sweetmentalityllama-blog1

[sweetmentalityllama-blog1]

East Coast Adventure

At the tender age of 18 years old my daughter Kara decided to travel the world for a year, something she had always wanted and planned to do from a very early age...

I decided having never travelled myself I would plan a trip to incorporate spending time with her on her travels, so I set about making a plan, to travel the east coast of Australia which is where Kara would spend her christmas and as I had never had a Christmas without her I decided this would be perfect, I contacted a travel agent to advise me on where to go how much time I would need and distances between places as I soon became very aware just how big Australia is.

So on a very foggy morning in December, my large rucksack on my back and my itinerary in hand I was ready for the off, I arrived absolutely exhausted from my travels to a beautiful town called Cairns in Queensland. I checked into my hostel and set about my very tight itinerary as time was very much of the essence, I had 1 month to fulfill all of my adventures and be in a little port called Macquarie which is where i would catch up with my daughter to continue on to spend Christmas and New Year in Sydney and then on to the last leg of my trip Melbourne.

Day one...Was my trip to Cape Tribulation the beautiful rainforests and beaches this is where I saw my very first real crocodile and what an experience that was along with my first taste of the famous Daintree ice cream whilst relaxing on one of the many beautiful beaches, then it was time to leave, catch my seventeen and a half hour bus drive to Airlie beach most of which I slept, this is where I would be joining a boat to the Great Barrier Reef to enjoy my first ever experience snorkelling and the glass bottom boat never have I seen so many unusual beautiful fish and turtles.

Noosa is my next stop for the night, a very pretty little town with just enough time to explore the abundance of tourist shops, small cafes, bars and restaurants and most importantly catch up on a great night's sleep.

Byron Bay, surfers paradise with its beautiful long stretch of beach,there was plenty to do here from whale watching to river cruising but I decided to just take it easy, sample some of the street food and drinks on offer and watch the sun go down to the local sounds of street music filling the air.

I wake up very excited to be finally meeting up with my daughter in Port Macquarie it was late afternoon when I arrived so Kara and I opted to have a meal and few drinks at a local Thai restaurant after another long day of travel, the next day we are back on the bus to finally spend a busy christmas and new year in Sydney as there is so much to do here from visiting Sydney Opera House, walking across Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Royal Botanical Gardens, we also took a day trip to Bondi beach to spend a day relaxing and sunbathing.

New Year we spent in Darling Harbour where we did a cruise of the harbour and watched the amazing display of fireworks when the clock struck 12pm.

New Year’s day with heavy heads we head for Melbourne were we will spend our last couple of days together before Kara heads on to Darwin to continue her travels and I head home to London Gatwick, but whilst here there is plenty to do starting off by having a coffee, well it would be rude not to as Melbourne is best known as coffee capital of the world then on to our Yarra River Cruise where we visit the vineyards and wineries,the next and final day we decide to take in the abundance of free art galleries and the National Museum and eat and drink our way through the day on to an early night in preparation for my long journey home, Australia you have been a blast.