Time flies, as they say. And Indeed it has been already a month since I arrived in Australia! After three days of flight, a night in Bankok, I reached Sydney the 30th of November. I went straight to my friend’s house in Putney, a nice and rich neighborhood West of Sydney. The first things that stroke me: the smells and the plants. Second: the sounds! Sydney itself is full of birds, possums, crickets, frogs, bats and all those sorts of things! I spent the first two weeks babysitting and nothing more!
Melbourne, Geelong and The Great Ocean Road
First trip out to Melbourne and Geelong, with a short stop to The Great Ocean Road. Highlights of Melbourne: great accessibility! There are toilets everywhere, lifts to every platform of the train station and also an “accessible point”, where you can receive assistance if you need! I also loved the vibe in the city, although it is very, very crowded.
It was actually during my visit to Melbourne that I realized how much I despise cities. Great thumbs up for Australian cities though, as there is always a quick and easy way to get to the beach! Also, I paid a visit to the beautiful ISKON Temple on the Southern Beach.
Geelong is a town 75 km South West of Melbourne. Both lay on the same bay. Geelong is a nice town on the sea. It used to be quiet but it is actually expanding and becoming a proper city (I hope they won’t start building skyscrapers even over there! From Geelong, you can take a car ride to the beautiful peninsula of Bellarina. I personally loved Queenscliff – a nice and quiet holiday place for elderly ones – away from the surfers’ beaches, Point Lonsdale, with view on the other point of the bay: Sorrento! You can actually see also Tasmania! From there, if you just keep on following the coast, you reach the famous Great Ocean Road, with amazing views on the ocean – and there you go the surfers’ beaches. Going inland, you can visit the amazing Erskine Falls, and the beautiful nature and forests in the surrounding area. The place looks also a great place for picnics!
Blue Mountains
I had already noticed, when approaching with the plane, an amazing green mountain area close to Sydney. It was a very sunny day and the green almost looked blue. Not having read anything about Australia, I had no idea what it was. Just an hour and half ride away from Sydney, the wonderful region of the Blue Mountains offers spectacular views over the mountains, rocks, and valley. We went to visit on a rainy day so it was also not really crowded. I suggest visiting the area by car rather than touristic buses, as you can get very interesting non-touristic spots on the way!
Canberra, the capital
Canberra, capital of Australia, is an entirely planned city. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was decided that a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne was to be found. You can perceive the fact that it is a planned city straight away by looking at Google Maps: everything is so well put in place! What you don’t expect is the place to be so big! It is basically all big avenues and streets around the Parliament and the other government buildings. Unfortunately, we did not see that much as it was one of the hottest days of summer and also just two days after Christmas, so everything was nice and quiet (and closed). It is the only in-land Australian city I have seen so far, which feels almost weird for a city over here. But, but, but, the city basically lies on a nice and quiet lake that makes up for the fact that they have no sea! We went up the Telstra Tower to see an amazing view over the city and the surrounding area.
Narooma, Jervis Bay and The South Coast
For New Year’s Eve, we went East from Canberra to reach the coast South of Sydney. First stop: Narooma, a lovely town on a bay with fishermen, snowboarders and lots of nature! This area is great for walks in nature and along the bay, horse riding but also for diving, surfing, or just relaxing on the beach! I really loved the atmosphere here: quiet, but not too crowded. We spent two days there just visiting the bay and relaxing, and a few days we went exploring.
Next town on the South Coast is Tilba. This place used to be very important for aboriginal people. The mountains and the volcano (Gulaga) in the area used to be part of many rituals and are considered as very important for the spiritual identity of local Yuin people. Unfortunately, nothing is left from that and Tilba is just a touristic street with cafes and shops. However, the energy of the place is really special indeed!
Following the street north, you cross the lake Wallaga and find yourself in Bermagui, which is quite a lively touristic town with an amazing view over the volcano and the ocean.
From there, we headed North. We stopped one night on Sanctuary Point and visited Jervis Bay and Kiama on our way back to Sydney. I definitely suggest a visit to Jervis Bay National Park!
