It had been a long long time I didn't update my blog....
The day you stop blogging, the day your influence die according to Timothy. Yea I had to find back my passion for blogging which is share all my travel experience with people who love travelling like me. Literally, his post in Dayre had somehow inspired me to write more. Hopefully my Aussie backpacking is a good start for me =)
Been travelling quite alot this year. Phuket, Langkawi graduation trip, HK & Macau with gang and this Aussie Trip with Amber. Imma blogged them soon* Promise! Hehe
*Okay...Back to topic*
It was kind of a crazy decision to go to Aus because our initial plan wasn't backpacking in Aus. Initially, Michael, Clayton, Amber and I booked our one way ticket to Mel because we wanted to go for working holidays in NZ (Thanks to Michael who kept persuading us to book the one way ticket, if not we will not go to Aus as well). Well, things did not went what we thought of...We didn't managed to apply the working holiday visa. So Clayton and Mic did not want to go so they burned their ticket. However, me and amber did not want to waste the one way ticket. So I suggested to backpack in Melbourne & Sydney with low budget. She then agreed with it and here start our 16 days backpacking story.
Thank you AirAsiaX for having promo so our one way ticket to Melbourne cost RM400 without luggage. We then booked our return ticket from Sydney to Singapore then to KL by using Scoot Airline. It cost us around RM850+ which inclusive of 20kg baggage allowance. Oh ya, the expenses for my entire trip is less than RM5K which was abit impossible?! But anyway we made it and I would like to share some insider tips with those who want to backpack in Aus but with low budget.
'No matter how much budget you have, there is always a way for you to travel and it will make you discover something new, as well as a memories that last a lifetime'
On the 19th of May, I flew from KCH to KUL and spent a night in KL as our flight to MEL was on 20th noon. Before flying, we planned to eat Texas Chicken as both of us craved for it quite long already since KCH did not have. However, I came across this shop and they are having promo for RM1 spaghetti. AHAH! RM1 only why not?!
Thanks to Nanny Pavilion for this RM1 Spaghetti
See my big bowl of spaghetti bolognese for my brunch
D7 212 KUL-MEL ready to fly! We didn't check in any luggage because backpack travelling ma!
Me and my dirty orange backpack which I just sent to repair a day ago. Actually quite small for me as the time we went to Aus was near to Winter so I brought quite a number of thick clothes but alot of dress and skirt as well. *Continue the clothes story later on
Up Up here we go. My first long hours flight. It's about 8 hours OMG! The only option for you is sleep through it. BUT!!!
Our grumpy faces! Damn lah the Indian aunties behind us talked non stop like few hours straight and quite loud also. They chatted like there was no tomorrow and woke me up. I was kinda pek chek and keep told myself to be patient. I still coughed loudly hope to signal them to low down their volume. =.= But still, nothing changed. I almost wanted to turn to them and said excuse me can u please lower down your volume. But at last I didn't because my sleepy worms all gone ady.
Get a little hungry during night time so we ordered Nasi Lemak - the yummiest food on AirAsia HAHA. It was actually quite yummy. Liked their sambal and curry
Filled the arrival card with details and declared everything that I had brought with me because friends told me custom of Australia was really strict and if you brought any medicine or milo with you, you better declare to avoid any misunderstanding.
Finally landed in Tullamarine Airport (MEL) after 8 hours of flight! My butt almost flattened ady. It's 11.30pm in Mel. Their time is ahead of Malaysia time 2 hours. Went through the custom and they were not fierce as I thought of. Everything went on smoothly and we proceeded to the tourist information counter outside. Our plan was overnight at the airport until tomorrow =) Everything quoted was in Aussie Dollar.
Went to the tourist information counter at the airport and served by a super friendly and kind aunty whose name is Angie. She was from Singapore and helped us a lot by introducing places to go, what to get and everything. She even helped us to book our overnight train to Sydney and we paid her back in cash. Was really touch by her kind act because we were so new to mel and not familiar with the place.
