Destination: Melbourne and Sydney, Australia

Just before I share my travel experience to Australia early this year, I just want you all to know that my purpose of starting my travel blog again is only to give you ideas of beautiful travel destinations in the future when it is totally safe to travel once again. However, I am not encouraging anyone to travel now or tomorrow or even in a month or so because you’d be taking some risks on your health. When I travel, I do a lot of research of the place I am visiting, where to stay, where to go, what to do, what to eat. what not to miss and how much my budget is? What I really meant to say is to plan everything ahead of time before you travel. For most of us, flying is already stressful. I normally plan at least 8 months to a year before my actual trip to avoid any hassles, disappointments and instead travel stress free as much as possible!

Anyways, if you’re thinking to travel anytime soon, please continue to protect yourselves and stay safe. Some would say that we can’t live in fear and expect to stay home forever. Well, all I can say at this very moment that it is still risky to travel anywhere regardless if it is domestic or international travel while the whole world is still fighting against the global pandemic. Some places and countries are safe to travel to and have opened their airports for international entry. But this doesn’t mean that your safety is guaranteed. So please think and consider seriously your exposure to Covid19 especially during your flights where social distancing is not possible. Again, stay safe everyone and don’t forget that we are still in this fight together. Don’t forget to check first with the country’s department of tourism what tourist spots are open to the public and not. To my understanding, aside from essential travels, some countries welcome international tourism and international entry maybe open now. However, there are some tourist attractions that are not open to the public yet due to safety concerns.

Today, let’s explore the beautiful Australia. Just before the Covid19 Global pandemic and lockdown, I was very lucky to visit Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, New Zealand and Philippines between Feb 2-March 18, 2020. Although my trip was shorten by two weeks but I still considered myself as one of the lucky people in the world who managed to travel before the pandemic. Not until today, I have thought about my trip to the three countries early this year was definitely a blessing and I am grateful that I was able to come back home safely to my family in Toronto, Canada.

Australia is a beautiful country to visit and weather wise it’s warm almost all year round. Their winter is not cold at all especially for us here in the North America. I was there in early March and that was Fall over there but for me weather was perfect to wear shorts paired with light tops or shirts. Our summer season for us Westerners is winter down under but again don’t worry about their winter season, our Fall temperature is probably a lot colder than their Winter. Obviously very tempting and something to look forward….

Australia is located between the South Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. No wonder it has warm beautiful weather all year round if I were to describe their weather. Don’t get me wrong, Australian summer is somewhat humid too. It is one of the Oceania countries and one of the wealthiest countries of the world and the sixth largest in the world. Canberra is the Australian Capital Territory which is about 240 km from southwest of Sydney.

This was my trip to Melbourne, Australia where I adored and enjoyed watching the beautiful 12 Apostles alongside the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria, the south part of Australia.

Why these humongous rocks are called the 12 apostles? It’s because they stand tall and proud along the shore. Although they are still called the 12 apostles despite that there are only eight apostles left standing overtime. They are limestone pillars that were once connected to the mainland cliffs.

The 12 Apostles is amazingly beautiful wonder and creation. Definitely not to miss!!! You will enjoy the scenic coastline for sure. It is about 4 1/2 hour drive from Melbourne but there are daily tours available but bus or helicopter.

Then we have the Loch Ard Gorge which is part of Port Campbell National Park and just minutes away from the the 12 Apostles. The Gorge is named after the Loch Ard which sank in June 1st, 1878 with only two survivors. You can swim at the inlet beach.

Another priceless experience during my trip to Melbourne was to be able to watch the adorable koalas and they’re not at the zoo but on the trees along the road. I happened to see a mommy koala cuddling her baby or joey. A baby koala is called joey. Although, I have always wanted to see a kangaroo but didn’t really had the chance to encounter one during my trip. It was fine and I was never disappointed at all as it’s just another reason to go back to Australia.

This is Sydney, Australia as you can see the famous and iconic Sydney Opera House. Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populated city in Australia and Oceania. What I love about Sydney, although it is the most populated city in Australia and Oceania with slightly over 5M people, I still find it as a very relaxed city compared to other cities in the world like my home city of Toronto, Canada or New York, NY, USA. It’s probably because of the weather and its location being surrounded by waters or the oceans. During and after working hours, people are enjoying their days and the city. I would say, Australians are one of the lucky ones in the world!

I hope you enjoyed our trip to Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. Stay safe everyone!