After our first tours in Cairns and Whitsundays, we headed on to Hervey Bay. This is a nice little town and famous for its Whale Watching. We were lucky, and just in time, for the last trip of tour operation since the whale season is starting in July and ending in November. Every year thousands of humpback whales cruise into Hervey Bay before continuing their trip to the Antartic areas. We were so lucky, because we have seen beautiful whales, and even some baby whales! (see the video).

After the whale watching, we went to Fraser Island: world’s largest sand island, 120 km by 15 km. The island is very famous in Australia for its beautiful freshwater lakes and wildlife. It’s the only place in the world where rainforest are growing on sand soil. The trip started around 6pm at Rainbow Beach where we met our group of 46 persons and jumped in our 4 WheelDrives. We reached the island by using a Ferry. We headed on to Lake McKenzie and went for a swim. This was absolutely amazing, because the lake is spectaculary clear and ringed by white sand. We also walked some well-known walking trails in the middle of the island and we closed the day with a stunning sunset. We slept that night in very basic tent, which was kind of scary because a lot of snakes and spiders live there! Our tent-neighbours had a large spider in their tent…. We didn’t have much sleep that night…

The next 2 days we drove in the jeeps on the sand, which was rather difficult because you cannot fully control the steering wheel. It feels like you are driving on ice, it’s such a weird experience. When we drove on the island, we saw some famous Dingos! This is a species that is a mix between dogs and wolves and can be very dangerous if you have some food with you. We did some amazing stuff on the island; we went to the Champagne Pools! They have given this name because it looks like natural hot water pools , but it’s a pool where seawater is splashing over the rocks. It’s the only safe saltwater place where you can swim on the island. We stood at the rocks and the waves were coming in (see video). Also, we went to Eli Creek which is a fast moving crystal clear waterway that will carry you effortlessly downstream.

After 3 days of Fraser Island, we were dying for some luxury. Therefore we decided to go to sunny and stylish Noosa. I think Noosa is my favourite spot in Australia, it’s a very relaxed town with good vibes. There are so many nice designer boutiques and restaurants, we loved it! We chilled a couple of days in Noosa and enjoyed its beach and ate the best burger in town: Betty’s Burger. This burger restaurant was actually really cheap, but it was really fabulous. Betty’s Burger had the nicest, but secret, burger sauce ever; we loved it! It was very crowded in Noosa, because the Noosa Triathlon was being held. We watched the sporters at the parcour and they had to do the Iron Man; 42,5 km of running, 3,86 km of swimming in the wild ocean and 180 km of cycling. It was really cool to see such an event in Noosa.

After Noosa we went further down to Australia’s most underrated city: Brisbane! I will tell you more about this city in my next blog!

Love,

Rieke