Final Thoughts on my First Trip to Australia

Here's a summary of my Australia business trip:

Visiting Australia for the First Time
[Australia] Business Trip
[Australia] Dining in Gold Coast
[Australia] Meriton Suites Broadbeach
[Australia] A Crazy, Amazing Race-like Experience Heading Home
Final Thoughts on my First Trip to Australia

Borobi, official mascot of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games at Paula Stafford Park

I had written about this trip being so hectic and scheduled at such a bad time that I couldn't extend my stay or do any sightseeing, which was a bit of a shame. Aside from getting to visit places in Gold Coast like Surfer's Paradise and the SkyPoint Observation Deck (or even whale watching), I would have loved to take an extra few days off of work and stop over at Sydney.

I was very fortunate to get to attend the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo

It was also a bit of a shame because spring had just started. This meant that the weather was quite lovely. It did get cold at night but not something you would need a big thick winter jacket for. That would have made it perfect for sightseeing and other touristy stuff.

View of Broadbeach in Gold Coast from the balcony of my hotel room

I also previously wrote about buying lots of Tim Tams in the Woolworth's at the Oasis mall near our hotel. I will say though that Tim Tams in Australia cost just about as much as in the Philippines. In Australia, they cost about 6 Australian Dollars or roughly 230 Philippine pesos. You can get Tim Tams here in the Philippines at Landers for about the same price. Crazy! I always thought they were significantly cheaper in Australia! That said, many Tim Tams flavors had a 50% discount when I was there so I went crazy and got loads of them. I also did get several flavors that aren't available in the Philippines, even if they were full price.

Broadbeach in Gold Coast

And I guess because of all the Tim Tams I bought and a few other factors, I ended up almost not having enough space in my luggage. This was because I made a few key mistakes in preparing for this trip. I had a hard-shell suitcase that was somewhere between the traditional medium and large sizes. But because my trip was only for a few days, my suitcase was not full. I got worried that if it wasn't full and other bags get piled on top of mine in the plane, it might damage the case. As such, I ended up packing a lot of extra jackets (which I didn't get to use). Even after that, I still had space so I packed a couple of towels just to fill my luggage. That was kind of okay for my departure from Manila.

Another view of Broadbeach from my hotel room balcony

However, I didn't count on buying way too many Tim Tams and even coffee bags of coffee. Worse, I didn't realize I would end up with lots of loot from the Gartner event. If I did, I might have packed an extra duffel bag or even my usual backpack, especially since the weight limit for my check-in luggage was more than enough. In the end, I spent hours trying to fit everything into my suitcase and my hand carry. But I somehow did. Barely. It was one of those things where I felt that the moment I unzipped my luggage, everything would just start pouring out haha.

Durungul Budjerum (which means Calm Spirit) by Lann Levigne

This caused me to worry a lot when my luggage got lost. I was concerned that if customs opened my bag, the contents might just pour out and the inspectors wouldn't be able to fit them in again. Thankfully, they didn't. Whew!

I picked up my luggage at NAIA Terminal 1 after it got left behind in Australia

It was a good thing I didn't buy that large cute wombat stuff toy I saw at the souvenir shop because there is no way I could have fit that in my luggage. That said, I probably could have brought it with me on the plane as a carry-on item. But well, maybe if I have another trip to Australia, I can buy one.

Dusk in Broadbeach

While I did run into some major problems on the flight back home, I lucked out in the flight from Manila to Sydney by not having anyone sit next to me. That made my trip very comfortable.

No one sat next to me on my flight from Manila to Sydney

Even better, on my flight from Gold Coast to Sydney, there were actually no other people in my entire row! (Such a shame that just after that flight, everything started to go awry haha.)

I was the only person sitting in my row on my flight from Gold Coast to Sydney

I did really learn a lot from this trip and it has proven to be a very good one professionally, even if I was very reluctant to take it due to the conflicts it brought about in my personal schedule. I don't know if I will get another opportunity like this in the future but I'm glad that at least one in my life, I got to go.

Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo

And while I can say that I have now finally been to Australia, I barely got to see it. So I really do need to revisit the Land Down Under again in the future.

Broadbeach at night