Brisbane:
Brissy as a city didn’t quite live up to Melbourne or Sydney, as we had such a great time in both cities, and we were quite underwhelmed by it. We had just one day to wander around the city, so spent it soaking up the rays at the sailing club and wandering around the botanical gardens.
Brissy’s botanical gardens
The next few days were our first apart in several months (a welcome break for both parties)! I flew back to Sydney to conduct some interviews with England netballers, while Luke continued up the east coast.
I was lucky enough to bag interviews at the Olympic Park with Helen Housby and Jo Harten, one interview is live here. The other is coming shortly. (Shameless plug!!)
England netballer Helen Housby towering over me
Post-chat pic with experienced England Rose Jo Harten
Luke made the most of his free time by heading to Steve Irwin’s zoo and he absolutely loved learning more about Aussie animals, especially the world-famous Irwin croc show, although he spent the next few days saying ‘crikey’ just like Irwin!
Luke and I were reunited in Sunshine Coast, but it didn’t quite live up to the name… ironically it was the first rainy day we had experienced in Oz! We made the most of the bad weather by turning it into a driving day and headed further up the coast towards Hervey Bay. We sheltered from the storm in a hipster bar, complete with beanbags, Shoreditch-style beards and cocktails in obscure holders- as you can imagine we stood out like sore thumbs, but it was quite the spectacle watching and listening to the thunder and lightning battering the coast.
Fraser Island was even more beautiful than I remembered and we had a fab two days on the island. We swam in the crystal clear waters of Lake McKenzie, explored the rainforest, as well as the Merino shipwreck, before cooling off with a dip in Eli Creek.
The Mehino shipwreck
Luke organised two spots for us on a miniature plane to fly over the island and it was even more impressive from above. It may have been one of the only spots in the world where you can take off and land on a beach, but 75 mile beach didn’t provide the smoothest take-off or landing!
75 mile beach
We embarked on another mammoth drive up the east coast towards Airlie Beach, being kept entertained with the road side trivia and my sublime karaoke skills…..Luke was glad for some respite by the time we arrived, 9 hours later!
Whitney eat your heart out!
All of the beaches we explored during our few days in and around Airlie Beach were blown out of the water by our trip to the Whitsundays! A boat trip took us to the remote beaches that make up the Whitsundays, including Whitehaven beach, which certainly lives up to its name! (Scenes from pirates of the Caribbean were actually filmed here because of how beautiful it is!)
The water was incredibly clear and the sand whiter than my skin-tone! We swam and snorkelled in various spots around the island, it was still incredibly warm considering it was autumn. Hopefully the pictures manage to do most of the talking!
From Airlie Beach we made our way further up the coast and made a pit stop at Magentic Island. We spent the morning zipping around the island in a barbie car, before turning our hand to electric bikes for the afternoon. It was all fun and games until Luke’s bike broke going up a steep incline and he was left pedalling furiously on a heavy and clunky bike!
Barbie cars on Magnetic Island
We couldn’t leave Australia without a cuddle with a koala and jumped at the opportunity to do it on the island. It was a KOALAITY experience with the koala being so cute, but the little terror had incredibly sharp talons and was clinging on for dear life!
As you can see below, I was less enamoured with the snake….
We made our way to Cairns and were once again blown away by Australia. To be able to see two natural phenomenons, where the reef meets the rainforest, in Cape Tribulation was simply amazing.
In Cape Trib we saw the rainforest from the highest possible vantage point by zip wiring through the canopy. We did our best Tarzan and Jane impressions by hanging upside down, all while the eco-warrior tour guides explained the enormous number of plants and wildlife that surrounded us.
To get the best possible experience on the Great Barrier Reef, we drove to Port Douglas. We’re so glad we made the trip further north, as the reef was unbelievable! The water was incredibly clear at the port and even better further out to sea.
Unfortunately I couldn’t scuba dive because of my asthma, but Luke managed to scuba three times on the reef which ticks another item off his bucket list. I snorkelled around it and didn’t feel let down by the experience as the colours and wildlife that I saw absolutely blew me away. We found Nemo, saw turtles and even saw a reef shark resting on the sand below- it was one of the best experiences of our lives.
We rounded off our time in Cairns with a slap up meal featuring Australia’s finest delicacies and marked three months of travelling.
We absolutely loved our time in Australia and hope to be back sooner rather than later! Next up is the other Trans Tasman country, as we move south to New Zealand- we have thick jumpers and coats at the ready as we head into winter!
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