Cairns to Melbourne (Part 2)

08/06/2024:

The road trip continued, and our destination today was to reach Canberra, the capital of Australia, to buy a sleeping bag, as otherwise, one would be freezing at night. We managed to do both. First, we bought the sleeping bags at ‘Big W’, and then we drove to Canberra. On the way, we saw an adorable monotreme (platypus) trying to cross the road. It looked quite cute, but when we got out and approached it, it curled up. In Canberra, we visited the Botanical Gardens and saw kangaroos up close.

08/07/2024:

After waking up, we wanted to pump fresh water into the van again, which unfortunately led to a small flooding incident again. After the first time, we thought the pump was faulty, but this time we turned it off and it still leaked everywhere. There’s probably a hole somewhere in the tank or in the internal hose. After drying out the inside of the van, we continued to a few viewpoints and a sculpture path in West Albury Wetlands. The viewpoints were beautiful as always, but this sculpture path was the highlight of the day. There was a huge lake full of birds of all kinds, certainly around 250-300 pelicans and more. Pelicans look very amusing when taking off and landing. Since it was a lake, the reflection in the water was excellent, and we managed to take great pictures.

08/08/2024:

Today we had to return the van at 3:00 PM in Melbourne. Before that, we brought all our luggage to our Airbnb, where we will be staying for 3 nights. After handing over the van, we didn't do much, as we were both a bit exhausted from the week.