Roadtrip to Cobar

Cobar, NSW

685km from Sydney

This town had been on my radar for a while. It popped onto my 'visit-someday' list many many years ago when a blogger friend wrote about her trip to Cobar to see her partner's family. Many years later, I discovered that I had actually visited Cobar on the trip to Uluru. However, I have zero recollections and suspect it was simply a toilet break.

 
There was a lull in COVID cases during the October period which meant that intrastate travel was possible.

First stop, Bathurst. A loop aroud the Bathurst 1000 course, cruising at <60kmph as it was bucketing.

Melbourne 2019

I have technically visited Melbourne twice over the past few years; one was for a work trip and the other was merely as the gateway to my Bendigo / Ballarat roadtrip.

Adventures in Sydney: Australian Botanic Garden

A few years ago, I discovered that Western Australia is known for its wildflower display which spans between the months of June to November. I will visit one day. One day. But until then, a visit to the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan would have to suffice.

Long Jetty & Caves Beach

After I hit my 23rd birthday a few years ago, I stopped caring about turning another year older. In fact, I often forget how old I am. Perhaps it is because age is, in some ways, such an arbitrary concept. Nonetheless, in celebration for another year of life, we headed up the coast for a lovely day trip to Caves Beach.

Historic Gold Mining Towns

Gulgong is a historic 19th century gold mining town, located a mere 30km from Mudgee. It is always amusing when travelling in rural Australia, how a place < 100km isn't really that far away.

Mudgee

Mudgee is a country town located in the Central West of NSW (or the Central Tablelands), approximately 3.5hrs from Sydney. It is the perfect distance away from home; it is not too long of a drive, but just long enough.

Daintree Rainforest ii

After Cape Tribulation, we hopped onto the boat for the river cruise. We managed to see one adult crocodile and a tiny, tiny baby crocodile. I had taken a photo of the baby croc, however even after zooming into the photo, I couldn't find it at all haha.

Daintree Rainforest i

The World Heritage listed Daintree Rainforest is the largest rainforest (1,200 square kilometres) in Australia. It is also the world's oldest rainforest (180 million years) and is believed to be the last remaining example of what Gondwanaland would have been like. Located next to the ocean, it is famously known as 'where the forest meets the sea'. The region is also home to a significant percentage of Australia's plant and animal species; there are species which cannot be found anywhere else.

Yes, Australia does have rainforests and does not simply consist of deserts (or the 'outback') despite common misconceptions.

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef and covers approximately 350,000 square kilometres off the coast of Queensland. It was added as a World Heritage Site in 1981. There are countless operators for reef day trips, ranging from absurdly cheap (for Australian standards) to mid-range. We went with Passion of Paradise, one of the few local operators in the market. One of our key considerations was that we didn't want to visit pontoon in the ocean.

Cairns

When I was 16 years old, I travelled to North Queensland with my sisters. This was a significant trip as: it was the first time I travelled*; first time that I stayed at a hostel; and I had paid the entirety of the trip which was a big deal as I was only earning $6/hr at the time.

My recollection of the trip was sparse and that had always bothered me. Imagine visiting one of the most famous places in the world - Great Barrier Reef- and having effectively 0 memories of the entire experience.

Colour Film: Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia and located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The location of the capital city was decided in 1908 as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest cities. It is an entirely planned city designed by two American architects, making it one of the few entirely planned cities in the world! Workers in the ACT are among the highest paid (on average) in the entire country. Good ol' public servants.

Hobart

Mount Wellington or Kunanyi is located 20 minutes away from Hobart CBD. After seeing photos by Jane and Leonie and also the film, Lion, I put it at the top of my 'must see' in Hobart.

There are a few bushwalks to the top however I decided to take the easy option and drive up. The drive was a little windy however nothing scary (and this is coming from someone who drives a maximum of 3 times a year!).

Tasmania: Freycinet National Park

This was the only sunny day during my visit and I had chop-and-changed my itinerary so that my visit to Freyicinet National Park coincided with the only nice day.

First stop was Sleepy Bay which was a short walk from the car park.

