It was about 2 months ago that I mentioned that I’m going to be spending this summer in Australia. A lot has happened since then planning wise, as I now have a rough itinerary!
Image courtesy of Flickr user Marxchivist.
So here goes:
24th June: Fly out of Heathrow
26th June: Arrive at Sydney (after a stopover in Kuala Lumpur) at 8.00 to be greeted by my friends Evie, Alex and Alice. Go to Canberra with Evie.
27th June-1st July: Acclimatising, getting over jetlag, doing stuff, shouting at the football at about 4am as it will be the knock out stages of the Football World Cup
2nd-9th July: Fly to Townsville with Evie for a bit of Australia A (cricket) action, catching the sun as it will still be nice and warm up in Queensland and some touristy bits.
10th July-14th July: Go to Brisbane for a little more Australia A action, catching up with Evie’s friends, some more touristy bits. If England make the World Cup Final (it won’t happen but stranger things have happened) then I will have to watch that. Also planned is a trip to the Gold Coast!
15th July-17th July: Go to Byron Bay, leave on the 17th getting the overnight train to Sydney.
18th July-25th July: Sydney! Much planned like the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, getting the ferry to Manly, going to the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground) and the Olympic Stadium (where Jonny Wilkinson kicked THAT drop goal in November 2003). Going to see Kasabian on 24th July.
25th July-29th July: Back to Canberra, few days of resting after our epic East Coast trip!
30th July-1st Aug: Evie and I embark on one of our legendary rugby weekends in Melbourne consisting of plenty of banter, lots of red wine, and the small matter of Australia v New Zealand – *bounces excitedly about going to a Bledisloe Cup match* Oh and the tour that we’re going on gets us a free Wallabies shirt each (I didn’t say I was going to wear it) and the chance to meet the players – for my 18th Birthday Evie got a load of the players to sign my birthday card, best birthday card EVER.
1st Aug-7th Aug: I’m actually going to go backpacker-style for this. Following my friend Larina’s great time in Melbourne by hostelling recently I’ve decided that I want to hostel too! I have YHA (Youth Hostel Association) Membership so I can get a discount at the Melbourne Metro hostel ($182 for the time I’m there compared to $203 without the membership), or there’s the NOMADs option which Larina went for which has more Brits and costs $210 for my duration.
8th-14th Aug: Fly to Brisbane to spend some time with my Dad’s cousin, David, and his wife, Claire. Only his parents have been over to see them previously so this is a first for the family having someone else come over!
15th Aug: Fly back to Canberra
18th Aug: My birthday! Doing stuff with Evie then.
19th Aug-2nd Sept: I don’t have much planned for then, was planning on sticking close to Canberra and Sydney but if anyone else has any bright ideas for something I could do in that time then comment on the post!
3rd Sept: Fly home from Sydney
4th Sept: Arrive at Heathrow (after another stopover at Kuala Lumpur) fairly early in the morning
