Flying from Japan, it was cheaper to fly to Cairns than a lot of other options along the east coast, and I had read that Cairns was a superb gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. So, that’s what I opted for.

My flight had arrived at 5 am, and it took me about an hour to get through immigration and walk and hitchhike into town. My couchsurfing host had left the door open for me in anticipation of my early arrival, so I walked in, laid on the couch, and passed out.

I awoke later to a full house. Along with the 2 hosts, there was another guest, and 2 more showed up later. We ended up spending a bit of time together talking, playing games, drinking, and just having a good time. When I wasn’t with them, I was off walking around the town.

The downtown area had a nice pool that you can swim in for free. I also thought it was funny seeing a fully decked-out Christmas tree in such a hot climate.

I walked to a lookout that afforded a decent view of the surrounding area as well as a botanical garden.

The warning signs everywhere about crocodiles were entertaining, but I never did see any.

The big thing I wanted to do was seeing the Great Barrier Reef. You know, before it all dies off… I found a company and booked a snorkeling trip. I could have tried diving, but I just felt like snorkeling, and it was cheaper, and that’s what I did for a day. We went to 2 spots, and it was incredible. I don’t have a waterproof camera, but another swimmer was kind enough to give me some of his photos.

After swimming, I treated myself to a big vegetarian meal. Eating in Asia was often difficult because of the language barrier, so it was really refreshing being in a country where I could just understand everything.

I was aiming to go to Brisbane next. That’s about a 24-hour drive south along the coast. I first looked into the bus or train, but both options were well over $300 AUD. As much as I try to avoid flying, it was less than half that to fly, so I opted for that in the end.

It was a quick flight to Brisbane, and it helped that I slept the entire way since I was still recovering from the previous day’s exhausting snorkeling and sun exposure.

Once I got to Brisbane, I took the local trains to my next couchsurfer’s place. The train system was doing some riders’ appreciation day, and all the trains were free that day. Lucky me!

The next day I checked out the city. Honestly, I found it kind of boring with nothing unique to report. It wasn’t bad, but I surely don’t plan on going there again.

Coming back, I tried to pay for the bus, but he said not to worry about it and let me get on for free, so I had that going for me in Brisby at least.

I then took the bus/train combo down to Coffs Harbour. I have a friend who used to live there, and she got me in contact with some of her friends. There wasn’t all that much to do in Coffs Harbour, but it was very relaxing nonetheless. It lies right on the beach, and I spent a couple of days just splashing around in the water and generally relaxing after so much moving around.

My friend’s friends were all really nice and accommodating and even took me around a bit to see some more of the area.

A few days of chilling there, and then I took the train to Sydney.

A friend of mine that I had met back in Namibia picked me up from the station. I stayed at her place, and we often went out. Unfortunately, the smoke from the bushfires was rather thick in the city, and we didn’t do so many outdoor activities. We did dip in a beach, and it was pretty surreal how the ocean blended into the opaque sky.

The public library was pretty impressive, and it had a few free exhibits on the inside.

Of course, she also took me to the Opera House.

We went to a climate change protest, which was very fitting considering the smoke caused by wildfires that were due to… climate change.

We visited Newcastle for a day, and I got the grand tour since she used to live there.

We also went on a bushwalk in the area. Serene and scenic.

I went off on my own via the trains to the Blue Mountains for a couple of days. There are a lot of bushfires in the area, but I made sure to stick to the parts that seemed to be under control. Honestly, I never really managed to get outside of Katoomba, the small town I initially went to. Most routes out into the bush were blocked off. But the scenery was still nice, and I did manage to set up my tent behind some bushes, and nobody was the wiser.

The next morning had even more smoke, and the haze filled my lungs and did put me into a bit of a coughing fit. My eyes teared up, and I was quite relieved to head back to Sydney where it was relatively clearer. The bushfires ravaging the country were making it unfavorable in the places I went. It must have been terrible for those much closer to the firestorms.

I ended up taking the overnight bus to Melbourne since it was about 100 bucks cheaper than the train or flying. I had originally wanted to go to Mt. Kosciuszko along the way, but to do that required going to the town of Thredbo. Unfortunately, it really didn’t seem like there were any feasible public transport options. In the winter, there are more options since people go skiing, but the summer is much trickier without a car. I therefore had to scrap my plans of climbing the highest mountain on one of the 7 continents, which can be done in just an afternoon.

I got into Melbourne at 6 am, but my couchsurfing host wasn’t available to meet up until late in the evening, so I just walked around with my backpack all day. I actually managed to see about half the things that I was keen on seeing in half a day, namely a lot of the street art that Melbourne is famous for.

It was just as well that I was only busy for half a day because it started raining, and I took refuge in the state library, which had plenty of space for me to sit down on my laptop and work on things. It also had the fastest internet I had experienced in Australia.

After visiting some parks, I went to my host’s house and hung out for the rest of the evening.

The next day, I walked down to Kilda beach. All along the coast, there are tons of nice enough beaches with barely anyone, but once I got to Kilda, it was packed. I don’t understand why people didn’t space out more instead of going to the super touristy and crammed part when there were other spots along the beach literally just minutes north.

I was looking for penguins since I had learned that they were often near Kilda Beach, but upon some further googling, I discovered that they are usually only visible at dusk when they come back in from swimming around all day. I did manage to spot one hiding in between the rocks, though.

I later made my way up to the National Gallery of Victoria, which is free to enter for the permanent exhibits. Otherwise, a lot of museums charge upwards of 20 bucks to enter, and I found that to be a bit steep.

Crossways was a vegan/vegetarian restaurant with free refills (so kind of like a buffet, but you just had to ask them for more). It was only $9 AUD, but he asked if I was a student. “Student of life,” I joked. He gave the discount no problem, so it only cost 7 bucks.

It was filling, delicious, and I loved their chilled attitude. Check it out if you go to Melby!

Melbourne is also known for its live music scene. I identified a bar not far from my host’s place that was supposed to do a show that night and went there. They unfortunately didn’t start till later in the evening, and they got a late start at that. My host was coming home close to midnight and wanted to go to sleep shortly after getting home, so I had a very narrow window where I could go back, lest I wanted to be out all night. Sometimes while staying at other peoples’ places and not at a hostel, you don’t get as much flexibility as one would want. All that resulted in me having to leave pretty much right as they were doing their sound check, which was kind of disappointing.

The next day, I headed off to the airport in the evening and arrived just past midnight in New Zealand.

I really liked Australia. It may have had something to do with going there after spending half a year in Asia—it was very convenient to just be able to speak the language and read everything. That aside, the people were all very nice. I couldn’t see nearly as much as I would have liked, largely owing to the fact that I was without a car and reliant on public transportation. I want to come back someday. Hopefully with one or more buddies and rent a car to truly explore the country more freely.