From Sydney to Queensland#
In this collection of photos we present views from an extended trip starting in Sydney and basically going North past Brisbane as far as Cairns, with detours to interesting places with a few pictures of the national parks Eungella and Wooroonooran.
All photos where it is not mentioned otherwise were taken by Nora Schreier in 1916 and made available to Austria-Forum.
Maybe you also want to look at the other pictures of Australia you find in the picture collection and the stories, particularly on trips into the center of Australia by Heinz Dreher.
Part 1: Sydney and surroundings #
Sydney Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the largest city in Australia and Oceania with over 5 million inhabitants. It is known for its unique opera house ("the opera house with sails") with a beautiful park next to it, the impressive harbour bridge and the many beaches, maybe Bondi beach best known of all. The picture below gives a good first impression, but by looking at the nine 360° panoramic pictures you will have a good overall impresssion which is the fleshed out with a number of photos, afterwards.
Part 2: Heading North past Newcastle and Macquarie to Coffs Harbour.#
One of the big and exciting trips one can take in Australia is to take road A1 (in stretches called M1) north to Cairns. It is this drive that is dealt with in what follows. Due to the fact that the road is usually at some distance from the sea (to avoid following all the bends of the many beautiful bays and beaches) there are many possible side-trips to the ocean, especially after the first major city north of Sydney, Newcastle Newcastle Australia ,there are also many interesting places to visit a bit inland (often climibing to moderate height, passing waterfalls, idyllic landscapes and often hitting villages that still offer the old Australian country side flavour).
However, one has to be prepared to go long distances. Newcastle is some 160 km north and usually one continues north from there. If one is intersted in visiting beaches it is worth while to do this a bit north of Newcastle, to avoid the huge Sydney crowds. One can also detour from Newcastle to the west and e.g. follow road 15 to Armidale Armidale, Australia "a city whose industry is education" and then turn east and down to the sea, reaching Coffs harbour Coffs Harbour . On the particular trip decribed here, we continue directly north past Newcastle, past Macquarie Port Macquarie, Australia to Coffs Harbour. Reaching Coffs Harbour means we have covered already over 500 km, still some 400 km to Brisbane.
Just to get an idea, from Brisbane to Cairns there are still 1.700 (!) km. One can go a bit further north past Port Douglas Port Douglas Australia and to Cook Town Cook Town, Australia . Also, for a number of years the very north of Queensland (North Eastern Australia) has been reachable via road 81 to Nanum Nanum, Australia , from Cairns still 800 km on a poor road. Thus, from Sydney to the very north of Queensland is a drive of about 3.300 km.
Part 3: Glimpses of Brisbane, then further north on A1 past Bundaberg, then a bit inland and finally to Rockhampton. #
Brisbane Brisbane is the capital of and largest city in the Australian state of Queensland (2.5 to 3.5 million inhabitants, depending on whether one counts in the southern metropolitan area). This makes it the third largest city in Australia, after Sydney and Melbourne. In a way it is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef with its international airport and one of the southernmost true Great Barrier Island, Herron Island Herron Island, Australia, zoom= , "just" 450 km north, usually reached by ferry or helicopter from Gladstone Galdstone, Australia .
Note that Fraser Island Fraser Island, Australia is not part of the coral reef islands: Together with some satellite islands off the southern coast and thus in the Great Sandy Strait, Fraser Island forms the County of Fraser, with islands such as Slain Island, Tooth Island, Roundbush Island, Moonboom Island, Gardner Island, Dream Island, Stewart Island, etc. Its length is about 120 kilometres and its width is approximately 24 kilometres. It has been a World Heritage site since 1992 and is considered to be the largest SAND island in the world at 1,840 square kilometers. The island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, mangrove forests, wallum and peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment which is carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast. Surprsingly, plant life is abundant due to the naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi present in the sand, which release nutrients in a form that can be absorbed by the plants.
The following pictures take us first north to Bundaberg Bundaberg, Australia with its distillery but then a bit inland to Rollerston area Rollerston, Australia and back to the coast at Rockhampton Rockhampton .
Part 4: Eungella National Park #
Eungella (meaning "Land of the clouds") is an Australian township near the Clarke Range at the end of the Pioneer Valley 80 km west of Mackay, and some 960 km northwest of Brisbane. Eungella is noted for the national park Eungella National Park Australia which surrounds it. It is considered to be the longest continual stretch of sub-tropical rainforest in Australia.
Part 5: Last stretch: Visiting a sugar factory, Wooroonooran National Park and reaching Cairns #
Queensland is noted for its sugar-cane plantations and sugar refineries. Tourists are still surprised to see narrow gauge reailways leading north- south, transportation routes for sugar cane for decades! The sequence starts with showing sugar cane and a sugar factory at Tully Tully Australia , followed by Wooroonooran National Park Wooroonooran and basicall ending at Cairns Cairns , a beatuiful touristic resort, with some remarks on Port Arthur a bit north of Cairns thrown in. Both Cairns and Port Arthur are ideal starting points for exploring the Great Barrier Reef, hence one should really look at the sixteen 360° panoramic images of the Great Reef.
After visiting Cairns and the beautiful Pullmann Hotel-Casino you might consider going a bit further north to Port Arthur. It is another gateway to the reef, to get first glimpses of its surroundings including first impression of Australias interior or as start of an "expedititon" to Darwin, each with over 100 pictures!
As conclusion, two rather generic pictures of Port Arthur.
