Epicentre of the Queensland tropics

Carins

There’s so much more to see further north (mostly rainforest) but if I go up that way further I want to do it properly and try to reach Cape York, which is the northern most point of mainland Australia and lays another 1000km further north from Cairns.

Anyway, after a weeks worth of chasing waterfalls and hiking rainforests I reached Cairns and thus civilisation again. I had a day to explore the city before I was off onto the reef for my full day snorkel tour. So I wandered about, had pancakes, went window shopping, got a smoothie, checked out the esplanade and the lagoon. Thanks to the wonderful box jellyfish, swimming in coastal waters along the northern east coast is highly discouraged if you do not wish to die very painfully lol. (Yes there’s a whole lotta shit that wants to kill you in aus) If you’re looking for a way to escape the sweltering humidity and heat the lagoon is you best bet. I quite liked Cairns in general actually. It’s very touristy, don’t get me wrong, it’s very clear that the entire city is built on the foundation of being “the gateway to the great barrier reef” but somehow I felt like it managed to keep a bit of a big town vibe going on. 

By late afternoon I found a cheap hostel with free parking, brekkie and a morning shuttle to the marina for my day trip. I got my stuff organised for tomorrow, had a welcoming hot shower and a change of clothes before I headed back out for dinner. Someone had told be there’s a night market going on just about every night on Abbott street, so obviously that’s where I headed for. Again very touristy but quite a fun place for a wander around. Almost reminded me of the night markets in Phuket, minus the funny smells and all the dirtiness haha of course. 

Here I bought a waterproof pouch for my phone and I must say, absolutely best firkin’ thing EVER. So pretty stoked for the following day I headed back home for an early rise. 

Beating heart of the east coast:

The great barrier reef

I did my day tour with Ocean freedom and had an absolute blast. (Also, notice the ‘advanced eco certificate’ these guys have? This is soooo important guys, climate change has been causing massive coral bleaching since 1998!)

It’s a big ass boat with quite some people on but the staff take very good care of you all day long. By 8am we were off speeding out of the harbour, barely an hour and a half later we were all in the water on the Upolo cay reef. Eventhough it wasn’t stinger season we still all got a stinger suit along with fins, a mask and of course, a snorkel. With the choice between drift tour or self exploring I opted to do a bit of both. Tapping in with the guides every now and then to hear about all the cool corals and fishies we were looking at I drifted off to find Nemo among many other cool kids of the underwater world.

Lunch was a buffet of beautiful Queensland prawns, taste salmon, mutiple salads, meat platter and breads. The perfect break before heading to the next destination which was the outer Upolo reef. This reef was much swallower and close to a sandbank which meant we were able to get closer views of the corals but that we also had to be more careful not to touch anything. 

So throughout the day I’m pretty sure I saw Nemo’s entire family as well as the whole crew including Dory,  bubbles, peach, Gill, about 4 sea turtles, some sharks, a couple little rays and millions of other beautiful fishies.

The Whitsundays

Airlie Beach lagoon

The very very last stop of my awesome tropics adventures was Airlie Beach, the jump off point for the Whitsundays.

Sunsets to remember 

Happy kiddo on a morning dip in the ocean

I’m sure I wouldn’t be lieing if I told you there’s over a hundred (if not couple hundred) tours to chose from, from loads of companies. I went with Wings on a 2 night 2day tour and again, had an absolute blast.

Day one 1pm departure from the marina

We started our adventure with clouds, winds and some rain. Not the best weather in other words. ANYWAY,  we headed strait to our first snorkel site which was near Hook island. With the weather not being optimal, visibility wasn’t very good but obviously still had an awesome snorkel on the edge of the islands reef. After an hour or so we all got back to the boat for some sunset snacks, beers and chats before heading off again to our nightly anchorage point on Whitehaven south. 

George the Wrasse

South Whitehaven beach

Six thirty rise was well worth it to watch the sunrise and go for an early morning swim across to the beach before heading off around Whitsunday Island toward the ever so famous Whitehaven beach.

A short bush (flipflop) hike later we were exploring Whitehaven beach and later Hill inlet which we reached at the perfect tide when you see the widely pictured swirling river.

We spent the afternoon snorkelling again forever in awe of the beauty of the Great barrier reef and the oceans by extent.

