Sydney, The Whitsundays & Melbourne – January 2019
PHOTO GALLERY
DAY 1 – (Sat 5th Jan 2019)
Super, super excited to be back in Sydney despite it being 36 degrees when we land at 8:30 in THE MORNING! This was Lee’s first time to Australia and my first time back since 2012.
Felt very grateful to have Sully (and Sophia) pick us up in their air-con car and drive us back to theirs in Narraweena where we were greeted by Carly, Olivia and their 12 week old pup, Charlie. It wasn’t long before we were treating ourselves to a dip in their pool.
With it being such a glorious day Carly made us a picnic and we headed down to North Curl Curl beach for a few hours, however come mid-afternoon the weather turned and so we raced back before any downpours. Later that evening Lee and Sully bonded over beers and FIFA (in Sully’s man-cave) whilst Carly and I headed to Manly for dinner to catch up with Jenna, Vanja, Liz and Sophie. Very proud of myself I made it to 10pm before falling asleep.
DAY 2 – (Sun 6th Jan 2019)
We caught the bus down to Manly and walked along the beach front, through the corso and then caught the ferry to Circular Quay. Not the normal spectacular views I was hoping for, but the grey cloudy skies didn’t dampen our spirits, nor Lee’s excitement as we approached Sydney properly for the first time. A bit drizzly we walked along to the Opera House, then onto the Rocks and had some drinks at the Tap Room whilst fantasising about moving here (all driven by Lee).
We strolled through the markets and grabbed some sushi for lunch before heading to The Glenmore Rooftop Bar (an old favourite of mine) for another drink before slowly heading back to get the ferry home. Treating ourselves to an Uber we headed back to Carly and Sully’s and had a lovely roast chicken for dinner…which was quite fitting for this disappointing weather.
DAY 3 – (Mon 7th Jan 2019)
Woke up to see it was a another shoddy day for weather. Despite that at 8:30am, Lee and I walked down to Dee Why beach front to get some breakfast. We later found out that Carly had directed us the long way and so we ended up walking 40 mins in the rain. Worth it though because we had an amazing brekkie at SeaChange (mine with a ridiculous amount of salmon). Sully picked us up and took us back to theirs where we needed to make a wet weather plan, so Carly and I went to the mall for an hour whilst the boys played FIFA.
Later that afternoon the four of us got an Uber down to Manly Wharf and had a gorgeous boozy lunch at Hugo’s. From there we walked along the Corso and had another drink at The Greenhouse (which used to be Shore Bar). The Sully’s then left us to pick the kids up from pre-school and so Lee and I took a slow walk along the beach to Queenscliff, then grabbed an Uber back to theirs via the mall AGAIN, as Lee was desperate to by some trainers!
DAY 4 – (Tues 8th Jan 2019)
Finally woke up to a bit of blue sky and could tell that eventually it would be a lovely day. Along with the Sully’s, we drove up to Palm Beach, where Home & Away is filmed and walked up to the lighthouse, which at this point in the day was mega hot. However, it was worth it for the views.
Kim, Siobhan & Oscar then joined us and the 7 of us had a lovely lunch at the Boathouse (booking in advance advised). I had a pint of prawns. Such a lovely spot. We then took a little dip in the sea before heading home. Carly and Sully then dropped us off at Woolworths in Dee Why where we grabbed some steaks for dinner, we then caught the bus home to chill for the evening, after a quick dip in their pool.
DAY 5 – (Wed 9th Jan 2019)
Another early start (which I hate to admit, I see the benefits), Sully drove us down to Manly so we could have some beach time and he could go surfing. We left him to it and Lee, Carly and I walked over to Shelly Beach (one of my favourites) where we sunbathed and swam. Sully joined us by 11am, we had a few more hours on the beach before walking back, grabbing some sushi and heading to the Wharf Bar for a few beers (Aperol Spritz for me). The Sully’s left us for family duties and so Lee and I wondered the corso, had a drink at Hotel Steyne, grabbed a slice of pizza that we ate on the beach, before getting an Uber back to the Sully’s. We then had a few drinks and a lovely BBQ with Sophie and Nathan.
