East Coast Australia Part 3

June 19th:
    I woke up on the morning of the 19th cramped all over on a crowded bus, but happy as could be watching the sunrise out of the window over the mountains, with Dave sleeping on my shoulder. We celebrated our arrival to Airlie Beach with a 7am breakfast from McDonalds in the sunshine. After a quick check into our hostel, we set straight off to the lagoon in the center of town, and spent our day laying in the sun. We shared some fish, calamari and chips, and enjoyed the extreme tropical heat of Queensland. To prepare for our three day two night boat trip, we all bought souvenir hats and soon looked like the captain of the ship! Our evening was spent in relaxation, as we went to a pub for a quick dinner, and watched the dramatic finale of Game of Thrones together.

June 20th:
    Another early morning start to the day, but we all woke up excited for the boat journey that we were about to begin! After packing our bags, we purchased enough goon to last a lifetime, put on our captain’s hats, and set off to the marina to board our boat Avatar! We soon met all of the other 22 passengers, made ourselves at home in our tiny cabins, and cracked a beer to enjoy our smooth sailing across the Whitsundays. We cooled off by jumping off the boat and snorkeling with the giant Mauri Wrasse. The passengers of Avatar instantly bonded as we passed another sail boat and proved we had more fun than them as 22 out of the 26 of us all mooned them together. Our evening was spent bonding with new friends from the boat and playing international drinking games on the front of the boat.


June 21st:
    It was a great feeling to wake up on a moving boat, feel the fresh air as I came out of my hatch, and experience having a serious case of sea legs mixed with a hang over. We had a very early start to the morning, but it was worth it as we were headed to get one of the most beautiful beaches in Australia, Whitehaven Beach. We were tendered over to a small beautiful island, went through a walk in the rainforest, tried licking the bum of lime-ants (taste like lime!), and arrived to a beautiful lookout over the mystical swirls of white sand and turquoise water. We all spotted a group of sting rays, and followed them into the water and experienced them swimming around our legs. Despite the fact that it was 7am and a bit cloudy, the girls, Dave, myself, and some new friends decided it was a good idea to skinny dip around the beautiful landscape, and make it a moment to remember!
   When we made it back to the boat, we had a full day planned ahead of us. We went snorkeling, snorkeling, and more snorkeling! My favorite spot was Manta Ray Bay, where we swam with huge fish and sea cucumbers. It was great experience sailing to different bays, jumping off the boat, and hanging off the hammock on the boat while sipping a beer. That day we also fed a sea eagle that was flying along side of the boat, throwing pieces of meat in the air and watching him swoop down to catch it! That night we warmed up with a delicious roast dinner and cheesy potatoes, and yet again stayed up enjoying each others company with the help of the flowing goon. We all learned new drinking games that night thanks to our deckhand Sammy, and ended up all hugging each other like koala bears, discussing what the dirty rabbit did that night, and smacking a can of beer on our foreheads yelling “danger can”! You may have needed to be there to understand the fun we had that night, drinking on the catamaran.



June 22nd:
    The next morning we woke up at sea yet again, sailing back through the sunshine to the mainland. We were sad to get off of the boat, but made some amazing friends along the way. I had no complaints about the trip as the crew were amazing, food was great, and we had so much fun living on a boat. We all headed back to our hostel, then the lagoon to relax so we could save our energy for the after party that night. Some new friends of ours including Felix, Tim, John and Esben joined us in our room to share some drinks and later that night drink a few too many Jager-bombs at a local bar.

June 23rd:
    Another early morning, and yet another Greyhound. Our journey to Townsville only took a few short hours, which led us to our ferry to take us to Magnetic Island. This was a sad day for our crew, as for the first time on our trip our group was going to split up! Francesca, Hannah, and Helen took the local bus to the Base hostel on the beach to relax, as Dave and I took a bus to the opposite side of the island to check into a run down tropical getaway to prepare for our PADI Open Water three day course. After having a little bit of separation anxiety, Dave and I settled in and met our new flatmate Karl. Karl the Kiwi was taking the same

PADI course with us, and we were all excited to breathe under water and see some fishies!
    Dave and I had a relaxing night, borrowing Karl’s ‘ute’ to pick up some dinner, and we lounged on the beach watching the super moon rise that night. It was such a surreal view seeing the giant moon pop up over the mountains and ocean, lighting up the sky.

