Last Days Down Under

Sadly, the first major stop of our adventure has come to an end. The last few days were filled with a few beaches in Byron Bay and our last two days were spent at the amusement park outside of Brisbane. 

Oddly enough we felt that we hadn't spent much money on activities and since Jesse has an itch for roller coasters I agreed to go and support at the WB Movie World Amusement Park. We bought a two day pass one for the water park, which is more my speed and one for the amusement park. Of course the first day we choose to go to the water park and they closed it within an hour of us getting there due to weather and the second day I woke up with a pain in my stomach knowing I was going to have to go on these rides. However, since this trip is about adventure I had to say yes to the tallest, longest and fastest roller coaster in the southern hemisphere. A few tears were shed, but I said yes. (see third photo)

I can tell you my face did not look like this....

Since this is our last post on the Australia Jesse and I wanted to share a few things we learned, enjoyed and our peak and pit of the trip.

Libby's Adventure:

When you picture Australia you think of Kangaroos, great accents and beautiful beaches and that is exactly what we found. Both Jesse and I said that it was an easy first spot. Everyone spoke English, the exchange rate was in our favor and in general very easy to get around. We both LOVED the West Coast. It was astounding to us that the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen were empty and we couldn't have come at a better time in regards to weather. On top of the all of the beaches Margaret River was a beautiful part of the country to see. If you are a wine person Margaret River or Barossa Valley are a must. Being able to meet the makers of great wines you see around the world was fascinating and of course always delicious. As we drove along you would pass by towns with friendly people wanting to chat with some places being rolling hills with lush forests and some being a road that goes straight for 90 miles without a turn. Once moving east you did start to notice the busier streets. You had more of the Cali vibe with the small surf towns closer together. People walking around in their bathing suits and no shoes. I think because we were in the large van it was harder to venture into the larger cities.  If you are only going for a short amount of time I think that Sydney is the must see, but if you have more time I would take the time to drive the west coast. All in all lots of positives and fun experiences in Australia. The land down under!

I was surprised to see was that there wasn't much in the way of food variety, although they had scrumptious corner bakeries in every small town. There were a lot of fish and chips and pizza, but no authentic Australian food. We did try the meat pies and lamingtons, but other than that it was hard to find variety. Also, good luck with the Wifi. Like I said earlier it was a nice start to our trip since it was very similar to the US culture, but we are looking forward to all of the other countries, cultures and customs.

Favorite Beach: Eagle Bay Beach

Favorite City: Sydney

Peak: Petting a Kangaroo, adventure day in Sydney, and Happs Winery in Margaret River

Pit: Mosquito bites

Jesse's Two cents:

Overall I thought the RV was the perfect way to do Australia for a month. We got to see so much of the country and visit tons of small towns that you would skip without the home on wheels. Life was easy on the road being able to go at our own pace with all the creature comforts of home, and my sweetheart by my side! I never had any issue with bugs, as they only liked Libby, so I enjoyed the days out of towns in rural countryside most. I loved pretty much every beach, but ones in Western Australia had the best sand, water, and waves. Often times we were the only ones on these beaches and we were left to soak up the sun and swim like we owned the place. The weather was nearly perfect for the whole month, yet it was not considered busy season so there were no crowds and we didn't have to make any advance bookings. It was not as hot as expected, cool at night, and sunny almost every day. I enjoyed flying the drone and want to do it more in New Zealand. I found myself constantly looking at the landscape and imagining how I would fly to capture it.

Favorite Beach: Buffalo beach Western Australia 

Favorite City: Sydney

Favorite Activity : climbing Bicentennial Tree and Glouster Tree 

Favorite drive : Great Ocean Road from Apollo Bay to Aireys Inlet

Favorite Campsite: Narrawong coastal reserve South Australia 

Peak: Climbing the trees or Canal Rocks at sunset, but everyday was a great day! 

Pit: Driving in Melbourne in rush hour. Worst driving city I have visited 

Best Food : Sydney fresh fish market. Dozen fresh Tasmanian oysters, baked lobster tail, fried baby squid, salmon nigiri, crab sushi roll.

Catch you later Aussie land!