Australian Bucket List or 20 Things I Want To Do Down Under

"Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon"

- Paul Brant

I am a bit of a list writer now-a-days so writing a bucket list of things I want to do while in Australia was only natural really. I'll be honest I may have had a list like this prepared for while but since following some of the Australian Territories on Instagram my lust list is getting a bit bigger. Here are some of the things I want to do/see in Australia.

1. Climb the Sydney Harbour bridge
2. Swim and snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef
3. Hug a koala (yes seriously)
4. Try kangaroo & crocodile steaks
5. Visit Uluru
6. Watch the New Years Eve fireworks in Sydney
7. Surf at Bondi Beach or Byron Bay
8. Take in the sunset at Mindil Beach, Darwin
9. Visit Phillips Island for the penguin parade in Victoria
10. Photograph the Milky Way in the Outback
11. See the Aurora Australis (the southern version of the Aurora Borealis)
12. Visit the Whitehaven beach and the Whitsunday Islands
13. Watch sunrise or sunset at the Eureka Sky deck, Melbourne
14. Learn about the Aborigines 
15. Cage dive with a Great White Shark.
16. Swim with whale sharks at Ningaloo Marine Park reefs
17. Feed the dolphins at Monkey Mia (maybe swim with them too if they let me)
18. Skydive.
19. Drive the Great Ocean Road
20. Visit the Pink Lake near Esparance, WA

Music That Inspired My Adventure

"Respond to every call that excites your spirit" 

- Rumi

I love music. It has the ability to suit every mood we have, remind us of a memory when a certain song was playing, lift your mood when you are feeling low and bring people together. When I first started piecing together the plan for my adventure last December I found a lot of music made me imagine the beaches I would visit and people I would meet, food to be tasted and sunsets I would watch. 

Today's list is a playlist of a few of the songs that made me smile, dream, believe and finally adventure. I hope you enjoy

• LA Calling - Crystal Fighters
• La Da Dee - Cody Simpson
• Life's For The Living - Passenger
• Wake Me Up - Avicii
• On Top Of The World - Imagine Dragons
• Brand New Day - Kodaline
• Best Day Of My Life - American Authors
• Brave - Sara Bareilles
• Thunder - Passenger
• Dust - Eli Young Band

What makes you want to take an adventure?

4 Weeks To Go

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can"

- Arthur Ashe

Its four weeks to go until my adventure and I will admit I’ve been getting quite worried because I don’t feel like I have everything sorted. Today I managed to finally make some headway on this and have ordered myself a small, light sleeping bag from Go Outdoors, which I have just picked up, and have narrowed down a daysack to a nice Berghaus 25L daysack but I just need to take a look at it in Go Outdoors when I pick up my sleeping bag because it is currently on sale at Blacks in Nottingham.

I can’t believe how quick the days are passing now. Apprehension and nervousness has started to settle in but at the same time I know in my gut I have made the right choice to go out to Australia travelling. I think once I have tried packing my case this weekend I will know that I don’t need half of what my brain is telling me to take at the moment.

It was lovely as well today because I got to see a lot of my dad’s side of the family including my Aunt and Uncle who live in Spain; it was nice to have been able to see them before I go.

So the countdown is on! 4 weeks till take off!

Brave...

"To travel is worth any cost or sacrifice." 

- Elizabeth Gilbert

Sometimes I'm not sure that I know what I have really gone and done. I've been called brave by a few people for booking this trip, I don't feel brave though. I'm not sure I really feel much about this trip yet, I suppose it hadn't really sunk in and I don't think it will until either my last day of work or I am actually sat on the plane (or possibly when I am actually there?).

I'm still daydreaming about all the fantastic places I am going to visit and all the places I can visit if I can get myself set up with a job and feel happy in Australia. I'm looking forward to meeting all the people I am going to meet; I hear the Aussies are really friendly so I’m not worried there. I think the only thing I'm not looking forward to is leaving my family behind as they have generally been my partners in crime on holidays but most of them have said they will come out and visit me if I end up settling somewhere for a while.

