The famed land down under is a place I have always wanted to go to but has always been one of those places that is to far out of the way. Living in China I decided this may be the closest I may get in the near future to get down there. Plane flights straight are about 11 hours and with stopovers can be as much as 15 hours.
While the continent is huge, it is hard to go everywhere, as most of the people are situated along the coast. Plane flights are extremely cheap flying within Australia vs. other countries of the same size so I decided to focus my travels on visiting friends in Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. While I wanted to see other places, I decided that for a first time out, I will just go and roam around these cities and the outskirts of these cities.
I got to stay with friends that previously I have traveled with in Europe (2005,2006, 2010, 2011, 2013), my cousin from Houston (Cousin David), people I have worked with Internationally and my 9 month Africa trip (2015-2016). Great people and I wish I had time to meet up with others but time was short. Funny looking at some of the pictures of us from then and now over some beers or wine….
Friends and family that have been a part of my travels in the world….
Melbourne was my first stop as my friend Jamie laid out a great plan for us, which was going on The Great Ocean Road for the day which is one of the most popular roads in Australia and is goes along some of the most scenic coastlines in the world (albeit bad weather sometimes). This was a beautiful drive with great scenery and wildlife (birds and even wild Koalas the whole ride through!!!
Melbourne is a beautifully laid out city with a lovely central business district with old buildings and cafes and restaurants. The different types of cuisines show the multitude of different ethnic groups from all over that live here.
Along with the vibrant flowing city, the street art scene is up and coming as I believe it will be a big tourist attraction in years to come as some of the street artists have made amazing murals.
The famed AC/DC Alley has tributes to many different rock bands who have left their mark on rock music….
As I left Melbourne, I headed out to WA to see my cousin David and a few friends from years past. As Perth is the biggest city in WA, I was not expecting much, but to my surprise the city is very well planned and very clean. It is not hard to get around here and as my cousin lives on Cottesloe Beach which is one of the nicest beaches in Australia, the scenery is amazing….
Of course it is any foreigners dreams to see a Kangaroo and in my mind they simply did not exist until I saw one with my own eyes and that is just what I did. We went to a place in which two kangaroos lived and got to see them in their natural habitat. In addition we got to see dolphins in the ocean, and osprey, stingray flapping around and a Kookaburra sitting and making sweet calling sounds….
Last stop was the Sydney area in which is stayed with an mate Grant who I traveled extensively through the UK with. He took me around a suburb called Newtown which is a hip part of Sydney with….you guessed it….street art!!!
We went up to the Blue Mountain Area which gets its name from the oil given off by Eucalyptus trees in the distance. It is more of a blue hazy mist, but the area was magnificent with many beautiful geological formations and canyons running as long as the eye can see
No stop to Sydney is complete without a city walk to all the popular beaches to see the surfers as well as the beautiful scenery. It does not hurt at all to take a ferry to see the famed Opera House which is a picturesque landmark as well as the bridge. Thanks T for showing me around as it was good to hang out with friends from the Africa trip who I spent 9 months with!!!
One response to “Australia”
Great post man!