Australia

To say we got lazy in Australia might be an understatement. 30 days of driving in New Zealand; I was burnt out. I wanted nothing more to just relax and take it slow. And that is exactly what we did.

We shortened our trip a bit in Australia because 1) we drained our budget in NZ and Australia was just as expensive and 2) we wanted to have more time in Thailand and Vietnam. As a result, this will be short and sweet in comparison to New Zealand.

We spent 3 weeks in 3 cities in Australia focusing on some much needed R&R.

Nature & Scenery

Melbourne is known for being a hip city with many coffee shops. We were here for only 4 days, but it had a feel similar to Wicker Park/Logan Square in Chicago. Some graffiti art sprinkled around the city and quite a modern feel in the Federation Square. I really enjoyed the city. Very walkable once you got to the city center. We certainly didn't stay long enough to give it a proper review. We ended up taking a free trolley that goes around the main city center hitting up all the main sites. My favorite part of the city was the Flinders Walk along the Yarra River. Many bars and restaurants along the way.

The weather here is pretty crazy. Maybe not something to fall under nature and scenery, but the weather can be cloudy and cool in the morning and then perfectly sunny and hot outside in the afternoon then back to cloudy. Doesn't seem like there is any rhyme or reason to it.

We visited the Royal Botanical Gardens which were highly recommended, but frankly, fell short to other botanical gardens we had seen in our travels. I know I'm operating in dangerous territory by always comparing to other cities and areas because they were beautiful in their own right. Yet, I think it is only human nature to compare and so far that, they were only OK.

Sydney was an excellent city. The skyline is just as amazing as the pictures with the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. We saw quite a bit in the 10 or so days. We visited many neighborhoods all with their own differing personalities. We first stayed in Lilyfield where there is a large Italian population and indulged on delicious pizza. We also visited the neighborhood of Pyrmont which had Darling Harbour at its focal point. The Navy Pier of Sydney, but much, much nicer in my opinion and a great place to grab a pint and people watch.

For the Chinese New Year, we were in

Chinatown joining in the festivities and swimming through the swarms of people. The Rocks & Hyde Park region is the downtown area where you can find the enormous mall, various bars and restaurants, and the Sydney Opera house. At the far east end of the city, we visited the Bondi and Coogee beaches where there is a spectacular cliffside coastal walk that would make you forget you are even in a city. Erskineville, a young and hip neighborhood, we met our first Chicago native when out for a late bite and drink.

As you can see, there is a lot to do in Sydney Also, I highly recommend taking a free walking tour that gives you the history of the city and major attractions. We did this and it was really interesting and informative.

Cairns is a jungle. Make no mistake about that. A small little touristy city carved out of a jungle. I wasn't anticipating this whatsoever, the amount of tourism (very similar to Queenstown) nor was I expecting the humidity. It was extremely hot and humid with approximately 90% humidity every day. So walking anywhere was completely miserable.

Our sole purpose coming here was to see the Great Barrier Reef. We did a full day tour that took us out to three different reefs and the formations that we saw were really fantastic. It was a tad disappointing (see lowlights section) that the reef wasn't as colorful as I was hoping, but the tour group did a really nice job explaining all the different wildlife we would be seeing, coral bleaching, and taking us to remote areas.

Cairns has 'heaps' of tours that you can book. If I had a bit more money to spend, I would have liked to explore the jungle a bit more or go on some island excursions.

One of the coolest things that I saw in Cairns was the Esplanade Lagoon. This was a giant public pool with sand on each side overlooking the ocean. Really awesome when it is lit up at night too. Another spot I'll mention is Palm Cove. Just slightly north of Cairns, we took a bus up here to visit for the day and the beach and views here were really nice and I recommend doing a day trip here if given the chance.

People

Overall, the people were much friendlier than we were expecting. Very similar or on par with people in the States. They were friendlier than I was expecting because of what we have witnessed on our travels thus far. Australian people, not all and mostly young guys, can be a bit obnoxious. When staying at hostels we tend to notice that Australian's are the party type. Drunk, loud, rude to others. You'd think, oh, not much different than the bros you ran into at college, but they were even a bit more than that. Again, this is not all Australians, of course, as we met some really amazing people from Australia on our Galapagos trip, but travelers from other countries have also commented on this behavior as well.

Nevertheless, it was a pleasant surprise to meet and talk with so many down to earth people in Australia. All of our Airbnb hosts were really quite fantastic.

Food and Drink

Those who know me know that my cocktail of choice is an Old-Fashion. I had given up even trying to order this drink since previous countries rarely had the bourbon or whiskey I wanted or it was poorly made. Melbourne and Sydney had amazing options. Not to mention, excellent food options as well.

In Melbourne, go to the Everleigh for cocktails and check out the hip neighborhood of Fitzroy. Otherwise, keep it more relaxed and grab a beer at the Arbory and Eatery that sits right on the Flinders River Walk. For food, there are a ton of decent options, but none that really blew us away.

Sydney has some really awesome bars and restaurants. We spent Valentine's day in Sydney and went all out on the wine and dine. We ate at a place called Restaurant Hubert. Once you enter the doors you need to take a spiral staircase down two levels and it opens up to a French-themed speak-easy. The drinks were pretty good and the food was just OK for us. What made it really nice was the live band playing jazz. After that, we headed for some cocktails which so happened to also be in a basement or underground. The Lobo Plantation had some great Carribean themed cocktails and then we headed to The Baxter Inn, an alleyway whiskey bar (not easy to find).

