Australia Things to Do Tips by darthmilmo

The locals boast that Sydney is the best city in the world. At the very least, it comes close to it. It's located on the East Coast of Australia inside a sheltering Harbor. Its architecture, mixed with traditional old British, baroque, and even amazing Art Deco bldgs make for interesting walks ranging from a few hours or days on end. Add this to the many interesting gardens and parks to begin to understand the greatness of the city.

What a better thing to do in Sydney then walk among its superb parks and gardens. My favorite park by far was Hyde Park. Of course, a visit to Sydney wouldn't be complete without a mandatory walk through the gorgeous flora and fauna of the Royal Botanical Gardens.

There are dozens of attractions and sites. My favorite is the Sydney Harbor Bridge, where you can walk or climb across it to gain incredible views of the city. Of course, who can forget the Sydney Opera House, one of the most imposing landmarks in the city? Nearby, you can walk among many shops and cafes in the Circular Quay, which is also the point to jump on a ferry. If you're looking for more shops and/or restaurants/cafes then Darling Harbor is the place to be. If you're into the historic aspects of Sydney, then you'll enjoy the old buildings in and around the Rocks, the oldest neighborhood in Sydney. For some of the Baroque architecture, then head to the immaculate St. Mary's Cathedral. As for my favorite museum, I’d say it has to be the Australian Museum, which boasts an interesting array of exhibits ranging from natural history to aboriginal history. At the end of the day, the best sunset can be seen from atop Sydney Tower, which on a good day provides views of the Blue Mountains at one end and the Pacific on the other.

Sydney has many interesting suburbs or neighborhoods. So do explore and see what’s out there. A few placed that come to mind are King Cross, Bondi Beach, Cogi Beach, and Manly.

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The name “Blue Mountains” come from the blue color seen from afar. This color is but a reflection of light on the mist of oil given off from the Eucalyptus trees in the region. In a good day you can really see the mountains covered in the blue reflective hue. There are two main roads through the Blue Mts. The most picturesque route is the Bells Line of Road, which follows the path of old explorers as it crosses the majestic Blue Mountains. Some tours take you through this road, but the best way to see it is driving on your own. I did end up taking a tour to the Blue Mts though. The tour was operated by OZ Experience. This time it took me to the southern section, which I hadn't seen. We started off by heading towards Katoomba. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Gorett's Leap (leap is an old English word for a waterfall). We then walked at another section of the Blue Mountains down a Temperate Rain Forest with stunning views of the Three Sisters and Canyons. We came back up through the touristy railway, which felt more like a rollercoaster going up the mountain. In the old days, there was a Coal mine operation, but it's no longer economical to mine for coal in the area. During the great depression, entrepreneurs built several treks down the canyon for bushwalkers. Eventually, the coal mine got into the action by offering the hikers a ride back up the mountain up this very same railway track. It's a good system that has survived time. Today, the Blue Mountains are protected under a national park and the scenic railway is privately operated in the same tracks previously used by the coal mine.

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We spent the night at a camp in the Warrumbungles. We had a pleasant dinner followed by an interesting Astronomy and stargazing session. Apparently, this region boasts some of the best star gazing on the planet! We left camp early the next morning. Our first stop was at the Warrumbungles State Park. We hiked through a nice 2 hr return hike to an overlook. It was there that we actually got to see the spectacular Warrumbungles peaks, made out of eroded magma chambers. Take a volcano, let the inside cool down, and then erode the ground around it with water/wind and the result is what you see in this park.

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Most of the tourists seem to gravitate towards Byron Bay some time or another during their visit Down Under. It’s a wonderful magical town. Bellow is an excerpt of my experiences over there:

We arrived to Byron Bay that evening. I had dinner with a fellow traveler on the bus. We then met up with the rest of the crew at Cheeky Monkey, one of the local clubs. We all had a blast partying until late for a change, since the other nights had been early nights.

The following morning, I took part of a surfing lesson with Black Dog surfing. Similar to other surfing schools in OZ, they proudly guarantee you to stand or you get your money back. I was a bit skeptical, but eventually I managed to stand two or three times. That evening, we had a barbeque at the hostel followed by a night out in town.

