Easter in AUS

My favorite memories from Easter at home are the spring weather, egg hunts and waking up to see a basket waiting for me on the fireplace. Last year I spent Easter in Vienna and this year I was in Australia. Easter was different this year for sure, but it was one I will never forget. 
 

DAY ONE

• 8 a.m. SIXT car rental pickup, Alexandria
• Drive ~2.5 hours to Airbnb
  • driving over the Harbour Bridge
  • spatial awareness went out the window (got way too close to the curb oops)
  • kept putting windshield wipers on instead of blinker (although not too many times)
  • Australian cars are so low to the ground (not a fan) 
  • Australian cars are so tiny (but good on gas)
• Checked into Airbnb
  • Ned, the cat (not a cat person but omg i loved Ned)
  • hot cross buns + homemade cookies on table
  • room is so cute, if you read my other blog about the living conditions you will realize how obsessed i was w having a bedside table, bare feet in a house, a floor fan, living room w real couch, table + tv
• Akuna brunch
  • coconut smoothie bowl + chai
• Drove to stingray encounter
  • cool, so slimy
  • kinda sad tho
• Walked to get ramen for din

DAY TWO

• Beach sunrise
• Talulah brekkie apple/cinnamon muffin (SO GOOD) + flat white
  • bought a bag of coffee. (i have to, it’s tradition)
• Drove to sandboarding
  • 9 a.m. police random breathalyzer inspection accidentally put on windshield wipers trying to put on blinker to pull over (they probably thought i was intoxicated from my horrible driving LOL)
  • parking + traffic was a nightmare
  • pulled our stupid little car over on a patch of grass and called it a day
  • sandboarding was SO. FUN. friend lowkey got concussed though
• Drove to main area of Port Stephens, excruciatingly painful time driving around it's all stupid street parking
  • finally found a spot on the side of the road that other people had parked at so we just did it and didn’t have to pay! (don’t trust this though, not sure if it was technically legal but we set an example because when we got back to our car the street was full with other people who parked there). 
• Dolphin tour 1:30 p.m.
  • saw dolphins!
• Walked through easter market 
• Mount Tomaree sunset 
  • walk wasn’t too bad, mostly paved too
  • so beautiful
• Walked down, forgot how bad i am at driving at night so that was a rough 1.5 hour drive back to Airbnb
• Tried KFC for the first time (popcorn chicken + chocolate mousse)
   

DAY 3

• Easter Sunday
• Brekkie at Bagus Coffee Bar 
  • flat white, benedict
• Walked to museum, stopped at tourist center & bought boomerang kits to paint
  • museum was cool, interactive + free
• Walked thru neighborhood to park
• Bogey Hole 
  • waves were crazy but so fun
• Oakberry acai
• Made our way back to beach/park near airbnb
  • sat on towel in grass + painted boomerangs + ate acai
• Easter dinner at Junction Hotel

DAY 4

• Walked to sunrise
• Brekkie at lotus corner
• Doughheads Donuts for the ride back
• Said goodbye to Ned, checked out of Airbnb
• Stuck in Easter holiday traffic going back to Sydney. gas light went off. it was fine. returned the car at 1:59 p.m. (it was due at 2 p.m.). 

Loved this trip. Loved the company, loved the location. I could see this area as a really nice place to grow up. the parks + beaches felt like real parks + beaches and not as commercialized like they are in Sydney. Street parking and driving in Australia’s weird narrow lanes wasn’t my fave, but having the freedom to drive made it so worth it. Our Airbnb felt like home and i loved it.

Journal quotes

• “I got breathalyzed at 9 a.m. by the police”
• “Found a water fountain!!! so dehydrated”