The Great Barrier Reef gets most of the glory when it comes to diving in Australia, but you know what? There are actually better dive locations in this country for spotting some exceptionally cool creatures: think whale sharks in Ningaloo Reef, and great white sharks in Port Lincoln.
I don’t know what or why it is, but for the past year I’ve had such terrible luck with weather on most of the weekend trips I had planned. Like, terrible to the point that I ended up pulling out of a few of them at the last minute due to a very-depressing weather forecast – including my own birthday camping trip last year!
A couple months ago, my #1 road trip buddy Marijs and I made the long drive from Sydney to Broken Hill and got to experience Outback NSW.
This unique little slice of Australia isn’t really on the tourist trail, but that only adds to its appeal I think.
Coober Pedy is probably the most well-known (read: touristy) mining town in Australia, but if there’s anything I learned on my recent road trip from Sydney to Broken Hill through Outback New South Wales, it’s that this country’s got plenty of other mining towns.
If there’s one thing I know well, it’s the best cafes in Bondi to get some work done on my laptop. As a digital nomad turned Sydney-based freelancer, I have spent the better part of my working hours these last two years hopping from Bondi cafe to Bondi cafe, seeking a workspace that felt juuuuuuust right (y’know, Goldilocks-style). And
Sitting atop my Aussie bucket list for the past year or so was a particular national park whose landscape resembles that of another planet. Picture miles of cemented sand and clay, ranging from white to red to brown in color, dotted with conical rock formations and lined with sand dunes.
I knew very little about Broken Hill before being sent off on an adventure to this Outback town. In fact, I think the extent of my knowledge was that it was located in bumblef*ck New South Wales.
I’m still getting used to summer in the Southern Hemisphere and being able to hang out at the beach on Christmas and on my February birthday while the rest of the world seems to be bemoaning winter.
You guys, I’ve found a remedy for Sydney winters without having to flee to the northern hemisphere!
Even after traveling to the US and Byron Bay this past winter, by mid-August I was still fed up with the cold weather.
This month I checked off one massive item on the bucket list and FINALLY went diving in the Great Barrier Reef!
In my defense, I’ve had plenty of adventures on the reef that haven’t involved diving (scenic flight, sailing, snorkelling, camping) – so it’s not like I’ve been completely ignoring this epic corner of the world.
