Of course one of the main reasons that tourists visit this area of Australia, is to see the Great Barrier Reef. There are many different options as to how you can see it, and we decided to go snorkelling to the outer Agincourt Ribbon Reefs. We did a day tour through Quicksilver Cruises and would highly recommend it to anyone looking into snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef.

You can see the lighter colour in the water which is the coral reef

One of the things I was most excited for when planning this trip, was taking the tour down the Great Ocean Road. My sister had gone a few years ago and it looked amazing, so we made sure to fit it into our trip.

The scenery was amazing, and besides the water views, I didn't expect the landscape to be so lush and beautiful. At times it felt like we were somewhere in the UK, but we'll have to save that for a future trip.

We were able to make several stops along the way to enjoy different beaches and take in the fresh ocean air.

Of course the most well known stop along this famous road is the Twelve Apostles.

This stretch of land is definitely very beautiful, but my favourite stop was the heritage site of the Loch Ard Shipwreck. We were able to go down onto the beach and dig our toes in the sand. Hearing the story of a pair of shipwrecked teenagers who hid in a cave until they were rescued, made it even more interesting to see first hand.

We arrived in Melbourne early Friday morning, so once we settled in and took a nap, we set out for a little sight seeing and lunch at St. Kilda beach. Our rental home was just outside the city, in South Yarra, so the beach was very close by which was nice. It was your typical Australian scene when we got there; skateboarders, surfers, a huge boardwalk along the water - it was perfect.


We spent a few hours enjoying the sunshine before heading off to dinner at the Eureka tower. It's one of the world's tallest residential buildings in the Southern hemisphere and we were lucky enough to enjoy the view the city from the 77th floor.

We took the three hour journey from Delhi to Agra, to visit the infamous Taj Mahal.
The drive there was just as intriguing as the actual Wonder itself. I wanted to some how convey what this country (city) is really like. The street vendors, women working in the fields, and magnificent sunsets.


 

We spent day 2 of our time in India touring around New Delhi in typical Indian style; on a Tuk Tuk!

We visited one of the towns famous tombs, called Humayun's tomb. He was one of the emperor's in Delhi long ago, and the tomb was commissioned by his wife upon his death. There are several smaller tombs leading up to it which were used to house other family members after their deaths.

This was the first structure to use red sandstone at such a scale and has been named one of UNESCO World Heritage Site's.

I thought I would start sharing some photos from our trip so far. We are still in the middle of it, but there is just so much to share that I couldn't wait! I have wanted to visit India for a very long time (see this post), so it was incredible to actually be there.


Our first day, we arrived in Delhi, India at 3:30am, and were pleased to drive up to this beautiful hotel that we would call home for the next few days. The history behind it made it that much more special and not just another hotel. Maidens Hotel is one of Delhi's oldest hotels, and was built in the early 1900's during the Mughal reign.


One of the biggest culture shocks for us was the traffic. It's crazy! (to put it mildly) There are people on bikes, mopeds, motorbikes, packed into cars, tuk tuk's, you name it, they drive it! It's unbelievable to see what people will carry on their bikes.


We went out for dinner at a very well known restaurant called Bukhara. Apparently when high profile people come to town, this is the place they eat. The food was good, but I particularly enjoyed the giant naan bread!

The artwork in this hotel was over the top, and the main lobby area had a beautifully hand painted ceiling.

That's just a brief look at Day 1, I hope you enjoyed seeing a little bit, and I will be sure to share more with you when I get a chance.