Why Australia stole my heart, Part 1

June 17, 2017

Why Australia stole my heart, Part 1

Sunset at 12 Apostles- Great Ocean Road- Victoria- Australia

While I'm still preparing everything for my Work and Travel in Canada, I often felt to set back to the time where I start my first Work and Travel in Australia and how it changed my whole life. That is why I want to explain where everything started. Where I realized that I want to live a different life and why Australia still keeps my heart.

Ok where should I start?
I noticed that the text was getting too long so I decided to split it in two parts. That's what happened in the first months:

I wasn't really upset to leave Germany, I was totally excited what happened next. The adventure startetd with entering the airplane. In contrast to the USA I didn't know much about this big country called Australia. I knew Sydney a bit, knew about the animals and the outback. Shame on me, I know. But this was the best what could happen, because I didn't thought much about it, I just did it. I knew everything has to be better than my life in Germany.

We arrived in the night of the 16th of April 2012 at the airport of Melbourne. The summer was nearly over but it was a good climate, not hot like everybody thinks and it wasn't that cold. We took our backpack and drove with the bus to the city center. We had no booking for a hostel. But we were in Australia, you can find a hostel everywhere. So we went to the hostel near Flinders Station and shortly thereafter we laid in our bed in a 4 bed doorm.

The next day we explored the city. My boyfriend showed me some places he remembered of his first Work and Travel.

It was a pretty busy city. Really nice buildings. A mixture of old and modern. I'm not sure if I liked it first, but I think I liked the look of the city. Everything was new and interesting. I had to process all the impressions and this completely new situation in my life.

Melbourne City Skyline

Flinders Street Melbourne CBD

In the following days I started with searching for jobs. And I had to say that this city made me depressive. I don't know why. Meanwhile I think I had no holidays for a long time and did a job I didn't feel good with and then we came to Australia and had no time to get in this beautiful country, rather were stressed by searching for a job. Within one night we took the choice to leave Melbourne. Please, don't understand me wrong. Melbourne is a great city but for starting our adventure, Melbourne was for me the wrong choice. We choosed a new destination, booked a camper with relocation (drive a car or camper from A to B and pay only the fuel), packed our stuff and left the hostel.

Our camper at the Road Stop Nullarbor, South Australia

Our new destination was Perth in Western Australia. We had 7 days from Melbourne to Perth and so the Road Trip could start. It was time to explore and get to know Australia.

I loved that road trip, I saw wildlife kangaroos, dingos and koalas and a lot of impressive landscapes. We slept and eat in the camper at different places like parking spaces or road stops in the outback. I had time to switch off and it felt good.

I really want to mention the 12 Apostels. A rock stacks at the end of the Great Ocean Road. This is a place you can't catch in a photo. The feeling when you stand at the lookout is so overwhelming. Our luckily coincidence was to arrive close to the sunset time. We saw the rocks at daytime and could watch the sun slowly wnt down. Amazing. You really have to go there.

Sign at the border between South and Western Australia

12 Apostles. Great Ocean Road

Somewhere in Nowhere

Before we arrived in Perth we looked online for a hostel. We choose a small one at the popular Cottesloe Beach.

It feels like yesterday as we drove up the street and in front of us appeared the beautiful indian ocean. It was so beautiful.

As we entered the hostel I never thought that I will live here for the next 4 months. But yes, this was my new home and I had the best time of my life. I found a job as a kitchen hand and later on as a waitress and I found a family. We were a bunch of germans which spent the days and nights together, but a couple of english, scottish, irish, canadian, swedish, australian, netherlands and french people belongs to us as well. 120 people could sleep in this hostel, but we were maybe 40 which stays all the time at the Ocean Beach Backpackers.

We slept in an 8 bed doorm, but it was no problem for us. We cooked together, we went on the beach together, went shopping or go partying. We had so much fun. I worked with 4 other girls from the hostel and before we start our shift we went on sunbathing at the beach in the Australian winter.

Life was so easy and all the people you've met were so extremly friendly and helpful. They teached you to live easygoing and motivates you to reach everythinjg you want, which is the best way to live your life, in my opinion.

Yeah we had problems too but all the good moments were outwight.

So I found me sitting at the beach alone with my diary, looked at the sun over the ocean and listened to me. It was an unbelievable feeling and I recognized for the very first time in my life: I was happy and satisfied. The both things which are the most important for me. I felt free, my heart was free. If you ever had this feeling you are a lucky one.

