Things I Love About Australia

Last Updated on 29th September 2019

I’ve mentioned before that Australia was never really somewhere that I was absolutely desperate to visit. But now that I’ve been and spent 1 month along East Coast Australia in a campervan, I really can’t imagine loving it more. And that’s exactly what today’s post is in celebration of; all the things I love about Australia!

It’s one of the most incredible, overwhelmingly beautiful and captivating places I’ve ever been. Australia is home to the most amazing landscapes, cities, cuisines, climates and so much more and I’m now more determined than ever to encourage you guys to book a flight there! I’ve already talked about all the places I love in Australia, but today’s post is all about the actual things I love!

If you’re still on the fence about Oz and you feel that you need just a little more convincing to book a trip, here’s all the things I love about Australia!

Outdoor BBQs everywhere – Things I Love About Australia

One of the most fun and fabulous things about the Aussie lifestyle is that there are outdoor public barbecues everywhere!

They’re all free to use and you’ll find them in almost every public park, in the middle of the city, right next to the beach as well as so many other places!

For someone who literally adores BBQ food; this was a huge selling point for me and one of the most prominent reasons for me as to why I loved Australia so much.

So much amazing food

Speaking of food, Australia is blessed with so many incredible restaurants, bars, cafes and eateries.

Wherever you go, you’ll find a new up-and-coming place to eat that serves the most #Instagrammable avocado on toast, as well as a plethora of other delicious delicacies.

While we were travelling around in a campervan and were on a pretty tight budget, we still managed to squeeze a few stops in to try out the local food (for research purposes, of course…).

Endless sunshine – Things I Love About Australia

While of course Australia does experience its fair share of winter weather, especially in Victoria and WA, it doesn’t come close to what it’s like in many other parts of the world.

In fact, if you position yourself just right in Tropical Queensland or the Sunshine Coast, you’ll very rarely experience anything that could be deemed as “cold” weather.

Personally, I’m a huge fan of autumn and winter (to an extent) which is actually something I’m going to miss about being home in the UK this year, but I do have to admit that perpetual sunshine and dreamy blue skies does seem like the right way to live…

Beautiful beaches

I’ve already written a detailed post about some of Australia’s best beaches but I thought it was something definitely worth mentioning in this post too.

If you’ve never been to Australia, it’s hard to comprehend just how beautiful the beaches really are; there’s endless amounts of them punctuating the beautiful coastline all around the country and you’d be hard pressed to choose just one as your favourite!

Once you see the likes of Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays for the first time, you’ll never look at a beach the same way again!

Friendly people

Obviously, like anywhere in the world, Australia is home to both good and bad people but I can safely say that during our 5 weeks there, we met nothing but warm, welcoming and friendly people.

Aussies are so eager to welcome you into their homes (we actually stayed with two different family members of Matt’s while we were there!) and will go out of their way to make sure you’re well catered for.

Nothing is too much of an ask and almost everywhere you go, you’ll be greeted by friendly and enthusiastic people!

Coffee, smoothies and milkshakes

Aussie people take their coffee extremely serious, especially in the big cities and you’ll never be too far away from a cute beachside cafe or coffee shop.

As well as coffee, Australia also boasts a hearty offering of delicious smoothies, milkshakes and fresh juices; all of which are a perfect accompaniment for a stroll along the beach.

The Gold Coast – Things I Love About Australia

The Gold Coast was without a doubt my favourite place in Australia and I already can’t wait to go back again (and maybe even live there one day!).

I fell head over heels in love with its eclectic landscape and lifestyle; the combination of skyline, sun, sea and sand makes a heady concoction and a recipe for one happy Chloe!

It’s such a remarkably overwhelming sight to see towering skyscrapers right on the beach but somehow it works and I think only the Gold Coast could pull it off so effortlessly!

The unbelievably relaxed lifestyle

Many people who know me (looking particularly at you; Matt, mum and dad!) will know that I’m quite the control freak and I worry about almost everything I possibly can.

However, being immersed in the laid-back Australian lifestyle was so refreshing and I instantly felt all my worries and stress melt away.

Some may say that Aussies are too relaxed and laid back but you’d struggle not to be if you spent most of your time by the beach or in the sun!

Koala bears and kangaroos

One thing to note when heading to Australia is that you’ll see an unfathomably large number of kangaroos.

Unfortunately, you will also see many dead ones at the side of the road, especially if you’re doing a road trip but if you do get the chance to see these furry guys in real life in the wild, make sure you don’t approach them!

