March 2023 Trip Notes & Itinerary

Overview: Melbourne (3 days) > Kangaroo Island (4 days) > Adelaide (1 day) > Byron Bay (3 days) > Sydney (7 days).

Bottom Line: From the land of Kiwis to the land of Aussies. As much as we loved New Zealand, our time was up. But having come this far, why not hit the nearest new continent when it’s only three hours away but a 14-hour flight from home? Just like NZ the month prior, this was our first visit to Australia. My first bit of advice: if it’s your first time Down Under and you have time, it would be a shame to visit one country and not the other.

The first and most obvious difference between Australia and New Zealand is their sheer size. It was easy to see almost all of NZ by car. Australia? Impossible! However big it looks on the map, it is much bigger for all practical purposes. With a fairly limited duration of 18 days, we stuck to south and southeast regions because it is home to some of Australia’s best cities, beaches and wildlife, and the weather in other highly desirable locales like Cairns and The Great Barrier Reef, Darwin in the north, and Uluru/Ayers Rock have a reputation for being uncomfortably hot during summer. Even at that, the distance between major destinations in the southeastern corner of Australia is great enough that we chose to fly between them to squeeze the most out of our limited time.

Nothing we regretted about this itinerary at all, although renting a car just to drive from Gold Coast Airport to Byron Bay and back probably wasn’t necessary; Uber would have been cheaper. There is no need for a car in Melbourne or Sydney, but if you go to Kangaroo Island, a vehicle is essential. If we’d had 2-3 more days, we would have driven the Great Ocean Road and Southern Ocean Road from Melbourne to Kangaroo Island instead of flying.

We began our tour of Australia in Melbourne, as it was an easy 3-hour flight from Queenstown, NZ and a natural starting point given our itinerary. Being the first big city we’d seen in a month, we opted for, well, Big City adventures. You know, street art, rooftop bars, basement bars, live music and Uber. Oh yeah, we went to a museum, too. The bars were better.

Melbourne and Sydney have a strong, possibly friendly rivalry. The locals swear they have far superior coffee and sports teams (it’s Australian Rules Football, or “footie” here, not rugby) and nicer people, of course. I won’t disagree. Three days was good; one could certainly spend more time here, but less would be a waste. Highlights:

• Our apartment hotel, built in an old bank, was centrally located and easy walking to everything in and around the CBD, including many of the top sites that appeal to locals and tourists alike. While many hotels can make the same claim, the price was very good here as was the complimentary happy hour next to the snooker table on the mezzanine.
• I’m Free walking tours are an outstanding way to get an informative and fun introduction to the city’s architectural and cultural highlights. I recommend them highly. While technically free, they work for tips, and it was well worth the $40 for two of us.
• Street art, mostly wild murals covering entire walls in the famous lanes and back alleys, is quite impressive. AC/DC lane was my favorite, but there were several other well-known lanes worth checking out, too.
• The Queen Vic market, a huge open-air market, is a big deal during the day, but it didn’t work out with our timing. Instead, we dropped in for the Night Market next door, only running Wednesday nights, to check out the many art and food stalls. Very family friendly. It was fine for an hour.
• Some great bars in the CBD we really liked: Berlin (featuring two themed sides, East and West), Beneath Driver Lane (underground blues bar), Union Electric Bar & Rooftop Gin Garden, Section 8, Ferdydurk’s, and Goldilocks Rooftop Bar.
• Fitzroy is the funky, cool, hip neighborhood to hang out in and definitely a great spot for a pub crawl. We started at Naked for Satan (there’s a story and it’s not what you think) where you can have a drink with a killer view over the city skyline. The bartender there gave us her inside scoop on her favorite local bars, and we liked both The Rooks Return and Blackcat Fitzroy. Finally, we hit The Old Bar, a true dirty, late night dive she did not recommend… but it worked for us.
• Back to the Rooks Return…a tiny bar with an amazing house band, the Rookies, that tears the place up with incredible horn-driven jazz every Wednesday. Think Coltrane and Miles Davis, seriously. We were lucky to get the last standing room only spots in the bar.
• One of Melbourne’s most famous street artists is someone named Rone, who had an exhibition at Flinders Station with the hardest to get tickets in town. A free sample, an installation at the train station called “The Newsagency”, with an entire room transformed in a 50’s centric tableau, was very cool.