June 24th:
    We woke up bright and early for PADI day number one! I was quite nervous at the thought of breathing under water and all the potential things that could go wrong, but pushed through my nerves and arrived to meet our instructor Paden. The morning was filled with boring and poorly made PADI videos and on our lunch break Dave and I took a quick bus ride into town to do our dive physical. It was lucky for us that we missed the bus back to our class, as we ran into Francesca and the girls who had rented a Barbie car for the day, and gave us a thrilling lift around the island and back to Paden. Our afternoon was spent learning how to breathe under water in the pool, practicing some new skills. To relax that evening Dave and I and our new friend Karl took the bus to the Base hostel on the beach the girls were staying at, and enjoyed a few beers on the beach together.

June 25th:
    PADI day number two had begun, and was filled with more boring videos and quizzes, followed by more skills in the cold pool, and our first ocean dive! The visibility was not great, but the experience of being on the ocean floor and breathing was amazing. To celebrate our first under the sea experience, Dave and I headed to the pier to see the rock wallabies at sunset. As we were petting them and taking photos, we turn around and saw our good friend Clem who we had seen lots traveling up the coast. We chatted and caught up on our travels, and made plans to jump out of a plane together that weekend (More on that later)! To finish off the night, Dave and I visited a small restaurant on the beach and drank a jug of margaritas, listening to the curlies whine and the waves crash.

June 26th:
    Yet another sunny and beautiful day for diving! Our day was busy and filled with three more ocean dives and our final exam. Karl rushed us over to the ferry terminal in his ute and we were heading back to Townsville to meet up with the girls again! As we relaxed on the ferry, we witnessed one of the most beautiful and colourful sunsets I have ever seen. Arriving back on mainland and still smelling like the ocean and fish, Dave and I made our way to our wonderful host’s condo for the evening, Wally, a good family friend of Francesca’s.
 
   It was an important night in Queensland, as it was the second game of State of Origin. To celebrate the true Aussie way, we had a delicious barbecue on the patio overlooking the water, drank lots, and cheered on Queensland’s win! For once we didn’t feel like backpackers, but we felt like spoiled house guests thanks to our wonderful host Wally!

June 27th:
    To nurse our hangovers we enjoyed a delicious breakfast including coffee and jaffles in a local restaurant, The Sweat Shop. After satisfying our appetites, we got on yet again another bus ride past all the sugar cane fields on the way to Mission Beach. I kept my eyes peeled for the mystical bird the cassowary which is common to find here, but was unsuccessful in spotting one. Our evening was spent very relaxed with a couple bottles of red wine and a delicious home made vegetarian curry, preparing ourselves for what tomorrow would bring...

June 28th:
    As my alarm went off at the crack of dawn, but I had hardly slept that night. I was filled with nerves and excitement because I was going to jump out of a plane at 14 000 feet that morning (with a parachute, of corse)! My first skydive was such an amazing experience, and I still get an adrenaline rush thinking about that day. We soon arrived at the skydive center, signed our lives away, and became suited in a harness. I met Dawson, my tandem skydive instructor, who also happened to be friends with Francesca. We traveled to the airstrip past all the sugarcane fields and cassowary warning signs. Our plane was filled with familiar faces such as our friend Clem, a girl from his hostel Hazel, as well as Hannah, Dave, and myself! The flight up to 14 000 feet was beautiful, as we passed the Tully River, fields of sugarcane and bananas, view of Dunk Island, going above the cloud line with the gorgeous sun reflecting off of the ocean, with shadows of the reef in the water, and had a perfect image of the long white sand beach landing strip below us. I was nervous yet excited, and didn’t have enough time to think before the hatch opened. Clem was out the plane right before me, reaching for my harness to hold on the anything in the plane before he spiraled out of it. I was next, and as my legs dangled out of the plane looking at the ground, I didn’t have time to think, and before I knew it I was gone. The free fall is a blur in my memory, but so exhilarating. After a 60 second free fall our chute was pulled, allowing us to enjoy the slow and beautiful ride down. We landed on the beautiful white sand beach and were on an adrenaline high for the rest of the day.
    For the rest of the day, you could find us on the beach soaking in the sun, playing in the waves, and creating the ‘coconut olympics’ (a series of coconut related games, throwing, balancing, cracking into the centre of delicious coconuts). To top the whole day off, we went to the local bar Zenbah, to enjoy a few gin and tonics, followed by a beach campfire.