Now, what you must buy at the airport information counter:
1. Get a Myki Card at $14 where you had $8 credit inside.
It just like our Rapid Card and you only need to reload and tap on tap off on train and buses. It was more convenient for people that rely on public transport. And I told you I really really really love Australia's infrastructure especially their public transport! You can go everywhere you want if you had an Myki Card with enough credit with you! HAHA! If you went there for more than a week, you can chose weekly usage which was more affordable. While for us, we went for the normal plan because we actually planned to self drive for the last few days in Mel. They got a system that maximum daily usage for Myki is $7.50 so no matter how many times you tap on tap off, it was $7.50! It's good for tourist like us because we can go whenever we want!
For more information click this link to their website Myki
2. Get an Iventure Card if you plan to visit the attraction all by yourself
Angie intro this to us since we told her we gonna do self drive to Philip Island and Great Ocean Road because this can helped us save alot. So we chose the plan that we can choose whatever 5 attraction in both Mel & Syd with prepaid $169. So yeah, Iventure card helped us save about more than 30AUD in the entire trip.
For more information click this link to their website Iventure
3. Get those maps and information leaflets because there were some discount vouchers inside.
It was already 2 something in the morning and time to sleep. It was so freaking cold and the airport was bad than KLIA2 =( I cant find a proper spot to sleep.
The only option. But I didn't slept well and kept finding a good position. Sigh! Can't wait the sun to rise and we can go back to sleep!
Breakfast at Subway. They got the menu that bacon with poached egg! Oh yummm! My favourite poached egg le! Why Malaysia don't have... It cost me $5.50 without drinks. Ahhh cannot convert, if you convert then you gonna cry. HAHA
*Waiting patiently for 8AM!
Why? Because our host will come to airport and pick us up to his house! Yeah!!
Why host? Yea another great thing I want to introduce you all is Airbnb. We had pre-booked our stay through Airbnb and it was just awesome! It was much more affordable than a backpacker dorm and you can have more privacy. We booked our stay at West Footscray with the host - Cameron. He was so kind and friendly and agree to pick us up at the airport with $25. FYI, the skybus from airport to city cost $18 per pax and $25 was really cheap and we no need to look for the house after a long night at the airport. If any of you was interested to stay here do left a comment and I will give you their contact.
Booked for 4 nights and one pax is RM270+ after divided.
We got a private room for ourselves and a double bed with all the necessary things inside. The host was very thoughtful and there was towel for us too. The bed look super comfy so we just slept through the day after a long night at airport.
Woke up in the afternoon felt so energetic! HAHA so we decided to explore the nearby supermarket.
The neighbourhood where we stayed at, so peaceful haha!
Supermarket in 5 mins walking distance. Good so good!
OMG! looked so good!
From Aldi the supermarket! My gosh I mad love Aldi because everything was so damn cheap! Imagine that big bottle of milk only $1.99? HAHA! The Bacon only $2.99 and the instant noodles only $0.99. FYI, Aussie is really a high expenses country so one of the reason we chose to book Airbnb is because we can used the kitchen and cook, then we can save alot despite eating out. Can u imagine one egg mayo in 7-11 cost $5? So imagine eating a main course would cost..........
The bus stop where we get to city only less than 5 mins walk from the place we stayed! I felt that I was very imba because I just booked this place follow my instinct! Turned out to be pretty good! =)
Hello Melbourne =)
Our dinner - Instant Noodles with egg and fried bacon. HAHA
Their instant noodles was quite tasteless because no MSG added. Healthy but..... I prefer maggie! HAHAHA
There was this German couple checked in as well and they stayed in another room. So the host listing down the places where we can go tomorrow.
Travel makes you know people from all around the world, we all have different cultures and belief, so there was some cultural exchange here.
Realised the western was so healthy and they did not eat instant noodles. Perhap once for few years? Not like us who treat our maggie as main course. HAHAHA
Okay, I will continue 2.0 soon.
Enjoy~
