On the East coast, I've travelled around 4000km in 3 weeks, spent around 70 hours on buses in that time, gone from around 30 degrees in Cairns to 16 degrees in Byron Bay, and had a whole lot of fun along the way! I'm pretty much at the end of my time in Australia now, heading back to Sydney from Melbourne tonight on another overnight bus (which I found out costs more than the 1 hour flight... gutted about that) and then off to Japan tomorrow night!!!
I began in Cairns, arriving at the unpleasant hour of 4.15am. My transfer to my hostel didn't show up for an hour, and then when I arrived at my hostel I had to make do with the comfiest sofa I could find for a few hours until reception opened. The hostel was supposed to have a rainforest feel to it, and in the middle of the night, with all these birds and insects making strange sounds, I started to really freak out. I should not have watched a programme about Australia's most dangerous animals (all of which can be found in Cairns) before arriving! Thankfully I survived the night, and after a day spent wandering the city and seeing the lagoon, flying foxes in the trees, etc, I went the day to the great barrier reef. There was a special offer on that day to do a fun dive for just 20 dollars extra, so of course I decided to give it a go. I was so scared, and it felt so unnatural to be underwater, but it was INCREDIBLE! I could not believe my eyes, seeing the coral and the underwater world was truly magical and such a wonderful experience. I met some really nice people on the trip, so that night we went out to celebrate a great day in the party hostel/bar Gilligans. There was buy one get one free going on, so I made the excellent decision to drink 7 glasses of wine, which resulted with my head down a toilet and then a very dangerous and difficult mission getting up to my top bunk. I woke up about 4 hours later, still drunk, grabbed my backpack and lurched my way towards my bus to Airlie beach.
Airlie beach itself is a cute beachside town with lots of nice bars and restaurants, live music (like a lot of places in Oz - something I love about this country) and a very nice hostel where I lucked out on getting a dorm room all to myself. The main reason to go to Airlie beach is to sail around the Whitsundays, which is what I did the next day. I wish that I could have spent a few days on the Whitsundays, but finances caused me to just take the day trip, which was still a great experience. Whitehaven beach is the most incredible beach I've ever seen - the white silica sand is so pure that you could polish your jewellery using it. We also went snorkeling on the reef for an hour and spent the rest of the day enjoying the scenery of the islands and the esky full of free beer and wine!
After Airlie beach, I took another ridiculously long bus ride down to Hervey Bay, where I went whale watching. The sea was pretty rough the morning I went, and some people had the privilege of spending 120 dollars on vomiting for 4 hours. I'm glad to say I was not one of those people (glad the hostel owner gave me an anti-sickness pill though!) and so I loved seeing 4 or 5 pods of whales, with a Mum, baby and 2 male escorts being the norm. They were so huge, almost like torpedoes in the sea, and it was incredible to see them splashing around, and at times coming so close to the boat that we could see their massive eyes and bumpy backs. I also saw a flying fish and some dolphins on the trip. Australia really does have some amazing sea life!
After Hervey Bay was Byron Bay, a quirky little town with lots of people living alternative lifestyles. The YHA that I stayed in was by far my favourite hostel of the 4 I stayed in down the coast, as it had a great community feel to it. I had some lovely dorm mates who I spent all my time with - we went to the great market on Sunday and ate as much free food as we could get away with, then walked up to the most Easterly point of Australia then on to Byron's lighthouse. It was ridiculously cold there, so much so that one night that we were due to go out, we decided it was a better idea to have PJ and duvet party in the room, and all snuggled around one of the girls' laptops to watch Cars. I was planning to have some surfing lessons in Byron, but I guess I'll just have to come back here in the summer and see what outdoors Australian life is really all about!
After saying a sad goodbye to Byron, I got another overnight bus to Sydney. I actually woke up in the morning as we were crossing the bridge - the Opera House was just in front to the left - so the first word that came out of my mouth that day was 'wow'! Sydney has such a buzz to it - the pace of life is very similar to London, with everyone suited up and running around like their lives are so terribly important. Such a change to all the laid back places I've been in the last few months - don't think I saw anyone so much as walk briskly in Cambodia, and half the time I had to wake tuk-tuk
A mammoth 17 hour bus ride got me from Sydney to Melbourne - should only take 12 hours but lets just say it was indirect, and involved a 3.30am meal break. Who the hell wants to eat at 3.30am?!?! Plus the driver decided once we got back on the bus at 4.15 to chat to a passenger very loudly for an hour before I got up and asked him to be quiet. I was probably lucky not to get chucked off but I've spent too long being irritated by selfish people on public transport over the last 9 months to tolerate this nonsense anymore! It was all worth it though so see my lovely friend Alice, who I worked with in SCAO. I've stayed with her for the last few days and had an absolute blast - we've been to a 1950's fancy dress party, been asked inappropriate questions by madmen on the tube ('hey chick, take it up the arse?'), been gay clubbing for my birthday (ridiculously good fun) and best of all, I've been to Ramsay Street and the Neighbours trivia night!!!! After watching the show for 20 years, it was so surreal to see Ramsay Street, or Pin Oak Court as it's really called. Walking around the set was great though - seeing where Paul got thrown off the balcony at Lassiters, the spot where Stingray died, and where his mural is, seeing the disappointingly small Lassiters lake, and Harold's store just to mention a few. Plus on the trivia night, I got to kiss Dr Karl, and see Paul Robinson on stage pretending to be a rock star (if you up for a laugh, check out his one and only hit song - 'don't it make you feel good'. Answer - no it doesn't. But it does make me cringe and laugh a lot.). Hilarious and wonderful, I couldn't have asked for more from the Neighbours pilgrimage, Melbourne, or Australia in general... well, apart from a bit more sunshine and warmth!