Overall, food and drink were very similar to the quality back in Chicago, but still all excellent in their own way.

Safety

Felt safe in both Sydney and Melbourne. No issues at all. In Cairns, our Airbnb was about a half hour walk from the city center through some poorly lit streets so it wasn't the best, but certainly, we were fine. Felt safer than back home at times.

Highlights

Normalcy. Put simply, it was nice to just get back to living life how it used to be. Taking in the city sights and conveniences. The main reason I put off this blog was that I wanted to relax from traveling. Travel burn out is real and it was really nice to spend time for extended periods of time.

Sydney Opera House. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see an actual Opera on the main stage; too expensive. We did see a Cabaret show that I felt was geared more towards a bachelorette party so Lexi certainly enjoyed it more than I, but I have to admit they were quite talented and put on an entertaining act. The Opera House is impressive on it's own and the Sydney Opera House Bar that runs along the Circular Quay was really cool to sit and get a view of the harbour.

Great Barrier Reef. The whole day we spent snorkeling on three different reefs. The boat ride out to the reef was amazing on it's own and the crystal clear water was stunning. However, I almost put this one on the lowlights. I built up the Great Barrier Reef as being this magical place to see. Disappointingly, it wasn't as colorful as I imagined with much of the reefs being impacted by coral bleaching from the last two years. Still, I'm really glad that I got to see it, but if you go, just temper your expectations.

Public Transportation. It is shockingly easy to get around in Sydney and Melbourne. Public Transportation is clean, fast, reliable, and has AC! We really loved just getting on a tram, train, or bus and seeing the city for cheap.

Bats. You'd think this would make it to the section below, but it was insane the number of bats you saw in Cairns and the size!! We walked down one street that had nothing but trees filled with enormous sized bats. I've never seen anything like this in my life and quite the site to see.

Lowlights

Limited stay. I feel like I did Australia a disservice by not fully exploring all that it has to offer. This country is enormous with so much to do that I definitely will need to come back to explore in more depth.

Jellyfish season. I didn't think it was going to be a big deal, but there are so many signs that have warnings about jellyfish and then many red flags that say to stay out of the water due to jellyfish. So you really couldn't enjoy the beach.

Cockroaches. So…many…cockroaches. Couldn't really escape them. They seem to just be in every Airbnb that was on the ground level.

Everything here wants to kill you. Spiders, snakes, crocodiles, jellyfish, sharks, even the sun…pretty much you name it and Australia has something that wants to kill you. Unlike New Zealand which is filled with basically sheep and flightless birds, Australia has some pretty menacing creatures. Even downtown Sydney, we woke up early to catch a flight to Cairns and as we left our Airbnb we were met with cockroaches, a giant spider, and enormous bats on the front porch. Pretty mild compared to the real dangers in Australia, but still, you never know what is lurking about.

Rude Flight Attendant. Holy shit. We got a guy who was just having a day. I really think he just needed a hug or a call from his mom telling him that someone loves him.

We took a budget airline called, Jetstar. We had no issues flying from Melbourne to Sydney. Yet, apparently, the Sydney airport does things differently than Melbourne.

When we left Melbourne, I paid for just my bag to be checked allowing me to have 25kg checked and 7kg carry on. Lexi's bag was 11kg and over the carry on the amount allowed, but my checked bag plus her bag was exactly 25kg and I didn't have to pay any additional amount. Cool!

Yet, in Sydney, this guy was a colossal ass. First, you need to check-in and print your boarding pass at the kiosk before checking your bag…you didn't need to do this in Melbourne…and we got a reprimanded for not doing so. Second, he wasn't going to let Lexi's bag be included with my own and made her pay an additional fee which ended up costing us an extra $100AUD. It was a pretty terrible morning to start off our travel.

Strange and Weird

WTF is Macca's? I have no idea why this is a thing, but Aussies call McDonald's Macca's. "Get your breakie at Macca's." What in the who what? I even googled this and I can't find the reason as to why. Seriously, someone, tell me what's the deal with this blasphemy?

Mexican food. Aussie's just stop! Please. You don't sell Mexican food. You sell Tex-Mex, Taco Bell American food. French fries do not exist at an authentic Mexican restaurant. I searched for authentic Mexican food and it just does not exist. If anyone tells me Guzman y Gomez or Bad Hombres is Mexican food, I will lose my mind. Just stop.

Hotels. Many of these so-called hotels in Sydney are in fact bars. They happen to have small rooms available too but are mostly there as a bar. A great idea for the over inebriated.

Here's why according to the Google machine, "In Australia there are few taverns because they are all called hotels. The reason for this is that until recently, in Australia (late 1980s), pubs were forced, by the liquor laws, to provide accommodation and so were accurately called hotels"

***For the love of god Snapple, please email me on that Snapple Facts job…this is my third time asking for a job and I'm killing it for you for free.

Recommendations

I'm not sure I qualify to recommend Australia as a whole, but I loved both Melbourne and Sydney. I could actually see myself living in either city. Lots to do and plenty to see. I'd recommend at least 4 solid days in each city.

Cairns was a bit too touristy for my liking. It's great to have so many tours at your disposable, but just be prepared for a backpacker haven environment. The humidity was also too much for my liking. Maybe go in winter time rather than peak summer like we did. You could spend up to 5 - 7 days depending on what you are willing to pay for and see.