Mission Beach. I remember thinking that it sounded like some kind of military compound or operation. Perhaps i’ve just watched too many war films? “But what is there to do there?” I asked as I sat in the travel agents office planning my east coast trip.
When you first sign up for the Australia working holiday visa 12 months seems like such a long time. Well, I’ve just hit the 6-month mark and oh my god has it flown by.
Just a 25-minute ferry journey from Townsville, Magnetic Island entices many a backpacker to its shore in search of their next island adventure. A part of the Great Barrier Reef Marineland, Magnetic Island first got its name for the apparent ‘magnetic’ effect it had on Captain Cook’s compass. Maybe he was just trying to cover his tracks because he actually had acquired Captain Jack Sparrow’s compass?
The Whitsunday islands are one of those places that appear on almost everyone’s east coast of Australia travel bucket list. A group of 74 islands that lie slap bang in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef and is home to one of the world’s best beaches? Yeah, no wonder over 200,000 people visit this breathtakingly beautiful place each year. Yet with so many different options of how to explore this stunning landscape how do you decide the which will…
It’s raining. That fine drizzly rain that I’m so used to seeing back home. I did not think it had the tenacity to follow me to the other side of the world. Yet here it is leaking from the grey blanket above and covering everything in its path in a damp mist. I have taken shelter at the Caltex petrol station as I wait for my next adventure to begin. As the cars pull up, refuel and then drive off…
Agnes Water and 1770 are small, sleepy towns that are so often overlooked as somewhere to explore. I met many a traveller that was just staying one or maybe two nights here. Using it mainly as a rest spot before catching the overnight bus up to Airlie Beach. While I spent nearly a week in the area most of that was spent on my Castaway adventure (find out more about that in my next post) I definitely fell into the…
Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world, is one of the must-see things on any east coast Australia trip. It was originally named K’Gari island by its traditional Aboriginal owners and more recently, the island, like Uluru, it has recently been handed back to the traditional owners (albeit with much less fanfare). The word K’Gari roughly translates to paradise which is a pretty good description of this awe-inspiring place. Fraser Island is world-heritage listed and stretches over 123…
Every year millions of people travel to Australia’s east coast hitting all the familiar stops and taking the same instagrammable shots as everyone else. This means that these spots can be really overcrowded which can sometimes take away from the whole feel of a place. Leaving you pretty underwhelmed when you were expecting something a little more breathtaking (that’s tourism for you). However, it does mean that sometimes if you wait awhile.
The capital of Queensland, Brisbane seems to divide those that visit almost as much as vegemite. Often seen as a lesser city in comparison to Sydney and Melbourne there is an understated pride that runs throughout. Affectionately named the river city, the river Brisbane runs through the city and is crossed by 15 major bridges. As with many major cities, despite the progress and construction of new buildings, there are always traces of its past lives. Traces that are easily…
As I walk along the beach, the cool sand softly cushioning my feet there is suddenly an eruption of noise. Just off the shoreline are 2 boats releasing an abundance of fireworks into the night sky. As impressive as any display that I’ve seen it marks the culmination of a spectacular couple of weeks of sport, the Commonwealth Games.