Living it up Down Under!

For Aditya Hitkari and his wife Divya Palat, their recent Aussie vacation saw them have a fun sky-diving, roller-coasting time.

It had been part of their list of must-see places even before they met and got married, laugh Aditya Hitkari and Divya Palat. And 11 years into their marriage when he proposed an eight-day trip to Gold Coast and Sydney to celebrate their March 16 anniversary —  “It sounded heavenly,’ she says. “Especially since I had also made a sort of resolution to go sky-diving this year.”

Gold Coast fun
The first of the four days was spent walking around the busy Surfers Paradise area. “We’re water freaks so the next day we headed to Warner Bros World and tried wild rides including the world’s fastest roller-coaster,” she informs.

“The best part,” he joins in, “was the Hydro Zorb; it’s a  plastic balloon that’s partially filled with water and you roll downhill in it. It’s a slippery ride that’s like a cross between a waterfall and a roller coaster,” he laughs.

The next day was spent at the Colombian Wildlife Sanctuary, where they “hugged a few koalas,” and finally took a jet-ski to islands off the Gold Csoast. “The place has lovely azure waters, clean beaches and the best part was I didn’t fall off my jet-ski once,”
informs Divya.

After some shopping that included a doggie bed for their spaniel — Cookie, it was time to head to Sydney.

Sydney sight-seeing
Woolloomooloo. That’s the harbour side, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney — their next stop. “At the end of the wharf where we stayed was Russell Crowe’s house,” Divya says excitedly.

Like most tourists, they headed to the scenic Sydney Harbour Bridge on day one
itself for a bridge climb. “And went camera crazy,” she recalls.

Day two was for the special Opera House trip they were waiting for. “It started at 6am as that’s the hour when you can have breakfast in the greenroom of the stars. We also saw some incredible sets and for us theatre buffs, it was amazing,” they admit.

The evening was marked out for the Coldplay concert and then finally, came the sky-diving day.

 “The venue was an hour away from the city and once there, we went up in a jet plane. “Before I knew it we were at 14,500 feet and then jumped off. You know, the actual jump fills you with an incredibly calm feeling,” she recalls.

Day four was for the anniversary celebration. “For lunch we took a seaplane to
this restaurant called Catalinas in Rose Bay and to my delight there were all of my favourite dishes on the menu,” grins Divya.

The late evening saw them ascend the Tower of Sydney and watch the city light up. “That was part of a whole album of lovely memories,” says Aditya. “We loved it so much, you can be sure we’re going back this year again,” he adds.