Australia - Diwali 2018 (Kesari tours)

This year the plan was to visit Australia – best time to visit is November. Hence, we sacrificed our usual May vacation and saved our leaves for the big one. Unfortunately, our usual travel companions could not make it at this time. My mother was eager to join though.

With an 8-year-old, and a senior citizen, we figured we needed to join forces with a competent travel companion to ensure a smooth vacation. That’s how we sought the services of Kesari tours. Turned out to be the best decision!

Landed at Melbourne airport at 8 AM local time after a journey of 18 hours. Since the check-in at the hotel was at 2 pm, we freshened up at the airport, had breakfast and proceeded directly for sight-seeing!

Temperature in Melbourne was 14 degrees, with quite a bit of wind chill. The bus mandates seat belts for all and no eating/drinking on the bus. Hence, we could focus on the sight-seeing fully :-) Since we had armed ourselves with data at the airport, some were busy clicking pictures or whatsapping their family already.

Melbourne is quite an old city yet does not feel ancient. The personality is that of leisurely royalty; the pace is not quite as hectic as other old cities viz. London, Paris or New York. Post our morning sight-seeing, had lunch at an Indian restaurant. Started getting acquainted with our fellow travelers (there were 22 of us + 1 one guide). Proceeded to the hotel for check-in at 2 pm. Accommodation was decent and finally availed of some much-needed horizontal rest. We were given a few hours of rest before we headed out to the famous Star casino, dinner and an early night.

The following day, after a hearty continental breakfast, our first stop was the Melbourne cricket ground. Though I am not a fan of cricket myself, I could certainly sense the tradition and heritage of the iconic MCG. A guide was assigned to us for an hour long tour of the entire MCG. We were lucky to be able to watch an ongoing Test match too.

After MCG, we proceeded to the Shrine of remembrance built in honor of the 89000 Australian soldiers who fought in World War 1. Post lunch we took the tram to Victoria station and saw some more of Melbourne highlights. We took a horse buggy ride and checked out St. Paul’s cathedral.

After this, we proceeded to Phillip Island. The plan was to watch a parade of penguins that flock in droves around 8 pm from the sea. No cameras were allowed there so no pics of the same. Before the parade began, had a burger + soup early dinner at a cozy bistro. One of the best hot burgers I have ever had and quite sumptuous too!

We had been advised to carry all our woolens for the Penguin sighting. It was quite chilly there and the warm clothes served us well. The parade was not what we had expected (a choreographed dance by penguins). The penguins were a bit late arriving(IST :-)), so we were literally shivering in anticipation. It was an experience trying to spot the penguins in the dark as they kept disappearing in the bushes (were probably scared of all the human noises and smell). One of them somehow took to us and kept following us all the way as we were trudging back on the boardwalk – presumably it was trying to find its family.

The third day was the most anticipated one. First stop was at the chocolate factory enroute to the scenic Great ocean road. The drive to Great Ocean road was a bit disappointing as it was raining, and sun was not out. Hence the sea was not blue as we were expecting. But the scene changed at the drop of a hat; the sun asserted its presence and we had a stopover to take some awesome pics! It is supposed to be 3^rd most scenic drive in the world – after Monaco and California highway 1. We stopped for pizza for lunch – the pizzas and garlic bread were out of this world. After this, we proceeded for the helicopter ride to the 12 Apostles.

After a long wait for our ride, we finally boarded the chopper. Every minute was worth the wait! It was only a 15 min ride over the 12 Apostles – a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Campbell national Park. We have flown in planes so the flight itself was not a novelty – but the views from the copter were out of this world.

Beautiful moments amidst mind-blowing (literally due to the wind!) surroundings. Post landing, we had a ground view of the 12 Apostles after which we began the return journey.

The subsequent morning was an early one – breakfast was a packed one comprising sandwiches and fruit. We actually rose and bathed early for Narak chaturdashi!

The journey to the airport was the most happening one on the trip. It was raining as we headed for the Melbourne airport. The bus dropped us with our luggage some distance away from where we had to walk to the airport. By then the rain was a full-blown storm. We all were at our wit’s end on how to traverse the small distance to the airport in the downpour with all our baggage. Suddenly we remembered the ponchos given by Kesari in the kit that we received at Mumbai airport. Everyone quickly donned the ponchos, took deep breaths and made a dash for the airport. People helped each other with bags, and somehow, we made it to the airport in one piece(though some were dripping and squelching!). 

