I didn't think it rained in Australia?
As you can probably assume from the title of this post, the past couple of weeks have been pretty hectic to say the least. Since I last wrote two weeks ago I've been in five cities/towns, two flash floods, had two surf lessons, seen over 20 dolphins, and walked 500 miles(maybe), and I'd walk 500 more.
I apologise for two things: 1) not writing in so long. As you can tell already its all been rather hectic and so in the very few periods I've had to sit down and write has always coincided with a lack of WiFi (which seems to be pretty common up the east coast for some reason - it's like they actually want people to talk to each other?) and 2) the length of this blog.
I suppose the best place to start is the beginning. It was a long long time ago and we'd just touched down in Sydney at the very inconvenient time of 8am. After yet another 4am wake-up call (the third in the space of two weeks) and a pretty bumpy flight meaning no sleep it was a fight to stay awake and take in Sydney - not that I'm complaining.
Being the pro-active type it took 5 minutes of checking in at the hostel before I'd decided to head to the standard tourist destination of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house, two things that, despite being the thing to do in Sydney, didn't excite me all that much, after all once you've seen it in a photo it's not too much different in person right? Now I don't pretend to be knowledgeable in the slightest when it comes to architecture but I think it's safe to say that you don't appreciate the quality of the Opera house until you're there first hand. Maybe its because I wasn't expecting much but either way I was in awe in both of the famous landmarks and it was certainly a great way to start the week in Sydney.
I then found myself on a free walking tour once again which was essentially wondering around the city for four hours and getting my bearings which was largely beneficial after a few hours of walking around the suburb of Newtown which features my favourite tree in the world - genuinely.
The day after this saw a 2 hour train journey (which costs $2.50 because it was a Sunday) to the Blue Mountains. To travellers they are a must do and they have nowhere near the international recognition they deserve as they are simply stunning. It's tough to put into words how stunning the views were so I'm not going to even try - it was just awesome.
It was around this time that the rain started to fall, and I mean seriously fall. After confidently strolling out into the apocalyptic rain (whilst telling everyone how much I love the rain), and being wetter than I found myself after the shower that morning, I was at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It has arguably the most history surrounding it than any other ground and was one of the more interesting tours I've been on whilst also including a trip into the neighbouring football/rugby stadium which was basically brand new and featured the two largest 'big screens' in the Southern Hemisphere behind both goals. Unfortunately there was no game on while we were there although in reality any game that would have been held there would have been cancelled because of the rain anyway - it was that bad.
After my first attempt of braving the rain I retired and found myself playing far too many card games (and maybe drinking far too much) and meeting some really great people who were in the same situation as ourselves. We did find a few indoor activities around the city though, my favourite of which being called SkyZone. It is essentially trampolines everywhere. I'm talking on the walls, on the floor and everywhere in-between and it was great to roll back the years and act like a child - not for the first time believe it or not.
With two days left the rain finally cleared up after three solid days of downfall so we could finally do all of the outdoor activities that Sydney has to offer. The Thursday saw a day trip to Manley beach and the Friday was the day we finally went to the famous Bondi Beach. Unfortunately the beach itself had been pretty wrecked by the storms and so had entered rescue mode, featuring lots of diggers, but it didn't stop the scenery from being stunning and the walk to Coogee beach is probably the best coastal walk I've ever been on so all was good.
In conclusion Sydney was great. Not great as Melbourne but I feel like it's hard to say this with complete certainty when I spent two and a half months in one place and a week in the other. I've had this conversation with far too many people and have argued my point into the early hours of many mornings and have finally come to the conclusion that everyone falls in love with the city that they spend more time in. Sydney is probably better for tourists and Melbourne is better to live in - at least that's the compromise that I tend to come too and I can deal with that.
Coaches are now the main form of transport and due to tight deadlines, I have three weeks to get from Sydney to Cairns via a lot of places - hence the tight schedule.
The trip up the East Coast started in Byron Bay, the set of the Inbetweeners 2 and generally just an incredibly hippy place. The three days that we spent in Byron consisted of two surf lessons and a day of kayaking with dolphins and turtles. Unfortunately I didn't get out and see the town as much as I would have liked due to the physical toll that all of the activities take - however I don't think I was missing out that much. There was just about time to hire some bikes (which had no brakes) and do another coastal walk, culminating in a lighthouse that overlooked the whole of the town and more.
Surfers Paradise, where believe it or not the surf was awful (apparently), was the next destination. Surfers is essentially a holiday destination and was labled as a mini Miami because of what seems like out of proportion sky scrapers that just seem to pop up out of nowhere by the sea. All of the sky scrapers seemed to be residential or tourist based, along with the ridiculous amount of bars/restaurants and it was just in general a really weird place.
We thought we'd take the tourist option here and spent another day at the beach where it was ridiculously windy and caused far too much pain than going to the beach should endure before spending a day at the obligatory water park and Movie World located around the corner. I appear to forget that I'm 18 years of age sometimes.
We then spent a night in Brisbane. Having heard generally negative reviews about the place before hand from both travellers and locals alike we went into the place with low expectations. This, combined with the start of yet another storm which eventually saw a further two days of flash floods meant that I should of had a horrible time. However it ended up being the complete opposite. I found it really similar to Melbourne in both its lay-out and its culture and whilst there may have been a lack of tourist activities I found it a really beautiful little city. I also managed to find myself at the cricket stadium to take the tally up to 5 for the trip.
It was around this time that the flood water really started to take their toll. What was meant to be a two hour journey from Brisbane to Noosa eventually turned out to be a ten hour trip due to both traffic and closed roads. After spending 2 hours getting out of the city in ridiculous traffic along roads that may well have flooded most cars (we saw at least 3 submerged cars along the way) we finally ground to a halt with the news that we couldn't go forward because the road was flooded and we couldn't turn back because the road was about to flood. We had to wait it out. It was a shame considering we were on such a tight schedule but we didn't miss anything particular - it just meant that we had less time to explore.
This brings me to my current destination - Noosa. Noosa is another town which is based around its beach and river but it really is a lovely place for a bit of downtime. After yet another stunning walk through a national park and along the coast we had a riverboat tour to the Everglades lake - one of two fully reflective lakes in the world apparently, although I'm not sure I quite buy that stat. It was however a beautiful trip, filled with a lovely barbecue, and even though the return leg of canoeing was cancelled due to those pesky floods, it was still a lovely day out.
Sitting down and writing these things really does put into perspective how much I've been doing. With both time and money starting to run low I'm really trying to do as much as I can. I know it looks like I've been to every beach under the sun but it seems like that's what the East coast is about - it really is a stark contrast after being in major cities for so long.
Anyway, 1640 words later and I will let everyone get back to their days, until next time....
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