鈥淚nstant happiness is worth more than overdue compensation鈥?鈥斺€擵iva La Vida, Let鈥檚 go now
The south here enjoys abundant sunshine, the east has a long coastline,
the west has desert oceans, and the north has pristine nature,
This is Australia! From the magnificent Great Barrier Reef to the red Central Desert, and then to the pleasant harbor cities, this is a continent full of surprises.
Melbourne, the city interwoven with architecture and art. Modern skyscrapers and 19th-century Victorian architecture intersect in the city, creating a unique urban landscape.
City parks, riverside trails, Melbourne’s scenery unfolds like a painting. And on every street corner, you can smell the aroma of coffee, the coffee culture here has also created a leisurely and unique urban lifestyle.
鈥淭he orange sunshine soothes every sea, the blue sky jumps with free notes.鈥?/p>
We reserved 2 days for the Great Ocean Road, starting from Melbourne, along the coast, all the way east.
Geelong, a harbor town in Victoria, is a shining pearl in the suburbs of Melbourne.
It is located on the banks of Corio Bay, with charming seaside scenery and ancient dock buildings. In Geelong, strolling along the seaside promenade, admiring the azure waters and leisurely fishing boats is a great way to experience the charm of this town.
There are many lookouts along the Great Ocean Road, the advantage of driving yourself is reflected here, seeing good lookouts, you can stop at any time, and take a spontaneous series of clicks.
A lookout that I forgot the name of. Walking down the beach, running towards the sea.
The Little Red Riding Hood lighthouse, we agreed to stay for only 15 minutes, we ended up staying for an hour and a half in the face of the strong wind.
Do not take seriously what women say when they are taking pictures!
The starting point of the Great Ocean Road, when we arrived in the town of Lorne, it was much later than planned. We didn’t get to eat the gelato we planned for, but we saw a rainbow after the rain 馃寛
I’ve seen rainbows many times, but this is the most recent one.
We booked our accommodation on the Great Ocean Road at a homestay in Apollo Bay. Since we had a lot of people, we chose 2 houses separately. When we arrived near the accommodation, night had already fallen. Then we were tricked by the address on the platform, and we couldn鈥檛 find the house we had booked no matter what.
We even asked for help from a passing policeman. He said he would go find the house. Then I called the landlord again. Finally, after some twists and turns, we successfully found the place we were staying.
The landlord is a silver-haired old lady who lives nearby. She was very enthusiastic to take us to her house. Coincidentally, the policeman came back to tell us that he had found the house.
The homestay is very convenient, especially suitable for 3-5 friends to travel together. You can even cook some food in the kitchen in the morning. Prepare some eggs and milk, you can have breakfast. We took so many photos that day, everyone was still editing pictures at 1-2 in the morning. It seems that from this day on, everyone started to live a life of sleeping in China time and waking up in Australian time.
Highly recommended photo shoot location鈥斺€擥ibson Steps, there are steps down to the beach. The plants along the way are also very characteristic.
The Twelve Apostles is a series of limestone pillars standing vertically out of the sea. Due to the action of waves, weathering and sea erosion, a magnificent coastal landscape has been formed. It attracts thousands of tourists every year for its unique geological structure and magnificent seascape. Due to natural factors and the impact of sea erosion, the number of rocks is gradually decreasing. Now there are only 7 left.
Melbourne is a city with a long history, the streets are filled with the aroma of coffee, and the buildings exude an artistic atmosphere. In this city in the southern hemisphere, time seems to have slowed down, leaving a deep impression on people.
And Tasmania is the magic kingdom of nature, with mountains in shades of green and deep lakes. On this piece of land, we felt the pulse of the earth and explored the wonders of nature. Our journey will also meet endless adventures here.
The airport in Launceston is very small, with only one terminal. When waiting for luggage, there will be police dogs patrolling and checking to see if you have any contraband (such as fresh fruit and vegetables). Our friend brought a tomato to eat on the plane, but forgot to eat it, the police dog quickly went into action, and caught one foreign tomato.
The first stop after landing in Tasmania鈥斺€擶oolworths, supermarket shopping. In Woolworths in Launceston, we bought the best apples and blueberries of the whole trip. Tasmania’s unique climate and soil conditions are very suitable for agricultural planting, so here, just go crazy and eat fruits!
People! Who understands! The apples, blueberries and cherries in Tasmania are really delicious! It’s a pity that when we arrived, the cherries were not yet ripe, otherwise we would have gone to the orchard to pick them.
Along the way, we went to a super awesome raspberry farm for lunch. Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm Cafe
There are the freshest raspberry desserts and 馃構 delicious gold standard ice cream.
