2)      Do not tip unless its exceptional service at a swanky restaurant

3)      Use the public transportation wherever possible because traffic is a nightmare

4)      Utilize the visitor information centers for accommodation reservations and recommendations for restaurants, things to do

5)      Domestic flights are cheaper than US so don’t worry if you don’t have advance bookings

6)      Don’t worry if you don’t understand Australian English! Its fun to try and figure out what they are saying

7)      Customer service is below standard and just roll with it

8)      Do a road trip!

9)      Take an umbrella, bikini, jeans and jacket as the weather changes on an hourly basis

10)   The people are helpful and friendly. They know how to party and have fun so if you have someone you can hang out with locally, take that opportunity

11)   Food in Melbourne is way better than Sydney.

12)   Do the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb. Its an experience of a lifetime!

13)   Coffees in Australia are great. I personally love the Flat White

14)   If you are using a credit card in Australia, make sure to tell them its ‘credit and sign’

15)   Melbourne is a must see city as it has lots more culture and heritage in its architecture & food than Sydney. Even the next door restaurant will have something unique to offer

16)   Kangaroo meat is best eaten rare to medium as it’s a tough meat and dries out

17)   Ice creams in Australia are amazingly delicious. Try the one with honey and macadamia nuts

18)   Buy hand-blown glass jewelery, decoration items as they are unique to Oz and look gorgeous

19)   Tour the wineries and find out about wine tastings as you can taste wines from different regions for as low as Australian $25

20)   For all those cocktail snobs, the cocktails in Oz are fantastic and full of alcohol. You’ll love it!

21)   Wear comfortable shoes even when going out as everyone walks in Oz. Ladies, if you are wearing heels, better wear Dr.Scholls else you’ll be hurting!

22)   See Fraser Island

23)   Shop for UGGs

I hope this blog helped you get an idea about what to do in Australia and manages your expectations so you have the best trip possible. Let me know if you use this blog as a starting point for your trip to Australia and if you found it helpful. I’d love to hear if you went to the same places and what your experience was. Enjoy your vacation!

Rooftop Cinema at Toff - Melbourne

My last day in Melbourne was spent watching movie Avatar at the IMAX followed by a late lunch at the restaurant Cookie with some delicious MacTini’s and contemporary cuisine. We peeked at the rooftop cinema bar at Toff which is just above Cookie. I wish I had time to catch a movie.

After getting back to the house, I went for a walk around the Camberwell neighborhood and saw the gorgeous houses that have so much personality and unique architecture. No cookie-cutter houses here!

Vakul and his friends made some awesome BBQ dinner and we popped some champagne open. Guess they were really happy I was leaving J. Just kidding! It was a bitter sweet night as I knew I would be coming home to Denver but would miss my little brother a lot.

We went out for croissants and coffee at a French Bakery, Provence, in Camberwell the day I had to fly to Denver. Delicious!

Here comes the teary farewell to Denver and I admit I embarrassed Vakul quite a bit! But hey, he is family. I boarded the flight to Denver and expect to see Vakul soon so we can all go camping at Yellow stone in 2010!

 Thanks, Vakul, for a wonderful time in Australia. I can now see why you love Melbourne and the country. I will remember this vacation for the rest of my life.

Cottage at Yanakie

Last stretch of our road trip started at 9 am on day 3 and we hit the roads as our final destination was Wilsons Prom reserve forest (http://www.visitpromcountry.com.au/ ). Stopping at Pambula beach and Mallacoota. The restaurants are next to the water and you have to be brave enough to share your breakfast with seagulls as they are loud!!! I got to watch sting rays, pelicans and more crabs in the bay. We had breakfast, snacks and lunch at town Orbost, Bingi Bingi beach, and Lakes Entrance. Lakes Entrance visitor information center was the worst I had encountered with rude, unhelpful people else the rest of the visitor centers had been just amazing. Lakes Entrance is a very touristy town but beautiful as you can see multiple lakes converging in the city. I would recommend renting a boat to do a little cruise here but stay somewhere else. After Lakes Entrance, the terrain changed and now suddenly we had rolling hills, rugged terrain, lots of farmland with grazing cows, sheep and horses and the sturdy Australian trees that have a distinct look to them.  We went through towns of Bairnsdale, Sale, Yarram and Foster where we bought some chicken and salad for our dinner since it was after 5 and every restaurant was closed! On our way we saw some wonderful hilly scenery and even some windmills. The topography looks very European and even though we weren’t too close to a beach, we felt like we were seeing the heart of Australia. It was amazing to see the change in terrain from one town to the other, from beach to hills. The drive itself was easy and after our twisty drive to Merimbula this was a straight road to Wilson’s Prom.  Our final destination was the Wilson’s Prom National Forest and we lucked out finding cottages to stay at Yanakie – thanks to the Orbost visitor center!

