AUSTRALIA

Visas are there, suitcases are ready, the goodbye is done, it's time to leave our Switzerland for this amazing adventure at more than 16'600 kilometers. We settle down and take off in the majestic Airbus A380 to Singapore, then make a short, somewhat stressful, hour-long stop and continue this trip aboard the Boeing 777 to reach our destination, Brisbane.

We finally put our little feet on the Australian soil. It's 5 pm, the sun is good. We take a taxi, which will cost us sweet and join our hotel in the heart of South Brisbane. Beautiful apartment with rooftop pool and stunning views of the city. We take a few steps to discover this charming city. We already feel at home !

Brisbane is a lovely city with some little cafes and restaurants on every corner. It's very easy to explore by bike or on foot. There is a beautiful botanic garden with a very peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. It's a business city with a lot of big skyscrapers, however you can also see architectural buildings dating back to the 19th century.

On 23th of december it's time to start our roadtrip in Hippicamper !

SEAL was the name of our van. SEAL was our best friend on road and it conducted us for more two months on the Aussie road.

Our trip start in Brisbane where we picked up our van. We've decided to go to the south of Australia, so our first step was on GoldCoast, at Kirra Beach. Kirra Beach is a town near Surfers Paradise, around 30 minutes by car. We stayed there for Christmas, on a beautiful place

The only negative point of SEAL is the mosquito nets and in Australia, little flies, spiders and some other insects is present everywhere, so we've tinkering some mosquito nets. It wasn't very easy to do that.

It's Christmas day, it's very strange to say that because the weather is very hot and the sunshine. We didn't do something special for it, we just eat some BBQ. Yes, yes not like in Switzerland. We went to Surfer's Paradise, lovely town.

Canberra, what's a surprise!

Before we arrived in Canberra, we had some apprehensions. Many people on Byron Bay had told us that Canberra was a boring and frankly uninteresting city. Surprisingly, it's time to take stock.

Canberra, populated city of about 359'000 inhabitants is the capital of Australia. The territory of Canberra stretches 80 km north or south and 30 km wide, which makes it a small state. Located about 280km southwest of Sydney and 680km northeast of Melbourne. Canberra is divided into several neighborhoods, able to operate independently and independently with their own city center and shops.

Canberra was designated capital of Australia in 1908, following a disagreement between the two major Australian cities, Melbourne and Sydney. Canberra is halfway between these two cities. The city officially becomes The Australian Capital Territory in 1927, following the inauguration of the first parliament. This territory is built according to the plans of the architect Walter Burley Griffin, which is based on the principle of a city in harmony with nature. A lake, a city divided into a triangle giving rise to neighborhoods.

This city is located in nature between eucalyptus forest and mountain, which allows various activities. Lake Burley Griffin is in the center of the city. It is crossed by Commonwealth Avenue, which offers spectacular views of the entire lake. There are many free museums. We visited the National Gallery of Australia, it offers a great diversity of Australian or international arts. Nearby is The Parliament, home to the Australian government headquarters. It is also possible to climb Telstra Tower to get an overview of Canberra. The Mount Ainslie and Black Mountain that we unfortunately did not climb also offer a view of the city. A botanical garden, about 40 hectares, has been developed. Canberra has many shops and restaurants, such as Jamie Olivier, a famous cook in Australia.

The Great Ocean Road is known for being the most spectacular coastal road in the world. It is about 245 km, starting at close to Melbourne, Torquay and ending at Warrnambool.

All along this road, many beautiful spots are presented to you. It's very easy to stop there and to contemplate the magnificent views that are available to you.

Spots we'd visited - Each of these spots offer breathtaking views :

• Bay of Martyrs
• Whales nursery at Warrnambool, close to Logan Beach
• Twelve Apostle
• Mutton Bird Island
• London Bridge
• The Grotto
• The Arch
• London Arch
• Lord Ard Gorge

If we have to give you some advice, it is better during the summer season to get on these various spots in the morning. Many visitors and buses arrive in the afternoon, making these wonderful places overload

Swiss Friends, we found Gruyere Switzerland, pure instent of happiness to savor this cheese straight from our small country

Nine hours and about 550 kilometers later of ferry, we're in Tasmania.

Tasmania is one of the more fascinating state of Australia. We've decided to stay for two weeks there and to do a roadtrip through all of Tasmania.

We arrived with the ferry at Devonport. A little city in northern Tasmania. Our first night in Tasmania was very calm in a cute free campground

Day 1 : Tassie discovery

Launceston is the third oldest city in Australia, after Sydney and Hobart. It is located in northern Tasmania. It's a really lovely town.

