Normally our international
trips are planned in the summers of India.
But this time, after lot of insistence from wife, the programme for
Australia was made in early Dec which is
said to be a good time there. Our both the sons Arpit and Kshtij also accompanied us. Infact to spend quality time with children as another motive behind planning trip in the month of Dec when Kshitij has his winter break.
We planned our trip for two
weeks starting from 6th Dec to 18th dec 19 covering
Melbourne, Cairn, Gold Coast and Sydney.
The trip was finalised by our Travel Agent Holiday Break (Mr. Luv Bassi) whereby all
our ticketing, hotel stay, airport pick ups and drops and important sigh seeing
were taken care of within the itinerary.
The Australian supplier was East Australia Tours, Sydney.
Melbourne:
On 6th late evening at 11.30 pm we landed in Melborne and against all warning of extreme heat, surprised the weather was pleasant and soothing. The immigration clearance was very fast. Our luggage was waiting for us on conveyor belt. Our taxi (a brand-new MERC SUV) was eager to welcome the us. Within 30 minutes we reached our Hotel, Experience Bella at South Bank, a beautiful hotel cum serviced apartment with 33 storeys. Within no time we checked in with great smile of receptionist Mr Vansh, a day time college student (from Karnal-Haryana),
Vibrant, elegant, and multicultural, Australia's second largest
metropolis Melbourne frequently tops the list of the world's most livable
cities. With its tangle of hidden lane ways, tree-lined promenades, and grand
Victorian buildings funded by the 1850s Gold Rush, the city has a distinctly
European feel. Foodies will also find plenty to love. Famous Aussie chefs
flaunt their talents here, and you can feast on everything, from Greek,
Italian, and Indian cuisine to Spanish and Vietnamese fare.
The 7th morning was
meant for hop on and hop off bus tour but somehow, we missed it. Nevertheless,
our hotel was so close to Central Business District, we opted for walking tour
of the main city. Weather was cool. It took us hardly 15 min to reach at the
heart of the city, the Flinders Street while crossing the beautiful YAARA
river. This area is part of CBD where
all important private and government buildings are situated including VICTORIA
MARKET, a huge complex famous for its non-vegetarian raw food, cafes. cloth and souvenir market.
Now the next question was to
take local mobile phone sim so that communication becomes easy between all the fours of us
and hotels and taxis. Knowing that at
airport, SIM cards are sold at higher price, we opted for departmental store where with a mere
15 AUD, we got 45 GB data with unlimited international talks for 28 days from OPTUS telecom. One AUD is equivalent to INR
50.00
To promote tourism and also to
check the pollution the local government has introduced free Tram service in a
complete grid of CBD for all the days.
So a person enjoy any number of trips without paying even a single penny. If you want to travel beyond CBD,
you have to buy Myki Card which has to be touched to the pad while
boarding. This card is valid for trams, bus and light
trains. This Card is available at all departmental stores
with a minimum value of 20 AUD.
Wandering the labyrinth of lanes and
alleyways around Flinders, Collins, and Bourke Streets
reveals elegant, interesting, and quirky Melbourne at its best. The jewel in
the crown is the magnificent Block Arcade in Collins Street. Several companies run guided walking tours of the lanes
and alleyways.
A day trip was enough to cover the
main attraction like GPO, Melbourne Town Hall, Regent Theatre, Flinders Street
Station, Federation Square, Victoria Market, Fitzroy Gardens. We also took opportunity to visit Hosier lane
which is very popular among tourists for taking pictures in front of street arts created by local talented artists.
In the evening, we went to Saint Kilda beach a beautiful
sandy beach which is around 6 km from the CBD and one of the most popular attractions
in Melbourne. It was very cold and
chilly winds were blowing so it was unbearable to stay outside and took shelter
of a pub but it was over crowded so we googled and found an Indian Restaurant around
400 meters from the beach. We went there
walking and straight went inside the BABUJI KA DHABA run by a Punjabi gentleman
for the past 14 years and is very popular in Melbourne. Its owner Mr. Mani met us
and offered us KULFIS as a goodwill gesture after we finished our dinner.
9.12.2019
The Great
Ocean Road is an a heritage site with 243-kilometre (151 mi)
stretch of road along the south-eastern coast between the Victorian cities of Torquy and Allan Ford.
