Australia - Down under!
I went on this adventure with my husband, we arrived in:
Melbourne
Stayed at the Pensione Hotel, in a perfect location with a boutique feel.
Our first day in Melbourne was Christmas Eve. It was very strange to spend Christmas eve on a very hot summer’s day. We took a local tram into the city, had lunch watching the world go by and then took a stroll along the river Yarra to reach the Botanic Gardens, listening to the nature. Christmas day arrived and what a better way to spend it then at St Kilda’s Beach. Completely different way of life, on what should be, a cold, frosty kind of day. Instead, we soaked up the sun with a little wind in the air, listening to the waves.
Our first tour trip was to Phillip Island. Looking back at this tour, it was one of my favourites! First stop was to Gippsland Region, Warrock, which is a cattle farm. During this stop, we got to stroke and feed kangaroos, so amazing to be up so close to such beautiful animals. We then stopped off at The Koala Conservation Centre. We strolled along elevated boardwalks and spotted Koala’s in the trees. We hopped back on the coach and headed for Phillip Island, arriving at 7pm. We sat on a platform and just waited and waited and waited, for the worlds tiniest penguins to come out of the sea and make their way to their dune burrows. They do this journey every night. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos, so this is a memory to keep hidden.
On our last day in Melbourne, we decided at the last minute to go up The Eureka Tower on the 88th floor. It was worth the trip and floors!! The views were incredible.
Looking back at Melbourne, there’s something about it which is hard to describe to people until you’ve been there yourself.
Our next stop was:
Sydney
We stayed in The Pensione Hotel, same chain as the hotel in Melbourne. Sydney got of to quite an adventure by taking a tour of The Opera House. You just can’t go all that way and not touch it! Arriving very early morning to start our backstage tour, we got to see the 5 theatre rooms, dressing rooms and even got to see behind the scenes of the fireworks operations room. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to see a show, there always next time…….
News Years Eve was upon us and what a great experience it was! We had a reservation at The Sea Rock Café located on the Quay Side with stunning views overlooking the Harbour Bridge. We had a delicious 5 course meal, the table was ours all evening. New Year arrived with a bang! With fireworks going off everywhere including roof top and behind tress, it was spectacular!
Sydney Tower was another great experience, with great views, we had a 3 course meal whilst sat on a table with a rotating floor. We left our footprints on Bondi and Manly beach, it was beautiful just like you see in the photos……
Our adventure finished here as it was time to head over to New Zealand, enjoy reading my blog there!
After New Zealand we headed back to Australia and our last stop was
Cairns
We stayed at The Discovery Resort which was central and within walking distance to shops and some amazing restaurants. Our first trip here was The Kuranda rail and skyrail. We took the scenic route on the train up to Kuranda Village where we stopped off at the Kuranda koala gardens. It was here I got to cuddle a koala, called “Fred”, something I wanted to do throughout this journey. After a stroll around the small village, shops and cafes it was time to head down by skyrail, the views were stunning.
We set sail on a Quicksilver Catamaran for our tour to the Agincourt Reef, within the Outer great Barrier Reef, which is 70 km from shore, where we got dropped off on a pontoon. This was my second ever snorkelling experience, it was the most incredible experience made! The coral was so colourful, surrounded by beautiful fish, it was a true natural wonder!
This brings me to the last tour of our dream adventure. Greeted by a turtle and surrounded by coral gardens on The Green Islands. This Island was like a mini tropical paradise! We walked around the whole Island in 20 minutes, taking in the surroundings of rainforest and the sounds and smells of nature. There was a hidden hotel right in the middle with white sand and boardwalks. At this point I couldn’t of been happier to spend our last day here……..
Australia was amazing! It really is a place you must go and see it for yourself. From city to beaches, whether it’s basing yourself in Melbourne to snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, I defy you not to fall in love with it………