Student Bloggers

G’day Straya:

As the quiet, state-of-the-art Airbus A350 glides down towards Brisbane, the city lights are visible out the window. This is a milestone, as I have hoped to visit Australia for a long time! We arrive a half hour early but unfortunately I find out that Australia has completely done away with passport stamps; the immigration officer sees my dejection and we engage in conversation as he digitally scans me in. Soon enough, I retrieve my check-in bag and head into the city for three nights!

Brissie:

I don’t bother doing much the first night since it’s already late. I do get to meet back up with my Otago friends! Pavel, Lucas, and I share a room with a girl from Ireland. Ryan is in a different room. One downside is that I have to briefly call the phone company to sort out some issues with data in Australia. On the first full day we wake up around 08:00, eat breakfast, and meet up with my friend Amy; she is from Brisbane and we met in Munich, Germany last year on a day tour of Neuschwanstein Castle! Meeting someone in Munich and then hanging out in Brisbane a year later is a great example of why I love traveling. She drives us to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and I pet kangaroos for the first time! Then we eat lunch and stroll around the city centre, which includes shops and a man-made beach. After parting ways with Amy a nap is in store to escape the hot and humid Aussie heat, then dinner with the guys.

Gold Coast:

The Gold Coast is a two-hour train ride from Brisbane, making for a nice day trip to the beach. Upon arriving, I swim along the beach in some of the warmest ocean water I have ever experienced; right up there with Fiji! I swam, read, and walked along the beach for a couple of hours before going back to Brisbane. I reorganize my luggage for my trip to Sydney tomorrow and indulge in some much-needed me time.

Sydney:

I keep outdoing myself...four times on this holiday, I have gone to a new city that turns out to be the furthest away from home that I have ever been: Manila, Dunedin, Brisbane, and now Sydney. My ticket happens to be flexible since I book with points so I arrive in Sydney on a different flight than originally planned, 90 minutes earlier! Unfortunately it only worked out to be an hour early, as the incompetent Qantas ground staff did not get our bags on the belt until 40 minutes after we arrived (the flight was 1 hour and 6 minutes for comparison). I take the train into the city and spend the afternoon relaxing at my hostel and planning out my four full days in Sydney. The night is spent on both the airy hostel terrace and in a sub-par, stuffy bar.

The next day I explore Bondi Beach with three people I met at my hostel the previous night. We eat lunch, go to the famous Bondi Iceberg Pool, and then the beach itself. It does not disappoint, great views. The water is noticeably colder than Gold Coast though. In the afternoon I bus to South Head and Hornby Lighthouse, something I have always wanted to see. The views were amazing; Sydney’s skyline in the distance one way, coastal cliffs and the Tasman Sea in the other direction. After a long day I return to the hostel for dinner and drinks.

I begin my second full day in Sydney with a three-hour walking tour. I discover Sydney’s rich history and see everything makes the city so well-known. At the end of the tour I stroll over to the world-renowned Opera House to snap some photos and enjoy the setting!

Blue Mountains:

The decision to go to bed around 21:00 last night pays off here. The tour begins at 07:30 and lasts 10 hours. We drive west, away from Sydney and into the Great Dividing Range. We begin with a hike down to a waterfall, passing hundreds of hidden Funnel Web Spiders along the way. They are the most poisonous spiders in the world, and I feel nervous since I hate spiders more than, well, pretty much anything. The falls descent and climb back up was tiring but rewarding. We enjoy lunch under the shade of a tree. After, we go to a viewing point over a cliff with no barricades and I test fate by getting some photos while my legs hang over the edge, with nothing between them and the valley floor some 100 feet below. A swim in a freshwater river wraps up the tour; on the way there we see two wild kangaroos mating, or as they say here in Aus, “having a root”. An interesting and unexpected wildlife display that made us laugh!

NZ vs. Aus:

New Zealand. Unfortunately, Australia fell short of my expectations. Australia is too similar to the US and generally feels the same. NZ is quite a bit more unique in my (travel expert) opinion. Also, life runs at a more chill pace in NZ. The people are friendly in both, but friendliest in NZ. New Zealand has a larger variety of scenery. However, Australia does win when it comes to weather; it never gets near as cold as the South Island does. I definitely picked correctly when I chose New Zealand for the semester.