We were lucky enough to stay at a campsite where the owner had helped raise over 40 kangaroos and while they were free to roam around as they pleased, they were also incredibly friendly and tame.

Similarly with koalas, you very well might see the odd one while you’re in Australia and while they look like the cutest thing in the world (especially when you get the chance to cuddle one!), they can be quite vicious!

Aussie slang

Aussies shorten everything; anything you can think of that can be shortened into a smaller word, will be!

Of course, there’s also the typical Aussie slang such as ‘thongs’ (flip flops), ‘heaps good’, ‘arvo’ (this afternoon), ‘coldie’ (beer), ‘servo’ (petrol station) and ‘stubbie’ (my personal favourite – it holds your beer and keeps it cold or warm depending on the weather!) just to name a few!

I never quite understood why they had to shorten absolutely everything but it definitely makes a change and was quite entertaining at times!

Road trips – Things I Love About Australia

Of course, I’m incredibly biased about road trips, having been on two epic ones in the last few months, but Australia really is an idyllic destination to hire a campervan and hit the long stretches of road.

There’s so many amazing routes to take on a road trip around Australia so you certainly won’t struggle to find one that suits you!

Vastly diverse landscapes

As I mentioned with regards to the Gold Coast, Australia is home to such vastly diverse landscapes which all seem to complement each other perfectly!

The intense, bustling atmosphere of Sydney CBD is just a short distance away from the likes of Bondi Beach, Palm Beach and Manly; it shouldn’t work but it definitely does!

Beautiful sunsets – Things I Love About Australia

When we were in New Zealand, we were blessed with so many beautiful sunsets and I honestly thought that nowhere else in the world could compete but Australia certainly gives it a good go.

The picture above was taken on our first night in the campervan just an hour’s drive from Melbourne and we were lucky enough to see many more on our trip as well.

5 not-so-great things about the Land Down Under!

Like with literally anywhere in the world, Australia isn’t all sunshine and rainbows and does unfortunately have a few downsides too.

It’s nothing that I can’t look passed however, Australia has a firm grip on my heart and I don’t think that anything could stop that now!

It’s expensive

After spending 3 months in New Zealand and then heading straight to Australia, we didn’t find the expense issue to be too much of a concern. We could certainly appreciate that it’s by no means cheap, but most things were very similarly priced to the UK.

If you’ll be travelling to Oz after a trip to South East Asia however, you’ll probably be in for quite a shock as it’s definitely more expensive than any of those countries!

It’s unfathomably huge

This point isn’t necessarily a downside, more of an observation that Australia really is unbelievably freaking huge!

Obviously I’d seen it on a map and online before we visited, but it was only when we were doing proper research for our road trip that I truly appreciated just how immense it really is.

Most of the NorthWest and central territories of Australia is nothing but vast expanses of desert and outback and even when travelling between Melbourne and Sydney like we did, it’s still almost 900km!

It’s home to nasty creatures as well

This was one thing that actually made me reluctant to want to go to Australia and one thing that gave me quite a lot of anxiety for the first couple of days when we got there.

While of course there are plenty of bugs and creatures sharing the country with you, I’ll be 100% honest and say that I didn’t see a single spider (this was what I was terrified about the most!) or snake while we were there.

I’m sure that many people do encounter them, but if you’re going to be spending a lot of time in the big cities, you really won’t see many at all, if any!

The traffic is intense in big cities

Particularly in Melbourne and Sydney, the traffic can be pretty treacherous but it’s nothing we hadn’t seen before having been blessed with the likes of the M62 back home in England!

Everyone loves Vegemite 😉

I’m not really sure I can comment that this is a bad thing about Australia but it’s certainly not a good thing in my opinion!

Vegemite is a huge culture thing in Australia and most people absolutely love it. It’s become quite the done thing to get tourists to try it when visiting Aus and Matt’s family very (not so!) kindly let us try some.

It’s safe to say that I’m definitely a Vegemite hater and won’t be rushing to try it again anytime soon!

I really hope you’ve enjoyed this post! I had so much fun reminiscing about all the things I love about Australia and it’s cemented my love for the beautiful country even more!

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• Why Australia Zoo is a must-see attraction
• A Melbourne bucket list for first time visitors
• My top 12 favourite Australia experiences
• 5 places I fell in love with in Australia
• 9 best beaches along East Coast Australia

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Have you ever been to the Land Down Under? If so, what things do you love about Australia? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @imjustagirl_16.