Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Airlie Beach - Just before we arrived at the bus stop in Airlie Beach we drove down the high street and spotted the place we were booked to stay. It was above a large bar/nightclub and was party central, not exactly what we were looking for. Luckily we'd only given our name and no card details or deposit so we jumped into the minivan of another place to stay that we'd also been looking at. It was family run and we were housed in a self contained cabin with bathroom, kitchen etc rather than just being in a dorm room which was nice. It was a little out of town but a shuttle was provided so this didn't matter.
The reason people come to Airlie Beach is to see The Whitsundays. They are a group of 74 islands that range in size, some developed, others uninhabited, and many host absolutely stunning beaches. Tours are big business with vessels of all shapes and sizes offering their services. Usually people head out for a 2 night jaunt where they stop at various islands and sleep on board. As we only had a couple of days here we weren't able to do this but we booked ourselves on a day trip for the following morning.
Instead of being on a yacht or sail boat our trip was on a speedboat which meant we could get out to the Whitsundays a little quicker. We cruised out around a few of the islands before stopping to snorkel. Nikki was kitted out head to toe in a stinger suit as it's the time of year that box jellyfish start appearing in the water, and their stings can be deadly. Andy being the brave/carefree/stupid one opted not to hire one but he made Nikki swim in front of him, just in case! There had been 3 stings in the past couple of months and seeing as there are thousands of people in the water at any one time, the chances of being stung are very very small and fortunately we along with everyone else were fine. We snorkelled for around 15 minutes but the water was surprisingly cold so we were happy to get back onto the boat where we then headed for the piece de resistance, Whitehaven Beach.
Whitehaven is without doubt the nicest beach we have ever seen, and one of the best in the world, it's just stunning. The sea is a baby blue/turquoise colour, but when you walk into it from the beach and look down, it is absolutely crystal clear. The sand is a bright white colour due to the fact it is 99.9% silica. It is difficult to describe just how fine the sand is, the individual grains are miniscule so it doesn't stick to you, and when you walk on it, it squeaks! People bring old jewellery here as when you rub it in the sand it comes out shiny and new, strange but true. We relaxed here in the very hot sun for a little while before heading into the bush for our laid on lunch. We ate pastas, salads and bread rolls whilst surrounded by several pretty big monitor lizards. These guys had learnt there was potential food to be had so they hung around and weren't shy about coming close, quite cool for the two of us but many of our fellow shipmates weren't so keen! In the humidity, we just about managed to drag ourselves through the bush and up the hill to a viewpoint. It wasn't the view we'd seen on postcards that we were expecting to see (this was at the other end of the beach unfortunately) but it still gave us some nice views of the surrounding scenery anyhow. We would have liked to have stayed longer but after a couple of hours on Whitehaven we were ushered back to the boat for the journey back to the mainland. It's a pity we didn't have time to explore more of the islands but we are pleased we were able to spend some time in what can only be described as paradise.
We had another day in Airlie which we used to have a look around the town. As with most beach side towns where jellyfish are prevalent, they usually have lagoons that are built so that people can still take a swim without actually getting into the ocean. We were leaving that evening so we couldn't get anything wet. We just sat with our legs dangling into the water until Andy couldn't take it anymore, at which point he launched himself into the lagoon! You can't take him anywhere water related and not anticipate that he will get involved in one way or another! Anyhow, he swam for a little while and then had to drip dry (we hadn't brought a towel of course) which was fortunately quite easy thanks to the sun. We then gathered our bags and headed for the bus stop for what was to be our longest journey since leaving the UK.
Our coach departed Airlie Beach at 6.55pm with an expected arrival time in Hervey Bay of 7.35am the next morning - yep, we had 12 and a half hours on a coach to look forward to. Luckily the Greyhound coaches usually show a film or two so the journey went surprisingly quickly. We watched 2 films before attempting to get some sleep. Eventually even Andy managed to nod off but we each saw every hour of the night when looking at the clock so at no point were we ever asleep longer than an hour before waking up. Still, come the following morning we didn't feel too bad, and we couldn't rest as we had a brand new town to explore!
Hervey Bay - We were staying in a family run backpackers in Hervey Bay (complete with pet dog!) that had a nice communal area that was within a large wooden house. This is where we cooked, watched TV and where Andy spent time playing darts. This in all honesty makes up the bulk of what we did during our 2 days here! We will explain...
There are 2 things that bring tourism to Hervey Bay - whale watching and trips to Fraser Island. Every year hundreds of humpback whales make the migration from Antarctic waters up into the warmer waters of the tropics to breed and give birth to their calves. Once the calves are big enough they then turn around and head back south. There are so many whales passing through the waters here that they guarantee sightings (or your money back) up until November the 1st which is when the last of the whales have usually passed through. We arrived on November the 3rd. Sadly we had just missed out on what we are sure would have been an amazing experience by just 2 days. So it was onto plan b, a trip to Fraser Island.
