It felt really good to be back in Oz. I've got great memories from when I visited Perth in my teenage years so I got very excited to finally be in eastern Australia visiting places I've dreamt about coming to for a very long time.
I flew into Cairns via Brisbane which meant flying over the Great Barrier Reef! I'm not ashamed to say I was like I little kid excitedly glued to the window.
I arrived with a few days booked in a central hostel and a broad idea of where I wanted to go and when but thought I'd leave my plans flexible and scope things out more fully whilst I'm here. Turned out well as I got lucky with the first booking agent I spoke to and ended up with my whole itinerary planned. She even booked my bus travel between places and trawled the internet for different tours I wanted and accommodation options for places I'd be staying to look for the best ratings and deals. She was really friendly and helpful and all of what she booked for me worked out really well. The first thing being a full day Great Barrier Reef boat trip for the day after I arrived.
The boat was relatively new and fast which meant it could get to further points less visited/more pristine. We visited Hastings Reef, snorkelling Cabbage Patch (named after a huge cabbage-like coral) in the morning and Manta Point in the afternoon. The corals were amazing - lots of purple, every shade of green including neon, beiges, some slight pinky colours and the occasional bright blue. As for fish, I saw lots of scissor tail sergeants, damsels, half and half pullers, clown fish (anemonefish), humbugs, chromis, wrasse, parrotfish, triggerfish, spotted boxfish, diagonal banded sweetlips, puffers, butterflyfish, angelfish, surgeonfish and moorish idols (phew!). I was surprised by how close to the coral you could get and at times I was scared to use my fins in case I brushed anything. The water was really clear and I think it's pretty lucky to have such good visibility - at least I felt lucky.
The following day I went on a day trip north of Cairns through the Daintree Rainforest up to Cape Tribulation. We passed Port Douglas on the way and stopped at 4 Mile Beach where I waded into the water although only in the small netted off area as, like all the surrounding coast at this time of year, it's not safe to swim in the sea due to jellyfish. Next stop was for a boat trip along the Daintree River where, despite the odds being stacked against us, we saw crocs! Got really close to a big male, saw a female nesting and even a baby in the shallows - full house! For lunch I tried some native barramundi (fish) cooked on the 'barbie' then had a swim in a little stream where, if you stamped your feet, loads of air bubbles rose up like a natural jacuzzi and ticked your legs. We visited an insect and butterfly museum and our guide took us on a short rainforest trek where I wish I'd recorded what he'd said as the Daintree eco system is fascinating. One of the highlights of the day was spending a bit of time on the beach at Cape Tribulation where the rainforest and sand run parallel along the beach. It's a really beautiful place but quite harsh. I felt lucky in that it was only around 50% humidity instead of the 90% it can reach. Also, the sea at Cape Trib must have easily been 40 degrees celsius - far too hot to wade in, let alone swim, even if there weren't jellyfish (it's the heat of the water that brings the jellyfish here to breed). On the way back to Cairns we had to cross back over the Daintree River by driving the minibus onto a boat (of sorts) which is the only way you can cross in a vehicle as there's no bridge or tunnel to get across as, firstly, the whole area has World Heritage status and is therefore protected and, in the wet season, the river can swell exponentially therefore there'd be little point building a bridge.
On my final day in Cairns I spent the day at the Esplanade which is a lovely area next to the sea with lots of grassy areas, trees, BBQ stations and a man made swimming pool to cool off in.
That night I caught an overnight bus down to Airlie Beach and managed to sleep pretty well.
From Airlie I boarded a catamaran for two nights sailing the Whitsunday's. I snorkelled every day and stayed up both nights drinking wine and watching the stars whilst lying on the nets at the front of the boat. The snorkelling experience was incredible. I saw a wider variety of fish in Cairns but in the Whitsunday's I saw turtles too (from the boat anyway!). The highlight of the trip for me was our visit to Whitehaven Beach which is possibly the most beautiful place I've ever been to. The sand on Whitehaven is apparently the purest in the world and I'm told you can even brush your teeth with it (not that I tried!). It's powder soft and squeaks under your feet and the water is shallow but with lots of varying depths which gives it its swirly appearance. Even though the water is shallow there were plenty of small lemon sharks swimming around just meters from our legs and I saw a couple of rays in the water as well. We got to spend over two hours on the beach after accessing it via a smaller boat and a walk through the trees to the other side of the island. Whitehaven is truly stunning and I loved the Whitsunday's boat experience - I could have happily stayed aboard for a week. The people on the trip were great and I did feel genuinely sad to leave it.
Next stop was Noosa. Cairns and Airlie had a young, clubby vibe however Noosa is rather posh. It's quite a spread out town and at the end I was staying I was surrounded by national parkland. I went on a couple of treks and spent time at the main beach and a few of the coves that run alongside the national park. In Noosa there are these lovely wooden elevated walkways that run alongside the beach which are shaded by overhanging trees. Walking along I saw dozens of surfers carrying their boards from one cove to another and along the walkways of the national park to get to good surf spots. Before moving on from Noosa I got up early to walk to the long Sunshine Beach which was virtually deserted apart from a few surfers and dog walkers.