In the surroundings, you find the gorgeous Cateract Gorge Reserve. During a short walk you'll discover some beautiful peacocks, black swan and also rabbits. It's a very nice walk.

The famous Penny Royal Adventures is also located there. Have fun with your friends or family

Day 2 : The splendid Bay of Fires

Bay of Fires is certainly the most beautiful landscape that I had the chance to see.

This white sand, this turquoise ocean, these fire colored rocks, a set that seems to you of an unreal beauty, it was an unique moment.

A breathtaking view !

We slept in a really nice place with as garden the ocean

Day 3 : Freycinet, the power of the nature

Freycinet is also a beautiful place to be !

We did a quite long walk on this amazing National Park, walking up to the awesome Wineglass bay is definitely worth the detour, despite the 10 km, with quite a difference in altitude. You could meet some wildlife and just observe how the nature is beautiful and filled with mysterious meeting.

We went to Cape Tournille, there we played with some wallabies, so funny

Sleepy bay is very quiet and beautiful

Day 4 : Discovering a historic site

One month on road, how beautiful is it ! We're in Port Arthur !

Port Arthur is on the Tasman Peninsula, mainly known for its historic site, where previously was a penitentiary. It was an ideal place to build a prison, because of deep, cold ocean, thick forest and around 300 meter of high sea cliffs. It's made Port Arthur a natural prison from which escape must have seemed impossible.

Port Arthur Historic Site is nowadays one of Australia’s most important heritage destinations, where the story of Australia’s colonial history is written in stone and brick.

It was very impressive to feel the atmosphere in that prison, atmosphere filled with silence.

You can also visit other islands of the historic site by boat, it's includes in price

Day 5 : Cultural day

Today, we went to the Remarkable Cave, beautiful place where rocks are in Tassie Shape. After that, we visited Tasmanian Devil Unzoo at Taranna. It was an amazing experience, we could give some food to lovely kangaroos. They're so cute and funny. We could stay there so many time to watch them.

Baby kangaroos are so lovely and we could also see for the first time two Tasmanian devil, it was really interesting to learn about them. We met some lovely birds, wallabys, quoll ans other some species of wallabys. We recommend you to visit this place, it was just unbelievable !

At the end of the day, we went to different spot to see amazing views : Devils Kitchen, Tasman Arch, Tasman Blowhole, Pirates bay and Tessellated Pavement

Day 6 : Capital of Tasmania, Hobart

Nice city with a really beautiful old center area, where you can find some different kind of restaurant. Don't forget to eat the delicious Tasmanian Salmon.

MONA, The famous museum of old and new art, is located also in Hobart. We really recommend you to do this visit, there's just awesome piece of art.

Day 7 : Bruny Island

This morning we took the ferry to Bruny Island. It's just around 30 minutes, we arrived to Roberts Point and took the road to Cape Bruny Lighthouse. The road is rough with some gravel, doesn't matter, we're HippieCamper !

Beautiful landscape and view on Cloudy Bay, Court Island and Standaway Bay, What's more Tasmania !

We slept on Neck national Park between Adventure Bay and Isthmus Bay, nice campground.

Day 8 : Meeting with seals on Tasman Sea

We did ''Bruny Island Cruises'', three hours on boat. Just amazing, unforgettable experience !

We could see some beautiful caves, the famous ''Breathing Rock'' that explodes water, very impressing to see the power of water. There is some tiny beach. We passed between the Sheer Cliffs and the famous rocks, called The Monument, it was funny because we go very fast. We could realize how big is the national park of the South of Bruny and how wildlife is beautiful. We really recommend you this amazing adventure !

Join the adventure

We slept in a lovely campground in mountain. With Frank, the owner, we feed some farmer's animals like alpagas, chicken, sheets, donkey and some funny goat. It was a really precious time to share with locals people.

Day 9 : Journey to the Ghost Village

Mount Field offers many kind of walks, one of the most popular and not far away one of the most soothing is the Russell Falls. This walk is accessible to all and lets you enter a very peaceful atmosphere! To reach the Russell Falls, you have to cross a beautiful forest, don't worry we didn't meet any snakes or spiders

After driving on one of the narrowest and wildest roads we met during our more than five months in Australia, we arrive at Wombat Moor, which offers us a breathtaking view of a flora quite different from the one we observed a few Kilometers lower, a rather arid nature. It's amazing !

After this unforgettable adventure we drove to Tarraleah Highland, a small village of cottage, lovely and calm place, we were alone on campground.