I began in Cairns, arriving at the unpleasant hour of 4.15am. My transfer to my hostel didn't show up for an hour, and then when I arrived at my hostel I had to make do with the comfiest sofa I could find for a few hours until reception opened. The hostel was supposed to have a rainforest feel to it, and in the middle of the night, with all these birds and insects making strange sounds, I started to really freak out. I should not have watched a programme about Australia's most dangerous animals (all of which can be found in Cairns) before arriving! Thankfully I survived the night, and after a day spent wandering the city and seeing the lagoon, flying foxes in the trees, etc, I went the day to the great barrier reef. There was a special offer on that day to do a fun dive for just 20 dollars extra, so of course I decided to give it a go. I was so scared, and it felt so unnatural to be underwater, but it was INCREDIBLE! I could not believe my eyes, seeing the coral and the underwater world was truly magical and such a wonderful experience. I met some really nice people on the trip, so that night we went out to celebrate a great day in the party hostel/bar Gilligans. There was buy one get one free going on, so I made the excellent decision to drink 7 glasses of wine, which resulted with my head down a toilet and then a very dangerous and difficult mission getting up to my top bunk. I woke up about 4 hours later, still drunk, grabbed my backpack and lurched my way towards my bus to Airlie beach.
Airlie beach itself is a cute beachside town with lots of nice bars and restaurants, live music (like a lot of places in Oz - something I love about this country) and a very nice hostel where I lucked out on getting a dorm room all to myself. The main reason to go to Airlie beach is to sail around the Whitsundays, which is what I did the next day. I wish that I could have spent a few days on the Whitsundays, but finances caused me to just take the day trip, which was still a great experience. Whitehaven beach is the most incredible beach I've ever seen - the white silica sand is so pure that you could polish your jewellery using it. We also went snorkeling on the reef for an hour and spent the rest of the day enjoying the scenery of the islands and the esky full of free beer and wine!
After Airlie beach, I took another ridiculously long bus ride down to Hervey Bay, where I went whale watching. The sea was pretty rough the morning I went, and some people had the privilege of spending 120 dollars on vomiting for 4 hours. I'm glad to say I was not one of those people (glad the hostel owner gave me an anti-sickness pill though!) and so I loved seeing 4 or 5 pods of whales, with a Mum, baby and 2 male escorts being the norm. They were so huge, almost like torpedoes in the sea, and it was incredible to see them splashing around, and at times coming so close to the boat that we could see their massive eyes and bumpy backs. I also saw a flying fish and some dolphins on the trip. Australia really does have some amazing sea life!
After Hervey Bay was Byron Bay, a quirky little town with lots of people living alternative lifestyles. The YHA that I stayed in was by far my favourite hostel of the 4 I stayed in down the coast, as it had a great community feel to it. I had some lovely dorm mates who I spent all my time with - we went to the great market on Sunday and ate as much free food as we could get away with, then walked up to the most Easterly point of Australia then on to Byron's lighthouse. It was ridiculously cold there, so much so that one night that we were due to go out, we decided it was a better idea to have PJ and duvet party in the room, and all snuggled around one of the girls' laptops to watch Cars. I was planning to have some surfing lessons in Byron, but I guess I'll just have to come back here in the summer and see what outdoors Australian life is really all about!
After saying a sad goodbye to Byron, I got another overnight bus to Sydney. I actually woke up in the morning as we were crossing the bridge - the Opera House was just in front to the left - so the first word that came out of my mouth that day was 'wow'! Sydney has such a buzz to it - the pace of life is very similar to London, with everyone suited up and running around like their lives are so terribly important. Such a change to all the laid back places I've been in the last few months - don't think I saw anyone so much as walk briskly in Cambodia, and half the time I had to wake tuk-tuk
A mammoth 17 hour bus ride got me from Sydney to Melbourne - should only take 12 hours but lets just say it was indirect, and involved a 3.30am meal break. Who the hell wants to eat at 3.30am?!?! Plus the driver decided once we got back on the bus at 4.15 to chat to a passenger very loudly for an hour before I got up and asked him to be quiet. I was probably lucky not to get chucked off but I've spent too long being irritated by selfish people on public transport over the last 9 months to tolerate this nonsense anymore! It was all worth it though so see my lovely friend Alice, who I worked with in SCAO. I've stayed with her for the last few days and had an absolute blast - we've been to a 1950's fancy dress party, been asked inappropriate questions by madmen on the tube ('hey chick, take it up the arse?'), been gay clubbing for my birthday (ridiculously good fun) and best of all, I've been to Ramsay Street and the Neighbours trivia night!!!! After watching the show for 20 years, it was so surreal to see Ramsay Street, or Pin Oak Court as it's really called. Walking around the set was great though - seeing where Paul got thrown off the balcony at Lassiters, the spot where Stingray died, and where his mural is, seeing the disappointingly small Lassiters lake, and Harold's store just to mention a few. Plus on the trivia night, I got to kiss Dr Karl, and see Paul Robinson on stage pretending to be a rock star (if you up for a laugh, check out his one and only hit song - 'don't it make you feel good'. Answer - no it doesn't. But it does make me cringe and laugh a lot.). Hilarious and wonderful, I couldn't have asked for more from the Neighbours pilgrimage, Melbourne, or Australia in general... well, apart from a bit more sunshine and warmth!
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