Hill Inlet

Beach'n

And just like that my east coast trip had come to an end. A full month of wonderfull wandering over +2 000 km of coast and hinter-land.

How great full I am to be able to live this kind of life. So ready for the next chapter which was to be completely and utterly devoted to horses. Well, after an excruciating drive 17+ hour drive straight from Airlie Beach to Scone. My new hometown.

xoxo Liz

In search of warm weather and (more) good times

Back in aus, back home

My flight from Singapore landed in the early hours of Saturday morning, once reunited with Nala I headed straight for a spot I found next to the beach in Kirra the week before and slept pretty much most of the day. 

parking lot naps are my
speciality by now

It was a great day, full of naps, a swim in the ocean, a good book, a walk on the beach and pancakes for dinner. It was good to be home again.

It’s amazing how such a (relatively) small space, the inside of my Toyota RAV4, can become home. In all it’s possible ways. 

I had decided to (finally) take on the great tropical north of Queensland, Australia and that I would start back in Byron. So an hour back down the road I met up with all the wonderful people I lived with the past couple of months. I booked all my adventures through a friend at Peterpans adventure agent and went for drinks in the evening.

So my north-east coast trip had started! 

First stop: Byron Bay, April 2019

There’s so so much to do in Byron and surroundings I’m really happy I ended up living there for 3 months but it wasn’t until my very last day there that I finally went kayaking with dolphins (woohooo!) 

There are two major kayak adventure companies in Byron. Both located right next to the beach and right next to each other haha!

I booked my tour through the YHA, and went with Cape Byron kayaks. The other company is Go sea kayaks which offers (as far as I know) just about the same tour in the bay along Cape Byron. 

It was a great morning, a little chilly perhaps but all blue skies and loads of fun. The wind created some decent waves but we saw some turtles and I’m pretty sure I got a glimpse of a dolphin or two! The tour is very well done with occasional information on the bay and the surroundings and ending with tea coffee and tim-tams on the beach.

The Pass from Fisherman's lookout

If you're only passing through Byron for a couple of days the lighthouse walk is an absolute must. My advice is to take an afternoon or even a day for it. Pack your swimmers, a picnic, a surfboard, snorkel gear and whatever else you'd want on the beach and brace yourself for some of the best beaches in the world!

looking east toward Wategos
 and the headland
from Fisherman's lookout

Starting at main beach, which is always busy but has lifeguards and is merely a stroll across the road from town. Check out the shipwreck on your left or head to the right along the beach toward Clarkes beach. Head back to the walkway to get some great views across the boardwalk that swings you around to The pass. This world famous (longboard) surf beach also has a great lookout which provides you with panoramic views across the bay with heaps of chance to not only see loads of surfers but also dolphins, sea turtles and whales (June to Oct)!

The pass

If you're out of luck and it's high tide there isn't much of a beach going on here, so if you're not into the surf scene trod along the lighthouse track toward Wategos beach. Wategos has sort of a bay going on where heaps of fish are to be discovered while snorkeling. 

When you're all filled up with your picnic, surfed, snorkel and swam to your hearts content head back to the track for the last leg, about (half an hour to) an hour before sunset to finally reach the iconic lighthouse. 

lighthouse walking track

After a long day beaching around it's time for that well earned glass of wine or beer, which only tastes better with the magnificent views you'll have from the lighthouse. Get your picnic blanket out again and plant yourself in the grass and enjoy the panoramic views and (hopefully) magical sunset before walking back down again. 

Don't wait too long after the sun has set though,

it gets pretty dark pretty soon and there's no street lights 

on the way down.

Anyway, for me a shop, a lovely and unexpected afternoon catch up on the beach with a friend and quick shower later I was on the road again, off to Hastings Point where I’d set up camp for the night before heading further up to the Gold Coast.

Gold Coast

Broadbeach

So Tuesday I made my way up to the Gold Coast once again, yet this time I was headed for an old friend. I met Jenny over 4 years ago at the very first stud I worked at in Australia November 2014, we caught up again in February 2015 when I was heading up the coast that time and now April 2019 I found myself on the Gold Coast once again. It was so great to catch up after all those years even for the two short days we had. 

I don’t think I’d ever be able to actually live full time in Surfers Paradise (heart of the Gold Coast you could say) but I’ve definitely learnt to appreciate the beauty of the southern Gold Coast this time around.