After fun in the big city, it was time to go remote again and KI definitely fit the bill. Flying from Melbourne to Adelaide, we picked up our rental car at the airport and made tracks for the Port Jervis ferry terminal, a two-hour drive. Our ferry took us to Kangaroo Island, where another two-hour drive across desolate roads and wild countryside brought us to our Wander Pod, high on a hillside overlooking Snellings Beach on the island’s wild north coast.

Australia’s 3rd largest island, KI is treasured for its natural beauty and famously Aussie wildlife, including kangaroos, wallabies, koala, echidnas, platypus, fur seals, sea lions and exotic birds and reptiles. There are few people and very few paved roads. Sadly, Kangaroo Island suffered devastating bushfires in 2019-20, with almost half the island burned, but is well into recovering its lost flora and fauna. It was a remarkable place to visit. Highlights:

• Our one-day guided Island Life tour with Exceptional KI was exceptional. We got up close and personal with sea lions on the largest rookery in the southern hemisphere, encountered groups of kangaroo, wallaby and koala, and enjoyed an excellent grilled seafood lunch in the bush. These animals are shy and don’t like the heat of the day, so having a guide who knows where to find them is a huge bonus

• Visiting Flinders Chase National Park was a great way to spend a day. You don’t need a guide for this. While much of the forested park is still closed due to bushfire recovery, it is easy to find two major landmarks, both worth visiting: Admirals Arch and the Remarkable Rocks.
• An hour or two at not-so-secret Stokes Beach, with its powdery white sand and accessible only after navigating a maze of boulders, was a nice way to kill time in the afternoon.

• Our Wander Pod, Carina, was one of the coolest places we have ever stayed. One of four tiny homes on top of a mountain, it was luxuriously appointed, perfectly tranquil, and afforded the most amazing views, including gorgeous sunsets and wild kangaroos hopping around outside. Magical!
• We splurged for a one-of-a-kind dinner at the Enchanted Fig Tree, ironically the only out-of-home dining opportunity within an hour’s drive and it was only five minutes from our pod. You come all this way, you might as well go for the best!
• KI is also known for its excellent, locally-produced gin. Thus, gin and tonics on our deck for sunset — before, during or after soaking in the outdoor tub overlooking the beach below — became a daily ritual.

Some important Kangaroo Island tips:

• The best lodging comes at a premium and inventory is limited except the more crowded small towns like Ecu Bay and Kingscote. Best to book early.
• Driving at dawn or dusk is a dicey proposition and not recommended as that’s when the wildlife is out in force, and because there is generally nothing else on the road the tendency is to drive fast. Dead kangaroo carcasses litter the roadsides close to towns. For that reason, try to get a ferry that will leave you plenty of daylight for driving.
• If you are staying someplace remote with no nearby stores or restaurants, like we did, be sure to stock up on food and provisions while you are still in Penneshaw (the IGA is good) or before you catch your ferry (Romeo’s Foodland Supermarket and the Normanville Seafood & Meat Butcher in Normanville were good).

Leaving Kangaroo Island behind, we change it up again with a one-night layover in Adelaide before flying to Byron Bay the next morning. Adelaide seemed like a neat town, worth a few days, but we had to settle for dinner and a few bars. Highlights:

• Peel Street in the CBD is a one-block long, narrow lane filled with good looking restaurants and a few bars, including Maybe Mae, a fun speakeasy style bar hidden behind a nondescript, black wall inside Bread & Bone Grill.
• A couple good bars just around the corner include Hains & Co (nautical themed gin/cocktail bar), Blues Bar and Shotgun Willies (the latter two are connected upstairs/downstairs and were quiet when we were there on Tuesday but have live music and are likely lively on the weekend).
• Some decent street art around town.
• Our hotel was centrally located in CBD, comfortable and reasonably priced, and has a saloon downstairs. Hard to beat that combo.

After our one night in Adelaide, we caught a morning flight to Byron Bay, a hippie chic beach town at the north end of New South Wales.

Three days in Byron was perfect for exploring excellent dining, a nice lighthouse/coastal hike, quality beach time, and live music everywhere in the bars and on the street.

The highlight for me was scuba diving Julian Rocks Marine Preserve where I got up close with rays, turtles, tropical fish and large grouper. Alas, no sharks and no pics from that adventure.

