The travel plan for Australia is its eastern half and Tasmania, the large island south of the continent. We'll carry backpacks, staying in hostels and backpacker lodges with shared bath and kitchen facilities.
The summer trip will start in metropolitan Sydney, moving in a counter-clockwise direction north to Brisbane by bus with stops on the east coast along the way, then by air even further north to the tropics of Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. From there, we fly inland to the "Red Centre", including famous Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Alice Springs.
By that point, we will have had enough heat, so the next stop is a flight south to Adelaide, where the journey may continue by car along the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne.
Completing the loop will be a flight to Launceston, Tasmania, close to the starting point for the Overland Track. This trek crosses pristine wilderness from Cradle Mountain south to Lake St Clair. Over 65 km, it is a renowned bush-walk with basic huts along the route. It's also home to the Tasmanian Devil and other marsupials. While it's summer, the weather in Tasmania may be substantially cooler and more variable than the mainland.
Before leaving Tasmania, we may explore coastal hikes along the east coast, including "Wineglass Bay" and take a quick dip in the frigid Tasman Sea bordering Antarctica. Fly from Hobart, Tasmania, back to Melbourne for the flight back to USA.