Brissy

Two refreshing days Iater I headed up another two hours up the coast to Brisbane. Hello uncharted territory !! (personally uncharted obvs)

Southbank from the Victoria bridge

A little explanation here: During my previous Aussie adventures I ventured up to the Gold Coast to visited Jenny for about a week after which I drove up North west about 90k past Brisbane (thus bypassing it) for another horse job. I got pretty sick here though pretty soon so I ended up only staying for about 3 nights after which I decided to head back down to Port Macquarie where a Eva lived at the time, the daughter of my dad’s best friend. Thus I ended up crashing with her for a good week before heading down further back to Sydney to pick up my incoming sister instead of heading back up again.

So Brissy, woooo! I’d heard so much mixed ‘reviews’ about the city so I was dying to go explore it for myself and I’m very happy to report that I really liked it.

Southbank

Found a hostel about 4 (big) blocks from South bank with free parking, Brisbane backpackers resort is quite a decent hostel. It’s got just about everything you’d need or want from a hostel. Front desk staff are friendly, there’s a pool, kitchen isn’t too bad, rooms are pretty roomy with a fridge and cupboards, en suites and balconies. Only down things is that the night manager dismally failed at his job one of the nights I was there by failing to shut down a group of party people shouting and playing music on their balcony.  

Anyway, hostel is a good enough place to have as a home base to explore the city.

So Brisbane city is divided by the Brisbane river. South bank is (very famously) the perfect place to hang out with the big lagoon and the parklands which stretch over a good 17 hectares. It offers great places to chill, eat, drink and enjoy the views across the river. 

Venturing across the river into the CBD, the botanical gardens or to Kangaroo point is easy with the free city hopper ferry which has two stops along south bank, one right across the river next to the CBD, one on Kangaroo point, close to the botanical gardens and a few other that take you a bit further down stream. It’s a great way to see the city from a bit of a different views point plus, it was pretty warm in the ferry haha.

First day I ventured through the CBD, it had been almost 6 months since I’d been in a capital city like this and I honestly quite enjoyed it for the two days I was there. I’d bypassed Sydney on my way up and didn’t go back to Melbs after leaving end of October so it was nice to have that big city vibe going on around me again. Even though I’m very much a small city/country side-kind of person, I do really enjoy big cities every now and then. There’s just something in the buzz of a big city that I just love. And Brissy had just that buzz going. I spent the day pretty much (window) shopping, eating and just wandering around south bank until it got too cold when I went back home for a nap and to layer on some more clothes. 

When in Brisbane I most definitely suggest to explore south bank in the evening/at night too. There’s always something going on.

Day two was even colder and rainier so I hopped onto the free ferry and ended up falling asleep most of the way (typical me lol). Anyway getting off close to the Botanical gardens to wander through as I love to do. to head back into the city for a shelter from the rain in the form of a coffee. 

On your way out of Brisbane (north) it’s only too easy to make your way to Mt. Coot-tha, an easy drive up the mount leaves you with a magnificent 360° view of not only Brisbane but all the surrounding area. The cafe offers wonderful food and drinks with the views free of charge, there’s also walking tracks to waterfalls, other lookouts or all the way back down the hill to the planetarium.

For me it was time to hit the beach again, the Sunshine coast to be precise. And mercifully it was warm and sunny again when I reached Noosa. 

Noosa

newly redone boardwalk
from town to the headland
national park 

I had been told that Noosa is much like Byron, but more ‘grownup’ whatever that may mean haha!

But infact I was pleasantly surprised it to be correct. Noosa (heads) is a lovely little town and a very busy one at that as I had made my way up there on the first weekend of the Easter holidays. Jam packed with families I very luckily found a parking space quite quick so I could explore Noosa Heads, the national park. The walkway along the headland offers absolutely magnificent views all round and is easy accessible. The beaches along the way provide great surf (watching) opportunities as well as lookouts and fairy pools to refresh. The headland walk reaches all the way around to Sunrise beach, it’s an almost 11km return walk well worth doing.

surf watching 

I slept on the Noosa sea scouts grounds, which is a lovely family owned property/camping a little out of town (7km) with all the facilities you could wish for, all for the great price of 18$ a night (for just me and my car). 