Nick, Stewart, and I undertook an arduous bike journey the next day. We biked south up several steep hills to the secluded King's Beach. This is one of the most spectacular beach areas near Byron Bay. The surf was amazing as it hit the interesting array of rocks. On one of the times I was looking at the waves, I spotted a pair of dolphins actually swimming in the way almost as if they were surfing! I do have to warn you about Kings Beach though as it is a nudist beach. Being the first of its kind I’ve been to it was a bit weird to see just one girl among several old middle age guys. Sorry, but I was expecting more girls . On the way back to town, we took a right uphill to the infamous Light House, which is build on the most Easterly point of the OZ mainland. It was hard to go uphill, but in the end the views and the downhill ride made it all the more worthwhile. I did go out that night as well, but took it easy as the others drank the night away. I'm just not built to party as hard as the fellow Britt’s!

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Murrwilumbah is one of those magical places where you end up losing track of time! It is located inside one of the world's largest volcanic crater. It is so wide it stretches inland to the several mountains inside the national parks, and then goes all the way to the coast near Byron Bay and Brisbane. At the center of it all stands Mt. Warning. I stayed on the quiet and cozy YHA Riverside Hostel.

The purpose of my visit was to climb Mt. Warning. The peak is over 1,000 meters above sea level (ASL) today, but in its heyday it was well over 2,000 meters ASL. The vegetation of the climb is 1/3 tropical "Tarzan-like" forest, 1/3 Temperate rain forest, and 1/3 bushes on top. There is a vast array of animals in the park. The hike took me 2 hours up and 2 hours down. It's really not too hard, as I managed to do it with a bad knee. The view from atop is incredible and makes the hike all more worthwhile. You can see Byron Bay with its lighthouse, the sky risers at Surfers Paradise, the Tweed River leading to Tweed Head, Murrwilumbah, Springbrook National Park, and more.

The hike was a bit tough so I relaxed the next day. I did take the hostel canoe for a stroll as I rowed down the Tweed River and into a nearby creek. The next day, I felt more energetic so I borrowed a bike from the hostel. I rode it all day for over 35 kilometers around the Tweed Valley. I visited the nearby Sugar Mill at Condong. My next stop on took me to Disney rock, a mini-Ayer look-a-like sitting in the middle of a sugar cane field. I continued on my journey up a tough hill with amazing views from atop. The fast downhill allowed me to catch up with time lost and so I made it to Tropical Fruit World in no time. This is an interesting complex of exotic tropical fruit. I went on to Tumbulgum, past the Historical Cemetery, and through a Bike-Rest Stop. Once back in town, as though I hadn't ridden at all, I went up hill to Lion's lookout, where I got another spectacular view of the area.

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I’m not sure what it is about Brisbane, but to me it is my favorite city in Australia. If I were to live in Australia it would probably be here. It is centrally located within hours of all of the attractions that make Australia famous: the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, the Great Barrier Reef, Frasier Island, and more. That’s not even counting the beautiful islands in Moreton Bay. I was even lucky enough to visit Brisbane during the interesting EKKA exhibition, which is a stock show.

One of the days I had in Brisbane, I visited the Botanical Garden. I relaxed, read, and wrote my journal at this pleasant park. I took a free tour of the Government House and then had lunch at a cafe nearby. I then walked along the mangrove boardwalk on the river side of the garden. I left the garden and crossed the river at the Goodwill Pedestrian Bridge. At the other end starts the South Bank Parkland, this was the site of the 1988 World Fair. The arch path across the many stores and cafes are covered with beautiful flowers. There is an interesting tropical forest walk that ends up right on a beautiful Nepalese Pagoda.

Joss had recommended me a self walking tour he did and so I went ahead and tried it the next day. I walked around the city. My first stop was at the impressive Cathedral. I then took an alleyway across to the main Post office. Right next to it lays an impressive and towering Gothic style building. Nearby, the walk took me across Brisbane's Central Business District, which is full of skyscrapers. I ended up in China town, where as usually I enjoyed a delicious meal.

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I took the Combi Trader Ferry from a suburb in Brisbane to Moreton Island. During the 2 hr ride, I met Dan, a local who showed me the ropes of the island. Most people, he said, opt to drive the island. I, on the other hand, had nothing more then my backpack. From Bulwer, I started my hike north to the lighthouse in Cape Moreton on the north. As I passed the Five Hills lookout, it became clear I wasn’t going to reach the lighthouse before sunset. Therefore, I decided to camp at the Yellow patch, where the inland road went out to the beach. I set up my tent just in time to admire the beautiful sunset. It was beautiful.

