If you have more time, take a walk across the bridge and have a good aerial view of the habour.
You could sign up for the half day climb of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and get certified.
There is also the Rock where you could have some refreshment while doing your shopping.
You could also take the ferry to the zoo or to the other side of the nude beach and take a bus back. Just take note of the timetable for the ferry as the last boat is at 5pm.
When I was in Launceston, I was thinking of visiting Devonport but later I found that there isn’t any train operating within the island and there are only 2 bus trips travelling from Hobart to Launceston and continue to Devonport each day.
I further read from the Internet that I could take the ferry (known as the Spirit of Tasmania) from Devonport to Melbourne. The fare for the ferry is almost the same as the price for the air ticket. The ferry has to sail for 12 hours to reach the shore while the aircraft just fly for about an hour to reach the airport. I wanted to experience the sailing but after reading about the horror stories from the Internet, I was a bit worry about the rough sea. After much considerations, I decided not to visit Devonport and approached Tiger Airways again to flight directly from Launceston to Melbourne.
While I was in Hobart, I took a bus and went to the city for a walk. Orchard road is much more crowded than this place. There was nothing much for me to do in this quiet place, so I just walked around and took some pictures. I passed by the University of Tasmania, Churches, Gardens and Parks. I met up with this half drunken man in the park and had 2 rounds of chess with him. I won the first round and lost the second.
I went to the harbour, passed by the museum and police station. Travelling alone is a good experience. You can walk to anywhere you think there is a road that will lead you to some interesting places. The Battery Point is a historic place in Hobart and I was the only historian there during my visit. The well known Salamanca Place was almost empty. Maybe it was a weekday.
I stayed in the SandyBay with 2 boys, a dog and the grandfather. This place is a bit out of the town but I think it is okay as the town is also as quiet as here. My contact is doing part-time community work and on one occasion I followed him to a few beaches to check on the toilets for vandalism. Interesting job.
Fremantle is just about 45 minutes of train ride from the city of Perth. I was there on a Friday afternoon. The place is bit of slow and quiet. I think I see more people in MBC than in Fremantle. The Fremantle Market opens only on weekends. I bought a T-shirt from one of those tourist shops at a discounted price of A$10. The next day when I was in Perth, I saw T-shirts with the same design are selling at A$5 each. Got cheated!!!!
From Perth, I took the Indian Pacific Train (印度太平洋火车) to Adelaide. The journey is 2 days and 2 nights (48 hours). The train had a stop at Kalgoorlie at about 1am. I got out of the train with my seat partner (a young German girl) to explore the quiet town. We walked for about 30 minutes and finally found McDonald’s.
The train continued. We passed by 2 deserted towns – Tarcoola and Forrest. We had our second stop in Cook Town. There are only 5 men and one fat woman living in this 鸟不下蛋的地方. We got off the train and had a self-guided tour in this ghost town for about 2 hours.
St Kilda is about an hour walk from the city of Melbourne. As I was staying a distance away from the the city, I have to take about an hour walk to the city and another hour walk to the beach in St Kilda. I never take any bus or train when I was in Melbourne. I only once took the free city bus to travel around the city (I took 3 rounds). Most of my travel are on foot and with a map.
While I walking towards St Kilda, I found that there was no many vehicles on the road. Later I realised it was the day of the Pride Parade and some of the roads were closed. I joined in the crowd to watch the parade and took some pictures.
The parade ended with music, dance and performance in the park near to the beach.
I hesitated. I was trying to find out the cheapest way to travel from Melbourne to Canberra as I couldn’t decide whether I should travel by plane, bus or train. I only came to notice that the price for the train ticket has increased gradually and was almost the same as the price for the air ticket when I made up my mind. Hesitation comes with a price.
Canberra is the Capital of Australia but the place is unexpectedly quiet when I was there. I could hardly see more than 100 people during my 3 days and 2 nights visit. The city is rather small and I could tour the whole place within an hour. I visited the park, the lake, the city, the Museum, the old and new Parliament House, the Australian National University and even went up to the Black Mountain to have an aerial view.
In Adelaide, I stayed in the Backpacker for 3 days. I walked around the city, passed by the famous University of Adelaide, went to Chinatown and had a bowl of noodle soup and took the public bus to Glenelg, which is the beach area.
I took the train from Brisbane to the Gold Coast for A$18. It was about 50 minutes ride. As compared to Australia, the fare for our MRT is still very cheap. The theme parks in Gold Coast are near to each other. I got a 2-day ticket to visit 2 theme parks.
There was not much happening in Brisbane even it was the Christmas season. I went to Chinatown and saw less than 20 people there; it could be because that was during office hours. The movable market in the carpark was quite interesting. There is a Casino but I did not get in because of my dress code. Yes! there is a city beach in Brisbane.