Noosa is a great place to stop and rewind from the hustle and bustle from Brisbane, if I had the time I would’ve definitely stayed for at least 3 or 4 days but allas, time wasn’t in my favour (as usual lol) and just like that I was on the road again because Fraser Island was waiting!

Also, Noosa police patrol street parking seriously, got fined for standing in a free spot for too long  🙅)

sunset surf-sesh done right

Can't wait to tell you all about Fraser Island and 

my week chasing waterfalls in the tropics 😍

Stay tuned for more tropical adventures !

xoxo Liz

Phuket birthday adventures

Two thousand nineteen has been a good year. Already. On the 3rd of April I celebrated my birthday in solitude. My 5th birthday abroad, the first on my own. I guess 23 is a good age for it. 

Anyway, 30th of March 9:20am and I was up and away again! Off to the beautiful Island of Phuket, Thailand. I could not have been more excited, nervous and ready for the trip. Even-though it was only for a week, the thrill of stepping into the unknown like this once again was exactly what I needed after having lived and worked in Byron Bay and having been in Australia for almost half a year already. 

Six months is a long time if you live every day and not just let life pass by. This is something I have learnt during my travels. They say time flies when you’re having fun which is true but doesn't time always fly by in hind sight? I mean to say that I feel like I've been to so many places and met so many new faces, it wouldn't be right not to acknowledge all the awesomeness of my last 182 days spent here. 

Back to Phuket. Now, I feel like I must start with sharing something I would have liked to known beforehand. This being that Phuket is quite a big island with plenty of little towns. Public transport is close to non-existent and taxi’s are quite pricy for Thai-standards. 

The single piece of public transport that I found was the airport bus. Which is the easiest/cheapest combination to get to Old town. Costs 100Bhat and takes about an hour and 20 min to and hour and a half from the airport to Old town. If you say which hotel you’re staying at in old town the bus driver might just drop you off in front if it’s on the way. 

Although old town is quaint and has it’s charms, things to do and see are well spread over the entire island. On Sunday nights though, you'll find the Thalang night market right in the centre of Old town, which I most definitely recommend to everyone staying in Phuket over the weekend. 

So the thing about Phuket is, is that you’ve got two big hubs where you’d want to be. This being Old town and Patong beach area. Now Patong beach is world renown for it’s party scene and I made the very conscious decision NOT to stay there because I wanted to go explore and relax rather than party. So I started off at Vitamin sea hostel in Old town. This beautiful little hostel is an easy walk from the bus station 1 where the airport bus ends and is an equally easy walk up the road to the central streets. Probably the best thing about the hostel is the ever so friendly and helpful staff. Most definitely recommend when in Phuket. 

Spent my first morning pretty slow, figuring out a plan on what to see and do in Phuket and if I would even stay in Phuket for the entire week. After a good couple of hours going over maps and talking to other travellers I decided not to make a decision quite yet on what to do with my week. I went for a walk in stead. Ended up wandering through Old town for most of the day. 

Turns out there's quite enough places to discover in Old town I soon found out. Temples and murals just around corners and down alleyways. As well as a nice park here and there and of course all the food waiting to be eaten. After a quick nap back at the hostel I ventured to the night market to stuff my face in all that's weird and wonderful. Ran into two girls I met at the hostel and ended up eating loads of mango sticky rice which made my soul really happy.

I'd also decided on doing an island hopping day tour, which I booked through the hostel. So day two started early with a pick up shuttle to Rassada pier. I booked a 3 islands day trip tour with Sea Angel for 1 400Baht (39€/62AU$) as it was recommended by the hostel and I had a great day. 

Air conditioned shuttle to the pier, animated briefing by the tour guide accompanied by free water, juice, coffee and some biscuits. And then off we were!

Speedboating to the first stop which was Yao Yai Island where we were free to go snorkelling and so I did of course. Met some really cool people too with who I ended up hanging out with for the rest of the day. We also got fresh pineapple and watermelon sliced to munch on before heading off for some sightseeing. Where we stoped in monkey bay and went snorkelling in the Phi Phi marine national park among many other places. For lunch we headed to Phi Phi Don, where we spent another couple of hours relaxing and enjoying the island

one of the snorkel sights, where I saw
the entire Finding Nemo-crew !

Take three for the sea

Koh Phi Phi Don

Had such a great time and laugh with this crew!