What we liked:

• Byron Bay is chock full of hotels and lowrise beach rental properties. We chose our place because it was a pretty quiet oasis a short walk from the town center, super comfortable, and supposedly had easy access to the beach. The first two points proved true, and we were quite happy with our accommodations, though we never did find that beach access.
• Nice walk from town up to the Cape Byron Lighthouse delivered great views of Wategos Beach to the north, Byron Bay Beach to the east, and Tallow Beach to the south, not to mention a very cool lighthouse.
• Three really outstanding dinners at Bang Bang, Ember and the Mez Club.
• Late afternoon beers and live music on the big outdoor patio at the Beach Hotel.
• Wategos Beach, tucked under the tree-covered cliffs, was our favorite in the area for hanging out and watching the surfers.
• Great beer selection, fun crowd and an incredible electric blues trio tearing it up on the dobro slide guitar at Railway Friendly Bar.
• Julian Rocks Marine Reserve is a great dive location, with lots of interesting underwater features and marine life. Known for leopard sharks, which we didn’t see unfortunately, it was still a cool dive to 60 feet and we did see some Wobbegong sharks in a section called “The Nursery”. Sundive Byron Bay did a nice job with a good divemaster, equipment and boat and their own pool for my recommended pre-dive refresher.

After driving back to Gold Coast airport, dropping our rental car, and another short flight south, our long walkabout in the southern hemisphere finally landed us in the magical city of Sydney, where we met up again with good friends Susan and Joe Krauss (who just kept popping up everywhere we went ).

From the historic Rocks District to the Blue Mountains, Bondi to Coogee Beach, the Harbour Bridge to the Opera House, ferries, treks and more beaches around Watson Bay and Manly, hidden bars in the CBD, and finishing up with a rather calm St. Patrick’s Day in Surry Hills, we packed a lot into seven days – a big finish to a pretty great trip.

Highlights:

• Like Melbourne, the I’m Free Sydney Sights walking tour was both fun and informative, the perfect way to get a good overview of Sydney geographically, historically, architecturally, and culturally.
• Spending a few days in and around the Rock’s District and Circular Quay was a great way to start the week. Be sure to take in the view of Sydney Harbour from Observation Hill, sample the fare at the historic Lord Nelson Brewery, and stop by The Mercantile Hotel (hotel = code for bar) for excellent Guinness and Irish trad music, especially if there’s an open-air market outside on George Street.
• Other decent bars in the Rocks included Frank Mac’s and Doss House on George Street. Glenmore Hotel’s rooftop bar reputedly has the best view of the Opera House in town… but, be forewarned: it gets very crowded early and cruise ships stop here virtually every day, so timing where and when to go is essential. When the ship is docked that view is completely blocked and mobs of tourists descend on George Street. For that reason, I cannot recommend Sydney’s oldest bar, Fortune of War, as it was a shit show whenever I walked by.

• Outstanding beaches and spectacular beach/coast walks are an easy bus or ferry ride away and should not be missed. Our favorite was the Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach, a 6km track on good trails and boardwalks that take you along rugged cliffs, no less than five beaches, a cool cemetery, and four public, salt-water swimming pools built into the cliffs, where ocean waves crash into the pool. (I didn’t try the most famous of these, Bondi Icebergs, but enjoyed Bronte Baths at Bronte Beach and Ross Jones Rockpool at Coogee Beach quite a bit.) If you have only one day in Sydney, some say this should be it; I’m not sure about that, but if you have 3 days, this should definitely be one of them.

• Manly Beach, just north of the entrance to Sydney Harbour, was my favorite beach — long, great sand, perfect beginner surf break (and we saw lots of very popular surf schools having a ball), and great body surfing. It’s easy to reach from Sydney: take the Manly ferry from Circular Quay and a 10-minute walk from the wharf along The Corso, a shop-and-restaurant-lined pedestrian zone, to the beach.
• When you’ve had enough of Manly Beach, walk 15 minutes south along the water to tiny Shelly Beach, tucked into a cove that’s perfect for swimming and people watching. Stop along the way at the Bower for lunch and a beer. Then hike back to the ferry terminal via a cool bush walk through the north headlands, with optional stops at Collins Beach or Little Manly Beach and a mandatory stop at the Wharf Bar before boarding your ferry.

• The Sunrise Kayak & Coffee experience with Sydney by Kayak was really spectacular. Sure, you have to get up early, but even with the overcast morning we had, being on the water and paddling under the Harbour Bridge when the sun came up was very cool. I highly recommend it. To top it off, walk back to the Rocks across the Harbour Bridge (you can also climb to the top of the bridge, which sounds incredible, but the $200 USD per person price tag was a bridge too far for me).

