What an amazing two weeks it has been. I hope that you’re all ready for the gazillion pictures that follow. I took about 1,000 so I have definitely narrowed it down for you, but there are still TONS! Here are a few maps to show you just how much land I covered!
I started off my holiday in Melbourne with my friend Alex who I worked with at Camp Lindenmere last summer. I flew down on Easter Sunday and enjoyed a lovely day with Alex and his massive Italian family. We had a giant meal which included antipasti, pasta, meat, salads, chocolates, and tea. It was absolutely amazing. We were sitting at the table eating and talking for hours. After we finished up with the meal we took his younger cousins to the park. I spent most of the night talking to various family members about my time in Australia and things in the States – mostly sports (I surprised myself by how much I knew!).
On Monday we headed into the city to see the Melbourne Museum before Alex took me to my first AFL (Australian Football League) game. His favorite team, Richmond, was playing against the Western Bulldogs. I really enjoyed footy because it is so much faster paced that American football is. There isn’t nearly as much stop and go as there is in our version of the game, mostly because there aren’t as many rules. The stadium was absolutely packed since it was a public holiday. We had a great time cheering and eating the obligatory meet pie even though is team lost L After the game we had a walk along the Yarra River toward our dinner restaurant. I had an amazing pizza with spinach, tomatoes, olives, and pricuitto, and we both finished off the night with the best sticky date pudding I have ever tasted. I nearly licked the bowl clean.
Tuesday we had an early start at the Queen Victoria Markets which are absolutely massive. We ate all kinds of wonderful things and walked almost the entire thing. If I had been alone I probably would have been there the entire day! Afterwards we met up with one of Alex’s friends, Cooper, and his sister, Steph for a walk around the town. They took me down all the shopping alleys as well as the Botanical Gardens which were absolutely massive. That afternoon we went for a pizza in the Little Italy of Melbourne before saying goodbye to Alex who had to head home for footy training. We spent the rest of the afternoon sightseeing before meeting up with two of Steph’s friends and going to see Mark Watson perform in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He was so funny! After the show we went out for dumplings in China Town. I had heard about these dumplings for 2 days straight and they certainly lived up to my expectations. We all agreed that it was the best meal in the city for under $10! That night we stayed in China Town and went out to a place called Euro with some of Alex’s friends. They had gotten there early an scored us an awesome booth, we had the best seat in the house by far! We had a great night talking and dancing.
Wednesday was a bit of a dreary day so we slept in a bit before heading an hour out of the city to a wildlife park where I got to pat a wallaby, touch a snake, see a platypus, and see a tassie devil that was actually awake! After our adventure we headed back to Alex’s house for a spaghetti dinner before journeying into the city to see Cirque Du Soleil! Alex’s uncle had scored us FREE tickets. I was so excited!!! The show was amazing as it always is. For the majority of the show my jaw was on the floor. Even afterward on the train home, neither of us could stop speaking about it. After the show I was introduced to a new Australian dessert that I quickly fell in love with, a Lammington. I have known about them for a while but never gotten to try one. They are amazing – stale vanilla cake (weird I know), dipped in chocolate, and covered in coconut. Ahhh, they are glorious and I need to find a way to bring them back to the States with me.
Thursday I left Melbourne bright and early after a lift to the airport from Alex. I flew to Perth, 4 hours away, and arrived around 10 am. After checking into my hostel I had the entire day to explore. I went to the WA Museum, the Supreme Court Gardens, the seaside, and a few of the shopping streets. It was a great day to do whatever I felt like. I had no plans and just ended up doing whatever seemed right next. I decided that fate should guide me for the day.
I woke up early again Friday for a 7 am pickup from my hostel to go on my tour from Perth to Exmouth and return. I was on a minibus with 20 other people as well as our driver/guide, Randal. There were people from all over the world, Germany, Slovakia, Czeck Republic, Switzerland, England, Holland, France, and America. We started the tour in the Pinnacle Desert which is breathtaking. It looks like something straight out of a science fiction movie. That afternoon we went sandboarding. I was a little apprehensive at first but ended up loving it. I think that there were only a few of the guys who did as many runs as I did. I would have been content to stay there for hours. So fun! That night we stayed in Kalbarri where we had a great BBQ dinner together.