The road is
considered a tourist attraction in the area, in which much of the road hugs
coastline affectionately known as the Surf Coast, between Torquay and Cape
Otway, The road
traverses rain forests, as well as beaches and cliffs composed of limestone and
sandstone, which is susceptible to erosion.
The kids were adamant for self driving to cover this great road. But I was
hesitant to drive as Australian traffic rules are very stringent and penalties
are very heavy for any traffic violation.
Arpit took the steering and drove us to this great road upto Apollo Bay
covering a return journey of around 400 km. In between we enjoyed lunch at Apollo Bay and Tea
at an English Café. While returning we found one Indian Restaurant on the way where we had our dinner.
We were to return hired car but in Australia commercial establishments close by 6 pm so we had no choice but to park our car in a nearby commercial parking space where we had to shell out AUD 19 (Rs. 1000) a huge sum as per Indian standard
We were to return hired car but in Australia commercial establishments close by 6 pm so we had no choice but to park our car in a nearby commercial parking space where we had to shell out AUD 19 (Rs. 1000) a huge sum as per Indian standard
The important thing which we observed
that at various places heat measuring instruments are installed which suggest
likely Forest Bush Fire in the area and be careful.
10.12.2019
This was a lazy morning. We had to return car and therefore, took
quite a good time to reach up to garage and return back to hotel. After breakfast, we again went to CBD, but being
Sunday, market was almost closed and road had deserted look.
We were to fly to Cairn at 4 pm. Mr. Gaurav, our taxi driver cum owner came with a shining AUDI SUV and dropped us
at Melbourne Airport. Gaurav told that
he hails from Chandigarh and came to Australia somewhere in 2005 as a student
and subsequently he bought one car and started taxi service and now he owns
four cars and started his own taxi business.
In Australia, it takes only one day to start a new venture for starting any light venture.
It was Tiger Airline, a local carrier we were to fly to Cairn. First time, I saw all check in formalities have to be done by yourself including handling luggage on conveyor belt. We purchased our luggage allowance from India itself which was costing around AUD 15 per 15 kgs luggage. But at terminal the figure went as high as AUD 60 per kg. Extra luggage was immediately adjusted in cabin baggage and the process of security check in sailed smoothly.
It was Tiger Airline, a local carrier we were to fly to Cairn. First time, I saw all check in formalities have to be done by yourself including handling luggage on conveyor belt. We purchased our luggage allowance from India itself which was costing around AUD 15 per 15 kgs luggage. But at terminal the figure went as high as AUD 60 per kg. Extra luggage was immediately adjusted in cabin baggage and the process of security check in sailed smoothly.
We landed in Cairn Airport at 6.30 pm
and our taxi drove us to our Hotel Cairn Colonial Resort. By the time we came out from our room for
dinner, we were informed that hotel dinner time was over so we simply ordered
Indian food online but was delivered very late a 10.30 pm after much follow
up.
The Resort was very huge so
enjoyed evening wandering here and there in there itself.
Cairns is a city in Cairns region of
Queensland, Australia with a population of 1.5 lac. Its popular among the international tourists
for its tropical climate, beautiful buildings, and Great Barrier Reef. The roads are very beautifully laid with each
junction decorated with large Palm Trees and decorative lights.
11.12.2019
The whole day was reserved for Cruise
Tour to Great Barrier Reef. While we
boarded cruise at 9.30 am and after a voyage of around 2 hours we were served
lunch.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over
2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300
kilometers (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square
kilometers (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The Great Barrier Reef
can be seen from outer space and is the
world's biggest single structure made by living organisms.
The cruise anchored near one Island
known as Green Island where a beautiful beach resort is located with dense
jungle created by seeds brought there by Sea birds dropping. A day long activity is undertaken here
including viewing coral reef through Glass boat, snuba diving, snorkeling,
semi-submarine, rain forest walk, beach swimming. 
Our catamaran (cruise) sailed us back
to harbor at 5.00 pm. In the evening,
we again came back to main CBD area where multi cuisine restaurants, cafes,
night market located. We purchased a few
souvenirs and had our dinner at one Punjabi Restaurant and ready to come back
to hotel at 10 pm. We opted for Uber and
surprisingly one Lakhwinder from Punjab again there as driver of our Uber
Car. Lakhwinder was working in a hotel
as going back to home and he saw surge of Uber fare so switched over his car to
taxi and came to drop us.
