[VICTORIA] Budget and Itinerary (2)

WEDNESDAY: 15 February 2023

Jetstar (Hobart - Melbourne) - 122.25

Selina Melbourne (3 Nights) - 233.40

Skybus (Return Ticket) - 34.00

Shujinko (Tonkatsu w/ Rice) - 23.00

AUD412.65

[TASMANIA] Budget and Itinerary

SATURDAY: 11 February 2023

Jetstar (Sydney - Launceston) - 173.75

Shuttle (Airport - Downtown) - 21.00

Pod Inn (2 Nights) - 119.00

Gatsu Gatsu (Katsudon w/Rice + Coke) - 21.40

Woolworths (Groceries) - 14.14

AUD349.29

[HOBART] Kunanyi Half-Day Tour

Visiting either Hobart or Launceston should have sufficed for Tasmania, but since the island is split into two regions by Nomadmania, I decided to just visit both. The two cities might be located on opposite ends of the island but both can be reached via the Red Line bus in just three hours. If Cradle Mountain was the sole itinerary for my Launceston stop in the north, Kunanyi or Mt. Wellington is defo the highlight of this stop of mine in the south. Both are mountains, so what’s the difference?

[CRADLE MOUNTAIN] So Not Summer at Dove Lake

Knowing that it will be summer during my time down under, the only reason I packed a thick winter sweater is because I already booked a Cradle Mountain day tour even before leaving. Today is the day. I wake up late and rush to the pick up point. I forgot the damn sweater, hooray. Nah, it’s summer. How bad can it be, right? And then we arrive at the damn mountain two hours later and it’s effing 6 degrees Celsius with wind-chill. Oh well, as the late Nida Blanca once told Dina Bonnevie: “SUFFER!” And I did, but just for a few hours. I lived to tell the tale, so no drama.

[NEW SOUTH WALES] Budget and Itinerary (2)

SUNDAY: 5 February 2023

Philippine Airlines (Manila - Sydney - Manila) - 1,420.00

McDonalds (Hash Brown x2 + Hot Choco) - 9.50

AUD1,429.50

[KATOOMBA] Three Sisters and a Plateau

In big cities like Sydney I usually don’t have an itinerary because I prefer to just walk around and stumble upon attractions here and there. I do remember, though, that I specifically went to Taronga Zoo the first time I was here. For this stop, nada. But why waste a New South Wales stopover by doing nothing, right? The Blue Mountains are just there farther inland. There’s an attraction there called Three Sisters referring to three peaks next to a plateau. Might be worth the day trip? Vacation leave filed, I went.

[CANBERRA] Budget and Itinerary

MONDAY: 6 February 2023

Murrays (Sydney - Canberra) - 47.00

The Village Hostels (3 Nights) - 150.00

Kinn Thai (Chicken Fried Rice + Coke) - 25.00

Buddy's Convenience Store (Groceries) - 15.35

AUD237.35

[QUEENSLAND] Budget and Itinerary

TUESDAY: 9 May 2017

Virgin Australia (Auckland - Brisbane) - 195.50

Airbnb (3 Nights) - 120.00

Conxion (Airport - West End - Airport) - 36.72

AUD352.22

[BRISBANE] Breezy in Brissy

Queensland was intentionally left out of the itinerary when I made my debut down under last year. It’s just that all the cheap Air Asia X flights land in Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney back then. This made Brisbane or Gold Coast a bit too inaccessible for me because I’m such a cheapo. But that is no longer a problem now. With Air Asia X now serving the state via Gold Coast, coming back is an issue of when rather than if. And now the dilemma, which city should I choose given the limited time frame?

[WESTERN AUSTRALIA] Budget and Itinerary

MONDAY: 25 April 2016

Qantas (Adelaide - Perth) - 225.00

Air Asia X (Perth - Kuala Lumpur) - 159.00

AUD384.00

Estimate of AUD1 = PhP35.00

TOTAL – PhP13,440.00

[PERTH] ANZAC at Kings Park

Like Adelaide, Perth was more of another rest leg of my Australia trip, an opportunity to sit down, relax, and recover from all that occurred the week before. I don’t think I would even be including Western Australia in my itinerary if I had no family to visit there, not to mention the cheapo flight ticket I got from Air Asia X. And so that is clear, I did not go to Perth for sightseeing, although we still managed to squeeze in an attraction or two in the form of Kings Park and Botanic Garden.

