Australia - Some statistics about my travel

G'Day mates, I am thinking a lot about Australia since I came back 26 days ago. I did a lot of rummaging through my bills and came up with this very cost-based statistic that would be of most interest to those who are planning on going there. But I also very much enjoyed the other non-monetary aspects of my travels which surprised even me seeing all listed up like this. This journey was just amazing.
As statistics go, it could get a bit confusing but I try to make it as simple as I can and still interesting (I hope). I have the following categories:

1) How many nights did I sleep where?
2) How much did the accommodation cost me?
3) How many km did I travel by road?
4) How many km did I fly for how much money?
5) What did I achieve and attend?
6) What wildlife did I encounter?
7) How much did the touristic tours cost me?
8) How much money did I earn?
9) How much of my own money did I spend?
10) Cost-breakdown of all the spent money

 1) I stayed 310 days in Australia of which I spent
- the first 35 nights with Markus in double rooms in 17 different hostels,
- 47 nights in dorms in 15 different hostels,
- 38 nights camping in 31 different spots,
- 166 nights at the house of my host family,
- 22 nights with 3 friends (Heidi, Tim & Joon, Carly) and 
- 2 nights at an airport (in Darwin and Perth).
- A total of 69 different locations, so I changed on average every 4,5 nights.

  
2) Financially speaking for the accommodation
- I spent for myself a total of nearly 3,400 Australian Dollars (AUD)...
- Over 310 nights that's an average of 11 AUD per night
- Taking out the free accommodation leaves 120 days, so an average of 28.30 AUD per night
- For the double rooms I shared with Markus we each spent an average of 45.60 AUD per night
- For the dorms I spent exactly 30 AUD per night (mostly 4 beds or 6 beds, only once in a 10-bed-dorm for four nights)
- Camping being the cheapest paid accommodation was still 10 AUD per night for me

  
3) Well, Australia is huge. I mean HUGE! I travelled at least 20,000 km by road of which
- I covered 5,600 km by joining a tour (Outback, Great Ocean Road, Tasmania, Southwest)
- 13,800 km in self-organised trips (East Coast, Kangaroo Island, West Coast, Perth)
- and 600 km by bus (Sydney to Canberra return).
- I never took a long-distance train.
- I have visited all main cities apart from Alice Springs.

4) Flying was an important part as well.
- Flying from Frankfurt to Sydney via Ho-Chi-Minh-City and back I covered 33,000 km which cost me 1,410 Euro with Vietnam Airlines
- I took 9 domestic flights to travel 12,700 km for 1,700 AUD with Virgin Australia and Jetstar
- One incredible scenic flight over Fraser Island for 75 AUD (15 min)
- One amazing helicopter flight over the Great Ocean Road for 90 AUD (10 min)
- I left Australia two times, once to fly to Bali (5,200 km for 284 AUD with Air Asia X) and to Singapore and Malaysia (10,500 km for 520 AUD with Jetstar and Air Asia X).
- Total flying distance of over 61,000 km for about 4,710 AUD, an average of 0.08 AUD per km always including luggage of 15 kg or more.

5) Astounding achievements I can't quite believe I have mastered
- I visited 66 Australian beaches (I actually set foot on them)
- I drank 37 different Aussie beers
- I ate 32 truly Aussie meals
- I visited at least 14 big national parks
- I survived a car key emergency in Townsville, a tyre breakdown on the Great Ocean Road, a bushfire in Tasmania, a water tank break near Ravensthorpe and a gasline break 300 km before Broome
- I visited 4 main wine regions: Barossa Valley, Yarra Valley, the Swan Valley
and Margret River
- I celebrated these Aussie days: Australia Day, ANZAC Day, Western Australia Day
- I attended some world-famous tournaments: the Australian Open and the Formula 1 Grand Prix both in Melbourne
- I went hiking at Frenchman's Peak, Mount Bluff Knoll, the Loop, Mount Bruce, Dales Gorge, the Twin Falls, the Jim Jim Falls and at Maguk 
- I climbed up the Sydney Harbour Bridge on my very last night in Australia 

