I was down in Australia for a total of 90 days (that is the maximum amount of time you can stay if you are travelling with a visitors travel visa), including Christmas, or in Aussie slang, Chrissy! I know it may be a bit early to be talking about Christmas, but it's suppose to snow tonight, and in my mind, the two go hand-in-hand.
However, in Aussie-land, snow and Christmas have no relation.
Christmas Eve was spent sailing through the Whitsundays, a beautiful collection of 74 islands along the Great Barrier Reef, where we took a lovely picture to send home to our Canadian families (this may or may not have been the winter Calgary hit -47 degrees). Thoughtful, no?
On Chrissy morning, we woke up to the sun shining on the deck, as the thermometer read 45 degrees (it was only 9 AM). You might also be shocked to know that in Australia, they still decorate Christmas trees and use Santa Claus themed decor, even though you can eat Christmas brunch in your swimsuit. Americanization in the country is very apparent at this time of year.
One thing I could not get enough of, especially during the holiday season, were 'Australia's favourite biscuits', Tim Tams. I am pretty sure you can now purchase them at your local Real Canadian Superstore, but they were a serious guilty pleasure at the time.
OMG Megan! Australia! That's awesome! It is my dream to go to Australia one day. I'm actually even looking into doing a semester of school there in the future. I'm not sure about you, but I absolutely adore Australian accents. What an amazing experience your vacation must have been. Too bad the visitors travel visa is only good for 90 days. What other things did you do while in Australia, other then celebrate Chrissy?
ReplyDeleteHey Riley, thanks for the comment!
ReplyDeleteI travelled up the east coast while I was there, so from Melbourne to Whitsunday's (where the Chrissy picture was taken). It was amazing. I highly recommend you get down there if you ever have a chance! The good thing about the visa is that it's good for one year, and as many 90 day intervals you can fit in. This meaning, that if you leave the country (even for a day), within the year, you can enter the country again for another 90 days. You just have to be out of the country to re-submit for another 90 day visit. I believe a lot of travellers will hope over to New Zealand to explore, and then go back into Australia for another 90 days. The biggest issue is probably saving up enough to hang in Aus for a year and not work! I would even highly recommend getting a work visa if you go down there.
We did a lot of surfing. There are so many small surf towns along the east coast, and every town offers surf lessons (private or group). Music festivals are AMAZING down there as well, if you are into that. They are almost every weekend during the summer months. We went to Stereosonic and Summer Dayz. Both were amazing. They also have amazing food and shopping, each town has something unique to offer!