This was my turning point. I really get in Australia. I think it was 3 months after we arrived at the airport in Melbourne. I lost my heart at this place.

From now on I lived completely different. I enjoyed every single second, believed in myself and trust in my dreams and goals. I could reach everything I wanted.

What I liked most while living in Perth was to feel relaxed all the time although it is a big city. Nobody is in a hury, the city centre is not that big, but you get everything you want and all the beautiful suburbs around the centre were so lovely.
Everything seemed so clean and the sun was always shining, apart from just a few days which you can count on one hand.

The most time I spend in Cottesloe where our hostel was located. I worked in a restaurant with an ocean view, spend my time at the beach or with our friends at the hostel. Sometimes we visited the port city Fremantle which was only 20 minutes away. I love Fremantle, it's definitely worth a visit. You get fresh food for less money, especially when you arrive late Sundays, because Mondays the markets are close and everything has to go out before they have to put it in the bin.
What I think it's really funny that Perth is one of the biggest cities in Australia, most of the shops are closing around 5 pm. But that's it what makes Perth so relaxed in my opinion.

If I would go back to Australia and could choose where I want to live, I think I would move to Fremantle. I think it's more for being individual than Perth, but you always have the possibility to drive to the city of Perth or go to the beautiful beaches and just 1 hour drive out of the city you can find the wonderful nature of Western Australia.

View from our hostel room, Cottesloe Beach, Perth

In front of the Ocean Beach Backpackers

Perth skyline by night from Kings Park

Us on the parking space of our hostel in front of a bottle shop ;) Yes I was blonde

My inspirational view at Cottesloe Beach, Perth

A special phenomenon which I only experienced in Australia was that you never know what happened tomorrow. No matter if you planned tomorrow, everything went different than you expected.

We need nearly 2 weeks before we established to leave our home Perth.

We already bought a car 2 months ago. You have to know, we love old cars and the 50ies and 60ies. And you never know, we had the first Oldtimer in our life. In Germany you can't easily afford a car like this apart from this you weren't allowed to drive it, because it would never gets the German security check called TÜV.

But we had a german mechanic with us as we bought that car and he said it would drive good enough for us and yes it definitely did. Our Herny, that was how we called this beautiful Nissan Datsun 200B, drove us 3 weeks through the Australian outback, with temperatures around 45 degrees, drove offroads and were our bedroom, kitchen and living room all together. We had some technical problems though, but nothing you can't fixed.
The first time we had problems with the car we met 3 amazing guys, two scottish and one australian. They were really helpful and give us a bed for one night on a campground close to the Pinnacles. This was a pretty funny night and after a good breakfast at Hangover Bay our paths parted. Thank you guys.

Our road trip went from Perth to Broome and everyone who choose to travel to Australia, I advise you to travel this route, because that is the real Australia. Later on I got to know the eastcoast but I never gets the Australian spirit like that on the westcoast.

From that on I couldn't stop to be astonished. I was at stunning places, nearly every hour we stopped on an other breathtaking place and we met even more wonderful people.

And I totally feel free, like nobody can stop me. It feels like I was the only person on this wonderful planet. This was amazing and only words can't describe it. You have to feel it.

Beside all the wonderful places I saw on this road trip I felt in love with Monkey Mia and Shell Beach. Both are on a world heritage site called "Shark Bay". Shell Beach consists of small white shells instead of sand and the water was so crystal blue, I've never saw something like this before and I never did again. Also what I liked in Ausrralia most and at Shell Beach, too: You were nearly alone at this place. Sometimes a few tourists had a look but you felt always free because it wasn't really crowded.
The other place which I mentioned is a resort at the end of the heritage site. It is famous for their wildlife dolphins which came twice a day to the beach and you can feed them. After that they are returning to the ocean again. That's the special thing. They aren't locked in a tank, they live in the ocean and they have the free choice to come to the tourists. Because we liked it so much we stayed at the Monkey Mia campground, had a wonderful sunset and saw some dolphins at night, coming to the beach because we walked around with flashlights. I will never forget the sound of the dolphins in this beautiful darkness, sharing this moment only with the person I love. Oh I would love to go back to this moment.
Well on our trip we saw a lot of other wonderful places, but this are the places which were the most impressive for me. Just let me know if you want to know more about other places of Western Australia.

To be continued...