Australia-the land of infinite wonders

Australia, the land of infinite wonders! we had no idea that our initial plan to visit Australia would actually go through. However, after six months of organizing and being ready, we left Mumbai to begin our amazing voyage. We began our journey by admiring the grandeur of Changi Airport and taking the metro to get between the terminals. I tried to find the lovely waterfall at the airport, but at first I couldn’t find it! I went to the butterfly garden and enjoyed a delicious supper at the airport.

Singapore- Melbourne

We checked in through Changi for Melbourne. First long international flight experience ever! But the flight was at 2:30 AM in the morning, so most of our journey went to sleep! We landed around 10 a.m. in Melbourne our first destination from the infinite land of wonders. We completed the immigration process. Bought a new SIM for communication from the airport, and left for the Hotel Batman Hills on Collins, Victoria. A guy came to pick us up from the airport to drop us off at our hotel. We just checked into our apartments, something different than usual, with rooms having kitchen setups, hence called apartments. We got freshened up, and we met our fellow cousins to begin our next journey. Then we went for lunch at Nando’s and had a good time roaming around in trams.

Puffing Billy’s Railway

This trip was completely planned by my sisters. We rented a Kia Carnival, and opted for a self-drive vehicle. We started our journey; it was around two hours’ journey from Victoria to Puffing Billy’s Railway, Belgrave, Australia. It is a train where you can sit on the window by putting your legs out. It takes you to beautiful scenic locations, which you can view by yourself. We could only explored our single journey through puffing Billy’s, but it was beautiful. So after returning to the station, we had lunch at a café, where we had burgers and starters.

Penguin Parade

And we started our journey to the penguin parade. By the time we reached there, it was already dark. But the penguins were still out and roaming, so we could at least see them live before they went back to their cave.

Australia, the land of infinite wonders Great Ocean Road- 12  Apostles’

For the second day in Melbourne, we decided to visit the Great Ocean Road and visit the 12 Apostles’. Australia is truly a land of infinite wonders.

The sunset was about to happen, and we just reached the 12 apostles’. We could see the naturally formed stones situated inside the ocean. We tried exploring more about it, and we found that the stones were formed by erosion. The harsh and extreme weather conditions of the Southern Ocean gradually eroded the soft limestone to form the caves in the cliffs. which then became arches that eventually collapsed, leaving rock stacks. The stacks are susceptible to further erosion from waves leaving eight standing at the Twelve Apostles’ viewpoint. I still can’t get over the mesmerizing sunset, and I captured that sunset on my phone forever.

Melbourne- Launceston

After a bag full of memories from Melbourne, we left for the next destination. Launceston another land of infinite wonders. With the morning flight, and within 1.30 hours, we landed in Launceston. As usual, we picked up our self-drive vehicle from the airport and left for the hotel. Where we checked in and left for local sightseeing. We wanted to visit the Gorge’s chairlift. We had the Turkish wrap and hired the cab for Gorge’s chairlift. It is one of the most iconic experiences in Launceston. Spanning 457m across the Cataract Gorge, the views of this beautiful location are breathtaking. It can be enjoyed by visitors of all ages. Staying and traveling across the world gives you the privilege to shop at their local stores. Such as Coles and Woolworths. And get some amazing things that you might not get anywhere else.

Bay of Fires

The next day, we woke up, had our typical English breakfast, and left for the bay of fires. The Bay of Fires is a bay on the northeastern coast of Tasmania in Australia. Extending from Binalong Bay to Eddystone Point. When we visited the place, it was a nice, windy, and pleasant atmosphere over there with little or no crowd. We enjoyed our time till sunset. As the pictures taken were so amazing, and it kind of stayed in our memories forever.

After literally searching on Google, we got to know why this place is called the Bay of Fire. The bay was given its name in 1773 by Captain Tobias Furneaux in Adventure. Who saw the fires of Aboriginal people on the beaches. The Bay of Fires is a region of white beaches, blue water, and orange-hued granite. A wide range of activities can be pursued in the Bay of Fires are. Activities such as camping, beach activities, boating, bird watching, fishing, swimming, surfing, and walking.

We had a great time self-driving to Bay of Fire. As we stopped our car in the middle of the road. Where there were no lights except for the car headlights. And when saw it up above in the sky, it was completely covered with stars. We never get to see such a clear sky full of stars usually. But it was kind of an unusual day. Where we could discover the milky way in the sky with no clouds. After that we came home after having good Indian food in the restaurant. We packed our bags for our next destination Sydney.

Launceston- Sydney

Another beautiful destination from the land of infinite wonders! We’ve always heard in the movies or series and stories that we were going to visit the destination. I was so excited about it. We checked out of our hotel, took our Kia Carnival, our true companion throughout the journey. We headed towards the airport, where we had to take the next flight to Sydney. After reaching Sydney, checked into our hotel rooms in the evening as we were so tired. Hence we decided to have dinner. We searched for a nice Indian restaurant, and went there for dinner.

We explored the places nearby, and we came across various restaurants that were multi cuisine. Some of them were Chinese. Some of them were Vietnamese, so we decided to go to the Indian restaurant for some nice Indian cuisine. We used to have whatever pocket friendly get for lunch. But for dinner we always made sure to have Indian food. So our day was over, and we came to our hotel and set for the second day.

Taronga Zoo- Sydney

Our second day was for Taronga Zoo in Sydney, so we had booked our tickets for Redbus. It is a city tour bus that gives us a guide about the places. It would help us decide where we should be going and what points should be covered. We had to take a boat to reach the other side of the shore, called Taronga Zoo. Taronga Zoo is a government-run public zoo located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is in the suburb of Mosman, on the shores of Sydney Harbor.

