Australia - Seeing in the New Year in Sydney

Being in Sydney for New Years Eve was right up the list of must-do experiences for this trip, especially as we had missed out two years before. We spent some time researching the best places to see New Years in Sydney and having read many other blogs we ended up agreeing with them - it was totally worth paying the extra for the best seat in the house, and getting what we felt were front row seats without having to sleep over night in a queue and wait all day in the sun (only to probably end up behind a tree!).

Our view as the sun went down

So, we booked tickets to The Point within the Botanical Gardens. Situated on the waters edge by Mrs Macquarie's Chair, with THE view across the harbour overlooking both the opera house and the bridge. The only obstruction were the boats in the harbour, but once the fireworks got going at quite some height, we forgot the boats were even there!

Australia - The Blue Mountains

With plenty of time in Sydney we decided to head off on a day trip and explore the surrounding areas. A good day trip from Sydney is to the Blue Mountains - a quite beautiful set of mountains and valleys, where the eucalyptus give the valley a blue tinge.

Lots of great views!

Australia - An Aussie Christmas

Christmas on the other side of the world would never quite be like home. The sunshine, beaches and surfing of Australia were a world away from the log fires, mince pies and family we were missing this Christmas. So when our friends Kat and Andy (who kindly had us for Christmas and New Year) asked whether we wanted an English Christmas or an Aussie Christmas, we quickly decided that having turkey and all the trimmings in 30 degrees just wouldn't quite feel right, and that the Aussie way would be the most fitting for the day.

Christmas morning

Australia - 12 days in Sydney

As soon as you see the opera house and harbour bridge with the most spectacular harbour in the world you know you are in Australia. Having been here twice before, we knew we were in for a good time, but this time it was for Christmas and New Year.

We were greeted by the fantastic Kat and Andy at the airport who were going to be our hosts for the next 10 days. It was rather nice to go back to a home (even better with a pool and tennis court on the roof in Surry Hills) like we did when we stayed in Melbourne with Stu and Megan. Huge thanks for allowing us to stay as accommodation in Sydney around Xmas is difficult to find and seriously expensive!

Our lovely hosts!

After a good night sleep and super brunch (the Aussies love their brunches) on Christmas Eve we were ready to take in the sights over the next 12 days.

Australia - The Hinterland of the Sunshine coast

Most people focus on the coast along the Sunshine coast, and I can't blame them. But there the hinterland is not to be missed and does not really add that much to your journey.

To change the journey a little as we headed back to the airport for our late flight to Sydney we headed inland from the Sunshine coast to the hinterland.

The drive and views are fantastic and there are lots of other things to do along the way from walks to waterfalls and swimming holes, to arty villages and did I say the views?

Beautiful walks in the hinterland

Australia - The sunshine coast

We had heard many good things about the sunshine coast and especially Noosa, from not only travelers, but locals to. It seems that the Gold Coast, which is further south on the other side of Brisbane, has a negative reputation with large high-rises, casinos, drink, drugs and lots of tourists and the Sunshine coast is the better beach area. So we sacrificed an extra day on Fraser Island and drove the couple of hours south when we got back from our day trip.

The sunshine coast

Australia - Fraser Island

Fraser island on the east coast just north of Brisbane is the largest sand island... in the world (queue impression of Jeremy Clarkson). This rather large sand dune or series of sand dues it dunes, is therefore an obvious stopping point along the Bruce Highway (which has become a bit of a second home for us).

Bruce

There are two places to get on the island - Hervey Bay and Rainbow Beach - however, as its made out of sand you need a 4WD... something our little rental was not. As we were travelling south we decided to pick up a tour from Hervey Bay. 

The best way to see the island is from a self drive in land cruisers but these tours and rentals are a min of 2 days and we didn't have time (and there was limited availability) so we had to stick to a 1 day tour. 

Australia - Whitsundays

725 miles north of Brisbane (more or less the distance from Lands End to John O'Groats!) we finally made it up to the Whitsunday's and Airlie Beach. We decided the best way to explore this area was to spend it on a sailing boat (one of our favorite ways to travel since we did it in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand). So we booked 2 nights, and 3 days on ex-racer yacht Silent Night.

Our home for the next few days

Australia - Turtle rum in Bundaburg

The joys of travelling include the getting from A-B and when these run smoothly that's all great, but there are times when things don't always go to plan and you have to be flexible and just get on with the situation in hand! 

We transferred in Sydney on to Brisbane and discovered on arrival that most flights out of the airport had been delayed due to high winds, which would mean we would arrive too late to pick up our hire car on arrival into Brisbane and to reach our AirBnB for the night. Luckily a kind flight attendant was able to move us onto an earlier flight, but on our arrival we found that our bags hadn't been transferred too! We had no choice but to head straight over to the car hire, and hope that when we drove back and our original flight arrived that our bags were on that flight! Luckily they were, and an hour or two later than planned we headed on to our AirBnB, on the outskirts of Brisbane. Having slept outside in a Swag for 3 nights and we welcomed the nice big comfy bed! 

Australia - Uluru - One hell of a rock!

We'd done quite a bit of research into the best ways to experience The Red Centre of Australia, many stay in resort and day trip out, but we wanted a real outback tour so booked with Mulgas Adventures and we weren't disappointed!

Mulgas wheels (named after the Mulga Tree)

We flew into Ayres Rock and joined their Rock to Rock tour over four days and 3 nights. Picked up from the airport we joined the Mulgas bus and our driver/cook/guide/joker extraordinaire, Lincoln, and discovered we had quite a mix of nations including, Swedish, German, French, Dutch, Swiss, Egyptian, American, Australian and of course the Brits!

Australia - Great Ocean Road

We waved goodbye to our Stu and Megan in Greensborough and headed off to drive along the Great Ocean Road which is a short drive to the south west and runs for 243km between Torquay and Warrnambool.

Our wheels

This stretch of surfing paradise was home to lots of wildlife, beaches, winding roads and rocky features. We drove from Melbourne to Warramnbol in a day stopping on route to check out the sights...

Australia - Arriving down under - geoggers reunited!

The first section of our Australian tour was actually more of a reunion!

Flying into Melbourne, the home of two fellow geographers from Reading University, we made the most of having the opportunity to catch up 9 years later (and for some great tour guides!).

Having picked up our hire car after an overnight flight we headed straight for St Kildas on the coast for breakfast with a view! We then drove into the CBD and parked up at Harbour Town so we could make the most of the fantastic Free Tram Zone in the city and in particular the Heritage Tram that circles the centre.

Boarding the tram

We finally made it to Federation Square decorated with a huge Christmas Tree made of Lego, and our meeting point with Nick Earl (wannabe weatherman now Dr and runner!).

Lego santa!

We grabbed a sandwich and enjoyed sitting by the river catching up on old times and getting top tips for our Great Ocean Road adventure. So much so we lost track of time and Nick had to race it back to work quick!

Singapore in 3 days

Singapore was a breath of fresh air after India... literally. The airport sets the tone with quick and efficient passport control, and bag pick up. It was also the first time we came across our first Christmas tree... with Star Wars figures as decorations!

Darth Vader baubles!

We really enjoyed Singapore and it was a good break from the craziness of India. Singapore is known as a stop over, with most visitors there to break up a longer journey or are using it as a hub, but we thought we would check it out for a few days, take in the sights and catch up with washing!