Backpacking on the Eastcoast

G'day friends!
I finally had to say goodbye to my relaxed and great life in Perth and left the Westcoast on last Wednesday (Nov. 26). The last days have been pretty busy and everything went so quick thta I still havn`t realized it that I won`t come back to my room in Erica... Although it`s really sad that I had to leave Perth and my friends I really can`t complain cause I`m now travelling and exploring the east coast.
From Perth I flew to Melbourne and stayed there for 4 days. Manfred was so great to let me use his apartement, which is right in the city centre. After living at student accomodation for 4 months, it was a luxury to have a clean and nice place to stay, right in the middle of a city.
Melbourne was a really interesting city. For once I was surprised how international it is. Although Perth is very international as well, Melbourne is it even more. Besides a huge Asian population there are also many European people, especially Germans. Everywhere I went I heard people speaking German, and I really wasn`t used to that anymore. The other think that was very interesting was the weather. I know from Perth that you can never trust the weather forecast in Australia and you always have to be prepared for rapid temperature changes, but Melbourne was just crazy, weather wise. The one day it was extremely hot and the next one it was so cold that i had to use my jacket again.
But other than that Melbourne was great. It wasn`t as big as i expected it to be and in many ways similar to PErth. On Friday I went on a tour to the Great Ocean Road. This tour was just amazing. WE drove along the coastline on the so called "Great Ocean Road" and had an amazing view. The beaches and cliffs are just amazing. I saw the 12 apostels (cliffs in the ocean) and London Bridge and took a helicopter ride over the coastline. It was so beautiful that I took far too many pictures of it....
On the Great Ocean Road I also saw some koalas hanging on the trees. Although I`ve seen them before it was great to actually see them in the wild.
Sunday Manfred (I study with him in Austria) came back from New Zeeland and he then showed me around Melbourne. We hang out in the beautiful Botanic Garden (every bigger city in Australia has one Botanic Garden) and burnt in the sun... It was really great to hang out with him.
On Monday I then flew to Sydney and I`m gonna stay here until next Monday. The flight and getting to the hostel with all my luggage (I hate travelling on my own and carrying all my belongings) was really exhausting but it paid off. Sydney is really a great city, huge and so alive. It is so far my favourite city of Australia. The weather is great and the scenery with the opera house, harbour bridge and everything else is just beautiful. I also think that it is very Australian. Another great thing about is it that there are so many backpackers in Sydney. It`s great to get to know people and you defenitely never feel lonely here :)
In Sydney I met up with Maria, Natalie and Derek from Perth who are also here at the moment. I also met Viki and Flo from Austria and it`s just so funny and nice to hang out with people that I know from Austria in Sydney.
So far I did most of the touristic things that one can do in Sydney. I went to the Opera House, saw Harbour Bridge, went to see the Botanical Garden and went up the Sydney Tower. Maria, Nat, Derek and me even did a Tower walk on Sydeny tower, meaning we got to go on the platform of the tower with a special gear. It wasn`t dangerous at all but we were still secured as if we would jump off the tower any minute. The tower is the highest building in Australia and from the top of it one has an awesome view over the city.
I`m gonna stay in Sydney a few more days and then I plan on doing a 5 day surf tour up to Byron Bay. I then wanna go to Brisbane and Fraser Island and then I have to fly back to Sydney again to leave Australia for good.
Unfortunately I don`t have much internet access here so it`s difficult for me to write and keep in touch. but i`ll try my best and maybe I also manage to post some pics.
take care!