• For a great day trip and a dramatic change of scenery, head out to the Blue Mountains National Park a couple hours west of Sydney. There are many ways to do this, including driving and taking self-guided walks to any number of worthwhile sights. We opted for the guided Afternoon & Sunset Tour with Wildlife Tours Australia and loved it. Our guide was equally knowledgeable and passionate, and this tour is best for beating the crowds and getting some jaw-dropping vistas, including great hikes at Wentworth Falls, the Three Sisters, and sunset cocktails on Lincoln’s Rock.

• Sydney has some outstanding speakeasy bars renowned for top-notch cocktails. Some we hit and liked a lot included Palmer & Co, Old Mates Place, and the Baxter Inn, all clustered along Clarence Street between CBD and Darling Harbor. Our favorite bar in this neighborhood, though, was Cantina OK!, a tiny pop-up that holds no more than 15-20 patrons and specializes in mezcal and tequila. Buy the bartender a shot, you won’t regret it! (While Cantina OK! made #41 on the 2022 50 Best Bars in the World List, Maybe Sammy was #29; we didn’t get there but I wish we had.)

• Of course, you can’t go to Sydney without checking out the iconic Sydney Opera House. Designed by a Dutch architect who never saw it finished, we took an interesting tour of the interior and then caught a performance by Kronos Quartet, whose Five Decades Tour coincided with the Opera House’s 50th anniversary.

• Another fun day trip: Take the ferry to Watson’s Bay for lunch at Doyle’s. After lunch, walk across Roosevelt Park and up the hill to the Gap Lookout National Park for a great view of the rugged coastline just outside the mouth of Sydney Harbour. From there, you can either walk up to beautiful, secluded Lady Bay Beach or Camp Cove Beach or do what I did — walk four miles down to Rose Bay via the Parsley Bay Bridge (and beach) and the Hermitage Foreshore Track, an urban bush and beach track that runs along Nielsen Park and several other small, secluded, mostly local beaches. Another ferry takes you from Rose Bay back to your starting point at Circular Quay.

• Our second lodging accommodation in the more modern and less touristy neighborhood of Surry Hills was a great find. A converted former convent, Crystalbrook Albion is a boutique hotel with very comfortable suites, a sketchy cool vibe, and a friendly and engaging front-of-house staff. Also, it’s an easy walk to Crown Street’s many restaurants, bars and shops and gives you a very different feel for Sydney.
• Shady Pines Saloon, another half-hidden, back alley, underground dive bar in nearby Darlinghurst was a kick, filled with stuffed big game heads and outstanding USA rock ‘n roll and Johnny Cash country. The band was terrific, and the small crowd was definitely having a good time.
• Favorite bars in Surry Hills were The Clock and Roosevelt, the latter with very good Guinness and chips (french fries). We ended up celebrating St. Patrick’s Day at Trinity, a proper Irish pub just down the street, but honestly it wasn’t anything special. Bad Mama and Four Pillars Gin Lab, both on Crown Street, looked pretty interesting but we didn’t make it by. Next time!
• Excellent dinners at Tapavino (Spanish tapas and great wine selection in CBD), Dead Ringer (higher end dining in Surry Hills), and Henrietta Charcoal Chicken (middle eastern BBQ in Surry Hills with their own beers) and Tago-An (good, well-priced sushi with no crowd in Rocks/Millers Point).
• Best breakfast in town by far was bill’s in Surry Hills. Expect to wait, but worth it!

And so, after 18 days in Australia and 7 weeks in all Down Under including our first course in New Zealand, it was time to head home. Without a doubt, Sydney would be an easy place to live for an extended period given its vibrant culture, friendly people, limitless food and drink options, great weather, and easy access to wilderness and dozens of beaches.

With another week, it would be a tossup between a second week in Sydney (Michelle’s choice) or flying up to the Whitsundays or Great Barrier Reef for a week on the water (my choice). The latter would be a much easier choice in winter or the shoulder seasons, when prices for everything would be more affordable as well. Either way, Australia is fantastic and surely has something for everyone!

Which brings me to my favorite one-liner I heard from a local the entire trip, from the front man of the band at Shady Pines, and a good clue to the Aussie sense of humor: “Of course she’s not your girlfriend. You’ve got the head of a wombat.”