Travelin' Australia with Brickman!

Wow, what a trip. I really have never experienced anything quite like Australia, and I loved every minute of it. I guess I will start from the beginning, and try and do a day-by-day recollection of the past 10-14 days.

I'd also like to preface this by saying... No amount of words of photographs can even begin to explain just how beautiful Australia is. Looking at the most beautiful photo I took, if you multiply it by about 100, that is just how wonderful it is in real life...

Day 1
Headed to Sydney airport on the train with Brickman. Being American, we made it to the airport about 2 hours before the flight. That will not be happening again, since for domestic flights, we really only need about 30 minutes of wait time. Anyway, as we sat and watched planes takeoff, I spoke to Mum and ate a sausage roll. It was delicious. We got onboard our aircraft, Virgin Blue, and took off for Cairns. The flight was a little over 3 hours, and there was a time change in Cairns, they were 1 hour behind. Stephen is a bit afraid of flying, but he's going to be a pro by the time we are done with our travels.

After arriving in Cairns, we headed onto a shuttle bus- only about $15 roundtrip, if I remember correctly, to and from our hostel. We got dropped off at the YHA hostel, which was so nice. Our room was quite small, but we didnt spend much time in it anyway. The rooms overlook a courtyard with a pool, and it has a full kitchen and everything is very clean. We walked around Cairns for a while, and decided to get some dinner. Brickman and I shared Kangaroo and Crocodile for Entree (which is what they call appetizers here).

Day 2
After getting a yummy breakfast down the street, we hopped on the bus and headed to the Rainforest. It was super hot and very humid, close to 100 degrees. After applying plenty of sunscreen we took a walking tour through part of the Rainforest, we took a 2km walk up the hill to an overlook.

Stephen at the top of the hill/mountain!

The view was amazing. We had a wonderful view of the airport, and all the way to the ocean and mountains. It was breathtaking.

Walking through the Rainforest

I got a few mosquito bites, but besides that day one outdoors in Australia was a success. I am still alive. While waiting at the bus stop for the bus back, we met 2 girls from England and decided to meet up with them for drinks at the pub down the street from our hostel. They were so sweet; I am lucky because Stephen is very social and outgoing, and while I am pretty outgoing as well, it is nice to have someone who will strike up a conversation without hesitation.

View of the Ocean, and mountains.

Day 3
Today was our exciting Scuba Diving and Snorkeling trip to the Great Barrier Reef. They suggest you don't fly within 24 hours of Scuba (so 24 hours before and 24 hours after) so we went with the middle day in Cairns to do it. Today was an early day, but it was so exciting that it was easy (sort of) to get up at 7. We went with a company called Ocean Spirit Cruises, which was really fun. I thought they would give us breakfast, but I was wrong, and ended up drinking tea and having a biscuit for breakfast, which needless to say was not enough. We bought snacks later on. After hanging around for a bit just Stephen and I, we started talking to some girls from Massachusetts, who were both really nice. Elizabeth is studying in Brisbane and Emily is studying in Christchurch. We all ended up in the same Scuba Diving trip, and Emily and Elizabeth had an underwater camera, so in a few months I will get those photos! Later on, we started talking to a guy Tom, from Sydney. The boat ride was bout 2-3 hours out to the Reef.

Stephen on the boat to the Reef!

They called our name for training, I sat down on the floor and immediately began to feel the motion. Not to mention the smell from the cleaning supplies made me want to vomit. So I felt pretty sick for a bit, but then got some fresh air and recovered from the motion. Once we got out to the Reef, they announced that we could snorkel, and since our dive wasn't scheduled for another 2 hours, we decided to do so. So, us 5 all went in to snorkel. I decided to purchase a sting suit for 8 dollars, because I figured I'd rather spend 8 dollars and not get stung, than be cheap and get stung and die on the reef. I think it was a good call, though I only saw one jellyfish, and I'm not even sure if it was the killer one. Either way, it gave me the piece of mind I needed to enjoy myself.

Me in my wetsuit!

