Australia Travel Diary Part 7: Sydney

28th August

We left the surf camp at 7.00 this morning ready for the looooooong drive to Sydney. You really don’t appreciate just how big Australia is until you have to drive it, or at least travel by bus! What looks like 5 minutes on a map actually takes 5 hours. Seriously!

It’s quite sad because Sydney means the end of our trip and I’ve had THE BEST TIME EVER!

We stopped in the town of Port Macquairie which was quite pretty.

Just to get an idea of scale, we arrived in Sydney around 5.00 this evening. That’s a long ass day of travelling! You can also tell it’s getting near the end because the bus is a lot quieter now than it was at the start!

On our arrival in Sydney, we drove over the harbour bridge, which was super exciting! I got a few (blurry) pics of the bridge and the opera house but I can’t wait to explore!

Our hotel is nice, Holiday Inn in Kings Cross. It’s next to Kings Cross Hotel and opposite the big Coca Cola sign! We had a walk through Kings Cross – it’s a very interesting area! I also got in touch with a lad I went to school with who’s now living in Oz so hopefully will meet up at some point!

30th August

It’s our last night tonight (sad face) Can’t believe we go home tomorrow! The last 3 weeks have gone so quickly! I actually don’t want to go home. Bloody love Australia!

So, yesterday, we went to Manly Beach which was nice and not very busy. It was a bit chilly though! Definitely not sunbathing weather! We didn’t want to spend much time there because we wanted to explore the city centre more. We jumped on the ferry and headed back pretty much straight away.

We walked around Circular Quay. Took a gazillion photos of the Opera House and bridge. We wandered around the shops. I obviously headed straight to Topshop and Zara because I can shop there at home! My favourite building was the Queen Victoria building. It’s so beautiful!

As good as Sydney is, I think I prefer Melbourne. Sydney’s nice but it’s very busy. It seems a bit like London but nicer weather! Melbourne seems much more chilled out.

Thursday night was our last night on the tour so we all got dressed up and went to Stacks restaurant in Darling Harbour. It was rather posh! One of the dinner options was steak but you had to cook it yourself. Afterwards, we went to World Bar in Kings Cross. It was $5 vodka all night! That’s cheap! My friend from school was outside, randomly, so was good to see him.

It was a really good night! I think I went home about 3am and was ridiculously drunk! I don’t think walking through King’s Cross by myself at that time was the smartest thing I’ve done but luckily, I survived!

Today, we visited The Blue Mountains. They are absolutely stunning! I’m not gonna lie, the thought of trekking through some mountains with my hangover wasn’t taking me to a happy place, however, the Blue Mountains were one of the places I really wanted to visit so I dragged my ass out of bed. I’m so glad I did. The walk took us under the rocks and through waterfalls. Absolutely loved it. It proper sorted out my hangover!

We went to a town called Leura for lunch. They have a teapot museum and a really cool candy store! After lunch, we went to see The Three Sisters. Our tour guide told us the folk tale behind them. Basically, a father turned his daughters into stone so the boys from another town couldn’t steal them. Unfortunately, he got killed before he could turn them back so there they stand forever.

It was really sad driving back to the airport. John played Counting Stars one last time. That song will always have a special place in my heart. When we got back to the hotel, everyone was saying their goodbyes. It felt like no one wanted to cross the street as that meant it was all over.

Danny came back to our room for a bit because he was staying another few days. He enjoyed reading Reflected In You.

That night, we went for dinner with H & H to Hugo’s Lounge. It was this quite posh club where every single person seemed to be ridiculously hot and dressed to the nines (how I got in I have no idea) but they were serving pizza for $5. It was amazing pizza as well!

1st September

I’m currently sat in Abu Dhabi airport waiting to board the flight to London. I’m sooooo tired! It’s like 10pm Abu Dhabi time, which is like 7am the next day in Oz time.

It was so sad leaving! We had breakfast with a few people who had stayed am extra night. Just as we were about to check out our room, Counting Stars came on the TV. It was the perfect end to the trip. That song is so getting abused when I get home!

