Well...Road trip with Dani (31.8.-20.9.)

After over four weeks of traveling, the first three weeks together with Dani. On September 31, I reluctantly left the house and my roommates. Susanne from Germany picked me up. I found her as a travel companion on Facebook, and she was kind enough to pick me up. I preferred to drive to Sydney instead of flying because of all my luggage. Surprisingly, my backpack wasn't enough, so I borrowed a roommate's suitcase. In the end, I packed way too much unnecessary stuff and sent it back to Melbourne by post from Brisbane. But you never stop learning.

The drive to Sydney took 11.5 hours. Once we arrived, I checked in at the hostel and picked up Dani from the train station a few hours later. It was crazy to have someone from home suddenly here! And on top of that, my travel buddy.

Together, we explored Sydney for a few days before picking up our rental car.

We visited all the tourist attractions in the city on foot, went to a cat café (not recommended) and watched a movie at the cinema ("Book Club", highly recommended!). We partied until the early hours at a 90s party (filled with young people who probably weren't even born in the 90s). We drove from Bondi Beach to Dover Heights to swing in front of Sydney's skyline and then continued on to Watsons Bay. It's a beautiful spot. We took the ferry back to Sydney, enjoying the sunset along the way.

After getting our fill of city life, we couldn't wait to get out of the city and into nature.

After picking up the rental car and surviving the first few kilometers on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road, we arrived in the Blue Mountains. Unfortunately, we only saw something on the day of departure, as our attempt at hiking failed due to rain and laziness. Luckily, we're both good at relaxing together, something we've mastered for a long time.

We then continued on to Newcastle, where we stayed a bit longer to go on day trips. The beach there was beautiful, and I even managed to go for a jog. We walked along the coast and took a day trip to Nelson Bay. We went out to sea for whale watching and actually spotted some whales, along with a bunch of dolphins. We went sandboarding in Anna Bay, enjoyed the sun and the beach, and filmed a lot of videos. We're going to be big stars someday!

From there, we drove to Port Macquarie, with a stopover in Crescent Head and South West Rocks to experience more beautiful beaches, nature, and kangaroos in the wild.

In Gulmarrad, we stayed for one night in a beautiful Airbnb. Finally, no bunk bed and a bathroom with a shower that I could enter without flip flops. The next morning, we were woken up by parrots outside our window, and there was a little wallaby hopping around in the garden, which the hosts even allowed us to feed. A new, beautiful place where we could see so many stars.

We then continued on to Byron Bay, one of my favorite places so far. We had an incredibly good accommodation and enjoyed our time there so much that we extended our stay twice and skipped other planned places. Everything here was so wonderfully relaxed (like us). The beach was just around the corner, there were plenty of small shops, and delicious food and smoothies everywhere. Exactly my kind of place! Along with Victoria from Scotland, we hiked to the lighthouse and the easternmost point of Australia. It was sooooo beautiful! There is no other way to describe the trip and the country. There is soooo much to see.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay here forever and had to move on to Brisbane to return the car. We visited the Botanical Gardens and the city. There wasn't much else to do there. And because we wanted to do something special but everything great was already fully booked, we decided to drive to the Australian Zoo, founded by Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. The woman at the travel agency assured me that it wasn't a typical zoo and that the animals there were free...blah blah, Apparently, she just wanted to sell a tour. So, we didn't find the zoo so great, as the animals had very little space, and no one could really explain why they were there and not in the wild. Oh well. I then made friends with the poor pigs in the petting zoo.

And just like that, the shared journey was over, as Dani flew back to Germany from Brisbane. On one hand, I was looking forward to spending time alone again, but on the other hand, the farewell was not easy, and I felt almost as lost as I did when I arrived in Melbourne. A bit lost. Dani helped me book a car, so it wasn't an option for me to go back to Melbourne right away. That's what I would have preferred to do initially because I was scared again of everything that was to come. It was great that Dani visited me here because we had a really good time, and she practically lured me out of Melbourne. Otherwise, I would probably still be there.

So, I stayed alone in Brisbane for a few more days and picked up my car on September 24, embarking on the next adventure! Because only by doing what scares me will I move forward. And fear is just in the mind :)