Let me tell you, I cant even begin to properly explain just how amazing the reef was. It was breathtaking. Everything that I imagined and more. The colors, the fish, the beauty of it... was just something that I will with me forever. After snorkeling for a while, we went back to the boat and got geared up for Scuba. I was pretty nervous, but they were very assuring and we hopping in the water with our heavy tanks and belts. They slowly put us under the water to test our ears, breathing techniques and how to fix your mask if it fills with water. I panicked a little at first because being under water and breathing is so unnatural- but I didn't let on that I was a bit nervous, I just went with it. And I became comfortable. The guide linked our arms, and the 5 of us went off, down to the ocean floor, getting up close to huge clams and sea cucumbers and fish. It was absolutely amazing. I'm not even going to continue because there is no way I can sufficiently explain my experience on here.

Our Ocean Spirit Cruise Boat!

After about 25 minutes under water, we came back up to the surface. Honestly, I could have done it for a lot longer, but now that I know I can feel comfortable scuba diving, hopefully I will do it in the future. After a few more hours of snorkeling, we headed back to land. We met up with Tom for dinner, and the girls for drinks later on. All in all it was a wonderful day!

Stephen, Me, Elizabeth and Emily

Day 4
Today was our relaxing day. We didnt have much planned and decided to just explore the city. Stephen sorted out his mobile. We both decided to go to the market in Cairns and get 45 minute massages. They were only 15 dollars! It was a bargain ..Asian massages are the way to go! It was another super hot day, so we went down to the lagoon, which is a huge public swimming pool right along the ocean. It was a perfect cooling down opportunity, except the water was quite warm since the sun has been heating it up the whole summer. Still, it was nice. After that, we headed back to the hostel and cooked up some dinner. Chicken and pasta. Simple and delicious. After, Stephen and I went to a cool outdoor bar with live music. They had drink specials- everything half off! So it was perfect. I had a few vodkas with diet coke and enjoyed the nice breeze and music. Tom came and met up with us, and we headed off to a few other bars. Stephen went to chit-chat with some guys and Tom showed me some card tricks and we played a non-betting version of poker. It was pretty hilarious to be sitting in a bar, on a couch, playing cards. But hey, the nightlife at that place wasn't particularly happening! Also, Tom tried sneaking us into some club by putting his fresh hand stamp on to Stephen and my hand. We both didnt want to pay the 10 dollar cover. That was so expensive. Anyway the bouncer could tell that it wasnt a real stamp because the stamp was obviously pressed on upside down. So the bouncer was like "Tell me what is wrong with your stamp".. and I wasn't going to ADMIT that it was wrong, so I played it off... and then he insulted Americans, asking if everyone in the states had this kind of intelligence level. This of course set me off, and I walked away- the guys following. I cursed for a while and then got over it... sort of.

Some boys, playing, quite pitifully on the street. Good effort though! They were 11. Looked 5.

Day 5
Our flight out of Cairns left around 3, so we hung around in the morning and I went shopping and bought a few things at the mall. Our shuttle picked us up- we were the first stop, and they kept picking more and more people up- and it took about 45 minutes from pickup to dropoff. I began to get a bit nervous about that but it turned out fine. Got to the airport in plenty of time and got our boarding passes for Jetstar. We literally walked right through security. Here in Australia, they don't even check IDs when going through security. You can bring liquids, and you don't have to take your shoes off. They basically just look in your bag and make sure you dont have any metal on you. It's really laid back security, which I like, but at the same time it makes me nervous. Cairns was really fun. It was a pretty touristy place, but the nightlife was really good- and definitely beautiful. Took off on time and headed to Brisbane. The view from the airplane taking off from Cairns was breathtaking, as I could see the Great Barrier Reef from my window seat.

View of the Reef from my Window!

Arrived in Brisbane- it was a bit turbulent coming in, but nothing too bad. Got some neat views (mixed with clouds) of the city skyline coming in. Took the train from the airport to downtown and lugged our bags to the hostel. It seemed like such a long walk, carrying the luggage, but when we walked it later, it was only about 15 minutes. Seemed longer when carrying heavy baggage and sweating like a pig. We ended up going out for some Chinese food right down the road from our hostel. It was really delicious- it was fine dining for sure. I had dim-sum style food, and Stephen had noodles. Definitely was great.

Day 6
Today we went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Weather down here in Brisbane is different than up in Cairns- it was so hot and humid up there- and while it is still hot and humid here, it is a lot more rainy. The rain held off though, while we went to the sanctuary.

