For the record the trip from Sydney
to Carins (along the coastal highway) is supposed to be 2,700km, however due to
detours and other miscellaneous adventures Briana and I ended up making it to Cairns after 3,040 very
enjoyable kilometres.
Sydney to Brisbane (which is almost
the halfway point) was mainly made up of surfable, inviting, beautiful beaches.
We took our time throughout this portion of our drive to swim and surf the
various beaches along the way as we warned the closer you get to Cairns, the more water
predators there are in the water such as sharks, jelly fish and salties. Making the ocean slightly more intimidating. For those who are asking, a “Saltie”
is nickname for salt water crocodiles that can reach up to 25 feet in length!
Some nights we stayed at designated camp parks that had all
the luxuries of kitchens, showers and toilets but, most nice nights we "free-camped" on or next beaches as they were the most beautiful and windy spots. Wind was
definitely our friend on this road trip as it protected us from the mosquitoes
and provided us with much needed ventilation in our non air conditioned van. Its sort of funny to think that we have not spent as much time in any place as we have in our van, making it the closest thing to a home since we have left haha.
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| Our first night of the trip we spent at a beautiful camper-van park located on a salt water lake |
Below are pictures from our first surf lesson at a small coastal town called Pacific Palms
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| Bri and I looking for the next wave |
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| look at her go! |
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| our sleeping quarters |
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| cooking an epic meal of Kraft dinner on Emerald Beach, a beach just north of the small town of Coff's Harbour |
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| becoming more and more accustomed to the surfers life. We grew a strong appreciation for the sun blocking capabilities of zinc |
After Brisbane we headed to Fraiser Island. A famous tourist attraction just north of the Sunshine Coast. It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful destinations on the east coast. Briana and I definitely liked it, and saw the beauty, however we experienced awful weather. It consisted of non stop rain and heavy winds. We were supposed to be on the island for two nights but we had to call it quits after one. After our tent got ripped open by dingos (all our stuff was scattered all around our tent), the entire inside of our tent was flooded implying that our clothes and sleeping gear were soaked. But don't let that mislead you, we had an amazing time there. Since there are no roads there, we rented 4x4 which was heaps of fun. There were tons of off road tracks through the rain forest and we did lots of beach driving to various different locations on the island.
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| picture inside our tent before it was ripped open by dingos |
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| famous ship wreck on the eastern beach |
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| "champaign pools" |
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| Briana running from the dry warm 4x4 only to come outside to the cold , wet, windy outdoors. |
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| inspecting the beach creek for crabs before crossing |
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| the closest thing to a shower/bath in 4 days |
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| all though are 4x4 seemed rather capable it was no match for the wet sand. Unfortunately we were bogged |
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| Thanks to some good Samaritans we were pulled out :) |
Since Fraiser Island had such crummy weather we decided to make the best use of our time and head to Airlie beach earlier then anticipated. Airlie beach is part of the Whit Sundays, which is renowned for their 74 beautiful islands bordering the great barrier reef. (I suggest googling them if you feel inclined). Because we got there early we are able to participate in an excursion out to the great barrier reef where Bri and I spent the night on floating pontoon. It was an absolutely amazing experience. We got to do some of the best snorkelling we have ever experienced not mention we got to do some amazing scuba diving. (It was also the first time sleeping in a bed in ten days haha). The sunset and stars were also beautiful.
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| due to the very possible presence of jelly fish we were advised to wear "stinger suits" |
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| giant clam |
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| big emperor angel fish |
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| Neemo! ( dont be fooled by the poor lighting. The sea anenomies were bright green and purple and neemo was bright orange) |
For those of you who read this before I wake up tomorrow. It is really late here so I am going to upload this blog post pre maturely so you can see some the photos. I will put the finishing touches on the post tomorrow and upload some of the pictures from Briana's camera. I am way to tired to finish but I understand its been a while since I have been in touch. Please check back again later for the complete post!
Below are photos from Cairns, please enjoy and I'll fill in the descriptions tomorrow!
Love,
Stephen and Briana
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| Pineapple Sea Cucumber |