Monkey bay laughs

 So about the monkey picture. If you know me at all I feel quite strongly about animal/wildlife conservation and keeping wildlife wild. Which naturally includes not exploiting wildlife for tourism or any proposes really. This includes feeding wildlife, which I can get really angry about if I see people doing this (certainly if it's just to take a picture/selfie with the animal??!) as it disturbs their natural habitats and food patterns. So in the picture we're at Monkey bay, a little bay on one of the islands close to Phuket known for it's monkeys that inhabit the beach. Tourists come to the island in boat loads and although we were explicitly asked not to touch/feed nor interact with the wildlife clearly others weren't. As there were loads of people feeding the monkey it's clear that these monkeys already have changed their habits greatly and now fully associate humans with food. 

So as I was getting angry at idiots feeding the monkeys another monkey climbed up my leg to sit on my shoulder/head. Quite ironic, I know, as I was telling people off for feeding the monkeys and letting them climb onto them for pictures. But I still think it's a funny picture so imma still gonna leave it right here.

Case in point: DO NOT FEED WILDLIFE, nor ride elephants, take selfies with tigers, .... the list goes on and on really. people are idiots 🙅

ok rant over, back to my trip.

As it would be my birthday in just a few days I decided to spoil myself completely and book myself into a resort. So thanks to the expert searching skills of my sister I found The Mangrove Phuket. Located about 20 min out of Old town in Chalong Bay I went all the way and booked a taxi to get there in style haha!

So for the next four nights I found myself in bathing in (affordable) luxury. I got on of the studio villa's with views over the bay for just 281AU$ (178€) breakfast buffet included. The resort also rents out SUP-boards and kayaks for free to explore the bay and next-door mangroves. I cannot recommend this place enough. Honestly. Very friendly staff, always happy to help. 

Not everyday has to be extraordinary, even in paradise

This is a line I think I read somewhere, although I can't remember where so it could also just be something that just came to me. Who knows. Doesn't really matter, what does matter is that by (finally) coming to this realisation my life truely has sort of changed. Or maybe it's more my look on life that has changed. Either way, it really helped me lift the pressure of adventure off my shoulders which resulted in me finding ways to find something extra ordinary in everyday again!

So this is the deal, here's some real talk.

I had never worked two jobs as such before in my life. I’ve always been busy doing about a million things at once combining my horses with music classes, high school and scouting for instance and still finding the time for a social life. But I never actually had to combine two jobs with life. Turns out that's harder to do than combining hobbies when you're a kid.  

So it took me quite some time to find a balance between working and still going on adventures/ having fun.

this was the result of a pretty
average day working both jobs

And in doing this I learned something really important. I decided to let go of the crazy idea that, because I’m living this travellers life in the far far away country that is Australia, that I should be doing something extra ordinary everyday because I would otherwise be “wasting” my time here in paradise somehow. 

Almost funny to think about it like that now, because after all, this is MY life and My adventure and if I feel like doing nothing I'm quite entitled to do so. And certainly because of some recent events that happened like some kid throwing up on (and effectively destroying) my laptop as well as some struggles I had with my skin I felt tired and just didn't want to do more then I was obligated to do with my work. Which is quite normal tbh, life's though and sometimes it just wares you down. It happens all the time and to everyone in certain degrees. Everybody needs down time.

But with only 5 weeks left to my time in Byron I decide to make sure I have at least 1 full day off a week, and to dedicate that day to exploring. This way I would be able to have my extraordinary days and see amazing things and still have my time to chill and do absolutely nothing at all in those 2 to 4 hours in between or before shifts. You see the thing is, spending time doing something you want or enjoy doing at the time isn't wasting time. I've come to understand that this is mostly just self care and self love, to let you just be you.

And so I started planning and setting out at least once a week exploring Byron Bay all the way. This lead to finding some great spots like the Killen falls, lunch at The Farm and dips in the tea tree lake with Loreto between shifts. Meeting up with Fien, an old friend from ponycamp and exploring the Springbrook national park on the Gold Coast hinterland. As well as solo day tripping to the Mynion falls and a lot of Byron bay hinterland along the way.

I'll take more about and give you all the deets on these great places to explore very soon!

First I'm dying to talk about my birthday adventures, which I'll be doing next. So stay tuned on all the sweet stuff about Phuket, Thailand!!

xoxo Liz