Now or Never

When planning out Australia we decided to split the trip between the greater areas of Melbourne (south coast) and Sydney (east coast). A budget airline redeye from Singapore into Melbourne had us feeling “extra refreshed” and ready for 11 days down under.

Ian’s friend Greg, who we also met up with in Dubai, recently moved to Melbourne with his wife Nico and they were generous enough to let us home base in their new house. However, before we even really settled into Melbourne, we set off on a road trip along the Great Ocean Road with our friend Anisa (from our Bay Area days) and her boyfriend, Travis, who came down for their own three-week vacation around Australia.

The Great Ocean Road is a 150mi coastal stretch just west of Melbourne which was primarily built by former WWI soldiers and dedicated to those who lost their lives – it is considered to be the world’s largest war memorial. With its sweeping coastal views, cliffs, and beaches, it reminded us quite a bit of Highway 1 along Big Sur in Central California. Over the course of the next few days we went on hikes, stopped at some scenic beaches, and checked off nearly every animal on the classic Australian wildlife sightseeing list.

Our visit to Melbourne also coincided with the Australian Open, which meant the city was buzzing after we came back to town for the weekend. The two of us decided to split up for a day – Ian went to check out the tennis festivities with Greg, Nico, and their buddy Chris, while Abby went with Anisa to Phillip Island, known for the tiny penguins that come to shore every evening (unfortunately no photography allowed…). Once back together we capped off our time in Melbourne with a good ol’ Australian BBQ at Greg’s place. Couldn’t leave without tossing some shrimp on the barbie!

From Melbourne we took a short flight up the coast to Sydney where we met up with two more California friends, Michelle and Taylor, who flew down from Queensland after arriving in Australia the week before. We booked an Airbnb together near the center of town for our four days in the city. Collectively we had one main priority – beach time with some sightseeing (aka the Sydney Opera House) tossed in between. Fortunately we lucked out with some picture perfect weather.

After walking around the city the day we arrived, the following morning we hopped on a ferry to Manly Beach, considered to be one of the best in Australia and one of Sydney’s surfing hubs. The ferry ride from the center of town offered up some epic views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House as well as the homes hugging the coast en route to the open ocean. The beach itself rivaled anything we’ve seen in California or Hawaii and even had quite a bit of surf – tempting enough for Ian to rent a board for an hour at a shop across the street.

The next day we made our way to the world famous Bondi Beach, kind of like the Waikiki of Sydney. We were warned by several locals when we were in Melbourne that Bondi is an overcrowded tourist hub. While we found that to be partially true, it was also the starting point for a beautiful cliffside coastal walk. The coastal walk connects Bondi with a few other more laid back beach coves, each with their own public salt water pool at one end built directly into the surf. The blue water and huge houses along the walk made it seem like we were transported back to Southern California. Out of all the stops along the way, Bronte Beach was our favorite – highly recommend.

Somehow after two straight days in the Australian sun we escaped with getting only a little sunburned. We spent our final day recovering from the sun while also checking out the Australia Day festivities (similar to their 4th of July) which happened to be taking place during our last full day in the country.

Next (and sadly final… ) stop on our around the world journey, 39 days in New Zealand!