New Zealand offers fjords and vineyards and Australia offers exciting animals, magnificent rainforests and beautiful cities. I have never met anyone who has traveled to Australia or New Zealand who does not wish to have the opportunity to travel back again.
About 30 minutes drive from Perth in Western Australia is the Swan Valley. Here, among the fertile soil of the green hills, hours of sunshine abound and many tasty sights are offered.
Time to sum up our driving holiday in Western Australia from Perth to Monkey Mia - this time in a little film.
Fraser Island in Queensland is a national park, a world heritage site and the world's largest sand island. Although the island consists of sand, there are also rainforests, freshwater lakes and a rich wildlife including dingos.
Some deserts hide not only beauty and silence, but also mysteries. Like the limestone columns in the Pinnacles desert in Nambung National Park in Australia, which no one really understands how they were created.
A place that often appears in the Tolkien films is Mount Aspiring in New Zealand – a national park with fairy-tale landscapes among misty and rainy mountains.
Are you going to travel to Australia? I have collected my 24 best tips from all our trips to Australia in one list. High and low. Quirky and practical.
The Atherton Tablelands is said to be the only place in the world where the climate can give you both coffee, tea, sugar and milk. Simply everything you need in life. We have visited Australia's largest tea plantation – Nerada.
Lobster, crayfish or crawfish? At least we ate a fresh lobster lunch at the Lobster Shack in Cervantes.
Kalbarri National Park offers a dramatic river canyon in red sandstone - one of Western Australia's most delicious natural experiences.
Some days bubblegum pink, other days brick red. The pink Hutt Lagoon offers a colorful spectacle no matter when you go here.
The road to Milford Sound in New Zealand is not just a transport route, but a display of New Zealand's most beautiful views.
85 miles north of Perth lies one of the world's marine wonders. Surrounded by deserts, far from large cities and with large meadows of seaweed below the surface. Shark Bay provides unique conditions for everything from sharks, whales and dolphins to dugongs and stromatolites.
Fremantle is Perth's port city, a historic and lively small town on the Indian Ocean. We went here for the nice atmosphere, the lovely fish restaurants and (of course) the ferry to Rottnest Island.
Australia is the dream destination that has everything for a great driving holiday. But what do you need to consider when driving in Australia? Here are my best tips for a carefree road trip Down Under!
A really good accommodation option for price-conscious families traveling in Australia is camping cabins – we tried it and loved it!
Perth is an exuberant, unique and charming city with an unexpected small-town feel. We spent 5 days here and explored some of the city's sights.
On New Zealand's South Island is one of the country's most popular and most dramatic sights. Far from cities and civilization lies the 8th wonder of the world Milford Sound – the strait which is actually a fjord.
45 minutes north of Perth in Western Australia is Yanchep National Park, an important wetland area for the area's birds and with several limestone caves with unique wildlife. We have visited the Crystal Cave and hiked around Loch McNess.
Rottnest Island outside Perth has long been on my bucket list. Here are some of the world's finest beaches and "the world's happiest animals" - quokkas.
After almost a month on the road, we are now back home! This year's adventure was a road trip among national parks and nature in Western Australia, which ended with lazy days in Bali. So what was the best, worst and how was the weather? And most importantly - did I find a new mug?
At the moment there is feverish planning going on at home - we are going on a camping holiday to the national parks of Western Australia!
We are in Mossman Gorge in the land of the Kuku Yalanji people. For more than 50.000 years they have lived here in northern Queensland, in the world's oldest rainforest.
I love watching wild animals. Be invisible and barely breathe, just watch. But where could I see a wild koala? We headed to Kennett River.
A giant volcanic explosion created what are today the lakes of Crater Lakes National Park in Queensland. We went here to hike and (hopefully) see the occasional Australian bush hen.
Sometimes you surprise yourself. Like when we were suddenly standing on a pier in north Queensland fishing for barramundi. But how did we end up here?
Melbourne has become one of our favorite cities. There is so much wonderful to see and do here, but if I were to choose a few favorites, it would be these ten!
Melbourne is one of the world's hottest cities for street art. Colorful, changing and innovative – this is simply the art of life.
Chillagoe was never our destination on the road trip. We just happened to pass by on our way to a national park. An ordinary day in the outback in Queensland in northern Australia.
Winter winds and waves. If this had been anywhere other than Australia, I would have been wearing a down jacket. But not in Manly, one of the world's most famous surfing spots.
Great Barrier Reef. Turquoise water. White coral beaches. Lots of fish. Fitzroy Island National Park outside Cairns in Australia is all of this. A real little paradise island.
There is no place I long for as often as Queensland. And when I daydream about the mild winters in the tropics, Trinity beach is what I see in front of me.
Mareeba Wetlands in Queensland is located in the middle of the dry outback, but offers a diversity of exotic birds. We met lots of animals - both on the lake, on land and in the toilet...
The road to Cape Tribulation in northeastern Australia offers the world's oldest rainforest and pristine beaches. And also some crocodiles and snakes.