June 29th:
    The next morning we were supposed to check out and head to Cairns, however none of us were ready to end our vacation quite yet. We checked in for one more night and spent the day yet again at the beach relaxing, going out for a delicious lunch, happy hour drinks at Zenbah, and yet again a campfire on the beach under the moonlight.

June 30th:
    We packed all of our gear up for the last time, enjoyed a morning on the beach with our toes in the sand, went out for lunch at a pig roast, all before we went to the Greyhound station. A couple of short hours later we arrived in Cairns, our new home for the last leg of our time in Australia. After checking into our hostel, we met up with a good friend of Francesca, Helen, and Hannah’s from home, Ms. Dorothy (Dot) who currently lives in Cairns with her partner Nicole. We enjoyed a few Coronas at The Salt House, before turning in for an early night.

July 1st:
    Even though our vacation was technically over, we decided to celebrate our new city and have some fun, all in the name of Canada! Dave and I woke up early to make a large Canadian breakfast of french toast, bacon, maple syrup, and of corse some morning beers. To celebrate Canada Day with our honorary Canadians, went went to the lagoon in town to continue sipping on beers in the sunshine, before making a home made poutine for dinner.
    The 29 days I spent traveling up the East coast of Australia I will remember forever. Every single day was filled with new experiences and great friends. The fun hasn’t stopped there yet though, as Dave and I have been treating Cairns like our playground with many new hobbies and fun times.
   

 

East Coast Adventure, Part 2

June 11th:
    Our rainy days in Noosa were over, and we were ready to head North once again. Our next stop we were all excited for, as we were heading to Fraser Island to drive 4WD over the sandy dunes! We took a Greyhound to Hervey Bay where we met up with the group we would be heading to Fraser Island with. We all went grocery and goon together, preparing ourselves for the wilderness. Bridget, our friend from Byron Bay, came to join us for this adventure, and we all turned in early to prepare ourselves for our early alarms.
 June 12th:
    The whole hostel was excited, despite the 6:00am wake up call, as everyone was busy packing and preparing for our three day journey to the biggest sand island in the world. Our tour guide Tony greeted us, and before we knew it we were on the road! Our group was made up of three tag along 4WD vehicles, ours made up of Bridget, Helen, Hannah, Francesca, Dave, myself, and Tony! A short ferry ride away, we arrived to the sandy and bumpy island. Our first destination was Lake Birrabean, where we played in the water, hoping for the sun to shine through the clouds. After a quick swim, we walked through a beautiful rainforest, and then off to Lake Wabby. This was one of the most unique lakes I have ever been to, as it is a small dark blue lake, the deepest on the island, surrounded by sand dunes as far as you can see. We all swam for a couple hours, and enjoyed our time despite the rain coming down on us.
    We arrived at our extremely wet camp, and home for two nights, ready to warm up with some goon. Our camp was made up with small tents, a small outdoor kitchen, no washrooms or showers, and right beside the ocean. Everybody barbecued together, and soon learned that you had to be on constant dingo watch! Dingoes are very common on Fraser Island, and quite dangerous. Everybody learned to walk around with a ‘dingo stick’, and always walk in groups. The dingoes were very curious, and not very shy, so it was hard to believe that they could be dangerous, even though there had been an attack to a girl only four days prior to our trip. Not only were dingoes dangerous on the island, but the sharks were as well! We swam quite a bit on Fraser Island, only in lakes. The ocean that surrounds Fraser Island was notorious for the amount of sharks that swam in the water. After being in Australia for ten months however, I was not scared of the many things in Australia that would potentially kill me. Our evening was spent getting to know new friends, relaxing on the beach looking at the stars and the milky way, and looking at the phosphorescence lighting up the sea!
June 13th:
    I woke up the next morning listening to the waves crash on the shore, the dingoes howling, and with a sore and sandy back from sleeping on the ground. Dave and I were very resourceful, and filled empty goon bags with air as pillows for the night. Despite being sore, we were excited for our full day of driving around the island. After our camp packed up, we drove through the bumpy inland roads to a small river filled with small turtles. After playing with them and feeding them for a while, we all hopped back in the cars and set out to the famous Champagne Pools, with a great view of Indian Head on the way, as well as Eagle Rays swimming in the ocean. This is the only place on Fraser Island where you get to swim in sea water, as it is a lagoon where the sea water splashes up over the rocks into natural rock pools, where the water bubbles up similar to champagne. When we arrived the weather was overcast, which led to rain falling on us as we were splashing around in the Champagne Pools. It was such an amazing experience to feel the rain water splashing over us, and the waves splashing over the rocks onto us. By the time we were leaving, the sun had come out to dry us off.

