| Well,
we did it! We flew the 23 hour each way trip down to Oz to
have an "investigative" holiday. The flights was
better than I had expected, but still damned long. We went
from 23 May to 7 June.
Both Melbourne and Sydney were lovely, despite it being Winter
there. In fact, we walked around in T-shirts, so it was really
not cold there and way warmer than the UK Winters. Australia
reminded us of a cross between South Africa and America, a
lot like South Africa without the racial politics.
Melbourne
was great and a good opportunity to meet up with an old school
friend (18 years since I last saw him) and his family. Dylan
was eager to meet Connor (his son), so we made a point of
trying to meet up with them wherever we could. It is a small
city and very scenic, particularly with the massive Port Phillip
Bay it overlooks. Within easy driving distance are vineyards,
ski-slopes and brilliant surfing beaches so a very attractive
place ('specially given they also host the Australian F1 grand
prix).
Sydney
was stunning and better than we expected, but that's probably
why property prices are so high. Sydney Harbour is huge and
really pretty so makes most places really scenic too. We stayed
in the heart of the city and were surprised at how pleasant
the city was. We visited the main sites, the Harbour Bridge,
Opera House and Taronga Zoo.
Overall,
Australia is clean, the people are friendly and there's plenty
of sun and good weather. The down-side is that the cost of
living isn't really much cheaper than here in the UK...
You can see our pictures by clicking below, but do read the
instructions on the starting page to learn how to move through
the collection. [Photos]
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