Fraser Island is actually an enormous sand bank. It is very big though (hence it's island status) and is protected as a national park. It is home to packs of dingos, and a couple of resorts. People usually come here in four wheel drives where they can explore at their own pace, and then pitch a tent to camp in. You can also go on guided tours if you go on a day trip where they show you the sights, including the spectacular freshwater Lake Mackenzie. This is similar to Whitehaven Beach as it has white sand and clear water. Fraser Island is a must see on almost every backpackers itinerary. Well, we didn't go. As we were intending on whale watching we had paid for our accommodation so we were only able to go on a 1 day tour, really you need a couple of days. One of the appeals about camping on the island is that on a clear night you can look up and see the Milky Way as there is no light behind you. We still intended to book a 1 day tour until we caught the weather forecast. Storms and rain, all day long. Some people we met decided to go anyhow in case the forecasters were wrong. They weren't. It rained nonstop from 6am right through into the evening, it was relentless. So, we put our warm hoodies on, plonked ourselves in front of the TV with a cup of tea in hand and did nothing but relax - all day! We will unashamedly admit that it was actually really nice to stop and do nothing but veg out for a day, catch up on the news, play some darts and eat food. Our legs certainly appreciated it as we haven't stopped walking for what feels like forever.
We did manage to take a walk to the town and sea front on the day we arrived which was nice as it was sunny. So we were able to at least see the town and get outside before holing ourselves up for the second day so it didn't feel like a waste at all. The following morning we were up early for our 5 hour journey to Noosa.
Noosa - We arrived in Noosa not having booked anywhere to stay which is normally fine to do, however we were almost in trouble as everywhere was fully booked except 1 backpackers. This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the one that was left was a really good place to stay and it was in a great location compared to all the others too!
Noosa is a very clean, upmarket town where the locals clearly have a little bit of money. All the houses and apartments seemed to be brand new and were stunning, and almost everyone lives on the waterfront, even if they aren't by the sea. This is because Noosa appears to be lots of patches of land linked together with bridges. It is in fact on the mainland, it's just that there is lots of different rivers and inlets of water running in to the sea.
We'd added the town to our itinerary as we'd heard it was generally a nice place to meander around with a great beach, and it was also one of the couple of places you can get to the Australia Zoo from. The zoo was of course the home of 'The Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin until his death a few years ago. His wife and children still have a prominent place in the running and promotion of the zoo, their pictures and faces are everywhere you turn!
We aren't really fans of zoo's but this one is all about the conservation of animals and is very pro education when it comes to explaining to it's visitors the impact we as humans continue to have on animals and the environment, so in our eyes it's great for that reason alone. We wandered among the crocs and alligators before heading to 'The Crocoseum', an arena that was designed by Steve in order to showcase his favourite animal!
Before the show started a couple of people came out to get the crowd warmed up. One of the things they did was ask everyone in the audience to do their best animal impression and the winner would receive a prize! They turned slowly in a circle in order to see what everyone had to offer. Here is Nikki's take on what happened next: 'They worked their way around the stands and when it reached us, I caught a flash of blue out the corner of my eye and turned to see Andy was gone! Hearing loud cheers I looked up and Andy was swinging his way to the top of the stairs, where he then got to the top, crouched down and started scratching his head being a monkey!'
Never one to be outdone, Andy won the prize (a free magazine) probably because he was the only person who actually left his seat and started jumping around everywhere! After being named as the winner the cameras were then focused on him as he was instructed to do it all again whilst being shown on the arenas big screen. It's a good job he doesn't get embarrassed!
Once all the shenanigans had finished, we watched a show that had birds, snakes and of course the finale of bringing out a huge croc and giving it it's breakfast! This wasn't a 'watch these animals do a trick' show, it was simply showcasing their natural behaviours, ones they all use in the wild. Being able to hear the crocs jaws snap shut from 50ft away was amazing and showed just how much power they possess.
During the rest of the day we saw our first koalas (one of them we caught moving around which was a treat as they are asleep for up to 23 hours of the day!), we walked among and handfed wallabies and kangaroos, and saw a really great talk/presentation on tigers. This involved 3 keepers bringing out 3 tigers who must have been born in captivity because they interacted with the keepers exactly the same as our cats would with us at home. It was astonishing to see these big cats rubbing their faces on the keepers legs, using a tree as a scratching post, doing everything our cats do - just on a larger scale! They were even putty in the keeper's hands when some cartons of milk were brought out! As with the Crocoseum show, we were shown different abilities the cats use in the wild including watching one tiger take a run up to a large pole covered in rope (imagine an overgrown cat scratching post) where he then jumped onto it and clawed his way up to around 30ft in only a second to get a bit of meat. Amazing. As animal enthusiasts it was really great thing to watch.
