My Second Month in Australia

I've been in Australia for two months now, ahhhh. How did that happen? Where has the time gone? I guess time really does fly when you're having fun - and I'm having a blast. My second month has been just as fun, if not more so, than my first. I've met more new people, travelled a few new places, explored more of Sydney and just generally have been having a great time.

So I guess the biggest change of my second month is that I moved. I had been an Au Pair for a family in Balgowlah, but I switched families and now I live in Kensington. While I do miss being a ten minute bus drive from Manly, I actually much prefer Kensington. I'm closer to both the city and the airport. I now have my own little self contained flat so when I finish a day working I have my own space to chill out and relax.

It was my Birthday at the end of April and I flew up to Cairns for a long weekend to celebrate. Cairns was awesome and had such a different vibe to Sydney. First of all it was 30 degrees and I burned to a crisp (who's shocked? I'm not). I stayed in a 'party' hostel called Gilligans - it was actually very good. They had $4 dinner offers on and different drink offers between certain times which really helped, especially when on a budget. I spent the Saturday morning doing a tour of Green Island, which is one of the Great Barrier Reef islands. It was absolutely beautiful. The sand was soft and white and the sea was a beautiful blue colour. I walked around the island and I snorkelled. The snorkelling was great, though if I were to go again I'd make sure that I did an outer reef tour so that I could see the reef better, as Green Island had a lot of bleaching. On the Saturday afternoon, I headed back into Cairns and did the skyrail up through Kuranda Forest. It was stunning. There was green for miles. It was honestly breathtaking. I spent the Saturday night at the hostel getting drunk with my friend Jed and listening to live music.

Green Island

View from the Skyrail

Skyrail station in Kuranda

On the Sunday I did an all day waterfall tour with Uncle Brian's. I'd heard good things and had been recommended it off my friend Jade. It did not disappoint. My tour leader, Joey, was funny (even at 7am when everyone just wanted sleep). I spent the day walking through rainforests, swimming in waterfalls and old volcano craters and eating lots of food. It was a brilliant day and I met some lovely people. It was a wonderful weekend and I can't wait to explore more of Queensland.

Babinda Boulders

Josephine Falls

A week after I returned from Cairns, I was off on a cruise to the Pacific Islands. I was going with the first host family Id been living with and they were kind enough to pay for my trip. The cruise was with Carnival. I'd never been on a cruise before and I wasn't really sure what to expect. Luckily I've never suffered from sea sickness but I still found myself feeling a little apprehensive about it. As it happened, when we left for New Caledonia we were actually following a tropical cyclone that was headed there too. I remember one night I was laying in bed and the sea was ridiculously choppy, I felt like I was on some sort of oscillator. The two days at sea there and back felt long and I did find myself feeling quite claustrophobic. The cruise did have loads of entertainment on throughout the day and night to try and cater for everybody.

Opera House from the Cruise

However I must say that the islands were absolutely beautiful and I probably would never have seen them otherwise. The first stop was Isle of Pines, an island owned by France. It is breathtaking, seriously. It is nicknamed "the closest island to paradise" and I can totally see why. I have never seen so clear or so blue before. The island itself was so minimal and not at all westernised, I think that's why I loved it so much. The natives are some of the kindest and friendliest I've ever encountered.

Isle of Pines

The second island was supposed to be Lifou Isle, however it had sustained too much damaged as a result of the cyclone. Instead, we stopped at Mystery Island in Vanuatu. The island is uninhabited because the locals who live on the mainland in Aneityum believe that it is haunted. There are no roads, no running water, no electricity, no plumbing. It is as basic as it gets and it's amazing. You can walk around the whole island in an hour. The weather was fairly windy and overcast for the first few hours but then the sun broke through the clouds and it was beautiful. Mystery Island, though less beautiful than Isle of Pines, was actually my favourite island of the whole trip. It just had this really nice feel to it. All of the other cruise passengers got off the ship and just landed on the beach, so I walked a little further where nobody else had stopped and it was so quiet and peaceful.

Mystery Island

The third island and my least favourite of the three was Nouméa, the capital of New Caledonia. I think the reason why I disliked it so much was I'd spent two days on islands that were super basic and Nouméa was the complete opposite. It was so westernised and just like being in France. There were still pretty areas to it, especially Lemon Bay where I walked along the sea front.

Nouméa

The cruise was definitely a different experience, one that I'll not forget. Though I'm not sure I would do another one, I still feel very grateful to have experienced it.

In terms of exploring Sydney, I have really fallen in love with Glebe. It's a lovely small suburb with shops, cafes and restaurants along the main road. There is a lovely park called Blackwattle Bay and it overlooks the Anzac Bridge. It is so peaceful down there and makes for a really lovely walk. Glebe is also around a twenty minute walk into the city and there's a fairly large shopping centre called The Broadway very close that I've been to a few times.

There is also a three week outdoor lighting festival taking place in Sydney called Vivid. It's an annual event including music, lights and ideas. The city has immersive light installations and projections all around the city. Sydney looks absolutely beautiful all light up.