Fraser Island

From Brisbane, we went to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world.

More information here.

First day, first contact under the sun:

Eli Creek

The Mahano

You can not only drive on the beach, but also fly from it. The dingos don't mind.

Second day: the rain forest, under the rain...

a strangler fig

One of the lake (not the McKenzie). Although it was cloudy, the colors of the water were incredible, and the water itself was very nice, very clean and not salty at all.

Fraser island provides a lot of wildlife, not only dingos, but also lots of sea birds and fishing eagles, and certainly a lot of other animals we did not spot. This alone is very amazing for a city girl. As we were leaving the island, I saw tree fishing eagles in the sky, fighting for the same fish, and sea birds diving into the sea. I saw scenes like that on TV, but for real, it is breath taking.

Brisbane

Clearly another modern city

but with some retro buildings

an artificial beach in the middle of the city

a beautiful walk covered with bougainvilleas

some funny trees

and some wild animals

Another nice town, indeed.

Let's go to Sydney!

Sydney is a very special stop for us. For two reasons:

• Although Melbourne is a very nice town, it looks very much like London, i.e. like Europe. Of course, Sydney is very european too, but it has:
 
and 
   
So it is the place that really said "You are in Australia"!
• It is also the home town of this lady
  
  
  
  Her name is Karen. As we were teenagers, we happened to become penpals. That was long before Internet, so it was quite an adventure to receive a letter from the other side of the world, for both of us. At some time, we lost contact, but Karen found me again about 10 years ago, shortly before Amandine's first trip to Australia. Imagine, my daughter did met my penpal from long ago! I could not believe this was true. And now, I too met Karen in person, not only her but also her family. Unbelievable! She made our stop in Sydney very special. And guess what? Karen and her daughter will be in Paris next month. I'll make the trip to meet them there. It is just like a dream...
  
  
  Sydney is also:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Melbourne - Royal Botanic Garden

I too am glad to be back with you. I tried to follow your blogs while I was away, but I had only a limited access to internet, and so many things to do while in Australia, as you will see :-)
Of course, I'm going to tell you all about this adventure!

Lisa, I could not go inside the Luna Park, it is closed in winter, except during school vacations or weekends...
Melbourne Luna Park has a twin park in Sydney with the same gate.
I did not bring many stuff back, except pictures and beautiful memories: we were not allowed a lot of luggage until the very last days.

Speaking of telling you all, let's start with the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne.
They are close to the ANZAC Memorial.
We visited them at the end of the afternoon, and in Autumn. This explains the light in some pictures.

I read that many public gardens in Australia like this one were created to look like those of the UK. Hence they are not really adapted to the climate. Apparently, things are changing, and when those gardens need renovation, local plants are introduced to replace the exotic (European) ones.

Melbourne

After a 24-hours flight, we landed in Melbourne.

The city center seen from the ANZAC Memorial

from the riverbank

Federation Square

Some old houses, from the very beginning of Australia

China town

Luna Park

There is a feature of Melbourne I have no photo of: the penguins in Saint-Kilda. You come out when the night has set in. In order not to scare them, tourists are requested not to use flash. Anyway, they are very small, I think they are the smallest penguins, and they are cute.

Landing in Melbourne brought us directly to Autumn. As a funny consequence, I kept looking for Christmas lights and shop windows :-).
Another surprise: there are many cloth shops for men, and many business men look prettry good in their suit. No doubt they do a lot of sport.

I'm back!

Hi everybody, here I am, back home.

My trip lasted almost 4 weeks, and it was just wonderful.

I went to Paris to fetch Emilie. We then flew to Melbourne where Amandine was waiting for us.
The red line shows you our itinary. As you can imagine, it has been a busy trip!

blog break

the ash cloud has been kind enough to let me fly!
I'm in australia for a couple of weeks.
Take care! See you soon