Australia is enormous, but thankfully, we were able to see everything we had hoped to. Traveling with a much larger group, we rented a big van and ventured out on multiple-day trips around Sydney and Melbourne. The beautiful sites and unique animals made for a fun Australia travel video.
Breaking down our Australia Travel Video
Here’s a little more information about the places we visited. The time-stamped sections coincide with the Australia Travel Video. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. We’re working on an Australia Itinerary but who knows if we’ll ever get around to finishing it with our two littles kiddos!
Sydney – 0:00 – 0:28
To us, Sydney could be compared to Chicago. It’s a major city along the water that boasts good food and iconic landmarks. Sydney harbor is a major hub with access to the metro and ferries. The Opera House, bridge, and museums make it a must-visit location when you explore the city.
Phillips Island – 0:29 – 0:44 (Melbourne day trip)
Phillips Island is a wildlife inspired day trip out of Melbourne That you have to experience. Their wildlife park is unbelievably Hands-on. A great place to interact with Kangaroos and get your eyes on all of Australia’s famous marsupials. Further down is the famous Penguin Parade. Which has visitors watching as 100’s or maybe even 1000’s of penguins make their way back into their burrows after a long day in the ocean. Be sure to get the premium seating, the penguins will literally walk right next to you.
The Great Ocean Road – 0:30 – 1:21 (Melbourne day trip)
What a beautiful LONG drive up to the Twelve Apostles. We made the entire round trip in one day, and it was a marathon. Yes, it was full of beautiful sites, an adventure park, a waterfall, and roadside parrots in Lorne. But do yourself a favor and make it a two-day trip, so you don’t have to rush.
The Blue Mountains – 1:22 – 1:48 (Sydney Day trip)
The Blue Mountains is a large area north of Sydney home to giant caves, the three sisters rock formation, and friendly roadside wallaby’s. If your planning trips through the Blue Mountains and Great Ocean Road, consider visiting Sydney first. Mainly because the Blue Mountains aren’t as picturesque as what you’ll see on The Great Ocean Road.
Melbourne – 1:55 – 2:18
Melbourne is a very modern city full of good food, but it doesn’t have many world-renowned landmarks. So we spent most of our time in Melbourne day-tripping further afield. We really liked the Healesville Sanctuary, but that’s even future north.
Ending – 2:19 – 2:33
The ending is just a mash-up of friends we met up and other places we visited in and around the two cities that you can generally find wherever you go.
Filming Australia
We were able to shoot everywhere we went with hardly any camera restrictions. The only exception was the Penguin Parade, which doesn’t allow shots of the penguins! Insane, I know, but Thankfully I was able to grab one horribly framed shot as some sort of proof that we went.
Gear wise, we’re still shooting on our old Nikon D810, and D750 full-frame mounted on our Moza three-axis gimbal or a simple pistol grip strap combination. We couldn’t afford to upgrade even if we wanted to. But if you were ever thinking about getting into Travel Videography we keep an updated page of all our current Travel gear & Essentials. The page contains everything we love to use on our travels.
With a Drone
Flying the Mavic was stress-free as well. Drone signs posted within the National Parks allowed flying as long as you weren’t bothering other visitors. Adhering to those rules generally shot as far from others as possible.
The hardest part is just filming with a toddler running around! The plan was to film as quickly as possible in the hopes we captured something interesting. Gone are the days where we could actually plan a shot, or shoot a hyper-lapse! Still, I wouldn’t change it for the world. Sharing the experience with our daughter is worth missing the shots 🙂
Video Details
Filmed with:
Our experience in Australia
Besides driving on the other side of the road, Australia feels like a different region of America. Sorry if that offended most of the Australian people, but it seems like a good analogy. Some people might think the UK citizens are the closet in comparison to Americans. Still, after this trip, I’m going with Australians. Exploring Australia feels like you’ve just crossed a state line where everyone has a regional accent.
Phillips Island, The Great Ocean Road, and the Blue Mountains are all great day trips, but it’s a requirement if you want to see and feel the Australia you see in the movies. So, plan for A LOT of driving.
Thanks For Watching
Hope you enjoyed our Australia Travel Video. If you did, check out a few of our others we have below. While we only have 5 videos currently on the califoreigners website we’ve made almost 20 travel videos to date!
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