The land of Tim Tams and Koalas

Seeing as I made such a big fuss about needing a bikini body for Australia I thought a blog post about my trip was in order (so that you can see I did do other stuff apart from moan about a few extra pounds!). Having been home for almost a month now, I'm kind of dragging this out a bit (yeah I don't think 'jet lag' is an acceptable excuse for being late for work again) however at least blogging about my travels means you can just exit this page if you're bored as opposed to feigning interest as I recount another story involving sand, sunburn or koalas.

Melbourne

I started off with my parents and sister in Melbourne, where my sister is currently studying for a year. This city is amazing. I keep telling people it's like Liverpool in the sun (which is a good thing, honest!). I loved the whole cafe culture, quirky bars and the general friendliness of the place.

Being the typical Brit English rose that I am, I managed to get sunburnt on the first day by misjudging the need for sun cream (rule of thumb: always wear the stuff). Luckily my sister and I have nursing sunburn down to an art thanks to years of experience. Premature skin ageing aside, we had a great time. We stayed in a place called St Kilda which was full of bars and restaurants (and cake shops. Lots of cake shops). There's a nearby beach (Elwood) which is refreshingly laid back and has a cafe that sells the loveliest milkshakes. As you can see by the food talk, any attempt to look half decent in my swim wear was quickly forgotten.

We spent quite a few days wandering around the city, stopping more often than necessary for snacks. Being a city which clearly likes its food, I was right at home. In fact one of the bloggers I follow, Gourmet Chick, has been blogging about restaurants and cafes in Melbourne and she knows her stuff. I was also introduced to Tim Tams (penguins will taste rubbish after you've tried these bad boys) and lemon lime bitters (makes vodka go down a treat although you can actually get these in the UK, I'd just never seen them before).

Wise words for a paper cup

Aside from stuffing my face, I did manage to take in some culture. And get my Christmas shopping done (so much easier when you're just with your family!). Rather than turning this into a day by day account of what we did, which is no fun for anyone, I thought I'd let a few holiday snaps do the talking.

Shrine of Rememberance

 

Royal Botanic Gardens

St Paul's Cathedral

T'Gallant vineyard (wine time counts as culture, right?)

One of my favourite things about Melbourne was how understated the run up to Christmas was. Now I'm no scrooge but I do get irritated by the new levels of tackiness the festive period often brings. It wasn't that nobody over there cared it was Christmas, they just seemed to be busy enjoying life in general as opposed to building up to one individual day. I guess if Christmas day was slap bang in the middle of our summer (and we had an abundance of fabulous beaches to choose from...) we mightn't be so ridiculous about the whole thing either.

Even the Christmas trees don't over-accessorize

Christmas day itself was spent on the beach (obvs) although I tend to leave out the part of the story where we hid inside from a thunderstorm. So in actual fact Christmas morning was spent on the beach and the remainder of the day was pretty similar to Christmas in Liverpool (except Australian TV is very disappointing and we gave the turkey a miss this year).

More highlights from Melbourne include the Great Ocean Road (stunning scenery and if you're lucky you'll see some koalas in their natural habitat), a day trip to the Grampians (complete with creepy tour guide) and the Victoria market (anywhere selling that much food is always a winner).

Sydney

I feel I should get the generic tourist snaps out of the way first...

Sydney Opera House

 

Harbour bridge

I think Melbourne spoilt us a little and it took quite a lot for me to get excited about Sydney. Granted, my first impressions of the city were of Kings Cross (Oz's answer to Magaluf) which is fine for an alcohol fuelled night out however not so fun when you're walking past strip clubs with your parents in toe. My sister and I also booked the rest of our travels here and so Sydney will always be the place that left a massive dent in my bank balance!

Anyway, I started to warm to the city on our second day when we stumbled across Harry's Cafe de Wheels (although I must admit I prefer Pie Face's offering). I think at this stage of the trip I was past caring about my waistline and eating so much pie was some sort of rebellion against all of the toned bodies around us. Seriously, people would jog past us whilst we were still catching our breath from climbing the steps near our hotel. I really don't think I'd survive in a place where everyone is so damn skinny (unless Pie Face came up with a low fat option).

This was also when things became quite hectic as we realised just how much we wanted to fit in. We welcomed in the New Year at the harbour (next NYE has a lot to live up to) and then were up bright and early the next morning to squeeze in jet boating followed by the obligatory visit to Bondi Beach.

I'm not really one for posing in the sun (at least not for extended periods of time) and so it's often the sea which will make or break a beach experience for me. Bondi is definitely a favourite as the waves were amazing (if not slightly dangerous when I was pushed under water for longer than I was comfortable with!). Despite the crowds (and the slightly too-cool-for-school vibe the surrounding area gave out) I loved it and will someday live there with my surfer husband (it's important to have aims).

Cairns

My sister, her friend and I continued our journey up the East Coast, starting with Cairns. Turns out there's not a great deal to do in Cairns apart from book expensive trips and/or drink. A guy tried to sell us tickets to a party with perks such as a free toga however we politely declined as we had to be up bright and early the next day for white water rafting. I also felt I should give him a lesson in knowing your audience. Showing a 24 year old photos of drunk people will not convince her to hand over $20. It's not that I don't want to get drunk, I just don't want someone younger than me trying to sell me the idea. We ended up drinking in our hostel bar instead where we were subjected to topless jelly wrestling and so, in hindsight, we probably should have just gone with the toga party...

Whitsunday Islands

You can't really go wrong with being on a boat for a few days, especially when you're fed regularly and are taken snorkelling. Whitsunday Island itself was beautiful and, apart from the charming guy who decided to comment on my sunburn whenever I walked past, we met some lovely people. I think limited space definitely helps the bonding.

Fraser Island

Despite having reached a stage where budgeting was becoming a necessity (the meals out with our parents had turned into noodles in our hostel), I'd say this was one of my favourite places. Having facebook stalked people who had already been to Fraser Island, I was under the (mistaken) impression that it was pretty much just a shipwreck on a nice beach however turns out it's a little more than that. For one thing, getting about without a four wheel drive would have been quite a challenge (not least because of my abysmal sense of direction).

In short we went to lots of lakes, which doesn't sound like much however don't underestimate the novelty of crystal clear water and a lack of sea salt (finally, I could open my eyes under water!). There was also one lake surrounded by sand dunes where you could sand board into the lake. Unfortunately this was easier said than done and my attempt (having asked a family if I could lend their board) resulted in what could only be described as rolling into the water having screamed all my way down the hill. Guess that wasn't the best day to wear my tiniest bikini.

It may look pretty but that damn sand burned the feet!

We camped on the island which was an experience in itself. Our tour guide kindly told us just how many species of snakes it was home to and advised us to go to the toilet in pairs (well somebody has to be on dingo watch).

Dangerous creatures and unfortunate sand boarding incidents aside, we had a brilliant time (however felt the need to disregard the hostel's five minute shower rule on our return).

Brisbane

Ah the land of affordable shops and cheap drinks. I only had a couple of days here before flying home however made the most of them by fitting in some much needed shopping, more Pie Face (dessert pie really is the way forward) and koala hugging (money well spent I'd say). 

All in all an amazing trip which has made me even more determined to travel and/or live in another country at some point. I was so jealous of all the people we spoke to who were in Australia for a year and so had months to explore the east coast at their own pace (as opposed to sleeping on night buses and running about like crazy people with back packs on). There were some people who had moved simply because the job situation back in their own country was so dire which was a little depressing however as far as new homes go, Australia certainly isn't the worst (just don't mention the bikini body maintenance).