 

6) Wildlife everywhere in Australia. 
- I saw way more dead kangaroos than living ones. I myself luckily never hit one but our Esperance-tourguide did
- I fed kangaroos 3 times in Port Macquarie, Yeppoon and in Tasmania
- I saw at least 40 wild crocodiles
- I encountered 3 deadly venomous snakes knowingly
- I had about 100 mosquito bites (I am serious!)
- I saw wild echidnas, wombats, koalas, dolphins, whales, turtles, whalesharks, seals, penguins, dingos and kookaburras but no platypus 

7) Be brave my dear loyal readers: the cost of attending tours!
- I attended 2 half-day tours all in the Outback (Camel riding at sunset and Uluru sunrise)
- I took part in 8 day-tours (Fraser Island, Sailing the Whitsundays, Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, King's Canyon, Barossa Valley wine tour, Yarra Valley wine tour, Whaleshark swim in the Ningaloo Reef, West Kimberleys)
- I went ahead with 3 multi-day-tours ( 2 days Great Ocean Road, 6 days Tasmania, 6 days Southwest)
- So I spent 23 days with tours which have cost a whooping total of 3,769 AUD, so almost 164 AUD per day.
- But thanks to Markus, my former colleagues from Bremen and the EADS Energy Strategy Team and friends like Imen, Uwe, Karl, Mathias and others who supported me all monetary I only had to pay 3,076 AUD of it myself.

8) Okay guys: how much did I earn?
- My main income was my Au Pair job in Perth where in the first 11 weeks I earned 1,900 AUD. An average of nearly 172 AUD per week working 22 hours. So 7.82 AUD per hour.
- In the three months after the West Coast Tour I really took off finding other regular jobs and one-off jobs, mainly babysitting and cleaning. I earned a whooping 5,900 AUD in 12 weeks. So I nearly tripled my income to an average of 491 AUD per week.
- In order to do that I put in a LOT of hours. In my top three weeks I worked on average 50 hours each to earn about 620 AUD, so 12.40 AUD per hour.
- I did some other minor jobs before my Au Pair time which only got me 200 AUD, like writing an article for a tour company about Tasmania.
- Exactly a total of 8,000 AUD in 23 weeks, so nearly 348 AUD per week with an average of 35 hours per week, so just under 10 AUD per hour.
- Of these 8,000 AUD I spent 3,000 AUD in Downunder, 2,200 AUD for traveling through Southeast-Asia and I took 2,800 AUD back to Germany.

9) It's getting VERY SERIOUS now: how much did I spent from my own money?
- Remember that I am only talking about my spending in Australia as my journeys to Bali, Singapore and Malaysia were 100% financed through what I earned as an Au Pair, babysitter and cleaner.
- In the 10 months in Australia I have spent a frightning 9,675 Euro of my very own hard earned money as an engineer. But if I had spent the 2,800 AUD in Australia instead which equals about 1,960 Euro I would have only needed 7,715 Euro of my own money.
- As I spent also 3,000 AUD in Australia which equals nearly 2,100 Euro I needed in total 11,775 Euro (about 16,820 AUD) for everything. So 1,178 Euro per month.

10) Total cost breakdown of the 16,820 AUD for 10 months in Australia
- My flights to, from and within Australia (without the ones to Bali, Singapore and Malaysia): 3,906 AUD
- Accommodation: 3,400 AUD
- Activities: 3,076 AUD
- Renting cars: 1,690 AUD
- Insurance: 686 AUD
- Immigration: 365 AUD 
- Communications (internet, mobile phone): 122 AUD
- Others (food, fuel, transport, entrances etc.): 3,575 AUD

Yes, I have spent an awful lot of money in Australia in this 10 months. And I probably could have saved lots of money in staying in cheaper accommodation or by doing couchsurfing and not always renting a car but I wouldn't want to change anything as I met the most awesome people and learned a lot even in the not so great moments.

Was it worth it? A massive, big, huge and definite YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did I miss something important? What are your experiences? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

Yours statistics-loving Stefanie