East Coast Holidays

In February my good friend Petra arrived from Germany and stayed with me for 2 weeks, before we flew out to Sydney for a 3 weeks trip.

First stop was Sydney. We had a hotel very central and could walk everywhere. It was my first real test for my new hip and it was just working fantastic. We walked at least 10 km a day and I had no issues. We explored 4 days Sydney and even made it to a concert in the famous Opera house.

If you click on the images they will be enlarged and you can click through. Warning, there are lots!

Blue Mountains

Next on the list were the Blue Mountains, but first we had to get our “home” for the next 2 weeks: a camper van from Cheaper Camper. It was the cheapest option, but we thought it will be good for an adventure. It took a few days until everything had it’s place and we got into a routine.

In the Blue Mountains we descended the Giant Stairway into the valley via the 900+ steel and stone steps, originally constructed in 1909. The steps were not uniform and often covered with leaves. We had to hold on to the rail for almost every step. The track was graded 4 out of 5 being the most difficult and I was very proud and happy to have mastered it with my new hip.

Budgewoi

After our inland trip we went back to the coast and started our journey to the North.

Coffs Habour

Byron Bay

Via Surfers Paradise to Esk

Esk is a small town west of Brisbane and is home to my friend Jude and Jon. So we had to stop by for a short visit.

Rainbow Beach

Bargara

Clairview

Airlie Beach

Townsville

Mission Beach

Lake Eacham – Atherton Tableland

Cairns

Our final destination was Cairns, where we returned our camper van and moved into a little Air B’n’B. We picked Cairns as it is also home to my good friends Knut and Darrin. We spend a few more days exploring with and without Knut and Darrin before it was time to say good bye. Petra made her way back to Germany and I flew back to Perth.

Our total journey was 3,472km driving from Sydney to Cairns and we walked a total of over 220km in these 3 weeks. Something that would have been impossible 4 months prior!