|
|
This is going to be a really long post because I haven't had access to adequate/free bandwidth since I left Perth to update my blog.
North Western Australia: (June 10-14)
At 1pm on Saturday, Louise and I picked up the car and headed up to Coral Bay -- some 1200km away from Perth. We spent the entire first day just driving, but despite appearances this part of the trip was actually very pleasant. We drove through an interesting town called Carnarvon, the first genuine sort of outback town I’d seen. From Carnarvon it was 250km of night driving on desolate roads to get to Coral Bay; I’d guess we drove past a total of four vehicles in two hours on this last stretch of driving. When we finally arrived in Coral Bay (popn 192) it was 1am and it appeared all campsites and accommodations were closed. We pulled into the parking lot next to the beach and fell asleep in the car.
We were abruptly awakened at 6am by ‘The Warden’ (some sort of town police) who first threatened us with a $300 fine, then let us off with a warning. Feeling quite relieved I wasn’t forced to pay the equivalent price of a five star hotel for the privilege of sleeping in the rental car, I enjoyed my bacon sandwich at the nearby restaurant. After that, we booked a snorkeling tour on the Ningaloo Reef. I had my mind set on going to Coral Bay on this road trip to see the Ningaloo Reef, which was rumored to be even more spectacular than the Great Barrier Reef on the East Coast of Australia. I was not disappointed; I saw dozens of different fish, beautiful coral, and two ‘reefies’ as the tour guides called them, otherwise known as Reef Sharks. Getting to see sharks in the wild and up close was an incredible experience. Unfortunately I went swimming with the rental car keys in my pocket and ruined the electronic remote (I’m still waiting to hear from Thrifty Car Rental on the cost of this careless mistake)!
That same day, we left Coral Bay and began driving to Shark Bay. After driving so much the day before and only getting a short and uncomfortable rest in the car, driving fatigue set in early. We stopped in Carnarvon on the way back and walked on the Scenic Jetty. Being there with Louise made it enjoyable, and it was a welcome opportunity to stretch my legs. We made it to Denham (the town nearest Shark Bay) by approximately 9pm, but had the same problem we had the first night where there appeared to be nowhere for us to camp or stay the night. Naturally we were both pretty stressed out about the prospect of:
1. Sleeping in the car again, and
2. Getting fined for camping in our car!
Luckily one of the employees at the Heritage Resort was doing some final cleaning of the hotel when we knocked on the back door, and he let us do a very late check in, at a discounted price and with vouchers for free breakfast. Thank you Dave for saving us from a very long and uncomfortable night! Australians are the nicest people in the world.
After a proper night’s rest in the hotel and a refreshing continental breakfast, we set out to see the sights in Shark Bay. We drove to Shell Beach, which true to its namesake is made entirely from shells washed ashore. It was very windy the day we visited, and I was able to air dry my towel over my head as I strolled the beach. We also visited the Ocean Park Aquarium, which was almost entirely out in the open air and hosted by two very knowledgeable guides. I learned about Cleaner Wrasse and that dolphins eat 20x more food than sharks (10kg versus 300grams, respectively)! We were able to check into a campsite in the light of day, as after two days of extensive driving we decided we’d stay the night again in town before heading back to Perth. After setting up our tent, we took a nap before heading to dinner at the Heritage Resort where we’d stayed the night before. I had the most delicious steak and pale ale (Fat Yak), and the dinner conversation was fantastic. We watched a movie in the tent before falling asleep.
We woke up very early so we could see the dolphins at Monkey Mia, 30km up the road from Denham. We arrived at the beach by 7:30, just in time to see the first dolphin come into the shallows to be fed. All told I think about a half dozen different dolphins came in to the shallows; we didn’t get to feed them but seeing them up close was almost as cool as seeing the sharks at Ningaloo Reef. From there it was a 12 hour drive (with brief stops to see some stromatolites and take a nap) back to Perth.
