Postcards from Australia
‘I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, her beauty and her terror – the wide brown land for me!’ – Dorothea Mackellar.
A New Country
If I said I was excited about finally ticking Australia off my list as the 27th new country I’ve visited, that would be a lie. Australia’s appeal eluded me throughout my time spent in the southern hemisphere during my mid-twenties. I never visited, even though I lived a mere three hour flight away for eighteen months. As I boarded the plane to fly to Brisbane in December, I can’t say excitement was top of my list.
There’s no major reason why I’ve never been to Australia before. There are just other countries that I’d prefer to visit over Oz. As such, I’ve prioritised those countries. However, with company offices conveniently located in Queensland and having not seen A in nearly a year, it seemed inevitable that it was time to go Down Under.
What I Learnt
I quickly decided that Brisbane was not a city I could imagine myself living in. However, when we headed further north into Queensland, I learnt that Australia is a beautiful country. It’s home to the worlds largest living thing – the Great Barrier Reef. I was thrilled to be able to experience the reef first hand.
Then, Sydney quickly won me over during the briefest of stopovers – just sixteen hours! I left Australia after two weeks with a longing to return one day. Not for the cities, necessarily, but for the red desert heartland, the outback and perhaps, an epic cross country road and rail trip.
The biggest thing that I learnt during my time in the Land Down Under? It is incredibly photogenic. So, in homage to the country that I visited almost begrudgingly, here are my Postcards from Australia.
Where Sea Meets Sky
The water was like glass under an iridescent sky. Clouds huddled low, banking up on the horizon. With the wind in our hair, we stood in the prow of the boat and tasted salt on our lips. We had spent the day under water, discovering some of the Great Barrier Reef. It felt like we had a secret – we knew what lived beneath the surface. There were wonders to discover and we had been privy to a few of them. A smile tugged on my lips. My hair tangled into knots. Our boat sped ever closer to shore. Time for home, a shower, some food. Satisfaction bloomed inside me. It had been a near perfect day.
Finding Nemo
Snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef was a dream come true. I’ve had limited snorkelling experiences before, but nothing compared to this incredible day.
One of my personal highlights was spotting a huge anemone which was the home of several clown fish. They are my all-time favourite sea creatures. Each one seems to have a little personality of its own and they’re fiercely territorial. As you float over them, they come up out of the anemone fronds, staring, watchful, and then they retreat hurriedly if they think you’re getting too close. I could have stayed and watched them for hours!
A Break in the Rain
We had such big plans to do nothing. But by nothing we meant sunbathe, lounge on the beach and occasionally swim. We didn’t mean get stuck indoors due to endless rain storms and nearly see our car flooded out when the drains stopped coping with the deluge. In an attempt to keep cabin fever at bay, we took the opportunity to stroll around Port Douglas in a rain break. Down at the shore, we found this beautiful old church, set among palm trees. It looked out of place, reminiscent of decades past, when Australia was first settled by the British. I snapped a couple of shots and thought nothing more of it. It’s only looking back that I see a slice of history here, a throwback to what Port Douglas used to be like.
Build in 1914 to replace a Catholic church that was destroyed in a cyclone, St Mary’s by the Sea is a non-denominational church. It is listed on Queensland’s Heritage Register and is now used for religious and civil marriage ceremonies, carol services and other special occasion church events.
Christmas Lights and Fireworks?
After an evening watching Love Actually at an outdoor cinema, we strolled through this Brisbane park and discovered a beautiful light festival. The trees were perfectly illuminated. The colours were bright and joyful.
We wandered through. Some of the trees were reminded me of fireworks, shining in a dark sky. Other trees looked gentle and soft with their necklaces of glowing lights. This was the second time I’ve spent Christmas overseas. It can be tough and strange to be abroad at this time of year. Especially when in a warm climate! Spending this evening among the trees made me finally feel the festive spirit.
Sunset at Sydney Opera House
We walked from Surry Hills, through the CBD to The Rocks. The sun was just setting, casting a golden tangerine glow on the opera house. As the boat sailed past, I snapped this photo.
I was more excited than I’d anticipated I would be to see Sydney Opera House. It’s one of those iconic buildings, a world famous piece of architecture. In real life, it was less impressive than it is when depicted on Instagram, but I still found it beautiful. We drank wine at the Opera Bar as night fell and the opera house and Sydney Harbour Bridge were lit up artificially. It was the perfect way to spend a short layover in this fantastic city, and the best introduction I could have experienced.
Queensland Coast
We flew up to Cairns from Brisbane very early in the morning and picked up our hire car. For once, I was able to enjoy the views, since I wasn’t in the driving seat! A kindly offered to take the wheel and I got to kick back and enjoy the scenery.
The stretch of the Captain Cook Highway is famous for being a beautiful drive. We were lucky to have a perfect blue sky day and stopped along the route at one lookout, where I got this photo. It perfectly encapsulates what Queensland is about. Turquoise ocean, pristine sandy beaches and dense rainforest, carpeting the mountains right down to the coastline.
If you enjoyed this post, why not check out the rest of the Postcards From… series? Check them out here!
