chasing-the-plot

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First Time in Brisbane

✈️ Finally, after a short flight from Sydney, we arrived in Brisbane. We had booked another hostel with a private room for one night. We got there pretty late, just as it was getting dark. After settling into the room, we went out to grab something to eat.

🌃 And right there, just a few steps from the hostel, it was: the most stunning view of Brisbane’s skyline, all lit up and glowing beautifully in the dark. (See the picture!) In that moment, I fell in love with the city.

✨ The weather was amazing – much warmer than in Sydney – and the vibe was just right. It wasn’t crowded at all; just calm, warm, and relaxed, with a gorgeous view. What more could you want?

🍕After a short walk across a little bridge, we found a wonderful Italian restaurant and had one of the best pizzas and tiramisus I’ve ever had. It felt like heaven. I really felt good there.

🔜 But the next day, we were already off to our next stop: Surfers Paradise, where we’d be staying for a week…

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My fist real hostel experience - Bondi Beach

So after a few days in Australia we moved to Bondi Beach, that's still Sydney but as you would assume, it's right by the beach. There was our first real hostel experience as we stayed in a mixed shared dorm there. We were greeted by a very tiered and hungover or maybe high (I don't really know) receptionist. It was actually funny how slow she was moving and talking. We were a bit early so we just put our bags in the baggage room and went to the beach. Later on when we were able to go to the room we were a bit overwhelmed. We came in and no one was in there. It was dark, smelled like old dust and nicotine and it looked nothing like the pictures online I remembered. I really wanted a dorm with curtains on the beds so I would feel a bit like I have my own space at night. Bu nope there were none, but I am certain we specifically picked this hostel because it had those on the pictures... Anyway, we took a closer look around, where we didn't really know which ones were being used and which were free. We picked two that looked free and I immediately was disgusted. I saw staines on the bed sheet and just stood there not knowing what to do. But then someone came in and we had a good talk with him. He told us 2 other beds were free and those looked a lot better. I still wasn't really feeling comfortable but talking to him did easy my mind a bit. The best thing I could possibly have packed was my cabin sleeping bag. Just a very thin thingy I could sleep in so nether the sheet nor the blanked would touch me. My towel functioned as a curtain as I had a bottom bunk and so I went to sleep relatively comfortable. But to be honest it ruined hostels a bit for me. The people in the shared area (kitchen and outside area) looked much younger than us and I felt too insecure to talk to anybody. I didn't take a single picture of the dorm, would have loved to show you but I was busy with telling myself that everything was alright haha... Sooo I was really happy that we only stayed one night. After that we flew to Brisbane and little did I know we would instantly fall in love with that city.

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Foodspots in Sydney

Here are all the Food Spots worth mentioning we visited in our short stay in Sydney:

1. As mentioned I looove Taco Bell so that was a must!

2. There was a great Café nearby where we got breakfast and coffee every day called incafe. The dirty chai latte was amazing and I had my first meal with avocado in Australia there and I can just say, avocados here are the shit. They are always sooo fucking delicious and creamy. Avocados in Germany just can NOT compare.

3. Went for a pizza at Oltra. That one was really good and you can order one side with different toppings than the other (Love that!).

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The journey to Sydney and the first days in Australia

After about 23 hours we finally landed in Sydney. When we got our luggage the first things we did were: 1. Get Coffee - we landed there early in the morning so that was much needed, 2. Got an Australian SIM card and 3. Got out, let the warmth soak in and trying to realize that WE REALLY JUST DID THAT. It was such a great feeling and I was just... happy. After we took it all in we went and got an Uber to our first Hostel we booked in advance. We got a private room because we didn't know how bad the jet lag would be and also we both never stayed at a hostel before so we just wanted to see how we like it. Spoiler alert: We actually didn't really participate in any hostel activities because we wanted to see the city for ourselves and were always on the go. So not much of a hostel experience here.. Anyways, we checked in and were pretty surprised when we saw our room. We got upgraded so we had our own little bathroom with shower and everything and a stunning view (As seen in the pictures). The room was very small but other ways pretty nice. We went and explored the area a bit and the first thing we saw was a Taco Bell not even a minute away from our hostel. And we both loooove Taco Bell. So that was literally the first thing we did in Sydney. The next days we did all the touristy things and explored the city. (Our kind of exploring means finding the best food spots haha) After 5 nights there we moved to a different hostel at Bondi Beach... to be continued :)

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Two months in

Me and my boyfriend arrived in Australia about two months ago and are currently staying in Perth, sharing a house with another flatmate. Up until now, it’s felt more like a vacation, but it’s slowly starting to feel a bit more real.

We’ve only been at this place for a few days — before that, we were constantly on the move. The longest we stayed anywhere was about two weeks. Now, for the first time, we can stay as long as we want, and we really like it here.

Our housemate Phil is awesome. He’s super chatty and always full of stories. He’s a bit older, grew up on a farm in New Zealand, and has lived all over Australia — so he’s got lots to tell.

In the next posts I will update you what I already did and all that happened till now.

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Hi there! I’m Carli and currently traveling through Australia with my boyfriend. On this account, I want to share my journey—what I see, learn, eat, the challenges I face, and so much more. So expect some long captions where I go into detail.

A little bit about me: 🇩🇪 I'm from Germany, and English isn’t my first language—so cut me some slack if things aren’t perfectly written 😄 🏋️‍♀️ I'm trying to be a gym girl. I went pretty consistently for about a year back in Germany and really enjoyed it. But sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated—especially while traveling, since I don’t have a proper daily routine yet. 🎒 I'm traveling with just a backpack. Okay… two backpacks. One big one and a smaller one in front. But believe me, I’m not a minimalist—packing was haaaard! And resisting the urge to buy too much stuff here is even harder! 🛹 I bought a skateboard just because I saw it on Instagram and it looked like fun! I’ve never had one before, so I’m starting from scratch. 🥸 I'm a lazy perfectionist—which makes finishing things a bit of a struggle sometimes. 🍔 I love food, but I’m also a bit picky. You’ll definitely see a lot of food content here. 👩‍💻 Back in Germany, I worked an office job with amazing colleagues. But I traded that safe (and really nice) environment for a sunny Australian adventure—and I don’t regret it one bit!