chloedickensonLast Updated on 23rd March 2021
Now that I’m finally in full swing with my Australia content, I thought it was about time that I shared my top 12 favourite Australia experiences with you guys!
I wrote a similar post about my top experiences in New Zealand and you guys seemed to love it, so hopefully you’ll love this post just as much!
It’s important to me to try and inject as much of my personality into my travel posts as I can, while still ensuring that they’re informative, detailed and most importantly, inspiring so that you finally book that plane ticket!
With that in mind, here are my top 12 favourite Australia experiences from our recent East Coast road trip! Enjoy!
Scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef – favourite Australia experiences
One of my absolute favourite experiences in Australia was scuba diving and snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef.
It’s something that’s on many people’s bucket lists so I felt utterly grateful and privileged to have the opportunity to see the world-class wonder with my own eyes and experience it in such a unique way.
For those who don’t know, I have quite a big phobia of the ocean; it just freaks me out so much just how vast it is and how many creatures there are living in it! Which means our trip to the Great Barrier Reef, despite me being incredibly excited and grateful, was quite out of my comfort zone and I really had to push myself to do it.
I’m so glad I did however, as scuba diving in the Barrier Reef is unlike anything I’ve ever done before in my life.
My fear of the ocean hasn’t quite subsided just yet, but the opportunity to dive down into the sea and swim with an array of the most incredible fish and coral is an experience I’ll never forget and a memory that I’m so happy to have.
Travel tip: book your tickets for scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef here!
Snorkelling around the Whitsunday Islands
I mentioned that the Whitsundays were one of the top 5 places I fell in love with in Australia and it’s really not hard to see why once you get a glimpse of them.
They’re home to some of the most clear, blue water in the world, as well as pristine, clean white sand and it’s a paradisal place unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
While we were on a tour of the Whitsundays, we also got the chance to go snorkelling in two top locations. I posted a video on my Instagram compiling all the GoPro footage we took in the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef (make sure you check it out to see George, AKA the biggest fish I’ve ever seen!).
Travel tip: book your tickets to the Whitsundays here!
Watching an Aussie Rules game in Melbourne
One travel experience that I never thought I’d be including in a roundup was one featuring sports, but here we are; me raving about watching Australian football!
Aussie rules might be the most complicated sports game I’ve ever watched but it was also one of the most fun. We watched Carlton V Gold Coast in Melbourne while we were there and it was such a fun experience!
I’m still not 100% convinced I know the rules of AFL or what was going on for most of the game but I’d say it was a weird combination of football, rugby and volleyball! It’s definitely worth getting tickets to a game if you’re in Australia!
Visiting Australia Zoo – favourite Australia experiences
The Australia Zoo is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Australia and while I was a little apprehensive about it at first, it turned out to be one of my favourite travel experiences in Australia.
The Zoo is home to so many incredible animals who are all treated very well and looked after impeccably.
We watched a crocodile show while we were there and I even got the chance to cuddle a koala which was such an amazing experience and one that I’ll certainly never forget!
Travel tip: book your tickets to Australia Zoo here!
Staying with Matt’s family in Sydney and the Gold Coast
While we were on our trip across Australia, we met up with some of Matt’s family in Sydney and the Gold Coast.
We stayed with his grandad’s cousin and her family in their beautfiul home in Sydney and then when we were in the Gold Coast, we met up with Matt’s grandad’s cousin’s daughter and her husband and two children!
It was remarkable considering there’s such a distant relation between them but we ended up having such a fantastic time and it was so great to see how they lived their lives in Australia!
Our road trip journey overall – favourite Australia experiences
I know I’m cheating somewhat by saying this but our East Coast Australia road trip really was one of my favourite experiences altogether.
While it had the same premise as our New Zealand road trip (in that we were travelling from one place to another in a campervan), it somehow felt completely different and like an entirely new adventure.
It’s without a doubt one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life (not just in Australia) and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an alternative way of travelling around!