Danny sat with us in the lobby for a bit bless him and H&H were on our bus to the airport. Obviously, I stocked up on Tim Tam’s to take home!

Australia, you have been amazing! I’ve had the best holiday ever, met some awesome people and loved every second!

Travel regrets

I don’t like to have regrets, in any aspect of my life. I live by the motto that whatever you choose to do will be the right decision at the time. This is often true when it comes to new jobs, cars, love life etc, but sometimes you do regret the things you didn’t do rather than the things you did. This is certainly more true with my travel regrets. As I said, I don’t like to regret things so I carefully plan trips to try and maximise opportunities and avoid regretting anything. Sometimes, this doesn’t work out and I have ended up with a few things that I wish I’d done differently.

 

Sydney Bridge Climb

This is something that I ummed and ahhed over for a while, but at over $100, it was a big expense when I was tight on funds. Also, after hearing a description of the bridge climb, I worried that I would struggle due to the problem I have with my hand. With hindsight I should have thought ‘fuck it’ and done it anyway! You only live once and it would have been an amazing experience. I think the fact that Australia is so far away and such a big trip adds to the regret as who knows if I’ll ever head back there. I’d love to!! If I do, the first thing I’m doing is climbing that bridge!

 

Plitvice National Park

Source

On our Croatia trip, we looked at doing a day trip and one of the places we considered was Plitvice. I’ve seen it in many lists, blogs, books, websites and they all talk about how stunningly beautiful it is. I can’t remember why we didn’t go (maybe we just couldn’t be arsed to get up early!) but I now wish we had. Seeing as Croatia isn’t too far away, I will hopefully rectify this in the future.

 

Not appreciating Naples more

Source

I’ve mentioned before how I didn’t really enjoy Naples and that out of all the places I’ve been to, Naples is the one place I really have no desire to return to. I must have read too many horror stories before I went as I just didn’t want to walk around there. I was convinced that we would get mugged! We were there for 3 nights and spent our days visiting places nearby, such as Pompeii and Capri. By the third day I relaxed a little and realised it’s actually not that bad. Yes it’s rough around the edges and you need to take some precautions, but it’s nowhere near as bad as I thought it would it be. I regret not appreciating the city at the time and seeing more of it without walking around in fear. I still have no plans to ever revisit so I am a bit cross with myself for wasting time sat inside as I was too nervous to venture outdoors!

 

This summer

I wish now that I’d bit the bullet and booked a solo trip of some sort for the summer just gone. It was so depressing sat at home the entire time, especially when timehop kept reminding me about previous years. I don’t know which trip I wish I’d done, whether that be Thailand or Vietnam & Cambodia or Europe, but I definitely wish I’d done SOMETHING! On the plus side, I watched practically all the Olympics!! I plan on definitely doing something this summer, I just don’t know what yet.

 

Working holiday visa

Why did I decide to grow up and become an adult? Why did I buy a house and get a full time job? I could have gone travelling and had a year in Australia! I really do love that country! To be fair, this dream only really started in 2013 after I visited. I’d just accepted a permanent job and bought a house, so I couldn’t just up and leave. I turned 30 last year and am about to have my 31st birthday so I literally have days if I want to apply. I was planning on applying this summer, then I got a promotion so that went out the window. I have recently read though that the age limit has extended to 35 so my dream may not be over just yet! I think this would definitely be a death bed regret if I don’t spend more time down under.

 

 

Australia Travel Diary Part 6: Byron Bay & Coffs Harbour

26th August

Today we left Surfer’s Paradise and went to Byron Bay. I heart Byron Bay and could definitely spend longer here.

Whilst we were waiting for the bus, John was winding me up about Saturday night. He knows I can’t remember half the night as I was slightly inebriated. He kept calling me ‘MM’ but I’m not sure why or what it means! I hope I didn’t do anything stupid!

Me and my brother in 1993 and me in 2013.

On the way to Byron, we stopped at a wildlife sanctuary and I finally held a koala! 20 years on and I actually did it. Yay me! It was so cute, but it stunk! I had a white Tshirt on which got koala shit on it. Not a good look! However, the wildlife sanctuary did have some mega cute kangaroos and joeys. They were awesome and are definitely my favourite Australian animal.