DAY 6 – (Thurs 10th Jan 2019)
First morning that we’ve actually slept in late, what a treat. I think the jet lag might have finally passed. After breakfast we packed up our suitcases, got an Uber to Manly Wharf and jumped on the fast ferry to Circular Quay. We’d Googled bag-storage and found that there’s a thing called ‘Bag BnB’ so we dropped our suitcases off in a nice gift shop and strolled up and down George and Pitt Street. (And to mums delight I finally closed my Aussie HSBC account from when I lived here in 2010).
We then hopped on the train to Milson’s Point so I could show Lee Kirribilli and where I used to live. We had lunch there before walking back over the Harbour Bridge and finding ourselves back in the Tap Rooms for another beer (another cloudy day so day-time drinking is allowed – but actually I don’t need to make excuses, we’re on holiday!). Towards the end of the day with suitcases in tow we caught the ferry to Rose Bay as tonight we were going to be staying with Jennie and Aaron in Bellevue Hill. After dropping our cases off at theirs, we walked towards Bondi to Lox Stock and Barrel, the restaurant she’d booked for the four of us to have a dinner.
DAY 7 – (Fri 11th Jan 2019)
We woke up thinking it was a cloudy overcast day but how wrong we were! We walked down to Bondi with the view of doing the Bondi to Coogee walk; but first we had breakfast at Le Paris-Go Cafe (my first helping of avo on toast) which was lovely.
9am and by now the sun was fully out and I’m gutted that we didn’t bring our beach stuff, regardless we wandered down onto Bondi Beach and dipped our feet. From there we started the Bondi to Coogee walk but only made it as far as Tamarama (literally the first beach you come to) as it was too hot and we didn’t have any water with us. Epic fail!! But on a plus we arranged to see Kim and her boys.
Hot and muggy we walked back to Jennie’s in Bellevue Hill and grabbed our beach stuff, Kim then picked us up and took us over to Nielson Park, a gorgeous little beach on the harbour side which I’d never visited before. Fortunately, this beach has a shark net and so it meant we could potter about in the sea much more relaxingly and not having to keep one eye open for sharks, like we had done at all the other beaches. We spent about an hour and a half there before going back to Kim & Mike’s for a quick bite to eat but then shortly afterwards making our way up to Pennant Hills to stay with Matt and Emma for the night. 90 mins later Matt met us at Pennant Hills station and via the ‘bottlo’ we head to theirs for a lovely (indoor) BBQ, a good few drinks and a game of UNO with the kids.
DAY 8 – (Sat 12th Jan 2019)
We had breakfast with the Welham’s before we said our goodbyes and Emma dropped us off at a bus-stop which happened to be in the middle of the freeway!! 20 minutes later and we were pulling into Wynard – amazing! We quickly headed back to Jennie’s to grab more clothes for the Whitsundays and then got an Uber to Kim’s surprise bday lunch at North Bondi Fish (with a last minute sprint as Lee had actually ordered the Uber to a random Bondi Fish & Chip Shop, rather than this trendy eatery).
So great to see Kim’s happy face and to also catch up with Nush, Eric and JB etc. On top of that the food was gorgeous and the bubbles flowed fast. Another super hot day it was good to be in an air-conned place but still with beach front views. From there we took a short walk to the Bucket List and the merriments continued for quite some time. I then randomly bumped into Stan, Fay and Mickey which was great. Not wanting the party to end, Lee, Siobhan and I got the bus back with Kim and Mike to theirs, where we caught up with Mary-Lynn, drank more wine and ate pizzas. Lee and I then got an Uber back with Siobhan to their home in Leichhardt where we briefly got to see Brett before our heads hit the pillow.
DAY 9 – (Sun 13rd Jan 2019)
A holiday within a holiday we were up early to catch our flight to Airlie Beach and grateful to Brett for kindly driving us to the airport. Two and a half hours later and we’re in Queensland, making our way to Airlie Beach via the Airport Transit bus. As we get closer I’m getting more and more excited, partly because I’m hoping to feel like a young backpacker again and secondly because I can’t wait for Lee to experience it all. Nervous about the weather, we soon realise that it pours and pours with rain one minute and it’s hot and sunny the next, so really we probably don’t have anything to worry about.
