VF

We flew Emirates to Sydney… worth paying a tenner more for a more comfortable flight, with free food and drinks, at a convenient time!

We arrived quite late so our first glimpses of Sydney were from the Uber we caught from the airport to our accommodation. Newtown looked like a cool area. We stayed in uni accom as it was still hols for students. The building was impressive but the rooms and toilets etc were not. However, we did get free shower gel and shampoo which was nice. We arrived and went for a short walk around the area. The first thing we noticed were the very huge and very loud bats right outside. Omg. Massive. And so cool. Loved the bats.

Highlights of Sydney –

– banana bread. We discovered the Aussie love for banana bread for breakfast. So nice toasted with butter. (Did get sick of it after the trip though!)

-opening a bank account. Aussie banks are efficient.

-the Scary Canary drag queens. It was an interesting bingo evening we witnessed whilst having a well deserved beverage.

-7/11 $5 Slurpee with drinks bottle and $1 refills. Served us well.

-Blue Mountains were pretty although parking prices were not.

– bratwurst at Kings Cross market.

-nice beaches.

-rather famous views of the opera house and bridge- especially beautiful at night.

Overall thoughts about Sydney-

It was alright but not much character. We walked about 14 miles around the city and I can’t understand the general love for Havaiana flip flops. Mine made my feet blister.

Port Macquarie

On our drive to Port M we spotted our first kangaroo. Roadkill.

When we arrived at the Air BnB no one was home but they had kindly left the place open for us. It demonstrated how trusting some people are. The house was gorgeous and when we finally met the couple they were lovely. Like really really lovely. We had a great time chatting with them, exchanging travel stories and getting advice. They also took us out for a drive the next day to spot our first alive kangaroos. It was ace!

We didn’t have much time in Port Macquarie as it was intended as a quick stop on the way to Byron, however by the suggestion of our generous hosts we visited the koala hospital on the way out. So glad we did as it was incredibly precious seeing these amazing animals being rescued and cared for. It was our first sight of koalas and they didn’t disappoint.

Byron Bay

4.5 hours later we arrived in Byron. The whole place reminded us of The Inbetweeners movie. The town had a cool vibe with slightly pretentious undertones as the dreadlocks and baggy trousers were quite literally taking over. We enjoyed the ample live music as we walked around and I enjoyed the many, many crystal shops.

We had the most incredible experience kayaking with dolphins here. Curious and playful bottlenose dolphins swam right up to us… wow wow wow!

On our way to Gold Coast we drove via Nimbin, a tiny hippy village. The weed dealers weren’t out as the police had been there in the morning. That sums the place up.

Gold Coast

Gold Coast was a cool place! It had beautiful beaches and a modern skyline. We spent a couple of days in water parks which was lush. The parks were fairly quiet as it was during the week. It was the first time we’d experienced those standing pods at the top of steep water slides. It was an adrenaline rush and a half.

Main takeaway points-

-Australians have feet of steel. Our poor feet were scorched on the burning pavements in the hot sun.

-water slides can cause painful burns if you happen to randomly get flipped over during the ‘ride’ and get slammed down the slide on your back, desperately gripping the mat on top of you.

We also went up the sky deck in Gold Coast and saw the golden sands stretching for miles and miles. A highlight at GC for me was an evening at Dracula’s- a vampire, rocky horror-style place where we watched a bizarre cabaret whilst enjoying a three course meal.

Brisbane

Reunited with Peachy, my Squirrelly friend from uni in Brum! So happy to see this girl again. She’s still as beautiful and lush as ever! Brisbane was amazing because it was the first time we didn’t feel like tourists or even on hol as we were just chilling with Peachy with beers for 3 evenings. I can’t express how chuffed I was to see Anna, have a huge catch up and relax. Nat (Anna’s housemate from uni) and her partner Laurie also popped by which added to the amazingness.

In Brisbane we visited the Lonely Pine Koala Sanctuary which is a must for anyone in the area. We saw all kinds of amazing Australian wildlife.

Peachy also took us to a shipping container food market which was very cool.

Very sad to leave my friend but onwards to Noosa we went after 3 happy days in Brizzy. Thank you Squirrel for your warm welcome and great hospitality! Next time we’ll win that pub quiz!!

One more thing worth mentioning. On the way out of Brisbane we stopped at a discount shopping centre and I purchased the most wonderful flip flops ever created. I am proud to admit that I got Crocs wrong. I am a true converter to Crocs and will be a customer there forever more. But I will never ever ever wear those nasty clogs.