First impression after arriving into Cairns airport: HOT AND STICKY! The humidity was shocking after Sydney and the temperature was all the time +34 degrees. It was suppose to be raining (rain season), but we were extremely lucky and had sun everyday for the four days we spent there! Nice! (Although I kind of wished some freshening showers to cool me down a bit)… On the first day we just chilled and walked in the city and swam in the lagoon. In Queensland (mostly in northern part) it is forbidden to swim in the ocean, even thought there are hundreds of beaches, mainly because it is so dangerous. Why? Crocodiles, jelly fishes, stingers, and extremely powerful rip. So what they have done in some places like this is to have “lagoons” in the city center (most of them right next to the beach and sea). These public swimming pools are well kept, large nice areas with barbeque facilities. Neat mate! On the second day we went for our guided tour to rainforests and some cities& beaches like Cape Tribulation. In one of the rainforests we had a swim in the springs; very refreshing. On the tour we also went for a river cruise trying to spot some crocs, but no luck (best season to see crocs in Northern Queensland is June & July). The day was full of activities and things to see, and late in the evening we arrived back to the hostels being quite tired. On the third day we rented a car, and drove to Palm Cove, Trinity beach and Kuranda (we walked to see the Barron Falls). Driving on the “wrong side” of the road was scary at first, but after watching the traffic for four months, it felt quite natural. I was the only one driving since Mr. A was always watching the wrong side while crossing the road 😛 It was nice day and I`m so proud of myself, I didn`t kill us, yey! Might take a while to get used to the right side traffic again…
Whitsundays was absolutely B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! From Cairns we travelled south by Greyhound bus, and must say we weren`t that impressed for the first travel (11 hours). The bus broke down two times so our arrival time got delayed a bit…Anyway we arrived safe and sound to Airlie Beach where we stayed three nights. On day one we took the Camira sailing adventure where we travelled with one of the fastest catamarans. Views were stunning all the time, the water was crystal clear, the sun was shining, food and drink yamYam…no complaints! We passed by Daydream Island, Whitsunday Island, Whitehaven Beach and Hamilton Island. We stopped for snorkeling between Whitsunday Island and Hook Island, and it was my first time ever. I saw some nice fish and a bit of Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The day was awesome! During the evening and night I felt really “wavy”, its good that I didn`t choose to become a sailor. 😛 The next day we had another sailing day trip, The GBR Adventure. We sailed in the middle of the ocean where we had three hours to snorkel and experience the Reef. I saw some friends of Nemo, and amazing colorful reefs. I also did a semi-submarine tour which was interesting. After spending two days sailing, plus traveling by bus, I felt even wavier the next day. On the third day it was raining, and unbelievable humid (we both paralyzed by the heat), so we just waited the bus to take us towards Noosa, The Sunshine Coast. It was 17 hours travel, and I felt really tired when arriving the next day.
We were supposed to do surfing in Noosa as its one of the best (hidden) places to do it, but our luck had turn down. All three days it was just raining and storming, and I also got sick, a bad flu caught me. So we did pretty much nothing as the rivers, pools, and almost the streets were flooding. Boring. Didn`t work out as planned, hopefully I still would have a chance to surf somewhere!
After Noosa we once again took the Greyhound bus to Brisbane. We only stayed one night, as the next day we had a flight to Auckland, New Zealand. After Kiwi, we fly back to Brisbane so probably have more time to explore the city. In the summary I could say the traveling has been really nice but busy, as we have only couple of days to spend in one place. I wish I would have more time and money! I guess I have to leave something for the next time then. All good folks, I will send my greeting form NZ soon!
See ya!