Week 5 was the week of Melbourne and New Years Eve. We heard in advance that the weather could be strange in Melbourne, and it was. The last two days in the old year, the temperature rose to 39 degrees and dropped the next day to comfortable 26. For us, 39 degrees was hot, and we were spending one day on the campground with a lot of cold water, special cold blanket and two extra neck-cooler (a genius invention). In the evening of the same day, we went to the city to celebrate the new year. There were a lot of public areas from where you could see the beautiful fireworks. Those spaces were very crowded (not surprised), and alcohol was forbidden. So wasn’t possible to drink a glass of champagne. This practice of prevention was an initial point of endless discussion about the balance of booth values prevention (of violence, alcoholism) and freedom of the individuum. We didn’t reach a conclusion yet.

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Route

Day 32: Balnarring – Melbourne

Day 33: Stay in Melbourne (exploring day)

Day 34: Stay in Melbourne (immigration museum)

Day 35: Stay in Melbourne (New Years Eve)

Day 36: Stay in Melbourne

Day 37: Stay in Melbourne (busy day with extremely expensive haircut, hippie dinner, and stunning outlook)

Day 38: Melbourne – Great Otway National Park

special recommendations

Museum of Immigration

With any doubts, Melbourne is a melting pot! I saw a diversity of people I’ve never seen in Europe. Along this topic, we visited the immigration museum, which explained the history of immigration (the different politics since the first invasion) and the various travel routes from Europe to Australia. The exhibition spotted on special proceedings to limit the immigration, for example, a dictation test that could be held in every European language. If an unwanted immigrant was able to pass the first try, he had to do a second try in another language (for instant gaellisch). The test was only introduced to exclude non-British immigrants, but in a way with more political correctness.

New Years Eve Dinner at VaPiano, Melbourne

I think two days before New Years Eve, Maggi and I were searching for some activity for the great day in Australia. It’s definitely something special to pass this event in a unique environment like a foreign and famous city. So, we did a search request at Google and TripAdvisor and got some results for parties, boat trips and restaurants dinners. There were still some offers, but to pay more than 150 Dollars per person for only one evening was a bit high-priced. At the end of an expanded discussion, we decided to do something normal, perhaps something boring. We had dinner in our favorite restaurant in Australia (VaPiano). Afterwards, we went to the river and watched the two fireworks while we were drinking some water (Alcohol-free area, see the introduction).

Lentil as Anything – Alternatively vegetarian restaurant

This restaurant was a tip from our Australian Friend from Melbourne. This restaurant is more than a place where you can order some food and drinks. Lentil as Anything is a social project that supports the idea of a sustainable world. The food is vegetarian and is organised as a buffet. Every day the chefs prepare another variety of several dishes like Italian the one day, Japanese the other day. The restaurant runs by volunteers, refugees and two paid chefs (likewise refugees). But the most extraordinary thing is the method of payment. As in the museum (Geld – Jenseits von gut und böse), you could choose how much you want to pay for the meal. For me, that’s a real culture of trust – and it must be working. The restaurants exist already several years.

Eureka Tower in Melbourne

This tower is just amazing. With a ticket (it’s highly recommended to buy the ticket online in advance – otherwise you have to stay in a long queue) you can visit the level 88 (about 270 meters above sea-level) and delight in watching over the entire city of Melbourne. We took the trip one hour before sunset and enjoyed the breath-taking view by drinking a glass of wine. Of course, I did some photographs that you can discover shortly in the Photogallery.

Camping at Great Otway National Park

We only spend one night at this Campground, because this campsite was the only one we were able to book this one night. The other campsites around were booked out or had a minimum stay of two, three or seven nights. The national park is located along the great ocean road and contains the most southern point in Australia. There weren’t a lot of facilities (only one bush toilet), but you could feel the nature. We watched a stunning sunset over a little lake and some lovely white parrots which were flying from tree to tree. In the morning – together with the first coffee – we could observe a feeding wallaby (little kangaroo) next to our campervan. We enjoyed this nature-touched stay.

Great Ocean Road

A long time ago as I went out of the travel agency last March, I thought that the great ocean road was the name for the whole road between Brisbane and Adelaide. I was sure about that till Maggi told me the truth shortly before our big adventure. Last week, we did the famous drive – and yes this trip is a superbly thing to do. Unfortunately, the road was partly closed (bush fire) and we had to turn a little detour. But event then, to drive along the coast, high cliffs and some remote stones in the ocean (twelve apostles) was a quite remarkable experience.

Schwiizerdütschi Zämefassig

Melbourne isch e wunderbari Stadt, Silvester cha me ou guet und wunderbar ohni grossi Party fiire und d Great Ocean Road isch wunderwunderschön!

Week 4 contained the Christmas Eve and the Chrismas Day. It was a bit confused to celebrate or not celebrate this Christian festival without cold weather, families and relatives. Of course, we cooked a delicious meal for Chrismas Eve, but we are always cooking tasty dinners 🙂 We both resign to offer some extra gifts because we received some presents from our birthdays recently.

I intended to do Advanced exam next March, so I have to practice my grammatical skills. Therefore, I tried to include some extra rules in my Blog (either in the introduction or in the descriptions/ recommendations below). So, don’t be surprised if you find some special phrases or words.

