Top Picks - Australia

• Driving and camping down the Australian coast
• Scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland
• Day trip to the Whitsundays
• Off-road 4x4 camping trip in Fraser Island
• Delicious food with the eclectic, hippy crowd in Byron Bay
• Lunch in Nimbin – Australia’s 1960’s version of Amsterdam
• Riding the endless long board waves at Crescent Head
• View of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge from the ferry
• Eveleigh farmers market, Sydney
• Sculptures by the Sea exhibition, Sydney
• Lunch at the Iceberg in Bondi Beach, Sydney
• Night out for dinner in trendy Surrey Hills, Sydney
• Drinks at a local pub for the Melbourne Cup
• Walk along the Yarra river in Melbourne
• Walking through the many Arcades in Melbourne
• Night out on the town in Fitzroy and Collingwood, Melbourne
• Brunch at the Little Creatures Dining Hall in Fitzroy, Melbourne
• Road trip down the Great Ocean Road, Victoria
• Camping with the koalas in Bimbi Park
• Bicycle tour and picnic in the Barossa Valley vineyards

October 27 - November 16: Victoria and South Australia

Having lived in Melbourne for 6 months, Gen had been making a convincing case for the Melbourne side of the Sydney vs. Melbourne debate for years. That said, both of us were pleasantly surprised by our Sydney experience.

After two nights in a downtown hostel full of drunken Australians, we were reminded that we are probably getting too old for student slumber parties and found a great cozy studio apartment in Redfern, a formerly shady neighborhood that’s become an up-and-coming artsy district. We were virtually next door to one of the nicest farmer markets we’ve been to, so ended up doing groceries and spending a few days cocooning in the studio cooking delicious food and watching NFL football. Sometimes the simplest things in life can be the most satisfying!

Ace’s dad also put us in touch with a long-lost friend of his who lives in Bondi (a neighborhood in Sydney famous for its surf). John and his wife Anne were away on vacation at first, but amazingly offered us their house in the meantime (once again, we were blown away by how hospitable everyone has been to us). So we had a house to ourselves for a few days before they returned from vacation, then spent a few more days getting to know some of Chuck’s best friends from decades ago, and were delighted to hear great stories and see some pictures from the good old days. We also made sure to hit pretty much all of the Sydney tourist “must-do’s”: the opera house and Sydney Harbor Bridge, the ferry from the harbor to Manly Beach, watching the surf at Bondi Beach while having lunch at the famous Iceberg restaurant, a visit to the “Sculptures by the Sea” exhibition, and drinks and dinner in trendy Surrey Hills.

As much as we enjoyed Sydney, we were also very excited to leave for Melbourne, a city that holds a small place in Gen’s heart. During our week there we concluded that Melbourne is another one of those cities that has more to offer those living there than it has tourist highlights. So we tried to experience it accordingly – we rented an apartment for the week and tried to live the life of a local: shopping through the beautiful arcades, strolls down the Yarra river and through the little alleys to admire the colorful graffiti, drinks at Young & Jackson for the super-hyped Melbourne Cup (great old memories for Gen!), and a couple nights out on the town in Collingwood and Fitzroy. Melbourne is often compared to Montreal, and the hip areas such as Collingwood and Fitzroy definitely reminded us of the plateau.

Last but not least, the grand finale of our Australian adventure included another road trip – this time down the Great Ocean Road – and a few days in Barossa Valley. This was probably one of our favorite parts of our travels so far… jaw-dropping scenery, camping parks full of friendly koala bears (Ace heard Gen say “Ooooh, they’re soooo cuuuute” so many times that he almost had to fight off some jealousy), picturesque vineyards offering free wine tastings (the beauty of Barossa Valley is that you can do the wine tours by bicycle… so the ride home gets a bit wobbly!), topped off with superb food and friendly people. Can’t ask for much more J

So that was the end of our time in Aussie; now we’re off to Africa. Thanks Australia, hope to see you again!

Photos - October 27-November 16: Victoria and South Australia

September 27 - October 27: Queensland and NSW (Australia)

After visiting 11 countries on 3 continents in the first 4 months of our trip, we were starting to feel that it was time for a change of pace… and what better country to slow down and get comfortable in than Australia? So we decided to shuffle up our itinerary and plan the road trip of a lifetime: 7 weeks and over 5,000 kilometers camping down the Australian coast, from Cape Tribulation to Barossa Valley. This was somewhat of a déjà vu for Gen, having lived in Australia for 6 months – but she was happy to relive the experience, and of course discover some new people and places.

We picked up our big blue Ford station wagon (aka “Big Tony”) in Cairns, found a camping outlet clearance sale, and started off with a trip to the Daintree rainforest and the deserted beaches of Cape Tribulation. The rainforest is beautiful, but Ace had a little trouble with the whole concept of not being able to swim in the ocean (if the crocs don’t get you, the deadly jellyfish will!). Enough of that – we then went for some awesome scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, where we got to pet a huge maori fish and Gen got one of the coolest pictures yet. After diving, we moved on to Airlie Beach for a trip out to what must be some of the most beautiful beaches and lagoons in the world – the Whitsundays. It’s hard to imagine that so many different shades of blue water even exist.

We were lucky enough to meet a fantastic Dutch couple just as we arrived in Australia, who happened to have a carbon copy of our plans for the next couple weeks… some perfect travel buddies! Joyce and Dennis were a great addition to our road trip, joining us for our day outings, dinners and a couple nights out on the town. Our favorite adventure together was our off-road camping trip on Fraser Island (the largest sand island in the world) where we rented a modified Toyota Land Cruiser, did our best to stop the ladies from panicking while we raced down the beach, tried to get stuck in the sand dunes, and camped out beside the ocean.  Surprisingly, we managed to get the Land Cruiser back with no more than a slightly broken suspension. The perfect boys (ok, and girls) camping trip J

The next 2 stops were to check out the Australian surf in Byron Bay and Crescent Head – two super cool surf towns with very different vibes. Byron Bay is hippy / surf / foodie central in Australia; quite touristy with a very eclectic crowd and restaurants. Some locals claim it offers the best food in Australia – which is hard to confirm but could very well be the case. Crescent Head is more of an Australian secret untouched by tourism, a beautiful piece of coast full of friendly locals riding one of the best long board waves in the country (Ace caught the longest ride of his life here by far on his first day).  Then some huge surf rolled in, Ace and his board got beaten up by the waves for a couple days, and we decided it was time to move on south towards Sydney.

Our last stop on the way to Sydney was Orange, an up-and-coming cool climate wine region in the mountains that was having its annual wine festival. We went on a $20 all-you-can-drink wine tour, visited the night market, and were reminded what it’s like to camp out in a trailer park during a frost. Enough of that said Gen, so we went off to find some warmth in the big city…

Photos - September 27-October 27: Queensland and NSW (Australia)