74 beautiful islands and the Great Barrier Reef in the same area, life is good!

Only 3 full days, no time to waste.

Day 1 : The Great Barrier Reef

With 2900 individual reefs stretching for over 2600km, the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system. We decided to explore Hardy’s Reef with Fantasea Adventure Cruising, a multi award winning cruise operator based in Airlie Beach. We had only one day to explore the reef so we chose the most well-known tour company in the region to be sure we’d enjoy our trip.

In fact, not only we had just one day of reef activities but we only had 4 hours on the pontoon. Yeah, 4 hours to do some snorkeling, semi-sub and helicopter. I forgot, the all you can eat lunch buffet… no matter, no time to eat.

This was probably one of the coolest 4 hours of my life. Here are some pictures of paradise!

The next day, we went on a full day tour of the main attractions in Alice Springs (Telegraph Station, Flying Doctor Service, School of Air, Alice Springs Reptile Centre) and in the eastern part of the West MacDonnell Ranges (Stanley Chasm, Simpsons Gap) with AAT Kings and Tailormade Tours.

Alice Springs

Stanley Chasm

Simpsons Gap

Simpsons Gap

Kangaroos at Telegraph Station

I would have prefered a full day in the West MacDonnell Ranges but it wasn’t possible with AAT at this time of the year unfortunately.

More pictures of Alice Springs.

First of all, we booked with Discovery Ecotours, one of many tour companies in this region. Their website says : “Award winning Australia Ecotours enjoys a reputation as a unique, small group tour operator providing expert guided tours throughout the Northern Territory – a company delivering a quality product focused on natural and cultural heritage. The experiential nature of our tours, coupled with our agenda to avoid crowds, has proven very popular with domestic and international visitors.”

They were right! Small groups. No crowds. Quality.

Moreover, we think this was the only company offering a complete walk around Uluru (13km – easy walking). Other tour companies mainly go around Uluru by bus and stop for a couple of walks. We can assure you, doing the full walking tour is really something you want to do. You can deeply “feel” the spirit of Uluru and you can appreciate more of the legends that can be told about it.

Pictures can’t tell much, but here they are anyway!

Uluru Sunset Tour

Uluru Sunrise Tour / Uluru Walk

More pictures : Kata Tjuta National Park Pictures
Website : Discovery Ecotours

For some of you, it’s probably “just a big red rock” but that sandstone rock formation is the most visited site in Australia and one of its most famous landmarks. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is a World Heritage listed area.

Right in the middle of the country, you can get to Uluru by car (a bit less than 20 hours from Adelaide) or by plane (from Sydney, Cairns or Perth).

The closest place to stay for your trip at Uluru is Yulara located at 9km north. Voyages Ayers Rock Resort offers you 7 different places to stay from the welcoming campground to the luxurious (could it be more than that) Longitude 131°.

Voyages kindly invited us to enjoy a night at one of their hotels : The Lost Camel Hotel.

Warning : There is almost no cheap ways to visit Uluru if it’s your main concern. The cheapest would be : Go there by car, stay at the campground (site from 16.50$ + 16$ additional person, 150$/cabin + 16$ additional person) and visit the park by yourself. Well actually, do not visit the park by itself, a great guide is so important to enjoy this place. I’ll post another article regarding the tours we took.

The Lost Camel is one of the their not-cheap cheaper options. At 280$/night, it is overpriced in any ordinary Australian City but Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park has nothing to do with ordinary. Is the park worth this price? Definitely.

The Hotel is really well located within the resort. It’s 100m from the souvenir shops, the grocery store and the pretty nice and cheap Red Rock Deli (which offers great salads by the way). The room is a bit small but clean and well designed. The highlight of this hotel is probably the great pool that helped us surviving under the outback sun and cold 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).

There is a rumor over the web about a walk-in rate at Lost Came which would be a 100$ discount by night. Is it true ? Good question. It’s up to you if you want to verify this info by going to Lost Camel without a booking, but I wouldn’t try this in the high season for sure. But if you feel excited about this, go for it! (and let us know the result afterwards.)

My tip for Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park goes like this : You MUST be there for a sunset and a sunrise. One night is a bit short but it’s ok. Two nights would be better, you could see both sunset and sunrise at Uluru and Kata Tjuta (the other and less known big red rock).

More pictures : Lost Camel Hotel and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Pictures
Website : Lost Camel Hotel

On our second day on the island continent, Taronga Zoo invited us to discover the native australian wildlife. Here is my first tip : Arrive early, leave late. With hundreds of animals (just look at this list), you’ll have to makes some choices… or walk fast if you don’t plan to spend the all day there.

To get to Taronga Zoo, you can take the ferry from Circular Quay (12 minutes, each 30 minutes). It’s a 12 minutes of happiness for us since it was the first time we could see the city from that angle. Take a look at this picture :

When you get at the Zoo, you should (MUST!) take the Sky Safari cable. It’s included in the admission fee so don’t bother with the bus! As you go up to the entrance, you’ll see some elephants as long as you’ll have a great view on the skyscrapers and the Opera. Amazing, really!

We’ve been at the Zoo for at least 6 hours, just enough time to make a bunch of new friends :

Admission fee is 41$ for an adult or 104$ for 2 adults and 2 childs which is a bit expensive for an entry to a Zoo but it totally worth it. Look for a ferry/zoo entry combo in tourist information offices in Sydney, there is a little discount.

More pictures : Taronga Zoo pictures
Website : Taronga Zoo

Our first stop was Sydney for 2 days. This is just enough time to sleep sufficiently and to fight the jetlag (which wasn’t that bad).

The Travelodge Wynyard welcomed us in their peaceful place. That’s exactly what we needed. A comfortable place where we can take the time needed get a couple of good night of sleep before beginning this great journey in Australia. The problem with Sydney is that even if you got a great hotel, you just don’t want to spend time in it, you want to explore this great city. Low price in a good location, that is what a lot of people want!

So, what about the hotel? First of all, it is pretty well located. You don’t need to be an athlete to get to Darling Harbour and Circular Quay, they both are an easy stroll away. The room was clean and quiet, it is all we need!

Oh, I forgot to tell you that the staff is really nice, that’s so important when you haven’t sleep for more than 30 hours!

The Citrus Grove Restaurant offers simple but good menu open from 6am to late at night. Note that there are not a lot of restaurants around the hotel for open at dinner time since it is in CBD, so you should think of going to Circular Quay or Darling Harbour. By the way, there is a nice food court just down on Jamison street where you can find thai, indian and other oriental restaurants.

Pictures : Travelodge Wynyard pictures
Website : Travelodge Wynyard

Here is a little preview!