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Hey All,
So after we left Airlie Beach we headed for North Coast Australia, boasting mountain ranges, authentic outback towns and several islands worth hopping over too!
Our first stop was the 'vibrant' city of Townsville, population 165,000, where the coral sea meets outback meets rainforest city, with Zen inspired waterfront dining, local breweries, youthful populatons and defence force personnel. (The Australian Defence Force has a large local base here).
We spent the night here before getting the ferry over to Magnetic Island. Magnetic Island is just 8km off shore, boasting 22 beautiful sandy bays. Named for interferring with Captain Cook's compass, the island is sacred to the Aboriginal people and over two thirds of the island has been awarded National Park hertitage.
Otherwise known as 'Maggie', with a permanent population of only 2000 people, the island is packed full of Koalas, dry forests, beautiful beaches and near to wildlife experience accomodation.
We spent a week here enjoying the sunshine, beautiful bays and drunken nights out including the famous 'Full Moon Party' celebrating with amazing fire dances, DJ's, UV glow in the dark body paints and drinks in buckets! We also hired a 'Moke' topless pink barbie car for the day to tour around the island. Check out the pictures! This is the best way for tourists and locals to explore the island and drive along the only sealed road!
In 1942, Townsville took up the role as a major military base and a major forts complex was built on Magnetic Island to spot aircraft approaching the main land. They have several walking tracks devoted to the remains of these... Dad you would have loved this!
After a week of sun we headed a few hours north to Mission Beach, population 4000, boasting 14km of prime beachfront, surrounded by rainforests and tiny towns. This is probably the most popular place in Australia to Sky Dive-offering land on the beach prices- but I've done mine so I missed our this time round :) The area also offers local trips to local Dunk Island and Great Barrier Reef Trips.
We stayed in a lovely family run hostel over the bank holiday weekend and then got on our final Greyhound Bus tour and headed through the stunning Gulf Savanah, surrounded by green cloud tipped moutains and sugar cane fields. The drive was beautiful here and actually reminded me of New Zealand in places.
We entered Far-North Queensland; an intoxicating mix of rainoforests, outback, farmlands and amazing, however slowly vanishing (thanks to global warming) 345,000sq km of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park! We arrived in Cairns, population 122,000, where the city holds it's place as the tropical party haven, including mangrove boardwalks, busy shopping areas and a beautifully designed and perfectly located lagoon on the Esplanade makeing up for Cairns lack of beach!
Due to this lack of beach options many locals and tourists alike head further north to experience North Queenslands beaches... so... so did we! An hour North of Cairns, via the stunning drive along Captain Cook's Highway, is the small, lovely upmarket town of Port Douglas. With a population of only 900, Port Douglas is the only place on Earth where two World Heritage listed jewels exist- the lush Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef! We enjoyed the weekend here and had a posh dinner on the river and enjoyed the local Sunday Markets.
Our guide on the way back was great- here's a little Australian general knowledge for you;
1. Australia has the Kanagroo and the Emu on it's Coat of Arms- and they are actually the only country that eat both their animals on their own coat of arms! Can you name any more?!
2. Do you know why Australia has the Kangaroo and the Emu on it's Coat of Arms?
- They are both native to Australia only
- They are of similiar heights (yes apparently this was a reason!)
- Both animals can't walk backwards!.... sound weird? Well they wanted to show that the country would always be moving forwards!
So just a little bit of knowledge for you there!
So anyways, now we're back in the City of Cairns and in less than 48 hours we will fly out of Queensland and head back down into New South Wales and back to Sydney! Really excited to get back to such a massive city but it will be sad to go back to the place where we started it all out in Australia 3 months ago!
Then if all goes well with the Ash clouds I shall be flying home Sunday and will arrive back in England on Monday!!!
Really can't wait to see you all!! xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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