By chance, we ate a kangaroo burger! It’s chewy!
The accommodation in Cradle Mountain is at Lemonthyme Wilderness Retreat. A wooden cabin resort hidden in the rainforest.
In the evening, there will also be an activity to feed wild wallabies. Ask the hotel reception in advance for the time, and go directly there at the appointed time, just on the hillside next to the hotel restaurant.
Stay here. The most surprising thing is that, looking up unintentionally at night, we saw a sky full of stars. I really want to come back here and stay in winter. Outside is a fairy tale forest with snow falling, and inside the wooden cabin is a warm fireplace with wood burning. There is no city noise, and outside is the sound of snow falling. Just thinking about it is so beautiful.
There are also many hiking trails near the resort, the most famous one is the Champagne falls line. It’s about 5 kilometers, round trip is about 2 hours. If you don’t have time, you can also choose to go for a walk in the forest near the hotel in the morning like we did.
There are many interesting wild plants here. It is said that in the rainy season in spring, there will be many mushrooms. Although we didn’t find any mushrooms, we saw many tree ganoderma and ferns. Here, you can clearly feel that the air is particularly good, the concentration of negative ions is exploding.
Cradle Mountain, a synonym for nature, wilderness and everything primitive, it is located in the central west of Tasmania. It is a mountain range composed of multiple peaks, with a unique shape and often shrouded in mist at the top.
The mountainous terrain here is diverse, including alpine meadows, forests, lakes and waterfalls.
There is also a chance to encounter Tasmanian devils, quolls, platypuses, echidnas, wombats and inquisitive black cockatoos.
It is also a hiker’s paradise, with very short hiking trails and 5-6 day hiking routes, 80 kilometers in total, extending from Cradle Mountain to Lake St. Clair. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to arrange a longer hiking trip this time. We chose to hike (let’s say stroll) near Dove Lake. We encountered a very cute wombat.
After leaving Cradle Mountain, we drove to our accommodation for the day, Diamond Island Resort near Wineglass Bay.
The hotel has a special activity in the evening, watching little penguins return to their nests. The beach is nearby, where the unique Tasmanian little penguins鈥攂icheno tasmania penguins鈥攍ive. These are the unique wild little blue penguins in Tasmania and also the smallest penguins in the world, only the size of two palms. When night falls, they return to their land nests from the sea, and then return to the sea before dawn.
Little blue penguins are very timid, they won’t come ashore if there is any noise. So when watching the little penguins, you need to keep quiet and you can’t use cameras with flash. The hotel will prepare red light flashlights in advance, you can see the little penguins waddling home as long as you keep a distance of at least 3 meters.
Wineglass Bay gets its name from its unique semi-circular shape, which resembles a wineglass. This naturally formed curved bay is made up of white sand and clear water. The water here is a mixture of deep blue, emerald green and light blue, forming a stark contrast to the surrounding lush green trees and white sand beach.
There is also a cruel side to the beautiful natural scenery.
This story has to start from the beginning…
In the mid-19th century, this was the center of the southern ocean whaling industry. Before electricity became a household energy source, homes here were lit with whale oil. People used to hunt many species of whales in order to obtain whale blubber and whale meat. The reason why Wineglass Bay is called Wineglass Bay is also because in the past, whaling ships dragged whales back, and the water along the bay was stained red. Just like a wineglass filled with bright red wine.
Fortunately, however, Australians quickly developed an awareness of environmental protection and animal protection, and history is not repeated, local people are still at the forefront of protecting whales. A “Australian Whale Sanctuary” extending to the Antarctic has been established.
The town of Ross, with a long history dating back to the early 19th century. Here are preserved many well-preserved ancient buildings, including stone streets, ancient churches and historical buildings.
The town is famous for its unique stone architecture, the most famous of which is the Ross Bridge. Built in 1836, the bridge is one of the oldest stone arch bridges in Australia.
The main street of Ross Town is called Queen Street, where there are many well-preserved 19th-century buildings, including old shops, pubs and cafes.
Ross Village Bakery, said to be the prototype of the setting of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated film “Kiki’s Delivery Service”.
Besides history and architecture, there is also peaceful natural scenery.
It only takes 10 minutes to get to Bruny Island from Hobart’s wharf. This island is especially convenient for self-driving friends. Cars can take the ferry directly to the island.
鈴?Departure time: Every 20 minutes
馃帿 Ticket: 48.5 dollars per car, can be purchased on site
The first stop on the island鈥斺€擥et Shuncked馃Κ oyster shop, freshly caught oysters, opened and eaten on the spot. The deliciousness is 100%. It was so delicious that we went back again on our return trip, hahaha.