Australia's largest city, Sydney, has some world-famous sights that you just have to experience, but the biggest benefit you get is just hanging out in this lovely city.
The dark red termite mounds along our path get bigger and bigger the further from the coast we go. Just when I think we've reached the end of the world, we suddenly pass a house. Someone lives out here. Far from everything. We are heading towards the lava tunnels of Undara National Park, in the northern Queensland outback.
New Zealand's South Island is a perfect mix of the world's most beautiful nature and attractions gathered on a single small island. Here are my top ten nature experiences from our road trip around the island - both on land and at sea.
A visit to the Tolga Bat Hospital in Queensland, Australia changes any preconceived notions you might have about bats. If you think all bats are scary vampires, then you definitely need to come here for a visit!
Today we suddenly had a whole day without plans! Instead of going straight to our booked accommodation in Timaru, we took a long detour towards Mount Cook via beautiful lakes and a sheep farm.
A film from our road trip on one of the world's most beautiful roads - the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia.
Today's journey through New Zealand's South Island takes us to the second natural highlight of the trip – Oamaru and the little blue penguins.
The Great Barrier Reef stretches over 200 miles along the north Queensland coast. Crowded, exuberant and exciting – the eighth wonder of the world has everything for the perfect holiday.
The feeling of waking up at sunrise with the rainforest's king parrots, rainbow lorikeets and tree kangaroos. A wilderness experience in luxury packaging.
Today came the day we had longed for ever since we booked this trip! The day we would (hopefully) see whales!
Queensland is definitely our happy place in Australia! Here's our favorite list of attractions around Cairns for all ages.
Christmas morning! Now it's Christmas for real here in New Zealand! Nothing special planned today for once, quite nice actually! The only thing we had booked was the hotel in the town of Blenheim in Marlborough, which is no more than 2 hours drive from Nelson.
"It's so far away" and "There are so many dangerous animals" are comments we often hear when we talk about our travels. But what is it really like to travel with children to Australia?
Day 8 of our road trip on New Zealand's South Island. Christmas Eve in Abel Tasman National Park! Abel Tasman is New Zealand's smallest national park, but here you will find vast coastal areas with golden beaches, cliffs, forested mountains and wetlands.
Are you planning your dream trip to Australia? Here you have planning help for a three-week road trip between Cairns and Brisbane in Queensland.
Early rise, as today we had a long day's drive ahead of us, more precisely 45 miles after New Zealand's west coast. The weather, which did not show its best side in Franz Josef, today offered brilliant sunshine and we finally caught a glimpse of the beautiful, white mountain massif that had been lurking behind the fog all along. We heard the helicopters in the distance, it almost sounded like they were laughing at us... But but, time to go.
Woke up at Scenic hotel in Franz Josef and had continental breakfast at the hotel. Unusually affordable breakfast, so we couldn't bear to go out into the village and look for another place. As we were up quite early, it was almost just us and a busload of British pensioners who were to be bussed around the North and South Island for a month. The bus tourists were quite quick to clear the buffet, so we had to eat a little faster than usual. Maybe lucky, we are very slow on our breakfasts usually…
One of the best things we know when we travel is to have the opportunity to meet wild animals and especially we love to see whales! Humpback whales, sperm whales, beluga whales, killer whales, herring whales, dolphins - now only blue whales are left to see on our list! To see whales, you need both the right season, the right weather and a great deal of luck. Here are our 4 favorite places to meet the giants of the sea.
(17 photos) Hip, lovely, hot, absolutely wonderful Melbourne! So much good food, so many outdoor seating, so much beautiful street art! Here in Melbourne, the restaurants display gluten-free menus and the coffee gets soy or almond milk out of the blue. You can always fix a children's portion and if you get tired of city life, the beach is just a tram ride away.
Day 5 of the driving holiday offered a glacier hike and a light show of glow worms.
Time to leave the warmth of Lake Wanaka and drive up the west coast to Fox Glacier. The day started in a minor camera disaster, but with an incredible amount of luck and a crazy idea, the disaster was avoided. However, we got away a little later from Wanaka than planned and a little poorer.
Not as early riser as the day before, getting up at 7 a.m. felt almost like sleeping in the morning. After a long day yesterday, we all slept very soundly last night. Headed towards the center of Te Anau, where we had found a breakfast place that was well rated by many guests. Wasn't exactly easy to find, but after three laps around the minimal center of the village, we finally saw the sign - Sandfly Cafe.
With a little time adjustment in the body, it was not entirely easy to get up, even though the big adventure starts today!
I've always loved looking out the airplane window. Through the airplane window, you visit places you may never go and see views you can never see from the ground. The approach to Queenstown on New Zealand's South Island will most certainly end up at the top of my very personal top-10 approach list.
Australia's largest city Sydney has lots of attractions and things to do with children, no wonder the whole family enjoys it here! Here are our favorites!
Having just returned from a road trip on New Zealand's South Island, I thought I'd sum up my thoughts in a classic hi-diss list. Is there really anything to do in New Zealand you might be thinking?
