It will be difficult to put into words just what an amazing time we’ve had in Australia these past six weeks- but here goes!
Melbourne
Upon landing in Melbourne we were welcomed by a sign that said Border Control were filming their show- Luke was desperate to feature, but fortunately for me he didn’t look too incriminating, nor was he smuggling any contraband! Instead of a hostile welcome with the officers, we were greeted by our lovey family friends Lisa and Gerard, at 3am in arrivals, who had an action packed itinerary in store for us!
First up was an all-Aussie experience at Ballarat wildlife park. We hand-fed kangaroos, watched koalas in their sloth-like state and laughed at the wombats waddling. Luke’s first encounter with the animals was from a safe distance and the antibacterial gel was, of course, right at hand!
Bex and Roo
Not entirely convinced….
Cute koalas
Tubby wombat
We rounded the day off with another stereotypical Australian experience at a world-famous winery and the wine exceeded all expectations! Sparkling Shiraz was an eye-opening experience, it was surprisingly good when served cold- don’t knock it ‘till you’ve tried it!
Wine-time with Lisa, Gerard & Eamon
No trip to Melbourne would be complete without a visit to the MCG and we took advantage of an all-star AFL game that was taking place during our time in the city. A friend of Luke’s is a member at the G and managed to hook us up with member’s club passes. The club was incredibly swanky and modelled itself on Lords, although their dress code was far harder to decipher- ‘scuffs’ and ‘skivvies’ were not acceptable… but we had to figure out what they were first!
Inside the iconic MCG
We were grateful for Gerard ‘translating’ the dress code and for the fact that he’s an AFL buff- he had been explaining the MANY rules of the game to us during our stay, so we had a bit more understanding of the sport when we watched it live. We couldn’t help but laugh at how over the top and contrived some of it was though…. including the bouncing of the ball to start the game and the way the 3rd and 4th officials dramatically threw the ball back into play over their shoulders!
Found this image online to highlight the hilarity of the throw in!
The stadium was well worth a visit, despite not being full to its 100,000 capacity it was still an incredible atmosphere and was great to hear the Collingwood chorus when they pinched the win.
The Great Ocean Road was another highlight of our time in Melbourne, it provided an incredible backdrop for our five hour car journey to the 12 apostles. The road winds along the wild and windswept southern ocean and as it was autumn, we certainly got a battering.
12 Apostles
The Great Ocean Road meets the 12 Apostles
Our final night in Melbourne saw the Coughlan’s round up their large, extended family for a get together and it was a fab end to our time in the city, providing us with plenty of home comforts after several months in Asia.
Sydney
Sydney stole our heart and it’s a city where we could certainly see ourselves living. We loved it so much, we came back three times within a matter of weeks!
On our first night in the city we enjoyed the sites of the iconic opera house and harbour bridge from the infamous opera bar. After a cocktail or two we decided we’d have to see the city from above and scale the bridge. The following evening we took the plunge and climbed the bridge at sunset- it was amazing to see the city twinkling at night, even rush hour looked pretty impressive from that height!
Preparing to climb the bridge, in big baby-grows!
In order to get our bearings, we did a bus tour of Sydney and learnt all about the history of the city. We broke up the day of touring with fish and chips at Bondi beach and watched the famous Bondi rescue team at work- although we didn’t appreciate sharing our lunch with, what felt like, all of Sydney’s seagulls!
Bondi beach
The harbour by night
Our next day had a water theme as we spent the majority of the day at the Maritime museum and wandering around Darling Harbour, before cooling ourselves off with a dip in an amazing outdoor pool.
The Iceberg pools
The Maritime museum was certainly worth a visit as we got to climb aboard old ships that the original English settlers would have travelled on to get to Australia- they were certainly made of stronger stuff than we are- that and some of them, of course, had no choice as convicts! We also managed to experience an Australian naval submarine, but the conditions were so cramped and Luke seemed too tall for the claustrophobic conditions.
Baby shark doh doh doh doh…
During our few days in Sydney we embraced the brunch and coffee culture, that the city is renowned for, and took every opportunity to partake in such activities sat in the sunshine! (Such Brits abroad)
Canberra–
For Easter, we drove to Canberra to spend it with my wonderful cousin Trine and her husband Joe. It was such a welcome relief to have a long weekend in one spot, we certainly made the most of their washing machine!! Home comforts were aplenty and we really enjoyed relaxing in their fab house, complete with Aussie-style pool.
Trine gave us a driving tour of the capital city, we took in all of the political buildings, memorials, flash suburbs as well as the university campus. We also managed a hike up to one of the highest points in the city- seeing it from above gave us a whole new perspective.
Canberra from above
The following day Trine and I managed to get our heart rates up again as we went for a walk around the lakes with a friend of hers, while Luke went and played football with Joe and his three kids- being a Liverpool supporter went down a treat with the boys, first time for everything!
We relaxed for the afternoon at a beautiful winery and absolutely lucked out with the weather before heading home for a highly entertaining games night- I was given more than a run for my money with hosting duties by little Edie!
Easter Sunday was spent on one of Joe’s former team-mate’s farms and it was such a fab way to round off a great weekend. We weren’t ready to leave when Monday rolled round but we begrudgingly headed back to Sydney along with the rest of the holiday traffic.
Easter Sunday around the fire
We had just a day and a half back in Sydney before flying out, so we took advantage of the great weather (autumn is very different down under) and caught the ferry over to Manly. It wouldn’t be a bad way to commute to work in the city, certainly beats the London Underground!
Dusting off the Easter weekend hangovers at Manly beach
Byron Bay
Byron Bay was our next stop along the east coast and the surfer-vibe town suited us just fine! It allowed us to become beach bums for a couple of days, spending our days swimming in the ocean and ‘sunbaking’ as they call it here. We also took the opportunity to have a surf lesson in Byron and while we both managed to stand up on the board, we swallowed more than our fair share of water in doing so!
Byron Bay views from the lighthouse
Our visit to Byron coincided with Anzac Day and we joined the dawn service, which was an incredibly moving experience. There was also a mid-morning parade of servicemen and women through the town, everyone in Byron lined the streets to cheer and wave to them as they led the procession down to the town’s memorials to lay wreaths.
Anzac Day parade
Another tradition on Anzac Day is a ‘2 up’ game, played in bars across the nation. Two people are matched up across the bar, you get the organiser’s attention by placing a ten, twenty or fifty dollar note on your head, and they call heads or tails; the organiser flips three coins and whichever side is the majority, wins. Somehow we managed to win a game each- it was definitely beginner’s luck!
Anzac Day
Our accommodation in Byron certainly gave us a taste of things to come in New Zealand, as we stayed in a pimped-out stationary caravan in the countryside….We lasted two nights in the great outdoors before checking into a hotel!!
Our accommodation in Byron Bay
After a few days in beautiful Byron, we continued further up the east coast to Surfer’s Paradise and through the Gold Coast, only stopping for ice cream and a walk on the beach as we were against the clock to get to Brisbane.
Enjoying the last few rays in Byron Bay
A quick stretch of the legs at Surfer’s Paradise.
The east-coast adventure will continue in ‘Australia part 2’….
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