Our cottage was facing the reserve forest and we had lots of parrots and seagulls and hawks for company. It was a hot day and the bug spray I had was a life-saver as there are tonnes of bugs that will eat you alive! Te cottages are comfortable but have no air conditioning. The fans help to keep it cool and it gets real cold at night . After cooking our dinner we settled in for a relaxed night of DVD watching that we had borrowed from the owners of the cottage. It had been a long day of 8 hours driving and we were exhausted.

The next morning Vakul got up to go see the sunrise. I have it on his authority that it was gorgeous , which I am sure it was. After all, we were in the National Forest! He saw kangaroos in the wild too! Lucky guy! Our last day of the road trip we headed off to Wilson’s Prom which is 30 mins. from Yanakie and had  a hearty breakfast at the Café in the Wilsons Prom Café. Needless to say, it was scrumptious! We then headed off for a hike to Pillar Point and Squeaky Beach. The hike is moderately hard and can be done in sneakers or flip-flops.  The hike takes us into a hill and you can see this “movie set” beach surrounded by mountains. You just want to stop and soak it in before moving on.  Hike to Pillar point took  us through a forest of the sturdy Australian trees (wish I remembered their name!!) that I saw everywhere.

Wilsons Prom Reserve Forest

Except for parrots we didn’t really get to see any other wildlife but the views were just awesome! On our way back down from the mountain we hiked to Squeaky Beach (yes, is squeaky clean J) and even though I had seen lots of beaches by now, this beach was beautiful not only for its soft white sand but because it was surrounded by mountains and we could see the thunder rolling in. We saw the carcass of a seal that had been washed ashore. Gory but yes, I saw a dead seal in the wild. Go figure.

Wilsons Prom Reserve Forest

After goofing off in the water, we were suddenly pelted by rain and were soaked in minutes. The weather is unpredictable here and its advised we return if it starts raining. It rained all the way on our trip back to the base but the sand smelt fresh.  I noticed that the sand changed colors when we hiked. It was white, brown and then black in different areas which I found fascinating. We got back to the café and had some hot lunch with soup to warm ourselves up. There are showers in the restrooms but I elected to wash my feet, change into dry clothes and off we were to Melbourne. Trip back to Melbourne took us 2 hours and on our way we stopped at wineries. I suggest you do this too as the wineries are beautiful and you will get to see wild life in and around the wineries.

Sadly my road trip came to an end. I saw Australia as never before. Even though we all do the tourist thing when we visit a new place but its always an amazing experience to do a road trip and really see what the country is all about. I highly recommend doing this road trip and others to get an understanding about the country you are in. Its an experience you will talk about forever and yes, everyone else around you is probably going to stuff their shoe in your mouth as they would be sick of you talking about it. LOL!

We travelled on the famous highway 1 and took the Tourist Highway which makes you see all the beautiful scenery that you would normally miss if you took the regular highway. I know, it makes us sound like a different breed because us ‘tourists’ have our own highway!!!!! How cool is that! LOL!

Roadtrip

Even though this is the start of the peak tourist season, we were able to find places to stay without any hassle. I was impressed by the customer service and efficiency of the visitor information centers that are in every town. They help you find accommodation and even make the reservations for you, thereby providing you excellent personalised service. And boy, did we use that service to the maximum!

The highways are one or two lanes with a speed limit of 80-100 kms./hr and soon we found the water playing peek-a-boo with us from between the trees. When the road opened out it was the great ocean as far as the eye could see. The drive to Melbourne had us go through lots of national parks as Australia is very mindful of its environment. We stopped at Bateman’s Bay, Lilli Pilli (yeah, another funny name J), Broulee, Moruya, Tuross Head, Narooma and finally Merimbula which was our last destination. End of Day 1! Throughout our trip we took frequent detours wherever we saw an opportunity and just drove along the coastline. The towns are small but don’t be fooled as the real estate is prime and expensive. The towns are closed for business around 5 pm and only the supermarkets are open so grab dinner before you check in. The drive is beautiful and the beaches are even more beautiful than Sydney. I suggest wearing your swimsuit underneath your clothes so you can dip into the beaches anytime. There are facilities to wash your feet at every beach. I saw some crabs and lots and lots of seaweed but guess what – hardly any people! Great!!!!

