• Emme Sait

    Travelling Alone | Australia + Hong Kong

    by

    Being a Brit, I have quite a few members of family who live down under. I’ve grown up seeing photos of Kangaroos and Koalas, the famous Great Ocean Road and the sprawling beaches of white sand that line the Australian coast. It was one of those places I always said I’d get to, at some point, some how.

    As anyone in the Northern Hemisphere knows though, Australia is not a stones throw away! From Toronto it takes a minimum of two days to get there thanks to the time change and inevitable layover, so making concrete plans proved to be more difficult than trying to navigate public transport at rush hour. Alas, an e-invite dropped into my inbox last May that my heart just couldn’t say no to: a wedding in Byron Bay!

    From the moment I read that email, I knew I was going. It was a sign, from the universe (in the form of our friend’s betrothal) that I would finally visit this magical land of strange animals and sunburn. In less than a week I had the sign off from work for almost 3 weeks of travel, and I was ecstatic!

    One big spanner in the works, though: my boyfriend is a high school teacher, meaning he couldn’t get the time off in the middle of term. This meant I was travelling alone, which surprisingly would be the first time I had gone so far without a travel buddy. Although it was quite daunting, it didn’t falter my plans and I carefully decided on my flight route and hotels with this in mind.

    I chose Cathay Pacific as my flight carrier, my Aunt was a flight attendant for British Airways and she has always famed Cathay for its stellar reputation. Flying with CP meant the layover would be in Hong Kong, another place I hadn’t been before but had always been curious about, so for the way home I planned an extra-long 36 hour layover so I could have some time to explore.

    As I would be alone I was naturally anxious about the journey. YYZ (Toronto) to HKG (Hong Kong) is a hefty 15 hours in the air, which would be followed by a 6.5 hour layover and another 8 hours of flying time to Brisbane. I was smart in my pre-trip research though, and gained tips from other seasoned travelers which literally SAVED ME. The best ones I’ll share with you:

    I’m telling you – these things will make your journey 110% more comfortable, especially if you’re a lone traveler. At the airport my boyfriend actually made fun of how prepared I was, but the laugh was on him, the flight and layover was going to be a breeze!

    Cue: COVID-19 (aka Novel Coronavirus). This was something I had not planned for and although it didn’t affect my outbound journey too much, the inbound was going to be another story (more on that later).

    When I FINALLY reached Brisbane, my happiness could not be contained. I arrived late at night so stayed at the Ibis airport hotel for a well deserved sleep. The following morning, thanks to jet lag working in my favour, I was up early and out on the bus to Byron Bay.

    One of the biggest shocks I faced in Queensland and New South Wales was just how green it was. Everywhere I looked was lush with trees and foliage, there were parrots everywhere, its beauty really did blow me away. Before I knew it we had reached Byron in little under 3 hours (with a one hour time change – which I still think was weird) and it was everything I had hoped for. It really reminded me of a warmer Whistler, where in the place of skiing and mountains was surfing and the ocean.

    I discovered many things in Byron, like when it rains it storms, but the greatest was the coffee! It’s true when they say Aussie coffee is the best, I don’t know what they do to it, but I do know I was a little too upset when I had to leave it behind.

    After the wedding I headed back to Brisbane to spend time with my family there. It was amazing to finally see them on their side of the world, and so great to have native tour guides. Really, I can’t believe it took me so long to get over and visit them, but at least I know I’ll be back. Brisbane is a fantastic metropolitan city with one of the best river banks I’ve ever seen – it literally has a beach right in the middle of the city! It’s safe to say I fell in love with Queensland, with Mooloolaba Beach and the Sunshine Coast, the way of life there and the people who live there.

    My next stop after Brisbane was Perth, Western Australia to visit my long time friend from back home in her new home. Living in Canada I understand how big a country can be, but if I didn’t I think I would have been notably shocked when I saw the 5 hour flight time from BNE to PER! I felt like a pro-traveler by then though, this was basically short haul in comparison to what I was used to.

    Touching down in Perth I realised this was the Australia I recognised. It was flatter, dryer and more desert-like in landscape; un-apologetically itself and beautiful because of it. I can confirm the rumours about the Western Australia beaches are true, they are jaw dropping.

    My two weeks down under unsurprisingly were up before my English skin had even thought about a tan. As I reflected back I couldn’t believe how smoothly this solo trip had gone, I mentally patted myself on the back for creating such a seamless travel itinerary… that’s when COVID-19 steps back in.

    Obviously, I had been watching the stories unfold during my trip, knowing I’d be transiting through Asia en route home, so when my flight was delayed 12 hours I wasn’t really surprised. Prior to booking my accommodation for Hong Kong late in 2019, because of the ongoing protests I decided to stay at Disneyland (partly because it’s closer to the airport and I figured nobody would protest there, partly because I’m a huge kid and really wanted to go). However, COVID-19 shut it down, quite literally. The park closed to visitors a few days before my arrival, so I had to quickly make new plans, and I booked a room at an airport hotel instead.

    Armed with my newly acquired face mask, I felt prepared as I stepped onto the plane out of Perth. Every single person on the plane wore a mask, and although uncomfortable, was entirely necessary. I wasn’t afraid of catching the disease, but it was definitely an experience being at the heart and seeing the effects first hand of something that was capturing global attention.

    Because of the delay, I didn’t really end up with very long in Hong Kong. It was quite eerie to see how quiet the airport was in comparison to my previous visit, as well as being constantly temperature checked by the hotel and restaurants. I wasn’t happy to leave though, and Hong Kong is definitely on my list of places to return to.

    When we touched down in Canada and I flew through security with my Permanent Resident card, I realised it was the first time it had felt like home. I felt a relief and comfort being here, seeing the maple leaf and hearing the Canadian accents. Before this trip I had been so desperate to leave the cold winter, but if anything, being away had made me realise just how much I love this country I now call home.

    ❤ Emily

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