When we arrived in Byron Bay, we headed up to the lighthouse, which is the most easterly point of Australia. It had the most amazing views over Byron Bay and I’m sure I saw a dolphin or a whale in the sea!

For lunch, we went to this awesome burger place called Bellaporto, which does the best chicken burgers in the world! Then we wandered around the shops and strolled along the beach. It’s so nice and chilled out here, I’m gutted to only be spending 1 night.

Obviously, I needed to have an afternoon nap, then after that, we went out for dinner to Cheeky Monkey’s. I had veg nachos which is totally not something I would usually have. My dad would be so impressed! After that, we went for a drink at Woody’s then I headed home.

I was just lying in bed, abusing the wifi I’d just bought, when some weird drunk German girl climbed onto our balcony and started banging on the window. Scared the shit out of me! Luckily she got bored after a few minutes and climbed over to the next room!

28th August

So we left Byron Bay yesterday. I was very sad about this as I would love to spend more time there. Just another place to add to the list of places I want to go back to again and revisit.

We arrived at Mojo Surf camp, which is near Coffs Harbour. This guy jumps on the bus with a broad Sheffield accent and started telling us all about it. We had a quick tour of the camp and told us that:

1. If we have sex on the pool table, it will be videoed by CCTV and uploaded to Youtube!
2. If we go skinny dipping, he will steal our clothes.
3. If we give him $5, after 10pm, he will give us keys to the dryer room so we can sit on the machines!

I found him hilarious!!

Our accommodation for the night was a tin can. Literally! It was a shipping container that had been converted. Wasn’t the best accommodation, but it was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting and was actually surprisingly warm.

Most people did the surf lesson. I didn’t obviously, as I can’t swim and would have hated the whole experience! The instructor was fit though, which made me reconsider, especially as he probably would have to give me mouth to mouth at some point! I was actually pleased I didn’t partake. It looked so difficult and I really wouldn’t have enjoyed getting knocked off the board!

Later on, the evenings entertainment was 4 of the guys who worked there dressed as women. They had to compete on looks, pole dancing, catwalk & what goes through their mind when they’re with a ‘man’. It was hilarious. Quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. One of them had no pants on so flashed us all! Another dressed as an African lady. He was really funny. They also had to dance with a bloke, which was hysterically funny! One of the best nights entertainment I’ve ever had. Luckily, I didn’t drink too much as we left surf camp at 7am, ready for the long drive to Sydney. This makes me sad as it means our trip’s nearly over

Australia Travel Diary part 5: Brisbane & Surfer’s Paradise

 

25th August

The last few days have been pretty eventful and LOTS of fun!

After Noosa, we visited Brisbane for a few hours. From what I saw of it, Brisbane seemed really nice. I would’ve liked to have seen more of it and spend more time there. As our next stop is Surfer’s Paradise, which is a big party place, I definitely needed better clothes, so used my time in Brisbane to shop! I bought a new top ready for Saturday night!

So, we’ve been in Surfer’s Paradise for the last 2 nights. It’s a proper party town, so was very busy. It’s quite built up as well. Everyone was excited for Saturday night. This is the first place for a while that we stayed more than 1 night and we haven’t had a proper night out since Cairns. Lots of alcohol was consumed and we obviously had pre-drinks at someones room.I think I was hammered before we even went out! Whilst we were waiting for the taxi, I befriended the hotel manager and was asking him for a job. He loved me!

The first stop was an Irish bar. I met a Welsh boy and was talking to him for ages! I dragged him to the club with me where I met up with the rest of the group. The club was packed! I didn’t really like it, but lots of men to talk to. I lost the Welsh boy pretty quickly! I ended up stopping out ridiculously late! Didn’t go to bed til 5 and then had to be at the bus stop fot 7.20!!! Who’s idea was it to go to Australia Zoo? Oh yeah! Mine! An optional trip I chose to do! Stupid decision! Getting up was horrendous! I think I was still drunk! My friend was also sick on the bus. The bus driver was quite sympathetic the first time, but when she did it again, he looked like he wanted to kill her!

