Australia

Melbourne, Sydney and the Great Ocean Road

Australia had been on our bucket list for many years. I’m not sure when it started but it definitely got a big boost when I read Bill Bryson’s In a Sunburned Country. And, while the book certainly serves as a cautionary tale about all the things that can kill you in Australia, it also revived an interest in the nation-continent that has lived in my mind since childhood.

Carol’s fascination with the land down under was even greater than mine, although as usual she was far more informed and focused. In the summer of 2026, after years of planning and negotiations over where we would go and what we would see, we found ourselves on a flight to Melbourne.

Melbourne, Sydney and Beyond

We settled on three main locations – a week in Melbourne, a week in Sydney and then two weeks in Queensland. In Queensland we would stay a few days in Cairns (which we learned is pronounced something closer to “cans.”), then take a birding tour in the Daintree and Tablelands areas, then spend a few days north of Cairns in Port Douglas, before finishing off with three nights at the Canopy Treehouses lodge before returning to Cairns to fly home from there.

Great Ocean Road

One of Carol’s “must dos” was the Great Ocean Road. While I first suggested that we drive the road ourselves, she wisely vetoed that idea, pointing out that we would be driving on the “wrong” side of the road and having to traverse a major metropolitan region before heading out on a busy tourist highway. Instead. we signed up for an overnight trip with Around and About (https://www.aroundandabout.com.au/).

Twelve Apostles

Along the Great Ocean Road we hit all the major spots including the iconic “Twelve Apostles” limestone rock formations along the coast. Actually, there were never a full 12 formations, but apparently “nine apostles” just didn’t have the tourism appeal. In 2005 one of the stacks collapsed, leaving eight. Another collapsed in 2009, reducing it to seven apostles. However, continuing erosion along the shore line could lead to more “apostles” as the adjacent cliffs erode.

A similar fate befell the “London Bridge” arch, also along the route, on January 15, 1990, when the center portion collapsed, leaving two tourists stranded on the outer span. They were rescued by helicopter and amazingly, no one was injured in the collapse. The collapse occurred around 7:30 p.m., and the pair had just crossed over to the outer portion of the bridge. It was near the end of the day and fortunately, no other tourists were on the span at the time.

Workers Memorial – Great Ocean Road

The official starting point of the Great Ocean Road is at a memorial arch near Torquay. The road was built beginning in 1919 by soldiers who had returned from World War I and is dedicated to their comrades who died in the war.

Great Ocean Road

Melbourne Bird Tour

Prior to the Great Ocean Road, we hired Simon Starr from Firetail Birding (https://www.birdingvictoria.com.au/) to take us on a day trip to the Dandenong Ranges National Park and then to the Melbourne water treatment plant.

While it seems bizarre to travel halfway across the world and choose a sewage treatment facility as one of the first places to visit, the water treatment plant is a well-known hot spot for bird photography. After the water is treated it is released into the surrounding wetlands forming an ideal environment for birds and other wildlife.

Before going to the water treatment plant, we spent the morning in the Dandenong Ranges, where our main goal was to see the Superb Lyrebird, a bird that could rival Peacocks in the extravagant tailfeather department. While searching for the Lyrebird we came across a small troop of Kangaroos grazing in the meadow, a sure sign that “yes” we really were in Australia. We also got our first sighting of another Australian icon, the Laughing Kookaburra.

Near the close of the day at the water treatment plant, Simon spotted an Orange-bellied Parrot. This critically-endangered parrot breeds in Tasmania and then winters in saltmarshes in Victoria. In 2017, the total wild population was just 14 birds. Today, through major conservation and captive breeding efforts, the population is slowly recovering but estimates range from 90-200 wild birds.

Little Penguins

Before we left for Australia, we locked in tickets to see the Little Penguins at St. Kilda beach in Melbourne. Tickets are free (https://www.penguins.org.au/attractions/st-kilda/) but they are only released online on Tuesday mornings (Australian Time) a week in advance. They are the smallest penguins in the world, only 12-14 inches and weighing just about three pounds.

Little Penguin

At St. Kilda they’ve installed special lighting that protects the penguins’ sensitive eyes but still allows people to see them as they come in for the night and socialize in the breakwater. While we used our cameras, they actually are close enough that it’s possible to get some decent shots with an iPhone.

Melbourne City

With our hotel located along the Yarra River near downtown Melbourne we were able to walk or to catch a free tram to most of the sites we wanted to visit in the city. We did need to Uber to St. Kilda and to Yarra Bend Park.

Hosier Lane – Melbourne

Our Melbourne city sites included the Royal Botanic Gardens, Queen Victoria Market, and Hosier Lane, a graffiti-lined walkway internationally known for its street art as well as for the sibling restaurants Movida and Movida Next Door (where we had supper one night).

Lightscape – Botanic Gardens – Melbourne

In researching the trip, Carol found that our visit would coincide with an annual Lightscape nightly light show installation at the Botanic Gardens, so once we got to Melbourne, we bought tickets for the show.

Sydney Birdwatching Tour

After Melbourne, it was off to Sydney for another week. As with Melbourne, we scheduled a one-day birding trip to get things off to a good start, this time to Royal National Park with Simon Husher (or as we referred to him “Simon Two) of Birding Sydney and Beyond (https://www.birdingsydneyandbeyond.com.au/).

Thanks to Simon we were able to capture shots of Superb Fairywrens, one of the birds Carol most wanted to see – and indeed, they are superb. But that was just one of the sightings of the day.

Although we had photographed a Kookaburra in Dandenong, we were able to get quite a few more shots in Royal National at a closer range. Other highlights included the New Holland Honeyeater, Green Catbird and Red Wattlebird.

Although we had seen White-Faced Herons at the water treatment plant in Melbourne, they were far away and not particularly cooperative. Since herons are always on my most desired list, I came away very pleased when at the end of the day we found a number of them.

Sydney City

Sydney

Carol’s research into accommodations really paid off throughout the trip and in Sydney, she booked us into a hotel in the Rocks, just a few blocks from the harbor. In the mornings we could walk to incredible coffee and breakfast shops or in the evenings to excellent dinner locations.

Sydney Harbor

As an additional bonus, the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Botanic Gardens were both easily within walking distance. The Royal Botanic Gardens yielded a rookery of Little Black Cormorants on a small island in a pond. There was quite the range of ages and looks, from fluffy Muppets to bald infant dinosaurs.

Harbor, Bondi and Flying Foxes

At Sydney Harbor we booked a morning whale watching tour, and while we did see whales, they were not posing nicely for us, although for a while the boat was pursued by some much more cooperative dolphins.

Speedo Cafe – Bondi Beach

Aside from the harbor area, we Ubered to Bondi Beach for breakfast at Speedo’s Café, which we had heard about on the Netflix series “Somebody Feed Phil.” This also gave us a chance to watch some students at a surf school testing out their skills at a cove along the beach.

Flying Fox

Simon Husher had given us directions to a colony of Flying Foxes in Centennial Park which was also a short Uber trip away. We were rewarded with an excellent and substantial colony of the fruit bats, all within easy shooting distance. A bonus was a Royal Spoonbill in an adjacent pond.