Australia - First stop, Gold Coast

Australia has always been a country I have been dying to visit since England - which was the first priority when I was 17 simply because it was farther and has this impression that it's more difficult to reach, hence I ended up studying there.




But by the age of 20, having visited most of the westernised countries such as USA, western Europe and the UK; Australia (and New Zealand) became the last first-world westernised continent in the globe I have not paid my respect to.

Which was rather odd considering that it was also the closest westernised continent to Malaysia.

Hence earlier this year I booked a flight to Gold Coast through Airasia free flight promo and without considering the cost (literally), I took the plunge to complete my final conquest.


Gold Coast - Adelaide (Barossa + Clare Valley) - Melbourne - Canberra - Sydney - Hunter Valley - Newcastle - Brisbane - Gold Coast


The whole trip took me a total of 5 weeks.

As soon as I booked my return ticket to Gold Coast, I got my journey in Australia pretty much sorted out. It's not usual for me to plan my trip, but alas I'm not made out of money and travelling in Australia ain't cheap either. It's a bloody continent for heaven's sake, it takes 6 hours of flight just to get from one end to the next.

Hence in order to land myself a cheap fare on Virgin Blue and to save time on the road (5 weeks was too short to cover even quarter of Australia, there's no time to waste!), I booked my domestic flights in Australia from Gold Coast to Adelaide to Melbourne. As for the rest of the journey, I decided that I would sort it out when I arrive in OZ, attempting to use their awesome domestic coach service - Greyhound.


One of the best BEST things I LOVE about being a blogger, is that I have readers (duh!) in various parts of the world. When I announced my coming arrival to Australia few months back, several readers emailed me to request for a meet up, some were so nice as to offer to show me around town. I accepted eagerly.


Jessie I LOVE YOU!!!!! I miss you so much OMG
you HAVE to go camping with me next year!


Meeting with readers when you are travelling is one of the most amazing experiences one can have. (I especially LOVE Australians readers. They are just so GOD DAMN friendly).

So with several meet ups around Australia planned, I began my journey down south.


After six hours of flight without food (expensive ok!) on Airasia X, which surprisingly have rather comfortable seats (I said "rather"),




I landed in Gold Coast with a too ugly top and trousers (I was backpacking ok, who dress up for backpack one?! You siao fashion critics!) and immediately met up with my first reader in Australia. Patricia was kind enough to give me a ride from the Airport before she went to work.




She took me to a look-out point in Gold Coast which simply took my breath away.


"Is this Australia OMG?!"


Despite a seemingly bright sun,


"ahh.... Golden Coast"


It was in the depths of winter when I set foot in Australia (August). It was bloody cold.


OMG those crazy surfers in the sea!





The worst thing was a couple of friends in Australia told me the weather was "nice" in August and without giving it a second thought, I brought a few sweaters and jeans and left Malaysia. That night, and my very first night, I was freezing under three layers of comforters wearing two layers of jumpers. -.-


Later Patricia brought me for my very first breakfast in Australia at Coffee Club.


as the bottle said, drink your di-hydrogen oxide.


Where I have my "Lifestyle Breakfast"


AUD15++!! o.O



RM 45 wtf! (conversion was AUD1 to RM3 when I went, damn it)


And Patricia her Eggs Benedict.




With the chill, I couldn't resist a cup of hot cocoa (out of the 35 cups I have, that's one for every day in OZ).


I miss my Hot Cocoa with marshmallow! I have not had these since since.. since England o.O. (cold weather ma)


Few days passed and I began to feel that Australia felt pretty much like England.

From the food they eat (oh I miss Fish n Chips), the price of pre-packed sandwich


Yep, equally expensive wtf (England's was 3~4 pounds)


the slutty clubbing outfits most women wear (especially in Gold Coast oh la la), the fat nation, bloody cold winter, weird English accent and over-priced bananas.




In fact, as weeks went by, the impression grew and when I arrived Melbourne, I concluded that Australia was more English than England itself in so many ways.

For example, chimneys in England is a dying architecture. I was surprised that I have seen more chimneys in Melbourne than in Manchester and London combine.




When it comes to cultural aspect, Australia pale in comparison with the rich history invested UK. Edinburgh castle for one is my dream home.

However, due to geographical position, Australia, unlike England, has a lot more to offer. Lots of land for vineyards and wineries developments, hordes of wallabies and kangaroos. They have so many it's a huge risk driving on road without insurance, you know, in case you hit a human-size kangaroo.




Kangaroo Scrotum wtf.