Home Sweet Home!

I am back in Wollongong after a two-week trip around Australia and Indonesia. It was absolutely the trip of a lifetime, full of laughs, adventures, complications, learning, relaxation and pure joy. The trip can never be described in words or pictures fully, but I will try to give a brief overview of each destination to give a general idea of what I experienced.

Perth: I took a train to Sydney from Wollongong and from there caught a flight to Perth on Saturday, September 18. Travelling in Australia is much easier than America, and I thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of freedom I got from crossing the country alone. In Perth, I met up with my three travel companions. While I was only in Perth for a night and a morning, I felt that I was able to get a feel of the city and Western Australia. Although it is mostly mental, I undoubtedly felt more isolated and removed from home and “the world” in Western Oz. A large majority of the country resides on the Eastern coast, leaving Perth all alone. It gives the city an interesting feel, as it is closer to Asia than to its fellow capital cities on the East coast. Further, It is the most affluent state in Australia and this was very apparent as we walked along the beach near our hostel and drove to and from the airport. On Sunday morning we boarded a plane at Perth International Airport headed to Densapar, the city in which the Bali airport is located.

Bali: On the flight to Bali we flew over northwest Australia- the most desolate place I have ever seen. There are hundreds of thousands of acres on which only one family may reside. In Australia if you spread all of the people out, there would be two people in every square kilometre, and over 90% of Australians live on the coasts. It was an interesting view from above to say the least. What a strange lifestyle! Upon arrival in Bali, I experienced immediate culture shock. It was busy, confusing and a bit dirty in the airport. We struggled our way through customs and currency exchange (after being warned we may be ripped off, we were sceptical). We caught a taxi to Legian, the touristy city just outside of Kuta (the capital) where we were staying. We stayed in a beautiful hotel with a pool, restaurant and easy access to the beach. The streets are full of Indonesians selling cheap goods, shopping is one of the biggest activities for tourists there. The American dollar is worth about 8,500 Indonesian Rupia, we ended up paying no more than 20 dollars for various items including, dresses, hats, dinners, and art! Bali was definitely the luxurious part of our road trip; we spent most days either in the ocean or at the pool. The ocean is significantly warmer up there than in Wollongong so it was lovely to be able to swim without hyperventilating. We went out a few times at night and met a lot of very cool Australians on holiday. The Balinese people were awesome, however it did get old being hassled for your money every time you walked down the street. One day we rented motorcycles to get around the island and saw so many wonderful things. The architecture is so uniquely Bali it is absolutely exquisite. We accidentally got lost, ending up in a “neighbourhood,” and we were saddened to recognize the reality of the island people’s lives. A majority of the people live well below the poverty line, and that is not easily recognizable when you stay within the resort areas. Another day Janon and I went to a wildlife reserve in which we got to play with monkeys and tigers and ride an elephant! It was the most incredible experience; the monkeys are so human like your heart just melts when they reach out for you to hold them. One night we watched the Rugby semi-final in a bar with all of the Australians and the Sydney Dragons ended up winning. I haven’t been so into a game in such a long time! The Australians passion for life and sport is certainly very contagious. Bali was the biggest culture shock I have ever had, and it definitely wet my palate for further travel adventures to exotic places! The only downside to Bali was the tendency for it to rain for several hours every morning. Both Bali and Australia are very outdoor destinations, and the rain really put a damper on our fun. Fortunately, It cleared up every afternoon and we definitely needed escape from the sun, so we would sit under umbrellas and read.