    A short drive away, we arrived at the famous Maheno Shipwreck. This ship has been on the coast of Fraser Island since 1935, and is now a site that hundreds of tourists visit each day. It was beautiful as it was covered in rust, yet somehow well preserved in and outside the ship. It was such a beautiful site to see a rainbow appear over the shipwreck right before we drove to our next destination, Eli Creek. The creek was such a fun part of our day, as it essentially is a natural lazy river! We all jumped right into the shallow water, and floated with the swift currents down the creek, to do it all over again! This was perfect and relaxing way to end our busy day all over the island. Our evening was spent in a similar fashion to the night before, bonding over a few too many cups of goon on the beach, under the stars.
June 14th:
    The next morning we woke up even more sore than the day before, but head out extra early to catch the sun rise. Bridget, Francesca, Dave, Hannah, Helen and I had a new friend that joined us to watch the beautiful sunrise, a dingo. The dingo lay looking over the sea just a few meters away from us, watching the beautiful light come through the clouds. Unfortunately this was the last day of our Fraser Island trip, so we packed up and cleaned, setting off from camp for good. We drove to the very famous Lake Mackenzie to enjoy a couple of hours in the sun. It was bittersweet to leave Fraser island, as none of us wanted to end our amazing time there, however we could not have had a better time, and were all in desperate need of a shower. We set off again on the ferry to take us back to Hervey Bay, and said our farewell to tour guide Tony. After a delicious home made dinner, and warm shower, our Fraser Island group got together at our hostel and enjoyed a few last glasses of goon together before bed.
June 15th:
    The next morning was a day of organization. We had hoped to go to a day excursion to an island called Castaway, however they had no available spaces. We weighed our options, and over a delicious breakfast out, we decided to go to Agnes Water for four days of complete relaxation. During our time on Fraser Island, we became very close with a new friend Barney, who came to join us in Agnes Water. Our bus pulled up at our new hostel, and we instantly liked it. It reminded us of our time we spent in the Arts Factory in Byron, as it was on a large piece of land with a tea tree lake, river, farms surrounding it, hostel dogs Scooby and Summer, and campfires every night. 
June 16th:
    Dave, Helen, Francesca, Barney and I woke up bright and early the next morning for a surf lesson! Agnes Water is the furthest place North you can surf before the reef. Although the surf teacher was not the most enthusiastic, we all had a great time out in the water, some of us more successful than others. After a day out in the sun, we head back to the hostel for a delicious dinner, followed by a fantastic campfire before bed.
June 17th:
    Our morning began very slow and lazy with a nice lie out by the pool for a few hours. However in the early afternoon Dave, Helen, Barney, and I were feeling a little bit more active and set out to walk between the two townships of Agnes Water and 1770. On our journey we saw giant pelicans on the beach and being fed fresh fish by fisherman. We timed the 8km walk perfectly, as we reached the beach in 1770 just in time to have an hour of sun before the beautiful sunset. When we arrived in 1770, we celebrated with a picnic of fresh cut fries and sweet potato fries, along with a few beers and cider to drink while watching the sunset. There were such breathtaking views of the sunset, but because we waited so long at the beach, we were going to miss the last shuttle back to our hostel. We decided to act like true backpackers, and to hitchhike! Only a few short minutes after starting our long journey back, a car pulled over with three empty seats. The older couple agreed to squeeze all four of us in there to drive us back into town. They were so friendly and happy to help us out, it was a highlight of the day. Our day once again ended with great food, great friends, around a great campfire.
June 18th:
    It was time for round two of surf lessons! Dave, Hannah, Francesca, Barney and I went with a different surf company, and had such a fantastic time! The weather was beautiful, and almost all of us had a great time, and success on the board. Feeling energized, we head back to the hostel to relax by the pool, and to randomly dye our hair pink! Francesca put a few streaks in her blonde hair, and Helen and I put small streaks in the blonde streaks in our hair. We also met a lovely couple that managed the hostel and dyed each one of their dreadlocks pink to match ours. After a few days of relaxation, it was time to head to our new destination, on the overnight Greyhound to Airlie Beach!