Posts Tagged ‘australia’

National parks are located both to the north and south of Sydney. We have just visited the Royal national park, south of Sydney. to travel through the park costs $11, which is good to know if you plan to visit. Our first stop in the park was Bundeena and the beach. Bundeena is very calm and located in Port Hacking bay, which reduces the swell for swimming.

Royal National Park, Australia

Also the world’s largest passenger ship visited Sydney Harbour.

The world's largest passenger ship

To travel the east coast of Australia is a true experience for anyone, especially if you are from Sweden or any other unspectacular country. Of course I love the Swedish nature as well; nothing can be compared with a Swedish midsummer or a calm winter day. So why do I love to travel in Australia? The answer must be composed of many factors: from the uncountable beautiful long lonely beaches, the magnificent sceneries, and the experience of surfing or taking a steak. Everything is just so much more exotic and different (but also similar in some sort of way). A fact is however that every single beach in Australia beats everything I have seen during 20 years in Sweden!

We have done three road trips from Sydney so far. The first went to the state South Australia where I worked at a vineyard; the second trip went via the eastern coastline from Sydney to Melbourne and thereafter over The Great Ocean Road. On the final journey from Warrambool to Sydney I took the inland route and saw enough of the outback. In my mind there is really nothing to see or experience except the heat and the long straight never-ending roads.

Australian Beaches

The last travel has gone north from Sydney into Queensland. The trip took 14 days on the road; 10 days on the way up north and 4 days back. Experiencing Australia by car is a common way by many tourists (including all backpackers) and there is of course a reason for that… Trains and buses take too much time and inconvenience. Flying is of course an option to cover some of the distance between cities but besides that a car is my recommendation for transport.

Blue Mountains

Blue Mountains were the first stop on the journey. I have been there before but the national park is always worth a visit. The eucalyptus oil evaporates from the trees in the mountain valleys which creates the fantastic blue scenery. The drive from Richmond to Katoomba via the north mountain drive is to recommend. In Katoomba the Three Sisters is visible from Echo Point. This is a very touristy destination that attracts many visitors per day. The best part I have met in Blue Mountains is the walks around Wentworth falls. Here the mountain range is very similar to what you associate with the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The sandstone scenery is definitely worth to see along with the waterfall that drops 800 meters down the canyon. Must be experienced!

Blue Mountains

Port Stevens – Hawks Nest

From Blue Mountains we traveled via Sydney’s north-eastern suburbs onto the Pacific Highway. This is a good route to avoid toll ways and the traffic lights in Sydney CBD. The Pacific Highway Stretches from Melbourne to Cairns (?) and has in general two or more lanes with a good flow rate. Port Stevens is located about 250 km north of Sydney on the south side of a wide bay that stretches into the country. I stayed in Hawks Nest, a smaller community on the north side o the bay. A caravan park, a few hotels, motels and restaurants is the main buildings in town. The beach was the best with Hawks Nest. Walking south from Hawks Nest you come out on a peninsula, 50 meters inland from the ocean the bay stretches inland. Taking the car along the beach is also an option when the tide is low.

Port Macquarie

Another 200 km north of Port Stevens along the Pacific Highway you find Port Macquarie. This is one of the biggest cities north of Sydney in New South Wales; if I remember right it was actually the largest. We arrived early to the area which of course was solved by lying on the beach. The waves were really big and stingers were flushed on shore. First we thought the stinger was a Jelly Fish (it looks like one) but it turned out that stinger is the proper name. This was good since it should be harmless in comparison to the Jelly Fish. To get stung by the tentacles of a stinger should be similar to a bee-sting whereas the Jelly Fish is often ranked as the most dangerous animal on earth causing instantaneous death after contact. Sometimes they are spotted in NSW but their natural territory is north of Brisbane.

My opinion is that the southern beaches were the best with Port Macquarie. The city was a little too big and maybe the one I least will remember.

Yamba

Another 200 km north was my next stop, Yamba. A small township located in a large river entrance. Yamba is famous for prawns and seafood which I think is a well deserved reputation. Large ships were spotted in the harbor bringing the prawns from the ocean to the harbor. I stayed at the Pacific Hotel, located with the best view of the main beach, the lighthouse and the ocean. The beach was not very long, similar to Bondi or Coogee in Sydney, however it was very wide! When the tide was high the water rose all the way up to the pavement and rocks inland (no sand was visible). On the other hand when the tide got low (around 7 pm and am) the beach appeared at its widest of almost 100 meters.

Byron Bay

Byron Bay is a very famous place to visit in New South Wales. According to what I have heard it is due to the relaxed lifestyle which includes surfing and somewhat more accessible drugs. I don’t know about that myself more than that the lifestyle indeed seemed relaxed. We stayed in Byron one night on the way up the coast and on that time I got caught by the beauty of the beach and the surroundings. The lighthouse at Australia’s most easterly located point is very scenic. There bay below the lighthouse (Byron Bay) attracts many surfers at sunset. The surfers start at the beginning of the bay next to the lighthouse and follow the swell as the waves enter in the bay. The surfing experience is extended when you surf along the beach and not against it.

