Seans first blog post

Once again the rain passed and we faced a tough decision. Being at rainbow beach meant we could see the largest sand island in the world from the shore, but with only rugged sand roads and beaches to drive on, the only way to explore it is to go by 4WD. It's not advised to take your own vehicle, especially when it's pretty much everything you own, but Danny and Lauren (our new travel buddies) had already been looking at tours and it was not something we could afford. Upset and heart broken I poured myself a lovely cup of rum and coke while Alex guzzled her wine. In the morning Danny decided to cut all his hair off which cheered our spirits up as we could laugh about his new look. We all met at the beach to play a little football (next to Fraser Island) where me and Alex thought we would go for it. We would go to Fraser Island with our beloved car.

All four of us unpacked our things into Danny and Lauren's van (tent included to reduce the weight) and set off at 5am the next morning. We decided to split everything between the 4 of us to keep it cheap. We were all excited and ready for the adventure ahead. Within minutes of departing the short ferry we could see why people were advised not to bring your own car as the 'roads' were so rough with the soft and hard sand, trees, logs, tree roots, dips and puddles. It certainly made it an interesting but bumpy ride.

The trip itself was very nice and we had lots to see, although Danny's head made it hard to at times due to the reflections from the sun (sorry I had to put one in). We first stopped to have breakfast next to one of the many lakes and then continued to the famous lake Mckenzie to try and beat the crowds. When arrived it was really nice but it was already packed as it is the main selling point of the island.

Lake McKenzie

The pinnacles

The wildlife was great to see and we managed to get some great pictures of the dingos on the beach as soon as we arrived. Continuing on we stopped at the shipwreck and then up to Indian head where we go to see multiple turtles and some Hawks or eagles... well some kind of bird. The views were amazing. It was nice to stop and relax and to have a break from being thrown around in the car. We literally could have sat there for the rest of the day but time was pushing on. We then decided to go have a dip in the 'champagne pools' and then cook our evening meal of sausage casserole.

Indian head

Champagne pools

Dinner on our knees and enjoying life none of us kept an eye on the time. The meal was disrupted by 'oh no! It's 4:30! We were just over an hour away from the ferry and the last one was at 5:30 or so we thought. The tide was out which meant it was a nice smooth drive back so I put my foot down to try beat the time. We all felt could make it until a ledge made from a little stream going to the sea appeared from nowhere. BANG. The car dropped and steam went everywhere from the water hitting the underside of the car. It now sounded like a boat. I jumped out and I saw that it was just the pipe to the back box of the exhaust that had slightly come apart so I carried on racing to the ferry.

We all accepted we would be spending a night on the island when we found out that the last ferry stopped at 5:15 so we had actually missed it by quite a while. When we got to the ferry port me and Danny tinkered with the car which I managed to fix while Alex and Lauren spotted dolphins that swam right next to the shore. A few minutes later we saw a beautiful sunset. Things weren't that bad.

We pulled over in a little woodland area where we would later try and get some sleep. Alex ended up getting bitten of the head three times. The bites swelled up so big, which again lightened up the mood as we all laughed at her new horns. Unfortunately she wouldn't let us get a photo. We also managed to see a strange kind of moon-set as it was bright orange and set over the horizon at about 10PM. We all thought it look amazing and weird. The girls didn't like getting out of the car to go to the toilet as they were scared of the dingos attacking and we couldn't really wind our windows down either because of all the bugs so the car was unbelievably hot. It was then time to try and get some sleep.

After a very horrible night we waited for the ferry. We arrived back at 6:30 AM and all very grumpily cleaned and prepared our things and the car so we could hit the road again. Once we were showered we could start to laugh about what just happened. Overall it was a great day.

We weren't in any rush to get to our next stop Noosa, so on the way we took a break at a rest stop for a little while. We got the ball out to play catch or should I say attempted to play. Alex's throws were some what hit and miss. Many of them end up perfectly in my hand and others just got thrown up in the air with Alex running to catch them. It had been a good way to pass some time.

With it being Lauren's birthday coming up we had being trying to think of something small to get her and made a quick stop at Coles (the supermarket) to get her a card and the card game, uno. We thought it would be nice as I remember when I received nothing for my birthday in Vietnam which wasn't nice (a dig at Alex there). Anyway another night at a free camp. We couldn't believe how nice it felt to lie down, the first time since Fraser Island. We were out cold.

