Topic: A Taste of Australia

In this first post, my theme is 'starting points' - that is, what summed up our initial impressions.

Here's one photo for each port of call:

Brisbane

Arriving at Brisbane, we sailed down a river for about an hour to reach the dock. The port facilities are fantastic - super modern and absolutely alongside. From here we took the City Cat river bus into Brisbane. Brisbane is a skyscraper city - very clean and shiny.

Sydney

If you only visit one Australian city, it has to be Sydney. We docked even closer to the centre than Arcadia (and were here longer). Everything is within easy walking distance - the opera house (from where this picture was taken), bridge, botanical gardens, and the Sydney Tower.

Burnie, Tasmania

I agree the place doesn't look impressive - we docked next to a woodchip mountain! But for me, Burnie is the Australia I wanted to see. Slow, friendly and relaxed.

Melbourne

Port Melbourne, and the very building where I arrived as a child back in 1961 as a ten-pound-pom. A tram runs from the port to the city and, to be honest, after Brisbane and Sydney I was very disappointed. Melbourne is a city; that's it.

Adelaide

We docked at Port Adelaide and took a train to the city. The suburbs are rough - at one stop some children threw rocks at the train! Adelaide is a very sprawling city; pleasant enough but the place I'd least like to live in Australia. A nice touch though was the group of volunteers who met cruisers at the city station to give help and advice.

Albany

Just to show I'm not a people-person, Albany was probably my favourite stop. Most thought there was nothing there! But it is beautiful. Like Burnie, this for me was the real Australia - wide streets with verandas and a gentle pace of life.

Perth / Fremantle

Fremantle is a port and the aim was to get to Perth - buses are cheap and convenient. Perth was a real eye-opener - very wealthy, beautiful parks and scenery, and stunning beaches.

I've hundreds more photos of Australia and there are many more themes to cover. So, to be continued...

Thanks for sharing the Photo's Dave, You are certainly wheting my appetite to try even further afield on my next cruise journey.

Thanks for the photos we are hoping to cruise Australia next year or 2011, did you do anything in Cairns like the railway journey or a riverboat trip? trying to work out best ship and route to take.

or at Sydney Dave. Bet you did the Bridge climb or maybe the blue mountains. Enjoying the photos. Thanks

QUOTE:

Thanks for the photos we are hoping to cruise Australia next year or 2011, did you do anything in Cairns like the railway journey or a riverboat trip? trying to work out best ship and route to take.

No, we started at Brisbane and went clockwise from there. I'm not sure which railway journey you mean, but 30 or so people did the transcontinental train crossing from Adelaide to Perth - three days across a desert on a train, no thanks! ;)

QUOTE:

or at Sydney Dave. Bet you did the Bridge climb or maybe the blue mountains. Enjoying the photos. Thanks

We'd have liked to do the bridge climb but it was very expensive. Others did though...

We just walked across the lower part for free, then caught a ferry back.

The best views of Sydney though are from up here:


We took loads of photos from the top of the Sydney Tower - can you spot the ship?

QUOTE:

or at Sydney Dave. Bet you did the Bridge climb or maybe the blue mountains. Enjoying the photos. Thanks

We did an excellent excursion into the Blue Mountains. The highlight was to be crossing a high gorge in a glass-bottomed cable car.

Before the crossing we had lunch in a rotating restaurant:


But as soon as we set off across the gorge we were in thick cloud!


It was beautifully clear on the other side, but on the journey back the cloud returned. Still, at least we could just make out something this time!

Perth / Fremantle

Fremantle is a port and the aim was to get to Perth - buses are cheap and convenient. Perth was a real eye-opener - very wealthy, beautiful parks and scenery, and stunning beaches.

I've hundreds more photos of Australia and there are many more themes to cover. So, to be continued... [/QUOTE]


DH and I back packed around Australia after university for 12 months and we went back in our early 30s and got married at Rottnest Island near Fremantle. Perth/Fremantle are a 'must' when visiting Australia. .

Great pictures Dave and your better half looks lovely.