Sydney - Blue Mountain

It was about 10-hour drive from Melbourne to Sydney. This part of Australia is more populated so we see a lot of small towns and farmlands. The countryside is beautiful; some parts of it remind me of the rolling hills of Europe. We are staying at my friend, John's daughter's apartment near Darling Harbor. Across the bay from the Harbor area is the Central Business District and about 10 minutes walk away is Chinatown. On our first day in Sydney we drove to a popular spot in Sydney called Blue Mountain. It's about an hour and a half away from the city. There are a few small towns in the area. The views from some of the scenic spots are amazing. I've included some below.

"Three Sisters"

One of the monuments

Information about the Blue Mountain

We stopped at a small town called Leura

Another monument

A waterfall in the mountains

The Great Ocean Road

The Great Ocean Road is one of Melbourne's top attractions. It is about 1 1/2 hours south of Melbourne on the southern coast of Australia. It was built in the 1900s'. We drove along this well-engineered road and saw some incredible coastal sceneries. There were many places to stop and admire the beach and the rocks. Some parts of the road run a few miles inland but even that offer some beautiful scenery of rolling hills and farmlands. After driving several hours we stopped at another well-known Melbourne attraction called The Twelve Apostles. It's a group of rocks jutting out of the water near the coast.
Below are pictures of sceneries along The Great Ocean Road. If you want to see an enlarged view of the picture, just left-click on the picture.

The Twelve Apostles

We did not find the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow

Plaque explaining the site

We stopped for lunch at Apollo Bay

Lighthouse at Split Point

Another beautiful view of the coast

Melbourne

We drove from Adelaide to Melbourne in about 8-9 hours, a distance of almost 800 km. Most of the journey was through farmland. We checked into the Urban Center Hostel, which I found on the internet. This hostel is similar to the ones I stayed in my travels through Europe last year. The four of us stayed in a private room with 2 bunk beds and a private bathroom. It costs about A$30 per person. It comes with breakfast - cereal, toast, orange juice and coffee or tea. They have a big kitchen where a lot of the residents cook their own meals. There are a few refrigerators where they can store their perishable groceries. Most of the residents are young, probably in their 20s'. The nice thing about this hostel is it's very close to the Central Business District (CBD).  It's about a 5 minute walk and we are on the bank of the Yarra River, which runs through the CBD.
On the first day we joined a "free" walking tour.  I did many of these in Europe and it's a great way to know the city.  Unfortunately, half-way through the tour we lost our group.  So we decided to take the free tourist bus that goes around the city to the various tourist attractions.  The trip takes about 1 1/2 hours and the driver gives a commentary on each site.  You can hop on and off the bus.  In some European cities, this tour would have costs about $30.  Melbourne also has a free tram that goes around the city center.  This is another nice way to see another part of the city.  On top of this they have several volunteers at street corners ready to help tourists with information about the city.  There are also a couple of Information Centers where you can pick up literature on tours.
On the second day we were ready to go to the various places of interest around the city but it rained on and off all day.  So we decided to go to the Queen Victoria Market, which is kind of like a Central Market.  One section of the market sells clothes, shoes, souvenirs, etc.  Another section sells meat and another sell produce.  It is a very big and interesting market.  A lot of local residents shop there.
Since it continued to rain all day, we couldn't do anything outside.  Guess what we did?  We went to Costco.  This is a big deal for Melbourne and it's the only Costco here.  It looks exactly like a Costco in the US but some of the things for sale are a little different.  I think whenever they can get something local, they get the local version.  Like a Costco on a Saturday or Sunday, it was crowded.  One thing I miss is the samples.  I only saw one sample stand.  My friends bought some stuff, including a frozen seafood pizza for dinner.  I don't think I've seen one in the US.  It has shrimp, squid and mussels for toppings.  When we ate the pizza in the hostel, we had quite a few envious stares.  Yum...it was good.

