Earlier this year I had a chance to tag along with my dad to visit Australia for two weeks, but unfortunately it was not a fully vacation because I still had classes and my dad was on his job duties. I believe everyone has that traveller soul seek inside them in spite of the fact that we always fell in love with the city that we have never been and places we have never seen. So I couldn't resist this trip and so I skipped classes ( work hard, play harder in this case). To be honest, I was not prepared to be a city wanderer. While my dad was working, I was exploring the city and yes all by myself. This is a bonus trip because we had a chance to visit both Melbourne and Brisbane!
After 8 hours flight from Bangkok to Melbourne, I was too excited to have jet-leg or what-so-ever. The moment we landed and I stepped on the land that is well known for its nature conservation, organic stuffs and what else, beautiful beaches. I knew right in my guts that I was going have a good time here even in a short period of time. We arrived at night so there was nothing much to do but to checked-in at the hotel and waited for the sun to rise. I set the alarm for 6 am so i wouldn't miss the sunrise since we have the perfect view from our hotel room where we see the city and the Yarra River. I prepared myself for the next day by studying the city map and tram routes which got me confusing for a day or two. The morning came early than i thought, as promised the golden sun slowly rose up and awaken the city. It was surely a good vibe. Watching from the window I saw people started to come out, some having rush hour some were jogging by the river in the park across from our hotel called the Batman Park. Crown plaza is considered the center of everything, the tram stop is in front of the hotel and a few blocks away across the street are restaurants and food center.
On my first day, I decided to visited the places I did a research on before the trip which one of them is Chapel St. yes, fashion street. From the hotel I walked through the city to get to Flinder Station, the famous tram and train station in Melbourne. I strolled beneath the skyscraper and old style buildings, this city is a perfect combo of modern and vintage. Surprisingly, I didn't do much shopping but found myself visiting all the cool cafe and restaurant around the city, couple my favorites are the Manchester Press and the Kinfolk cafe, great food and well decorated place!
Some people might think walking alone in a big city would make you feel lonely, but not for me. For me, to travel alone is to have time with yourself to absorb all the goodness, it was like taking time with every moment in front of you. While strolling down the street, I saw the city's life, the people and the surrounding which naturally inspired me one way or another. A week past by so quickly that it was time to say goodbye to Melbourne and hello Brisbane. The city is much smaller and not as energetic as Melbourne but it is very peaceful. It is a working city I would say, as the street is crowded with mostly working peeps. Luckily, my dad's friend offered to take us to Gold Coast aka Surfers Paradise, It was an hour drive from the city. As we got to the beach, it was partly cloudy and super windy since it was an unexpected trip so my clothing wasn't really suit the sea-sand-sun situation much. The never-ending beach goes on and on as we drove along the coast line to find a place to park to take pictures. The salty air and the sound of the waves made me never wanted to leave, now I know why they called it surfers paradise, not sure if those surfers catch good waves here but I definitely feel the good vibes, I mean you don't have to be a surfer to call this place paradise.
Overall, this trip was nothing but happy and fun. I had the best time and Australia has become my favorite, there is no doubt that I will definitely visit it again soon!