The second stop without stopping鈥斺€旔煃?honey factory, we ate delicious honey ice cream and took photos for the check-in.
The third stop, blown away by the wind鈥斺€旔煂匱he Neck Game Reserve Lookout
The fourth stop, completely let loose鈥斺€旔煆?white sand beach
Australia Animal Classroom is open! Where are the magical creatures!
80% of Australia’s wild animals are unique to this area, and can’t be found anywhere else in the world.
鈶狆煢楰angaroo: Road killer, boxing expert, national treasure animal that is put on the dining table, a leader in the world of embarrassing moments
鈶○煇↘oala: Sleep god, foodie, silly and cute
鈶煇籛ombat: The animal that needs love the most, the producer of magical square poop
鈶ゐ煒奡miling Kangaroo: A healing species, the happiest animal in the world
鈶モ潉White Kangaroo: Unique to Tasmania, as white as a snowball
鈶︷煒圱asmanian Devil: A demon in the world of carnivores, a tyrant
鈶ю煇enguins: The youngest member of the penguin family, the flirtatious penguin that changes partners every year
鈶煇elican: Big mouth, quack quack quack
On this unfamiliar land, we left our footprints of exploration. Now, the time to say goodbye has quietly arrived. This city, this scenery, the unfamiliar faces we have passed by on the streets will all become part of our travel memories.
Travel farewell, Chinese people’s reunion, how can you miss a hot pot!
After the excitement, we say goodbye properly!
馃し鈥嶁檧 A Crazy Week Before the INFJ Trip
The itinerary was actually set in mid to late October, and some hotels were booked and a car was rented in advance. But all the details of the itinerary were really finalized until the last week before the trip.
Let’s talk about the things that need to be finalized in advance for this Australian road trip.
1. Visa.
In late November, Sino-US relations eased, you know, the Australian visa policy also became friendly. Prepare materials according to requirements, the visa approval rate is still very high, go for it boldly. Of course, the earlier you apply, the earlier you get your visa, and then you won鈥檛 have pressure to book flights and hotels.
2. Flight.
This time, we had 14 people, divided into 3 ports of departure: Shanghai, Chengdu, and Guangzhou. The lowest price for the flight was just over 2500 yuan, round trip to Melbourne. The price is about the same as going to Southeast Asia.
3. Hotel.
The key accommodation places must be booked in advance. For example, Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road, Wineglass Bay in Tasmania, these places have few accommodation resources, and it is almost the peak tourist season in Australia, so you need to make plans early.
4. Car rental.
First, choose a reliable car rental platform. Book the test drive model. When choosing a car, be sure to pay attention to whether it can fit the luggage of all the people in the car. Then, be prepared to get your driver’s license translated.
The most important thing about car rental abroad!!! The person picking up the car must have a Visa or Mastercard without a UnionPay logo under their own name. Most car rental companies abroad will require you to swipe your international credit card for pre-authorization as a guarantee. If you don’t have one, you will be refused to pick up the car. Car rental companies that don’t require international credit cards usually have higher prices and fewer options.
Also, when renting a car, be sure to choose full insurance. Australian driving habits and traffic rules are different from those in China. You may not be used to it when you first start driving. If there are minor bumps and scratches, it’s normal. It’s more reassuring to have insurance.
5. Currency exchange.
Before going out, worried that there would be places where we couldn’t swipe our cards, we still went to the bank to exchange 1000 Australian dollars. This also became a small annoyance during our trip. Afraid that we wouldn’t spend all the cash, we used cash for the first few days and got a handful of coins every day. As everyone knows, foreigners are not good at math (either they are too lazy to calculate), if the bill amount is 8.5 yuan, give them 13.5 yuan, they will not find 5 yuan in paper money. They will give you coins of 1.5+3.5. Thank you so much, I got another big bag of Australian dollars to take home.
It turns out that 99.9% of the stores we went to on this trip supported swiping cards. If you have an international credit card without any handling fees, currency exchange is not necessary. Or exchange a small amount for emergencies.
6. Make a travel guide.
I think making a travel guide is the most important and exciting part of the whole trip (just my own thought, haha). A high-quality travel experience depends on the thorough and detailed information gathering and homework preparation in the early stage. You must make a travel guide, but whether you actually execute it depends on fate. If you can do it, do it, if you can’t, don’t force it. The key is, I can choose not to do it, but I can’t choose not to know.
However, there is one important point about self-driving. For unfamiliar travel destinations, it is very necessary to organize the destination location in advance and check the parking lot. This can reduce unnecessary extra driving and wrong turns during the trip.
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