Hello and welcome to the mrlukeniktravels blog, it has been a while since I last posted back in March. During the intervening time I have travelled up the east coast of Australia to where I write this in Cairns, Queensland. Soon I shall be heading west out of Australia to pastures new. Much has happened since my last post so I shall try to distil the intervening period to the best of my abilities. As I write the wind is blowing gently in the palm trees out the window and the rain has stopped (finally!). Without further delay here is some of what I’ve been up to in Australia.
The Australian leg of my trip involved a distance of approximately 11,000km (6,000 miles). That is quite a lot of driving! My route involved snaking east/west between the coast and inland to experience as much as possible. During that time I experienced a range from the rural Outback to the centre of Sydney. I visited the major cities Canberra (yes it’s worth going), Brisbane and the aforementioned Sydney. In between there were plenty of small towns and even homesteads dotted along the way. Each have their own intrigue and experiences. Travelling by road provides ultimate freedom to plot my own course to what interests me- principally mountains and the ocean.
Australia has given me so many fabulous experiences and memories I shall mention just a few of them:
– Climbing the highest peak, Mt Kosciuszko (Snowy Mountains, NSW)
– Snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef (Cairns, QLD)
– Cuddling a Koala (Lone Pine, NSW)
– Hiking Kanagara Walls (Blue Mountains, NSW)
– Fossicking for opals (Lightning Ridge, NSW)
– Throwing a boomerang (Kuranda, QLD)
– Catching a wave or two (Bells Beach, VIC)
– Attending an ANZAC Dawn service (Coonabrabran, NSW)
– Drinking rum from straight from the barrel (Bundaberg, QLD)
– Walking on a white sand beach (Whitsundays, QLD)
– Kangaroo burgers and prawns on the barbie (Mackay, QLD)
– Meeting a Tasmanian Devil (Port Arthur, TAS)
There were of course many other moments, both wonderful and mundane. I also had the pleasure of meeting so many friendly locals willing to showcase their home range!
Last week I sold my car and thus my (travel) freedom. It is now time for someone else to experience an Australian road trip. I encountered no problems with the car while travelling and was very glad of the cruise control on those long, straight roads. Having 4WD capability was also brilliant allowing plenty of driving on unsealed roads. It was also strange to go back to sleeping in a room with walls after three months (with the exception of three nights in a Sydney hostel). Should I return to Australia I would do another road trip, perhaps by that time I might understand the vehicle registration rules. Then again, perhaps not. That might be the last driving for this trip, although South East Asia is full of mopeds so never say never!
It does not feel like almost three months since I landed in Melbourne. The time has passed very quickly. That said, my experience of Australia has been wonderful. While the sun hasn’t always shined, cool breezes blown and perfect photo opportunities materialised, it has been a fantastic leg of the trip. Perhaps if I was visiting for a short trip I might be more demanding in that regard! For example, during my time in the Atherton Tablelands it barely stopped raining. In Lightning Ridge the flies were unbelievable (as well as it being very warm). The Great Barrier Reef in real life is not quite what you see on a nature documentary. I don’t want to present an edited, sanitised version of my travels through Australia. There have been times of excitement, joy, nerves and loneliness. Travelling long-term involves of the emotions you might experience back at ‘home’- good and not so good.
I write this post on the eve of the anniversary of the start of my trip. It is very nearly a year since I stepped on an aeroplane bound for Reykjavik, Iceland. Since then I have spent time in five countries, one of those for a total of five months. Just like the length of my time in Australia, it really does not seem that long since I left home to me. After many miles and time-zones traversed it is time to move on again. It is much needed. I have spent the last eight months in countries where English is the predominate language with both Australia and New Zealand having a similar culture to that of the UK. It is getting a little too familiar- time to head to the edge of the comfort zone again. It is a little terrifying but quite necessary!
As eluded to earlier, by next week I shall be blogging from country number six. The flight is not long but the climate and weather vastly different! I shall return to the habit of posting weekly, where I can, so there will be updates regularly again. As always, I can be found on Twitter via @mrlukeniktravel and on Instagram with the handle @mrlukeniktravels. If you haven’t already, sign up for email notifications so you’ll know when I have posted. Finally, until next time, stay safe and travel on!