Night View of Central Business District

Arts Center

Flinders St Train Station

St Paul's Cathedral & Federation Square

Queen Victoria Market

Adelaide

Before we left Port Lincoln we stopped at the Visitors Information Center and got some help in finding accommodation in Adelaide.  We found a trailer apartment in a caravan park.  In Australia, they call a trailer or RV (recreational vehicle) a caravan.  I thought it was interesting that they rent rooms in a trailer park but I understand it's quite common here.  Of course there are other campers parked around the property of the caravan park.
We drove into Adelaide at about 8 pm after getting off the ferry at Wallaroo.  It was a 2-hour drive and it was already getting dark by the time we got off the ferry.  We avoid driving in the dark because of wild animals crossing the road.  It's a 2-bedroom apartment with 2 bunk beds in 1 room and a queen-size bed in the other and a kitchen in the middle of the apartment.  It's not the best but it's okay for 2 nights.  We paid A$170 a night for this apartment.

Trailer Apartment

Being so late we thought our best chance of getting some dinner would be in Chinatown.  So we drove to Gouger Street and saw many restaurants there that were still open at 10 pm.  We had a pretty good Chinese meal at the City BBQ restaurant.  The price is a little higher than what you'd pay in the US but here in Australia you don't pay taxes for your meals and you don't have to leave any tips unless you want to.  So you save about 10% on taxes and another 15% on tips.  That makes up for the difference in prices.  Unfortunately, the US dollar is slightly weaker than the Australian dollar.  Otherwise, things here would have been relatively cheap.
Adelaide is a nice mid-size city.  The Central Business District (CBD) has some beautiful old buildings, including some that belong to the University of Adelaide.  It has a popular street mall on Rundle Street.  Like in most Australian cities they have a free tourist bus going around the CBD.  The key attraction in the city is the Central Market, next to Chinatown.  This reminds me of the markets in Europe, where they sell a lot of fresh produce, cheese, sausages, nuts, etc.  This market does not sell any fish or meat.  The sellers are mixed - caucasian, Asians, middle-eastern, etc.  It is a nice representation of Adelaide.
We also took a 30-minute drive to Glenelg, a town by the coast where the first settlers came to South Australia.  It's a  nice coastal town which today has some beautiful condominiums along the ocean front.  You can take a tram from Adelaide to Glenelg.

Rundle Street Mall

Central Market

Glenelg

Produce Stand at Central Market

Our next destination is Melbourne.  It's almost an 800 km drive, roughly 8 hours through some beautiful farmlands and countryside. 

Port Lincoln

We arrived in Port Lincoln after a 2-day drive through the Australian outback.  Port Lincoln is located at the tip of the Eyre Peninsula in the state of South Australia.  It is known for the variety of seafood that it is caught in the waters around the area.  It has a population of about 14,000 but during the season I'm sure the place is well-visited by tourists.  We were lucky to get a nice apartment for $130 a night at the Pier Hotel.  The apartment has a nice ocean-view from the terrace and sits above a pub and restaurant.
There are some touristy things to do, like going on a boat out in the waters to swim with tuna and sealions and even get in a cage to see the sharks.  But, that is during the summer.  For us, we just enjoyed the water front and the serenity and beauty of the small town.

Pier Hotel

Fishing Boats at the Marina

Our plan after Port Lincoln is to drive about 2 hours to a town called Cowell, then to Lucky Bay, where we take the ferry across to the Australian mainland and drive 2 hours south to the city of Adelaide.  We could have driven further north to Port Augusta, then south towards Adelaide but we thought we'd do something different and save a little driving.  We arrived in Adelaide at about 8 pm that night and found an apartment in a caravan (trailer) park.

