tweet tweet

"Hey did you see what Lisa tweeted today? Yeah that was funny and then Ryan and Rebecca "re tweeted" it." This is the new lingo that I arrived back in Canada to hear. I defiantly turned a blind eye to any means of media while I was in Australia. 

Tonight I spent some time exploring twitter and caved and made an account. I guess I'll give this new fad a try and see what it has in store for me!

Happy Tweeting :)

canadia88

 

This is it!

Sitting in the Sydney Airport blogging seems like something I did about 10 months ago now when I first arrived in Sydney and now the journey home begins.

This is the quickest 10 months of my life, I never knew that time could pass so quickly. These 10 months in Australia have been amazing! I have met so many amazing people who influenced my travels, myself and the the current situation wherever I was. I have experienced so many great things and really tested my personal abilities. I never knew that I was as strong of a person as I am. I have learned so much about myself and where I really want to go and what I want to do in life.

I am so excited to see my family and Jessica standing there waiting for me at the airport tomorrow. I never cried when I left home but I will for sure be crying on my arrival back; tears of happiness of course.

I have met some amazing friends travelling but nothing compares to my friends I have at home, these girls and guys are everything to me. Being away for 10 months really shows me that no matter where I am or what I'm doing my friends will always be my friends.

To all the amazing people who have somehow influenced my time in Australia, you are amazing! Thank you so much for all the great memories I can have with me forever!

Keep in touch!
"Canada"

Byron Bay

Of course I had to do one last trip back to one of my favourite spots in Australia, Byron Bay! I love coming back to a place that I already know, its a little comforting.

I met an Italian girl at the bus station in Sydney and she ended up staying at the hostel I was at for a night which was cool and also I had my friend Vanessa visit. Vanessa came from my Broome to Perth tour, and of course she is German!

Tomorrow I have a little day trip planned to Nimbin. Nimbin is a bit in land from Byron and is another little alternative town. Apparently if you go to Byron Bay you have to go to Nimbin so I'm going to check it out. No worries, I'll be sure to blog about it.

I head back to Sydney tomorrow night (June 6th) and arrive mid day on the 7th...yes this is 3/3 of the 12 hour bus journeys I have had and I am so glad they are over. Last time I was in Sydney I had a German who I worked with at Eco-Beach add me on Facebook and it turns out he was staying in Sydney too. I'm meeting back up with him when I get back to Sydney and spending our last night in Australia having a few beers. So random, but we both leave on June 8th back to our homelands and our flights are 1/2 hr difference.

I can't upload any pictures anymore because I am currently out of internet credit and having to use random computers at hostels, internet cafes and travel agency's.

Can't wait to be back on Canadian soil, the 30+ hours of traveling will be well worth it, and have my buttermilk pancakes with REAL maple syrup, Tim Hortons coffee and doughnuts, perogies, marble cheese and of course seeing all my beautiful friends and family!

Love, love and more love! xoxo

The Last Legs

The travels are quickly coming to an end....

I arrived in Sydney this morning, and thought what am I going to do today? I was here 6 months ago and pretty much covered all the ground I was interested in covering. In a big city it isn't hard to find something to do, but finding something to do on a budget can be hard but I'm a pro now so I was able to occupy myself hahah!

Wandering around Sydney today I was thinking about all of the random little things that I have learned this year from being on my own and travelling. 

- Karma - What goes around comes around.

I think that there is an unspoken understanding amongst travellers... If you loose it, return it. If its not yours, don't touch it. I have lost things and had them come back to me that I never thought in a million years would come back to me. Once I found a camera with a heap of travelling pictures on it, I returned it to lost property because I sure hope if someone found my camera they would take it to lost property. If you lend a friend in need money I do believe that it finds its way back to you somehow. 

- Perseverance.

I am capable of a lot more then I thought I was ever capable of doing on my own. At times I have been asked how do you do it? My answer has always been, "I just do it" If I want to travel there are certain things that I have to just push through. Its all a mind over matter and I have realized a lot of times that its only in my head and if I focus on the task I can get it done!