Next day, I walked down the beach and back to the inland track en route to Cape Moreton. This time, I did manage to get there in no time. I got to see the lighthouse and enjoyed an amazing view from the cliffs of Cape Moreton. From here, I manage to see a school of dolphins swimming in the ocean below. I headed across to the East Beach and from there went south. I crossed Spitfire creek, and stopped around here for lunch. I arrived early to the Blue Lagoon, a perched inland lake. I hiked to the lake and took in the view of this jewel. As it was early, I continued walking down south. I spent the night at Eager Creek campsite.

Early on the next morning I started my walk south via the beach. I spotted a bunch of seagulls flying nearby and so managed to get a kewl pic of their reflection on the wet sand. I then took the middle road, a track that cuts right in the middle of the island. I eventually arrived to the Wreck, a ferry landing point which is named after the artificial wrecks in the area. These ships were sunk on purpose to create the interesting artificial reefs. I walked about 45 km in these days. After arriving on the mainland, I took a bus and a train back to the hostel in Brisbane. You can imagine my shame as I smelled up the train all the way back to town.

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Noosa is one of the most pleasant places to stay on the East Coast. I stayed on the YHA Halse Lodge, which is housed on a historic building that dates back to the 1800's. There are tons of activities and side trips near Noosa. You can stroll on the beach, go koala spotting at the Noosa National, go trekking or cannoning in the Coolala N.P. (Everglades), take a tour to Frasier Is, and more. So as you can see it’s the perfect town to spend a few days.

My favorite part of Noosa is the proximity to the Noosa National park. It’s easy to walk there from the transit center, which is right in front of the YHA. I followed the road uphill to the info center. I took the Tanglewood Track all the way up the hill across rainforest and heather land to the intersection of the Alexandria bay track. This track leads to the bay with the same name. Once I was on the beach, I headed right towards a set of rocks. I climbed on these rocks for a while, up and down Oyster Rock with its interesting Blowhole and a nice view of Lions Rock, and then I climbed up and down Devil's Kitchen. There is an interesting small cave inside the Devil's Kitchen rock formation. Feeling hungry, I decided to eat my picnic lunch right in the center of Devil's kitchen. I then walked back past Alexandria Bay and eventually took another track that joined to the Tanglewood track. This lead all the way to Hells Gate, where again I climbed a bit more. I then took the Coastal Track back through Winch Cove at Granite Bay, Dolphin Point Lookout, Tea Tree bay, and boiling pot. The park is famous for its Koala sightings, but I must confess I didn't see much. All I saw was a grayish ball up on the trees that vaguely resembled a sleeping Koala. I wasn't sure if it was true sighting or if my mind had played a joke on me. Alas, the walk itself was definitely worthwhile.

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I started the Coolala Wilderness Trail trek the following morning. This is the most interesting way to go from Rainbow Beach to Noosa. For starters, I took a ride on one of the Everglade Boat tours that take tourists into the park for the day. They dropped me off at the ranger station at Kinaba, which to my dismay was closed. Therefore, I had to backtrack to the main Ranger office at Elanda point. That was the official start to the trek. I spent three days walking this trek. It has the distinction of covering two distinctive ecosystems: the tropical rainforest and the heather land temperate dry forest. Both are equally amazing in their own rights. The campgrounds were beautiful as well. I stayed at Fig Tree point for the first evening. The second evening was at Wandi waterhole, which makes for a good spot to swim. The third and last evening was at Neebs waterhole, which unfortunately has too much vegetation for someone to swim in it.

Nature lovers may want to keep their eyes open. Among the highlights of the trail are large wild brown kangaroos in the fields around Elanda point.

The trail is mostly flat and easy going. However, there are a series of river crossings and swamp crossings so sandals are essential!

The trail ends at Mullen's Car Park. As someone had warned me in Noosa, there was no "Congratulations" sign. Alas, the scenery and adventure earned on this trip was enough a reward as any in and on itself. I walked down the road for another 1km (making the total to 10km for today) before a kind soul picked me up and gave me a lift to Rainbow beach. Be careful as there are no pick-up services at this end of the trail!

I will eventually have a page with more details so if you have further questions either consult that or send me an email.

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Directions: North of Noosa.

Rainbow beach is an ideal place to relax for a few days before or after seeing Frasier Is. Just spend the day walking through the famous colored sands and cliffs along the beach. The name of the town, Rainbow beach, is named after this colorful combination of sands. I walked along most of the way until the last colored cliff. Then I made my way back, instead of walking all the way back, I went up the Carlo Sand blow, which offers a great view of Rainbow Beach on one end, and Frasier Island and Harvey bay on the other. It’s a perfect place to relax.

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