Now in Noosa, which was unbelievably busy, we decided to do the coastal walk where supposedly loads of koalas live. The walk was about 13km and was really nice but unfortunately we didn't get to see any because of the wind that day.  We were a little disappointed but it was still worth the walk. After, we met up with our buddies and gave Lauren her birthday present and card. We were then later joined up with Debbie and Emma (our other friends who come and go) and all went for some drinks at the hostel. We all song happy birthday and then stuffed our faces with chocolate gateaux before heading to the restaurant down the road. All of us picked the cheapest option on the meal which was some well needed, well cooked, non camping food. To our surprise Debby and Emma paid for everyone's meals which was great and upsetting as I'd have picked steak had I known ;)

Noosa coastal walk

In the morning we all rented some free surfboards from the hostel and headed for the beach. We haven't surfed before and was told it would be quite hard without lessons. The beach was jam packed and considering the surfing ettiequte rules which basically says if your a beginner get off the wave when someone else is on it, made it very hard. I ended up catching 3 waves. One I just body boarded to the beach, the second I tried to stand up but saw rock so jumped off and the third I actually stood up but then fell off after a couple of seconds.

We are now sat waiting for the washing to be done in the laundrette and don't have a plan of where our next stop will be.

:)

Skydiving Adventures

After making a quick stop at Townsville we headed south to a place called Bowen. We couldn't find much on the area online but it turned out to be a really nice spot. We managed to get a whole little beach to ourselves and spent the day exploring all of the secluded rocky bays along the coast. We also had fun trying to get some action shots of the waves, though it wasn't as fun for Sean.

When you can't afford individual ice creams, go for the $2 tub

Ever since arriving in Australia one of the must do's for Sean was a skydive. I can't say it was ever something I wanted to do but it was now or never. We decided one of the best places to do it would be over the Whitsunday islands near Airlie beach.

The lead up to the jump we were both surprisingly calm. Even when we were getting the harness on and waiting for the plane to set off it was more excitement rather than nerves. But as soon as that door opened at 15'000ft and the people in front started filtering out one by one, it was the most terrifying moment of my life. Luckily they don't actually ask you if you're ready and you kind of just get pushed to the door without any time to think. The feeling when you finally start to fall is honestly indescribable. It actually feels more like having an industrial fan blowing on you rather than falling, and it isn't until they pull the parachute when you can start to process where you are and what's happening. Obviously the views over the Whitsunday islands were amazing, and we so glad we had chosen that location.

We had gone for one of the earlier jumps of the day so it was only 9am by the time we finished so spent the rest of the morning exploring Airlie beach. It was definitely a strange feeling going from jumping out of a plane to walking around a market. Sean was still pumped from the adrenaline for a good few hours.

The following day we did our Whitsundays tour, which began with a boat ride out to one of the inner reefs for an hour of snorkelling. We were actually doing the trip primarily to see the islands so we didn't really have any expectations for the snorkelling but we were pleasantly surprised. Being nearer the coast meant the water wasn't any where near as clear but the colours and fish were still fantastic. Unfortunately our underwater camera stopped working a couple of days previous which was quite annoying.

The next stop was Whitehaven beach, known for having the purest silica sand in the world. It felt more like walking on flour than sand, it was that incredibly soft.

We had lunch on the boat before walking up to hill inlet to see the swirly sands from above.

Paradise

Next stop, Cape hillsborough. This wasn't actually planned but somebody who we're travelling with (more on that later) told us about seeing some kangaroos that go to the beach every morning at sunrise here. So we didn't want to miss out. We stayed at a campsite nearby and met 2 other couples that night, and after having a few drinks and some cards games, decided that we would get up early and all go together. It wasn't fun waking up at 4am but totally worth it to see the gorgeous sunrise and the kangaroos gathered on the beach.

We've been doing our best to stay at free campsites since we started doing the outback but even more so since being on the east coast. It's not been easy though as they really are few and far between. This means that many of the places we've had to stop at have been service stations or fields next to pubs or rest stops or as we are currently, a carpark behind a hostel. Funnily enough though we've met more people doing it this way than we have staying in paid campsites. When we were staying at Airlie beach we met a couple from Manchester who were also travelling south towards Brisbane on the same time scale as us so since then we've sort of stuck together and had some good nights playing games, monopoly and just having a laugh. You definitely start to miss friends and interacting with other people when it's just the two of you. A downside of free campsites however is often the lack of showers. So carrying on from going to see the kangaroos - we found there were free showers at the local outdoor swimming lagoons so we all headed there, had a swim around and a few games of piggy in the middle and enjoyed a free shower at the end.

We were really lucky to have done the trips when we did because almost as soon as we left Cape Hillsborough the rain came, and it didn't stop for a good few days, and I mean literally did not stop. Roads and creeks were flooded. We found a free campsite and stayed put for a few days until it finally passed.

Bundaberg was next. Home of the well known Australian Bundaberg rum, so a visit to the distillery couldn't be missed. Also, as Sean has recently found a new love for Rum, he enjoyed trying all of the different flavours, and I enjoyed realising I hated every kind of Rum no matter what flavour.

After here, we travelled just an hour south to Hervey Bay. It's a popular hotspot for the migrating Whales to stop off with their young new calves so we immediately booked onto one of the many whale watching tours. It didn't fail. We had been on the boat maybe half an hour before we saw our first glimpses of a mother and calf, and it was just the first of many. They seemed to be popping up all over the place. We even saw a few doing some huge jumps out of the water but it was too far for the camera to get a good photo.

