I studied at Deakin University in Melbourne during my year abroad. My first semester started in July and finished in October. I then enjoyed a long summer break, during which I spent a lot of time travelling around Australia. In February, I returned to Melbourne to complete my second and final semester. I felt very at home in Melbourne and loved exploring the city during my time there. Although the weather isn’t always sunny in Melbourne, it has so much to offer including delicious food, cool museums, night markets and even beaches. Day trips I did from Melbourne included the Great Ocean Road, Dandenong Ranges and Phillip Island.

During the summer break, I took the opportunity to explore the rest of Australia. I first travelled down the east coast with two friends I made during the first semester. We started in Cairns and gradually made our way down to Byron Bay, making 7 stops along the way. Next, I made a solo trip to Sydney and Adelaide. I then explored Western Australia, travelling with another University of Nottingham student who also studied in Melbourne. We started in Perth in the south and completed our travels in Exmouth, 1200km north.

I wasn’t able to hire a car for my travels as they have an age restriction of over 21, so I flew to places first and then used coaches to travel along the coast. Buses and trains are also useful for exploring places, we used ferries to get to islands off the coast.  I used Skyscanner to find flights – it shows you the best deals and the best days to fly.

On the east coast, we flew up to Cairns and travelled down the coast using Greyhound buses. The buses stop at all the major locations and you can buy a hop-on, hop-off month’s pass which is good value for money. You can then make as many stops as you want and book seats in advance. 

On the west coast, there is a coach company called Integrity Coach Lines which provides a coach service up and down the west coast from Perth to Broome. We also bought a hop-on, hop-off ticket but this one is based on distance.

I did lots of activities when travelling. I used websites like Backpacker Deals and Viator to find and book activities. These have a list of the activities available in the location you choose which is helpful to find the best deals. I then used TikTok and Google to find itineraries for day trips and the best things to do in each place I visited.

On the east coast we snorkelled on the Great Barrier Reef, did a tandem skydive and some fantastic boat trips, including to Magnetic Island, K’gari Island and the Whitsundays. In Brisbane, we visited a koala sanctuary where we held koalas and fed kangaroos.

In Sydney, I went to the Blue Mountains, there is a train running from Sydney to the Blue Mountains that takes around 2.5 hours meaning you can take a day trip or stay multiple days in the mountains even if you don’t have a car. I also went to Bondi Beach and explored other neighbourhoods of the city, like Paddington. 
On the west coast, we did a boat trip to Rottnest Island, drove over sand dunes, swam with sea lions, rode horses on the beach and snorkelled the Ningaloo reef. My favourite places we stopped at along the West Coast were Kalbarri, Coral Bay and Exmouth.

Some of my favourite activities were going to Rottnest Island, skydiving and snorkelling the reefs and swimming with sea lions. 

My favourite part of Australia was Western Australia! It was so unique and the beaches were beautiful! It is much less populated than the east coast and less developed, this makes it a magical place to visit.

Overall, I had the most amazing year and I would recommend studying in Australia to anyone. Everywhere I visited was so unique and special I had the best year. I also met the most incredible people and made friends for life.

Sophia studied at Deakin University in Australia for 2022/2023 academic year