Finally!

Again, I’m sorry it took so long to write something but I’m finally traveling around Australia! We finally left Melbourne, where we stayed for about 9,5 months. We saved up a bunch of money to go traveling :). It is very satisfying that we don’t have to work anymore and now get to holiday for 3 months. Goodbye wasn't easy but we have some nice things to see around Australia. The week before we left we wanted to celebrate that we were leaving Melbourne so we had a few drinks in the highest roof bar of the city, on the 55th floor. The view of Melbourne one last time was amazing!

Before we left Melbourne, we rented a car with another couple from Sweden for 4 days to drive the Great Ocean Road. Riding along the great ocean road was so much fun. We even saw a whale along the coast. I don’t know if you heard about it, but the great ocean road is mostly famous for the 12 Apostles (a few special rocks…). It was a lovely day with just a few clouds (very lucky). Every time we were a bit hungry, we found an outside bbq :) but eventually we had to sleep… We had to stay in the car with the four of us… and we didn't think it would be cold at night (naive…). I was the only one who took a blanket. It was still so cold… We were happy if we could have a couple of hours of sleep. But we could see the sunrise the next day, so that was nice. But to sleep in the car for another 3 nights, that was going to be very exhausting. We even tried to sleep in a tent one night, but the tent collapsed so we still had to sleep in the car… It was still a lot of fun ;)

On the way we saw a lot of kangaroo’s! My dream came true! They are so cute! Especially when they have little joey’s in their pouches. But you don’t want to close to them, because they can really hurt you ;) When we were at the Grampians National Park we were touring with the car and when we saw a track sign we went for a climb on a few mountains! We basically saw a lot of rocks and mountains.

When we finally were back in Melbourne we were very happy when we could sleep inside the house! But then I had to do the most difficult thing in my entire life: packing my bag. When you are in one place for quite a while, you collect things… mostly clothes. So when I wanted to pack my bag, it seemed impossible for me to fit everything in. Eventually someone had to tell me that I don’t need warm clothes (I forget we are going to the north where it’s hot). And that I only could bring 3 dresses in total (DRAMA!). She forced me to get rid of most of my clothes (I just send it home) and when we were done, my bag never closed so smoothly and of course was a bit lighter.

So with my bag as light as a feather (for me) we went on the plane to Sydney. Really, the easiest flight ever! We went on the bus, checked in, and had to wait for 20min to enter the plane. When we arrived our bags were one of the first. And then a guy came up to us and asked if we needed a lift to our hostel, and it wasn’t even expensive. So everything went well the first day out of Melbourne :)

The next day we had our first trip booked, the Blue Mountains. We basically booked everything that we wanted to do in Australia, so we only have to be at certain places at certain times. But the Blue Mountains were blue. And we saw a few rocks that were again very famous. We walked to a beautiful waterfall. The way up was a pickle, but we survived… mainly because our tour guide was telling stories about the dangerous animals that we possible could meet during our walk. Most poisonous spiders and snakes... People who aren't that clever will be bitten by them… I’m so happy that I’m so smart ;)

The next few days were in Sydney. It’s a much bigger city then Melbourne. And Melbourne is also a bit cheaper. We saw of course the harbour bridge and the Opera house. We took the ferry to manly beach, and the way back it was the sunset behind the harbour bridge (pretty!!). We also did some important things in Sydney, we got our visa for Vietnam! And our vaccinations!

After Sydney we took a 14-hour bus ride to Byron Bay. It was exactly how it sounds like, awful! But we thought it’s going to be sunny and amazing… but when we arrived it was raining. Eventually it was all sun and hanging out on the beach! Eat an ice cream, go to happy hours in bars, the things you will do when you are on holiday. At the hostel everybody is so much younger. I feel old because everybody is in a party mode and we just want to hang out… One night we tried to make some friends. It didn't go as planned, it’s more difficult than I thought it would be... but we went out with a few people. After an hour we were already tired (and a bit tipsy) and went home and slept like a baby…

In the next blog I will write about Brisbane, Noosa, Rainbow beach, Fraser Island and more! ;)

But this is my first and last blog in English… I wanted to do it once, but it took me too long to write it ;) Also my computer is getting old and my backspace key isn't working anymore, what makes it a bit more difficult...
I miss you guys! And I will see everybody in 2,5 months in the Netherlands :D

Big fat hug! Liefs Marilein