Anyway, the zoo was actually good. I was just too hanging to appreciate it! The drive was far too loooooonnnggg though! I was ready to go by midday because I was so tired. Saw all the animals… koalas, kangaroos, crocodiles, zebras, giraffes, cassowaries…. was good!

Had a pretty chilled night tonight. Literally just had food and went straight to bed!

I’ve also discovered a huge bruise on my calf but I have no idea how I got it! It’s quite painful so I must have knocked it quite hard! Oops!

Australia Travel Diary Part 4: Rockhampton & Fraser Island

21st August

I bought a new pen! It’s purple and sparkly! I just couldn’t resist! I got it from an awesome shop I discovered called Typo, which is like Paperchase. They sold stampers that said WTF! I really wanted one for work, but I don’t think that would have gone down well!

Today has been a travelling day so we’ve been on the bus for several hours. We left the Whitsundays at 7:30 and stopped at a town called Mackay. I had to have a 20p ice cream cone from Maccies. Still can’t get my head round how cheap they are considering how expensive the whole country is!

We’ve spent the night at a working cattle farm just outside of Rockhampton. It’s in the middle of nowhere, and is so peaceful and quiet. You forget just how big Australia is! When we arrived, we went on a tractor ride around the farm, wearing the obligatory cowboy hats! We met one of the cows, who was called Sausage. He’s got a bit of a fiery temper!

The showers on the farm are horrific! They are in a separate block, and only seem to have the temperatures of ice cold or boiling hot! Honestly, there was nothing in between! Worst shower of my life so far! On the plus side, dinner was beaut! We had a traditional Sunday dinner. Roast beef, Yorkshire pud, veg and lashings of gravy. It completely made up for the shit shower! I was even mega brave, and tried pumpkin for the first time, but didn’t like it.

After dinner, the entertainment began! It started with some whip cracking. We had to wear safety specs and everything! I was rubbish at it! It’s all in the wrist action apparently! Must be out of practise! Then the line dancing and karaoke began! For a while I forgot I was in Australia, and thought I was in the Wild West! The drinks were flowing, everyone was having fun, it was a great evening. The boys did a fab rendition of I’m Too Sexy!! Hilarious!

22nd August

After a hilarious, but cold night on the farm, we’ve moved onto another cold night on Fraser Island. As most places in Australia appear to be, the farm and Fraser Island are lovely in the daytime, but freezing at night! They are also both spectacularly beautiful!

Our journey today was short – about 4 hours plus a ferry crossing! John was playing some good tunes on the bus including Nine Inch Nails. I was enjoying the beauty of Closer when he suddenly remembered his audience and turned it off! Every time I was nodding off on the bus, we got a ten minute warning. Grrrr! We stopped off at a small town for a break, something like Mirriam Vale, but I have no idea! Then for lunch we stopped at Childers. Childers is big on the backpacking circuit as there are lots of farms for fruit picking. People are keen to extend their visa for a second year!

Obviously I had to have another 20p ice cream from McDonalds! On the way back to the bus, we reached a Subway where there was obviously free wifi as EVERYONE was stood outside on their phones! Wifi in Australia is seriously rubbish!

Anyway, back to Fraser Island! It’s gorgeous! It’s the biggest natural sand island in the world, so is essentially a massive pile of sand! The only place there were roads was within the hotel resort we stayed at. The rest of the island is sandy tracks, and the main highway is the beach!

We went down to the beach at the hotel resort around 5.30pm to witness the sunset. IT WAS AMAZING!! One of the best sunsets I’ve ever witnessed! (It’s currently my header picture on the blog). It was so beautiful. We were stood on the pier, but people were on the beach, and there was a little bar, aptly called The Sunset Bar, where you could buy drinks and watch the sunset. Such a lovely way to start the evening.

After the sunset we went for dinner, then headed back up to our lodge. The lodge was up a big-ass hill that I refused to walk up, being all unfit, so I waited for the shuttle bus. My friends were already in the bar close by so I joined them for $12 pitchers of cocktail and twister! I befriended a stag do, who were all wearing onesies and morph suits! One of the guys was single so I agreed to be his partner for couples twister! That was interesting!

