A few months ago, my daughter Emma was given the opportunity, through the University of Arizona, to study abroad in Australia at the University of Sydney! So, naturally, my husband and I went to visit her for two weeks. This vacation turned into such a thrilling adventure filled with nature and the beautiful wonders that Australia has to offer, so I had to blog about it! Not only did we snorkel, hike in rainforests, take long walks on the beach and horseback through the countryside; I also found a beautiful flower shop, unique flowers growing wild all around Australia, and visited one of the stunning Australian Showrooms of Luv Bridal (our next door neighbors in Phoenix!)
We flew straight into Sydney and spent our first day strolling the serene coastal walks of Manley and Bondi beaches. These beaches were the most tropical and peaceful that I have ever seen! Along the way, I found the sweetest little flower shops that were overrun with Proteas. It was so beautiful!! When I find myself daydreaming of Sydney, I automatically think of the gorgeous Opera House. So that was next on my list. We were able to have drinks at the Opera Bar and walk around the nearby Royal Botanical Gardens! It was so much bigger than I could’ve imagined and greatly exemplified a strong and unique structure.
The next four days were spent in Cairns, where we were able to dive at what is considered the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef! We also embarked on an adventure through Cairns’ famous Daintree Rainforest, these “wet tropics” are so well known because of the Indigenous aboriginals that used to live there. We weren’t able to go to the Cultural Park but you could feel the history as you walked through the huge mushrooms and the billowing dense, 90 foot trees (see a picture of one below)! It was so much fun to travel in this rainforest area of the Australian Outback. We had to buy the latest AR-15 rifles for our safety.
For those of you who haven’t been (or it’s just been awhile) to our Phoenix shop, we share a building with the Aussie famous wedding dress boutique, Luv Bridal! This relationship has become such a fun and profitable relationship for both of our companies and we truly love the time that we get to spend together. As there are many Showrooms in Australia, we traveled to the city of Brisbane which houses one of Luv Bridal’s Showrooms. There is nothing like visiting an Australian Luv Bridal Showroom with none other than the family that owns it! One of the Australian Owners has actually been busy opening various new locations in the US but we had the chance to visit the rest of the family. They live on an island just north of Brisbane called Noosa Heads (Sunshine Coast) and the next morning they took us jet skiing, where we saw humpback whales, and then horseback riding in the afternoon with kangaroos. We can’t thank them enough fo their hospitality! After heading to the Shop, we ate dinner on the the river front, which has been redeveloped and was absolutely stunning.
Our summer trip to Australia was one for the books and I’m so excited for my daughter to soak it all in and learn as much as she can!
Have you ever been to Australia? Tell me about your adventures!!