If you have any questions about planning a New Zealand or Australia road trip, please feel free to email me, DM me or leave a comment on this post!
Seeing the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge for the first time
One of the most iconic structures in the world and something that’s also on many people’s bucket list is the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
When I saw it for the very first time, I almost teared up; it’s a sight that you see on so many films, books and TV programmes and seeing it in real life was an insane experience!
We didn’t watch anything at the Opera House but we did have a peak inside and watch the light show in the evening that’s projected onto some of the roof outside!
Travel tip: book your tickets to the Sydney Opera House here!
Spending 5 days in a nice hotel in Melbourne
Another highlight of our trip to Australia was definitely our 5-night stay in a very nice hotel in Melbourne.
After spending 5 weeks in a campervan in New Zealand, we were both ready for some TLC and some proper downtime and it was such a perfect few days of napping, eating takeaways in bed and exploring some of what Melbourne had to offer.
As much as I adored vanlife, we were both in need of a proper bed to sleep in and an actual shower instead of just campsite shower blocks!
We managed to do a fair bit of exploring while we were in Melbourne too and it was yet another place in Australia that I fell in love with.
Meeting my blogging friend Gi for the first time
While we were in Brisbane, I finally met up with my blogging friend Gi, who I’ve known online for years but just never met!
Considering we only used to live a couple hours’ plane journey away from each other (me in the UK and Gi in Gibraltar), we’d never had the chance to meet so it seems crazy that we finally caught up when Gi was living in Brisbane and we were travelling there!
We had a fab night of eating food, drinking one too many alcoholic beverages and dancing the night away at a silent disco. It was so much fun and definitely one of my highlights from our time in Oz.
Eating ice creams on Bondi Beach – favourite Australia experiences
Bondi Beach is one of the most iconic beaches in the world so it’s safe to say I got a tad excited when we stepped on it for the first time.
I’d seen and heard about it for so many years and I’d watched episodes of Bondi Rescue and always dreamed of visiting it one day but when I was actually there in real life, it felt like a different world.
It’s such an incredible feeling reading and hearing all about these amazing destinations and then when you finally get there and experience it yourself, it really feels like a dream come true.
We didn’t spend ages on the beach but we did have time to grab a pink sherbet ice cream and have a little stroll along the sand!
Staying at a campsite with over 40 kangaroos
One of the most insane things we did while in Australia was stay at a campsite that was home to more than 40 kangaroos!
The woman who owns the campsite helps to look after and raise the kangaroos and guests are welcome to interact, play with them and feed them! The kangaroos are free to come and go as they please however, so they can live a life of luxury on the campsite, or choose to head off whenever they want!
It was such a fun and surreal experience and while you definitely shouldn’t ever try and touch a wild kangaroo, if you can find tame ones like these, then you’ll have a blast stroking them and watching how they play and interact with each other!
Driving around the beaches in Sydney in a 1967 Mustang
Without a doubt one of the most exciting and otherworldly experiences we enjoyed in Australia was riding around some of Sydney’s top beaches in a 1967 Mustang!
The family we stayed with in Sydney are some of the nicest people and very kindly took us out for the day in their vintage car. Cruising along the beach in a Mustang was an experience I’ll never, ever forget and it’s a special memory that Australia provided me with that I’ll cherish forever!
Pin for later – my top 12 favourite Australia experiences!
Have you ever been to Australia? If so, what were your favourite Australia experiences? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @imjustagirl_16.
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I really want to go to Australia, it has been on my to visit list for so long, and scuba diving is one of my favourite things to do!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
I’ve never been to Australia, but it is one place I would love to visit. Those ice creams on Bondi Beach look and sound so yummy! Oh, and scuba diving sounds fab, although I think I would be a bit apprehensive about it.
Thanks for sharing your favourite experiences in Australia!
Aimsy’s Antics
Scuba diving certainly was a crazy experience and I was so nervous! I’m so glad I managed to do it though! X
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