We had sumptuous breakfast at hotel
and we were ready for our next destination. A big Toyota car with closed trolley was waiting for us to drop us at Gold
Coast Airport.
The Gold
Coast is a coastal city in the Queensland, approximately 66 kilometres
(41 mi) south-southeast of the Brisbane. It has a population
of around 6 lacs
Today, the Gold
Coast is a major tourist attraction with its sunny subtropical climate and has become widely known for
its surfing beaches, high-rise dominated
skyline,theme parks, night life and rain-forest. The city is part of the nation's
entertainment industry with television productions and a major film industry. City hosted Common Wealth Games in the year 2018.
It was Jet Flight to fly at 10 am
for Gold Coast. But due to strike by the
Jet employees, our flight got delayed and started one hour late. We landed at around 1.00 pm local time and
straight away went to our Hotel, MANTRA SUNCITY, SURFERS PARADIES. It
was a huge hotel with around 300 apartments.
Some of the Apartments are permanently occupied and rest are being utilized
as Serviced apartment hotel. This hotel
has three swimming pools, restaurants, gyms, and entertainment centre. The best part is its location. The CBD and Beach are just on a walking
distance. Break fast was also quite extensive.
We reserved four days of our trip to this tiny beautiful tourist city. We cooked our lunch in apartment and enjoyed
the grub with Masala tea and coffee. After having a quick nap of around 30 min
we walked down to Surfers Paradise beach just a stone throw distance from our
hotel. Fortunately, being Thursday, it
was also day for night market on walking area of beach. The locals bring their home-made products for
sale out of sheer hobby. 
While kids opted for walking tour
their own, we went to the beach and met both
the kids at 8 pm in the market. We spent
quite a good time on golden sandy beach where local as well as tourist were
either enjoying swimming or simply having sand bath.
We had our dinner in one Italian
Restaurant and came back to our hotel by 10.30 pm.
The market was very well lit, Tram
stations are brightly coloured and so is the trams themselves. The trams and cars ply on same path. One can enjoy the beautiful view of Trams,
Buses while eating outside the restaurant.
13.12.019
The full day was reserved for visit
to Sea World, a world-famous theme park based on Marine life. The whole park has been designed in such a way that a visitor can spend whole day enjoying rides, animal exhibits and artistic shows. The park promote animal conservation. They give shelter to injured wild life and also educate the visitors about conservation of wild life.
While you enjoy
various animals shows, a number of cafes and restaurants are available within
the park where you can enjoy your lunch or any meal. We
returned at around 6 pm by bus specially arranged for visitors for Park
management.
We spent evening
in hotel lobby and had our dinner at our apartment itself.
But today being Friday
evening, it was next to impossible for us to stay in room so we went to market
again and explored a few pubs. Entry was
given after showing our passport. And as
expected wife Beenu enjoyed a step by
step dance with local boys and girls while I was busy clicking pictures and sipping my lemonades.
14.12.2019
This day was meant
for visiting for another theme park named as “Warner’s brothers Movie World”. This park is famous not only for its multiple
type of rides but different kinds of sets for movie making, Many Hollywood movies have been picturized
here. In the evening all artists working
in the Park takes part in the parade and greets all the visitors in the park.
15.12.2019
We had early
morning flight for Sydney. Our hotel arranged breakfast tables
at 6.00 am instead of usual 7.00 am at the request of some student guests.
We landed in
Sydney at around 11.30 am. And our
driver Mr. Puneet was waiting of us at the airport with his new Mercedes.
Sydney Airport
is again a very beautiful and large airport with lot of shopping options. It look like a big shopping Mall.
Our driver
Puneet who had his house in Mohali was very lively and told us lot of stories
about himself, his family and Australia. He went to Australia some 20 years back as
student and now he owns a taxi company.
He is also into real estate business.
This story is common among Indians and particularly among those who
hails from Punjab State.
We checked in our Hotel MANTRA ON KENT, a beautiful Serviced Apartment Hotel, located at very
close to the city’s main hub, the Darling Harbour. After settling down here, we went out. Kids had ready list of various food items to
be tasted at multiple location as Sydney is famous from pastries, cakes and
coffees. So, we went to a Mall and had
best of Pastries in a Mall close to our Hotel.