Tasmania: Historic Villages

Once upon a time, there was a man called Ross (from my former workplace) who I had a crush on and thought was very attractive. He was tall and had a very subtle Scottish accent. Fast forward to a few months later to when I moved over to sit in his area and some conversations later and I soon realised he was a dumb idiot and his attractiveness went to 0. He was comical and was one of those people who used a lot of big words to say nothing. I also found out he had sex in the work stairwell a few years ago. Lol. That was a very long introduction as to why I wanted to visit the historic village of Ross!

Tasmania: Land of the Pie

Grindelwald is a village in Switzerland and also the name of the wizard in the Harry Potter series (I was listening to the final novel during my drives in Tasmania). It is also small town north of Launceston and was developed by a Dutch immigrant in the style of the Swiss village. In all honesty, it was quite random. Almost unncessary. It is a resort these days with mini golf, paddleboats and a giant jumping castle.

Tasmania: Bay of Fires & Little Blue Lake

One of the iconic areas of Tasmania is the Bay of Fires on the east coast. Typically, this area evokes images of white sand, clear waters and rocks with orange lichen. Oh, and a sunny day of course. Sadly, it was another overcast day for me (as were most of the days on my trip). I first drove to St Helens to visit the Peron Sand Dunes.

Tasmania: Tessellated Pavement

After picking up my rental car, the first stop on my Tasmania trip was to the Tessellated Pavement. It is a natural phenomenon which has resulted in numerous rectangle shaped pieces on the rockshelf on the Tasman Peninsula.

Central West Roadtrip: Stargazing in Condobolin

One of the many advantages of living in Australia is the fact that there is relatively little light pollution. For those who are curious, you can check out this map to see how much light pollution there is in your country / region! Naturally, there is quite a lot on the coastline (which is where the capital and major cities / towns are) and pockets inland. However, generally, once you head a few hours inland, the light pollution diminishes and the skies are amazing! With this in mind, I wanted to head as far west as I could from major cities / towns and I decided on Condobolin purely because there was a free camp.

In my attempt to find something - actually anything - to see / do on the way to Condobolin from Orange, I stumbled upon The Utes in the Paddock. It is an art installation where 20 Holden utes have been given a makeover and placed in a field!

Central West Roadtrip: Autumn Leaves in Orange

Another long weekend and another roadtrip! This time I headed to Central West of NSW out towards Orange and Condobolin. I originally wanted to head to Warrumbungle National Park, past Dubbo, as it is Australia's only Dark Sky Park.

A dark-sky preserve is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that is kept free of artificial light pollution. The purpose of a dark sky preserve is generally to promote astronomy.

However, I wasn't convinced it would be that much more amazing than another area in the region and eventually decided against it. Plus, I wasn't excited about the bushwalks at the national park either.

First stop on my roadtrip was Orange. Orange is 254km west of Sydney and is known as a "Colour City" due to the autumn leaves. The area is also known for fresh produce and wineries however as I am not a massive foodie, my appeal lay with the leaves. I had been wanting to visit Orange in the autumn for a few years now. This may sound quite silly for people who live in the Northern Hemisphere / areas where there are deciduous trees however the native trees in Australia (except for one in Tasmania) are evergreens and autumn isn't as visually exciting.

Warning: this post is image heavy with photos of leaves.

5 Places I Want to Visit in Australia

There are so many places that I would love to visit and the ones that come to mind are invariably far flung across the world. However, Australia is a beautiful country with such diverse landscapes and is usually a 'once-in-a-lifetime' country for most people; I am lucky to live here. I have listed below some of the places that I would love to visit in my own (massive) backyard.

1. Lord Howe Island, NSW

Lord Howe Island (Group) are World Heritage Listed islands located in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand and approximately 600km east of Port Macqurie. It is where Blake Lively's film, The Shallows, was filmed. It is also bloody expensive to get to! It is a universally accepted fact that Australia is expensive, especially when it comes to travelling. However, a 2 hr flight from Sydney to Lord Howe Island costs upwards of $800. How(e)?!?!? I am punny. At that price, a few hundred dollars more could take me to LA or Rome! And I haven't even looked at accommodation prices...






The expensive plane to take you there!