I was in Australia three times during the years 2005-2007 and despite it was so long ago I keep the most vivid memories of my trips.
I liked the sun of this country which I discovered after the frost of Russian winter: I left in the middle of January and arrived in the middle of summer there! When I first went out I did not follow the good advice to apply cream to all the open parts of my body and was burnt badly having my face turned scarlet. But the following days with cream it went better. I like dry heat and it was the case in this part of Australia where I stayed during 3 months allowed by tourist visa each visit, New South Wales. In Russia I live on the Volga river and summers are more humid here. Albury where I stayed is situated on the Murray river, the biggest of the country but it is not so large in comparison to Russian rivers. It makes incredible bends turning round the hills in which the territory abounds. The banks are covered with eucaliptus and some shrubs that I do not know the name and the numerous canoeists find sometimes their trunks on the way.
The Aussies seem to be more patriotic than the Europeans. The state flags are not so rare on their houses. And of course there are a lot of zoos only having local animals. I visited many of thems. The koalas are very funny, you will not see them moving until feeding hours. The kangaroos often live outside enclosures and you can feed them. The cockatoos can ask you your name but do not wait for them to remember it! The dingoes are often fearful but once there was a whole pack of them and they gave me challenging looks staying close to the barriers. The wombat, the biggest Australien rodent who they say may dint your car if you drive into him, is mainly a night animal and he ran away of my camera very fast so that I never could get a good picture of it.
The Aussies are very friendly people. They will show you your way, explain it in great detail, ask you about yourself...In small cities and towns the unknown people will greet you in the mornings when the streets are still desert. And they smile a lot at you what is not the case with the Russians.
I went for long walks in the different parts of Victoria and New South Wales, icluding the seashore of those states. My friend and I, we followed tourist paths of 5 and more kms going through different landskapes, all very scenic. I loved this country and even thought of settling there but the circumstances prevent me from it what I sometimes regret up till now.
