All that pesky Australia planning!

Australia has been another bucket list item of mine since I was about 18 years old.  The only destination I wanted to visit more was the big apple but now that it's done, it's all about the Land of Oz!

Out of all the travel I have done, Australia has taken the most research - seriously, it's taken me hours and hours!  This is firstly because the country is absolutely massive and when you have to narrow down where you're going, you need to be sure you're making the right choices.  Secondly, due to the size of the country, different regions are like visiting completely different countries, so it actually depends what your are looking for when you visit.

Finally, I had to consider the time it would take to get from one city to another.  Usually this is as simple as jumping into a rental car or getting a bus or train, but not in the land downunder.

Take, for example, the distance between the neighbouring cities of Sydney and Melbourne.  Check them out on a map.  Pretty close right?

... yeah, you're actually looking at 878km or 545 miles (approximately the distance from England to Germany).

Okay so, there I was knowing that the average one-stop-over-flight to Australia is between 22 and 27 hours, and direct flights are not only rarely offered, but are several hundred Pounds more pricey than the already £800+ return ticket. How do you even decide where to start, or what to miss when a flight out there takes longer than a whole day of your life?

The first thing I did was read numerous travel blogs, spent ages looking through Australian Instagram accounts, and reading sites like Trip Advisor to find out what the 'must sees' in the country are.   Once I'd done that, I had a list that looked like this:  Alice Springs, Perth, Cairns, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania, and Darwin. No biggie - apart from the fact that those are just about all the major cities and the distance between - let's take Dawin and Sydney is almost 2000 miles/3000km.

Image from Google search

So it was back to the drawing board for me for the second time.  Eventually I had to admit defeat and realise that I can't do it all in one trip.  It would take weeks of travel and hundreds of Pounds and I'd just have to stop being a brat and draw the line somewhere.

After much deliberation, pouting, and looking at pretty pictures, I eventually decided to take 15 days in Australia, and visit only the cities that are nearest to one another - or perhaps I should say the cities that are in the same hemisphere of the country? 😏  My trip looks like this: Adelaide, Barossa Valley and Kangaroo Island, Sydney, Hobart city and Mt Wellington, and Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road.

As my time was limited, I didn't want to waste any time travelling and so I began looking up domestic flight companies.  Almost immediately I came across a company called 'Jet Star' who are absolutely amazing.  Not only are their flights very economical (all my domestic flights cost me less than £130), but they have all sorts of optional extras to keep the prices down.  The only downside is that, as with economy carriers in England, you only have 7kg of free cabin baggage.  If you want any more, you have to pay for it. Was I going to pay for it?  Hell no.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

My sister in law has been showing me these 'ranger roll' army-style packing videos on You Tube and I have decided I am only taking a small back pack containing the following items: 5 x pairs of leggings, 5 x tshirts, 1 x pair of trainers, a toothbrush, underwear, socks, and I will wear my winter coat, gloves, hat and scarf (believe it or not it gets really cold in southern Australia in the winter!).

And so, after two months of planning, I'm finally ready to go.  All I have to do now is wait ... 😞

That Big New York Trip (Part 1 of 5)

So the big New York City trip - where do I even start? Even the thought of trying to explain has put me off writing this post! The city was completely over whelming in the best possible way and it is for this reason I came home with 950 photographs, 25 'war' stories and 3kgs heavier!

I've decided the only way I'm going to get through this is to do it two days at a time.  There is just so much to filter and so much to tell!

Visiting NYC has been a dream of mine since I was about 17 years old (the age my son is now!).  I'm not quite sure why it's taken me so long to get there since I've travelled a fair bit over the past few years, but I can say it was well worth every second of the wait.

I've never been to America before but went all by myself.  This took some guts - and a whole lot of reading up on websites and tour guides about the dos and don't of NYC.  Unlike England, NY is not known for it's safety and as a single woman I have to say that it was something I was worried about before I went.  I'm not entirely sure how much of the crime hype is actually just hype but I can say that I felt completely safe in most areas.

I'm unsure of how one gets an impartial statistic on these things as I've read several websites showing stats that the city of London is just as violent as NYC, while other websites show that NYC is higher in homicide and gun crime but that London is higher in rape and knife crime.  Either way, I felt mostly safe and wasn't worried in the slightest whilst out and about during the day.  Admittedly in the evenings I stayed indoors but this was because as a visitor I wasn't aware of where the 'places not to go' were and so avoided any mishap of walking down the wrong street.  I'm going to assume that like any big city, NYC is a place you need your street smarts and you'll be absolutely fine.

I worked out that I was out for approximately 7 hours a day.  That 70 hours of sight seeing and during that time took almost a thousand photographs with each sight being more impressive than the previous one. So baby steps, small chunks and here I go.  The first two days.