Stephen Holding a Koala

We saw so many animals- koalas, wombats, dingos, parrots, kangaroos, wallabies, emus... etc. It was amazing. The best part of the whole thing was being able to 1) hold a koala. We got photos and everything, it was so neat! 2) we got to walk up to kangaroos and pet them and feed them. It was a wild experience being able to get up close and personal with them.

Holding a Koala


Feeding at Kangaroo

After being there for a few hours, we headed back into the city and explored. After making dinner, we ended up at Brunswick Street (I believe?) where we went to get some fish and chips and listened to some live music- "Matt Mclean and the Remedy", a local group was playing. They were super good, and as we were eating dinner, they were on a break and Fader, one of the guys came over and started talking to us. He was originally from NZ, so we had a chat about that, and he gave me a maori kiss. We talked to the guys for a while, and ended up staying there for the night, talking to some local drunk Australians. It was a really fun night.


Day 7
The next day, Stephen and I decided to go down the Gold Coast. We took the train there, which took about an hour. Even the ride was beautiful. We almost went to one of the amusement parks, but it turned out it was going to be about 70 dollars, which is completely overpriced and not worth it. We got to Surfer's Paradise at around lunchtime and headed to the beach after getting some lunch. We lounged in the sand for a while, though Stephen went into the water. For some reason I did not want to go swim, so I stayed on the beach and read Eclipse, and made sure to put plenty of sunscreen. It was hot. The beach was beautiful though. After Stephen came out of the water, we decided to head up to the shade and relax for a while.

Surfer's Paradise, Gold Coast

I mostly wanted to keep reading my book. We stayed on the beach til about 5, and then we went walking through the town trying to find a happy hour with no luck. The area of the city we were in was really cute, but touristy. We both wished we had known just how neat the place was, because we would have stayed a night or two here. We also were trying to find a place where we could watch the Superbowl highlights, since the superbowl had been on for us at 9am that day, and we therefore missed it. We ended up going to a restaurant, because I really wanted pumpkin risotto, and low and behold, the TV in the place next to us was replaying the whole superbowl! Stephen and I were very happy and enjoyed it. Then we wandered around to find a place that was playing the superbowl, and happened upon it. On the way we saw a guy playing a Didgeridoo. So amazing.

Mad skills right there.

It was a cute place, and we had some drinks and enjoyed ourselves. Then we decided around 930 to head to the bus stop. We didn't know the bus schedule, so when we got there, we had just missed one of the busses. They go on the 15's. However, we were so lucky because the next bus was the last bus to connect with a train, so we waited around in a casino for 45 minutes til the bus came. I had to pee a million times from the drink I had. Typical Courtney. On the bus to the train station, Stephen and I started talking to a couple- the guy was from Canada originally and the girl from New Zealand. They moved to the Gold Coast, where he does street performing and she studies art. They were really fun to chat to, and we all were going on the train as well. We exchanged facebook names. We got back to the city around midnight. It was an awesome day.

Day 8
Last full day in Brisbane. This was our walking day, in which we really explored the city. We crossed over the river and walked along the river, getting a beautiful view of the city. Stephen had his little touristy book, so we went on a walking tour, and ended up at Parliament.

Brisbane City Skyline

Turns out they have free tours, so we had about an hour to spare and went to the old Parliament building which was beautiful. We were on a college campus, I believe it was the Tech School in Brisbane, and it was really gorgeous, with some gorgeous gardens. It started to rain pretty heavily, but we waited under cover for a while until our tour. Our tour was short, which was good, and we got to overlook a session. It was boring as fuck, and neither Stephen or I knew what they were talking about. Seemed like the school group that was there as well had no idea what was going on either. After that, we walked some more to an old church and a war memorial.

Old Church with some more buildings in the background!

Used our free internet voucher. I wanted to stay in for the night, so Stephen went out and met some guy, and we still dont know what his real name is.... Brisbane overall was fun. There wasn't as much to do during the day we felt, but it was still a pretty city, with a good nightlife!