- Coffee Shops are a great place to let the time pass. When I have been travelling alone I find that I can pass a lot of time at a coffee shop. There are always things to look at when you are just sitting down somewhere. I am a huge people watcher so its very interesting to me. Its also a nice meeting spot to meet a friend that doesn't have a big price tag attached. Meeting for a coffee or tea is a lot cheaper then meeting for some beers, cause lets face it, its never just 1 beer!

- Always carrying a book to read or to write in. There is so much beauty in new places that you go that you can easily just sit down and read a book, or write in your journal, like I have many times. You always have a lot on your mind when travelling so carrying a book is a great place to jot little things down in. Also you never know when you are going to meet someone who has some advice for you. Write it down! You never know when you'll use it! 

- A smile is worth a thousand words. Always smile at people and walk cheerfully. People approach people all the time and you never know the next person that approaches you or that you approach could end up being your new travel companion. Who approaches someone who looks miserable anyways?

- Don't burn your bridges. You never know when you will meet up with someone again or run into them out of the blue. There has been many times I have updated a Facebook status and within a few minutes someone has messaged me to say they are in the same city as I am. Awesome! Now I have someone to catch up with! Of course when you are travelling you meet some people who you just don't connect with so I understand that sometimes bridges are burnt unintentionally. 

"The world is a book and for those who don't travel only read one page."

Adelaide to Melbourne

Yet another tour! This tour was only a short 3 days and was much different from my other tours. This time the guide was better then my 10 day Broome to Perth tour, but the people on the tour weren't as good. I didn't find a bond with anyone except 1 girl from Ireland, and that is weird for me to finish a group tour and only have made one friend. Nevertheless, it was a good experience.

We came from Adelaide and stopped at the Grampians National Park in Victoria. More hikes and more walks. It was beautiful scenery but I am getting over all the beauty that Australia has to offer, everything is beautiful here.

Me @ the Summit of the hike in Grampians National Park

We left the Grampians National Park and started making our way to the Great Ocean Road. Now this is beautiful, I have seen parts of the Great Ocean Road before and I honestly have to say that it is the most beautiful coastline I have seen in Australia and in the world. Words can't really describe it you just have to see it for yourself!

Me @ the Bay of Islands along the Great Ocean Road

The 12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road....I really haven't gained that much weight, its all the layers I have on to keep warm!

I spent 2 nights in Melbourne after the tour was over and caught up with some mates and did some more sightseeing. Luckily Melbourne is Toronto's sister city so it had a feeling of "home" there! I really love Melbourne, I think that it is my favourite capitol city in Australia.

Flinders Street Station

Nice Autumn day in Melbourne

Yours truly @ Federation Square

 I said my final good-bye to Loretta and Scotty, my Australian Parents, but I was really glad I got to see them once more and let them show me some neat things in Melbourne that I wouldn't have found on my own like this awesome roof top patio! It was so awesome, such a cool feel to it, it used to be an old apartment building and they have turned the old apartments into bars, places for live music to be held, second hand clothing shops, record collections etc. 

Cool Rooftop patio!

Loretta, Me and Scotty!

I left Melbourne en route to Sydney on the Greyhound bus that took 12 hours, good thing I got some sleeping tablets!

Kangaroo Island

I have spent the past 2 days on Kangaroo Island, one of the best places in Australia if you ask me! We started our tour by going to Rob's Sheep Sheering Demo, what a cool experience that was. It only took him about 2 minutes to sheer the whole sheep!

We then went off to an Eucalyptus Oil Distillery and met Edwina the Emu and fed her some lunch. On Kangaroo Island there are a lot of really cool little family owned places that make things that are local to the island like the eucalyptus oil and honey farms to name a few.

 This picture is at Seal Bay where a number of seals live in a National Park so they are protected. There only predator is a shark when they go out for 3 days and 3 nights to sea to get food to bring back to their families. It was really funny when we got to this beach instead of being lined with people tanning it was lined with seals sleeping!

We went to a Koala sanctuary where they are kept in a protected environment so they don't become endangered.

