Hey everyone! Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years! I’ve done a ton of cool stuff recently and I wanted to give an update.
I had a really great Christmas at the beach here in Sydney. I went to a place called Palm Beach with probably about 20-25 other people from the hostel. We had a BBQ and just hung out on the beach all day. It was really difficult to be away from the family on Christmas so I’m glad I did something fun.
The very next day I left on a trip to Perth and then I went to Melbourne! It was a pretty short trip but it was definitely worth it… I went with a friend from my hostel and we stayed in both cities for about 3 days each.
The average temperature in Perth was about 105 degrees, so I got a slight tan for the first time in maybe ever haha….very hot but a nice place with incredible beaches. We took a ferry to an island called Rottnest Island, which was a definite highlight for me. The island felt like we were in Fiji or something…clear water and white sand. Apparently Rottnest Island literally means Rat’s Nest Island in Dutch because when Dutch explorers first discovered the island, they saw these huge animals that looked like rats and so they avoided it…turns out those “gigantic rats” were mini kangaroos called Quokkas! My friend and I were feeding them leaves and berries and they’re super friendly.
I also got a chance to go to Fremantle and it was great. I’m really really excited for Brooke; she’s going to love it.
Next stop was Melbourne. We had a bit less time in Melbourne than in Perth because our flight kept getting delayed but we still had a good time. Melbourne is like a smaller, more creative and artistic Sydney. It really reminds me of a European city like Barcelona because there are heaps of hidden alleyways with shops everywhere. It’s kind of like you have no idea what you’re going to find when you walk down the next street which I really liked. Melbourne is notorious for their “four seasons in one day” weather, but it was sunny the whole time I was there. We got very lucky with the weather.
Speaking of weather, it’s really sad what’s going on in Queensland at the moment. There is so much flooding that entire cities are under water. Victoria is currently being warned about severe flooding as well (where Melbourne is), so hopefully everything goes okay there. Where I live (in New South Wales), we’ve had quite a bit of rain in the last few months but not really any flooding. We’ve been very lucky.
Back to happier things….I got back from my trip on New Year’s Eve, slept a bit, and then went to a park with a perfect view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The fireworks were AMAZING. Apparently it cost the city of Sydney over 5 million dollars. You can watch some clips on Youtube of the fireworks, I’m really happy that I came back in time to see everything.
My family is coming to visit in March! I’m so excited; they’re going to love it. It’s been something like 27 years since my parents have been in Australia and my sister hasn’t been back since she was like 4 months old. The drinking age here is only 18 so my brother will love it as well :) It should be great!
Matt