After the excitement of the morning, we partook of our packed breakfast alongwith Diwali sweets and snacks (also given by Kesari). Thus, we even had faraal on Diwali day !

Flight to Brisbane was uneventful. After landing we proceeded for lunch to an Indian restaurant. Here we finally introduced ourselves to each other. Even Ananya gave a detailed introduction about herself. Most of our tour members were professionals - engineers, doctors, CA, scientist, school principal and a retired businessman. Quite a few were veterans in foreign travel, especially via Kesari tours. This meant that we had plenty to converse about in the remainder of the trip :-)

Post lunch, we headed out in our coach to Gold Coast (~1.5 hrs drive). After checking into the hotel, we were allowed rest until dinner. Spent some time at the swimming pool and beach with others. Also, did some window shopping for souvenirs. Felt good to just chill out without a packed agenda for once.

There was a “surprise” before dinner – DJ dance! Some good dance performances by enthusiasts and even a couple dance.

The next day was spent at 2 main places – Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and then Warner Brothers Movie World. The guide had recommended a hot air balloon ride in the early morning but seeing that the day ahead was packed none of us was keen on it. Checked out some of the unique wildlife of Australia viz. Koala bears, Kangaroos, Emu, Wombat, Wallaby and many others. Also, took a mini train ride around the park.

Warner Brothers Movie world was the main attraction for our daughter. She thoroughly enjoyed the theme park experience. The best thing about it was that it was not crowded like the Disneyland or Universal studios. There was hardly any wait time at the rides. After spending a pleasant afternoon replete with lunch & ice cream, we returned to the hotel tired yet happy.

That evening, we celebrated Laxmi puja – some of us were dressed in traditional wear and chanted aartis. Did not miss the festive season back home while among the warm and friendly Kesari tour members.

The following day we started on our journey to Sydney – first by road to Brisbane and then flight to Sydney. The road journey was made memorable due to singing by some of the tour members. There was a microphone that we handed out to the interested folks who sang songs, ghazals or poetry and generally kept everyone entertained. We also played a round of Tambola.

On reaching Sydney, we first went to Sydney harbor and drank in the scenic views of Opera house from there. We then proceeded to the Opera house where we were given an hour-long guided tour of the historical wonder of the world. Good timing on our part too since it is going to be closed for renovation for next 2 years. It was interesting to know about the nitty gritty that went into the making of the musical hall, its acoustics, popular events and celebrities who graced it etc.

A cruise was planned in the evening with dinner and cabaret performances. It was an enjoyable and novel experience. Some of the best pics of the tour were from this. The dance performances were awesome. After the cruise, we finally checked into the hotel and literally dropped into blissful unconsciousness out of sheer exhaustion.

Sydney is the financial capital of Australia. Saw a lot of Sydney and offices of some well-known companies – Westpac, Accenture etc. The weather is Sydney was good and for once we did not have to don our jackets.

Following was covered in Sydney-

•      Gap point
•      Bondi Beach
•      Sydney Tower

Not much to write here – the pictures say it all ! Post lunch, we spent 2 solid hours just shopping at Paddy’s market. After some serious shopping, we returned to the hotel and then had some photo sessions over the last dinner together.

By celebrating Diwali together (sans the lights and crackers), we did not miss the festivities or family atmosphere at all. The general bonhomie of the group made it a very different holiday altogether – it was like traveling with a big family.

As mentioned earlier, the decision to go with Kesari was a fortunate one. We made some good friends who looked out for each other. Though Ananya was the only kid on the tour, she never missed company of other kids. The camaraderie and jokes made the tough moments lighter. The photos and videos taken by all showed how each one viewed the same thing differently!!

I had expected it to be a hectic trip based on what I had heard. But Kesari had planned the trip quite comfortably - all the spots we went to were well-chosen and aimed to give maximum satisfaction. Of course, Australia is huge, and we could not enjoy all it had to offer in the brief time we had. All in all, a most memorable vacation!