Traveling Rockhopper

Aruba has its own currency called the Aruban Florin (AWG or Afl).
However, the US dollars are widely accepted so there is no need to exchange USD to AWG.

Aruba is an independent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Aruba has a bit complicated status, e.g., Aruba doesn’t belong to the Netherlands Antilles.
Aruba’s citizens have Dutch nationality.
Aruba is not a member of the European Union.
Etc. 😉

This month is dedicated to everyone who misses sunny, warm days 🙂

Welcome to Caribbean island called Aruba. 🙂

January is almost over as well as our Australian travel impressions.
Australia is a huge country and I have much more to show you, so one day in future, you’ll see more from our Australian adventure. 🙂

See you tomorrow in another sunny place! 🙂

This colorful parrot from today’s picture is called Rainbow Lorikeet.
When I was a child, I was often reading atlas of animals (didn’t like pages with huge photos of spiders 😉 ). I remember well the picture of rainbow lorikeet and my hope to see it in wild one day. So thank you Australia for making my childhood dream comes true. 🙂

In Australia, you’ll easily see plenty of different beautiful parrots. A paradise for birds lovers. 🙂

Australia is famous for a few animals, one of them is koala.
Before our trip, I was hoping to see wild koalas, and we’re lucky. 🙂

The koala from today’s picture was hurt, that’s why it was sitting in the middle of the road. One local knew what to do. He used the stick to check the reaction of the animal. When I saw it, my first thought was “What is he doing!?!”, because I didn’t know that’s the correct way. Later, we helped him and went together to the vet, and my husband was holding poor, stressed koala on the way to the veterinary clinic. Fortunately, this story has a happy end.

In Australia, in Middle Island, there is an amazing Pink Lake (Lake Hillier).
It’s the most famous but not the only salt lake in Australia (other example in today’s picture).

Tasmanian Devil is probably the most famous creature from Tasmania. It’s not so easy to spot them in wild; so it may be a good idea to visit a wildlife sanctuary in Tasmania and there you can see these cute devils and learn why they are endangered (Devil Facial Tumour Disease).

When we’re planning our trip to Australia, I wanted to see Uluru and my husband wanted to go to Tasmania. We visited both places and weren’t disappointed.

Kakadu National Park is home of Aboriginal rock art dating back 20,000 years (one of the examples in today’s picture).
For me, it’s the most interesting part of Kakadu NP. Of course, nature here is nice, but this Aboriginal rock art is much more special.

Another interesting and biggest national park in Australia is Kakadu NP.
You find here rain forests, wetlands, waterfalls, and Aboriginal rock art. 🙂

What’s the official language in Australia?
-The answer is quite interesting, because it’s not English. Australia has no official language. About 80% of the people speak English; other languages are indigenous and minority ones.

I have to say, I was a bit surprised how big area of Australia is covered by rain forests.
So if you like “jungle”, you have to visit Australia. 🙂

In the Litchfield National Park you’ll find an amazing scenery made by termites!
In today’s picture you see an example of magnetic termite mounds. No, it’s not a graveyard. 😉 Doesn’t it look unique? Some of the mounds are small, others are quite big, even about two meters tall.

If you’re in Darwin, in the Northern Territory, don’t miss Litchfield National Park.
Especially if you like waterfalls! 🙂

Kangaroo Island is one of the best places in Australia to see native wildlife, e.g., koalas, kangaroos, sea lions, and many birds.

Kangaroo Island is a nice island, “nearby” Adelaide.
It’s 155 km long, so it’s not so small.
I think, a few days should be enough to explore the island and visit its most interesting sites.

In Australia, I learnt that not each “kangaroo” is a kangaroo. 😀
There are different kinds of kangaroo, but generally speaking kangaroos are “big kangaroos”. “Smaller kangaroos (intermediate size)” are called wallaroos and “small kangaroos” are wallabies.

In Australia, you’ll find many many waterfalls! One of the most stunning ones is Wallaman Falls from the Wet Tropics UNESCO World Heritage Area. Wallaman Falls is the highest single-drop waterfall in Australia (268 meters).

If you’re in Sydney, don’t miss Blue Mountains; you can drive there in about two hours. 🙂
Blue Mountains is a nice area for hiking or relaxing. You can find here many plants in a forest, rock formations, cliffs, caves, waterfalls, etc.