Hello everyone, today I want to share with you my story about life in Australia. I am from Russia, so I was thinking about traveling to Australia for a long time, I associated it with another world. A series of events in my life allowed me to bring this idea to life in the shortest possible time. First you need to get a visa, plan a trip, book hotels, buy airline tickets and travel insurance. The visa is issued quite simply through the website: fill out a form, attach the necessary documents, pay a fee of about $ 80. The review takes up to 2 weeks, my approval came on day 7. I have planned an extensive program to visit and try as much as possible in Australia. I booked hotels through the Booking application (I like it, prompt support in case of room replacement or cancellation of booking - not advertising!). I ordered tickets through Google flights (it is very convenient to compare routes and prices of carriers). I advise you to book everything in advance: for example, the minimum prices will be when booking 3 months before the trip. I booked for 2 months - saved money. I made insurance through the Tinkoff app (convenient and fast, plus the price for a large list of insurance claims - not advertising!). So: there is a visa, there is a program, there are tickets - and you can go!
Departure from Moscow, transfer to Abu Dhabi, the final destination, of course, Sydney. The flight takes about 18 hours. I was lucky, the economy class was full and I was transplanted into the Business class. Here I met the girl Varya, with whom we crossed paths in Australia more than once.
After landing in Sydney, I took a taxi and drove to the hotel. If you want to save well, use the metro or buses. I did not know about it and spent a decent amount. All the next day I spent in Sydney. This city is beautiful. So much has been said about it, so I’ll just leave a few photos and move on.
The next morning I flew to Coffs Harbor, on the golden coast. I was met at the airport and brought to the surf camp. Yes. What is Australia without surfing. The camp is a settlement on the coast, in the bay, where there are calm and medium waves. Here they teach both beginners and professionals. Mostly young people from 18 to 35 years. The setting resembles a university campus during the holidays. The most important thing here is to be friendly, relax and enjoy the ocean, sun and life. Training takes place in the morning and after lunch, self-serfing is possible at any time. I started with a long board, after 3 weeks I switched to the hard board. If you have never serfed on a board like me, then you cannot compare these feelings with anything. You seemed to have mastered the elements, merged with nature, there is only you and the wave. By the way, I rode with dolphins several times. They like surfers, but it can be dangerous. Dolphins can “play” and pull into the water.
One weekend I decided to go to the drop zone. Yes, I love skydiving and have been jumping since I was 14 years old. The airport was located at 1 hour from my camp. The best dropzone of those I have been to! The atmosphere is just bombing! All instructors and riggers are positive, professional people. I jumped 3 times on the leased system, everything went fine. After that, the guys invited me to a BBQ and offered to stay until the morning. I advise everyone to visit this drop zone. The funny thing is how I found out about it. I arrive at Coffs Harbor in the surf camp. On the baggage claim some guy asks me am I a skydiver? I was surprised, answered yes. How do you know? He shows me the stud on my neck. I received it when I passed a course of study a few years ago. So met. Prices are reasonable. The best head of the drop zone is Laurens, I met him at the airport. The best pilot is Dave! Guys, if you read this, then write to me in Google. We will be in touch!
The following week, I drove by car to Byron Bay. It is the capital of the night life of the golden coast. This is Australian Ibiza if you want. Insanely expensive prices for hotels and hostels, a sea of alcohol and fun. Party here around the clock. Then I bathed naked and did not sleep for a minute. The next day I visited the most eastern point of Australia and drank coffee there. By the way, you can get there on a rented bike for $ 10. The picturesque edge of the world.
Later I found out that one guy who worked in the kitchen goes to Thai boxing training. I asked for it with him. The teacher - the world champion in Thai boxing in the 90s. He moved to Australia 10 years ago and now teaches at his school. It was nice to learn new things and show yourself in business. I have been engaged in martial arts for more than 15 years: boxing, kickboxing and Thai boxing.
After 4 weeks I hit the road again. This time to the city of Cairns. This city is the capital of diving, because most of the tours to the Great Barrier Reef start from here. To dive on reefs you need to have a diver’s certificate. Mine has long been lost, so I decided to go through training and get a certificate again. 2 days we trained in the pool and worked out non-standard situations. Then we were waited by a 3 day tour on a yacht in the ocean on 5 different reefs. If you are in Australia, take time to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. This is something unimaginable - another world, another planet, and you are a pioneer. After 3 days, you get so used to equipment and water that you don’t feel them. All your emotions are focused on the study of plants and animals. I was lucky to see a shark, barracuda, turtle, lionfish and many others. I even took off flippers and walked along the bottom! They say that the sensations are the same as on the moon … well, it remains to fly to the moon and compare)
After returning from the cruise, the whole team of divers met in the pub and celebrated receiving new certificates, sharing their impressions, exchanging contacts. I had another day for exploring the city, because flights are not recommended after diving for the first 24 hours. Crocodiles are found on the coast, I did not see them, but people told me that they were dragging away even dogs walking near the water! The next day I was waiting for a long flight home, more than 25 hours in the air.
What can I summarize? Australia ranked first in my personal ranking of the countries I visited. There are not so many of them, about 15, but still. If you only thought about traveling to Australia - go! If you have friends in Australia - come to visit them! If you think where to buy or build a house - build in Australia! This is heaven on Earth.
Thank you all for reading. Good luck and vivid impressions!