After checking into Magnums Hostel (and having flashbacks to my visits in 2008 and 2011) we then go and get our ‘boarding passes’ for our sailing trip the next day, grab some sushi rolls and head over to the lagoon (fake beach /pool) to cool off…before the next downpour. Making the most of hostel life we then spend the night drinking $5 beers, ordering 2-for-1 pizza for dinner and chatting to a random 22yr old called Jacob from Austria.
DAY 10 – (Mon 14th Jan 2019)
We got up and went and had a lovely breakfast at Village Café, next door to Magnums, before coming back to our room to pack up our things, including packing a small zip-less bag for our boat trip. We checked out and wandered over to Explore Whitsundays where we were able to leave our bigger bags, before browsing the shops (reigniting my love for Cotton On) and heading over to the lagoon again.
We grabbed some beers, wine and snacks for the boat and walked to down the marina meeting point where just before 3pm, we were met by Nat our host for the next few days, who took us over to our boat, The Adventurer and introduced us to our Skipper, Kane.
As our shoes and flip flops were bundled into a large bag, we boarded what was going to be home for the next two days. After a quick safely briefing and bed allocation (Lee & I on two single beds in the lounge area), we set a sail, cracked open a beer and made small talk with our fellow boat-mates.
That evening we enjoyed a few drinks on the deck and loved watching the sea life that came towards our boat, attracted by the boat’s underwater light. It wasn’t long before a young shark came to say hello. It was brilliant to see, yet slightly scary knowing that we were supposed to be going snorkeling the next day.
DAY 11 – (Tues 15th Jan 2019)
Today we woke up really early as our skipper Kane wanted to get us over to Whitehaven Beach as soon as possible before the crowds flocked. I was feeling really excited as I had been here once before back in 2012 (with Jennie) but now I was going to be sharing this experience with Lee. Whitehaven truly is one of the most beautiful places there is. We got off our boat and into the dingy that took us over to the island and started making our way up and over to the beach, wow!
Walking along by the sea hand-in-hand, with no one else nearby, it wasn’t long before Lee turned to me and said those words I’d desperately been waiting to hear “will you marry me?”. Well as you can imagine, I burst into tears and said YES! This was now officially the happiest day of my life.
We sat down for a bit to savour the moment and so I could ask Lee the vital questions, was he sure? And how soon could we get married? It’s funny that the first two people we told about our engagement, we didn’t at that stage know their names, Kim and Martin from our boat. Still in shock we ventured up to the lookout point and took in the most amazing views. From there we reunited with our fellow boat-buddies, headed back to the boat for lunch and told everyone our happy news.
Setting sail to a little snorkeling hot spot, it was lovely sunbathing on the deck with the biggest grin on my face. As we arrived Lee had made it clear he didn’t want to partake in the snorkeling (no doubt because of the shark we’d seen the night before), however I put on a stinger suit and nervously entered the water…and less than 2 minutes later I was out again. To think of all the amazing snorkeling, I’ll done in the pass, it appears the older I get the more anxious I am (that and there was a fatal shark attack here less than 6 months ago).
Instead Lee and I took advantage of having the boat almost to ourselves and enjoyed the onboard hot tub. Yes, that’s right, our boat had a hot tub!! Slowly, as more and more people finished snorkeling we welcomed them to join us and cracked open the celebratory beers. Bizarrely, there seemed something special about sharing this moment with a bunch of lovely strangers.
Needless to say that night the drinks flowed.
DAY 12 – (Wed 16th Jan 2019)
A slow start to the morning, we had a few hours before setting sail back to the mainland and so everyone made the most of enjoying our surroundings. As I hadn’t spent much time in the water yet (too much of a wimp) I decided to take a kayak out and have a paddle around the bay. Despite being very conscious that to a shark I probably looked like a giant seal, it was absolutely beautiful.
Letting go of the tranquility, Kane then turned it up a notch by getting in the dingy and letting a few of the guys have a go at make-shift water skiing. Come late morning it was now sadly time to head back to the mainland and so most of us just lay on the deck, chilling and soaking it all up.
