My trip to Australia began at Manchester airport where upon check in, because of my disability, I was offered help at the departure terminal in way of allowing usage of the lift. I accepted this help with gratitude. The flight as always with trips to Australia was very long. In total, the flight was about 21 hours in duration, with a 2 hour stop at Singapore. Although many people do not like long flights, I enjoy them because I get to watch some of the most recent cinema releases. My trip to Australia included stops at Sydney, Cairns, Ayers Rock and Perth.
Sydney
I arrived in Sydney at 8:30 in the evening, where I got a taxi to my accommodation called The Oaks Hotel at Darling Harbour. I checked into my apartment, which had a nice bedroom, a kitchen, shower room, and a TV. It also had a very nice view looking out over the Darling Harbour. Amongst the activities during my time in Sydney, I visited the Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World and Sydney Tower. While at the Sydney Tower, I also went on the Sydney Skywalk. The Sydney Skywalk was where I put on a harness, and took a guided walk around the outside of the Sydney Tower on the roof 260 metres above the ground. While walking around the outside of the tower, I saw a magnificent view of the city of Sydney. At one point, the walkway was also extended while standing on it, allowing you to see beneath you all the way to the ground. The Sydney Aquarium was great. There were plenty of animals, and as you would expect, a walk through tunnel, where you see the sharks, sea lions and many others swimming all around you. I also visited the Taronga Zoo, where I saw all kinds of animals, including giraffes, lions, tigers, monkeys and a lot of other types of animals. One of the animals I found entertaining was the Elephants. The Elephants have a big area to walk around in, and there was a big pool where the Elephants could go into so that they can cool down. I saw one of the elephants go into the water, and another elephant was trying to stop this elephant from getting back out of the water by raising its leg to the elephants head. The temperature was in the low 30s degrees Celcius, although that is very high compared with the UK, and it was sunny and bright except for one evening when there were thundery showers. The food was delicious, and I particularly enjoyed the Aussie Burgers, which are large burgers with beetroot on.
Cairns
Cairns was very nice also and had temperatures about the mid 30s degrees Celcius. I stayed at the Amaroo hotel in Trinity Beach. There was no view at the hotel, but there was a path and a lot of stairs to the back of the hotel which lead to the beach. To the front of the hotel was a very steep drive leading down to the street. I thought of this as Heart Attack hill, because it was very difficult walking up it at the end of the day. The hotel had its own swimming pool, which I spent a lot of time in. While in cairns I went to the Hartleys Crocodile Adventure Park. I really enjoyed it because I had my photo taken of me holding a baby crocodile, and I took a boat trip where the driver dangled some chicken over the side so that we could take pictures of the crocodile jumping up and eating the chicken. There was also a very interesting crocodile attack show. The keeper got into an area with a full grown crocodile, and made it chase him around. It was good because the keeper was very entertaining and funny. He would tell us facts about the crocodile, and kept it interesting for about an hour. I also went up to a village called the Kuranda. Kuranda is a village at the top of a big rain forest. Other than by car, there are two ways of getting to the village from the bottom. There is Kurandas Historic Scenic Railway, which gives you plenty of scenes to take photographs of, and also stops half way where you can get off the train, and take a photo of you standing in front of a waterfall. The other way of getting to the village is by using the Skyrail - the worlds longest rainforest Cableway. This is where you get to travel over the top of the rain forest, and again, has some very good photo opportunities. I decided to go up to Kuranda by train, and down by the Skyrail. I stayed in Cairns for 5 days, but there were plenty of other activities to keep you occupied for a lot longer.
Ayers Rock
I have to admit that Ayers Rock was not the best place from my trip. The temperature was in the 40s, very humid, and there were lots of flies. I stayed in a caravan, and it contained a bedroom, mini kitchen, a TV, and air conditioning. There was no bathroom or toilet; you had to walk up the road to use shared facilities. It was so hot outside, even at night that I mostly stayed in the air conditioned caravan. I stayed there for 2 days, which to be honest, was plenty of time. I did go on two trips however. The first was the Ayers Rock sunrise tour, where you took a trip to the Rock at 4am to get at the Rock for sunrise, which was huge, and you were offered refreshments while taking photos of the sunrise changing the colour of the rock. The second was the Ayers Rock sunset tour, which similarly, you had refreshments while the sun set and taking photos. Unfortunately, for both of the trips, the weather was not on our side, so I never got to see the full effect. The atmosphere however was very good.
Perth
I regard Perth as my home from home. I have visited Perth 5 times now, and have always stayed with friends who kindly offer us a place to stay when we visit. Their home is magnificent, and also has a swimming pool. During this visit, I went to the Perth city centre and visited the Fremantle city markets. The markets in Fremantle have all sorts of products, from Ugg boots to Aboriginal products. I have also visited a little island called Rottnest Island, which I go to visit every time I visit Perth. Rottnest Island is just a 40 minute ferry ride from Fremantle docks. The island is the home of Quockers, which are native to the island. The temperatures in Perth and Rottnest Island range from mid 20s to mid 30s. I spent most of my time at my friends’ home while in Perth, as this was my final stop before leaving for home, and was planned as the relaxation part of my holiday.
On the 1st January 2007, I began my trip home from Perth Airport. I spent over 3 weeks in Australia, and although some parts of my trips were not as I expected, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip overall.