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The Simple Life
Cairns / Whitsundays / Airlie Beach / Fraser Island / Noosa / Surfers Paradise / Byron Bay, Queensland
The alarm went off at 4am time to get up and ready for our holiday up the East Coast. For the first time in months we set off very excited with our backpacks. We couldn't wait to get away from work, Sydney and the head wrecking Irish boys for a few weeks hahahhahaah.....
We arrived in Cairns a few hours later to glorious sunshine and gorgeous tropical surroundings. Our hostel was situated directly across from the lagoon, there's no beach in Cairns instead a massive swimming pool and sunbathing area. It wasn't the best hostel we've stayed in, a bit grotty and basic but we had our own en-suite bedroom.
Dumping the backpacks we headed off for a wander round the shops, priced some trips (yeah we'd only booked our first nights accommodation in Cairns and planned to wing the rest of the trip - even the likes of the Irish lads thought we were mad) before hitting the Lagoon to bask in the sunshine. Planning a big night out we were disappointed to find the bars we'd been recommended dead! We had 2 drinks before heading home to bed.
Up bright and early the next day we went for another wander round the shops, booked our trips and Greyhound buses for the remainder of the trip before spending another relaxing day at the Lagoon. Somehow some Strongbow had sneaked its way into our bags and so we had to drink it to save it from getting warm in the sun. With a trip planned the next day we had another early night and ate our left-over pasta - oh the glamour lives on.....
We set off so excited the next morning for our snorkelling trip at the Great Barrier Reef. It had been a long time since we'd been on a boat trip. We had an excellent day it was one of those moments when we realised how worth while the trip was and that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. We snorkelled at 2 different parts of the reef, it was indescribable there were fish of all different sizes and colours, turtles, manta-rays, parts of the reef pulsing and moving. We were also treated to a buffet lunch and some alcoholic beverages on the trip home. We couldn't believe that we had the chance to be out on the Great Barrier Reef! Having befriended 2 older English men and funnily enough an Irish lad our drinking heads took over! We tried to sneak off the boat with our drinks still in tow and the number of one of the boat hands but to no avail. We did however make it to a promenade front bar - restaurant for more drinks and nibbles with our new friends.
By 9pm we realised it was time to get showered and changed to catch our overnight bus to Airlie Beach. Lucky for us the hostel had agreed to store our bags and allow us to use the communal showers! With a few hours to kill, nowhere else to go and an early hangover kicking in we found ourselves sleeping on stone benches at the Greyhound bus terminal.....
13 hours later we arrived at Airlie Beach tired, hungry, smelly and very, very hot. It was absolutely scorching outside. We were booked on a 3 day / 2 night Whitsunday Island Sailing trip so headed off to the booking office and to grab a bite to eat.
A horrendous trek followed to the Marina in the stifling heat with backpacks and carry-outs in tow. Luckily enough we were able to shower and change before boarding! After appreciative glances at all the young lads at the jetty we were a bit alarmed to discover our boat filled with smug couples - but never fear saviour was to arrive late in the shape of 3 cute Limerick boys hahahhahaah..... However, the alarm was soon to reappear when we realised there were no shower facilities, electrical points and our cabins were like coffins!!
The boat set off bumpily and with the sails up we were definitely bouncing rather than gliding over the waves. A few people did lose their breakfasts over the side of the boat but us being professional sea travellers from our Thailand and Perth days were able to sit back relax with our wine and start our monopolisation of the Limerick three.
The 1st day and night was spent purely on the boat. We moored in calm waters between 2 of the Whitsunday Islands with waves lapping gently and a full moon overhead, we played music, ate food, drank alcohol and got to know our boat companions a bit better. Ah, it was hard work...... No, trust us it was by the time we reached our coffins in the 100 degree cabins. With no air con, stifling heat, tiny cramped cabins, claustrophobia settling in and trips up on deck to try and get fresh air little sleep was had.
Up at the crack of dawn the following day we all grumbled over breakfast about our lack of sleep. We quickly cheered up though when we were taken by speedboat to Airlie's Inlet and Whitehaven Beach - this was totally gorgeous. Reminiscent of our Thailand days we trekked to the viewpoint and weren't disappointed by the gorgeous views. We quickly made our way to the beach we'd been looking at from the viewpoint, lush white sands, sand islands, crystal clear knee length water as far as the eye could see. The only downer was the stinger suits we had to don before entering the water.
A few hours was spent at the inlet sunbathing, taking photos and playing around in the water (with tiny yellow sharks we may add - yes we DID say sharks!) before heading back onto the boat for a few trips to snorkelling points. Having just snorkelled at the Great Barrier Reef though, we quickly became bored and spent more time discussing our new infatuations for Greig and Ronan (2 of the Limerick boys)......
We worked our charms on the Skipper and persuaded him to allow us to shower with the spray hose at the end of the boat. Whilst everyone else was chilling and waiting on the sunrise we were hanging off the back of boat covered in shower gel and shampoo and get this - even shaving our legs hahahhahaah......Can't let standards slip!
The 2nd evening on the boat was very chilled again with the waves lapping and the food and drink flowing we spent the night chatting up on deck. We were trying hard to work our magic on Greig and Ronan by this point so were most pleased when it was suggested we spent the following night at Airlie Beach so we could all have a night-out together. Wild horses couldn't stop us!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We managed to catch a bit more sleep but were still glad when after breakfast the boat started its journey back to the Marina. The whole group were a bit over the boat by this point and dying to get back on dry land. No-one bothered to warm us all about the "sea-legs" though! This was a really awful feeling like you were still on the boat and the whole room would rock and you would feel light-headed and dizzy. Hmmm just like a night on the sauce?!?!?
