Aaron Around The World >> Oceania >> Australia
Australia (9 February - 3 March 2012)
Ahhh Aussie, New Zealand's big cousin across the 'ditch' with no shortage of healthy rivally between the two countries, and where this travelling thing I've been doing for over seven years now all began. For me personally, Australia was all about catching up with family that I hadn't seen in years, and the chance to revisit and refamiliarise myself with some old haunts. The intial plan was to do the entire east coast of Australia from Melbourne right up to Cairns, but Kristina and I decided to crop it down and finish in Brisbane instead - more on that later. Our route map and itinerary are below.
Click a link below to get into it and 'meet' my father who I hadn't seen in six years and my adorable wee half sister who I hadn't met at all, and my aunt who I hadn't seen in I don't even know how many years hehe - terrible!
And that was Australia in an all-too-short nutshell, but unfortunately time and expense won out (mostly time). Kristina needs to be back in Texas by May, and Australia is the most expensive country we're doing on this trip and is such that it was the most logical to cut short. The original plan was to continue on from Brisbane for another fortnight and finish up in Cairns, and as awesome as that would have been, it came down to a choice between that or doing the Central America leg of this trip. Central America won out easy hehe. Despite that, we still managed to cover three major cities, a ton of beaches, and a few other random goodies. Plus it was awesome to catch up with some of my family after so long, and to revisit Brisbane where my travels around the world began back in 2005 and where this website was born. Furthermore, I've decided I could definitely live in Sydney - something to keep in mind for down the road perhaps.
For my American viewers out there, if there is one thing I would really love for you to take away from this is that New Zealand and Australia are two separate and distinct countries! Why so many Americans think that they're both one single country or that New Zealand is the capital of Australia etc. is beyond me hehe. Regardless, all too many travellers simply palm New Zealand and Australia off as being virtually identical in what they have to offer, and as such pick one over the other to explore without giving the other a shot. This too is just plain wrong, and I hope I've been able to show that. New Zealand and Australia are both stunning countries, but stunning in their own unique way and not like the other. I've always said to anyone who has ever asked my opinion that if you're going to do one then you should really endeavour to do the other too since they're only a three-hour flight apart after all. However, I'm also well aware that not everyone is able to spare at least three months to do what Kristina and I have just done.
All totalled we covered the best part of 3,000km on the road to add to our appalling carbon footprint. And now we're going to ruin it some more with three flights across 26 hours to Central America!
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