find any food after 7:00 PM.

The botanic gardens are recent and some parts still under construction; also they are very close to the highway from Darwin to Cairns. Since I visited Rockhampton’s gardens first, I guess it’s normal to be somewhat disappointed with these, so let’s give them a few years to grow and absorb urban noise.

At least the weather and the pool at the motel were enjoyable.

Take a trip to paradise

I need to know where we should go to show I’ll always love you.
Unfortunately, there’s no you at the moment and paradise is expensive.

It could be called Great Keppel Island, an island enjoying a tropical climate where hiking trails and beaches are numerous. Thus it is a great place to chill out, walk a bit, relax on a beach, swim, then walk on again.

The Great Keppel Island Holiday Village (YHA), also known as the quiet alternative, was one of the best place where I stayed in Aussie; they offer original accommodation where the pleasure of camping meets the comfort of a real bed.

Tend and bed Great Keppel Island

In such a place, we feel out of time.

Tree Tree

Sea creatures and sunset over the continent:
Coral Jellyfish
jellyfish Sunset over the mountains and the sea

The Island is reachable by a ferry boat from Yeppoon and, if you are fortunate, a landing strip allows small aircrafts to land.

Wind Wave on the beach

Beef and reef

Rockhampton is the Australian beef capital and since it’s located near the great barrier reef, many stores call themselves beef ‘n’ reef something. The CBD and city are somewhat strange but it was the cheapest place where I bought a fresh can of Coke. Some parks close at 4:00 PM and the big shopping mall at 5:30.

But I would recommend anyone to stop in Rockhampton to visit the botanic gardens which are definitely worth a visit. The people in charge made an excellent work. Rockhampton is also the gateway to the Great Keppel Island, a place to hike along the trails between beaches where it is great to relax or swim in the coral sea and is not the home of those deadly stinger jellyfishes.

Coconut araceae Sausage tree
Japanese gardens Black swan
More botanic gardens photos…

Then, I left for a day tour focused on reptiles, spiders, kangaroos, ants and other animals with Capricorn Dave, a fantastic original tour for a walkabout. Jackass Wildboyz seemed to enjoy the tour as well, so if you are in the area I highly recommend you to spend some time with Dave. Let’s have a look at the pictures.

Spider Snake
Lizard Poisonous frog from South America, a disaster
Around here...

To finish, this is me, looking still on the water, but in fact jumping into it; we had no german tourist around to check if the area was crocodile free…
me on water