We ended our day by taking a walk over to the onsite wildlife hospital, the largest and busiest in Australia. It was opened by Steve Irwin a couple of years before he died in dedication to his mother who like him, spent her entire life looking after and protecting animals. To take a look inside you only needed to make a small donation of $2. Obviously you aren't free to wander through the place but what the hospital has done in order to give you a glimpse inside is very clever. We were actually only granted access into one room but this let us see into 2 areas - the operating room and rehabilitation room where the animals are still wrapped in blankets recovering from whatever their condition was. In these two rooms 1 of the 4 walls was completely see through, with us stood on the other side looking in from our 1 room (if this makes sense?!). This meant we got to see 'behind the scenes' without actually disturbing anyone. The rehab room was full and almost completely made up of koalas with a couple of other species making up the numbers. Most of them were there after being hit by a car, and there were a couple who had been attacked by dogs. In the operating room there was actually a joey koala being operated on when we walked in. He had been shot with a shotgun and the vets were in the middle of removing the 15 pellets from his little body. They finished the operation while we were still there so we were able to watch them carry him into the rehab room and place him in the middle of his mountain of blankets. Fingers crossed he and all the others make a speedy recovery, thankfully they are in the best of hands.
We spent our last day wandering along Noosa's high street (and surprisingly feeling a little out of place) and relaxing on the beach. As usual Andy spent time fighting (and mostly losing) against the huge waves that bared no regard for their opponents safety. When you were in an unfortunate spot where the wave would crest and crash down on top of you, it felt like being in a washing machine not knowing which way is up and which way is down, until you find yourself being thrown into the sand (usually whilst upside down). Not everyone's idea of fun but Andy seemed to enjoy the challenge!
As we were relaxing on the sand a strange alarm went off followed by the lifeguards ushering everyone out of the water. The alarm we were hearing was the shark alarm! The red flags went up on the beach, the jet skis and speedboat came out and it was all very exciting, but in our opinion, very over the top too. It seemed most other people felt the same as there was no running and screaming, just people calmly walking out of the water with everyone else just wondering when they could get back in. Still it was quite exciting for us to see it all take place as usually we only see it in films or TV shows. We watched the jet skis whizz around and every now and then seem to concentrate on certain patches of sea, probably to try and usher the sharks away. Apparently there was more than 1 which is why the alarm was raised, but we have no idea what type of sharks they were, probably just reef sharks or nurse sharks which aren't really a threat to humans. Still it was quite fun to watch!
Brisbane - Arriving in Brisbane felt very strange. We were suddenly confronted with lots of roads, cars, buildings and skyscrapers. After being in 'towns' for so long it felt odd being back in a city. We arrived in the evening, slept and then had just one full day in the city before getting up early the next morning to continue our travels. This meant we weren't here to do anything except wander around and see the city itself.
The layout of Brisbane felt similar to London, especially as it is cut in half by a river with many different shapes and styles of bridges crossing it. As we wandered along the beautifully sculpted South Bank, we walked past the various art museums and library, and then past their own version of the London Eye. South Bank is a long stretch of land made up of parks, rock pools, streams, cafes, restaurants and a small 'beach' with sand and an area to swim. It's a really nice walk to do, probably as picturesque as a city can be! We took our time wandering along before coming across a small Victorian street that housed various shops and eateries. We spotted one called 'Max Brenner's House of Chocolate'. Being backpackers on a budget it made no sense to even look inside. 10 minutes later we were sat inside with 2 very indulgent, very tasty drinks. Max Brenner's is a cafe of sorts that uses chocolate in as many ways as you can imagine, from fondues to chocolate pizzas (not made from chocolate, these are actual pizza bases with melted chocolate instead of tomato purée topped with whatever goodies you want) to their menu of around 50 different drinks. There were 9 different types of hot chocolate along with coffees, teas and shakes. Andy had a Peanut Butter & Chocolate smoothie whilst Nikki plumped for a white hot chocolate that came in an amazing cup. It is trademarked by Max Brenner, and is a cup with no handle that is shaped similarly to a teardrop and called a 'hugmug'. It's shaped so that it sits comfortably in your cupped hands, perfect for warming yourself up in the winter!
After our needless treat we crossed one of the bridges and headed into the city centre. There are some ancient building that have been left there so seeing these in contrast with the ultra modern skyscrapers built next to them was interesting. We had a browse in a few shops, took a walk to King George Square (where as mentioned there is a very old church sat surrounded by high rise) and then completed the several kilometre loop we had taken by arriving back at our hostel. Unfortunately there isn't much more to tell you, but that was our version of 'Brisbane in a day'.
Onward to our second Australian state, New South Wales.
- comments