We visited the zoo, and we saw different animals from various countries, and those were beautifully preserved. In the evening, we came to the opera house. We could not take our eyes off of its beauty. We spent our golden hour, which is nothing but sunset, in the evening over there. Then we left for dinner! Our first day was over in Sydney, and it was dark in the evening. So we slept before we got ready for the next adventure day.

Blue Mountain Tour

Day 3 was the Blue Mountain Tour in Sydney. The Blue Mountains are a rugged region west of Sydney in Australia’s New South Wales. Known for dramatic scenery, it encompasses steep cliffs, eucalyptus forests, waterfalls, and villages dotted with guesthouses, galleries, and gardens. Katoomba, a major town in the area, borders Blue Mountains National Park and its bushwalking trails. Echo Point affords views of the storied Three Sisters sandstone rock formation. So it consists of a ropeway and it is the steepest train. It consists of the skyway that takes you to the different parts of the blue mountain. First we went up with the help of the rope way, where we stopped and roamed around clicking beautiful pictures.

Then we came back in the afternoon, where we had a nice lunch with Chole Kulchas. We continued our journey to the next steepest railway that takes you down in the mountains. We followed a nice jungle trail and finished it by walking there. And we came back again with the help of the sky way. So we finished our blue mountain tour and got back to our return journey to the hotel. After dinner, we got ready for our next destination, which is Cairns and the Great Barrier Reefs.

Sydney- Cairns- Great Barrier Reef

We took a flight from Sydney to Cairns for our next destination. As soon as we arrived there, we checked into our apartments and headed for dinner. As mentioned earlier, we used to search for nice Indian restaurants for our dinner, and we found plenty of them. We had a nice North Indian dinner, and then we came to our hotel for the Great Barrier Reef. The largest coral island is where we get to see the corals in the sea. We took a speed boat that dropped us off at Fitzroy Island, and we stopped there. We quickly changed our clothes to swimming costumes and spent the entire day on that island.

To carry out the snorkeling activity, we went to Nude Beach by climbing the Rocky Mountains and jungle trails. The Great Barrier Reef, as the name suggests, is an island of corals. Where you get to see different corals on that island. We spent the entire day snorkeling, enjoying the blue water view of the Pacific Ocean.

Hot Air Balloon Ride

We had already booked our tickets from India for the hot air balloon ride. We left early in the in the morning at 4:30 a.m. Where a bus came to pick us up and take us to the hot air balloon point. It was a nice location where open farms could be seen. We were given some basic instructions on dos and don’ts. While doing this activity, and we chose the morning slot so that we could see the mesmerizing sunrise. It was our first ever experience in a hot air balloon, and the sunrise view was breathtaking.

The authorities had arranged some champagne and a nice fun learning activity with them to make it more memorable. We returned to the hotel and we geared ourselves up for our next activity, which was Daintree Rainforest. It was a Daintree River Snorkeling activity. We hired a cab for St. Port Douglas, The Daintree Officials arranged a pick up for the activity.

We had a few other passengers with us as well. It was a jungle trail and a river activity. There we did snorkeling as well as adventurous river rafting. at the end of the day. Also we had a lazy river activity. where we experienced the peace and beauty of the Daintree rainforest. We came back to Port Douglas, and we came back to Cairns after 2 hours. of car travel. So we concluded our Cairns journey with these beautiful memories.

Cairns- Byron Bay

After Cairns, our next stop from the infinite land of wonders was Byron Bay and Gold Coast. We took a flight from Cairns to Gold Coast. We hired our Kia Carnival, and we came to Byron Bay, where we had booked our apartments in Discovery Park. The apartments were nice and spacious; we got 2 bedroom hall apartments, each with an in house kitchen. We arrived in the late evening, so went to Robina Mall in Gold Coast for some shopping for our dinner.

Discovery Park offers nice cozy rooms but is scariest at night. At the same time, it was wonderful as well as scariest at night; nevertheless, we had fun. The next and last stop of the trip was Gold Coast. We had to complete around 1 hour and 33 minutes by car, so firstly, we visited Cape Byron Lighthouse. Which was nearest to our hotel, so we checked out of our hotel after having a belly full of breakfast. Cape Byron Lighthouse sits on Australia’s most easterly point, shining a light over Byron Bay. We witnessed the beauty of the transparent blue sea and clicked some nice pictures over there. Then we left for the Gold Coast.

Byron Bay- Gold Coast

On the last day of this beautiful journey we woke up. Had our breakfast and we geared ourselves for the world’s fastest boat ride. We booked our ticket for the Jet Boat Extreme, which was just near our hotel location. It was nice cold and windy weather this morning. We had our breakfast and prepared ourselves with all the gear, goggles, and everything else. We had a nice time and adventurous boat ride over there.

Jet Boat Extreme is Gold Coast’s number one jet boating experience. It will give you that adrenaline rush you’ll never forget. It’s the most fun and exciting adventure thrill jetboat ride on the Gold Coast. Experience the thrill as they deliver speeds of over 80 kph with the 650 hp twin jet-power turbo engines. So we had a nice ride over there, and then we left for the Sky Point. It was the highest view point in Gold Coast. It was on the top of 77.th floor where the elevator just drops you off in 5 minutes.

The view was breathtaking; you can see the coastal line from the top and the blue sea and white clouds. We completed the activity, did some shopping. Had a wonderful last dinner together for one last time, and packed our bags for our return journey. Which was the most difficult part of this trip. Saying good bye to the infinite land of wonders was truly difficult for us. Hence from our trip experience we can say that Australia is truly a land of infinite wonders!