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Tag: Close Encounters

Holy Crap… I’m in Cradle Mountain National Park!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Cradle Mountain National Park!!!

On this stop, I’ll be hiking around a few different national parks, some state reserves, and several random sites. And I’m not really based in a city, I’m staying in a camp/hostel similar to my place in Port Arthur, but the main attraction in these parts is definitely Cradle Mountain National Park and that’s how everyone refers to the whole area, Cradle Mountain. I figured I’d start there. There are several trails around that can be combined into however long…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Port Arthur!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Port Arthur!!!

My next stop in Tasmania wasn’t very far away at all. It turns out Tasmania isn’t really that big. So, after the animal sanctuary up near Hobart, I also had time for a short hike to see the Tessellated Pavement. I didn’t fully understand it all, but silt flows from the rivers and collects and hardens near the ocean and over time, it dries and salt dissolves at varying rates and you get these bread loaf looking formations. I thought…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Hobart!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Hobart!!!

From Sydney I hopped on the train for a short ride to the airport and then jumped on a plane headed for Australia’s southernmost state, Tasmania. I’ll be starting this part of my adventure in Tasmania’s capital, Hobart. Hobart seems like a fairly quiet seaside town. If you like to eat seafood (yes I most certainly do) then this is the place. Yummmm! After getting a new rental car and checking in at the hostel I had just enough time…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Blue Mountains National Park!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Blue Mountains National Park!!!

My drive from Wollongong was smooth right up until I turned on the road that heads up into the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. It turns out I’m driving on Anzac Day, a pretty major holiday here in Australia, so the traffic was just ridiculous! I still made it to Faulconbridge, the hike I had planned to do along the way, just later than expected. Faulconbridge was about a nine mile round trip hike. It was pretty flat and uninteresting…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Bendigo!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Bendigo!!!

After Mungo National Park the next closest stop on my itinerary is clear on the other side of Victoria, a really really long drive. So I decided I needed to add a stop in between to break up that drive… and now I’m in Bendigo. I picked this place because I wanted to see the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion. Even though it’s a big modern construction, this place was pretty amazing. The main structure is modeled after the 15th…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Grampians National Park!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Grampians National Park!!!

I now find myself out in western Victoria in Grampians National Park. Grampians got hit really hard by bush fires this past year and as a result a huge swath of the park is closed. Several of the trails I wanted to do are off limits due to the fire damage. Luckily, enough of the park is still open to make it worthwhile. Driving here from the coast I saw a lot of these signs. I have a good feeling…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Port Campbell National Park!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Port Campbell National Park!!!

Leaving from Apollo Bay, I made my way west along Australia’s unbelievable southern coast, specifically, a section known as Port Campbell National Park. It’s basically a long strip of the coast with lots of little hikes and viewpoints to enjoy nature’s handiwork. First up, was the Gibson Steps Beach. Down the cliff via some steps of doom and onto the beach. It was a pretty overwhelming location, in a good way, but it was just the beginning of my long…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Great Otway National Park!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Great Otway National Park!!!

I made it out of Melbourne and made my way southwest to my next official stop, Great Otway National Park. I took the long way here by making a huge loop around to the northwest so I could go visit Trentham Falls, but it turned out to just be a trickle, about a one on the gusher scale, and not really worth the effort. Oh well! From there it was due south for the rest of the day. My route…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Melbourne!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Melbourne!!!

Greetings from my latest adventure Down Under! That’s right, not only am I visiting the next country on my list, Australia (just in case you didn’t figure that out), but I’m also adding another continent to my tally. So let’s dive right in, since that’s pretty much what I had to do. After flying twentyish hours across the Pacific, my flight arrived into Melbourne at 8am. Which meant I had to try and stay awake all day so I could…

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Holy Crap… I’m in Krung Thep Maha Nakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthrayuthaya Maha Dilokphop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udom Ratchaniwet Maha Sathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit!!!

Holy Crap… I’m in Krung Thep Maha Nakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthrayuthaya Maha Dilokphop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udom Ratchaniwet Maha Sathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit!!!

Believe it or not, that whole long thing is the actual, official name of the city that we all know as Bangkok. It’s the longest city name in the entire world. There are different stories as to where the name ‘Bangkok’ (Village of the Wild Plum) came from, but no one is really sure. The locals refer to their city as just ‘Krung Thep’. Here’s a pic of the city’s official name on a monument outside of the city hall….

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