Exploring Brisbane

Brisbane was the last stop of our Hell Yeah, Schnabelteah! Tour of Australia. Since we wanted to fly to Hong Kong by plane the next day, we dropped our car off at the car rental company Jucy as early as in the morning. Then we took the train to the main station where our hotel, the Pacific Hotel Brisbane, was located (unfortunatelly situated on a mountain). In retrospect it would actually have been cheaper to take an Uber…

However, I really liked the city. The big public swimming pool on the Brisbane River, the long promenade along the cliffs of Kangaroo Point Cliffs Park and the breathtaking Story Bridge, which I would have loved to climb and then abseil on. I really liked all of that and who knows how much more you can discover if you spend more time in the city than just an afternoon.

 


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Lots of fun along the Mitta Mitta

One of the longest sections on our journey through Australia was the one between the cities Melbourne and Sydney. Where others would simply take the train or board a plane, we decided to hit the road for two consecutive days and have some fun along the way.

After enjoying a small rafting adventure on the river Iller in the South of Germany in September it was pretty clear that we should do something similar in Australia. We decided to book a day trip on the Mitta Mitta River provided by Rafting Australia, which was comfortably located on our journey towards Sydney.

We therefore booked a night at the Snug as a bug Motel in Omeo, which I can recommend. The offer in Omeo is quite small and during our visit not much was available. After a small snack, we then went on a small hike for the Oriental Claims following the path of the Livingstone Creek. The oriental claims are a former gold mining operation (claim) by the Oriental company from 1876 to 1904, hence the name. It is a nice and interesting walk.

The next day, we headed off for our rafting adventure. As the river hold a lot of water at this time of the year, we were told to have the most exciting route in front of us. Yet first we had to get the boat down to the river, which was already pretty exhausting and an adventure in its own right. After being instructed on a wider part of the river, our adventure could finally start.

For hours we now enjoyed the rapids as well as the quitter passages of the river all embedded in a beautiful landscape. We had a great spirit in the small team and some great talks along the way. At one point we got a small lunch break and enjoyed a particularly nice pumpkin soup. Back to full strength we then continued on the last stage of our river adventure which featured some pretty impressive rapids. We had a blast!

After our rafting experience, our adventure was by far not yet over. In order to get to our next hotel, we were being told a short cut, where we had to go a bit off-road. We did not have the right car for doing so, nor did we have good tires, yet we did it anyways. My friend was quite afraid when I was driving through the serpentines, and we started to slide a bit. The path was quite hilly, which doubled the fun or the fear – depending on which person you asked. After a while we then hit the normal roads again, which were a bit easier to drive on. After riding along Lake Hume for a bit, we then passed the Murray River and entered New South Wales.

I booked a night at the Holbrook Town Center Motor Inn. As we arrived late, I had to call in. While doing so, I wondered why I could not hear anything. After looking at my phone for quite a bit, I then realised that I was still connected to the Bluetooth of the car, and it was acting like a giant speaker. I then called again, and shortly thereafter we could get into our room. As the staff could not charge my credit card for whatever reason, we were waked up quite early and forced to pay. Apart of that, we had a good stay.

On the next day, we took the remaining 500km towards Sydney for Milsons Point. After passing the Harbour Bridge and finding a parking spot, I headed for the nearby Luna Park Sydney, while Aris enjoyed the surrounding area.

 

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Enjoying the Skyline of Melbourne

Melbourne Star

After the second night in Queenscliff, we wanted to go to the capital of Victoria and therefore had to drive around Port Philipp Bay to the other side. Since the short ferry connection to Sorrento is quite expensive, we decided to go via Geelong. Following the M1, we reached Melbourne after about 100 minutes and the first destination of our day; the Melbourne Star Ferris wheel.

Operated and manufactured by the Sanoyas Hishino Meisho Corporation, the Ferris wheel is located in the very modern Waterfront City shopping and entertainment district in the Melbourne Docklands. Located between the harbour and Melbourne’s city centre, the 120m high wheel offers a unique view of the metropolis’ skyline and infrastructure.

Melbourne

Although the visit to the Melbourne Star was a rather spontaneous idea, it offered us an extremely impressive first view of the city of 4.3 million inhabitants, which we wanted to take a closer look at in the afternoon. Freshly stocked up with the first souvenirs, we went to our motel. We stayed at the Crest on Park in St. Kilda, so we could reach many destinations on foot. But the tram also ran right past our hotel, so that we could get to the city centre quite quickly.

For Aris, Albert Park was especially important, and we immediately set our sights on it. As a Formula 1 fan, he always wanted to visit the famous Albert Park Circuit. It’s a bit funny to be allowed to walk or drive freely on parts of the track, because a large part of it is just a normal street. The quietness of the pit lane naturally makes it seem like a foreign body within the sports park. Due to its location within the city and the truly impressive skyline, which is best observed from the shore of the central lake, it must be a very special event to be in Melbourne during the Grand Prix.

Passing the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre and the South Melbourne Football Club, we took the tram towards the city centre. Here we first had a look at Chinatown, which was founded in 1850 with the start of the gold rush in Australia. This makes Melbourne’s Chinatown one of the oldest in the world.

On Exhibition Street we came across the next evening’s destination, the Comedy Theatre. After we had eaten something in Chinatown, we moved on through the city centre. After a stop at the impressive Myer department stores’, we headed towards St. Paul’s Cathedral, which we could only admire from the outside. At the neighbouring Flinders Street station, we took the tram back to the hotel.

Pictures Melbourne and Melbourne Star

 


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