23rd August

Today was so much fun! We left Fraser Island and journeyed on to Noosa, but it took the whole day because it was a fun adventure tour through Fraser Island. We had a 4WD tour across the island, before arriving in Noosa. As all the roads are sand, it was a very bumpy ride! We stopped at Lake Mckenzie, which is rumoured to have healing water. Thought I’d have a paddle to see if it was true!

For lunch we had a bbq. Can’t beat a good old bbq! It was beaut except for the pesky kookaburras who kept trying to steal food! We had to shield our food, but they still managed to get Heather’s sausage!

After a jaunt along the main highway, aka the beach, we had a walk through the rainforest, which was very pretty. We walked along a creek called Silent Creek, and it really was silent! The water was crystal clear as well.

The final stop on Fraser Island was Rainbow Beach. It’s pretty much as described. It’s a beach with different shades of sand and has such a pretty effect. It reminded me of those sand bottles you can buy in tourist shops. Once we’d marvelled at the sand, we tried lamingtons, which are sponge cakes covered in icing and coconut, and headed back on our 4WD into Noosa.

Australia Travel Diary Part 3: The Whitsundays

19th August

Today has been a loooooong day! I was up at 5am for the 6am bag drop. We set off at 6:30 for our long drive to The Whitsundays. We stopped at a couple of places along the way: Cardwell and Townsville. Cardwell was damaged a couple of years ago in a cyclone and is still being done up.

Some people got off at Airlie Beach Marina to do the 2 nights sailing. I’m quite glad I’m not doing the sailing cos our hotel is quite nice. It’s a bit 60’s stylee, but, more importantly, has free Wifi!!!! I’ve missed this so much! I’ve been facebooking up a storm!

The Whitsundays seem gorgeous so far. The island we’re on is called Daydream Island. It’s like paradise! I’m so excited for the day sail tomorrow! Free lunch and bar!!!

We had dinner included tonight, which was a pizza and pasta buffet. The highlight though, was the ice cream factory style pudding with loads of sweets and toppings! Loved it!

 

20th August

I have officially been to paradise today! Whitehaven Beach is so gorgeous! The water is crystal clear. The sand is pure white and so soft. It’s unspoilt, natural beauty! Obviously, we did all the classic jumping mid-air shots!

We went on a boat trip on Camira. One of the crew was hot! When we were getting back onto the boat to head back, I had to get the guy to pick me up and put back on the dinghy cos I’m so rubbish at climbing! I loved being on the boat and lying in the sun. I got a bit burnt though! Oops! The food on the boat was good. They did a BBQ lunch. There was also an open bar which most people took advantage of! Whitehaven Beach has definitely been a highlight so far!

When we got back, we abused the free wifi for a bit, then went for a walk. We went to Sunset Beach. That was beautiful too. I was so at peace there, and just trying to soak it all in. I really don’t want to go home! We saw a wallaby with a joey in it’s pouch just hopping around. It was so cute!

For dinner, we went to a restaurant called The Fish Bowl, which was so expensive!! I only had wedges which were $9.50, but I got loads. There was a bit of a heated discussion between some of the girls about a guy from the bar crawl in Cairns. We made a quick exit as it was nothing to do with us! Eeek!

Got to be up early tomorrow for a 6:30 bag drop ready for the farm stay!!

My Australia Travel Diary Part 2: Cairns & Cape Tribulation

14th August

We’ve arrived in Cairns for part 2 of our Oz adventure. We had a bit of drama at the airport in Melbourne, because our schedule had changed but the airline hadn’t exchanged the ticket. Anyway, we eventually got it changed with like 3 minutes til they closed the flight!

We got to Cairns about 4ish and the weather was bloody lovely! 28 degrees! Proper holiday weather! Our hotel is very nice as well.

We had our Contiki meeting tonight as well. Everyone seems nice. There’s 17 people going to Cape Tribulation, then there’s going to be about 30 odd at the weekend. Us, H & H befriended 2 Irish guys and another girl. We all went for dinner and a couple of drinks. We went to the night market, which was amazing! Chinese food court and amazing stalls with jewellery and trinkets. I saw a sign that I really want to buy. I might have to purchase it later!