Darwin: Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory in Australia. It is very multi-cultural and has the largest Aboriginal population out of all the places I have seen. We flew from Bali to Darwin on Sunday night, arriving around 5:30 am after a gruelling time in the Bali airport and torturously long delays. We rented a car so we could drive around 3 hours to get to the famous national park in the NT called Kakadu. We arrived there around 9 am completely exhausted and it was excruciatingly hot. While this was probably the hardest day of the trip, we still managed to take advantage of the incredible location. We went on a hike that leads you past rock art done by the aboriginals hundreds of years ago. It reminds me a lot of the cave dwellings and rock art in America done by the Native Americans. The history behind it was fascinating. There was a lookout on the hike that gave one of the most awe-inspiring views I have ever seen. We sat in wonder and reflection for well over an hour. Each of us commented that it reminded us of the scene in The Lion King when Simba is held up for the entire kingdom to see. That night we stayed in an awesome campground with a pool (thank goodness) and a great little kitchen where we got relief from eating peanut butter sandwiches and made spaghetti. The next day we set off to drive back to Darwin via several little towns to catch a flight at one am. The trip turned out to be a true adventure, as we stopped in the world’s smallest town and filled our unleaded car with diesel on accident. The town of 30 people seemed to come together to help us get on our way again, a case of true Aussie hospitality. We then planned to stop at some natural pools along the way that turned out to be closed because of a crocodile sighting. Very disheartening. We ended up heading straight to Darwin and finding a salt-water lake to swim in to get relief from the sweltering heat. The worst part of the NT is because of crocodiles the ocean is off limits. That night we boarded our last plane, headed to Brisbane- commonly called “Brisvegas”.

Brisbane and the Gold Coast: When we landed is Brisbane we headed to “Wicked Camper” to retrieve our home on wheels for the next week. The van we got was a Toyota Mini Van well past its prime with Billy Idol painted obnoxiously on the side. Billy as it came to be known became very dear to our hearts; I now understand how some people get attached to their cars. The first day we went to a Koala and Kangaroo sanctuary where we were able to feed kangaroos in an open field and interact with them. Surprisingly, I had been in Australia for three months and this was my first encounter with a kangaroo! Brisbane is the third largest city in Australia and definitely the most “American.” It is the California or Florida of Australia, giving it a very different feel. Below Brisbane is what’s called the Gold Coast, a very popular vacation spot. The next day we went to Surfer’s Paradise, which felt a lot like Miami. The weather was awful the entire time we were road tripping so beach time was out of the question. We walked around the strip and looked at all the luxury shops before returning to our campsite in the middle of the city (what a weird clash of environments) to get ready for our big night out in crazy Surfer’s. The nightclubs are glitzy and too wild for my taste, but when in Rome… The next day we continued our journey down to Byron Bay, which turned out to be my favourite place I have seen in Australia. It is the real surfer’s paradise; it is filled with backpackers, surfers and a lot of really chill people. It is a lot like Boulder, Colorado. There we met up with some friends from Wollongong, walked around the town and just took a breather from the whirlwind of travelling we had been doing. We had our only meal out of the entire week while in Byron at the Sushi Train, and it was well worth the wait, yum! We took a daytrip to a strange little town called Nimbin. It is set inland from Byron, the vegetation looked a lot like English countryside (or so the girls that have been there say). It is a community that came together when the Australian government elected to make marijuana illegal. “Hippies” from across the country congregated in this little town to fight this new law tooth and nail. The law enforcement has turned a blind eye to Nimbin and it has become a place where people live their lives to buy and sell weed. The stores sell paraphernalia, there is a museum that explains the history and the people are all very passionate. While I didn’t participate in this “alternative lifestyle” it was fascinating to see the village and the people that inhabit it. There are 70-year-old men with dreadlocks and bell-bottoms and women with rose coloured glasses and peace signs around their necks. Travel is about broadening the mind, and Nimbin certainly stretched mine!

The last day we were supposed to take one more stop as we made our way back to Sydney but the rain continued to fall and we had had just about enough of being soggy in our leaky van. We decided to drive 12 hours straight to just get to our dry beds! It wasn’t the best end to the trip, but our two weeks were so amazing not much could have ruined them. Obviously four paragraphs doesn’t do such an adventure justice, but it is important to me to attempt to give you some idea of what I experienced. Arriving “home” I realized how much I really do think of Wollongong as my home and these people as my friends. At the same time, as time is dwindling I find myself excited to go back to Denver, and see my friends and my mom and dad! It is just enough time for me to enjoy here, yet I know that the end is in sight, and part of me is very excited about that too. I am very content now, and about as happy as I can ever remember myself being. Life is such a blessing, and mine is the best J Love you all, keep in touch! xxx