It was ANOTHER early morning (please notice the theme of my trip) to get to the Gorge on Saturday morning. We saw the sights at the Z-Bend (pronounced “zed” because Aussies are cool like that), I went abseiling, and we also went to Nature’s Window. That afternoon we had quite a drive but it was broken up with a stop off at the stromatolites. These are microscopic so all we could see was the rock structures they create, but nonetheless it was quite cool since they are responsible for the oxygen we breath today. Also, there are only 3 sights in the world where they can still be viewed – 2 are in WA. That night we watched the sunset over Shell Beach, a beach with only shells as its sand, before heading into Monkey Mia for our overnight accommodation.
I was up before sunrise on Sunday, but for a good reason – I went to play with dolphins. The whole attraction of Monkey Mia is its resident dolphins and I got a good 2 hours time with them! After hanging out with those guys I went on my first sailboat in search of more animals deeper out in the sea. We didn’t end up seeing much but we had a blast on the boat. That afternoon we said goodbye to 6 of our new friends who were only doing a shortened tour. It was amazing how close we’d all gotten after only 2.5 days, and it was sad to see them go. Once they left I was the only native English speaker left on the trip besides our guide which made for great fun! We had over 5 hours to drive that night so we made the bus into the party bus with balloons and window markers. We also played a “name that tune” like game that made us all laugh for a good 2 hours. We finally arrived in Coral Bay where they already had dinner waiting for us!
Monday was early again with another trip out to sea. I went snorkeling for the day with a few of the others from the tour. Our first stop was at the maze where we swam with all kinds of wildlife including sting rays, dolphins, and sharks. Next was the highlight, swimming with Manta Rays. These are GIANT creatures not to be confused with sting rays. They are actually a part of the shark family, although they are harmless, which means they have to keep moving in order to keep the water flowing over their gills. The whole thing was quite a production with one group in the water chasing the Manta, the next on the back of the boat. When one group was done they stayed in the ocean until the next was in the water swimming before being picked up. It was such an adrenaline rush. I don’t know that I have ever swam so quickly in my entire life. I was determined to stay with the Manta the whole time both times that I was in the water and I achieved just that! It was amazing to swim with these giant creatures. They were so graceful. Next we stopped at a turtle sanctuary where we saw tons of little heads popping out of the water for air. Our last stop was another usual snorkeling spot where I saw another shark! It was quite the successful day. I don’t have pictures from it yet, but I’ll put them up as soon as I get the CD I ordered. That night we drove to Exmouth, the farthest point North that we would be traveling. We had quite a fun night playing goofy games until nearly 2 am!
We actually got to sleep until after 8 on Tuesday! It was the only day we weren’t traveling and it was so nice. Randal made pancakes for breakfast before we headed out for our beach day. We first went snorkeling at Oyster Stacks where the tide was super low so you were right up close and personal with all the wildlife. Next it was off to Turquoise Bay where we stayed for the rest of the day. We alternated between sunbaking, swimming, and snorkeling. There was an area called “The Drift” there that was really awesome. You walked down the length of the beach about 600 meters before jumping in and swimming your heart out against the current. Once out all you did was float and the current brought you back down the beach over all the amazing coral and wildlife. It was amazing. After I got out I learned that there was a shark about 1.5 meters behind the guy I was swimming with and me! It’s crazy that it was following us and we had NO idea! That night we watched the sunset from a nearby lighthouse before heading back to the hostel for another fun night.