17th August

It’s now day 3 of our Contiki tour and I’m having the best time ever!

On the first day, we got on the bus and went up to Cape Tribulation. There were 17 of us doing the rainforest bit and then another 15 or so joining today.

On the way to Cape Tribulation, we stopped at this place called Mossman Gorge. It’s part of the rainforest and they do guided walks. The guides walk you around showing you plants and things aborigines use. I learnt that you don’t touch any of the plants cos they’ll either cure you or kill you.There’s no inbetween! We tried some damper when we finished our walk, which is basically a scone.

We stopped at a Woolworths to buy supplies for the night cos once your at Cape Tribulation, it’s pretty isolated. Our bus driver told us loads about the rainforest, and as we crossed the Daintree River, he told us that the boats that are like marooned there show spots where people have been killed by crocodiles. The last one was a 4 year old boy a few years ago.

We stayed in a YHA so it was pretty basic. We had to make our beds, and the toilets and showers were in a separate block, but it was ok. There were lots of bugs and wildlife around though! I got attacked by a cricket in the toilets. One of the scariest moments of my life!! We had the option to go jungle surfing, but I didn’t, so we all went down to the beach. It was BEAUTIFUL!! Like paradise! Cape Tribulation is gorgeous!

Later on, after the drinks had begun flowing full force, we played I have never and truth or dare. I probably revealed a bit too much about myself! Never mind! One of the Irish guys streaked down the hill, which was hilarious! The guys from the jungle surf came down and one of them ate a spider. He was a dick!

The next day, we went for a walk along the beach. It’s one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. So quiet and peaceful. We went to the lookout point, and our tour manager gave us some background info and history on the area, and how Captain Cook named Cape Tribulation and Mount Sorrow.

On our way back to Cairns, we stopped at Port Douglas, which is quite a well to do place. It’s really nice. There’s a beautiful, little church where you can get married. There’s a two year waiting list though. I want to get married there. It’s called St Mary’s by the Sea. We went in a really cool shop that sells Buddha’s and wood carvings etc. We had lunch at The Courthouse and ice cream from Wicked Ice Cream.

On our journey back, we stopped at 2 lookout points. One was of Snapper Island, and you could see the island where Steve Irwin was killed. The second was on the Captain Cook highway, which runs alongside the coast. It has the most amazing scenery.

We got back into Cairns around 4pm and got our rooms. We all met at reception to go to The Woolshed for dinner. I had sweet chilli chicken. The restaurant then turns into a club and everyone dances on tables! We were all drinking jungle juice cos it was like $3. God knows what was in it! There was a load of US marines in town til Sunday, so plenty of American guys! Why do the all wear a tshirt under their shirts? We met one guy who was ridiculously excited to meet people from all over the world. He was hilarious! I then became the official referee of the game ‘flip cup’. Loved it! It’s a race between two teams on either side of the table to down a shot of drink, then flip your cup upside down. The next person can only down their shot, when the cup before them has landed upside down. They take it very seriously! I befriended one particular marine, who kept asking me if I wanted to ‘hang out’. I told him I’d be on the beach today. Turns out there isn’t even a beach! I was my usual sarcastic, bitchy self. Whilst I was talking to him, I could really hear my British accent. Never knew I could ever sound British!

The marines all had to be home by midnight, just like Cinderella. After he left, I danced on the table, milled about and generally got more drunk! I tried setting my friend up with some guy she liked, that entertained me for about 5 minutes. It was a little bit scary standing by myself whilst my friends were kissing in the corner! Weird guys just kept drifting towards me, and I really wished they wouldn’t. I did chat a Welsh guy though.

Today, we were mega lazy. Most of the group went to The Great Barrier Reef on a trip, so we just stayed in bed. When we finally surfaced, we went for a walk along the lagoon and esplanade. We enquired about boat trips. In one shop, I got talking to the guy who was working there about Macchu Picchu and it sounds amazing! He was showing me all his facebook photos of his travels and telling me all about Cairo and India. His fave place is London though. He was also telling me how amazing sky diving is and showed me his video. It does look awesome, but I’m still scared! He invited me to go with him on Friday. It’s a shame we’ll have moved on by then!