The public in Byron Bay is young and hostels and backpacker accommodation is more common than hotels. I stayed with Sofia and my parents in a small cottage that accommodated 4 people at one of the hostels. The standard was ok and I personally prefer this environment before motels. One night in Byron Bay did not feel enough. Therefore we also stayed in Byron on the way back to Sydney. I then did some surfing for 4 hours and had the luck to meet some dolphins in the waves!

A memory from Byron Bay was the dinner we had at the Balcony, a restaurant that I can definitely recommend. I and Sofia had very good tapas. The second time we visited we had paella, a dish that I also recommend!

Tweed Heads – Kingscliff

Very close to Byron Bay (about 50 km) on the border to Queensland is Tweed Heads. Another 50 km north of Tweed Heads you find the big city Brisbane. Tweed Heads and the coast south of Brisbane is therefore exploited with holiday houses and there is a lot of new construction going on in the area at the moment. The coast line consists of pure beach. The area seamed empty when we went out for dinner and there was not much in the offerings. Due to this we were on the other hand alone at the beach.

We were however not impressed by the restaurants so our experience of the city felt average.

Surfers Paradise

Surfers Paradise is a big city where I estimate about 1 million people lives. The city is built on a small area with almost nothing but skyscrapers. We stayed at the 14^th floor at a hotel/an apartment called International Beach Resort. It was ok. I definitely recommend looking for hotel offers before arriving to Surfers to get a god deal. Sunloversholidays.com.au is one good option that many hotels use.

We stayed two rainy days in Surfers. The city offers a very long beach with good surfing. The city is also center for many fun parks; maybe all that is something of value in Australia. Wet n’ Wild, Sea World, Water World, Dream World, Movie World and you name it is some examples!

Next door to our hotel was a bungee jump facility. Of course none in our company dared to jump. I have done it before in New Zeeland and will definitely never do it again!!!

Noosa Heads

The last stop on our travel up north was Noosa Heads; a lovely city located in the riverbanks of Noosa River. Noosa was the most exclusive towns we have visited. $2” was not an uncommon price for a house (then of course with access to the river).

I rented a surfboard on the beach and had some really good waves. One of them was caught on camera (thanks Sofia!).

Fraser Island

On our second day in Noosa we went for a trip to Fraser Island. Fraser is a large sand island that hosts rainforest, dingoes, Lake McKenzie and two ship wrecks. The tour company took us to the lake through the rainforest. The only road that exists on the island is the beach, which makes it impossible to access without a good four wheel drive. Some rental companies exist in the mainland port Rainbow Bay. This is cheaper when not traveling alone, however it takes a while to learn how to drive 80 km/h on the beach and find the way in the island. Therefore I would recommend having more than one day on the island if not going with a guide.

Coffs Harbour

The next stop after Byron Bay on the way back to Sydney was Coffs Harbour. We really enjoyed our beachfront accommodation and the town; which made us stay two nights in town. Coffs has good fish, a nice beach (as everywhere else) and a river with boardwalks where you can fish or go for a run. The town is also in the center of a banana district. Stop on the road and grab a few fresh bananas and mangoes!

Forster

Forster became our final stop for accommodation before returning to Sydney via the wine district Hunter Valley. Hunter Valley was sold out apart from the very luxurious hotels. However in my mind it is enough to travel through the area, stay at a vineyard, taste some whine and maybe buy a few bottles for dinner. We found some port wine from Chalmers, a vineyard with the same name as our Swedish University. Of course it tasted very good… J

* Long beach, nice lookouts, etc.
** Good surfing, funparks, great food

We have a new flat in Coogee with the nicest balcony and view. The days pass by with BBQ:s, beach and Australian Open tennis.

Sofia loves tennis!

I have got the "aussie BBQ style"

Everything is now booked (or almost) for our next journey in Australia. I have mapped the journey on my google maps to get an overlook. Please see this:

The total travel distance is almost exactly 1000 miles (the bird way) which equals 1609 km. The trip will take about 14 days which makes the average daily distance close to 100 km. Some days we do longer trips and some days shorter. The travel upwards in Queensland is planned to 10 days and the journey back will take the remaining 4 days. We plan to stop in Hunter Valley for some wine tasting. Apart from that the journey back has not been planned. Any recommendations for us?

Yesterday we stayed in Echoca by the Murrey river that divides the state Victoria from New South Wales. The motel had a pool and a nice BBQ area that we used. 41 degrees in the shade made it very hard to do something! The major attraction in town was the steam-boats that traficated the river (like the ones you see in Mississippi in the ”Huckle-Berry-Finn” story.
Tonight we are staying outside Wagga Wagga. Also in the middle of nowhere. We have visited a water land park and Lars-Ove and I enjoyed the water slides. Something that did not attract Sofia or Kerstin

Pictures later!

