Australia - Again?

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today.  It is already tomorrow in Australia."

Charles M. Schultz

People always ask me what my favorite place is.  And I can't really name it, because I like almost everywhere I have been, for different reasons.  We recently went to Australia.  And while I can't say it was my favorite place, it certainly would make the top 5.  I loved Australia, and wished we had seen more of it.  We only saw the east coast cities and the Great Barrier Reef - which I particularly loved.  I usually don't want to go back to a place I have already been, because there are so many other places in the world to still see.  But Australia is so large, and we only saw a small part of it.  It would be like the United States if someone said they had been there and seen it, but all they had seen was the east coast.  I mean really, there is so much more to see.  So I can't really say I've seen Australia, there is much more, and I never saw any of the outback.

So now I am thinking that I want to go back to Australia in the near future, but see a different area.  I had heard about a wonderful train trip in Australia, and I'm thinking that next time we will include that in our itinerary.  The train is The Indian Pacific and it goes from Sydney to Perth, with a few stops along the way. I started looking at itineraries that would include the train, and mixing in some other places I would like to see.  Here is the trip I someday soon would like to take when we return to Australia.

Some of the 12 Apostles

We would probably fly into Melbourne again.  But instead of staying in Melbourne, we would rent a car and drive over to the Great Ocean Road. When we were here before I didn't realize how close Melbourne was to the Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles. I would like to take this drive in this next trip.  The 12 Apostles are large rocks that stick out of the ocean.  They look quite spectacular.  You can't see them all at one time, you have to travel along the road.  And I understand that one of the rocks collapsed completely, so I guess they should now be called the 11 Apostles.  The Great Ocean Road is suppose to be one of the most scenic drives in the world.  From there we could drive back to Melbourne and catch a flight to Sydney.  There we would catch the Indian Pacific Train which goes from Sydney to Perth, with stops along the way.

This is a journey defined by contrast, encompassing the towering majesty of the Blue Mountains to the barren expanse of the Nullabor. Taking its name from the Latin meaning ‘no trees’, the ancient Nullarbor conjures the sense of limitless space and time.   Outside the train window, the landscape shifts over and over, revealing hidden secrets, from long abandoned homesteads to the marvellously resilient wildflowers of Western Australia. With all of its variance, this is the definitive Australia.

 

The train gets its name from the two oceans that the train encounters on its journey - the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. When the train leaves Sydney it climbs into the majestic Blue Mountains. Our first day on board we will settle into our cabin, enjoy the scenery and have a relaxing dinner onboard. The first stop is the next morning when we arrive in Broken Hill, which is a mining town where the streets are wide and there is a pub on every corner.  Here we can explore the town and discover the history of mining.  It is a short stop, and then back onboard.


Adelaid

From here we will notice a dramatic change in landscape as the outback makes way for the green and golden fields of Australia's food bowl.  In the afternoon we arrive in Adelaide where we will take a walking tour through the city and into their Botanic Gardens.  We will have dinner at the National Wine Centre.  Then back on the train to continue our journey.

The next day we will wake up and marvel at the raw beauty of the Nullarbor. We can reflect on the changing landscapes and enjoy the hospitality of the Outback Explorer Lounge as we travel across Australia’s longest single stretch of railway.  That evening the train stops in Rawlinna.  Here we will enjoy an evening stop to partake in a traditional Outback lamb roast dinner under the wide Nullarbor skies.  The next day, after lunch, we arrive into the cosmopolitan western capital of Perth.

Perth

We will spend several days in Perth, exploring that area.  I would like to get away from the city and look for some quokkas, which are very small marsupials.  Quokkas are the happiest animal on earth, according to a website I recently read.  Not sure if it is true, they do look happy, but that doesn't mean they are.  They certainly are cute though.  When we were in Australia this past year, we didn't see a quokka.  I hadn't even heard about them.  But then I saw a picture of them and thought - "I want to see one for real."  Well, it seems the only place to see them is Australia.  They are not in any zoos here.  So, another reason to go back.  They are only found on the west coast of Australia, although some of the zoos in Australia, including the Sydney zoo, do have them.  But I'd love to see one in the wild. 

From Perth we would then head to Ayers Rock.  We didn't make it to the outback at all on our previous trip.  This time it is a must.  I would like to visit Ayers Rock which is sacred to the aborigines of Australia.   They call it Uluru.  Ayers Rock is one of the most impressive landmarks in Australia. A huge chunk of sandstone and a ‘true’ monolith, it resides in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Ayers Rock is located down towards the southwest corner of the Northern Territory and close to the geographic centre of Australia.  There is a hotel right at the rock where we could stay, but I would also like to explore Alice Springs which is about 6 hours away.  Maybe we would fly into Alice Springs and then rent a car to drive out to Ayers Rock where we would have to spend at least a night or two.

I am thinking that from there we might fly to Darwin and explore that area.  We could take a side trip down to Katherine Gorge and Nitmiluk National Park.  That is suppose to be a really pretty area and we could spend several days in that region. 

Our last stop though has to be back to the Great Barrier Reef.  It was my favorite part of our trip this past year, and I think it would certainly be worth another visit.  We stayed on Green Island last time, and I wouldn't mind going back there.  But then again, we have been there.  It was beautiful and the snorkeling was great.  But it does have a lot of day visitors.  Maybe this time we would go to a more isolated island.  Possibly Heron Island, which has a nice resort and is famous for its turtles..

So far this is just a plan for the future.  And I haven't put it back on my list that I have to do.  But I just may put it on the next time I take something off that we have done.  And we really wouldn't be going back to somewhere we had been if everything we see in Australia is different from what we saw on our last trip.  So, Australia, again?  I hope so!



Katherine Gorge in Northern Australia