A Couple of National Parks east of Melbourne

Wilsons Promontory National Park is one of the most iconic national parks in Australia.

A big anvil of mountains and forest thrust out into the Southern Ocean surf.

It has some of the most beautiful beaches in Australia.

On the land are samples of Australia’s most beautiful fauna.

And beautiful forests.

Further east is the Buchan Caves National Park a fine example of national parks of the 1920s with an arboretum of international trees to compliment the amazing caves and natural forests.

The Royal Cave is beautiful:

The arboretum with its mix of deciduous trees from around the world and Australia’s non deciduous trees offers an amazing mix of colour in autumn.

And the beautiful fauna

These parks are in the Gippsland region of Victoria. A region of abundant natural beauty.

TUNISIA

I couldn’t help but be excited as the ferry pulled into the Port of Tunis.

I have crossed from Europe to Africa once before, into Morocco but had been warned that Tunisia was more complex.

And it was!

Working through bike importation and insurance and customs and immigration took nearly half a day

One night in Tunis was plenty and it was an early start south to the coastal city on Monastir and a little residence in the Medina there.

The public beach was a short walk from the Medina and it was a perfect evening for a swim.

The main plaza of Monastir is between the old fort on the beach and the Medina. Horse carriages carry tourists around the old city and the plaza lined with lovely restaurants.

Heading south along the coast, the next stop was Gabes.

The fields were green and the olive groves bountiful along the coast.

Gabes is a busy fishing and boat building port. Once a very popular tourist destination, it has some lovely hotels at very reasonable rates.

After Gabes it was time to head inland toward Duze, the gateway to the Sahara.

Tracking inland, it didn’t take long for the lands to turn dry and rocky.

The famous mountain village of Matmata, with its houses and hotels built underground was the perfect stop before swapping the Breva for camels and venturing into the Sahara.

Matmata has a vibrant market but unfortunately civil unrest followed the pandemic has meant a lot of public tourist infrastructure has suffered.

So it was time for a Sahara fuel up before heading to the Sahara.

Douz is the door to the Sahara.

Its a vibrant town, with lots of bikes preparing for adventures into the Sahara.

But the mighty Breva is not made for the desert so Douz was the place to garage the Breva and saddle up Camels.

After an amazing couple nights sleeping under the stars in the desert, the Mediterranean was calling again.

The next route was through the arid centre of Tunisia to Hammamet.

Its a long ride to Hammamet which called for an overnight stop in a little art guest house in Gasfa.

It had been a whirlwind tour through Tunisia and Hammamet was perfect place to relax for a couple of days before returning to Tunis to catch the ferry back to Italy.

It was sad to get on the ferry from Tunis to Salerno. I felt I had underestimated what Tunisia had to offer and the 10 days I had allowed for Tunisia was not enough.

A couple of National Parks in northern NSW, Australia.

The Waterfall Way runs across the top of the Great Dividing Way from the highlands to the sea in Northern NSW

Winding past waterfalls rainforests and granite outcrops. It is a great ride.

The falls above and the two photos below is Dangar Falls, which has a beautiful swimming hole.

The Waterfall Way is nearly 190km long with waterfalls dotted along it.

Cathedral Rock NP is on the top of the range and provides lovely walking, rock climbing, and expansive views over the New England Plateau.

On the coast, the Bongil Bongil NP consists of wild Pacific Ocean shores and forest wetlands.

The sea and forest close together support spectacular bird life. Such as:

The White Bellied Sea Eagle,

Brahminy Kite, and

Pacific Reef Heron.

The wetland forest, in particular, the paperbarks are of particular beauty:

As is the ocean shore.

It’s a beautiful ride into and out of the park as well.

Ps another beautiful NP on the Waterfall Way is the New England NP. I wrote about it previously here https://piecemealadventurer.com/2023/02/12/the-sub-tropical-mountain-gondwana-land-rain-forests-on-the-great-dividing-range-of-australia-2-new-england-np/?preview=true&frame-nonce=f245e4078d&amp=1

Into Tuscany

Mid September 2024, Storm Boris was brewing on the Adriatic Sea, making the best path south to Civitavechia and the ferry to Tunisia over the mountains via Bologna into Tuscany.

And it’s beautiful hilltop towns and cities.

One of the most spectacular of the hill top cities is San Gimignano

It’s popular to visit but not as busy as nearby Florence that I visited back in 2022.

In the city, it’s all walking and full of activity.

Across a little valley from San Gimignano there’s a campground in the little village of Santa Lucia

With a terrace where you can watch a balloon rise over San Gimignano.

As it was coming to the end of the season, so finding a place to camp at Principina a Mare right near the beach.

The beach at Principina has amazing beach shelters made from driftwood.

Out of Tuscany and into Lazio, there was time for a lunchtime time stop in Tarquinia.

That night it was the ferry to Tunisia.

But before then a stop in the Australian summer.

In and around Padova

The blog above and this are an attempt to catch up on telling tales of 2024’s adventure in Italy and Tunisia.

Padova is a beautiful university city. Not far from Venice, the city captures Venician elegance without the crowds.

The central plaza contains statues of thee great philosophers and is flanked by magnificent Cathedrals. The second oldest University in Europe and sumptuous Italian food.

Chioggia, is at the southern end of the Venice Lagoon. A commercial fishing port with canals and historic building and beautiful seafood.