... then we are beyond Eden

Tshaj tawm: 11.12.2016

The second day in Canberra actually brought a more positive impression than the first. We were quite cultural and visited the Parliament and the National Museum. Both really worth seeing and interesting!

So the trip to Canberra was worth it after all. And since we had our cultural day, we went to the cinema in the evening - "fantastic beasts and where to find them". Really great movie and I even understood everything enough ;). It was also really nice to do something very ordinary - that's somehow missing here. The ordinary is somehow something special here.

The next day we went back to the coast - to Eden. We were really looking forward to the sea again , but unfortunately the weather didn't play along at all. We felt like in Germany (it even felt much colder with us :p ). So we had our first (and hopefully only) cold rainy day in Australia. Since there was really nothing to see in Eden besides the beach, we had a lazy day watching a movie. To celebrate the day (it was St. Nicholas Day) we wanted to buy gingerbread at Aldi (because only at Aldi we can get our German Christmas pastries here), but even that was denied to us because there was no Aldi in Eden. That was the end of the Christmas atmosphere in Australia.

We decided to continue driving the next day.

So at a place where there is more to see we might have a little more time - the goal was Lakes Entrance. Since we are missing sports a bit here, we decided to go for a 5 km hike on the beach after arriving. As a reward we had typical Australian fish & chips for dinner - the fish of the day was the "blue grenadier" - a fish from the region. Highly recommended ;) :D.

The weather started to let us down a bit, it got colder and we saw less and less of the sun. I'm not prepared for that - emotionally and clothing-wise xD. We made use of the 2nd day in Lakes Entrance and visited the "Buchan Caves". Then it rained so much that we practically couldn't get out of the car anymore. Thanks to Netflix and Co, that's also quite relaxing, even though a day at the beach would definitely have suited me more.

The next day we continued our journey: Wilson Promontory National Park was the destination. In the guidebook we read that at the southernmost point of Australia (mainland) another natural spectacle of a very special kind was supposed to await us. Well, we had very high expectations now! Unfortunately, the weather didn't get any better and storm was forecasted on the way there. Well, that's also a natural spectacle... As expected, after all we have been free of damage for a week, our windshield suffered a stone chip. After a long back and forth, we finally arrived at our destination with a 5-hour delay. Since it was evening by now, we postponed the exploration of the national park to the next day.

I have to give my travel guide credit: he was right! It is truly breathtakingly beautiful and definitely stands out from what we have seen so far. And we have now seen all the Australian animals that you have to see - kangaroo, koala, emu, wombat and a snake! We spent the whole day hiking and saved the big highlight for the end: climbing Mount Oberon. What are 3.4 km one way and about 350 meters in altitude quasi at the end of the day. But the view from the top definitely rewarded us! At the end of the day we were exhausted and even today, one day later, I definitely feel it all over my body.

Today we continued to Phillip Island - the island of penguins. And finally the sun came out again. After a short walk, we took advantage of that and lay down on the beach. After what felt like an eternity, the first time again - so beautiful! Tomorrow we will continue exploring the island...