Out of everywhere we are going, I think I was most excited about Australia. After very little sleep and quite a few transfers, we arrived early morning in Cairns: a decidedly “quaint” town. We did the standard touristy things including the Karunda Sky Rail to see koalas and the Great Barrier Reef. During the latter, HT dived, and I snorkelled (bastard asthma). It was pretty hideous weather and by the time we started heading back, the boat was violently pitching from side to side (I think it was channeling Thorpe Park’s “Saw”). Luckily neither of us were effected by sea sickness, but a fair amount of the other passengers had turned a delicate shade of green. One extremely unlucky girl stood up to run to the bathroom only to smack directly into a pole instead during one especially violent lurch.
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| Karunda, Cairns |
We then Greyhounded it down to Airlie Beach – the jump off point for the Whitsunday Islands: stunning beaches, epic snorkelling, and (mostly) brilliant people. The whole way through Asia, HT and I hadn’t stayed in a dorm, and had gotten used to the luxury of only the two of us sharing a room. In Australia (and subsequent stops), we were plagued by snorers and other less desirable noises. And unfortunately, this issue was especially noticeable in a small, cramped cabin shared by seven people.
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| Whitsunday Islands, view from Whitehaven Beach |
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| Whitsunday Islands at dawn |
After Airlie Beach, we carried on down the East Coast: Brisbane, Surfers Paradise, Byron Bay, Sydney, and Melbourne. In Brisbane, after nearly six weeks of warm weather, the hoodies, jeans, and tights sadly came out. In Surfers Paradise we rented bright lime green bicycles and whilst hungover, attempted to explore. Needless to say we got about as far as the Jolly Lolly Shop (pick 'n' mix) before conceding defeat and returning to watch the Hangover, standard. In Byron Bay we unsuccessfully attempted to forge our way through bush and sand dunes to the lighthouse. We eventually gave up and took the road. In Sydney we stayed with a friend. Her mom and dad were truly wonderful, took us in, fed us, washed our clothes, and generally acted as though we were part of the family – a welcome four-day break. We also got to see areas of Sydney less frequented by backpackers, like the Kiama blow hole – a two hour journey down the Grand Pacific Drive. And in Melbourne we met up with some legendary people from the Whitsunday Islands. An extremely cold, apparently typically wintery Melbourne day was spent on Philip Island watching miniature penguins and eating lamingtons (everyone’s new favourite).
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| Philip Island, Melbourne |
The few weeks we spent in Australia flew by too quickly. We definitely didn’t do the country justice in any shape or form, but this is often the case when travelling on a shoe-string.
Next stop: New Zealand!
