Tag Archives: Australia
Home Sweet Home
I’m back. Roughly 3 years after departing for Australia I have arrived back in good ol’ Ireland. It feels a bit strange to not be travelling anymore but waking up in the morning and not having to worry about checking-out or dragging massive bags around the place is a huge bonus. I was absolutely wrecked in Thailand so it’s really great just to relax at home and recharge for a while. I’ve spent the last week stretched out on the couch watching dvds and eating 15 home-cooked meals a day. Excellent stuff.
Continue reading
Byron Bay
Byron is probably the entertainment highlight of the northern NSW coast so we decided to spend a little bit of time here. We got there at the end of the Blues festival which is held every easter. The place was quite crowded which meant there was a nice atmosphere around the town but you get the feeling that the place is a lot nicer when there’s not a lot of tourists running around the place. It was cloudy and raining for the two days but I still really enjoyed it. The beach is amazing, so i would love to see what it’s like when the weather is good. Continue reading
Coffs Harbour
Coffs is about 2 hours north of Port Macquarie as is probably famous for just having a big banana. Like Port, it’s a nice town with some nice beaches but the weather wasn’t that great and there’s much to do in these places when it’s raining. It was also my first night in a hostel in about 3 years and the YHA down at the jetty was a good one to get re-aquainted with the hostel life. The rooms were cheap, decent and it had a laundry. Pretty much all you need from a hostel. Continue reading
Port Macquarie
The first stop on the trip up the east coast was Port Macquarie. It took about 5 hours to get here from Sydney as there was a massive thunderstorm after Newcastle. It’s a small town and has a very relaxed feel to it, it’s funny how different Australia is ouside of the big cities. I felt out of place as I dont have a mullet or a cotton shirt. Continue reading
Road Trippin
Ok I’ve finally gotten around to leaving Sydney but I’m planning a big trip around Australia before venturing home. I had to relinquish my lovely 4 year business visa last week as I am no longer working which means that … Continue reading
Sydney – New Years Eve
On a perfect summer night, Sydney did what it does best: party like there’s no tomorrow. An estimated 1.5 million revellers filled the harbour foreshores to watch the spectacular fireworks ring in 2008. The midnight fireworks cost a reported $600,000, involved 18 months of planning and lasted precisely 12 minutes. Continue reading
Alice Springs – Ayers Rock
On my last venture out of Sydney I managed a short trip to the Nothern Territory. Alice Springs, located in the southern part of the state, is about 3 1/2 hours away from Sydney by plane and is one of the strangest places i’ve ever been to. It’s in the middle of nowhere, absolutely tiny and doesn’t really offer anything. It’s incredibly expensive as shops there can charge what they want because there’s just no competition. Bojangles saloon is a decent place for a beer and some food. The northern territory does have the biggest beer bottles i have ever come across, the 2 litre NT draught just has to be seen. We wanted to watch the Utd v Arsenal game and i had kinda given up hope of getting to see it as the place is as far removed from civilisation as possible. But we got to see it out at the casino, about 5 minutes outside town. Even though there was no commentary, the game was enjoyable. A point was a fair result but i was gutted at leaving in a last minute goal like that. Continue reading