australia in review

After every country we visit, Vikram writes about our overall experiences and highlights. Here’s his take on Australia!

After ten weeks in South America and a 48-hour journey from Lima to Brisbane, Australia was a culture shock. It’s basically a cleaner, nicer, and friendlier version of America, with better weather. Australia offered many of the comforts and luxuries of home that we had been missing, largely thanks to my absurdly hospitable family. The last time I visited my relatives in Brisbane was 1993…

….but you would never know I was so delinquent based on the welcome we were given and the warmth and generosity we were shown. I expect to be back in Australia before another 23 years are up, but Mary and I look forward to repaying that hospitality much sooner, the next time my Aussie family is Stateside. After three months away from home, it was also great to catch up with my brother, despite United Airlines’ best efforts to keep him in America.

Even if you don’t have extremely welcoming Australian relatives to visit, I’d highly recommend Australia to most travelers. Sydney is a bustling world-class city that also happens to have spectacular beaches and a beautiful harbor, and if not for the lack of good Mexican food, we’d probably be looking at job and apartment listings there once our trip is over. The Great Barrier Reef is a wonder of the world for a very good reason. Brisbane is probably not the primary reason tourists flock to Australia, but it’s a lovely city that offers much more than just access to the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.

The only drawback to Australia is its cost. While you do get what you pay for, to some extent, budget travelers can stretch their dollars much farther in other parts of the world. But if you can afford it, Australia is well worth a visit.

Basics

Number of days: 21

Cities: 4 (Brisbane, Noosa, Sydney, Whitsunday Islands)

Number of plane rides: 4

Finances

Average daily cost per person: Not meaningful, since we mostly stayed with family, and a lot of our expenses were covered, including our trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Thanks family!

Exchange rate: $1 USD = $1.39 AUD (as of May 21, 2016)

Attractions

Favorite things we did:

Hanging out with family in Brisbane and Sydney
Great Barrier Reef (thanks Auntie!)
Coogee to Bondi walk
Sunshine Coast
Koalas, kangaroos, and more at Lone Pine
Biking around Brisbane
Rugby (watching, not playing)

Better than expected:

Asian food (sorely missed during our time in South America)
Coffee (surprisingly to us, something that Australians take very seriously)

Worse than expected:

Prices. We were lucky to 1) stay with family and 2) have a historically favorable exchange rate, but things can be expensive here.

Things you have to eat:

Fresh seafood at the Sydney Fish Market
Asian food, pretty much everywhere
Coffee

Biggest challenges we faced: Nothing, really. If not for the generosity of my relatives we would have had trouble keeping our expenses in check, but we were lucky.

What we would have done differently: We ran out of time for this, but next time we’ll have to check out Melbourne.