So today marks 1 month (-1 day, sorry! We will be off radar tomorrow) since we left the UK and boarded our flight to Hong Kong. 1 month seems like such a long time, which I guess it is, but we still have 6 months (and a few days) to go!!

I decided to write a blog to sum up what we’ve learnt, loved, hated and been surprised by so far. Oh and also to give you an insight into what is coming up on our horizon.

1. Food and alcohol is expensive in Australia. Like ridiculously. Our nearest and dearest will know that Simon is a little partial to flavoured cider and also Morgan’s Spiced Rum, both of which break the expensive richter scale over here. We’re talking $50 for a litre bottle of rum… that’s around £32 to you and me. I don’t think we’ll ever moan when it’s £17 in Tesco ever again. One bel pepper (or Capsicum as they’re known here is around $1) and don’t even get me started on mushrooms and meat. 2 cheap foods through – watermelon and avocado.
2. Australia is massive. Now.. we knew this already, but 2 things happened to enforce this recently. We saw a postcard which had a map of Australia and then on top of that was a map of Europe. There was sooooo much room to spare. Also, we kept moving South, but we weren’t moving! Our little dot on my map just didn’t move! A couple long greyhounds sorted that out and now we’re nice and centralised in Noosa.
3. We have learnt that we prefer private rooms. Now, this isn’t because we are anti social or because we hate people (only a little), but we like to spread our stuff out, we like our private space and we like to chill out in our room. Chilling out in your room, is pretty hard to do when Simon is in one bunk and I’m in another one. We only have 1 laptop and there are other people in the room. Also, private rooms don’t work out that much more expensive most of the time, so we’re going to be snobs from now on.
4. I miss baths. Like really REALLY REALLY miss having a bath. I didn’t realise until recently that I was partaking in a cheeky bath about 3 times a week. I’m suffering from withdrawals… so much so that I’m tempted to book into a hotel for a night, just for a bath. Here’s hoping the Australia Dowells (Mark and Umi) have a bath tub in their house. Obviously I’ll spend time with them too 😛
5. We have a love love hate hate relationship with our backpacks. I say love love hate hate, because one love hate is not enough. I’m starting to wonder how I have so much stuff back in Cornwall in storage. Who needs that much stuff? Those who know me know that I’m not a clothes or shoe buyer, but really? How did we fill that storage container? I have tops with me now that I hardly or never wear and I’m living out of a 55l backpack. So on one hand, I love the simplicity, but on the other hand we hate lugging them around. Simon has the unfortunate task of carrying the padded electronic bag so we can write all these lovely posts and sort all our lovely photos and videos. It’s heavy! I’m glad its not me… hence the hate.
6. It’s frustrating that you can’t do everything! There is so much to see and so much to do, but money and time stops you from doing everything.
7. Budgeting is giving us a headache. I have an app that I add every single purchase and expenditure into, which then gives us an idea of whether we are under or over budget for that day or for our total trip. For those that know me well, you will not be surprised by this. As much as we are adding everything up and are happy that we know what we are spending. Sometimes you spend more! Not loads more, but a little more. Despite this, I’m 90% sure we will be on budget for Australia. Sorry Simon for all the nagging, but you’ll be grateful in the end.
8. Getting ailments on the road is a pain in the bum. I have been suffering from 2 ingrown toe nails for about 2 weeks now. Mum! Don’t worry, they are so much better now. But, WOW!!! It’s been an absolute nightmare finding time to clean them up, bandage, re-bandage and keep going (they have hurt at times). We’ve both had issues, but luckily we are nearly at full health and happy.
9. BUGS! Oh jeez! The Bugs! Now I don’t mean the spiders or the other creepy bugs. I mean the flying, buzzing, suck your blood bugs. I am now up to 40% DEET because bugs LOVE me and anything less just instant working. It’s slightly flattering, but also not because ow they hurt! Just like cat fleas, I get a nasty welt on me every time I get bitten and have nearly gotten through a tube of anti bite cream already. Simon is being targeted on the arms and me on the legs and feet. Please take a moment to be grateful for the lack of flying, blood sucking evil whatsits in the UK.
10. The freedom! We love it! I love that every day we wake up and say ‘what shall we explore today? where shall we go? what will we find?’ It’s amazing!
11. Cornwall! Our appreciation for Cornwall has grown. Australia has some truly beautiful and stunning beaches, but I could also write blog posts about all of the beautiful and stunning beaches, and spots in Cornwall.
12. We feel privileged! We are so lucky that we are able to sit on a beautiful beach and enjoy an iced coffee and not worry. We feel blessed about the whole experience.
13. There are not as many British backpackers as you would expect. I was expected blooming thousands of Pomeys, but the majority are from Germany and they are YOUNG!!! It turns out that at the age of 17 they finish high school and are practically encouraged to take a year off to go travelling before starting further education. Therefore, 95% of the country will travel or complete volunteer work at this age (my source for this is a few Germans). This, apparently, stems back to men completing mandatory military service at this age. But, it’s been surprising.
14. We miss people. Now this is pretty obvious, but we do! It’s difficult to maintain conversations when the wifi is ridiculous and there is an 8 hour time difference. Don’t worry we will keep preserving though.
15. There is beauty everywhere. I am aware in my blog posts that I keep saying how beautiful the view is and how beautiful the beach is, but it’s true. It doesn’t matter if it’s the bush, the coast, in a National park or in the rainforest. Australia is stunning.
16. We love travel.

This is not an exhaustive list, but just the ones that come to mind. Also, sorry for no pictures this time, the wifi is’t great at this hostel.

So what is coming up for us? Tomorrow we are going to Fraser Island for 3 days to explore the world’s largest sand island and to try and find some dingos. After that we will be back in Noosa for a few days and then staying with Mark and Umi for a few nights which is very exciting. Long term we are in Oz until the 12th November and then we head to New Zealand. We are flying down to Melbourne on the 4th November so as long as we make it to Sydney Airport for then, we are doing well.

Missing you all!!! And thanks for the lovely comments about the blog. I love writing it so i’m equally happy that everyone is enjoying reading it.