Melissa and Klas's Journey

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We both like to travel, especially to visit family and friends around the world. Coming from Australia and Sweden and having family in Texas and California, most of our trips are to these places. And now we've embarked on a very long trip, visiting about 30 countries, so we thought we'd share our journey with you...

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

All Good Things Come To An End

Our travels came to an end this past Tuesday night. The past three months travelling around Australia have been awesome but it is nice to have a bed to sleep in and not have to set up the tent any more. The tent held up to the end although we had to use some duct tape to keep it together towards the end (I guess setting the tent up 57 times in 91 days probably took its toll) . We are also very happy to take a break from driving since we have driven 27000 km (16780 mi) since we left Sydney, which on average is almost 300 km (185 mi) per day.



Since the last post we checked out Adelaide and Mt Gambier before heading to Victoria. We spent 2 days exploring the Great Ocean Road with the Twelve Apostles being the highlight of the many beautiful spots along the drive. We next spent 3 nights in Melbourne where we were able to catch up with Melissa's high school friend Michael. The city of Melbourne is great for tourists with free sightseeing buses and trams. Eating out in Melbourne seemed to be a lot cheaper than any other place that we have been to in Australia.



We also spent 2 days at Wilsons Promontory before heading back to what is now our home state of New South Wales. 'The Prom' is a beautiful national park with good bush walking as well as great beaches. A bonus was that we finally got to see some wombats. The wombats would roam the camp site starting at dusk.


The last night we spent in Merimbula in New South Wales. We treated ourselves to a B&B. It was great to sleep in a bed again and have a hot breakfast in the morning.

Right now we are happy to be done travelling but that might change once we start the job search and have nowhere to travel to in a month. It will be nice to catch up with family and friends in Sydney. We are also looking forward to spending time with some of our family who are visiting over the next few months.



So what should we do with this blog? We've thought of two options:
  1. Finish this blog so that it just contains posts about our last 18 months of travel, or
  2. Continue the blog about our journey as we settle down in Sydney.
We'd love to know what you think. Either way, we'll write at least one more post to summarise the past 18 months of this amazing experience and share some photos and videos that we weren't able to post before. In the meantime, enjoy the photos below.

On the Way to the Great Ocean Road

Blue Lake Mt Gambier


Great Ocean Road



The Twelve Apostles (now there are only six)

Melbourne

From Melbourne Observatory

Shrine of Rememberance


City skyline

In St Kilda with Michael

Wilsons Promontory





New South Wales Coast


Merimbula and Tathra

"Home" for the past 3 months


We even had a heater in the tent (coldest morning in the tent was 5C or 41F)

Home Sweet Home

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Almost Done Travelling - South Australia

Since the last posting we have crossed the Nullarbor Plains (a long stretch of road that takes two days to cross with not much to do) into South Australia (SA). Before we left Western Australia we spent some time in Denmark, Albany and Esperance. In Esperance we stayed in Cape Le Grand National Park (N.P.) which had an awesome "bushcamp" near a beach -- the bushcamp actually had flush toilets, solar-powered heating that worked very well, and a gas BBQ.

The coolest thing about crossing the Nullarbor was being able to observe the Southern Right Whales at the Head of the Great Australian Bight, which is just east of the SA border. It was awesome to see the whales breach (jump into the air) and hearing the noises they make.

We quickly drove along the coast of the Eyre Peninsula. The best part was when we got to see a kangaroo with a joey in the pouch at Coffin Bay National Park and watching the sea lions "run around" at Point Labatt. Then we moved onto the Flinders Ranges where we hiked and took a 4WD tour.


Next we hit some of the wine regions -- Clare Valley, Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills. We rented bikes, which was a lot of fun riding door-to-door to various wine cellars except for getting swooped by nesting magpies.


We are touring Adelaide today before driving to Victoria. We are about 10 days away from finishing our grand tour.


Our Favourite Beach - Mandalay Beach



Tree Top Walk, Walpole


Suspended 40 metres above ground among the tree tops


Demonstration of "Giving the Finger"


Our record is still 8 fingers received


Cape Le Grand National Park


Driving across the Nullarbor Plains

Interesting road signs


Great Australian Bite

Animals on the Eyre Pensinsula

Zoom in to see the joey


Sea Lions

Flinders Ranges


Wine Regions

Riding bikes in Barossa Valley