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Route

Day 25: Stay in Sydney (museums day)

Day 26: Sydney – Canberra

Day 27: Stay in Canberra

Day 28: Canberra – Cann River

Day 29: Can River – Tidal River

Day 30: Tidal River – Balnarring

Day 31: Stay in Balnarring

special recommendations

Museum of Australia in Canberra

The Museum of Australia was one of the best museums I’ve ever visited. It’s very modern and displays the two histories of Australia, the days after the British Colonisation and the time before with Aborigine’s. There is also a lot of information about the ill-treatments and problems between the white population and the native people.

The building symbolises the close relationship between these two histories with a distinctive shape like a knot – one cord for each part. The museum contains several galleries with different topics from emotional stories about famous or unique people to the apologies-speech of the Australian Prime Minister.

We highly recommend a guided tour, as we did. In that way, it’s much easier to understand the symbolic of the architecture and the organisation of the exhibition.

House of Parliament in Canberra

As politicians, it was obvious to make a visit to Parliament Hause. Canberra is the capital of Australia as well as the smallest state in Australia (size = Kanton St. Gallen). Canberra is additionally the home of the national parliament. The architecture is very modern and full of symbolic artifacts. Every pillar in the entrance hall was made to tell you a story. Like the museum, this building is more than a place for making decisions – it’s a locality full of representative objects.

We did a guided tour and we were showed the relevant rooms like the chamber of the senate as well as the hall for the “normal” representatives. The Australien representative Democracy practice is developed from the British and the American political Systems – that’s why they like to call it the “Washminster-System”. The whole building is made for the daily political works along with the needs for visitors. There are two cafes, a parliament shop, several exhibitions objects and about 5 tours for tourists (every day except Chrismas Day).

Sunset in Tidal River

As we said in the video, we aren’t very early birds. Of this reasons, we were looking forward to get the opportunity to enjoy a lovely sunset at the beach in a the south national park near Melbourne. The national park is located on a peninsula and contains a lot of hiking trails, small creeks and beautiful beaches. We spent there only one night (high season, late booking) and took fully pleasure of the nature experience. We saw one wallaby during the sunset and one wombat.

Stay in an Airbnb as a welcome change from the camper life

After 30 days in a narrow campervan, to spend two nights in a large bed with a close bathroom and enough space for everything was an extremely relaxing experience. At first, this idea was only an urgent night stay, because all the campsites were already fully booked. Yes, that can happen in the high, high season in Australia. But at least, we would definitely repeat this practice – it is absolutely recommended for everyone who indents to spend a longer time on wheels.

Schwiizerdütschi Zämefassig

Wiehnachte am Strand, am Mittag 35 Grad – strange aber schön!

Week 3 stands for Sydney. We arrived at Thursday afternoon and spent six nights at a close (60 minutes bus drive) campsite in Narrabeen. Because of the high season and the location (Sydney is the most expensive city in the world), this campground was very high-priced, and we spend only the night there. But anyway, we had a great time in Sydney, and we did a lot of activities. That’s also a reason for the little delay of the last post.

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Route

Day 18: Stay in Foster

Day 19: Foster – Koala Shore

Day 20: Koala Shore – Sydney

Day 21: Stay in Sydney (exploring the city)

Day 22: Stay in Sydney (my Birthday)

Day 23: Stay in Sydney (beer tour)

Day 24: Stay in Sydney (Blue Mountains)

special recommendations

Maps Me (navigation application)

Maggi recommended me this application around three years ago. This app contains an extremely detailed map with marks for quite everything like a public toilet or fuel stations. You can only type the missing object in the searching mask. Maps me will show you for whatever you were looking for.

Running in the eucalyptus forest

As you have surely watched the video, I am very fascinated by the eucalyptus woods. Of course, it is very impressive jogging along a glorious beach. But to run on a hilly and wild looking trail through a light forest is, at least, an overwhelming experience. To feel your heart rate by running up to a little hillock or to pay attention cause of the uneven underground are some significant challenges.

Approaching Sydney by ferry

As I described in the introduction, we lived on remote campsite outside of Sydney in Narrabeen. We had two possibilities to travel to the central city. Either, we could take a direct bus to the town, or we could make a combination of a bus and a ferry trip. The second option takes quite the double amount of time compared with direct drive. But the view from the ferry is fantastic when it is turning to the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Beer tour

Maggi and I have both fallen in love with the beer here in Australia. Especially, the Pale Ale is tasty. Feldschlösschen and the majority of the Swiss beers are nothing compared with these products of this art of brewing! So, there is a good point to start with a guided tour through the pubs of Sydney. We visited a few pubs with more or less exclusive beers. Two of the pubs had their own brewing. Our guide told us some intriguing facts about the beer, the pubs, the history and the connections between these subjects. Christianisation in Sydney results in constructions of churches, but why not build a pub with the same rocks as the house of God was built? The public house has less precision, especially the back side, but it is still there as the church.

Blue Mountains

These Mountains are well connected with the public transport from Sydney. It is a two-hour train journey, but the scenery is quite spectacular. The area we visited is extremely touristic and, therefore, a bit crowded. There are different walking paths and lookout points. Besides the public locations, there is a park with a cable car, a steep train and some exhibition objects from the past Epoque from the coal mining. The environment with the variety of eucalyptus trees and big ferns are very exciting.

Schwiizerdütschi Zämefassig

hicks…. Bier, Blaui Bärge, Blättli ufem Operahouse – krass!