-David

Today we made great ocean road from Melbourne to Warnambool. We started from our hotel 7 am and finished the journey 8 pm. On 13 hours from Melbourne you manage to travel the most famous road in Australia in a moderate pace without stress. On the way we stopped at tree beaches and probably ten lookouts. The most interesting part was between Apollo Bay and Warrambool. This is where the sand stone makes a very beautiful coastline with the Twelve Apostles as the most famous attraction. This is sand stone cliffs that have been cut off in the ocean. Fantastic beaches stretch below the mountain range of the sand stone cliffs.

Album from flickr:

Time is passing and the first half year of mine and Sofia’s Sydney stay are over for a little while. It has been a tough period with many things to adapt to. Looking back, however, it is not a big deal. Studying is simple (Can’t believe I am writing this?). Here is a picture of my very successful and wonderful applied marketing research group from the last semester. From the left we have Nita, Paris, Imelda and Joey!

My marketing team

Tomorrow we are moving out from our room in Randwick. Sofia as at her exam at the moment and I spend my time in the room calling for jobs. It seems like the luck has abandoned us. For a few weeks ago we called a couple of farms that all said (quote):

”Don’t worry; we’ll have work for you.” or: ”We have work for you.” or: ”Buy a car and it will sort out.”

It turned out to be wrong. Somehow they where fooling us to believe that getting a job were nothing to worry about. I just spoke to the employment plus hotline that coordinates fruit picking over Australia which gave me a number to a winery along the cost. A dream job for a fruit picker! After calling and receiving no answer I called back to the national service and asked for more numbers. Unfortunately this was the only number they could give me; the fruit market is currently dead in NSW (Sydney) and VIC (Melbourne)!

Left are two wonderful options and we are going for one of them tomorrow when we move out:

1)     Pick onion 365 km west of Sydney. The ad is visible at the national fruit picking web and has probably dragged 200 other fruit pickers or something. When calling today it was still available places but we have no idea how it will be tomorrow. As with all fruit picking jobs you could only register once you have got to the area.

2)     Outside Melbourne we have been in contact with a labor assistance that is confident to find jobs for us. However he stated that there has been a bad crop so that all strawberry pickers basically compete with other picking jobs. Some wineries and cherry farms might still require workers (although we have called many of these farms directly with no result).

The options are not very good and we have hard to put a risk factor on them for the likelihood of a positive outcome! The current action plan is to head for Melbourne a bit inland and pass by some farms that seems to be in need for help from four strong hands. If we don’t find any jobs this way we will anyway have a great journey and hopefully find something when we get closer to Melbourne.

Having a cup of coffee in Australia

Having a coffee in Australia is not as easy as in Sweden. Sweden is one of the countries’ in the world where most coffee is consumed per capita, probably the country. In Australia the coffee culture is not like in Sweden. First of all you cannot buy coffee in supermarkets; Nescafe or espresso is the only options. This is also true for restaurants and cafes where the menu is a bit different. This is the second reason for having a coffee in Australia is different.

The third reason for why having a coffee is different in Australia then Sweden is the names of different types of coffee. If you just order a coffee, you will not get a coffee. At least what you in Sweden expect to get when you order a coffee. A coffee in Australia probably is the same as an espresso or a cafe latte. So how do you order a coffee? The closest you get is probably a long black. That is a double espresso with water (or something like that). You can also have a short or long white which is coffee with milk and cafe latte. The best you can order is probably a cappuccino. That includes very much sugar, milk and chocolate.

Hi there,

Today and the last few days I have been organising my clothes and packed my bag. I have only one more day left in my home town Västerås. To morrow I will be leaving for the family summer house and after the weekend I will spend my last few days in Gothenburg from where the plane is leaving.

I feel quite exited. Actually I have lived in the present and not thought about the trip at all. But when I do I get nervous. I got an email from my Aussie mate who seemed very gentle. I am really exited to go!!!

My bag contains about 17 kilo. That’s about all I got that is important. I have a backpack and I hope it is the right strategy to be flexible! To morrow I will also finish my work for ABB. It has been a great time and I really feel that I have been taken seriously for the first time and have had use of my skills from school. It is a great feeling actually to be one in the pack and not just only a temporary summer worker, even though I have been one

I think that my work has been very good and I am kind of satisfied with the result and so is, what I can see, also ABB.

Me with my backpack in the garden

The summer has been great in Sweden. Last days it has been around 35 degrees Celsius in the shadow, and it is not very common. One of my concerns is if I will melt in Australia!

I have recently added myself to facebook. I have long been agains fecebook, but felt made to sign up to network with the aussies at UNSW!