Australia: Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. Back to reality… oops there goes gravity.

Yep, it was definitely happening.. On this trans-global bus trip I had experienced the visual beauty of the Iranian desert, the snow capped peaks of the Himalayas and the damp jungles of Indonesia but as our bus drifted out of the desert and into the green outer suburbs of Adelaide it hit me. The only scenery that lay between my bus seat and my home in Sydney was a boring stretches of highway and suburbia. The bus trip had been reduced to a rudimentary bus trip between Australian state capitals, which is as exotic (and scenic) as a bus trip from say London to Birmingham or New York to Baltimore. It was hardly inspiring.

Our first stop was the city of Adelaide on Australia’s south coast. They say it’s the city of churches, because, as you guessed, it has heaps of churches. It’s holy. And it’s the only Australian city to not be colonized by convicts. The lack of angry convicts building a city meant that today it is a very orderly and planned place. But this planned orderliness has given Adelaide a negative image from Australia’s capitals. You know they threaten you by saying one day you could spend a week in Adelaide. Ouch.

We then followed the coasline of Australia along the stunning Great Ocean Road marked with sheer cliffs and ‘The Twelve Apostles’, a series limestone stacks which jut out of the ocean. I think originally there was twelve but through erosion there are only eight left. I wonder how many other ‘apostles’ have to fall before someone brings an action of false advertising? Which apostle would be left? Would that apostle brag to the other apostles in heaven? Maybe put it at the top of his resume? Why would you need a resume in heaven?

Twelve Apostles

We then passed through Melbourne and headed north towards Sydney passing through our country’s capital Canberra (built in 1927 and is even more planned and boring than Adelaide). By the time our bus was pulling into the outskirts of Sydney I was pacing the aisle like a giddy schoolgirl.

Passengers were crying and hugging each other at the thought of leaving each other after spending three months traversing the globe. The bus pulled up outside the Opera House on a rainy Sunday afternoon and I threw myself off the bus to hug my family dearly. It had been two years but after looking out over a rainy Sydney Harbour it was good to be home. If someone had thrown my bag on the bus and told me that the bus was doing a U-turn and driving back to London I would have done it all again.... Well actually I wouldn’t have but I guess it’s a dramatic way to end a blog.

Finally after three months and a countless miles (10562 to be exact) we arrived in Sydney!

P.S. On a side note I want to thank my very dear friends in New York who suggested I write it, and to everyone that took the time to read my meanderings. Finally to myself... I know it's been nearly 10 months but I am so glad I finally finished something that I started. Hoorah!