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

Smashing Singapore

On my way back home (away from home) I had an 8 hour layover in Singapore.  As I had about 6 hours throughout the day to kill I took full advantage and headed out to (re)discover my once home country. 

Fun fact: I spent the first 3 years of my life in Singapore thanks to my dad's job as an expat for Phillips. 

Handlugage only kinda travels ✔✔

stamped in ✔

Singapore, April 19

To be fair Changi (Singapore) airport is huge and absolutely big enough to explore for 6 hours if you really feel like it. 

But I wanted to go out and explore the outside so I went through immigration (hurray for not needing a visa in advance!) passed by the information centre to find out what train(s) to take to the city and off I was!

Essentially you take 3 trains to get to the Gardens of the Bay, which is kind of city centre as far as I could make out.

So a day ticket only costs you a couple Singaporean dollars (2,40S$/2,80AU$/1,45€) and the trains (aprox. 45min to an hour if your unlucky with the connections) take you almost right to the Gardens by the Bay entrance. Which was my destination for the day.

The Gardens by the bay is an absolutely extraordinary sight to behold. Although it was raining by the time I got out of the Bayfront train station I was still excited to go explore (duhuh)! 

I hadn’t seen rain in weeks for one (haha!) but I also found myself standing at the edge of these magnificent gardens. 

Entrance to the conservatories is 28 S$ (29AU$/18€), as it was raining the Supertree Grove-tree top walk was closed. This walk takes you quite literally to the treetops where you walk over a long boardwalk between the Supertrees for which the gardens are so famous for. The entrance fee here is cheaper, but unavailable when I was there due to the rain so I happily “settled” to spend the afternoon wandering about the two breathtaking conservatories, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest.

(I’d like to ad that the park surrounding the conservatories and tree top walk is completely free and absolutely magnificent in it’s self!! as well as, that my photography skills are average at best and don't really do the place justice, so please go explore yourself! 😉)

Anyway as it was raining I headed almost straight to the domes. Reaching the Flower dome first you’ll breath a sigh of cool air as the dome is air conditioned (to keep a constant temperature and climate all year round), a sigh of relief from the hot humidity outside is immediately followed by a slight jaw drop for the beauty you’re laying your eyes upon. 

The dome is divided into climate regions like the tropics, the dessert, the Mediterranean, ect. and then again divided into countries where you’d find these specific climates around the world. Each country has been worked out thoughtfully with sculptures and information plaques on all the various fauna and flora to be found in said region and what you’ll be looking at in that particular section. 

Different levels take you all over the world in fauna and flora. All beautifully illustrated and inspired by both humans and animals.

 

I must have taken about a million pictures in the couple of hours I was there but these are some of my favourites.

Once you’ve explored and learnt about all the different types and kinds of fauna and flora around the world it’s time to head over to the Cloud Forest. I think this conservatory is the best known from social media and for good reason. The whole place is as photogenic as they come with a 35meter waterfall greeting you at the entrance and a 42meter cloud mountain as the centre piece of the dome. 

talking about making an entrance 

The walkway through the entire dome takes you all the way up to the top of the mountain (by elevator) and slowly guides you back down all the way showing and teaching you about the breathtaking world wonder that is, a rainforest. 

Needless to say that pictures will never do this dome justice. It might come close for some profi photographers but the cheer beauty is just so real, as if you'd actually walk into a compacted rainforest. And the thing is, you actually ARE.

You can just feel the whole thing breathing.

As you make your way down slowly the dome takes you through about seven different sides of the rainforest and dome. Each level talks about different aspects of the dome specifically and about the rainforest in general. The lost world, the cavern, the waterfall view, the crystal mountain, the cloud forest gallery, the cloud forest theatre and the secret garden will take you on an incredible journey that you simply can't miss if you ever find yourself on that side of the world. 

views from the top

 

beauty in every nook and cranny

After having my fill of rainforest (and after a check at the time), I headed back outside to find the skies had cleared together with the rain so I took the long walk around the gardens back toward the train station. 

The gardens are a real treat in themselves with beautiful pavements, art, boardwalks and magnificent views everywhere you look the park itself is well worth the stroll around with the two domes and the super trees dominating most of the scenery.

The super tree grove walk had opened up again with the skies but as I had a plane to catch I left that for my next (inevitable) visit as I decided there was still so much more to see and explore, not only in the Gardens by the Bay but in the whole of Singapore city and country by extent.

I'll go back soon to explore more, but for now it was time for me to head home again.

Back to Aus and back to my trusted travel buddy Nala as we had one hell of an adventure waiting for us: The great Tropical North.

xoxo Liz