From Sydney to Melbourne through the highlands

The journey from Sydney back to Melbourne (our last Australian destination) did not lead us along the coast, but through the Australian Alps in the hinterland.

During this journey, we visited the capital of Australia: Canberra. The city was only founded so that a decision regarding the capital status would not have to be made between Sydney and Melbourne. Accordingly, it was completely planned from scratch, with no older buildings or a well-established city center, and no proper downtown area. There is also no industry or commerce to be found here, but there is a whole district consisting almost entirely of embassies.

We continued our journey to the Kosciuszko National Park, where we climbed the highest mountain on the Australian continent, after which the national park was named (Mount Kosciuszko). We attempted to spot the local wombats on another hike and by driving around in the car in the evening, but we had no luck. However, we did get to see a few kangaroos, wallabies, deer, and emus.

On the following day, at Mt. Buffalo National Park, we finally succeeded in seeing the wombats.

On the way to Melbourne, we made a final stop at Warrandyte NP, where there were supposed to be koalas. Unfortunately, we didn't find any, but we did see a lot of kangaroos and a (after some wait time) very visible echidna.