Day 9
Today we left Brisbane and headed back to Sydney. We had plans to go up to the Blue Mountains with Michael, my Australian friend, but I Stephen ended up staying at my cousins while I went up to the Blue Mountains with Michael. He met me at the airport, and we took the train back to his place, in Springwood. I met his 2 younger brothers, who were both really nice. His Dad and Mum weren't home, but his Dad had made a chicken curry and rice dish, which was absolutely out of this world. I am still craving it to this day. Then we got ready and headed out to the pub with his brother, Thomas, who was 18... lucky to be legal to drink at 18. We met up with all of his friends, which was so much fun. Had a few drinks, chatted with everyone and got to know the suburban life of Australians.

Day 10
Today, Michael and I were supposed to get up and head to the Blue Mountains, and Three Sisters, to do some bush walking. But when the alarm went off at 730, there was no way we were going to get up. So we slept in until around 10, had some cereal for breakfast and then headed up to Katoomba area. First stop was the Three Sisters viewing area, which was sooo awesome. The view from there was brilliant, overlooking the valley. We could see so much. After doing some walking around, we decided to grab some lunch- delicious bacon and cheese rolls and some ginger beer. So delicious. The weather began to roll in as we were driving... and I saw a bogan and her son, and I pointed, to which Michael promptly told me not to point... scary bogans.. just kidding... Anyway, it turned into torrential rain. And thunder. We drove out of the storm.. We went to go sit on a rock overlooking the valley away from everyone, but the storm caught up with us.. and we had to run back to the car.

Wentworth Falls after rain!

Since the weather cleared up we decided to go for a walk to Wentworth falls. Since it had just rained, some of the paths were closed, but not the one to view the falls. Michael was telling me how usually its just a trickle... well today was got lucky, since it had just rained torrentially it was HUGE!

Me at Wentworth Falls

Michael at Wentworth Falls

We walked along another path, under cliffs and over trees.. the views were just amazing. Cant begin to explain. Then, we rushed to where the Inclined Railway is and went down the Inclined Railway- last ride of the day! It is the steepest railway in the world or something. It goes down for about 1 minute.... and you are tipped so far forward, I felt like I was going to fall out. It was awesome. Once we got to the bottom, Michael informed me the hike was 45 minutes.. UPHILL. To which I thought, well fuck. But, in order to not look like a weakling or out of shape in front of him, I put all of my effort in and successfully made it back to the top.

Three Sisters, Blue Mountains

It was beautiful, though, and honestly, I can't complain about the uphillness of it all. The views were spectacular of the 3 Sisters, and the waterfalls were gorgeous as well. It was truly amazing.. Then, we went After driving some more, we ended up at Michael's friends house and we hung out there for a while. She was really sweet. I changed into some nicer clothes and headed into Katoomba with Michael to meet up with his friends for another fun night of drinking at a pub and playing pool (and trying to show off my skills... though I think I sucked).

Funny sign at the Inclined Railway

Day 11
Time to leave Michael's. After eating a delicious homemade breakfast of eggs, bacon (not the crispy kind, but he did a good job), toast and danish's it was time to leave. I caught the train, after his Dad helped me figure out the time tables so I would make sure I had enough time to catch my flight to Melbourne, which was departing at 3pm. Got on the train and said goodbye, which was sad... I took the train back to the city and got to Lyn's house where I packed my bags up, sort of, and then dragged them across the damn city. I had a huge duffel bag with wheels, a small roll-a-long, a backpack and a small duffel. It was so difficult carrying it to the train station, because it kept tipping over and I had my hands full. Stephen also had his hands full, so we were both useless. A nice man helped me with my biggest bag to the station, which was a huge help. It was so hot outside, so I was sweating buckets. Got on the train, got to the airport, and was relieved to get to the ticket counter- Qantas! I got so lucky- I had booked my International flight separate from my Melbourne leg of the journey, because I was not sure what day I would be going there. I showed the ticketman my itinerary, proving I had come from the US just 2 weeks earlier, and he ended up waving the bag fees. He said he wasn't normally supposed to do that, since I did book them separate, but he did anyway, and saved me $180! Definitely worth the extra money for a Qantas flight- other airlines would have charged me a fortune for my overweight luggage. Took off from Sydney, which was really bumpy and quiet scary at the back of the 767. It was good to land in Melbourne.

And that, concludes my almost 2-week journey through Australia. More travels to come... but it was truly amazing and an experience I will never, ever forget.

My travel buddy and I with Kanga!