I finally got to see a kangaroo in the wild and feed it! It was incredible it just came up to me and started eating out of my hand!

Some of the scenery on the island is absolutely beautiful. These rock formations are called the "Remarkable Rocks" There are different rock formations that you can make different pictures out of, I had quite the imagination to say the least!

These are New Zealand Fur Sea Lions that we saw. I literally got to see pretty much every kind of wild life Australia has to offer here on Kangaroo Island. The island is very protected from predators and many of the species were introduced many years ago and the island acts as a sanctuary to these animals.

These are pictures of some of the other scenery I saw....

The best part about this tour was that it was only myself and another Swiss girl on the tour so it was very personal and we didn't have to stick right to the itinerary we were able to stretch our limits a bit and see a bit more then a regular tour would get to see.

The Group!

10 Day Safari from Broome to Perth

After I had saved all my hard earned money I decided to spend it go traveling before I depart Australia.

On the 12^th of May I boarded the Western Exposure Bus on route to Perth with 16 other backpackers like myself. There were 3 Swiss, 2 Americans, 1 Canadian and 9 Germans. I swear that half of the population of Germany is in Australia.

The first night we stayed at a sheep and cattle station called Paradoo Station. Accommodation this night was quite interesting 3 of us piled into a room that I didn’t even think would be possible. It was nice and cozy.

 The next day we headed for Karijini National Park where we spent the next 3 nights sleeping in tents. It was freezing in Karijini and the sleeping conditions were horrible but we got through it. In Karijini we hiked down into many gorges and scaled rock walls and did the all-famous Spider Walk. All of these hikes were so amazing but after 3 nights I was sure happy we were leaving and going back to civilization!

Our next stop was in Exmouth. It felt like we were staying at a 5-star resort but it was only a Backpackers/Caravan park. The facilities here were beautiful and the showers were hot! In Exmouth we went snorkeling over the Ningaloo Reef. I was speechless, this reef was so beautiful with vivid colours and amazing fish, we even got to see sea turtles, sing rays, and reef sharks.

On to Coral bay where we spent 2 nights, this time the backpackers wasn’t as nice but now I know that it could always be worse! We stayed in Coral Bay for 2 nights and 1 day. I went on a glass bottom boat tour over the Ningaloo Reef and snorkeled in 2 spots. I just can’t get enough of this reef. I’m defiantly coming back and next time my Momma is coming with me to experience the beauty of this reef!  We all gathered at the beach for a beautiful sunset.

Next stop was Monkey Mia and Shark Bay with a stop at Shell Beach on the way.  Shell beach is a beach that is totally made up of very small white shells. Its not the most pleasant to walk on or lay on but the beauty of the beach makes up for all of that!

In Monkey Mia we got to see a stunning sunrise followed by a dolphin feeding. This was a very quick stop because we had a lot of driving to do to get to our next destination of Kalberri, another national park! We only stayed in Kalberri for one night and we went on another hike to some lookouts and what is known as “Natures Window” We left very early the next morning and made out way to the final destination of Perth, along the way we stopped for lunch and went sand boarding, it was so much fun, and we also stopped at the Pinnacles Dessert.

I spend 2 nights in Perth at the worst hostel ever. This was the first time I didn’t stay at a YHA and I regretted my decision immediately. The 1^st night in Perth we all got together and headed out to the all famous nightlife district of North Bridge. The next morning we woke up and went to the markets in Fremantle, again another one of my favourite places. I did some sightseeing after the markets and headed up to Kings Park and watched a very beautiful sunset over looking Perth.

I have no been in Adelaide for 2 nights, I spent the day touring the Barossa Valley doing wine tasting, and another day sightseeing in the city, I did a really nice local chocolate factory tour, and as I sit here blogging I’m also indulging in my chocolate covered raisins! I have to say that Adelaide is my least favourite spot that I have visited so far in Australia. I don’t really know why but I just don’t “feel it” in this city.

Tomorrow I am leaving for a 2 day 1 night safari on Kangaroo Island, I have heard nothing but fantastic things about this Island so I can’t wait for the adventure. I’ll let you all know how it is when I return!