Wandering Fractal

Cassowary. A large flightless bird found in Northeastern Australia and New Guinea. Cairns, my last stop in Australia. This town is a good hub to go to the great barrier reef and the jungle. It's a touristic place, so you will find plenty of tour options there. I went snorkeling in the reef and even tried an introductory dive. The small town of Kuranda make a good day trip from Cairns. Use the Trans North bus company. There you can visit the Koala Gardens and the Bird World . They are small zoos, but some of the marsupials and nearly all the birds roam free. You can feed and pet them, but beware of the parrots, they will try to steal everything. Cassowary. Kangaroo Crocodile Lizard Parrot Parrot Flying foxes (bats) around the library in the center of Cairns.

A rock wallaby and her baby. On this small island you can find wild animals like koalas and wallabies. Go for a hike around The Forts to see koalas. Keep your heads up for grey spots in the trees and ask other hikers on the way if they saw koalas. They sleep most of the time and it can be difficult to find them. You might also see rock wallabies if you are lucky (I wasn't). A better way to see the small marsupials is to go around 17:00 on the small peninsula in the Arcadia village. Some villagers give them food and they will come out of the rocks. Magnetic island is easily reached by boat from Townsville (20-25 minutes). The Sealink Queensland company operate the boats. The Greyhound bus will conveniently stop at the ferry terminal of Townsville. Koala half-sleeping. Another rock wallaby.

Wreck of the S.S. Maheno Fraser island or K'Gari for the locals is the biggest sand island in the world. It's not a barren pile of sand as the name might suggest. It's actually covered by a rainforest with many lakes and rivers. It's an exceptional ecosystem. The main attraction is it's population of dingoes. Those native wild dogs can be spotted wandering on the island. The guides and rangers of the island made a good job of explaining the correct behavior to have in front of those animals: no feeding and stay away. In the past there was a few cases of tourists doing stupid thing and getting bitten as a result. There even was  a child who was killed by dingoes. I did a 3 days/ 2 nights tour on the island organised by the Palace Hostels & Adventures in Hervey Bay. It includes the camping, food, transport in jeeps and nights in their hostel before and after the tour. There are other tours by other companies but they are mostly similar. We spent most of...

Surfers From Sydney I took the night bus to Byron Bay. This part of the east coast has only one bus option and it's the night one. Prepare some warm clothes because the air conditioning can be quite strong. After 12:45 hours I arrived in this small town near the sea. It has amazing beaches and a hippie vibe. The main activities are swimming, surfing and strolling along the beach. One good walk is to go all the way up to the lighthouse. I stayed in a hostel called Arts Factory Lodge . It's a bite outside of town and looks like a small hippie village (even more than Byron Bay itself). Don't expect a nice and quiet place. It's raucous, dirty and crowded, but it's a worthwhile experience. Tip: avoid the kitchen. It's more a battlefield than a cooking place. View from the lighthouse. Water pool at low tide. Cormorant

Opera house In Sydney I saw the most popular places like the Opera house, the Harbour bridge and the rocks, but the best place was definitely Bondi beach. It's a bit outside of the center, around 45 minutes of bus, but really worth it. I bought a hope-on hope-off bus ticket from the company Greybound (same as the one in the USA). For around 450 Australian dollars it allowed me to go from Sydney to Cairns while making as many stop as I wanted. Once you have the login info, you can go on their website and book the next bus you want. It's a good option if there is many things you want to see on the road and you don't want to rent a car. Opera house by night from the harbour bridge Under the harbour bridge St Mary's cathedral Birds eating from the trash of the fish market.