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

East coastin'

I left Mallacoota in high spirits, plan was to go up north and find a job with horses again. And so I did. after another epic roadtrip. 

This post is going to be mostly photos because there's just so much I want to share and not that much to talk about it. I never drove longer than 2 to 3 hours a day and stopped everywhere I felt like it. Chasing lighthouses and beaches alike. 

So sit back and enjoy the views I would say.

First stop after 'coota was Mimosa rocks national park, recommended to me by my host family. I spent the night on one of the camping spots there and woke up early to see the sun rise for the very last time in 2018. It was quite worth it to wake up at 4:30 in the morning. 

4:39 am, 31 of Dec 2018

4:57 am

5:15 am

5:07 am

big oll' stingray casually swimming by to catch anything
dropped by the fishers on the docks

After starting my last day of the year well, I headed up for a pancake brekkie in Bermagui (random little fishing town where I drove though and got hungry) to arrive in Narooma. 

Australia Rock

Not that I had planned on visiting Narooma but turns out Narooma is home to the infamous 'Australia Rock'.  A nice walk across the inlet I found a beautiful view point, seals sleeping and playing around at the bar crossing and also: Australia rock. 

Fun fact: 

my picture sucks and you can't really see it because it's not the big rock sticking out that is supposed to look like Aus, it's the hole in the middle that looks like the outlining of Aus. story is that it was created by accident by a ship that was tied to the rock with large chains to prevent it from drifting off during a storm.

Dalmeny, another random spot I thought was pretty

I spent New Years eve in a YHA in Batemans Bay. Arrived in the early afternoon checked into the hostel and drove around a bit to find somewhere to chill. Thing was that the weather wasn't very nice. kind of chilly, very windy and rainy every now and then. So I just ended up having an ice cream and walking around random shops for the afternoon. 

In the evening I had a couple of drinks with some guys I met at the hostel. Went back into town for chips and prawns for dinner and back again to the hostel where we had a couple more drinks, danced, laughed and I was pretty much in bed by quarter to 12. 

As I fell asleep I could hear the fireworks signalling the new year. 

Next day I drove up to the Royal national park, just under Sydney. I drove to this national park because it was another place I had already been. Being the first day of the year of course everybody had just about the same idea as me, which was to drive to the beach and have a chill afternoon there. 4 years ago I had passed through and slept in the park only a couple weeks after I was there now, but of course with the school holidays still going it was absolutely packed. After driving around for at least half an hour to find a place to leave my car I found a spot and headed to the beach. The water was icy cold but the sun was hot as ever so I spent the rest of my first day in 2019 lazy on the beach with a good book and some snacks. By night time the park emptied and I was able to sleep in (almost) the exact same spot as I had done (almost) exactly 4 years ago. It was quite cool. 

Bundeena

Jan 2nd I drove again a couple hours north. this time stopping in Norah head, spending the afternoon chilling on the beach as per usual. To go explore the lighthouse the following morning. 

This is when I decided to go wherever the next lighthouse would be.

Jenny Dixon reserve

Norah head lighthouse

What followed was a day of old familiar sights I chased down all day. First up was Hawks nest and its massive sand dunes. Followed by spending the night in Seal Rocks. 

Now 4 years ago I just stopped by here, I didn't even go to the lighthouse (can you imagine ?!!). So now I was very happy to have gotten a second chance at exploring this little bay better. 

These fairy lights are possibly the best thing I bought for Nala

morning ocean and mountain views are most likely my fav

Seal rocks

These are the moment I wish I had the knowledge (and car)
to go 4WD'ing on the beach

Sugarloaf Point lighthouse, Seal Rocks

And so I arrived at my home for now, Bellrowan Valley. A good half an hour west from Port Macquarie I found myself in Aussie bushland surrounded with horses once again.

I stayed at Bellrowan for two weeks, at that point my funds were getting drastically low and I had to find a paid job fast. 

Anyhow, those two weeks were great. Hot, sweaty and cut off from the world but surrounded and working with horses every day. 

I found this wonderful trail riding company through HelpX once again so I worked for my food and accommodation. 

For me there is almost no greater feeling than working with horses. Connecting, teaching and learning (from) them is what I live to do. And that was exactly what I was able to do there, training the greens one to cope with life, getting miles done with the not-so-green ones, assisting on guided tours, living for the horses in short. 

With a beer and icy-pop on the side obvs.

Tinker in front left and Apollo in the back right grumpy
because he wasn't getting all the attention to himself :p

having a little moment with Tinker before our ride

So a good two weeks later I was off again, up the coast in search of a job. I had decided to try my luck in Byron Bay, another one of those places I kind of went to but didn't really see nor experience.

Tacking point lighthouse, Port Macquarie

Me being me, I obviously took it pretty chilled and drove up in a couple of days. Chasing beautiful beaches and lighthouses along the way where and wherever I could.

two hours later... Smoky cape lighthouse, Arakoon

another night spent next to the beach in South West Rocks

Coffs Harbour beachin'

  

Fun fact about Coffs, last time I stopped here I was pouring down rain and had been raining for a couple of days so all the parks were absolutely swamped. So it was (yet again) refreshing to see the place same same but different after all that time.

Getting woken up by rowdy kids on the streets at 2 in the morning sucks, waking up with the sunrise from my comfy bed isn't so much.

When in Coffs.....
you go visit the big banana

And then when in Ballina,
you go see the big prawn

Next up: BRYON BAY, YAAAAAY

Can you tell I'm really stoked to have finally gotten to the point where I can write about life in Byron?! Well, I am.

As I'm writing this in real time, I just left Byron a couple of hours ago. Headed to the next new adventure tomorrow. Meaning I've got a good 12 hours to kind of fill you in with most of my Byron adventures such as chasing waterfalls and daily life working two jobs.

xoxo Liz