Photo gallery of Erik Pontoppidan Photos from Australia
Photos & text: Erik Pontoppidan, Copenhagen, Denmark.



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Above: Crocodiles in Kakadu National Park, Northern Australia.
You will see crocodiles everywhere in Kakadu, and sometimes it actually happens, that some foolish tourists ignore the many warning signs and end their lives in the stomach of a crocodile!



Above: From Ayers Rock (Uluru), Central Australia.
In Alice Springs, I joined a 5 day, 4 wheel trip in the central desert areas of Australia, sleeping under the stars. One of my highlights in this area was the climb of the famous Ayers Rock – nothing to talk about as a climbing experience, but the view and the light was incredible! The place has a very special atmosphere, and the rock has a lot of natural caves and holes, shaped by the water and the wind. In fact, Ayers Rock is made of one gigantic stone, which means, that you virtually don't find any gravel or pebbles when you climb it - a strange feeling if you are familiar to climbing mountains. What improves the view is, that the rock is the only hilly formation for miles, and for the same reason, you are able to see it about 100 km before you actually reach the foot of it.



Above, left: From the Olgas (Kata Tjuta), close to Ayers Rock.
The Olgas are a collection of smaller, rounded rocks, about 30 kilometers from Ayers Rock. Although less well-known, the monoliths are equally impressive. The tallest rock, Mount Olga (546 meters), is about 200 meters higher than Ayers Rock, and here too there are a couple of walking trails.

Above, middle and right: Sunset and sunrise at the legendary Ayers Rock, Central Australia.



Above, left: Those crazy australians! In Darwin, I attended a so-called "beercan-regatta", which is arranged sometimes in town with an enormous audience. It's about constructing the best and fastest vessel made of beercans!

Above, right: From Darwin, I took the australian Greyhound bus to Alice Springs. And from Alice Springs, I took the legendary train "The Ghan" to Adelaide in the south. The train departs twice a week, and the trip takes 19 hours through the middle of nowhere. This railway has very long and exciting history.



Above: From Adelaide, South Australia.
Adelaide has a relatively small city center with a grid pattern of streets, and the center is surrounded by green parklands. From Victoria Sqare (left), a vintage tram runs the 8 km to Glenelg (right) - a nice, romantic place with a lot of guest-houses and restaurants and a good beach. Because I visited Adelaide at the end of july, the atmosphere at the sea was quite similar to the danish west coast in october - cool and windy, and quite an anticlimax compared to the hot Darwin in the north, where I stayed a few weeks earlier.
Most of the tourists visiting Adelaide join a tour to the Barossa Valley, one of the essential wine districts of Australia. Or you may take a day trip to Victor Harbour, where you will have a fair chance of whale-watching.


Read my article about Australia & Indonesia in ENGLISH by clicking HERE
Read my article about Australia & Indonesia in DANISH by clicking HERE

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