Australia road trip — Family Vagabonders

After spending a month in Sydney, we did a week-long road trip to Melbourne. We planned the trip so that we would not have to do more than four hours stretches between the places we would overnight.

The first place that we drove was Mittagong. Mittagong is a small town with not much to it, but it was on the way and near Jervis Bay. Unfortunately, due to bush fires in the area, Jervis bay was closed just hours after we went there (we saw police officers closing down the road). Jervis bay is really nice to take a stroll but the coast. We also had delicious and fresh fish & chips. We stayed in Mittagong for only one night before going to the capital city, Canberra.

In Canberra, the capital of Australia, we visited the following attractions:

The Australian Mint (where most Australian coins are made): The Mint was very fascinating as it explained the history of coins as well as the production of current, specialty and collector coins. One of the most interesting ones as a 1 kg gold coin (there are only five of them worldwide).
National Museum of Australia has fascinating exhibitions on art, science, and history. The museum is well done, covers a lot of topics, has great views from the river and city and is for free!!! We liked the aboriginal exhibition as well as the exhibition on the Australian animals.
Australian War memorial is a museum that reflects Australia’s part in many wars around the globe, including World War One and Two. The museum has artifacts used in the wars along with planes, boats, and submarines on display. In this museum, you can easily spend four to five hours exploring. It is very interesting and well done!

All of these have free entrance and are definitely worth the visit!

After 2 nights in Canberra, we headed down to Albury. Albury is a small little town between Canberra and Yarra Valley. My mom has some friends in town and we stayed with them for the night, it was a fun evening. (We had the famous Australian Pavlova for the dessert! It was delicious!)

The following day we drove to a town called Beechworth were we went to a bakery called Beechworth bakery. The bakery was a great stop to enjoy some tasty pastries and bread. It has more than five other locations, all in Victoria, but this store is the original one. We also went to an old Telegram station (it is a museum now). The old Telegram station is filled with old school machines like Morse code machines, old phones, and typewriters. You can send telegrams in Morse code to anyone around the world!

In Yarra Valley, we went to a couple of wineries because that is what Yarra Valley is known for. We could see many many fields of grapevines all around Yarra Valley. It is also known for their agriculture and we saw many farms along the way. We saw many wildlife signs warning people to be careful with all the wild animals trying to cross the road. After Yarra valley, we drove to Philip island.

Philip Island is located near Melbourne and known for a place where families with kids spend the summer due to the amount of activities available. We had only 2 1/2 days and here is what we did in Philip island:

The Koala reserve is really nice as we take a walk and try and spot koalas. We saw over 10 koalas at the reserve and we got to learn all about the fuzzy little creatures. It was a rainy and cold day so most Koala’s were seeking shelter in the trees.
Churchill Island is a little tiny island off Philip island, which is the home to a historic farm. At the farm, you get to see sheep being sheared, working dogs, cows getting milked, and much more farm-related things!!! We spent most of the day there because of all the things you can de there.
The Penguin parade is were penguins that have been swimming around the entire day and return to there borrows on the beach. The timing when the penguins arrive at the bay varies every day, due to the fact that the penguins only come out of the water at dusk, so make sure you follow when it is happening. They say to get there two hours before the expected arrival of the penguins to get a good spot but also to explore the information available in the visitors center. We picked a spot on the sand and waited…. at around the time they were expecting the penguins to arrive from the ocean, we started seeing 1 - 2 penguins at a time. Soon, there were dozens. The penguins are really cute and come out in little groups. From the time the first penguin comes out to the last penguin arrival, it takes about an hour. We suggest that you go to the second bleacher and go the farthest to the bottom right corner to get a better view. You can also see many penguins and baby penguins in the burrow off the beach where the penguins live. (This is the path from the bleachers to the visitors center)
Beaches: There are many types of beaches but our 2 favorites were ‘The Colonnades’ and the ‘Forrest caves’. This last one was a fun little hike to a beach that had caves right on the water. It was fun to explore!

We had a great time going around south Australia and hope you enjoyed my post. If you can, do a road trip in Australia.