Travelling the Australian East Coast

Where to go, where to stay and what to do! 

Sydney - Base Backpackers

• Jet boat around Sydney Harbour
• Visit Bondi Beach and do the coastal walk
• Take a guided walking tour of The Blue Mountains 
• Have dinner at the top of Westfield Tower
• Take surfing lessons with MojoSurf
• Watch the Sunday fireworks at Darling Harbour
• Visit the Sea-life Aquarium 
• Have lunch in Hyde Park

Byron Bay - Nomads & The Arts Factory

• Take a day tour to Nimbin and stock up on green cookies
• Do the sunset walk up to the lighthouse
• Go down to the beach at night to watch the street performers 

The End of the East Coast

After two long months on the road, with nothing but a suitcase, backpack and a gradually decreasing bank account, our backpacking journey of the East Coast in Australia has come to an end. There’ll be no more weary morning checkouts, or sixteen-bed room shares - no more noodle dinners, chocolate biscuit breakfasts or McDonald lunches. No longer will we have to sleep curled up in the seat of a Greyhound bus for thirteen hours, or drag all of our worldly belongings behind us as we race to the bus station. But don’t let that put you off, because it’s safe to say that these have been the greatest two months of my life (cliché, sorry!) 

After quitting my job, saying goodbye to family and friends and moving myself over to the other side of the planet, I was soon doing things I could have only imagined. I’ve jet boated around Sydney Harbour and seen where Russell Crow lives. I’ve had surfing lessons from the best instructors in Australia, Mojo Surf, and I’ve hiked through the Blue Mountains with a friend of Steve Irwin. I’ve had a top-notch dinner at the top of Westfield Tower and been able to watch so many incredible sunsets in so many different, beautiful places. I’ve visited Steve Irwin’s zoo in Brisbane, canoed around the everglades in Noosa, and gone camping on the amazing Fraser Island. I’ve sailed around the Whitsunday Islands, slept under the Milkyway on a racing boat, visited the third most beautiful beach in the world and gone snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef itself. Last week I even jumped out of a plane at 14,000ft and did my first bungee jump. So yes, it’s been a pretty great couple of months!

Adrenaline Week

This week, or should I say, these last four days, have definitely been one for the bucket list. After finally making our way up to the top of the East Coast in Cairns, it was at last time to put our Raging Thunder vouchers to use. These included a 14,000 feet skydive at Mission Beach, a day of ‘extreme’ white water rafting down Tully River, and a 50 metre bungee jump at AJ Hackett. Rather than spreading these out, we decided it would be much more fun to cram them all in as close together as we could, leaving no real time to recover from the last activity and prepare for the next! 

All three came to just over $600 in total, and this is how they were…