Australia

Australia

In late 2009 we eventually made it to famed "Down Under". For various reasons (bad wheather, the usual excuse, just being one of them) some fine scenery has not been immortalized in a pano but surely should have been, notably on the Sunshine Coast, in the Wet Tropics, around Adelaide, along the SA coast and in the vicinty of Apollo Bay....

Flat Tire between Moon Pt and Lake Allom, Fraser Island

File size 119 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Flat tires and tour bus breakdowns of all kind were a common feature on our three land-based tours. No tour, however, was so unfortunate like the tour bus on Fraser Island in front of us, which had a couple of flat tires in a row and eventually got stuck on the island.

Eli Creek, Fraser Island

File size 143 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Really everthing on Fraser Island, that is not covered by vegetation, is pure sand, including river beds.

Corner Wood & Victoria St, Mackay

File size 92 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Mackay features some nice Art Deco buildings and was one of the more exciting larger towns in Queensland of that usually not so exciting variety.

Araluen Falls, Eungella National Park

File size 152 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Araluen Falls is the destination of one the shorter walks in the Finch Hatton Gorge section of Eungella National Park. As with any reasonably sized waterhole in Australia with its thousand ways to die in the sea, it sees quite some swimming.

Maureens Cove, Hook Island, Whitsundays

File size 87 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer.

Hill Inlet Lookout, Whitsunday Island

File size 76 kB. Only JPEG. The colors are pretty, but you get nowhere close to the beauty of the ubiquitous aerial shot of Hill Inlet with Whitehaven Beach in the background.

South of Hook Island, Whitsundays

File size 62 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. We could not resist the tempation of "everybody sails the Whitsundays" (we took the Whitsunday Magic) because it's just worth it, and within our loaded program, was very relaxing.

Cantilever, Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walkway, Palmerston Hwy

File size 274 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. I rarely do 360°/180° full panos, so for this one you should give the Java Viewer a try.

Cape Tribulation

File size 71 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. It poured the day we made it to Cape Tribulation, our northernmost destination in Queensland, but what's a rainforest without rain? In any case, the Cape Tribulation section of Daintree National Park was undisputably a highlight of our trip.

Southwest Face of Uluru

File size 101 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Ulura aka Ayers Rocks is just a big rock, but with an enormous presence and a different look from each direction and daytime. Walking around it it 40+ °C in the afternoon is less fun though.

Close to Karu Lookout, Valley of the Winds Walk, Kata Tjuta

File size 121 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Equally strenuous (that day we got up at 4 a.m.), but also very rewarding, was the Valley of the Winds Walk in Kata Tjuta aka the Olgas.

Karingana Lookout, Valley of the Winds Walk, Kata Tjuta

File size 136 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer.

South Rim View Point, Kings Canyon

File size 100 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Kings Canyon is not royal in any way (it was named after a fellow who was called "King") nor especially big, but a small area of exceptional beauty.

South Rim View Point, Kings Canyon (close-up)

File size 131 kB. Only JPEG.

Ormiston Gorge, West MacDonnell Ranges

File size 113 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Towards the end of our 5-day Camping Safari Tour we tended to combine physical activity in the heat with a relaxing bath. At Ormiston Gorge, the waterhole we chose was around the corner to the left.

Remarkable Rocks, Kangaroo Island

File size 87 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. What a name!

P.S. Marion, Mannum

File size 57 kB. Only JPEG. The Paddle Steamer Marion is one of the few items at exhibition in the quiet town of Mannum on Australia's lifeline river Murray. River navigation started here more than 150 years ago.

McKenzie Falls, Grampians (above Falls)

File size 130 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. The McKenzie Falls, one of Victoria's iconic sights are great from above...

McKenzie Falls, Grampians

File size 140 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. ... and below.

Pinnacles Lookout, Grampians

File size 104 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. The walk to the Pinnacles Lookout from Wonderland car park is short (about an hour, but seems much longer), but on every stretch you are rewarded with incredible scenery and even cross the Grampians' Grand Canyon.

Bay of Islands, Great Ocean Road

File size 159 kB. Only JPEG. The first out of many stops along the Great Ocean Road if you drive eastwards. Towards the end of the day, you will have had a fair share of limestone cliffs and lookouts.

Loch Ard Gorge, Great Ocean Road

File size 66 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Sadly, Loch Ard Gorge is one of the very few spots along the limestone cliff section of the Great Ocean Road where you can actually get onto the beach.

Fern Gully, Maits Rest, Great Otway National Park

File size 173 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Amidst a landscape reminiscent of the Swiss Jura in the Great Otway National Park, you find completely outlandish looking pockets of rainforest in gullies on steep mountains which get enough rain to sustain a fern tree forest.

Federation Square, Melbourne

File size 79 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Fed square is the undisputed centre of Melbourne: the main cathedral, the main railway station, the river Yarra and the tourist office and a lot more are all here. Somewhat more disputed is the centerpiece architecture. We didn't care and just found it awesome that Melbourne is the first city we have visited with a very useful FREE hop-on-hop-off bus.

Cockle Bay, Darling Harbour, Sydney

File size 137 kB. Only JPEG.

Manly Ferry leaving Circulary Quay, Sydney

File size 99 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Ferries come in handy in Sydney for both transportation and sightseeing, the Manly Ferry with its attractive terminus being a prime example.

View from Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney

File size 112 kB. Only JPEG. The Blu bar at the Shangri-La proved to be the right place to marvel at Sydney's nightly beauty.

Off Millers Point, Sydney Harbour

File size 190 kB. Only JPEG.

 

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