Holiday break was a blast and a much needed getaway! We started by taking a 24 hour bus ride from Townsville all the way to the Gold Coats. I assumed this bus ride would be the worse part of this trip... it was not. The Gold Coast and Byron Bay was a blast. On the first day it was a tad rainy but by the next days it was absolutely gorgeous. I also spent way too much money on clothes but no matter. We then went to Bondi, which was another 12 hours on a bus. Bondi was okay, very touristy. My friends and I were supposed to go hiking to the next beaches over which were supposed to be better, sadly however, we got food poisoning. During that night I ran to the hostel bathroom every couple minutes. I don't know how I was still throwing anything up by 4am. The next day our hostel kicked us out by 10 and our next hostel wouldn't let us in until 2 so we stayed on the beach. I was absolutely dead and dehydrated and didn't move from the fetal position for four hours. We then went to Sydney Harbor and continued to rest until the next day. Since we were still sick, my friends and I just walked around Sydney Harbor for the day. We did a tour of the Opera House which was very interesting. It also turned out to be Anzac Day which is basically Memorial Day with the drinking of 4th of July. Since my friends and I were still pretty sick none of us were really able to participate which was a bummer. After Sydney we took our second 12 hour bus ride which turned out to be the worst one yet. The guy next to me smelt like bad curry and there was a screaming toddler on my other side. We finally reached Melbourne where we were able to unpack and relax in our airbnb. The first day in Melbourne, we went on a wine tour through the Yarra Valley. The wine tour was awesome. We drank over 2 liters of wine and we went to four vineyards, one of which was owned by Louis Vuitton. There were also many old couples on the tour who loved us since we were American. It was funny because at the beginning of the tour, none of us were talking to each other and by the end, we were all good friends. On the second day, we all went on a tour of the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road is the longest memorial in the world and has ocean walls similar to those in Ireland. We all thought this tour was a half a day trip, turns out to be another 12 hour bus ride. It was an overcast day and an uncomfortable ride but it was a beautiful tour. Glad I did it, wouldn't want to do it again though. On the last day, we all walked around Melbourne and looked at the art. While doing this, we saw a restaurant that was next to us burn down. It's like I can't get away from fire. We then took a 3 hour flight back up to Townsville... bless the Wright Brothers for inventing planes. Overall, this trip was a lot of fun, very unforgettable. I am very lucky to have seen a large chunk of Australia in a very short period of time. Loved it but I think if I was to travel down Australia again, I would only go to certain places I really enjoyed like the Gold Coast or Byron Bay.
Here are some pictures from the trip.
