Australia
In January, I escaped the UK winter to explore Australia and it turned into one of the most inspiring trips I’ve had, both personally and for Kata Sportswear. From tennis in Melbourne to trail runs in Sydney, here are my reflections from three incredible weeks ‘Down Under.’
Melbourne: Tennis & Trams
My girlfriend, Jenny, and I escaped the deepest, darkest depths of the UK winter for 3 weeks of peak Australian summer. The jet lag was a little rough when arriving in Melbourne, but it was quickly shaken off by a few runs out around Albert Park and a few sea dips at St Kilda beach.
We were in Melbourne to see the Australian Open and we spent 4 days soaking in the atmosphere around the Rod Laver Arena.
Melbourne reminded me of a European city, which was a nice way to ease ourselves into the trip. We stayed in South Yarra which is a short walk away from the sporting centre of the city, Richmond.
Sport is huge here, with the Australian Open, Melbourne Cricket Ground and various football stadiums all located within close proximity in Richmond.
Everyone is out running, cycling or playing some kind of sport. I immediately got the impression that this is somewhere where people love their sport and take their health pretty seriously.
Melbourne’s public transport is also top-tier with trams and great train services.
Byron Bay: ‘Bin Chickens’ & Coffee Culture
Once we were ‘tennised out’, we headed north to Byron Bay, home to Australia’s most ‘easterly’ point and also rumoured to be home to huge celebrities like Zac Efron and Chris Hemsworth (although we saw no evidence of this).
Unfortunately, we had pretty rough weather while at Byron, so we took in the coffee culture within the town, ate at a string of fairly pretentious restaurants and checked out the infamous ‘bin chickens’ - the pesky birds you’ll see raiding bins at every beach.
Next, we headed north again on the bus to Burleigh Heads. Burleigh Heads is a popular holiday destination for Australians, and as we were there during their summer holidays, the place was absolutely buzzing.
I couldn’t believe how many people were out cycling, running or marching up and down the coastal paths here. I myself went out for a 15 mile training run from Burleigh Heads to Surfers Paradise and back, and paid the price for not wearing enough suncream.
One thing that struck me was the amount of water refill points there are along the beach front. They’re clearly keen to reduce their plastic usage in Australia and they take sustainability seriously.
Brisbane: A Surprising Standout
After a few days in Burleigh Heads, we continued north up the Gold Coast to Brisbane. We actually got the train here and I was stunned to find out that the tickets were just $0.50 each. $0.50 for a two hour train journey?! Madness.
Brisbane actually surprised me. It’s not a particularly popular stop on the backpacker trail along the East Coast. However, it feels like an incredibly live-able city with loads of nice day trips within driving/public transport distance.
Here we stayed with Kata Sportswear ambassador, Sally Mills, who was incredibly kind to put us up for a few days and show us what Brisbane is about. We took day trips to Noosa Heads and North Stadbroke Island which were both pretty fantastic.
Sydney: Sun, Surf & Sustainability
After a fun few days in Brisbane we travelled back down to Sydney for our final stop of the trip. Once again we were incredibly lucky to stay with our friends Henry & Tom who live around the Northern Beaches.
Sydney really has that ‘Australian feel’ to it. There’s a massive beach culture here which I really liked, and once again it felt like everyone was out running, cycling, swimming or surfing in their spare time.
There is so much going on in Sydney. I did a few runs along Manly Beach, Centennial Park and also around the epic Sydney Olympic Park. We ate brilliant food with recommendations from our excellent tour guides, Henry & Tom.
We also took cool day trips to Palm Beach and the Blue Mountains, although we were scuppered by the weather at the latter. We had some pretty amazing sunshine in Sydney, but we also had some pretty dramatic storms. When it storms here, it REALLY storms.
One thing I noticed in Sydney was that there was a large number of ‘plastic recycling points’ – another indication of the push towards sustainable living in Australia.
Our final day was spent hiking the epic Cougee to Bondi beach walk. We then sat on Bondi Beach, took some photos of the famous Iceberg Pools, then slowly began to think about the long journey home.
Australia: My Concluding Remarks
In my opinion, the 24 hour journey is not actually too bad. I think the real reason Australia feels so far from home is the time-zones. Being awake while all of your friends and family are asleep, then getting all the goal notifications from the Premier League while you’re in bed is kind of bizarre.
That being said, there’s so much to like about the Australian way of life. Sometimes in the UK, and especially in London, we have a culture of ‘living to work’, where how many hours you put into work is sometimes worn as a badge of honour. In Australia, I felt the opposite and that people were ‘working to live’. As soon as 5pm hit, people were out on the beach, running, playing sports and just doing their thing. This is definitely a way of life that I can get on board with and a mirror of Kata’s ethos of balance in life.
I also tested our Kata bamboo t-shirts and new Kata cotton socks in the Australian humidity and I’m pleased to say that they held up to their usual high performance standards.
I couldn’t recommend enough taking a few weeks in January off to spend some time in the sun. I came home feeling refreshed and ready to attack the rest of the winter and before I knew it, spring was around the corner and the days were getting longer and the weather was gradually improving. A January holiday is an absolute winner.
Australia reminded me of the importance of movement, community, and sustainability in our daily life, and it inspired new ideas for Kata. If you’ve been to Oz, we’d love to hear your thoughts, let us know your recommendations in the comments below. And if you haven’t, January might be the perfect time to go.
