In the meantime I will give you a few quick notes on each place that I will elaborate on later:
…….this encompasses January into mid-February…..
- Sydney and surrounding areas:
- The Opera house and Botanical Gardens = a must see
- The Northern Beaches and Eastern beaches are different, and each one has its own feel and scenery to it. All are breathtakingly beautiful in their own way!
- You learn a lot about marine life and rip currents and other interesting animals when you are here. The locals are full of information, and reading Bill Bryson’s “Down Under” book was a light hearted and comedic way to learn more about this country too!
- Australians are tough and competitive. In general, they are also smarter than I assumed them to be. The reason I say that is because before coming here, I had been told multiple times that Australia is the US of the southern hemisphere and New Zealand is the Canada of the southern Hemisphere. Maybe that holds true in terms of weather, but I don’t agree with it in terms of people. Although, this place is big and diverse, filled with many different types of people. I have met plenty of people who have and haven’t travelled, are or aren’t too open to the outside world, and are less or more interesting to get to know. So I guess, in all honesty, it’s the expanse and the wide variety of people and places that make it so similar to the US, where you can find many types of people and places……so I guess there is some truth to it? I’ll compare things more when we get to New Zealand….....I realize to myself maybe I did not make much sense there ?!
- Heat waves remind you how much you feel global warming down here!
- The Central Coast is just north of Sydney and is a smaller, less touristy version of Sydney…..a nice place to get away for a few days….
- Gold Coast
- Some people call it the Vegas of Australia. I can slightly see the comparison, but Vegas is MUCH MUCH better and there is much more to do there!
- I met a ton of Canadians in the Gold Coast so it was hard for me to get a good feel about this place in an Australian perspective. It’s a place of theme parks and it seems quite fake—and just about every Australian will agree with that description. However, it is one long beautiful beach which is hard to complain about……
- Met some great Canadians there and really enjoyed my time there, but it was due to the people, not the place
- The Outback:
- Surprisingly, there is a lot to write about this place. I can now say that I have lived in one of the remotest parts of the planet! Pretty incredible to think about…
- Different kinds of people in the Outback. Some are nice and intelligent, others are a far cry from that. It was crazy how much of a contrast you could see.
- Snakes, snakes, and dingos. Cool (?) and close encounters with all!
- Starry eyed nights--- the most incredible night sky I have ever seen! Indescribable!
- The only body of water around was a muddy creek! Sure makes you miss the ocean after a while!
- Interesting stories from people we worked with—just adds to the travel experience!
- Not for everyone, but we have no regrets about our month there!
- Port Lincoln, South Australia:
- The drive from Adelaide was 7-8 hours but it went fast and we had lots of good music to keep us going!
- Shark cage diving is one of the top 5 things I have ever done! EVER! The sharks get so close and it is incredible to see them in their natural habitat! We have some amazing footage! I would recommend it to anyone! Such a unique and unforgettable adventure!
Adelaide and Melbourne to go, and also special events and drives. There is so much information about Australia, I just don't even know where to start!!!
