In July two friends from my high school days, Kristina and Lauren, travelled halfway around the world to visit me in my new home for a week. As some know, a week is not nearly enough time to even scratch the surface of what Australia has to offer. With such a limited schedule, we made sure to make the most out of their time here which meant early mornings, late nights, and jam packed days!

Once they landed and made their way to the Brisbane CBD, we had a twilight stroll around the city, showing them the famous Story Bridge, botanic gardens, and discussing weird Australian things while trying to catch up on the last few years. We then had a night of eating good food and drinking at Eat Street.

Bright and early the next morning, we went to the Australia Zoo! It was a long day of admiring Australian bugs (Kristina) and enjoying all the animals, especially a room full of snakes native to Australia that all said ‘Venomous’ on the displays! It was so cool to finally visit the Australia Zoo, having grown up knowing so much about Steve Irwin.

Bright and early the following day Zac dropped the three of us off at the airport, with only a short few days to see some pure Australian nature, we decided to hop on a backpacker boat and sail the Whitsundays! The Whitsundays are about an hour and a half flight from Brisbane and the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. I had dreamt of going to the Whitsundays for years, since my first time in Australia since I learned about them back in 2019! It was a dream come true! Crystal blue waters, beautiful nature, and sailing amongst the islands that formed the Whitsundays; it was a great break from the busy life I had been living since moving back to Brisbane.

We ended Lauren and Kristina’s time here with a giant Australian snack feast consisting of Tim Tams, Shapes, Kangaroo burgers, meat pies; you name it, we probably had it! The last day Kristina was here we took her and Bruce (the pupper pictured below) to the Gold Coast, very similar to the South Bay if I could compare it to anything back home. With a giant strip of off-leash dog beach and some good fish and chips, we enjoyed the beautiful weather in the middle of ‘winter’.

Having two friends visit my new home and meet some important people in my life here was an incredible way to mesh my two worlds together. Through the busy schedule I’ve had consisting of two jobs (Research Assistant at Uni & Retail at Australian Best Buy) and a 20,000 word thesis, it was nice to have a break and enjoy the nature of the country I chose to move to.

Cheers,

Lauren