The last kilometers to Sydney

Our next major destination was Sydney. There, our west-east crossing of the Australian continent will come to its natural end. We're not quite done yet (we'll be taking an alternative route back to Melbourne), but this time we won't be going further east.

On the way to Sydney, we first took a detour through Tarra Bulga National Park. We hiked through a pristine eucalyptus forest (one of the last parts of preserved primary forest) combined with dense fern growth.

Furthermore, travel guides and the internet told us that we absolutely had to visit Raymond Island if we wanted to see koalas in the wild. We didn't have to think twice about that, so we paid a visit to the island and were able to spot 9 (very sleepy) koalas on the approximately 1.5 km long walking trail.

Since we also wanted to see a platypus again (we had seen some in previous vacations), we made another detour, this time to the self-proclaimed 'platypus center' Bombala Platypus Reserve. However, platypuses are best seen in the early morning or at dusk. But we could only pass by at noon, so we were out of luck this time and 'only' saw some parrots.

The further journey led us to Jervis Bay and through Kangaroo Valley, where we could at least see kangaroos, echidnas, and lots of nature again before plunging into the hustle and bustle of the big city...