Visiting Australia - Melbourne, Grampians, Tasmania, Sydney

pniev

Student for life
My wife and I just got back from a trip to Australia. We made a tour, starting in Melbourne (1 day), driving the Great Ocean Road to Port Fairy with a stop in Apollo Bay and Port Fairy, before traveling to the Grampians (National Park). After having one full day in the Grampians, we drove back to Melbourne Airport for a flight to Hobart, Tasmania. In Tasmania we spend one day in Hobart, then drove to Cradle Mountain National Park and ended in Freycinet. The last 2 days were spent in Sydney.

It was a memorable trip. Not only because we met with an uncle I had not seen in 25 years but also because of Australia’s wildlife. Although the scenery is beautiful, it is the sheer amount of birds and wildlife that made a lasting impression. I should add trees as well. The variety in trees is amazing. My wife did not get enough of taking photos of trees.

In this thread I would like to share some photos that helps me bring back some good memories and may help you in planning a trip to South East Australia.

You won’t find any spectacular shots of beautiful sky colors, smoothened water surfaces, etc. Just the usual "quick shot" tourist photos.

If anyone is interested in the details of the trip that may help in planning your own trip, don’t hesitate to contact me!
 
Landscape and scenery:

Lake Dove, Cradle Mountain National Park:
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Lake Dove, Cradle Mountain National Park:
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Great Ocean Road (sorry, no apostles):
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McKenzie Falls:
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Scenery through the eyes of a telelens: Freycinet:
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B/W scenery:

Port Fairy Beach:
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Trees in Apollo Bay:
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Lake Leake:

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Wildlife - Mammals

I am the first to admit that my photos do not come close to those of wildlife photographers, but it was so much fun to finally have some reach again! It was especially cool to use the tracking features of the camera in photographing birds. Difficult because you shoot out of hand with a 500mm lens in low(er) light (it was raining) but the VR helped.

Kangaroo, Grampians National Park. This bull really got excited by the camera (saw this only later)
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300mm - 1/500 - f/5.6 - ISO1250

Kangaroo, Grampians National Park.
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300mm - 1/500 - f/5.6 - ISO720

Kangaroo, Grampians National Park.
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300mm - 1/500 - f/5.6 - ISO800

Koala, near light house, Apollo Bay:
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500mm - 1/500 - f/8 - ISO800

Tasmanian Devil, the solitary, endangered hyena of Tasmania
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300mm - 1/320 - f/8 - ISO2800

Wombat, Cradle Mountain National Park
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300mm - 1/320 - f/8 - ISO720
 
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Wildlife - Birds
Some photos. I've others including the laughing kukkaburra, the white ibis and some unknown. Perhaps I'll post them later.

Red Lory, Apollo Bay
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420mm - 1/500 - f/6.3 - ISO1100

Blue eyed parrots (Corella?)
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420mm - 1/500 - f/5.6 - ISO900

Black Currawong, Cradle Mountain National Park
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35mm - 1/100 - f/8 - ISO180

unknown, loud singing bird, Freycinet:
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500mm - 1/500 - f/8 - ISO560

Cockatoo, Sydney Botanical Gardens
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420mm - 1/320 - f/8 - ISO640

Australasian Darter:
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420mm - 1/320 - f/8 - ISO400
 
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Melbourne:
Although we spent only one day in Melbourne, the location of our hotel (hotel lundrum) enabled us to see some highlights, including nearby Flinders Train station, Hosier Lane, the Botanical Gardens, and a walk through the East End Theatre district. We also visited the Shrine of Remembrance, which is a special place indeed. Yes, all in one day and an evening. Unfortunately there was some heavy rain in the evening.
Melbourne comes across as an easy-going modern city with beautiful parks and some interesting buildings. It is a “relaxed” city where one would enjoy living, although I can understand why people who live there complain about the traffic. ;-)

Some photos:
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There are many sculptures including this one:
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Shrine of Remembrance:

quick shot while entering the building:
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The I-need-to-constantly-check-my-phone-otherwise-I-may-miss-something-important virus is widely spread in Australia too (I may do injustice to this person but it’s the only shot I took despite the temptation to make a documentary report on this ;-) ):
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Fortunately, others had other things to do:
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Sydney:
We loved the vibe of Sydney. No complaints about the many tourists as we were part of them. ;-)

Sydney by night (the usual shot)
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35mm - 20s - f/8 - ISO100


View from Manly ferry
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35mm - 1/500 - f/5.6 - ISO100

The other side of the Opera
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35mm - 1/400 - f/8 - ISO200

How to take a photo that shows you’ve been there!
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35mm - 1/320 - f/5.6 - ISO100

Rush hour, another perspective:
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20mm - 1/20 - f/8 - ISO1800

Museums can be boring to some:
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58mm - 1/100 - f/1.4 - ISO320
 
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Thanks, Sue. That looks like a lovely area and a great way of travelling. I will remember that for the next trip (although it takes a looooong time to get there! Usually we plan and book trips ourselves but this one was laid out for us, including trips from airport to hotel, hotel bookings, etc.

I am sorry that I did not tell you that I was coming. I saw that you live in Brisbane, so I did not bother contacting you.

Lovely photos. Its really good to see Australia through the eyes of visitors :) Wish you'd said you were coming on down, Peter, I would have pointed you at north west Tasmania, and the cruise boat M.V. George Robinson. So, the rest of you, when you visit Tazzie, get your walking shoes on and head off to the Arthur River.

Arthur River Cruises – A truly Tasmanian experience, deep within the Tarkine Wilderness
 
Agree with Sue - am familiar with all these places but good to see them again through a tourist viewfinder.

You fitted a lot in - so glad you enjoyed your trip and yes, tourists are always welcome.
 
Great set of photos! I'm lucky enough to work as a hiking guide out of Cradle Mountain (on the Overland Track) and it is a truly special part of the world :)

It is a special part of the part. Unfortunately we only had an afternoon for a walk so we did the Dove Lake walk. Easy and beautiful. But it was cold. The Overland Track is rather special. It is a 6-day walk, isn't it?

Herewith some other Dove Lake photos:
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I visited many of the places aswell three years ago and really loved to see your photos as they brought back some nice memories. Thank you!
My favourite shot is the second (the boat house), might be due to the memories, but I really enjoyed it.
I'd like to see more photos. :)
 
The Overland Track is rather special. It is a 6-day walk, isn't it?

Yep, most people do it over 6 days (except the runners, who do it in about 8 hours!).


I don't know if you knew when you photographed it, but this is a King Billy Pine (Athrotaxis selaginoides) - quite rare and only found in alpine rainforests in the west of Tasmania. They can grow to around 1500 years old (this one is probably 7-800yrs)!
 
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