At night we could meet some animals like Kangaroos, wallabies, chicken, penne-deer and other small and funny wildlife.

Previously, it was a village of workers. The story goes that overnight, the activities stopped and they all left their house as they were, that's why we talk about a ghost town. There is a church, a school, shops, but everything is empty and silent. It's a rather strange atmosphere

Day 10 : Lake St-Clair National Park - Cradle Mountain

Cradle Mountain is the Tasmania's most visited National Park. Wildlife is abundant, platypus ans echidna are often seen in this National Park.

What makes it so beautiful is its diversity in the landscape, Alpine landscape, glacial lake, bush. Some beautiful hiking and trekking are possible in this area, however be careful

Day 11 : The madness of the great outdoors

Dove lake is an icy lake, at the foot or the famous Cradle Mountain. It's possible discover and explore its by a six kilometers track. It's one of the most beautiful walk in Tassie. The temperatures were pretty cold, at around 10 degrees.

Dove lake is located at the northern end of the Cradle Mountain. It's possible to drive to the lake, however access is limited. A Dove Lake Shuttle Bus is provided and it's free with your National Park access fee, which regularly departs at the visitor center of the Dove Lake.

Day 12 : Volcanic plug, Table Cape

We moved on Wynyard, town close to the ocean. This area is known for the Rocky Cape National Park, for its amazing Sisters Beach and also for the Table Cape, from where you can enjoy an unobstructed view of the ocean and Devonport

Day 13 / 14 : Bye Bye Tassie

Last little walk in Tasmanian's nature !It's time for us and our four-wheeled companion to prepare for the return to Australia after these wonderful discoveries and adventures. We can only recommend that you come explore this little corner of paradise !

We live in communities and societies highly industrialized and developed, this adventure and discoveries allows us to remember that it's important to take care of the fauna and flora. Nature offers us a wonderful thing, it offers us life.

Always keep in your mind that without it our life would not be possible !

We left Swan lake on the 9th of February to join the famous Blue Mountains. On the road we through an amazing bridge, called Sea Cliff Bridge. We arrived at Katoomba, there was an ukulele festival so it was very busy, we just found an unpowered site and decided to try to stay two nights there. The weather didn't be with us, some storm and showers on the evening.

We walked to the famous Three Sister's. The view was impressive ! During our trip we were overwhelmed by the size of the spaces offered by nature, which we unfortunately don't have in Switzerland, because of the density of our territory. Nature has something to offer us we need to take care of the nature !

We arrived at Sydney after few days at the Blue Mountains !

We don't believe our eyes, we are in Sydney. This city that we had seen so much before, through a screen. This time, it's real, we're there. Funny impression

During our stay in this incredible city, we went to Bondi Beach, known worldwide, for its beautiful beach, its waves ideal for surfing, these skatepark on the oceanside and these amazing food. Also known for its pool of marine water !

By our Campground is very easy to go to the center of Sydney by train. We walked in town and visited some famous building : The Queen Victoria Building and The Sydney Tower.

Harbour Bridge is very high and its offer an amazing view on Sydney. An impression of being pretty small, we invaded.

Manly is also a beautiful part of Sydney, it's the best place to learn surfing however and unfortunately the weather wasn't with us so we did some shopping

We did a guided tour of the majestical Opera House, it's awesome, so impressing to see this in real, it's gorgeous ! Interesting and fascinating to learn about its history and to see inside!

Almost seven months, we came back in our little Switzerland. It's really surprising to realize that our vision of Switzerland and Europe has evolved and changed. Discovering a new country allows us of course to realize advantages offered by our country, however also its weaknesses.

Honestly, it's still difficult to describe our feeling at this time. Our life has changed so much since our return.

We feel still pretty sad to say goodbye of leaving Australia and to all our Japanese and Korean friends. However we definitely know that we will see them again, anywhere. All rest is positive, our head is plenty of memories, new friends over the world. So many wonderful and amazing places where we've been. We've just realized how beautiful the world and people are and how they can change our life.

We simply want to thank all the people who supported us in our adventure and all the people who are part of it.

The end of a journey is never obvious, however it's always important to remember each day what it has brought us, brings us and will bring us. We know that this adventure will accompany us throughout our life. We grew up, gained more self-confident, and made friendships that changed our lives. We already have new travel plans and we look forward to sharing them with you. The adventure goes on !

To finish, our short movie about this magical experience, Aussie! Thanks a lot for your reading !

                                          You should travel to learn!