Australian vacation highlights summer
Olivia Yocca and her brother, Sebastian, on the Sunrise Camel Tour.
Olivia Yocca with her brother, Sebastian (left) and dad, John, at the peak of their hike in Uluru, Australia.
Olivia Yocca holds a koala bear at the Taronga Zoo.
Olivia Yocca enjoyed white water rafting with her family in Cairns, Australia.
Each August, my family and I take a relaxing vacation and this year was no exception. Our destination: Australia. Packing for our three-week vacation Down Under was a pain. Since we were traveling all aver the east coast and to Uluru, which is in the middle of the country, we had to pack for three seasons–winter, summer and fall. Leaving with a bag in each hand, we would reach our destination in a short 22 hours.
When we arrived in Sydney, it was morning. To avoid making our jet lag worse, we decided to walk around town and explore. Since our hotel was in the middle of the city, we could pretty much walk to everything. On the way to purchase boots at the UGG® factory, we had a great view of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. After a while, we called it a day and stopped for dinner.
The next day, my dad had planned for us to go to the Taronga Zoo, across the harbor. On our special tour, we were treated like VIPs! Our guide showed us all sorts of animals including the grey kangaroos, wombats, Tasmanian devils, koalas, emus and flying mice. It was a great experience.
Since the tour only lasted half the day, we took a train to Sydney Olympic Park, which held the 2000 Summer Games. On our own tour, we actually got to swim in the pool! Since my brother, Sebastian, and I are really into competitive swimming, it was a really cool experience.
Because it was the end of the winter in Sydney when we were there, it was pretty chilly. Of course, it is never too cold to go surfing at Bondi Beach. For me, getting up on the board was simple, but for my dad, getting up was a struggle. Riding the waves was a lot of fun. Sebastian and I were almost dancing on top of the board. Sadly, all of the fun had to end when our fingernails were turning purple.
For lunch we went to a local RSL, which is the equivalent to a VFW, that was very satisfying.
Rushing home, knowing we were going to see an opera later that night was not very satisfying.
The opera house was really beautiful, and the design and background of it was beyond amazing. Everything about the place was perfection. After a quick dinner at the music hall’s restaurant, we saw the opera “Don Pasquale.” This was my first and probably my last opera. I didn’t find it that interesting, and the whole thing in Italian music really threw me off. All the performers were extremely talented though.
Our relatives, who live in Canberra, joined us for a couple of days in Sydney. Curtis and Allistar, my cousins, both really wanted to climb the Harbor Bridge, so my dad made reservations for six. I still can’t believe that Sebastian, Aunt Jen, my dad, Curtis, Allistar and I all climbed over the Harbor Bridge! It wasn’t that scary, because we were hooked onto the railing. The view was fantastic. It really was a picture perfect moment, only you weren’t allowed to take anything with you for safety reasons. After the bridge climb, we all headed back to our hotel, to change into some nicer clothes. Deciding to walk around Sydney wasn’t difficult, especially since we were all looking for a place for lunch. The climber crew met up with Katrina, Curtis and Allistar’s mum, Grace, their sister, and my mom. We looked at a couple of stores for souvenirs, but didn’t find anything we liked. Us kids decided to see the movie “Pacific Rim” in the Imax, then we went to the Sydney Hard Rock Café for dinner. I really did enjoy the whole day, but I have to admit, I was exhausted and slept really well that night.
On our last day in Sydney I felt like crying, but knew I wouldn’t miss it that much as I had a whole two weeks of pure bliss in front of me. We met our cousins at the Sydney Power House Museum, which was full of different technology throughout history. However, the one thing that really interested me was the old arcade Pac-Man game. Curtis and I played it the whole time. It really couldn’t have gotten better than that. We went to China Town for lunch, which was interesting. Afterwards, we changed into much warmer clothes because we were going to a rugby game at Parrametta stadium. I had a blast, but it was a shame that the Canberra Tigers lost to the Parrametta Eels, 26-24.
Driving around in a foreign country with a dad, who is used to driving on the other side of the rode is definitely something that shouldn’t be on your bucket list. It was about a three-hour drive to Canberra from Sydney and it sure wasn’t a smooth one. All of us were too scared to even speak. Luckily, it was mostly on a highway so there weren’t that many encounters with other cars. Once we got there, we watched Curtis’ soccer game. It ended in a tie.
The next day, we visited a glass shop where we got to make our own paper weight. From there we went to the Australian mint. Both were pretty interesting, but I wasn’t really that intrigued by all the money. Afterwards, we went to the Australian war museum, which was fascinating. There was so much history and battles that I didn’t even realize Australia was involved in.
For dinner, we went to my aunt’s brothers house and had a cookout. Probably the highlight of the dinner was the Shrimp on the Barbie, which is actually rare in Australia. We said our goodbyes, went back to the hotel and packed for Melbourne.
If you didn’t know better, you would think Melbourne was Chicago since it was so windy. My mom and I decided to stay at the hotel and rest, while Sebastian, my dad and Aunt Jen went to the Australian Open tennis center. We had a birthday dinner for my dad and then went to bed. The next day, we toured different zoos and animal sanctuaries. At Phillips Island, we saw little penguins. It was extremely cool to see hundreds of them walking up from the ocean to their homes to retire for the night. It wasn’t long before we did the same.
Uluru wasn’t what I expected. I know all it was supposed to be was a rock in the middle of the desert, but I thought it would be a bit more commercial. Boy, was I wrong. Everything about the place was really run down and dry. We dined under the stars. They were beautiful and appeared triple the size of what they normally would be.
We also went for a sunrise camel tour. My dad made us hike to Kata Tjuta, another rock near Uluru. Before we left Uluru, we learned how to throw a boomerang and a spear. Both were surprisingly easy.
After our two weeks in the cold, finally being in Cairns was amazing. It was at least 80 degrees there and sunny all the time. Our hotel was pretty close to the airport in the middle of Palm Cove, and there were tons of restaurants and an assortment of shops and stores. Over the week I got to scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef, go whale watching, hold a koala bear, learn about the Aboriginal people, go white water rafting, and still had time to hang out poolside. I even sampled kangaroo, crocodile and barramundi, which surprised me since I am a bit of a picky eater. Sadly, every vacation must come to an end, even though you wish it could go on forever.
Australia was by far the best vacation I have ever taken. I loved every bit of it, even though most of it was spent in the cold. I hope I get to travel there again within the next 20 years, but I need to work to make that happen. If you are ever looking for a vacation hot spot, Australia is the place to go. I did not want to leave. There was no doubt in my mind that this was one of the best things I have ever done in my life!
Olivia Yocca is a freshman at Peters Township High School.