The best thing about traveling together is the amount of time that we get to spend with each other. We both work and often carry our work home and it’s really good for us to have some time off – completely!" Nawin Rana, who currently works at the Standard

"It's been more than three years that we have been married and it was our first lengthy vacation together. I emphasize on the word vacation, because it was for the first time we travelled without carrying any workloads in our bag pack. Apart from traveling, one of the main reasons for visiting Australia, for the holidays, was to celebrate 'Bhaitika' with Nawin's sister (who lives in Australia)."

Aishwarya Rana and Nawin Rana took a break from their hectic schedule for a memorable journey to the land of the Koalas and Kangaroos. One thing common between this pair is their love for traveling and here they share their story of spending their holidays on the hot terrains of Australia.

It was the festive season of Tihar. You could figure out the festive vibes going on as the houses, of the Nepalese and Indian people living there, were lit with colorful lights. We spent the first two days in Australia with our friends and family. Besides celebrating Tihar, we also visited a few landmarks of Sydney; Sydney Tower, Darling Harbor - that houses the Sydney Aquarium, Madame Tussauds, and IMAX. We got to visit the aquarium in Darling Harbor, but unfortunately we couldn't go to IMAX (we really wanted to watch a movie there) as the infrastructure was under construction. When you're in Australia, you ought to go to the beach and we did so. We firstly visited the famous Bondi Beach. We were welcomed by a large open air exhibition, Sculpture by the Sea, which was taking place at the beach during the time of our visit. It was a coastal walk transformed into a two-kilometer long temporary sculpture park that featured the sculptures of over hundreds of artists from Australia and around the world. I (Aishwarya) was really excited when we got to the beach, ready to stroll around the sand in my slippers. But, my husband (Nawin) and my best friend, Rajina had other plans in their mind. They were wearing comfortable shoes just hoping to go for a coastal walk by the side of the beach. I had to throw a few tantrums to make them two agree to let me put my feet on the beach. Rajina and Nawin were no strangers to Australia. Rajina was a Nepali, with an Australian citizenship while Nawin had lived in Sydney for five years. What would they know about my eagerness to set my feet on the beach? We took a brief walk at the beach, looked around the exhibition. I myself admire art so the visit to the beach was quite delightful.

Our first week in Australia ended with a trip to Port Stephen, a town located nearby Sydney, with Aishwarya's sister. The journey was a two-hour drive away from Sydney whereas the destination was a town with so many beaches. We spent two days and a night at Port Stephens. We literally spent the first day hopping from one beach to another around the area. On our second day, we were planning to go on a cruise for 'dolphin and whale watching'. We were disappointed, when we called for booking, as we were informed that the cruise might not take place due to bad weather predictions. But, they did tell us to call them back and we did that the next morning. The message relayed was the same; hence we decided to explore other places. We decided to go to a National Park, but that too was closed as we reached the venue ahead of its opening time. So, we headed out to the bay for some kayaking. When we got there, we just randomly enquired about the boating and luckily, even if the big ships were not available for the cruise; meaning no whale-watching, the small boats were operating and we could also see the dolphins. We didn't want to miss out on this opportunity and thus we opted to go for the boating; and of course it was fun. We actually dived into the Pacific Ocean as there was a net attached to the boat for the passengers to dive in. Aishwarya was hesitant to dive at first, but she actually thought about the consequences of not diving into the Pacific Ocean and hence she changed her mind. So, we basically ticked off one of our things to do that was diving into the Pacific Ocean, off from our bucket list. We also a visited a Sand Dune site in Port Stephens, which felt like bring in a mini desert.

Our second week in Australia resumed with a tour to the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. There were various points through which these monuments could be seen; we visited five such points and witnessed them from those angles. We also managed to visit the Australian Museum where there was a great collection of artworks displayed under one roof. One day, Rajina (Aishwarya's best friend) and her husband came over and took us out on a ride, for a picnic through the south of Sydney. I (Nawin) like trips that are planned properly and this particular outing gave me pure satisfaction. It started with a visit to the Symbio Wild Park. The main highlight of the visit was feeding the kangaroos. They were actually so gentle and they ate the food directly from our hands. Then we visited the Kiama Blowhole, followed by the Bald Hill Lookout Point and the Sea Cliff Bridge, which is situated along the Great Pacific Drive Road. One thing great about Australia is the variety of options available on outdoor activities, while touring with friends and family. Our next destination was the Garigal National Park where we had fun preparing BBQs; going out for fishing, and playing football.

Another main highlight of the trip was the drive along the Great Ocean Road, which is an Australian national heritage listed 243 km stretch of the road along the south-eastern coast of Australia starting from Melbourne. We made this decision after a lot of discussion regarding whether we go to Melbourne by air or road. It was a twelve hour from Sydney; Nawin and our brother in law drove the car simultaneously. We were accompanied by Nawin's sister and her family. This was our third week running in Australia. After the twelve hour drive we took our ride to the Great Ocean Road, where we drove till the spot of '12 Apostles'. The weather was quite cloudy while we were driving en route '12 Apsotles' and as soon as we got there it started to rain. We including all the other tourists in the area had to run in order to find shade. The rain stopped after about ten minutes and then we went to view the spot. It was really funny as fifteen minutes after the halt of the rain, when we had just finished roaming around, it started to rain again. The next day, we drove back to Sydney. On our way back, in the morning, we drove around Melbourne city and also visited the Shrine of Remembrance. I guess you can find Nepalese people in almost every corner of the world. While roaming around Melbourne, we saw some Gurkhas conducting a small ceremony. It's a pride for us, since these brave warriors are appreciated and talked about all over the world for their loyalty.

Although we had seen the Opera House from the outside, we didn't actually set foot inside it until our very last days. I (Nawin) really wanted to click pictures in the Opera House from all the possible angles I could find, because when I was here in Sydney as a student I never clicked a picture at the Opera House. It was our light night in Sydney, we really wanted to go for a Drive-in-Cinema, but we couldn't manage time for it. Rajina was actually more worried about it than we were. Surprisingly, she called us and said that we were going for a drive-in-cinema at midnight (the show actually started at 12am). Like a cherry on top of a cake, this was the best way to end the vacation.

LITTLE MOUNTAIN LESSONS

Traveling locally is comparatively much easier. You don't need much preparation regarding the issuance of visa, language, and transit issues. Although, you have to limit yourself within the boundaries of the society, you can just grab a bag-pack and head out to travel anywhere here in Nepal. Traveling internationally is more of a logistic work, but you feel free. You can afford to be silly, do things you like to do, and not worry at all. You actually feel like a tourist when you travel abroad. Traveling and exploring new places is something we strive to do - at least once a year. It makes us go out of our comfort zone in some way and makes us explore and create memories in new and odd ways.

It is always wise to make a checklist of places you want to visit and things that you want to do before you travel, especially when you have very limited time. Research and understand about the local culture of the place that you are aiming to visit. Be respectful to the people and the community around.