We docked around 12:30pm and after a team photo, took a slow walk back to get our big bags and checked back into Magnums for one more night. That afternoon, we split our time between the shops and chilling at the lagoon, before heading back to our room to get ready for the evening ahead. We decided to go for a celebratory dinner and ended up having a lovely meal at La Tabella Trattoria.
DAY 13 – (Thurs 17th Jan 2019)
Naturally waking up at 6am we start to wonder if this is the new us! As we don’t need to check out until later that morning we went and had breakfast at the Village Café again. Shortly afterwards we packed up our bags, checked out and headed to the bus stop, waiting for the shuttle bus to take us to the airport for our 2pm flight back to Sydney.
We got back into Sydney around 5:30pm and made our way to Slob and Brett’s for the night. It was so good to see them again and to this time tell them our amazing news. That night we enjoyed lots of champagne and got takeaway burgers!
DAY 14 – (Fri 18th Jan 2019)
With an 8:45am flight to Melbourne it was a very early start for us and so we grabbed an Uber to the airport. Landing in Melbourne around 10:20am we had a long day of exploring ahead of us, before catching up with our friend Nick who we’d be staying with for the next three nights. We caught the Airport Skybus into the city and jumped off somewhere close to Southbank / Docklands area – we weren’t 100% sure where we were, but we decided to get off and start walking.
We grabbed a bite to eat around Queensbridge Square and then slowly walked along the Yarra River and over Evan Walker Bridge, making our way towards Federation Square. After a quick look around we decided to treat ourselves to a drink as we were feeling pretty tired from our early start and also from walking around with our weekend luggage, and so we stopped at the Taxi Kitchen for an Aperol Spritz or two.
From there we got the tram towards Nick’s house (towards St Kilda), he wasn’t home but had given us instructions and left us a key. Unsure which room we were supposed to be staying in, we soon found fresh towels, a bottle of champagne, flute glasses and a lovely congratulations note from his housemate Rae, who had kindly donated us her bedroom for the next three nights.
It wasn’t long before Nick finished work and was able to join us, it was so nice to see him having not seen him since September 2018. Later that night we grabbed tacos at a Si Senor – Eat Drink Love Taco on Carlisle Street and then walked to the Espy (Hotel Esplanade). Wow how this place has changed! I was last here in 2010 and it was a right dive (although still very popular), now its a swanky cool bar full of beautiful people. Lee’s friend Adam and his girlfriend Tam came and met us here, and after a few drinks we headed to the Vineyard (for lots more drinks) and watched the sun go down. Nick not wanting the night to end then took us to Lucky Liquor on Chapel Street but after 5 minutes Lee and I decided to call it a night.
DAY 15 – (Sat 19th Jan 2019)
Another beautiful day in Melbourne, we headed to Leroy on Acland Street for a gorgeous brunch, followed by a walk to St Kilda beach where we soak up the sun for a little bit. From there we decided to head over to Brunswick Street so I could show Lee this cool, quirky area full of little bars, cafes and alternative shops (described online as a popular street for locals and tourists to experience the bohemian culture of Melbourne).
Slightly peckish, Nick took us to Whatever You Feel Like Bar, where we each got a gorgeous Vietnamese roll and then we went and grabbed a pint at a dingy but kinda cool bar called Bar Open. Without initially setting out to do a bar crawl, we then headed to the Black Pearl for a cocktail (where I’d been before) and then onto the Black Cat for another drink.
Having now covered the length of Brunswick Street, we decided to head towards Chapel Street, another popular spot, where we ended up having a drink at 56 Bricks and dinner at Biggie Smalls. All in all a lovely day filled with lots of food and drink.
DAY 16 – (Sun 20th Jan 2019)
A late start to the day, Nick cooked us breakfast and then the three of us got the tram into town and walked through the Royal Botanic Gardens, looking for a festival Nick vaguely knew about. Eventually as we came to Alexandra Park we found the Midsumma Festival in full swing (a colourful LGBTQIA+ cultural festival) and so sat there for a while drinking our BYO Champagne.
