Travelling to Brisbane took more than 24 hours – quite an exhausting start into my holidays!

Between June 24, and June 30, 2004, the International Young Physicists' Tournament (IYPT) was held in Brisbane, where my father was a jury member. I was registered as a guest, and could therefore take part in most of the activities. In my freetime, I explored Brisbane on my own.

In a rental car, we went from Brisbane to Cairns along the Eastern coast of the continent. Within this week, we saw quite a few beautiful regions, for example ...

... Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world, ...

... Atherton Tableland in the North of Queensland, ...

... the Great Barrier Reef, ...

... and the rain forest in Tropical North Queensland.

In a camper van, we explored the Red Centre, visiting all the famous tourist destinations:

Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), ...

... Uluru (Ayers Rock), ...

... Kings Canyon, ...

... and the MacDonnell Ranges.

Within just two days, we went from Alice Springs to Mataranka – meaning 1100 kilometers or ten hours in the car, right through the outback!

In the northernmost part of the Northern Territory, the Top End, we visited the three large national parks:

Nitmiluk National Park (with Katherine Gorge and Edith Falls), ...

... Kakadu National Park (with the rock paintings of the Aborigines), ...

... and Litchfield National Park.

If it took more than 24 hours to get to Australia, going home is of course not any shorter – unfortunately ...