Hong Kong

When I booked my Australia trip I thought I'd make the most of the fact I was travelling across the world by extending my stopover in Hong Kong by a couple of days to see the sites and visit friends and family. It really is an incredible place like nowhere else I've ever been to; an urban jungle where everything is built on top of each other so you're always moving about different levels through a contrasting mix of traditional markets and luxurious hotels. Meanwhile, outside of central the city is by no means all concrete skyscrapers, but a sea of greenery with gorgeous views of the surrounding bays.

I arrived late on Monday night and took a taxi to my cousin Mike's apartment in the beautiful Repulse Bay. His wife, Jane, took me out in Central the following day and was an excellent tour guide, taking me up Victoria Peak where there were amazing panoramic views (we were very lucky with the weather as it was a clear day for HK) and we took the tram back all the way down which was really steep - like taking a funicular in the mountains. She took me to a cute local restaurant for lunch then we had a very pampered afternoon with traditional massages and foot rubs before we picked the kids up from school and relaxed by the pool at the country club for the afternoon (it's a hard life).

Later I met up with my uni friend, Anthony, for cocktails at the famous Captain's Bar in the Mandarin Oriental, where we had a quick catch up before supper. Mike, Jane and my other cousins very generously took us out to The China Club, which had the most beautiful interiors and a very impressive art collection. We watched the daily Hong Kong light show from the rooftop then headed down for a delicious meal of Chinese delights: Peking duck and pancakes, spring rolls, dumplings, sizzling beef and of course fortune cookies. We definitely had the best table in the room, positioned right in front of the stage where all sorts of acts were performing throughout the evening, including a tea dancer and a noodle-making display!

Jane took me to Stanley Market the next morning to stock up on souvenirs and presents for everyone back home, then it was Anthony's turn to play tour guide and he was keen to show me the true local experience: lunch at Macau restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui for fried rice and China tea, a walk around the gorgeous tranquil spot Chi Lin Nunnery in Diamond Hill, fortunes read at the Won Tai Sin Temple (apparently I am going to meet a nice man in November at a party), ate famous 'cheese tarts' despite being so full from lunch (when in Hong Kong), took the Star Ferry to central for dinner at Joy Hing in Wanchai, arguably the best barbecued pork in Hong Kong. This place runs out every day is always packed. We were lucky to get probably the last two portions of the day!

Next was time to check out HK's vibrant nightlife. Anthony booked us a table at Scratch in Wanchai where a huge group of his friends joined us for a few games of stack cup, a game I'm definitely going to take back to uni with me! Afterwards we jumped on a tram to Lan Kwai Fong where we hit up a few clubs, Levels and Play, in an amazing multi-storey building. The 7/11 also pretty much turns into a bar at night, with everyone buying drinks and chatting in the streets. The atmosphere was absolutely buzzing and everyone was so friendly, was really gutted to be leaving having just met some wonderful people! HK, I'll be back!

After a flight that felt like forever I finally touched down in London Heathrow. It's good to be home, see friends and family and chill out back in my own bed (although I'm also secretly planning my next trip)!

Melbourne

My final stop in Australia! During my travels I met so many people who had already been and had a list as low no as my arm of places to visit (mainly brunch/dessert restaurants) as well as a handful of places I'd seen on Instagram. Melbourne really is the brunch capital of the world!

I spent my first day with a visit to the state library which had an impressive dome and a couple of interesting exhibitions about Melbourne's history. As I left the museum there was a free walking tour going on so I joined the tour for about an hour as the guide led us around the city, eventually peeling myself off to meet Jack, Theo and Astrid for souvenir shopping at Queen Victoria Market followed by Nutella-filled doughnuts at Doughnut Time, which seemed to be the busiest/most popular place in Melbourne! Afterwards we went around the film museum and had fun with the interactive exhibits, filming ourselves in bullet time predicting we were in The Matrix. Later we ticked off another place on my list, the Ponyfish Island Bar, a really cute bar on the river where we properly experienced Australian winter with mulled wine and outdoor heaters. Harry, another Exeter friend studying at Deaken this year, came in to meet me and we all went for dinner together in Chinatown. That evening I went to see what Melbourne's nightlife had to offer and a group of us went to the famous Revolver (or "Revs") on Chapel Street for a rather edgy night out. 

The next morning I met up with Harry again who gave me a personal city tour - it always helps knowing some locals! We explored the street art in Hosier Lane, visited the National Gallery of Victoria then went over to Fitzroy in the afternoon where we browsed the adorable Rose Street Market and had ice cream at Messina (another one crossed off the list)! That evening my friend Meijke who I'd met on Fraser Island hosted a drinks party at her house to celebrate her birthday. It was fun to catch up with her and meet some more Aussie (and Dutch) locals!

On my last full day I managed to tick off the one place I'd been desperate to go to before I'd even got to Australia. I saw an Instagram from The Naughty Boy Café before I flew out and knew I needed to visit when I got to Melbourne. Turned out it was just round the corner from Meijke's house and she also raved about it so it was a no-brainer. Breakfast that morning was an 'instashake' - brownie, Nutella and freeze-dried fruit - that was so impressive the man sitting opposite me insisted he took a photo. Probably just fast-tracked myself to type 2 diabetes and was in a sugar coma for the rest of the day but it was totally worth it!

Harry had tickets to watch an Aussie Rules match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground that afternoon so we went along with a group of his uni friends to watch Collingwood get thrashed by Port Adelaide and tried to grasp a concept of the rules. Afterwards we explored the shops for some final souvenirs and said our goodbyes and I packed my bags, ready to leave for Hong Kong.

The Grampians and Great Ocean Road

Becca far too generously came with me to the pick up point for my Groovy Grape tour from Adelaide to Melbourne which left at 6:45am - I've clearly got very nice friends! Our tour leader, Sid, stopped by every hostel in Adelaide picking people up then we headed for the Grampians. Sid had an impressive music collection on his 128gb iPod and had put together a playlist of entirely Melbourne talent that had us all singing along and shazaming throughout the journey. There was a complete mix of people on the trip - everyone from gap yah travellers to a 60 year old and her 14 year old niece (who had somehow made it on to an over-18 only tour).

After a little drive, we stopped off at Josephine Falls where we walked down to a waterfall before hiking back up. Sid also took us down some hidden tracks that even locals didn't know about where we discovered incredible views and not another tourist in sight. We finished the day at Halls Cap Oval where there were wild kangaroos everywhere, then finished off in a tucked away cabin for the night where we played board games by the fire. The freezing weather was definitely a shock to the system after travelling up the East Coast!

The next day we made it on to the Great Ocean Road, stopping off at more secret lookouts and beaches as well as visiting the famous ones - The Bay of Islands, Port Cambell and sunset at The Twelve Apostles.

Another night's stay in another pretty much private hostel then we were up again at dawn for a short hike to Beauchamp Falls Conservation Reserve. Towards the end of the Great Ocean Road we stopped for lunch at Kennett River where there were wild koalas sleeping in the trees and we had a chance to feed the exotic birds!

Finally Sid dropped us off at our respective hostels in Melbourne. I was staying at Nomads along with Jack and Theo from my tour and the boys signed us up for a trivia quiz the hostel was running that evening. Fia and their friend James joined our team and we went on to win a decent $50 bar tab!