The Nullarbor Plain

Surprisingly, for an advance country like Australia the internet is not as easily accessible. Most of the places where we stayed charge for use of the internet, usually about $5 an hour. The hotels either don't have wifi or they charge for it. Our mobile wifi device doesn't always work.
 We started our journey through the Nullarbor Plain in Esperance. First, it was about a 2 hour drive north to Norseman. Then we started going east through the Plain. This is a vast, vast area of "nothing," the so-called Australian Outback. I was expecting to see desert but there were many areas where there were tall trees and areas with short bushes.  We passed through many small towns, most of them just a gas station and a motel.  We were told that it'd take us 2 days to drive through this area and yes, we did take 2 days of seeing very few cars and people.  Every few miles we'd see a swarm of black crows in the distance and we knew it would be a kangaroo carcass they were feeding on.
Eventually, we made it to the Western Australia/Southern Australia border.  A place appropriately called Border Village.  It has a few more motel rooms that the other small towns and even a decent restaurant and pub.  We paid A$200 for a small room with a bunk bed, a queen-bed and a twin-bed.  We didn't have a choice.  We were in the middle of nowhere.
In the morning, our next destination was Port Lincoln, a seaside tourist town at the tip of the Eyre Peninsula.  But first, we have to get out of the Outback and into civilization.  Once we got to a town called Ceduna, we starting heading south down the coast of the peninsula.
The speed limit on the Australian highway is 110 km/h.  Since we were driving through empty roads we were averaging about 140 km/h.  So the only exciting thing that happened on this journey is I got a speeding ticket.  I was clocked at 147 km/h by a young police officer.  He told me that there are a lot of accidents on these roads and they take speeding very seriously.  So he gave me a very hefty fine - A$592!  Ouch!   He said it should have been about $800 but is giving me a small break.  I have 30 days to pay this fine.  That pretty much dampened our spirits for the rest of the day.
We finally got into Port Lincoln about 7 pm and found a room at the Pier Hotel.

Town called Norseman

Our room at the Border Village

Seaside at Esperance

Visitor's Information Center at Esperance

Albany

We started on our real Australian journey on Saturday morning, May 5th. Our first destination is the coastal town of Albany. It is a seaside town that caters mostly to tourists from Western Australia. Some of its popular tourist attractions are whale watching (from June to October), a wind-farm and some "blow-holes." It was late in the afternoon when we arrived. We stopped at the Albany Visitors Information Center where they helped us with finding a room at a Best Western Motel and other tourist information. These Visitors Information Center are located in almost every town and city. They provide tourists information and help with finding accommodation. We booked a 3-room apartment at the Best Western Albany Motel for A$200 a night.
It comes with a kitchenette so we saved some money by buying some cooked food from an IGA grocery store.  IGA stores were common in Phoenix in the 80s' but I think they were put out of business by the big grocery chains.  It was raining so we spent the evening in the room catching up on emails and watching TV.
In the morning we visited the wind farm where we had a good view of the southern-most point of western Australia.  We also visited the blow-holes and other beaches.  At around noon we started our 5-hour drive to Esperance.
We took Southern Highway 1 to Esperance.  It's about 500 km and at the speed limit of 110 km/hr, we expected to take about 5 hours.  It's a 2-lane highway with no shoulders.   There was not a lot of traffic but we saw several kangaroo carcasses on the side of the road.  Apparently, they were hit at night, which I understand is a common problem is Australia.  This is one reason why we are not driving at night.  Hitting a kangaroo will probably be the end of our trip.
Again, I am surprised by how expensive things are in Australia.  At a roadside gas station, gas is about A$1.70 a liter.  That is about US$7.50 a gallon!  Americans have no reason to complain about US$5 a gallon.  Now you know why everyone is looking for alternative energy sources.

We are making a quick stop at a small town called Streaky Bay, after driving for 1 1/2 days through the Nollarbor Plains.  I will write another post about driving through the Australian Outback.   But, I want to take this opportunity to put up this post while I have some sort of internet connection.  We hope to get to a city called Port Lincoln tonight.

Albany Seaside

Lunch at a roadside rest-stop

Windmill Farm

A$1.70 a liter = US$7.50 a gallon