The monetary cost of this trip was pretty steep, even if I get off lightly on the damaged rental car key. Yet seeing the northern coast of Western Australia, a destination lightly traveled by international tourists, was worth the expense. The natural environment in this corner of the world seems almost entirely uncorrupted by human activity. The ocean water is completely transparent and wildlife is abundant; countless times I nearly ran over kangaroos during the 2800km/4 day trip! It was sad knowing this was the last trip Louise and I were going to take together, at least in the foreseeable future. But it was good to get out of Perth and spend our final days together in a very memorable way.
Photo Album - Imgur
Last Days in Perth: (June 15-16)
June 15: After I dropped off the rental car, Louise and I had a lovely lunch at IKU Sushi. After a couple errands we came back to our flats and did laundry, watched movies, and just generally hung out. As I went to bed that night, I remember feeling resolved to handle the inevitable separation of me and Louise as well as possible.
June 16: Thursday was my last day in Perth. I had a few loose ends to tie up at Uni… Louise kept me company as she had some things of her own to sort out. Once I had finished, I met Liam for some pints at the TAV. It was good to see Liam again before I left Perth, and the whole experience left me in a cheerful mood throughout the afternoon. As the day turned into evening, Louise and I watched Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, talked for a while, and suddenly it was time for me to leave. While I was as sad as I can ever remember feeling when I finally said goodbye, it felt good to know I would be missed in the same way. I’m so happy I got the chance to know her the way that I did.
Melbourne: (June 17-21)
My flight from Perth to Melbourne was delayed and didn’t take off until midnight, which sucked because I arrived at the airport at 9 and was checked in by 9:30pm. A lack of food and stress had me feeling unwell; fortunately once the plane was airborne I promptly passed out and slept almost the entire duration of the flight. Despite landing in Melbourne at 6am I didn’t actually get to my hostel until 9am! I spent the entire first day of my vacation alternately asleep and sad about the void Louise’s absence left in my heart. Fortunately this was to be the only unhappy day throughout the remainder of my time in Oz!
June 18: I woke up the next day feeling refreshed, which was good because I ended up doing a lot of walking that day! I explored the Royal Botanical Gardens, the downtown streets, and the Queen Victoria Market on my first proper day in Melbourne. The RBG was beautiful and the QVM was an energetic hotspot. In total I spent over 7 hours simply walking around with an overloaded backpack on my shoulders. I obviously over exerted myself as my legs were very sore that night and the next day.
June 19: I somewhat foolishly did the same thing the next day, only instead I was exploring St. Kilda beach. The weather was disappointingly cold and windy that week, so I wandered around Melbourne in my windbreaker and sweatpants! I had to stop several times during the day just to rest my legs… this wasn’t all bad though as I was eager to burn off extra weight I’d gained in Perth over the past several weeks. Another reason I did so much walking was to avoid paying for public transport. Another money saving strategy I used was buying food from grocery stores (Coles, Woolworth’s). Shortly after I left the beach boardwalk I came across the Crown Casino. It is a beautiful casino and has an awesome poker room! I walked into the casino with the intention of ‘just seeing what it looks like on the inside’, but of course I ended up sitting at a 1-2NL cash table. Within 45 minutes I was down $160 (cliff notes: played my C game, I could have played my hand better in both the big pots I played) and left quickly. I then got lost on the way home trying to take a different route back to my hostel than the route I’d taken to get to the casino -- I ended up walking for nearly three hours!
June 20: Like the other days, I wandered around to see more of downtown Melbourne and the RBG. At one point the weather was so poor that I decided to go indoors and see the free exhibits at the National Gallery of Victoria. To much surprise it turned out to be a very interesting part of my time in Melbourne. It was also amusing that I got told off by the museum staff for:
1. Taking a photo of a portrait with the camera flash ON
2. Drinking water in front of a different portrait a few minutes later
3. Eating a granola bar just as I was leaving)
When I got back to the hostel my roommates that evening, my roommates were drinking and offered me a beer, which of course I accepted. I am grateful for the generous and helpful nature Dave, Mike, and Vaughn showed me while I was sharing a room with them. Thanks guys!