At Merimbula we checked into the cabins by the beach and it had air-conditioning. The cabin could fit up to 6 people. We swam at Merimbula beach, saw the beautiful sunset and came back to our Oceanside cabin to make our dinner followed by some card games. It was a fun night! If you want to visit Merimbula, carry some bug spray and you’ll be good to go. We went to the beach near our cabins and saw a beautiful sunset while playing in the water. I know, tough life, right? J. The water was cold at first but soon I got used to it and after a long day of traveling it felt good to finally stop and smell the sand, literally.

Sunset at Merimbula

Canberra

The capital of Australia, Canberra, is a 3.5 hour bus journey from Sydney and the fare is wallet friendly. I took the bus to Canberra to meet Vakul who went to Australia National University (ANU) in Canberra. Unlike other towns of Australia, Canberra, is a planned city. It’s a government city and people come to work here from all over. But it’s also a transient city. Once work is done,  everyone goes back to visit family/friends in Sydney, Melbourne etc.  At least that’s what I am told as the city looks almost deserted to me after Sydney and Melbourne. 

The campus of ANU is vast! It stretches almost across the city. It was great to see where Vakul went to school as we could visit his dormitory and see the community kitchens that students use. The campus has all kinds of sports facilities available and Vakul was a great guide for us J. I was finally seeing where my brother went to school! 

I recommend eating at the restaurant Manukah, which has some unique pizzas and great food all around. It’s hard to find a cab in Canberra because it’s so deserted.

We drove to Mt.Ainsle to see the night lights of Canberra from top of a mountain and guess what we saw???? Kangaroos and Wallabies! They are shy creatures and only come during dawn or dark. I was so excited that I finally saw a kangaroo in the wild! The night lights of Canberra, view of the old and new parliament houses, Bell Tower, were like watching a painting. This is a must-do if you visit Canberra

The next day we visited the National Gallery of Art and National Museum where I found myself moved by the history of Aboriginal people. Their art, culture and way of life are depicted in a way that touches your heart. It’s not surprising, I bought Aboriginal paintings from here.

Canberra has a great beer bar called Wig and Pen that brew their own beers and have won awards for it. You must go here and have a beer or two to truly experience Canberra’s finest beers. I also recommend eating at Chinese Dumpling Café as its budget friendly and the food is amazingly delicious. You can bring your own wine at this restaurant which makes it even better for a dinner outing.

Its 9:30 pm and for Canberra that is a wild night J, so we called it quits and went to bed early as we had a long road trip to Melbourne ahead of us.

The first thing I did was to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge. What an experience!!!!!

Sydney's Opera House

It’s a freakish thrill to know I did this. It’s a story that I can tell my future generations “I was an adventurous woman who traveled through Australia and climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge. I was cool”. LOL! The climb was not as hard as I thought and the views of Sydney, the Opera House, the bay is beyond any words I have. I’ll leave it to your imagination but if there is one thing to do in Sydney it’s the bridge climb.

Sydney city is fascinating and very cosmopolitan like New York. It’s got streets like King St., George St., and many more which have pubs and restaurants from when Sydney was created. One can walk and walk for miles and still not see all the streets. I saw all the usual tourist spots like Darling Harbor, Circular Quays, McQuarrie’s point, outside of the Opera House, the Bay, Bondi beach, and Manley beach. These are fun spots to visit but be sure to carry lots of sunscreen and a hat as it was hot! Darling Harbor has an aquarium and a wild life park that is fun to see if you have time. Its a fun place to hang out and enjoy Sydney’s night life without worry of transportation as its well connected by ferries to all popular transit stops.

I also visited Blue Mountains and Three Sisters which is a natural forest and rock formations near Sydney. But was disappointed. After living in the Rocky Mountain region for years, I felt that the Blue Mountains and Three Sisters were not all that. To anyone who’s seen the Himalayas or Rockies or any other kind of mountains, I recommend skipping this part of the visit.