To me I think the bravest thing I have done is quit my job (and tell my grandparents, I can’t tell you how nervous I was to tell them) especially knowing how tough it is on the job market in the UK at the moment it could be difficult to find something when I come back, though I will worry about that later.

On the countdown to my flight now. 7 weeks to go!

To do...

"I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list."

- Susan Sontag

At home I have a to do list. Normally for me this involves running around doing things for other people, tiding (because there is always something to tidy), errands or doing fun things with friends. Most of my weekend time is taken up and then, back to work. The to-do lists I'm writing now are a little different. They are more like a Bucket Lists. Places to visit, things to experience, places I want to eat (Thanks Instagram), basically fun lists all round. So here is one to get me started

1. Have fun
2. Eat local dishes
3. Learn local slang
4. Do something you have never done before
5. Learn to be a local
6 Get wonderfully lost
7. Speak your mind
8. Never stop dreaming
9. Step off the beaten track once in a while
10. Make memories

REAL

"We travel not to escape life, but so life does not escape us"

I handed in my notice last Thursday at work which was quite a scary thing to do for me. I have worked for the same firm doing hairstyling for 12 years, which for any hairstylist is a long time. Telling my work for me suddenly made things more real. Its strange how one move can make everything different. I feel like because I haven't been able to tell people or talk about it openly I have been hiding a facet of my personality for so long and its so freeing to be able to finally get excited about it. It is the biggest thing I have done in my life so far. 

Its crazy to think that in only 8 weeks I will be boarding a plane to Australia. Years of daydreaming and saving and its finally coming round. 

Fly Me To...

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."

- Saint Augustine

I have my ticket! I have my first month’s itinerary and now I have my visa confirmed! I can’t even begin to describe how I feel right now because I don’t think I know myself. I booked the start of my journey through STA Travel and I can say I have had a really pleasant experience with them getting it all booked. Joseph who helped book my ticket helped me find flights that were suited to me, I have opted for a flight with a return bookable within a year just in case I don’t enjoy my experience and want to come home. I think this option is best for me with my fears over going out on my own. Luckily for me when I went in they had got offers on for that week and I got discount on my flights and the tour I booked.

I have booked the ‘South to North’ tour which is actually run by G Adventures, a travel company that I have been looking at for other adventures in the future, did someone say Day of the Dead in Mexico? My tour starts in Melbourne and goes all the way through the centre finishing up in Darwin taking in some national parks, wine tasting, the great ocean road, Uluru (Ayers Rock) and some crocodile spotting over 18 days. Again lucky to score £300 off my tour as it was on offer the week I went in.

I have insurance for while I am out there to cover all sorts of things. I decided to go for the most comprehensive cover, while it is a lot of money when you break it down per day it works out at only £1.35 a day and covers all expenses I may be presented with, though Joseph did advise me if I can avoid it never to call an ambulance if I could get there myself apparently it costs the Aussies 500$AUS just to call one out, Yikes.

I booked a few days in Melbourne to start off with so I can do some exploring, hopefully make a few friends at the hostel when I get there and get over my jet lag so when my tour starts I can be ready for all the early morning and late nights. I am going to book a few days in a hostel at Darwin too so that when I get there I can set up my bank account and tax numbers etc. ready to find work. I’m still not sure whether I will do it as a working holiday, I figure I will see how much I like the country and how easy it is to find work and if I struggle I will just travel down the east coast to Sydney where I catch my flight back from.

Nerves are really settled in as I write this, the reluctant part of me screaming with all the “what if this goes wrong?” again, I am just hoping when I get there throwing myself into it all will help. I haven’t really had much change happen in my life since I started work. I’ve always had a stable income, friends to hang out with and things to keep me distracted at the weekends (normally more work) so the idea of being as free as the wind is a little daunting.

If you have been travelling in Australia please feel free to leave me advice or suggestions of places I must visit. It’s always handy to get others opinions I think.