Photo Album - Imgur
Cairns: (June 21- 25)
June 21: I said goodbye to the roommates and checked out of my hostel in the morning on the 21st, then wandered around the St. Kilda suburb while I waited for my shuttle to the airport. There are so many green spaces in Melbourne… there always seemed to be a park or garden nearby, regardless of where I was. I arrived at the airport at 1pm, where I learned that the ash cloud from the Chilean volcano was threatening to cancel my flight into Cairns. This would have been particularly disastrous as Louise told me she was going to be in Cairns an extra day, and I would miss out on the chance to see her! At one point one of the airport staff told me the airport was ‘probably gonna close’ before my flight was scheduled to leave. I stuck around in the hopes that my flight wouldn’t be grounded, and luckily it ended up only leaving about 20 minutes late. However due to the ash cloud the flight route had to be altered, and as a result I didn’t land in Cairns until 10:30pm, almost three hours late! I split a cab with an Aussie I sat next to on the plane (by the way, cheers Lance for paying for the cab) and raced off to find Louise. Without a phone or internet this was a challenge, and I had to wait for someone else to enter the hostel to let me in, then knock on random doors in the building until I eventually heard her voice floating through the corridor. This ‘bonus time’ I had with Louise was fantastic. It was pleasantly surreal to wander the warm, empty streets of this unfamiliar town late at night.
June 22-24: I woke up the next morning in a surprisingly good mood, considering I had to say goodbye again the night before. I had breakfast at a nearby café where I got into a lengthy conversation with the cook about crocodiles and job opportunities in Australia. I spent the day unwinding at my lovely hostel and strolling through the Esplanade, the only part of this tourist town worth seeing on foot. I was in a six bedroom hostel, but there was usually only two other people in the room which was nice. My American hostel mate kept to himself (I cannot remember his name), but Ben from Hong Kong was very friendly and offered me advice about what to do when I was in Sydney. He even offered to show me around Hong Kong if I ever visit.
While I was in Cairns I did two ‘touristy’ things, and was rewarded with spectacular scenery and dozens of cool photos. On the 23rd I explored a tropical rainforest via a 7km gondola, 2 hour scenic train ride, as well as on foot. The next day I took a boat to Fitzroy, an island park about an hour from Cairns. I hiked to the summit and was nearly blown off the tops of boulders by the very strong winds. On the way down I discovered a large, probably poisonous spider. I did my best Steve Irwin impersonation and put my hands inches from this beautiful and dangerous animal to take several pictures. You will be disappointed to hear I did not go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef while in Australia. The windy weather, anecdotal information I got from other tourists that the coral looked bleached, and the fact that I had visited the Ningaloo Reef in WA are only excuses not to have done this iconic activity. Even now I regret not at least taking a boat out to see the reef; if I had another day in Cairns I would have made arrangements to visit the reef. In the end I simply ran out of time to do everything I wanted to while I was here.
Photo Album - Imgur
Sydney: (25-28 June)
I finished up my time in Australia in the same place where I started. My flight from Cairns to Sydney actually had me end up at the international terminal, so I had to go through customs just like I did my first day in Oz. I had enjoyable flashbacks to my first moments in Australia when I landed here in early February.
I took a train from the airport into Circular Quay, where my hostel was located. The quality of my roommates and the spectacular view from the hostel rooftop made this the best place I stayed at throughout my trip. I had two full days in Sydney, and spent nearly all my time in Sydney Harbour where I marveled at the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and Royal Botanical Gardens. The weather was absolutely perfect, which heightened by touristy experience! On the 26th I took a ferry to Manly Beach, mostly just to get on a boat and ride across the harbor -- the scenic walkway in Manly was an unexpected bonus. I got to see the Opera House and Harbour Bridge at sunset, and it was spectacular. Unfortunately it was at this most perfect moment that my camera decided to die! I was lucky this hadn’t happened earlier in my trip, and I still managed to take over 100 photos of Sydney before I lost the capacity to take photographs.
I walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens both days I was in Sydney. I thought the RBG in Melbourne was incredible and hadn’t even considered that the Sydney’s RBG could trump it, but I was dead wrong. The most surprising thing about Sydney’s RBG was its resident population of vampire bats, which can be seen in broad daylight in the top branches of large trees. I toured the Opera House on the evening of the 27th, a fitting end to my time in Australia. After all the hype regarding the exterior architecture of the Opera House it was hard not to be a little underwhelmed with the interior. I did learn that there are over 1,000 rooms beneath the Sydney Opera House which is pretty insane. Also, the concrete of the “shells” that make up the outside of the building don’t even touch the wooden interior of the actual theatres inside the building. It’s a cool building, but because I’m not an architectural/theatre buff I didn’t find it as enjoyable as walking through the RBG’s.
The other great thing about Sydney was my roommates: Joel (French), Sten (French), and Stephan (Germany). Like in Melbourne, by the end of my stay I had had the opportunity to get to know my roommates and have pleasant, extended conversations with them. As someone who hasn’t met many people from totally different cultures, it was cool just to laugh and share stories with them.
Photo Album - Imgur
The End
During my time in Australia I’ve had the privilege of meeting and learning from people who come from all over the world. I met people from literally every continent besides Antarctica this semester. The experience of spending months independently living in a mostly unfamiliar society, with its own culture and rules, was overwhelmingly positive and life changing. I hope I can take some of the lessons from my experience “abroad” and apply them to my life at home. On top of all that, I met an amazing girl with whom I got to share much of this particularly great time in my life. The thought of returning to Minnesota makes me feel alternately happy and sad… I don’t want my life to fall into the same patterns (aka ‘ruts’) it was in before I left, and I doubt some of the things that made me unhappy while I was home have changed in my absence. I will resume my responsibilities to friends and family, some of which feel more like a burden than they rightfully should. In the short term at least, my outlook on being home is extremely positive. I cannot wait to see my family!
Having to say goodbye to a lack of responsibilities and the company of someone special naturally sucks. Also, Australian society is just flat out better than American society (or at least what I remember about America). I think the challenge for me as I settle in at home will be to not get depressed about the things I don’t like in America, and to not forget that I can return to Australia once I’ve completed my degree. As far as my relationship with Louise is concerned, I’m not certain what the future holds. The only thing for it is to let some time pass and see if the love I feel for her now is still strong in two-six months.
Epilogue
I’m home now and just putting the finishing touches on this post, and uploading some photos for your viewing pleasure. I also want to give you a short summary of my expenses from my semester abroad, hopefully for the benefit of college aged readers who are thinking about studying abroad in Oz.
Food: $1800, or ~$15/day. I ate out about two dozen times over the course of the semester
Beer/Cigs/etc: $500. Most of that was on alcohol, though cigs are about $15 a pack out here so if you like to smoke you should get a couple cartons at a duty free store at a U.S. airport.
Travel: $3050 [$450 (first road trip, 3 days) + $700 (second road trip, 4 days), $1900 (Melbourne-Cairns-Sydney, 12 days)]
Grand Total (excluding rent, tuition): $7500USD
I was in Australia from February through June, or approximately 145 days. I lost about $200USD when converting feeble American dollars into strong Aussie dollars. I’d recommend keeping tabs on the fluctuation of currency values once you decide you want to come to Oz and converting a large sum of money when the exchange rate looks particularly favorable. Also, cab rides in Oz can cost a fortune, especially in Sydney where I paid $120 to get from the airport to my hotel on my very first day abroad. I spent about $350 just on cabs this semester. Be prepared to pay considerably more for staple items in Australia than you're used to in America. Beer, fuel, food... almost everything is at least 50% more expensive in Australia. I hadn't anticipated this before I left, and only made it out of Oz with money in my pocket because I had access to my Pokerstars roll! Of course, if my parents hadn't shelled out for half my tuition + my plane ride to/from Sydney I couldn't have done any of this. Thank you Mom and Dad!
If anyone has questions about this sort of financial stuff I’d be happy to try and help. I hope you enjoyed reading my Australia blog; I can’t believe this adventure is behind me now!
Cheers!
|
Originally Posted by Carroters
Reply With Quote
