Byron Bay & A Very Wet Surfers Paradise

Byron Bay

We arrived in Byron Bay last Thursday morning, after a 14 hour Greyhound coach trip that can only be described as ‘less than comfortable.’ To be fair, the wifi and chargers were a great shout, but that didn’t do much towards my numb bum, cramped legs and sore side from having Jack constantly slumping over onto my side of the seat… We pulled in at 7:30am, and were instantly greeted with torrential rain and a group of very wet hostel workers barking at us to follow them if we needed transport. After about five minutes of blearily trying to find our luggage in the rain, feet soaked and freezing cold, we eventually made our way to Nomads, where we were able to shower, change and feel human again. Unable to check in until the afternoon, we took this as the perfect opportunity to bikini up (the sun was shining once again) and head to the beach. 
Byron Bay was completely different to Sydney, and for the first time in two weeks I actually began to feel like I was really in Australia. Instead of homeless people on every corner, there were street performers, and quirky boutiques with people walking around with surfboards under their arms - the atmosphere was so relaxed and laid back that I could see why most backpackers said that this was their favourite stop along the East Coast. 

First Week in Australia - OzIntro

Sydney Harbour

They say time flies when you're having fun, and boy were they right. My first week in Australia with the OzIntro team has been the most random, spontaneous, fun, drunken, and mind-blowing week I think I’ve ever had. Meeting some amazing new friends, the days just flew by and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye over one last goon session. From jet boating around Sydney Harbour on the Monday, to surfing lessons, Bondi volleyball games and a trek through the Blue Mountains, you really can’t say that you don’t get your moneys worth with this company. With an amazing group of leaders, we’ve not only been shown the beautiful sights of Sydney, but also the cheapest alcohol to buy and the best dance moves to bust out in Side Bar on a Tuesday night - everything a backpacker needs to know and more! 

Packing 101

48 hours to go and counting! 

If you know me, you'll know how much I hate packing. Like, really hate packing. I could be off on a fantastically exotic holiday, or just popping down to Canterbury for the weekend, and I'll still loath the task just the same. There's always that worry you'll forget something drastically important, or end up with too much stuff that your bag suddenly becomes a health hazard when trying to manoeuvre yourself down a crowded train carriage. These are both things that seem to occur for me on a regular basis - and let's not forget the time I packed in such a rush that when I went to pull my headphones out of my bag, my underwear that had become tangled also came flying out into the middle of the plane isle. Faaaantastic. 

For this trip I've purchased a 120L Karabar backpack (£20 from Amazon, what a snip) and just a regular, what I call, school backpack, for hand luggage. Knowing full well what I'm like, I decided to make a packing list in advance, and have been ticking off and adding as I go along - leaving no room for last minute knickers to come flying out mid-journey. It's been a hard task, with some emotional goodbyes said to my favourite boots, hoodies and oversized handbags, which have no place in an Ozzy Backpackers life...

So here it is, every little item I'm taking with me, helpfully split into sub-headings for your own...enjoyment? 

We've Booked!

'Come fly with me...'

So happy to finally say that after what feels like months and months of planning and talking about what we were going to do, Jack and myself FINALLY got around to putting our deposits down with OzIntro, applied for our work visas and booked our flights. It’s been a tricky process, with a ton of e-mails, phone calls and ‘reconvening’ Facetime sessions in-between, but thanks to the ridiculously helpful people at Gap Year Travel, we managed to find a changeable return flight with Emirates for just £900 and a discounted ten-night voucher for Base Backpackers Hostels, which are situated all over Australia. Admittedly, the pain for my bank account is far from over, as we still need to buy our travel insurance and pay off the rest of the package costs with OzIntro, but in all honesty I’m just excited to start thinking about the real issues - like what do I wear on the plane?!

No Longer an Ink Virgin

'Wanderlust - A Great desire or impulse to travel the world and rove about.' 

Snaphappy

The Canon PowerShot SX500 IS

I'm the first to admit that I don't know the first thing when it comes to cameras. If they take a photo, they're usually pretty fine by me. But the one thing I've been told the most, is that a good camera is vital when exploring another country. But where do you even begin? It's all megapixels this, and optical zoom that, and for someone like myself, it might as well all be written in French. For me the specifications were simple: small and light enough to move around with, good quality photos and videos, a Li-lon battery and most importantly - reasonably affordable! 

I didn’t get very far when I looked online, as everything that looked remotely like I wanted was all £250+. Then as if by magic, during one Sunday evening’s viewing of Downton Abbey, I saw the Canon PowerShot SX500 IS advertised from Argos, for a beautifully eye-catching £139. 16MP, 30x optical zoom and with a three-inch LCD screen, this camera is not only up there with the best technology wise, but also small, light and compact enough to make travelling with considerably easier. 

Shopping Around

Just a few of the options available to you

If like me, you’re choosing to go travelling with the help of a company and organisation, such as Bunac or STA Travel etc, it’s vital to look around and conduct thorough research before making any big decisions of who to go with. After aimlessly typing “working in Australia” into Google one day (no doubt I was probably sitting in a lecture bored at that time), I was overwhelmed by the amount of results and the vast number of choices available. For the first-time traveller, such as myself, I was looking for an organisation to fly out with, something that would introduce me to living in Australia and would eventually get me on my way to working and earning out there. Of course this isn’t everyone’s first choice. A lot of people don’t see the sense in paying £400/500 to get ‘settled in’, when they could just book a flight and work it out for themselves for free when they got there. That’s all well and true, but for those of us that like that little extra bit of security and forward planning, these are just a couple of the great options available...

Bit by the Travelling Bug

Well, okay, not literally. For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to travel. Even going back ten years as to when I started Secondary School, I can still remember that first ‘introduce yourself to the class’ session that every eleven-year-old child dreads. 

“Hi...I’m Chloe. I like to write and I want to travel the world someday.”

To be fair, eleven-year-old me knew what she was on about. Seven years on I chose my degree of Multimedia Journalism at Canterbury Christ Church University and so began my future of writing in a new place. Of course, Canterbury was hardly Timbuktu, and although my halls of residence were certainly questionable at times, I was hardly slumming it backpackers-style in a hostel somewhere. Nevertheless, those three years I spent away from home provided me with both the life and professional experience needed in order to one day make that big move abroad.