Angela Killian

The first memorable trip I took after moving to Thailand was Australia in 2011. I was a Primary 1 school teacher at the time and had 1 full month of school holidays September – October. We booked a cheap flight with Air Asia. It was $300 USD for each round trip ticket. The flight was really too long (9 hours) to fly a budget airline which is known for its tiny seats and no food options. They literally ran out of hot food so we had Pringles and Diet Cokes for dinner.

Our first stop was Melbourne for 3 nights. We were not prepared for the cold weather, which would become an ongoing theme in our future holidays. After a lot of cancelling and rescheduling we got tickets to the Sound Wave Revolution Festival. They advertised huge headliners such as Aerosmith, but they all pulled out last minute because the organizer was an alleged asshole.

My favorite part of Melbourne is the Fitzroy area which is overflowing with quirky fashion, art galleries and gourmet coffee houses.

We met up with some Couch Surfers who took us to a seedy, drug-user friendly club where the Melbourne Shuffle was invented. The regulars had on $2,000 raver pants and there was baby powder all over the floor. Disgusting, hardcore and awesomely authentic. They also had $5 wine, which was barely drinkable, but cheap nonetheless.

After that we rented a campervan with Awesome Campervans and drove the Great Ocean Road. This drive is a must-see in your lifetime.

The only way to do it is by campervan because the best places to stay are campsites. The campsites had nicer showers than the one in my Thailand house, plus you don’t have to setup or breakdown camp every day. Just close the car door and you’re ready to get on the road! You would have to rent a car to explore Australia anyways, so you might as well live in your vehicle.

In The Grampians we camped with Kangaroos and Koalas. Kangaroos are known to be evil and likely to claw your eyes out, but they were relatively friendly in The Grampians.

We hung around the campfire with the locals in the surf town of Torquay.

They served enormous burgers “with the lot” and fish n’ chips. Jeez, I don’t know how we didn’t get fatter on that trip.

Along the way we visited the famous Bells Beach and surf museum.

Most campsites had fabulous showers, outdoor grills, kitchens and washing machines. Don’t even worry about booking / planning ahead because there are hundreds of clearly marked campsites along the road. Just make sure you pay the camping fee if applicable. Most places were on the honor system, especially if you arrive in the middle of the night. We were happy to pay the $5 to $15 fee in exchange for the amazing views and facilities.

Sydney was nice for 1 or 2 nights, but I didn’t care for the nightlife. The music and bars were sterile and outdated, yet still managed to maintain an air of pretention. You have to take an obligatory selfie in front of the Opera house. There is a great park nearby where several fitness enthusiasts run and do circuit training.

The best part of Sydney were the Couch Surfers who took us to 90’s music night at a local club.

Byron Bay was a great stop off. There is a nude beach called Belongil that’s just outside of town where we saw humpback whale breaching while we were swimming in the nude. You can’t buy a tour package and experience that! The nightlife was so-so, but it was off-season and perhaps we were a bit too old for the scene.

We went to the infamous Nimbin for some hippie culture. Sadly, the town was all but deserted and we only took one picture there. They did have some cool crafts, are and a basic campervan site, but it should have been more of a day trip.

We ended the trip in Surfer’s Paradise, which is the classier version of Daytona Beach. There are a few pub crawls you can join. We joined one and were surprised to learn that everyone else was 18 or 19 years old. It’s hard being a mid-20-something in Surfer’s Paradise, but we had a blast nonetheless.

The Marriott we stayed at has a reef inside the swimming pool.

A Couch Surfer who had stayed with Joe in Orlando years before met up and took us out one night. She was the drunk one in the bunch and ended up throwing ice all night and wandering off in her stilettos. Aussies know how to get down!

We learned that there are several rules to be followed in Australia, so be sure to do your research. Melbourne has the dreaded “hook turn”, which I never figured out how to accomplish,

I got a $200 speeding ticket from a sky cam and taxis can only pick up in allocated locations. They were nice enough to mail it all the way to my house in Thailand so I paid it to ensure I was still welcome in their beautiful, rule-ridden country. Australia is also one of those places where buying a pint out is just as expensive as having a beer at home. The cigarettes are also wildly taxed at around $10 per pack. Hit up the airport duty free if you plan on getting your drink or smoke on. As for other substances, Aussies are known to be partyers and the hard stuff is readily available for the right price. Cannabis is illegal in The Oz, but you can still find it if you meet the right people, like most places in the world.

The minimum wage is very high in Australia in comparison to the cost of living, which is also high. The quality of life in The Oz is amazing. There are several mediocre quality, overpriced restaurants because everyone can afford to drop $100 on a meal out. Pricing strategy was the strangest part to me. For example – in a truck stop – bottle of water= $3, cappuccino= $3, fresh juice= $3. All drinks were priced basically the same. Every low end meal out was about $25 per person, so be prepared! We spent $12,000 USD in 1 month and we were camping half the time – yikes. We also didn’t go without adult beverages and did some mid-range shopping along the way.

In America we have “rednecks”. Australia’s equivalent are called “bogans”. We ran into a few bogans and like most Aussies, they are friendly and fun-loving.

Australia also has the best collection of slang words ever. Some words have spread worldwide because Aussies are travelers.

McDonalds= Mackers

Tank Top= Singlet

Sunglasses= Sunnies

Jealous= Jealy

Spring Break= Schoolies

Swim Suit= Swimmers

Party Foul= Taxi (If you are so drunk that you spill a drink / break a glass, etc. you need to take a taxi home)

Burger King is called Hungry Jacks and there are so many others that I can’t recall.

We also noticed exclusive large groups of girls and large groups of guys at clubs / bars. In America everyone is concerned about going out with mixed groups, but in The Oz, every night is girl’s / guy’s night. This was refreshing and old fashioned in a way. Australia is also known for its music festivals, which I hope to see more of in the future.

Australia is a must- see for everyone. You can be as adventurous or tame as you want in The Oz. There is truly something for everyone! I hope to go back some day as a tourist, but my dream would be to settle down there because it’s such a lovely country.