{"id":26974,"date":"2019-02-01T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T00:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flashpacknew.wpengine.com\/?p=26974"},"modified":"2019-12-10T15:04:39","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T15:04:39","slug":"love-australia-adventure-travel-friendly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/solo\/travel\/love-australia-adventure-travel-friendly\/","title":{"rendered":"A love letter to Australia: wild, inspiring and forever friendly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen the sun comes out, it bats its eyelids, it’s glamorous, beautiful, attractive, smart, and it’s very hard to get away from its magnetic pull,\u201d said Baz Luhrmann about Sydney. Except, as anyone who\u2019s been to Australia will attest, that applies to the whole country, not just its showstopping harbour-side city.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Australia is a place where gin-clear water laps golden beaches, rainforests throng with birdsong, stingrays glide through the surf and idyllic vineyards dot rolling hills. It retains a sense of being unexplored while also serving up flat whites and avocado toast (caf\u00e9 staples long before Londoners were blathering on about them).<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: How to relocate your job to a land of sunshine<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Modern, sophisticated, wild, inspiring and full of opportunity, Australia is a place that makes you feel a washing machine of emotions – especially when you\u2019re bobbing about The Great Barrier Reef with a cold tinny in your hand. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no wonder, then, that Australia has just been awarded the title of \u2018most Instagrammable country in the world\u2019 by travel site Big 7<\/a>. According to hashtag popularity, the country beat Mexico\u2019s vivid cenotes, Canada\u2019s wilderness and the Maldives\u2019 astonishing coastline to take top spot. Rightly so, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Mollie on Fraser Island<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I first went to Australia the year I finished university. Armed with a new travel towel, a guide book and a money bag bulging with traveller’s cheques, I spent three months travelling up the East Coast. After a whirlwind trip of pristine beaches, island-hopping, raucous hostels and diversions to the hinterland \u2013 which is just as beautiful as the coastline \u2013 I was smitten. Three years later I went back for a year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: Want a career break? Don’t overthink it<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It was one of my happiest years, and not just because I took a sabbatical from real life. Australia enamoured me with its people, always chatty and kind; with its weather, which gave dreamy summers and sparkling winters; and with its vast changeable landscapes and towering skies, which I walked, ran and rode through, often without seeing anyone else. <\/span><\/p>\n

You see, for all of Australia\u2019s Instagram hot spots and tourist sites, it’s a big enough place that you can still immerse yourself in its beauty without a self-stick wielding crowd around you.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Exploring the Kimberley region<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Take Port Stephens, only two hours\u2019 drive north of Sydney but home to the largest-moving sand dunes in the Southern Hemisphere, and the perfect canvas for sand-boarding (it\u2019s so remote that no-one can hear you scream – thankfully).<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Palm Cove, half an hour north of rowdy Cairns. Instead of partying backpackers, you\u2019ll discover palm trees keeping watch over a ridiculously perfect swathe of white sand. <\/span><\/p>\n

It should be packed with towel-to-towel sunbathers but it\u2019s so quiet it feels like a secluded island. Best of all: walk through the trees and you\u2019ll find a campsite hidden away.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In the Blue Mountains<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even the tourist haven of Byron Bay, with its laid-back atmosphere, coffee shops and markets, manages to scoop up all the tourists, tune them into the same wavelength and make everyone seem like a friendly local. Australia is so friendly that when I returned to London I said \u201chello\u201d to strangers on the street. I soon remembered that\u2019s an Aussie thing. In Britain, people just think you\u2019re trying to sell them something.<\/span><\/p>\n

Australia does big, show-off vistas better than anywhere else (just take a look at Fraser Island, Uluru, The Whitsunday Islands or Western Australia\u2019s Kimberley region), but there are subtle snippets of beauty at every turn.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: Get lost in the world’s most walkable cities<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Take the ferry that spends all day chugging back and forth between Sydney Harbour and Manly. Drifting past the Opera House, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the distance, it feels like a bucket-list experience yet this is how people commute<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the Hunter Valley, the<\/em> place to go for some of the country\u2019s best wines, one of the highlights is actually wobbling and weaving between them on a bike.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Cycling Hunter Valley<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you think Australia is only for beach bums, you need to take another look at #australia on Instagram. Alongside the blazing skies, aquamarine waters and lush rainforest you\u2019ll also see world renowned art, joyous Mardi Gras parties, Aboriginal culture and a booming cafe and foodie scene that will give you a head-start on the next food trends to hit our own shores.<\/span><\/p>\n

We talk a lot about work\/life balance in Britain but for a first-hand experience of the perfect mix you need only visit Australia, a country where an after-work beach trip is commonplace, weekend barbies are the norm and the beer is always<\/em> cold. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the words of Lara Bingle in the infamous Tourism Australia<\/a> advert: \u201cWhere the bloody hell are you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

5 highlights from Flash Pack’s East Coast Australia trip\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Want to experience the beauty of Australia first-hand? Dive right in<\/a>\u00a0and be our guest! Here’s just a few things you can expect…<\/em><\/p>\n

Great Barrier Reef by catamaran<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"catamaran<\/p>\n

Snorkel and swim around the world\u2019s largest reef system, on a day-long catamaran trip.<\/p>\n

Desert adventure <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"quadbiking\"<\/p>\n

Sand-board and quad bike across the 40-metre drifts of Stockton Sand Dunes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wildlife high<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"river<\/p>\n

Look out for humpback whales, turtles and dingoes in their natural habitat, and see saltwater crocodiles on a<\/span> Daintree River cruise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Island idyll<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Fraser<\/p>\n

Sail between hidden coves and beaches of the Whitsunday Islands aboard a luxury yacht.<\/span><\/p>\n

Surf and wine time<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Surfing\"<\/p>\n

Learn how to surf with a lesson in Byron Bay, and visit the wine estates of Hunter Valley.<\/span><\/p>\n

Images: Shutterstock\/Australia Tourism\/Mollie McGuigan<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen the sun comes out, it bats its eyelids, it’s glamorous, beautiful, attractive, smart, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":79882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9033,9029],"tags":[107,3731,239,881,469,2403,1065,464,433,768,443,336,1073,362,949,485,635,339,517,93,384],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26974"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}