We booked into Magnum's Hostel and as it was overcast spent the day in our cabin trying to catch up on sleep and relaxing before our big night out. No sleep was had due to tactics and outfit discussions!! Needless to say we were the first of the group at the pre-booked table in Magnum's beer garden / restaurant.
It all started off as planned with Ronan and Greig seating themselves beside Lyndsay and Lynne respectively. We hardly touched our food we were so excited, these boys were definitely our type of guys and much more upmarket than the T Gardens crowd. How quickly poor Brian and John were forgotten!!! After several drinks we all headed to one of the tacky Airlie Beach bars (yes, it was all very 18 - 30's). Linz was practically hyperventilating as the flirting progressed with Ronan to pool playing and cocktail sharing. Lynnith however had just discovered Greig was heartbroken from a recent break-up and wouldn't look at other girls. What?!?!?! He sloped off back to the hostel in a depressed state shortly after leaving a very peed off Lynne. Lyndsay was equally peed off and very puzzled when Ronan also did a disappearing act. It was at this point we discovered from Philly (the 3rd mate) that Ronan had a girlfriend of 6 years. Again, what?!?!?!
Feeling very aggrieved we retrieved their room key from Philly and we headed off, to do what we do not know! In our drunken hard done by states though it seemed like a very good idea. Early realisation wake-up calls the next day confirmed it certainly wasn't. It's a tad hazy but we do remember bursting through their door, harassing them for flirting with us without following through, accusing them of being gay then declaring we were bored before almost crawling out of their dorm room. Yes, dorm room - other boys were subjected to this display. They did agree the boys must have been gay though hahahhahaah.......
We were supposed to be catching a late morning bus to Hervey Bay but dying from embarrassment and hangovers from hell - Lyndsay was sick several times - we had to pay for a full night's accommodation to keep the room longer and booked ourselves on the overnight bus. We did make it out to the Lagoon for about 15 minutes to take a few photos.
Another overnight bus journey ensued and we found ourselves this time in the Greyhound bus terminal toilets in Hervey Bay freshening ourselves up before catching our bus to the ferry for Fraser Island. A lot of people opt to do the camping, self drive 4x4 Fraser Island trips but us wanting a bit comfort booked on the 2 day guided tour. Big mistake! We could have seen the sights we wanted in half a day without the mind numbing commentary.
The 1st day we struggled to stay awake as we were driven around the 74 mile beach thing, stopping off at some viewpoints and a shipwreck. We did pay the extra for a flight over the island, it was a bit scary swooping over sea and sand in a 6-seater aeroplane but it was definitely the highlight of the day. That and the gorgeous buffet dinner we were served. We managed one drink after dinner with 3 girls from Glasgow who were also on the trip before hitting the sack.
The 2nd day proved to be a different type of struggle. We'd caught up on our sleep but didn't realise we'd be trekking 100's of miles across a desert in 200 degree heat to reach a lake! It was an experience, but one which came with a lot of moaning. We sunbathed there for a while before being taken to Lake McKenzie, another lake area surrounded by sand (getting the theme?) Another few hours were spent sunbathing there before we finally headed back to the ferry.
We spent the night in a gorgeous cabin in a hostel in Hervey Bay. Up early again the following morning to catch the bus to Noosa. This was known as the Millionaire's playground and as the bus was driving us through it was easy to see why! The houses were amazing, little boutiques and cafes and the beach was like something from the Caribbean! Deciding that there was no way we were eating soup in the hostel, skint or not skint, we got showered and dressed up and had a steak dinner and wine in a very nice restaurant. For everything else there's MasterCard..... ! And can you believe it we even stumbled across an Irish bar hahahhahaah!
Earlyish to bed though as we were headed to Surfers Paradise (Australia's answer to Benidorm / Magaluf) the next morning.
The bus journey to Surfers was only 6 hours so we arrived there mid afternoon. Booked into another gorgeous hostel - swimming pool et al. We went for a wander down to the infamous Surfers Paradise beach. Miles and miles of gorgeous fluffy sand but very windy and pretty much deserted.
On returning to the hostel we discovered the 3 Glasgow girls were also booked in there so the drinking in the beer garden begun. We were persuaded to join the hostel drinking / nightclub outing! A lot of alcohol was consumed, 3 maybe 4 nightclubs were visited, and Irish men were befriended (we know it's getting beyond a joke) and Lyndsay pulled an Aussie surfer in Surfers, who-hoo......well it would've been rude not to....
We woke up feeling very delicate the next morning and again had to pay extra to keep the room for a few hours longer. We eventually managed to stagger to the Promenade for breakfast and to take a few photos before heading off to catch the bus to Byron Bay.
Our one and only night in Byron was very quiet we went out for some dinner in a horrendous hole full of stoopid backpackers but were tucked up in bed very early. We were up bright and early to enjoy our only day in Byron though. We had breakfast, went for a stroll around the shops, sunbathed at the hostel pool, had dinner, went for a wander to the beach, bumped into Philly (Limerick boy from the Whitsunday's boat) and a few of his mates (luckily not Greig and Ronan) then waited over a god damn hour on our bus.
Totally over buses by this point our last overnight bus journey back to Sydney was sheer hell. We barely caught any sleep and the bus driver insisted on stopping what felt like every half hour for a comfort break, who's bloody comfort though? Just effin drive and get us back to Sydney for Xmas Eve!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By this point we were both feeling very smug about the amount of contact Brian and John had been making whilst we were away and couldn't wait to get back and show off our new sun kissed looks not only to them but the rest of the T Gardens. Sad but true......
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