Today was our most perfect day in Antarctica Peninsula. Everything we did and saw today was enough to justify the ticket price to Antarctica. Upon wakening, we saw huge ice mountains surrounded us. The boat was sailing slowly towards Southern Gerlache Strait and our first location was Dorian Bay at Domay point.
10 Day Antarctica Peninsula with M/V Ocean Nova- Part 1
This is the day that we are boarding Ocean Nova. We have used up 1/4 of our one year budget on this 10 day so I was quite naturally nervous about starting our journey. The most worrying part is that if our clothes will stand the cold of Antarctica since we couldn’t carry too much in our 8 Kg carry on luggage. After the notorious Drake Passage, I shall know if my 8 Kg packing gear article is useful or not.
Packing List for Long Term Travel in an 8KG Carry-on
York and I have officially quit our job and will be travelling the world in less than a month’s time! That means we have to pack all our clothes for the year in a carry-on! Things would’ve been a lot easier if we didn’t book a “Last-Minute Antarctica Cruise” to our trip, now we have to pack for cold Antarctica weather as well as hot climate of the Amazons jungles. Below is a detailed packing list for long term travel and what we going to survive on for the next year.
How to book Last Minute Antarctica Cruises?
According to all the on-line resources, last minute Antarctica cruises happen all the time! Especially if you happen to be at Ushuaia during the summer months, potentially it could save you thousands of dollars if you are flexible with your schedule! I thought this is an awesome idea and below is a summary of all the information I know about booking last minute Antarctica cruises.
Pink Lake in Australia
I always believed that Pink Lake in Australia is very dreamy. I never though we would bump into one of the pink lakes during our travels. On our way back from Melbourne at a location just past a town, Dimboola, which is close to the The Grampians, we saw this pink lake! We were on the High way and we spotted this pink lake which appeared to be red from afar. Although we quickly whizzed past the lake we decided to quickly U-Turn and head back to check out this crazily beautiful nature’s creation.
Day Trip to Grampians National Park
I have always wanted to go to the Grampians National park since I have been in Australia to see the beautiful scenaries, crazy rocks, amazing wildlife and famous aboriginal paintings. After four years in Australia, I finally have a chance to take my young cousin to visit this place during our travels from Adelaide to Melbourne. Grampians is roughly 500kms from Adelaide (5.5hours of driving) we woke up very early that day and made Grampians our first destination!
The Guide: What to see on Great Ocean Road?
This time, we travelled from Adelaide To Melbourne via Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road is a 276 km stretch of road built mostly on top of coastal cliffs. The trip is filled with magnificent sceneries ranging from amazing cliffs, raging Oceans and magnificent rocks crafted by the wind and sea over millions of years. It is a road that is well visited by locals and many travel across the world to see. But what to see on Great Ocean Road exactly? We have made a list of can’t missed attractions!
Lost World Tour at Waitomo Caves- Tom Cruise did it 7 times!
The Lost World. It was surely one. Maybe I have not seen enough of the world but this was definitely the most amazing adventures I have ever been on. I believe I have told the story of this trip countless times since I have been on it. Apparently Tom Cruise did this cave with different groups of family and friends countless of times when he was filming The Last Samurai
To climb Uluru or not? The Reasons
When the British settlers arrived in Australia, they took over and forced the Aboriginals out of the area and renamed Uluru into Ayer’s Rock. Many people attempted to climb the Ayer’s Rock and will accidentally fall and die. The rope on Uluru was placed around 1960s to make rescue missions easier for the locals. Not too long after, many people from all over the world starts to come to Uluru and climb the rock. The actual climb is only 2 hours; physically there is nothing to brag about (only 348m high), unlike climbing Mt Everest (8848m) where it is actually physically demanding.
Uluru Sunrise & Kata Tjuta- Valley of the Winds Walk
We woke up at 5.20am to watch the Uluru sunrise at 7am. The Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is half hour drive away from the campsite. The actual name of this place is called “Ayers Rock Campground”, next to the campground there’s another hotel called “Ayers Rock Resort” for people who enjoy staying in luxurious places. Judging from their website, it looks like a completely different world. Today’s sunrise is still a distance away from Uluru itself, Leith said only when the sun goes over the horizon then we can have breakfast.