After whole day of sitting in the car, at 4.40pm we arrived at our final resting station. We saw a massive mass in the distance that looked like Uluru. All of us got super excited and started snapping away. Leigh yelled to us saying that is Mt Conner, aka, “Fool-uru”. It may look like Uluru from one angle, but it is not. We didn’t believe him until we saw some random paintings outside the toilet walls with bald writing that says “Mt Conner”.
Crossing over to Northern Territory
Apparently Coober Pedy has the best filter water system in Australia due to the high mineral contents in the water. The water actually tastes quite good, much better than Adelaide. I guess the governments rather invest in good water filter system in the area than people dying. We filled up our water tank in the van with Coober Pedy’s water and chuck in some ice to make it icy.
Underground church & Kangaroo Orphanage in Coober Pedy
After dinner we went to “Josephine’s Gallery & Kangaroo Orphanage”. It is free to see the kangaroos in their backyard. We were given some fruits to feed them. Josephine explained to us that if there are any injured kangaroos or small animals that require their help, they will look after them until they are capable of surviving themselves (either by phone consultations or pick them up from rural areas). The size of area they need to look after is similar to the size of Germany.
The Underground City- Coober Pedy
Coober Pedy has a population of 1695 according to 2011 census from Wikipedia. It is 846km north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. Not only it is famous for the amount of precious opals mined here, it is also famous for underground residences called “dugouts”. It helps to avoid the heat during the day and keeps the house warm at night. The name of this town is actually from the Aboriginal word “kupa-piti” which means “white man’s holes”. Leith said the underground houses used to cost only AUD$20,000, now probably need AUD$200,000.
The Grove Restaurant (Auckland, New Zealand)
The Grove Restaurant is the winner of 2014 “Restaurant of the year” in Auckland. After leaving Auckland for 18 months, my friends and I decided to catch up over some fine dining. The Grove Restaurant is next to the newly renovated historic St Patrick’s Cathedral, the square is quite quiet on a Thursday night, giving a serene ambiance.
Nature’s reflective mirror: Lake Hart
2 hours later, we arrive at Lake Hart. It is a smaller lake in the Lake Eyre basin- a drainage basin that covers just under 1/6 of all Australia and is one of the largest in the world covering around 1.2 million square kilometers, including inland Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory and part of western NSW. The actual Lake Eyre is actually not accessible by vehicles, can only been seen via helicopter. Lake Hart itself looks deep, like a real lake, where you can swim or kayak in it. However the lake is probably only 20mm deep due to the rain from 2-3 weeks ago.
Alligator Gorge- Southern Flinders Ranges
Today Laura, Jack and I are off our first real Australian Adventure- the Outback. We have been planning this trips for months and promised each other that we must go visit Uluru before we move back to New Zealand. We decided to go on our glorious adventure by joining the Groovy Grape Getaway’s 6 day Rock Patrol tour which travels from Adelaide to Alice Springs. The reviews of the tour are great on Trip advisor, the price is reasonable and the destinations are all places I wanted to go.
Mocan & Green Grout- Espresso Bar (Canberra, Australia)
Due to my recent obsession of eating organic & fresh ingredients, York has found this little cafe in New Action- an area in Canberra near Lake Burley Griffin. Mocan & Green Grout does not take bookings and we arrived there on a busy Sunday afternoon. To our surprise it didn’t take too long for us to get a table. There were many people waiting outside for takeaway coffees, tables and chairs were provided with blankets if you find Canberra winter too chilly.
Waitomo Cave Adventures: Tumu Tumu Toobing
Today we visited Waitomo Cave for the god-knows-how-many-th times. This place is around 2 hour drive from Auckland. Every time we have families or friends visiting from overseas, we will take them here. The cave is famous for the limestone composition and beautiful glow worms. This time I’m visiting the place with people my age, so we can do more adrenaline pumping activities. There are many options you can choose, including Black Water Rafting which is quite unique to this area. Black water rafting is completely different to white water rafting. You sit on a big rubber tire and float through underwater caves with glow worms directly above you.
Lonsdale Street Roasters (Canberra, Australia)
It was a chilly Saturday afternoon, York had just flew into Canberra from Adelaide that morning. We were staying at Clifton Suite on Northbourne Avenue, this eatery was conveniently located 2 streets away. Their website looked quite good, so we decided to give it a try. Even at 2pm, Lonsdale Street Roasters was packed with people. There were many benches outdoor, with one large table for people to share.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- …
- 10
- Next Page »