Travelling the East Coast of Australia

After 6 months in Melbourne working, saving, planning, saving more, I finally, FINALLY set off to travel up Australia's East Coast at the start of April for a 4 week long trip. A holiday from my working "holiday". The East Coast is the most travelled part of Australia and the majority of backpackers will travel up or down starting in Sydney or Cairns either by hiring a van or car or on a greyhound or premier bus. After weighing up the pros and cons of hiring a van (pros - more independence and flexibility, cons - cost, space, fear of breaking down on the road) we decided against it and bought a hop-on-hop-off Greyhound bus pass from Sydney to Cairns, stopping off at:

Sydney, Byron Bay, Brisbane, Australia Zoo (day trip), Noosa, Fraser Island (3 day tour), Agnes Water (Town of 1770), Airlie Beach, Townsville, Magnetic Island, Cairns.

Australia is an astoundingly beautiful country. This is hard to realise when you're in the midst of a city and only hit me when I really got out and explored. I was craving a change of scenery and wanted to take advantage of the national parks and spend as much time in nature as possible. I headed to the Blue Mountains as soon as I could whilst we were in Sydney and I was not disappointed. The mountain views were breathtaking. It was strange to experience the landscape change so drastically only 2 hours out of one of Australia's biggest, busiest cities.

I loved seeing Australia's diverse landscape change the further we went up the coast. Cairns was tropical with humid days and warm rain. There are huge curtain fig trees in the middle of the city and at dusk they are loud with the sound of bats awakening and flying through the city. Moments like that hit you and make you remember that you're in another part of the world that's foreign and exotic and exciting. We walked through the rain forest to Behana Gorge and it was hard to believe you're in the same country when you compare it to Melbourne's cool climates.

Behana gorge was one of my favourite places. Some of the National Parks like the Blue Mountains are very touristy and you have to trek for a couple of hours before you find a quiet spot. The gorge was huge and there were only a couple of other travellers there when we found it, and for a good hour we had the whole place to ourselves. Maybe the walk put's people off - 45 minutes up and down steep gradient paths was hard work but you can jump straight into the cool lagoon pools at the gorge.

My favourite places were the smaller more laid back towns and the islands as it made such a refreshing change to big cities and busy party-vibe backpacker hostels. Magnetic Island had something really special about it, with huge rocky landscapes and coves and beaches. I fed Rock Wallabies at sunset and saw a baby Wallaby poke it's head out of it's Mum's pouch. I loved Byron Bay for it's laid back vibes, abundance of surfers and effortless beach cool. I loved Agnes Water's quiet, small-town comfort. It was so relaxed and I had no problem surrendering to the fact that my phone had no signal and dedicating my time there to exploring and taking it all in.

I fed Kangaroos. I held a python, a baby freshwater crocodile and a small turtle. I swam through the Great Barrier Reef which made me feel heavy in my chest as it's just so bleached now. I was surprised that it made me feel so sad. Travelling up the East Coast really reminded me how incredible nature is and how amazing the Earth can be, but it can be destroyed so easily.

Backpacking Australia is very different to South East Asia. Australia is full of tours, day trips and guides to destinations that are difficult to reach if you don't own a vehicle. Because of this, I did feel a little like I was on a package holiday at times rather than really travelling. SE Asia felt so much more adventurous to me. I imagine if you hire a campervan or own a car then it may feel a little different as you'd have a little more freedom and independence to explore the country.

It also goes without saying that travelling Australia is expensive. We went just out of peak time (November - March), so hostel prices had dropped slightly and there was always space for us to book a day or two before, which gave us flexibility. A lot of people we met had pre-booked their entire trip beforehand so that they didn't have to worry about it during their trip. This is probably a very wise idea in peak time as things get booked up fast and prices for tours and accommodation escalate quickly.

It sounds like I'm stating the obvious here but for me, travelling Australia was so much better than working it and being settled in one place. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't seem to fully relax in Melbourne. Being stuck in one place was also shaping my opinion of Australia as a whole even though I knew it was such a huge country with so much more to offer. Seeing more of it made me appreciate how beautiful it is and how different each place can be. I fell in love with it a little more as each new place revealed something new and wonderful.

It's easy to fall back into a routine quickly when you settle down in one place, and it's also tempting to stay put for a long time not just for comfort, but to save money. I've met a good few people who come here and find a job that allows them to save a lot whilst maintaining a decent lifestyle. Before they know it they've spent their whole year in one place and they're quite happy to just go home with their savings. The East Coast was an expensive trip and it was a little disheartening to see 4 month's of hard-earned savings blown in 4 weeks, so I can understand why this is unappealing to some. However I think that it's a shame to come all this way and not even scratch the surface of such a vast, diverse country. Don't forget the holiday part of your working holiday visa! It's a big beautiful world out there, take the chance to see it.