We have been lucky enough to be following the sun around the world so far and have enjoyed endless days of sunshine, a very different winter to Ireland!! So as we headed to Australia we expected nothing less than glorious sunshine, after all is that not why half the country has moved there?!
We flew into Brisbane and had plans for Bryon Bay. The downpour quickly soaked those dreams! Luckily we had a good friend in Brisbane who was putting us up for a day or two, which ended up being six, as we realised the rain wasn't going stop! Turns out we were in a cyclone who badly affected some towns about Brisbane, but we got away with some rain and a week long bonding session!
We headed up to the coast to Airlie Beach to see the beautiful Whitsunday Islands and to dive the Great Barrier Reef. The weather gods were back on our side and the blue skies returned. We booked onto a sailing trip for three nights and headed toward the Great Barrier Reef. Anyone who has been on a boat for a few days knows it's fairly limited space, so when you are sharing your cabin with a random stranger and it's the size of a tin of beans, you get to know each other fairly well! We got lucky and enjoyed the company of our boat, even meeting a girl from the same village as me, small world!
The next three days were spent diving and snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef and a few locations around the Whitsundays. We all arranged to meet up for an after party after we had docked in Airlie Beach. With an early morning flight we decided we were going take it easy!! We made the flight and that's the important part!
We arrived into Sydney, where it was really hot and humid with no accommodation booked. Turns out Sydney is quite popular (who knew?!), there was no accommodation to be found! We decided to pull out the Irish card. A quick text home and a brother of a friend was soon on his way to pick us up! Just another excellent quality our great Irish people possess. The brother (who we have never met before) picked us up, gave us a tour of Sydney, feed and watered us and provided us with a double bed for the night. We can't thank him enough! He was even kind enough to drop us to our pre-booked (see we are learning!) hostel the next morning. We had a fabulous few days in Sydney visiting all the usual hotspots (Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Summer Bay for all the home and away fans) and a few hidden ones too (Baxters Whiskey Bar). It's easy to see why Sydney has become a home for many Irish, it certainly has a certain charm even though it's a big city.
Our adventure was short in Australia but filled with only good memories, and ideas for the next visit here!
We flew into Brisbane and had plans for Bryon Bay. The downpour quickly soaked those dreams! Luckily we had a good friend in Brisbane who was putting us up for a day or two, which ended up being six, as we realised the rain wasn't going stop! Turns out we were in a cyclone who badly affected some towns about Brisbane, but we got away with some rain and a week long bonding session!
We headed up to the coast to Airlie Beach to see the beautiful Whitsunday Islands and to dive the Great Barrier Reef. The weather gods were back on our side and the blue skies returned. We booked onto a sailing trip for three nights and headed toward the Great Barrier Reef. Anyone who has been on a boat for a few days knows it's fairly limited space, so when you are sharing your cabin with a random stranger and it's the size of a tin of beans, you get to know each other fairly well! We got lucky and enjoyed the company of our boat, even meeting a girl from the same village as me, small world!
The next three days were spent diving and snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef and a few locations around the Whitsundays. We all arranged to meet up for an after party after we had docked in Airlie Beach. With an early morning flight we decided we were going take it easy!! We made the flight and that's the important part!
We arrived into Sydney, where it was really hot and humid with no accommodation booked. Turns out Sydney is quite popular (who knew?!), there was no accommodation to be found! We decided to pull out the Irish card. A quick text home and a brother of a friend was soon on his way to pick us up! Just another excellent quality our great Irish people possess. The brother (who we have never met before) picked us up, gave us a tour of Sydney, feed and watered us and provided us with a double bed for the night. We can't thank him enough! He was even kind enough to drop us to our pre-booked (see we are learning!) hostel the next morning. We had a fabulous few days in Sydney visiting all the usual hotspots (Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Summer Bay for all the home and away fans) and a few hidden ones too (Baxters Whiskey Bar). It's easy to see why Sydney has become a home for many Irish, it certainly has a certain charm even though it's a big city.
Our adventure was short in Australia but filled with only good memories, and ideas for the next visit here!