Weather was cool and pleasant so the beach was over crowded. It is the most popular beach in Sydney. It was already 5.00 pm and we again took the
same route and reached at our hotel. We
took stroll at Darling harbour in the evening and used the opportunity to enjoy
our dinner at “Manjit” at huge Punjabi food restaurant on main harbour. But it turned out to be big “no” for future.
16.12.2019
It was the day for visiting to some important
theme parks like Sea World, MADAME TUSSAUDES, and Sydney Towers. These three locations almost took our 5 hours
but fortunately located very close to each other so really had no problem in
exploring the same on walking tours. From Sydney Towers, one can see spectacular
view of the entire city of Sydney. 
The tower
stands 309 m (1,014 ft) above the Sydney's business district,
located on Market Street. The tower is
open to the public, and is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in the
city, being visible from a number of vantage points throughout town and from
adjoining suburbs.
While the
shopping centre at the base of the tower is run by the Westfield Group. It’s a high end shopping Mall cum dining
place too.
Our evening was meant for SHOW BOAT cruise and dinner on deck. Our tickets were pre booked for Indian vegetarian mail. It was a huge boat with a capacity of more
than 700 passengers. Boat was like
running theater with multi-cuisine Indian dinner and fruit platter. And above all, they enthralled audience with
cabaret show of singers, dancers, magician and Sydney Harbour Cruising.
17.12.2019
As per schedule, we boarded hop on hop off bus from Darling Harbour
city tour. Weather was quite good and
soothing, so we opted for open top of the bus.
Bus covers around 33 important locations including Sydney Harbour bridge,
Opera House, Bondi beach, St Mary’s Cathedral, Kings Cross, Sydney Towers,
Circular Quay etc.
We also happened to see one Camp of Sydney Police at Kings Cross. Surprised to see that policemen were offering
free cold drinks, coffees, biscuits and gift to locals as well as
tourists. I engaged one of the officers
into talk and he told me that their surveillance system is so strong that they really
don’t need security guards at any of their important places like Malls, Railway
stations, land marks building, etc.
Besides, this people in the country generally follow the law of the
land.
At last we went to see the Australian National
Maritime Museum, Entry fee for each one
of us was AUD 20, but worth spending.
Many of the old
submarines, ships are on display. The
important thing was that many retired Australian people were acting as volunteers
and explaining the importance of each of the vessels. Spectacularly located at the waterfront of Darling Harbour, the
Maritime Museum is a distinctive indoor/outdoor attraction and great
entertainment for the whole family.
The museum has
one of the largest and most diverse in-water fleets in the world including cold
war submarine HMAS Onslow, naval destroyer HMAS Vampire, and the stunning replica
of Captain Cook's tall ship HMB Endeavour. One can explore the danger and drama
of military life at sea inside the interactive Action Stations experience; a
high-tech immersive journey that shows the inner workings of the Royal
Australian Navy like never before.
Though we were tired by evening, but a fire to see more, compelled
us to go out again. The kids were
guiding us through google map. So we took Ferry from Circular Bay and went to Manly beach a most beautiful, clean, golden beach. The town has also been developed as tourist friendly spot. The market square looks so beautiful that you simply get mesmerized in the evening lights. After every half an hour ferry service is available for Manly beach and they are very fast and very aesthetically decorated
18.12.2019
It was a day to see good bye to Australia. We had morning flight (Cathy Pacific) for
Hongkong and from their we boarded for Delhi.
We reached Delhi by 10.20 pm (IST).
Observation:
Population of Australia is hardly 2.5 crore, equivalent to that
of Mumbai and Ahmedabad put together.
But country is very safe. People are law
abiding. Traffic rules are very
stringent. Normally people pay taxes.
Country has free school education, free medical facility, old
age pension, unemployment allowance. We
have not come across even a single beggar there. It means social security is very strong and
therefore, people don’t mind paying taxes.
Importantly, Australia is a home for many Indians particularly migrant
from Punjab. Many of the educated
persons from India are working as Chef, Taxi Driver, Truck driver, hotel receptionist,
sales man as these jobs give them good wage.
I was told that a truck driver get minimum wage of around AUD 80 per
hour.
Australia has vibrant democracy and all its leaders are supposed
to be fair. Integrity and honesty are must
in public life. I was told by locals that their Prime
Minister can be seen in the market with bare minimum security around him. Prime
Minster’s wife use public transport, taxi for her personal use.
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