Photo Essay: Where I Slept in Oz

In my almost year in Australia, I slept a lot of places. Dozens of hostels, a few floors, friends’ apartments, two boats, tents, swags and countless cities. It all started in Sydney at Tommy’s house in Petersham, where he and his dad graciously let me sleep until I found my own pad. I got very comfortable at their house, especially on Australia Day when I barely left the apartment complex pool.

Once we started our road trip, we stayed at the Canberra YHA. It was nice enough, somewhat basic, but good. My most vivid memories of my stay there were the air conditioning, which was the only relief from the Australian summer heat, and the noisy snoring Brit who was one of our bunkmates.

The first time in Adelaide, we stayed at Annie’s Place, which is in an old house not far from the city center. We spent our days lounging in the courtyard and taking advantage of the free wireless. This room had lots of weird magazine photos of celebrities pasted on the walls and only had one light.

Back in Sydney, I moved into my Dulwich Hill apartment, in this small room, which was just right for me. I didn’t have a lot of stuff and it was furnished, so I didn’t mind the size. It had everything I needed: a nice kitchen, a washing machine and good location near the grocery store and train station. I stayed here for 4 months and was sad to leave it!

After moving out of my apartment and before going traveling, I stayed in Coogee in the spare room of my friend Flo’s house. I had a blast walking down to the beach, making pizzas for dinner and hanging out with my friends.

The night before leaving for my outback trip, I stayed at Alice Springs’ Haven Backpackers Hostel. I wasn’t impressed with the hostel staff, but I had a decent night’s sleep before waking up at the crack of dawn.

I’ve been camping before, but not like this. At Uluru (pictured) and Kings Creek Station, we all slept in swags, which are essentially body bags with sleeping bags inside, set right into the dirt. Not the best nights’ sleep I’ve ever had, to say the least.

On the other hand, my best night’s sleep was at an underground hostel in Coober Pedy. What more could I ask for? Complete darkness, coolness and no sound.

On the second time in Adelaide, I switched it up by staying at Backpack Oz’s Guest House. It had a tv and a double bed and gave me the chance to catch on sleep after those rough nights in the outback.

Newcastle YHA had a lot of charm, since it was built in an old hospital, but I wasn’t happy to have a top bunk, especially since the room had bugs that flew around the windows and ceiling.

I could have died happy at Ozzie Pozzie in Port Macquarie. The rooms were a good size, the beds were comfortable and there was plenty of room for my backpack. It had free Internet, breakfast and pizza nights.

Byron Bay’s Arts Factory Lodge was one of the more unique places I stayed, but this room was pretty small. Something was wrong with the keys and sometimes they would work and others they wouldn’t.

This small messy room was my digs in Surfers Paradise at Aquarius. It wasn’t my favorite spot because there was barely room to unpack your bag, but the common area had a big couch, TV and DVD library, which made up for it.

I got comfortable at Banana Benders in Brisbane, where I spent en entire week! It had a porch with a view of suburban Brisbane that I fell in love with.

Flat Caitlin poses in this bed at Nomads in Noosa, where I stayed for 3 nights in a 8 bed dorm with all guys. Thank God they were comfortable beds!

I apparently didn’t take a picture of this myself, so it’s borrowed from their website, but in the Whitsundays, I spent two fuzzy nights on a boat. My bed was the top right across from the ladder, above a couple. Awkward, to say the least.

Two hours from Cairns, on the Great Barrier Reef, I spent a night on a scuba diving boat. The 4-share cabin was tiny, but it had decent mattresses and turned out to be better than some hostels I stayed at!