I found myself finished with college and graduate school and working in America as a Speech Pathologist. The school schedule left me plenty of time to travel so I finally bought a ticket to Sydney. The first time you see Sydney Harbour, it is as amazing and breathtaking as you would think. The views of the Opera House, the cool breeze and the people buzzing around snapping photos feel like an adrenal rush. There are ferries, boats and water taxis in Circular Quay. The sidewalks are full of street performers and people relaxing in the grass soaking up the sun and people watching. I was traveling with my sister and we did all the tourist sites: climbing the Harbour Bridge, Bondi Beach, Saturday markets, touring the Opera House and walking the grounds at the Royal Botanic Gardens. We also did our fair share of feeding native animals such as wallabies and kangaroos! 

My sister left before I did, so I found myself traveling solo, first time ever. The city and people are so easy going that I wasn’t even worried and never thought twice about being by myself. I stayed in a friendly hostel in Manly Beach. There were organized bbq’s and travelers from all over the world. The majority of the backpackers were British. I was actually the only American. Staying in hostels is the way to go because people invite you to do activities and it’s a relaxed environment. This particular hostel had a guest house attached which attracted young at heart travelers. Many couples looked to be in their 60’s. There was one kitchen in the house and many enjoyed sitting outside together to eat. There was always lots of laughter and chatting around the hostel. My sister and I had been staying in a nice hotel in the city and didn’t meet anyone.

Living in Melbourne is amazing; it truly is one of the greatest cities to live in. Melbournians like to brag how it was voted the “Most Livable City in the World”! It is! Trams make it a breeze to get around the city, or to work! There are many events every weekend, from food to comedy festivals. Spring Racing Carnivals (horse racing) are lots of fun. Everyone gets dressed up and wears hats. Melbourne Cup is a public holiday-all for a horse race! Melbourne is known as a café culture, pride is taken in coffee. I think there are only 3 Starbucks coffee chains around, and every time I have been there, I am practically the only person! I feel like it’s all about living, and living the good life here. I love to relax at a café in St. Kilda on the weekend. It doesn’t get busy till after 11 am because everyone enjoys a good sleep in! The waiters don’t mind if you sit there all day and just order drinks. You only get the bill when you ask for it, it feels like you are welcome to relax and sit all day!

One of the best trips I have taken so far has been sailing in the Whitsunday Islands. We took a train (ride from hell) from Sydney to Airlie Beach, Queensland. Two days on a train, economy class. The countryside was nothing to write home about because we were so bored on the train and it turned us into not very fun girls to be around. Thus we weren’t thrilled by the trees out the window. We thought we would be meeting some fun travelers but we didn’t. We only had one sleeper car, one night, to share between 4 girls. Needless to say, the ride took over 19 hours and we all wished we had just paid a little extra to fly, more time to relax on the beach then to sit in a stuffy train car!

We went sailing on a 100 year old wooden tall ship. It was a 3 night 4 day trip with an entire crew to cook for you. There were about 50 guests onboard. The crew was fantastic and the food was delicious. We went to the best diving sites and sailed around the beautiful Whitsunday’s. We made a day stop at the famous Whitehaven Beach. This beach has silicon sand that never gets hot from the sun. It is as soft as a cloud would be and the water was an amazing clear blue. The time of year we were there (early January) was the jelly fish season (deadly jelly fish season). We were advised, and provided with wetsuits to wear every time we were in the water. When we were at Whitehaven, we took the wetsuits off to play and swim on the beach. Everyone else only had their bathers on and nobody was running onto the beach screaming, so we decided it was ok. Whitehaven beach is on an uninhabited island. I think you can camp there for about $10. The luxury of it is there is nothing manmade on the island except for toilets! We saw a large goanna (iguana) and no jellyfish! 

Another day on our cruise, found us stopping at an amazing dive spot. There were literally thousands of fish. There was one giant fish, that was known as Elvis. We also saw a giant clam. There were many jellyfish in the water at this dive site so we happily wore our wetsuits!