Instead, take a whole day and spend it at Jenolan Caves which have natural crystal formations in caves that were discovered in early 1800s. There’s a historic hotel there that you can spend a night in called “Jenolan Caves Hotel”. My next trip I would rather spend a night there and see as many Jenolan caves as possible as there’re quite a few. The one’s I recommend visiting are Lucas Cave, The Baal Cave, The Orient Cave, The Jubilee Cave, The River Cave. For the more adventurous I would suggest a tour of the Plughole Cave, which is what I signed up for but could not do as I was

Jenolan Caves

the only one that entire day who wanted to be so adventurous! The crystal formations in these caves are beautiful not only because it’s so naturally artistic but because these crystals have been forming for thousands of years. The temperature in the caves is pleasant and I didn’t need a jacket. There are steps and it’s a little bit of workout but after my lazy vacation so far I was ready to do some activities. I can guarantee that your jaw will hit the ground and you will find yourself constantly saying “WOW!” as I did.

I have seen lots of zoos as a kid and it’s not something I particularly plan for as an adult. All animals are cute, yes even the reptiles. But when I saw Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, I was glad I went to the zoo. It’s an experience for kids and adults alike. I saw this huge bald looking ostrich just chillin’ near the kangaroos and I thought “hmm..ostrich going bald…okkkk”. It was an Emu – a bird of Australia. Haha! So I took a picture, of course! The reptiles and insects section of the zoo is not icky as I expected but very fascinating. The little frogs look like fridge magnets. Seriously cute! The platypus, chimpanzees, wallabies, wombats, kangaroos, koalas and the variety of birds makes this one of the best zoos I’ve visited. There’re restaurants and cafes that serve coffee and beer, which is of course great to have on this hot Sydney day. The views of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House from the zoo are the best views of the city. The animals have the best view in the city! LOL! You will love the zoo. Get close to the koalas and walk amongst the open areas with the kangaroos and really enjoy this day as I did.

Fraser Island

I was going to be on an island…huh? It sounded adventurous! As it turned out this was the most memorable part of my vacation in Australia. Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island measuring over 300 kms. of beach and is shaped like a giant ‘I’. The only way to drive on the island is to have a 4 WD. We took a 2 day tour and had this monster 4WD truck with people from various nations as our tour buddies.  After stopping at Rainbow Beach for lunch, so named as its sand shines with rainbow colors, our truck was transported on a ferry that took us to the island. It was my first view of the island and it was AMAZING!

As soon as we got off the ferry,  we took off driving onto the beach of Fraser Island, kissing the waves underneath our tyres. I am not a poet and can’t find the exact words to express how beautiful Fraser Island is. It’s got pristine white soft sand beach that goes on for miles and miles. The ocean colors are breathtaking with greens and blues of all shades. But most of all, it’s an exhilarating experience to drive next to the waves of the ocean and only see water around you. The island has a rainforest and beautiful flora-fauna with a natural supply of drinkable water just a few feet from the ocean.

We climbed the cliffs and saw an even more breathtaking view, if that was at all possible. From atop the cliffs we saw sharks, sting rays, sea turtle, and shoals of fish swimming a few feet from the coastline but invisible from the beaches. I can now understand why no-one swims in these waters! But oh, what a beautiful view of the frothy ocean and the life in it. One also finds the Australian wild dogs, Dingoes, which are aggressive and ‘wild’. It’s dangerous to feed them or go near them as they are vicious attackers. So, don’t even think of petting them because they look cute!

The island has a resort, Eurong, which is where we stayed. It is a comfortable resort and even has its own bar and restaurant where everyone gathers after a long day of watching the sights of Fraser Island.  It’s a learning experience to watch complete strangers from just a few hours ago bond with their group. It was a fun night with dancing and partying and learning about different cultures. We had people from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, S. Korea, Japan and more in our group, each one unique and yet so alike in behavior.

Fraser Island’s night sky with millions of twinkling stars, is a sight I will never forget.  I had forgotten that there are stars in the sky, having lived in the city for so long. Watching them made me want to sing the nursery rhyme ‘twinkle twinkle little star’ J

The next day started early and we had a BUMPY ride to the rainforest where we hiked and saw plants that I have never seen before. A King Fern which grows on this island only in this rain forest in a clear water creek. It’s a tree which has water running through its branches just like we have blood running through our veins. Cut one branch and it sprouts water.  I picked up these little bits of information on this trip that I won’t ever forget.

Fraser Island has many natural rainwater lakes which are in the troughs formed by the sand dunes on the island. The water is literally transparent and blue! 

