The journey begins: Off to Australia

Ina and I met in school. We attended the same grade for 7 years but never spoke a word to each other. In college, we met again and became friends. We quickly discovered that we both have the same dream. To travel abroad for a while. So we decided to make this dream come true after completing our studies. Thanks to the Corona circles, we didn't believe for a long time that it would work out. But the borders opened in time and so we started planning in December 2021. We applied for the visa, booked flights, and made all the necessary preparations. On February 16th, the time had finally come and we said goodbye to our families. We had a long journey ahead of us. First, we took the train from Duisburger Hbf to Frankfurt Airport. Melissa (the best person on this planet and best friend of both of us) surprised us at the airport, where we spent the last hours before our flight with her. We had a layover in Abu Dhabi. There we met Johannes, with whom we are still in contact today. He also wanted to spend a year in Australia and travel around with a car. We then flew on to Melbourne, Australia. The entry went relatively smoothly. The first thing we noticed was that the Australians are all very friendly. If you ask me today what I like best about Australia, I answer: The friendliness of the people. The three of us shared an Uber to our accommodations. Ina and I had booked an Airbnb from Germany with a great view of downtown Melbourne. We spent the next few days exploring the city. Melbourne is very beautiful. The skyscrapers are impressive. There are many parks with beautiful plants and the beach is not far away either. After 4 days in the Airbnb, we booked a twin room in a hostel in St. Kilda, on the coast of Melbourne. We had a 5-minute walk to the beach. There were many nice cafes and shops. In the evenings, the city turned into a party mile, just like our hostel. Since Ina and I are not the party people, we spent more time on the beach than in the bars. However, one bar stuck in my memory. The bar Banff has the best gluten-free pizza and 5 AU$ wine in the city. We wanted to find a camper as soon as possible during our time in Melbourne to start our tour. But that wasn't as easy as we thought.