5:30 came much too early on Wednesday. It was our long driving day so we had to get up early. We drove 8.5 hours that day without very entertaining stops. The best one was at a banana plantation where we all had chocolate covered frozen bananas. Other than that the day was full of sleeping and more silly games on the bus. We played a really intense on called “Treasure Hunt” where we had to find random stuff on the bus and get it to the front in the shortest amount of time, I’m proud to say that my team one! After what felt like ages, we arrived at our farmstay. We had a feast of 3 different stews, kangaroo, chicken, and veg. I have to admit that kangarro is some of the tastiest meat I’ve ever had. The added bonus is that there is no fat in it or preservatives! All natural. We played a really silly game that night called the box games. The photos speak for themselves.
On our last day we actually left Australia. We went to the Hutt River Province where Prince Leonard and Princess Shirley live. These two started up their own country about 35 years ago. I have a stamp in my passport and everything! I hung out with the Princess, too. It was a pretty crazy place. I could have even become a citizen if I wanted to shell out the $300! Next we went to another wildlife park where I got brave and held a snake! From there we had about 4 hours of driving back to Perth. Back in the city we all were dropped off at our different hostels and said farewell to our one-week family. I actually saw 5 of the girls again that night for a sushi dinner before our final goodbyes, though.
I had another full day to explore on Friday. I started early by choice and went down South of the city by train to Freemantle (AKA: Freo) where there were some amazing markets. I spent hours walking back and forth. I also saw the sights of that city before heading back to Perth to go the King’s Park where there are the most spectacular views of the Perth skyline. After grabbing some more sushi for dinner I went to the ballet at His Majesties Theatre. I saw the Western Australian Ballet perform “Gisele” and it was absolutely gorgeous, although, it did make me miss Studio K terribly.
Saturday I was up at the crack of dawn – 3 am! I had to catch a shuttle to the airport for my early flight to Adelaide. After 3 hours in the air my lovely friend Bec, who I also worked at Lindenmere with, was waiting at the gate to pick me up. It was so exciting to see her! I hadn’t been able to sleep the whole flight because I was just too excited. We went to her apartment and dropped my stuff off before going out to lunch at a little café down by the beach with her best friend, Nikki. The café was beautiful, all glass windows with a full view of the ocean, but the day was not! There were crazy winds and it was grey and the waves were massive. We still had a great time catching up on the months we’ve been apart over great food. We spent the rest of the afternoon café hopping to stay out of the rain and to give us plenty of time to chat. After spending more time back at her place telling MORE stories and drinking MORE tea we went over to Nikki’s for dinner and then to another one of her friend’s house for the evening. We had a blast goofing off for the rest of the night. I met about 20 of Bec’s closest friends from high school who all still get together. We played pictionary and a little bit of dress up as you can see from the photos and they all tried to Australianize me by perfecting my Aussie accent which still always turns into an English one!
On Sunday Bec and I had a lovely sleep in before driving to Cleland Wildlife Park where we hung out with koalas, kangaroos, and emus galore. It was like we were little kids again while we were there. We were complete giggly girls the whole time. That night I went to Bec’s first basketball game of the season. She plays on a mixed-social team. She was the basketball coach at camp so she’s quite good at it. It was really exciting to see her play again. We spent the night relaxing with a lovely pasta dinner and the finale of So You Think You Can Dance Australia mixed with more great stories.
5:00 am was still early when it arrived on Monday. Bec drove me to the airport before she headed off to work at a coffee shoppe in Adelaide. I got to Sydney just before 10 after a very bumpy flight and made my way home on various trains and buses. I knew that I was home as soon as I saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
You might not be able to tell so I’ll spell it out for you, I HAD A BLAST! If there is actually a “travel bug” then I have definitely caught it. There is just so much to see and discover! I am absolutely loving all of the freedom and adventure I am experiencing during this trip. I am one lucky girl.
Hope that all is well and happy with everyone back home. I miss you all and am sending you all the love I can. Unfortunately, I can’t promise anymore Aussie warmth since it is officially cold here now L Time to break out the jumpers and boots! I’ll just have to think of it new season ready for new fun with all kinds of new possibilities.
So much LOVE,
Anna
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