From there we walked along Southbank and up to Swanston Street where we met Nick’s housemates, Rae (who had kindly given us her bedroom) and Emma, in a rooftop bar called, wait for it Rooftop Bar (in Curtin House). Being a really hot day, it was nice to be up on a roof terrace away from the busy street, but it did mean the cold beers went down fast. More of Nick’s friends joined us, before heading onto another bar, where Nick got refused entry for being too drunk. Shortly afterwards Nick, Lee and I headed back slightly worse for wear and ordered UberEats in an attempt to sober us up.
DAY 17 – (Mon 21st Jan 2019)
Our final morning in Melbourne, we said goodbye to Nick and grabbed an Uber to go and meet my friends Brodie and Emma for brunch, who coincidentally happened to be holidaying in Melbourne the same time as us.
We met them in Malvern at a place called Salad Sisters, which was really good. It was so nice to catch up with them both, despite us all living in the UK, they live in my hometown of Devon and so we don’t see each other very often.
After brunch, Brodie and Emma dropped us back to Nick’s where we backed up our stuff and headed into the city for some last minute exploring before we needed to be at the airport for our 4:45pm flight back to Sydney.
That night we were back staying with Jennie and Aaron in Bellevue Hill, where we had dinner together and filled them in with all our Whitsunday and Melbourne adventures.
DAY 18 – (Tues 22nd Jan 2019)
Happy to be back in Sydney but sad that the holiday is fast coming to an end, today we woke up and walked to Bondi again for brunch at Le Paris. After a walk along the beach we then decided to head into the city and wander around Circular Quay and the Rocks again, making the most of our last few days.
DAY 19 – (Wed 23rd Jan 2019)
Today Lee and I decided to head to Bondi Junction to make the most of the shops. Despite not having lived in Sydney since 2010 I still feel like I know my way around Bondi’s Westfield, better than I do the Westfields’ in London.
Later that night, Lee and I head into the city to meet up with the gang for engagement / goodbye drinks at the Taproom in the Rocks. It’s never nice saying goodbye to this lot, but what made it easier was the thought that we might be seeing them again soon at our wedding.
DAY 20 – (Thurs 24th Jan 2019)
Our last full day and more goodbyes! Today we went and met Carly and Sully for lunch at Bungalow 8, down at Darling Harbour near to where Sully works. As Sophie was in the city too, she came and joined us and then Sully took us up to show us his office.
Later that afternoon we caught up with Kim again who drove us to Darlinghurst so she could take us for a drink at East Village Hotel. From there she then took us to a really cool hidden bar in Darlinghurst called Shady Pines Saloon. I can’t believe I hadn’t been here before, it was awesome.
DAY 21 – (Fri 25th Jan 2019)
Sad to leave this beautiful city, we got up early and grabbed a taxi to the airport.
Australia has always been very special to me and now I can honestly say that this was the BEST HOLIDAY EVER! I arrived 3 weeks ago with my boyfriend and left with my fiancé.
- TRAVEL DETAILS & COSTS
FLIGHTS
Virgin Atlantic = £1,602.02 (for the both of us)
DEPART: London Heathrow (9pm) – ARRIVE: Hong Kong (4:50pm), DEPART: (7:50pm) – ARRIVE: Sydney (8:15am)
DEPART: Sydney (10:15am) – ARRIVE: Hong Kong (4:35pm), DEPART: (11:55pm) – ARRIVE: Heathrow (4:55am)
TigerAir = £354.39 / $637.67 (for the both of us)
DEPART: Sydney (10:15am) – ARRIVE: Whitsunday Coast PPP (11:50am)
DEPART: Whitsunday Coast PPP (5:25pm) – ARRIVE: Sydney (5:25pm)
TigerAir = £269.67 / $483.77 (for the both of us)
DEPART: Sydney (8:45am) – ARRIVE: Melbourne (10:20am)
DEPART: Melbourne (4:45pm) – ARRIVE: Sydney (6:10pm)
Whitsunday Adventurer = £565.66 / $1,014.75 (for the both of us)
DEPART: Mon 14th Jan 3pm, RETURN: Wed 16th 1pm (2 nights)
The Departure Gate 