I made the mistake this morning of reading Nomadic Matt’s travel goals and it got me thinking about my own. I would agree with Matt when he says that there’s no where in the world that he wouldn’t want to see. Rather than bore you with a long list of locations that I’ve got in the back of my mind I thought I’d talk about what I’d like to achieve on my imminent trip.

Australia

New Year in Sydney

This wasn’t even the first thing that I thought of when I realized I’d be spending the festive period in Australia. I began wondering how it would be spending Christmas in the sun without my family. I’m yet to spend a Christmas away from home and I’m intrigued to see how this experience effects me. However, it quickly dawned on me how crazy I’d be to be so close to Sydney and not spend New Year there. I’ve just about managed to arrange a hostel for a week over New Year. Looking forward to fireworks over the harbour!

Fraser Island

An unexpected highlight from my last visit to Australia and one of the few places that I still have very vivid memories of. Lake Mackenzie in particular with it’s gorgeous white sands, I can still taste the water and feel the temperature change as the lake floor dropped away.

I really want to get back to Fraser and spend a bit more time there, relaxing and enjoying the natural beauty of the island.

Uluru

If you’ve been here before, you know I’ve got a love of mountains and Uluru is up there as a must see for me. There’s something almost mystic in the appeal the rock has. The images I’ve seen are just inspiring. I really hope I can get a few days in the area, witness a sunrise and/or sunset to really appreciate how majestic this geological masterpiece is.

Watersports

I’ve got back into canoeing over the last year and I’m keen to try out some new sports. I’ve read that Melbourne isn’t the place to surf but has a good windsurfing scene. I’ve never tried windsurfing and at the moment I’m pretty keen to give it a shot but with my total lack of balance I’m wondering how good an idea this might be. There’d be something very wrong with me if I didn’t have a few surfing lessons while I’m in Australia, I’ve never tried it before and again my balance won’t be my best friend but I’m well up for having a go.

The Great Barrier Reef

Last time I was in Australia I wasn’t old enough to go scuba diving where as now, I’m old enough to do what I want and I really think that being able to get right up into this particular environment would be an amazing experience. With time potentially running out to enjoy this natural wonder I really would like to take full advantage and enjoy a couple of days diving, snorkeling and maybe if I’m super lucky witness some bioluminescene.

Loosely related; how about a cage diving experience with great white sharks. Part of me thinks that if I do this, I’ll never get in the ocean again.

…and beyond.

I’ve made a few references to the fact that I want to travel on from Australia, maybe a bungee jump and some white water rafting in New Zealand, chilling on a beach in Fiji, orangutans in Boreno, a full moon party in Thailand, Angkor Watt in Cambodia. I said I wouldn’t bore you so I won’t keep this list going. There are plenty of places I hope to see on this trip and an endless number of experiences just waiting to happen.