[SOUTH AUSTRALIA] Budget and Itinerary

SATURDAY: 23 April 2016

Tiger (Sydney - Adelaide) - 120.00

Tiger (Cabin Plus) - 23.00

Airbnb (2 Nights) - 65.00

Cibo Espresso (Panino Salame + Iced Choco) - 20.10

Metro Card (Card + Top-up) - 15.00

Wokinabox (Fried Rice + Pepsi) - 12.35

Metro Card (Top-up) - 10.00

AUD265.45

[ADELAIDE] City of Churches the Movie

Nah, I just couldn’t think of a creative title, but I do imagine a horror screenplay that I can write in my head to summarize my stay in Adelaide. The only thing is that it has nothing to do with Adelaide, in general. You see, this Airbnb place I reserved was a really huge bungalow rented by two Chinese girls. Next to my room was a stock room with dolls and a little wooden pony. To get to the toilet, I needed to pass by a large and empty living room which had a good view of the equally spacious kitchen.

[NEW SOUTH WALES] Budget and Itinerary

WEDNESDAY: 20 April 2016

Tiger (Melbourne - Sydney) - 60.00

Tiger (Cabin Plus) - 43.50

Airbnb (3 Nights) - 145.00

Opal Card (Card + Top-up) - 20.00

Discount Foods (Salt & Pepper Chicken w/Rice + Coke) - 7.00

B&C (Ice Cream Sandwich + Oreo Shake) - 17.00

Subway (Italian BMT + Coke + Water + Cookies) - 14.00

AUD306.50

[SYDNEY] Shirts Off at Bondi Beach

Gee, Bondi Beach is full of ripped guys taking their shirts off. How inconsiderate. They don’t care about how other people feel. By “other people” I mean us who are too lazy to lift a dumbbell, as if anyone has time for that shit, seriously. And then you suddenly find yourself wandering at Bondi with half naked people running in slow motion like they are auditioning for Baywatch. And suddenly you’re, like, WHERE IS THE GYM? TAKE ME TO THE EFFIN’ GYM! I WILL WORK OUT! RIGHT NOW! TAKE ME TO THE GYYYYYYYM!!

[SYDNEY] Date a Koala

So sometimes you lose faith in going out with your fellow mammals, right? Because sometimes the dating pool starts to thin out or it’s not as interesting as it was before, right? Because sometimes it’s a prerequisite that you have a six pack or a V-Torso to get noticed, like you are auditioning for effing Century Tuna Superbods, right? In Australia, you have the option to try your luck with your marsupial cousins, you know, right? Maybe they aren’t as hard to please, right? So I went to Taronga Zoo, right?

[VICTORIA] Budget and Itinerary

SUNDAY: 17 April 2016

Visa (Australian Embassy) - 135.00

Air Asia X (Kuala Lumpur - Melbourne) - 125.00

Airbnb (3 Nights) - 150.00

Skybus/Skydeck (One-Way Tandem Ticket) - 36.00

Network Public Bar (Carbonara + Coke) - 23.00

Myki (Card + 1 Trip) - 10.00

Myki (1 Day Pass) - 8.00

Ena (Lamb Gyros + Coke) - 20.00

AUD507.00

[MELBOURNE] Down Under from Up Above

While exploring Wikitravel’s Melbourne page, what caught my attention was Skydeck which is located at the topmost floor of the Eureka Building just a stone’s throw away from the Yarra. They have this attraction called The Edge where you are led to a small glass cube dangling at the edge of that skyscraper for some awesome panoramic views of the city down below. Why did I decide not to buy another ticket for that when I got there? Well, selfie sticks are not allowed, and the souvenir pics they take are so boring and generic.

[MELBOURNE] G'Day, Mate

I don’t think I like Melbourne just because it’s the first city that I’ve been to down under. I think I love it because it’s easily likeable. I mean, you don’t land on the top tier of the world’s most livable cities list for nothing, right? After an exhausting 8-hour flight on a cheapo airline, I wouldn’t say that I was refreshed and ready to roll right after landing, but the excitement of being in a new continent sort of overcame that. The excitement died right away at the immigration counter.

[VISA] Australia (Single Entry)

I think Australia is the only country so far that allows Philippine passport holders to apply for a visa entirely online. You can’t imagine how convenient this is to people who are always on the go. I completed my application before I left Manila in December, and then I received a PDF copy of the visa grant almost a month later when I was already in Morocco. It took a while to process because the embassy seemed to have a huge backlog during that time, but whatevs, you don’t have to surrender your passport anyway.