After Noosa I spent a couple of nights in Byron Bay which is another surf town but with more of a hippy vibe. Also, unlike Noosa, Byron turned into a crazy party town at night. And here's where it happened... I started to show my age! Instead of following the backpacker ritual of instant noodles for dinner (therefore saving money for boozing) I laid off the alcohol and instead indulged in eggs florentine for breakfast with freshly pressed juice, chocolate sorbet in the afternoon and smoked salmon and avocado for dinner - mmm, mmmm. Certain fresh produce is extra delicious here. Even melon, which I'm not usually fond of, is really tasty. As well as scoffing I did take a really nice coastal walk to the most easterly point in mainland Australia. I also bumped into one of the guys from my travels in New Zealand who happened to be staying in the same hostel - very funny.
On the way through from Noosa to Byron I spent an hour or so walking around Brisbane which seemed nice enough. I went to King George Square, walked a few of the main streets lined with high-rises and had some lunch at a little artisan cafe with small tables in the alley that ran alongside it. Another place I passed (this time even more briefly) between Noosa and Byron was Surfers Paradise which is full of modern high-rise hotels, casinos and clubs - apparently very popular for booze-fuelled weekenders.
After Byron my next stop was Sydney where my first impression was a little underwhelming. Maybe it was the rain but after my first two hours walking the city centre I found it to be bland with no character of its own besides the the Opera House. However the more time I spent in Sydney the more I liked it. On the first day I walked to Darling Harbour, the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and all around the huge waterside Botanical Gardens plus I covered a large part of the city by foot and my favourite thing was the gardens. The following day I went on a day trip to the Blue Mountains which were incredibly beautiful. Our guide took us to Wentworth Falls, where we got to walk across one section of it, and the famous Three Sisters rock formation but also to a less trodden paths which were incredible. We also climbed up onto a natural shelf in the rocks and sat from a while in the shallow cave looking out across what appeared as endless forest. That night I went on a long walk around the city with a few people from my hostel and places that hadn't previously impressed me, like Darling Harbour, looked great at night, helped by a number of light up art installations floating on the water. The day after me and a girl from my room took a ferry ride to Manly Beach where we watched surf and skateboarding competitions, swam, sunbathed and later got a bit tipsy at a wharf side bar before catching the ferry back into Circular Quay. By which time it was well after sundown so we got to sail in towards the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge fully illuminated which was pretty special.
Before arriving in Melbourne I spent half a day in the capital city Canberra and a wonderful, wonderful brother and sister from the area that I met in New Zealand met me and gave me the most brilliant tour. They drove me around for hours and we stopped firstly at the War Memorial which is an immense building and particularly beautiful. Following that we went to the Old Parliament House followed by the new Parliament House where we got to sit in on some proceedings before going onto the roof (which is covered in grass along with the sloped sides of the building) for some amazing views. We also drove up two of the surrounding mountains for some more special views of the city before a walk along part of the ginormous lake and dinner and drinks. One thing for certain is that Canberra does architectural significance on a scale I've never seen (and there's a good story to that). I am so, so grateful to Alison and James for showing me around as I would never have got to see those wonderful sights by foot or public transport no matter how long I had to explore the capital.
So, onto my last, but no means least, stop of Melbourne. I loved Melbourne. I think if I'd finished my trip in Sydney I wouldn't have felt as good overall about my east coast adventure. I'd even go as far to say that Melbourne has now surpassed London as my favourite city and I've been a passionate advocate of London for many years. It's got everything - the free city trams, the food, the beaches, the history, the parks, the vibrant artistic feel... I could go on and on. Also there are so many events going on. I saw a Greek festival, fireworks outside the casino plus I got caught up in the buzz of the Cricket World Cup match being played in the city and there are banners everywhere for events coming up over the next few weeks. I think I'd find it impossible to get bored in Melbourne.
On my first day I walked around the Southbank area that runs alongside the Yarra River before taking a tram to St Kilda where I stayed for four nights and walked around the Luna Park funfair, along the beach and checked out the botanical garden. St Kilda is hip and laid back with tons of restaurants and I felt really pleased I chose to stay there instead of the inner city.
The second day I took a trip along the Great Ocean Road to see the 12 Apostles which...were...stunning!! On leaving St Kilda there was extremely heavy rain which I though might hold out for the day but as we approached the Great Ocean Road the rain disappeared completely and the visibility became great which was very lucky as what was one of my favourite days could have been a write-off. On the way to the 12 Apostles we passed the lighthouse where Round The Twist was filmed which was one of my favourite shows when I was a kid - I can still remember the theme tune! We also stopped to learn about the history of the road, we went for a walk in the Ash Gully rainforest and we stopped to spot wild koalas - so cute. The views from the bus all along the Great Ocean Road were truly beautiful. After spending some time at the 12 Apostles we went down onto a small nearby beach surrounded by cliff faces full of caves that were jam packed with stalactites. This day equalled Whitehaven for me. Both were incredible.
The following day I spent a whole day walking the city centre including the fab laneways, Federation Square, Lygon Street and chilled out at Carlton Park. I saw so much but those were my fav bits.
On my last day in Melbourne I took a tour to the Mornington Peninsular for a day of Britishness before heading for Asia which included a pub lunch, strawberry picking and an 'enchanted garden' including many mazes, walkways up in the trees, tube slides and huge climb on logic puzzles. Finally we stopped at a beach lined with Victorian beach huts where I spent my last bit of time on Aussie sand before leaving the east coast of Australia to meet up with my mum in Singapore...