 

My Australia Travel Diary Part 1: Melbourne

As I use this blog to document my travels, and act as an online journal, I thought it would be fun to share the travel diary I kept back in 2013 when I visited Australia. I recently discovered it in a big bag of travel paraphernalia I’ve kept, so had to have a read. It made me chuckle. I sometimes cringe at what I write, especially the entries where I was definitely slightly intoxicated! But it also reminded me of little details, anecdotes, names, places and events that I had previously forgotten or had become blurry in my mind.

So here it is… Part 1 of my unedited handwritten  (now typed!) thoughts on Australia. Please don’t judge me!

10th August

After a mammoth journey that seemed to last forever, we’ve finally arrived in Melbourne! The journey from London to Abu Dhabi took 6 and a bit hours. The journey from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne was 13 hours! The time difference has thrown me. I haven’t got a clue what time or day it is! I bought a neck pillow at Heathrow, which was a good purchase. I actually slept for about 5 hours on the plane.

Our hostel/hotel in Melbourne is nice. Modern & clean. Got a 2 person room and the bathroom is dead opposite so I might risk dashing out in my towel! Going to go off and explore now!

So we had a wander. We saw Chinatown and some designer shops. We ended up in Nandos! My friend wasn’t happy about this but I tried to explain that Nandos in Oz is different! You don’t get refillable drinks and the salad’s different!

11th August

After being awake since 3am, wefell asleep as our alarm went off at 9. We finally woke up at about 11! We spent the day wandering around and seeing the sights. I LOVE Melbourne! It’s such a chilled out, relaxed but busy city. We walked down to Federation Square, saw some street performer, who was actually quite funny. We walked over to the Southbank and saw the sights. Really nice! I had lemon chicken and noodles for lunch from some food court we found. After that, we went to Eureka Sky Deck – AMAZING vies of the city! I definitely recommend it. Then we strolled over to the Botanical gardens and war memorial shrine, which was beautiful. There’s a hole in the ceiling, so that on Remembrance Day each year, the light reflects on the plaque on the floor. Took loads of photos! I’ve been a proper tourist!

Cool things I’ve discovered:

• McDonalds sell macaroons
• Alf from Home & Away is the Joan Collins equivalent in the Australian Snickers adverts

12th August

Had a fab day today! We went on a tour to Philip Island to the penguin parade. Philip Island is absolutely beautiful. It’s a conservation area, so it’s all natural and rugged.

As usual, I was totally unprepared for the weather! It was cold and rainy today, and I had no coat or umbrella.

The penguin parade

Simon (our guide) picked us up at 9:30am and took us on a tour of Melbourne whilst we picked the others up. We drove down to St Kilda to pick up some people and it looks amazing. I wish we had more time to explore.

Our first stop was an animal park where we fed kangaroos and alpacas and saw all the Australian animals. I loved the albino kangaroo! I purchased a poncho just in case it rained! Next we arrived at a chocolate factory, so obviously I bought a few bars to try!

The albino kangaroo

We finally stopped to see the scenery along the coast. It was so beautiful, but so cold! It was really windy and at one point I thought I was going to go blind from sand blowing in my eyes, so I retreated back onto the bus. When we arrived at The Nobbies (hahaha), the first thing I did was buy a fleece so I could tolerate the weather! If I hadn’t have bought it, I really wouldn’t have enjoyed the day. We wrapped ourselves up and tied our hoodies tightly so we could brave the weather and walk along the boardwalk to Nobbies Blowhole. As you can imagine, the name amused me greatly! We looked like Kenny from South Park!

After the Nobbies, we went on a nature drive to see wallabies and geese as drove down to the Penguin Parade. I took loads of photos of the scenery, but we weren’t allowed to take pics of the actual Penguin Parade as the flash can damage their eyes, although loads of Japanese tourists ignored this.