Day 1 - Coney Island

Looking smug! Finally arrived at Coney!

Coney Island is a long-standing bucket list item for me, I first discovered it by accident when watching the dystopian style thriller 'Dark City' in the late 90s. In the film the main character is trying to get to Shell Beach which is a coastal town on the edge of the city that everybody talks about but that nobody seems to visit.  Somehow I got cross wired as a teenager and found this to be a pretty accurate description of Coney Island and have been fascinated with it ever since.

Coney features often in mainstream pop culture such as Men in Black (thanks, dad!), The Great Gatsby, numerous songs, TV series, video games and even in the theatre.  I'm not sure why it's so popular but it is definitely one of my favourite memories of New York City.

Don't buy cotton candy from this stall!  Although it was beautiful and looked just like in the movies, you'd pay $4 per bag.  In the local shops you can grab two pots for 90 cents!  Still the smell of melting sugar and other sweet things was incredible and it was nice to look at.

This the the 150 ft Wonder Wheel.  Built in the 1920s it is one of the world's only two eccentric ferris wheels.  You can read about this interesting attraction here http://www.axs.com/coney-island-s-wonder-wheel-not-your-typical-ferris-wheel-68367

A real-life freak show! I was so upset about missing out on this opportunity.  I walked for hours around Coney Island and this was my finishing point.  Unfortunately by the time I found it, it was time for me to begin my journey home.

This is Nathan's.  The websites tell me that this was the original home of the New York hot dog and that when you visit Coney Island you MUST visit here.

I'm not going to play it down - this was one flipping fantastic hot dog.  The sausage was fried (rather than boiled) and the squeezy processed cheese was surprisingly delicious.


Day 2 - Washington Square, NYU, China Town, SoHo and Nolita.

The most fascinating thing about the city has got to be the neighbourhoods.  Each one of them seems to represent a different culture and walking around the city from street to street is a testament of the diversity of the city.

Walking the neighbourhoods is like going to different countries every few blocks - and it's absolutely fascinating.  It's not just the contents of shops that change, but so do the nationalities, the languages, the signage and even the architecture. One minute you're walking past chic Manhattan boutiques and the next you're thrust into the middle of China!

I started off in SoHo (South of Houston Street), marveling at the yellow cabs, the green trees which seemed to line every pavement and the fascinating architecture.

On my way towards Washington Square Park, I passed a beauty salon offering a mani and pedi for $21 dollars - at this price I couldn't be expected to resist and started my morning by chilling out and being pampered. Of course by the time the beautician had upsold me a foot massage, plus the 20% tip I ended up spending more than double that amount but we won't talk about that little error.  It was well worth it anyway.

Buildings like this were so unexpected.  I've always thought of NYC as skyscrapers and new builds.  The architecture in the city is absolutely breathtaking and definitely one of my favourite things about it.

Did you imagine that New York City would be so green? It's everywhere!  So peaceful in the middle of such a busy city.

My first stop was Washington Square Park which is located right next to New York University.

The park was full of life (and students) and was a peaceful but energetic place to sit and take in the views.  Groups of students stood rehearsing a drama and another group sitting in a study circle.

I definitely thought that if I did my life over I'd have come to NYU to be part of that vibe.

The triumphant arch reminds me of something you'd see in Paris.

British style pub just off Bleecker Street - I just loved the building

My fantastic deli sandwich - pastrami, mustard, red onion and pickles. It was awesome!

Busy, busy, busy!

And then suddenly we're not in New York anymore! 

Even the buildings are different - look how little they are! Notice also the Italian colour scheme of the local businesses.

They even speak Italian!

A short walk down Mulberry Street and suddenly we're thrust into the heart of China Town!

From fresh fish to exotic fruit and vegetables, you can buy it all - on the sidewalk! So vastly different from the boutiques of Fifth Avenue.

Parasols, Chinese speakers and big open markets outside the shops.  You definitely wouldn't think you were in one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities.

As if a three hour non-stop walk wasn't enough, I decided to walk all the way down Grand Street to see what it would look like when I got to the edge of the city.  I found myself in the Corlears Hook Park overlooking the East River and Williamsburg Bridge.

FDR Drive which is just under 10 miles long and travels all the way up the east side of the city. It's MASSIVE - especially when you're walking across it.

Eventually my walk took me to the Lower East Side; an area originally populated and shaped by Eastern European migrants and the Jewish community.  It is said to be an up and coming area for artists and was originally a stronghold for hippies and then later for the punk rockers in the 1970s.

I love all the greenery in and around the city.

This looks like it would be such a nice place to live. I'll take it! :)