We got back to land really pleased with what we had seen and then met up with Danny and Lauren (our travel buddies). We were driving along the esplanade looking for something to do and came across an empty tennis court, so decided to rent some rackets for an hour and have a few games. It seemed like a good idea at the time but none of us are fit as we used to be and were aching like crazy the next day.

We then went to Rainbow beach and went to see the Carlo sand blow, which was basically just a huge hillside of sand between the trees leading all the way down to the water. It's quite hard to describe but really impressive in person.

We heard the rain was going to come again today so decided to chuck on our swimwear and embrace it by having a game of volleyball in the pool. It was fun but we didn't quite expect it to be as heavy or as cold as it turned out to be.

We've had to put off our next little trip for a couple of days until it stops but more on that next time.

:)

Swimming with Turtles

In order to get across to the east coast we had to go back on the route where we had just driven, so we took the opportunity to make another stop at Mataranka and had a dip in the hot springs.

It was a very long drive across to the coast made even longer because it was primarily all dirt tracks and river crossings. The majority of the road was also corrugated which meant it was a very VERY bumpy ride. How our suspension survived I do not know but the eggs in the fridge certainly didn't. It took about 4 days of literally seeing nothing but red dust and burnt out cars.

We eventually arrived at the Daintree rainforest which would be our first stop on the east coast. Being world heritage listed and one of the oldest rainforests in the world we didn't want to miss it. We spent the day doing some of the many walks and looking out for any wildlife and crocodiles, though we didn't actually spot any. After, we began heading south for Cairns when we made the quick decision to turn off at a town called Port Douglas. There were signs everywhere for the Great Barrier Reef so we knew it must have been one the main places to see the reef. We found ourselves a picnic area right by the beach and started researching. It was honestly over whelming the amount of tours offering different packages, prices, inner reefs or outer reefs, snorkelling or diving, large groups or small groups etc. It was so hard to work out which we wanted to do so we went to a tourist information and with their help and advice booked a full day snorkelling tour for the next day. Both of us had really been looking forward to this part of the trip ever since arriving in Australia so it was exciting for it to finally be here.

It was one of the outer reefs where we were going as they had the best visibility being closer to the ocean 'drop off'. This meant that it took roughly 1 and a half hours just to get there but the service on the boat was great and included drinks, muffins, biscuits, pastries, sandwiches, salads, pasta, cakes etc. Needless to say we made sure we got our money's worth. The day was split up into three separate reef spots, and each was fantastic.

Because it was coming into jellyfish season we were given full body stinger suits to wear which were great as we didn't have to worry about the sun for the 3 hours that we were in the water. Unfortunately though we didn't think about our poor faces, hands and feet, they did get somewhat burnt.

After the trip we continued to head south towards Cairns where we found a really nice campsite right on the beach.

Cairns pleasantly surprised us and we could easily see why people fall in love with it. Fair enough it is known for its nightlife but along with that you've got the Great Barrier Reef on one side, rainforests and gorgeous countryside on the other and just a really nice city.

We kept seeing everywhere that Cairns was another great place to do tours from and the more we spoke to people and the more we looked online we decided we really didn't want to miss out. On the other hand the tours are anything but cheap. Being the indecisive people that we are we decided to head in land, do a bit of exploring there, and then by the time we get back to the coast we would decide whether or not to go for round 2. It also gave us a much needed few days for our sun burn to calm down!

It was a really nice scenic drive in land, going past all of the banana plantations, peanut farms, and sugar cane fields, with lots of little villages along the way, one of which was Yungaburra. Here we spent a couple of hours trying to spot Platypus's swimming in the creek, which it was well known for. It didn't take long for them to appear. They were so small and cute!

We continued on the drive stopping off at a few sights along the way such as a big old fig tree and the Millaa Millaa waterfall. Apparently the most photographed waterfall in Australia.

Eventually we were back at the coast and both of us agreed we really wanted to do another trip. This time we found a half day tour which got us to the outer reef on a jet boat in half the time. We booked it for the next day.

It turned out to be an amazing trip, and to our surprise even better than the first. The coral was so colourful and the amount of fish was unbelievable. We even got to see a turtle which was more than happy to pose for photographs. It swam right up to Sean and must have been about 30cm from his face!

 

Spot the shark 

The following day we visited a place called Paronella Park. A series of castles, bridges, waterfalls and pathways that have slowly been taken over by the rainforest. It really was like something from a fairy tale.

Today we had a beach day and it was actually the first time we have just sat on a beach and relaxed. It was also the first time we have gone in the sea in Australia without it being on a tour strangely enough. There are so many gorgeous beaches here but the strong waves, threats of crocodiles and jelly fish and goodness knows what else often puts us off. By chance where we were today at Mission beach actually has stinger nets in the ocean to stop them getting too close to shore so we could have a stress free swim for once.

:)