My friend at the penguin parade

The penguins rolled back onto the beach after sunset, after being carried in by the waves. They waddled in groups over the beach onto the grass to nest either in the ready made boxes or in nests they have made themselves. They are so tiny! They’re called Fairy Penguins. They come home after dark so hawks and eagles don’t eat them.

13th August

Today has been a very sad day, but also one of the best days of my life.

Disaster struck first thing this morning when my GHD’s stopped working. I was absolutely gutted. A sad, sad day.

On the plus side, I have fulfilled a lifelong dream! I only went on the Neighbours tour!!! OMG it was amazing!! I visited actual Ramsay Street, aka Pin Oak Court. It’s a lot smaller than I imagined. Then we visited the studio where its filmed and saw the garage, Grease Monkey’s etc. They use a fire exit as the outside of the school and the studio itself as the front of the hospital. Amazing! But….. We met Sonya! An actual real life Neighbours actor! Her real name’s Eva something. She so nice. She answered questions, had photos with us and we got her autograph. We also saw Callum being driven around to a location on set. This has been the highlight of my holiday so far!

After the Neighbours tour, we went to The Costume Exhibition at the ACMI. It was really good. It had loads of different costumes from films such as Spiderman, Braveheart, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Pirates of the Caribbean, Batman… They even had Marilyn Monroe’s dress from The 7 Year Itch. The thing that struck me the most was how skinny the actresses must be to fit in them. They were tiny! Especially Audrey Hepburn’s! My particular favourites were the Elizabeth I costumes and a peacock dress from An Old Friend.

I was brave this evening and tried Tzatziki! We went to a Greek restaurant called Stalacites and had mixed meat giros. Yummy! I’m now in bed with a macaroon, having just packed ready for our flight up to Cairns tomorrow. I’ve really enjoyed Melbourne and would love to live here. It’s definitely become one of my favourite places.

Australia in photos

Well, not the whole of Australia, because it’s so huge! Just my favourite photos from where I visited! My trip started in the awesome city of Melbourne. I totally fell in love with the place and wish I could have stayed longer! We then flew up to Cairns and made our way down to Sydney, stopping at places such as The Whitsundays, Cape Tribulation, Byron Bay and Surfers Paradise along the way. I fell in love with Australia as a country on this trip and still harbour a desire to move there. I’ve said it before but I believe it is the most naturally beautiful and diverse country I have visited. I just hope my pictures do it justice!

The penguin parade

 

The Blue Mountains

It was our final day in Australia. I woke up hungover, feeling very tired and slightly queasy. ‘Why is my alarm going off?’ I wondered. Then it hit me…. We’re trekking through the Blue Mountains this morning!

I’m not the most active of people at the best of times, but after about 3 hours sleep and consuming my body weight in vodka not much earlier, the thought of trekking round some mountains wasn’t taking me to a happy place! But I dragged myself out of bed and made the effort. This was our last day and I really did want to see the blue mountains and see whether they were really blue!

Turns out they really do look blue! The blue haze that is visible is due to the large quantities of eucalyptus that cover the mountains.

On the journey there, everyone was sat with headphones in or napping after the previous nights exertions! It was a very quiet journey! I’m not going to lie, I really wasn’t looking forward to it!

However, once we reached the park and I looked out over the mountains, I was in total awe. The view was stunning. It was a beautiful day, not too hot and the scenery was spectacular. I actually started to get excited!

We walked down past a small waterfall, along some rather precarious paths and ledges. We kept stopping at various look out points because the views truly were stunning. I could feel my hangover disappearing with each step! I love a good view and, as I’ve said before, Australia really is the most naturally beautiful country I’ve visited so far.

After our walk, we hopped back on our bus, listened to Counting Stars again, and headed towards Echo Point. Echo Point is the site of The 3 Sisters. We were told the folk tale behind these 3 rocks. I won’t ruin it for anyone but I’m sure you can Google it! As always, the views were incredible!

 

The 3 Sisters

All too soon, our trip was over and we were heading back to Sydney. This was the final final trip of our tour so as soon as we got off the bus, it was over! Boo! It was quite emotional saying bye to the 30 people I’d befriended over the past few weeks. It didn’t seem real that our trip to Oz was fast coming to an end!