I have just returned from my 3rd trip to Australia where I visited Sydney and Melbourne, again this was a 
fantastic experience in this exciting country. On arriving in Sydney the sight of the Opera House and the Bridge gave me ‘goose bumps’ to think, wow I’m here again. The city is vibrant and areas like Darling Harbour, The Rocks and the Opera House are a magnet to the visitor. To take a harbour cruise and sail under the bridge while up above you the bridge climbers are making their way to the highest point is something you will not experience elsewhere. The waterfront is a hive of activity with ferries back and forth all day, a ferry across to Manly Beach for the afternoon is definitely a must do. I have done the bridge climb on a previous visit so didn’t do it again but my colleagues did a night climb and their reports were fantastic. I did walk the bridge however at road level for an after breakfast stroll!
It is an easy city to walk around and areas like Hyde Park and the Botanical Gardens are a haven of peace within the city. One of the highlights was a trip out to the Blue Mountains, a 2-hour drive out of Sydney and you are amongst spectacular scenery where you can enjoy walking tracks and the outdoor lifestyle. To stay at the fantastic Lilianfels hotel was a treat indeed and can be highly recommended. Another afternoon was spent on Bondi beach trying to get to grips with surfing, which proved to be very popular.
The Opera House tour is very interesting and it was explained how this iconic design was very nearly overlooked and because of difficulties in construction was in danger of being abandoned altogether. What would Circular Quay be without the Opera House?
After Sydney we took the inland route to Canberra, the capital city for a whistle stop tour including the War Museum and Memorial which was very thought provoking, the view from here down to the Parliament building is the famous sight of Canberra. Then on to the Snowy Mountains resort of Thredbo. In the winter season this is
a bustling ski resort with excellent ski runs. We took the ski lift up and thenproceeded to walk to the ‘roof of Australia’ as Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain in Australia. In November there were still patches of snow on the ground.
The spectacular drive from Thredbo along the Barry Way via Kosciuszko National Park was quite hair raising, a single track through the Snowy River valley where cattle ranchers once drove their cattle, along here many wild kangaroos could be seen. The next stop was the town of Lakes Entrance the gateway to Gippsland Lakes and the Ninety Mile Beach, Australia’s longest beach. Our night here was spent in a Youth Hostel, a novel experience to say the least!
The following day we carried on to Melbourne via Wilson’s promontory, the most southerly tip of Australia and the delightfully named Squeaky Beach. This area is a national park and we stopped to observe a ‘mob’ of kangaroos that live here.
Our arrival in Melbourne was late afternoon and our evening invitation was to The Esplanade in St Kilda, where many famous artists started their career, we had dinner in the ESPY a popular venue with the St Kilda crowd. This is the beach area of Melbourne and is quite bohemian.
Melbourne is another fantastic city with a bustling lifestyle for visitors to enjoy. The city centre has some beautiful buildings, parklands and gardens to enjoy. It is very easy to get around with excellent transportation, the City Circle Tram, a free service offers a circular tour of the city where you can get on and off at leisure. It is also very easy to walk as it such a manageable size.
The café culture is very evident here with little lanes running between the streets where there are pavement cafes, restaurants and cake shops. I had a lovely selection of mini cup cakes and coffee, great!! One very novel café was a temporary structure made entirely of recycled materials, it would be there for 3 months and then taken down and moved on. We were served steaming hot chocolate in recycled jam jars!! The reason for the hot chocolate was the unseasonable hail stones that Melbourne had that morning in mid November!
For the shopping addict The Queen Victoria market, the many arcades and malls serve the shopper well; the famous Ugg boots were on everyone’s list.
Melbourne is famous for it’s sporting venues, the Grand Prix, cricket ground, tennis stadium are all located very centrally in the city. On a previous visit I spent a day at the Melbourne Cup, which is a fantastic event very similar to Ascot, when Melbourne is bursting at the seams with visitors, this is held in early November. If you are looking to spoil yourself whilst in Melbourne stay at the Langham Hotel where the evening dinner buffet was wonderful, I believe there is even the chocolate fountain at breakfast!
My stay in Melbourne was all too short and it was soon time to head to the airport for the midnight departure to Hong Kong and onwards to Manchester. The end of another wonderful visit to Australia, but there is plenty more for next time!!!
