Firstly, I’d like to say that this isn’t something that I would recommend. There are so many places to see on the East Coast and I wish that I’d had the chance to see more of them but I had plans and a very tight timescale so, alas, there were some sacrifices. If you have the luxury of time I would say 21-30 days is probably the best time frame to use.
Secondly, I may have failed slightly on the picture front so there aren’t as many things to see in this post as there usually are so apologies for that!
So, as mentioned in a previous post, my two new friends and I flew north in search of the elusive Australian sunshine. Internal flights in Australia are sometimes cheaper than buses and definitely more time efficient! Landing in Cairns the humidity took us by surprise but we couldn’t complain and heat was what we were searching for! Be prepared though, Australia has so many climates for one country packing can be a little tricky.
If you aren’t a big party person there isn’t a lot to do in Cairns. It seems to be a gateway place offering tours to Cape Tribulation and the Great Barrier Reef which is fine for a few days but not a lot to hang around for when you are on a tight budget time-wise. There are a lot of bats which do take you by surprise but no see swimming due to a large amount of dangerous aquatic animals in the region. There is a lovely outdoor pool but it doesn’t really compare to the beach for me.
We did take the Compass Great Barrier Reef snorkeling trip which was the only one that had spaces remaining at short notice, it was also far cheaper than other tours. However this was due to the boat being slow, i.e less snorkeling time, we still saw some incredible things and I’m very glad that I went but I think a little more planning and a little more money may have improved the trip. The food was excellent and plentiful though, if that’s what you’re about!
A warning – BE CAREFUL OF THE GREYHOUND SALESMEN ON THE WALK TO THE ESPLANADE – they are the definition of sales men and they are definitely in it for your money. They will lie to you and waste your time so save yourself some time and money and head to one of the other travel agents on the main strip. We managed to get some great deals by shopping around but make sure you read reviews on all tours offered to you. It seems as though each agency pushes a different tour so make sure you do your research. If you are travelling during peak season booking in advance will be required. Also if you aren’t on a strict timescale I would recommend Premier buses over Greyhound, they are much cheaper. As long as you book in advance and are prepared to catch the one bus offered per day there shouldn’t be any problems (we didn’t have any).
After our run in with the Greyhound man we were ready to get the hell out of dodge and booked ourselves on the Premier bus heading to Mission Beach the next morning. Mission Beach is famous for the ski dives offered that land on the beach itself. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to make the most of this as we were planning the rest of our trip, however many people we met had and were very positive. I would definitely recommend the Mission Beach Backpackers though, it was just what we needed after the stress of Cairns. We sat and organised our trip, phoning our favourite agent who had offered the best prices on the tours that we had selected. Booking done and timings sorted we treated ourselves to several glasses of wine and some free barbecue.
This is the plan that we came up with. We spent three nights in Cairns (1 too many), one night in Mission Beach, two nights on Magnetic Island, two nights in Airlie Beach, one night on a bus travelling to Rainbow Beach, one night in Rainbow prior to our Fraser Island trip and then one night on Fraser Island. If I’d had more time I would have spent an extra night on Fraser island (but I’ll get to that later). I would also have stopped at Noosa for a couple of nights and had a little stay in Byron Bay and Brisbane. I think I would have also liked a second night in Mission Beach to explore a little more. No trip is perfect and there was no way I would have fit it all in unless I gave up sleep for a fortnight!
Feeling remarkably better we caught the bus the next morning, picking Kat up as she had wanted another night in Cairns, and onward we went to Townville to catch the ferry to Magnetic Island. Magnetic Island was great we ended up hiring a car because the bus on the island is a little infrequent. You’ll see tons of little barbie cars on the island but they are rather expensive, save yourself some serious money and ask topless car rentals for their cheapest car (we affectionately called her Mira) and then just jump into someone else’s parked Barbie car for a quick photo. I had a serious bond with Mira, once I had saved her from Kat’s terrible attempt at driving a manual on the wrong side of the road (for her). For some form of night life you are better off staying at the Base hostel as it has its own bar etc, as it was we were perfectly happy drinking copious amounts of goon on the beach.
All too soon I had to give my baby back and head back to the mainland and on to Airlie Beach, the gateway to the Whitsundays.This would be our final stay altogether as me and Annie were forgoing sailing the Whitsundays for a prolonged period of time in favour of spending time on Fraser Island. Airlie Beach has a lagoon, beach (with turtles), some shops and plenty of bars. The main attraction however, is it’s proximity to the Whitsunday islands (below). Taking the Ocean Rafting day tour was one of the best decisions that we made, we had a chance to snorkel some more and walk on the famous white sands but saved ourselves the vast cost of the sailing tours which according to Kat resembled a booze cruise, definitely not our cup of tea. A hangover and seasickness would not have been pretty.
Feeling slightly fragile after spending our last night together in style we caught our one and only night bus. The hangover making us less inclined to be friendly we took two seats each on a very, very full bus and hoped for the best. With a lot of luck and a little bit of fake sleeping we managed to make it all the way to Rainbow beach without being forced to move, this left us much more refreshed than some of our bus companions and able to explore the beach and the sand dunes before we left for our tour the next morning. The reason we took a tour departing from Rainbow beach was that there seemed to be slightly more to do there than in Hervey bay, which turned out to be true. You should definitely try to make it to the sand dunes for a sunset!
Our last destination together was Fraser Island. A place that has become one of my favourite places on the planet (so far!). I don’t mean to sound corny here but there is genuinely something magical about the place. There are many, many tour groups that go to the island and they offer various types and lengths of stay. You can do a drive your own 4×4 tour (however be warned about bonds) or you can do a tour bus tour like us. We went with Cool Dingo’s which I can thoroughly recommend; our tour guide, Gaz, was fabulous, there was more glorious food than I’d seen in months and we avoided the stress of driving around on an island made of sand! I only did the two day one night tour and really wish I’d had more time despite the fact we managed to pack a LOT into those two days. This included the Champagne pools, Lake Mackenzie and Indian head: a place with a very sad story but from which we saw dolphins playing in the waves along with some turtles and some stingrays. Words can’t express how much I enjoyed my time on the island, if you are in two minds about booking a tour book this one!
Sadly it ended far too soon and with a slightly emotional goodbye I left the island, and Annie, behind. I travelled back to Hervey bay, which has the cutest airport I have ever seen, in order to begin my journey to spend Christmas with my little brother in New Zealand!
Josie's Graduate Adventures 