Max and Sylvia's Travel Blog: Adelaide to Sydney

Welcome to Adelaide! Proud to be the only state capital in Australia that did NOT start as a convict settlement, the free spirit can be felt to today.

Visited the renowned Botanical Gardens...

And the Adelaide Zoo - home to Emus, Kangaroos and Wallabies. But the stars of the show are undoubtedly the two adorable Pandas. See Funi enjoying a bamboo snack!

And thanks for your support!

Time to explore the city's market halls and indulge in some local foods - pierogi! Huh? Oh well, international food seems to be quite popular here.

Sounded appealing, maybe next time...

Can you believe it? They actually gave us a car!!!
Let's see how this driving on the left side goes again...

Heading south to the coast.

Great Ocean Road. Beautiful, rugged coast line!

The Grotto

Friendly reminders along the way.
Too bad we've already been driving for a few hours by that point. ;)

The occasional glimpse to the left (instead of the coast on the right) shows continuous green fields with cattle and sheep.

Back to the coastline - the London Arch.

Was actually known as the London Bridge until the middle section collapsed in 1990. Oops! We heard two tourists got stranded on the island, but nobody got hurt and they eventually got picked up by heli.

The Razorback

And of course no trip along the Great Ocean Road would be complete without this one:

The 12 Apostles!

If you are only counting about eight rocks, you might be right. Some have collapsed, and the rest is firmly in the hand of some marketing department... :)

After such a successful day we had one more surprise in store: a kangaroo at the side of the road! Just a bit too quick for us to get a close-up.

The following day we decided to explore the Otway Light House.

Very windy, but gorgeous views from the top.

We heard rumors that on the way to the Otway Lighthouse we might see something cool. But couldn't believe it until we actually got there:

Trees full of Koala bears!!!

Our first close-up! :) Awake and curious why so many people were assembling below its tree.

Most of the others were like this - snoozing the day away. Well positioned to make sure they don't fall down.

And a huge surprise - a mother with its little one crossing a patch of grass.

Snapped a quick picture before she hid in the shrubs. So cute!

Back to the coast, it was another few hours full of driving and enjoying the scenery.

Until the early evening we made it to our next stop: Melbourne.

Downtown Melbourne

The venue for one of Melbourne's many music festivals.

View from the centrally located Federation Square.

Flinders Street Station

After a relaxing day in the city it was time to head south of Philip Island.

First stop - the Koala Boardwalk. Yes, we did not get enough yet.

Only a meter away from us climbing up the tree!

Snoozing on the boardwalk.

Great excuse, we'll have to remember that one... :)

On to the most important stop on Philip Island: the Penguin Parade!

Sitting on bleachers by the beach, waiting for the penguins to arrive. A bit chilly, but definitely worth the wait!

Photos are not allowed during the penguin parade, but here's a snapshot of previous parades.

They are skittish and easily scared when they arrive on the beach, but later on pretty much ignore the hoards of tourists as they make their way to the nests.

Next glorious day - after some morning yoga by the beach it was time to tackle the final part of our road trip.