Rainwater lake at Fraser Island

I have never seen transparent water in the wild. Swimming in this lake and drying off on the crystal white sand beaches, was the highest point of this day.

After more driving along the beaches of Fraser Island, we returned to Brisbane.  Nothing had prepared me for the sheer beauty of the island and I call it the “high point” of my  Brisbane trip. If you get to go to Brisbane, take a couple of days and visit Fraser Island. You will not regret it!

After checking in we took the Cat Ferry which is a fun means of transportation that connects various city locations. It’s a 10 minute ferry ride and gives one great views of the city coastline.  We then decided to get views of the nightlights of Brisbane by taking a ride on Brisbane Eye or Brisbane Ferris Wheel on South Bank. I suggest doing this during the day as the ride gives you information on the sights to see when you are suspended high above the ground. It’s a fun ride.

Brisbane

We decided to go to restaurant Tukka – an Ozzie restaurant after recommendation of the hotel staff. It turned out to be very disappointing. The food was over priced, under-portioned, service was so slow that we stuffed ourselves with water. After waiting 45 mins. for our second course, we were told that the chef is busy handling a table of 15 and can only get our food out after that. What! Are you kidding me?

The evening was redeemed as we decided to walk and explore the city. We found a great bar called Sling. The bartender and co-owner is a master at his work. He makes the best cocktails I have had. For the ones who like their drinks strong, you should order ‘Fidel Martini’ which is martini infused with cigar. Unique flavors. It was a great evening but finding a cab back to the hotel at 11:30 on a Friday night was difficult, you’ll need to be patient and walk to get one.

The King St. and the CBD of Brisbane is buzzing with activity. Its a shopping delight and tonnes of bistro style restaurants with big screen TVs for sports fans to watch the game and have a beer. We walked to South Bank which has a man-made beach and even more restaurants nearby. A fun place to just relax after days of traveling!

Gold Coast

Gold Coast – Gold Coast is to Ozzie schoolies as Miami is to spring break. It’s a party town with beaches and loads of shopping, restaurants and night life. We stayed at Surfers Paradise, a 15 mins. walk from the beach. After getting there late at night, we went to eat Chinese food. The food is delicious and the service surprisingly good. Have some Chinese beer with it too.

Walk on the beach at night and hear the waves, feeling the soft sand beneath your toes. It was chilly and I was glad I had a jacket on me. The lines to get into clubs was so long that I told myself I would never again complain about waiting at a Denver nightclub!

There’s not much to do or see in Gold Coast except the beach which you can see anywhere near the coastal regions of Australia.

Now shopping is another story! Go to the UGG Boots Factory Outlet and buy some boots. They are much cheaper with more variety in Oz than in the US. You can spend hours and days shopping at Gold Coast if you’d like but I’d rather go visit other towns that have more to offer.  After spending a day here we headed off to Brisbane.

Remembrance Shrine

Right next to the shrine is the Royal Botanic Gardens which are acres long but its map looks  more overwhelming that the gardens itself. Carry bottled water, a hat, sunscreen, umbrella, jacket and sunglasses with you as you could be here a while. They have a charming cafe and gift shop where you I picked up some christmas ornaments to remind me of Australia.

The gardens are beautifully landscaped and there’s wild life around. My favorite were the trees that grew in commanding shapes and sizes. I also found the lily and lotus pond absolutely stunning as they were in bloom. There are numerous benches that you can sit and read which I had to do since I had been walking the gardens for hours. The Fern Gully  has dozens of fern varieties that I had no idea existed. It was pretty amazing. The Royal Botanic Gardens is a popular spot with locals and tourists and one can spend hours here for free as there is no admission fee. I guarantee the gardens will take your breath away.

Just outside of the main gates is the Free Tourist Shuttle stop that takes you back to the city and drops you a block away from Flinders St. station. This tourist shuttle has 13 stops at all popular tourist spots and is free. You can get on and off from any stop but it stops running at 4:30pm. Its a great way to see the city on a budget.

Lily pond at Botanic Gardens

After a long day, we went to watch a movie followed by dinner at a pub called Charlton which is at CBD. its got a beautiful deck and is decorated with animals. If you want to see an ostrich wearing pearl necklace, this is the place to be!

Have fun exploring downtown as its a busy place to be even on a weekdays and many restaurants have an hour waiting to get a table. Its a Monday!