Australia - Travelling through the Sunshine State

Introduction

Australia was not high up on our bucket list but I mean we didn’t want to leave out such a big continent on our trip. We anyway had to go to Australia to be able to get good flight connections to the South Pacific islands. So here we are, we didn’t want just to see an airport in Australia and on the other hand how do you see such a big country in just a few weeks? You can’t, and therefore we decided to get a glance of the famous East coast of Australia. How? Of course, in the typical Australian way; by caravan/motor home. I checked the options already when we were travelling in India and found a good option through Discovery Campervans for a motor home. It was a trade off between having a toilet/shower or not. We decided that for our first camping experience together, we want to have one just for our convenience. Therefore, we decided to take a Britz 4 Berth motorhome for 20 days. The time came closer and after the Philippines, the Marianas and a few days in Japan it was time to pick-up our motorhome in Cairns. We arrived a few days before that and settled down at the BIG4 Ingenia Holidays Cairns Coconut holiday park. These parks are a mix between fixed cabins that you can rent like a holiday house and caravan camping sites with different standards. As we didn’t have the motorhome yet, we stayed for two nights in one of the cabins. It felt like having an own little house and as weird as it sounds, we really were looking forward to being able to cook for ourselves again.

Mr. Maui - Our new temporary home

On Saturday, 20^th of May, the time has come to pick up our new home for the next three weeks. The company is responsible for all brands like, Maui, Britz, etc. We were lucky and got an upgrade to a Maui 6 berth motorhome. We inspected the huge vehicle with our kitchen, toilet, shower, bed area (1.8m x 2m), dinner table and extra bed space on the back of the motorhome. Of course, everything side reversed, but it was just a question to get used to it especially with a clearance of 3.6m. At least it was an automatic and so I didn’t have to change gears with my left hand what would have been to much for me I think. ???? The first night we stayed at the same campsite to “get used” to the vehicle. The instruction last 1h until he explained to us how to handle the motorhome so we wanted to be sure to try everything first before we leave Cairns.

Northern Queensland - Crocodile land

Next day – off we go. With a map in one hand and Mr. TomTom in the other hand, we made our way up to Port Douglas. Our target was mainly to leave in the morning as the standard check-out time at the campsites is 10am anyway and afterwards doing several stops for sightseeing before finding the next campsite for the next night. A disadvantage between the motorhome and a campervan is that we cannot dispatch the motor part from our home as the campervans are able to. Nevertheless, in Australia it is easy to find parking for such vehicles. Our first stop was at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventure. Being in northern Queensland means being on Crocodile land. Basically, you are not allowed to go into the water and not even walking through shallow waters like creeks and so on. Why? This we learned at Hartley’s. We got a feeling of these creatures and how fast they are. They can hide in shallow water and you are not able to even recognize them if they are partially looking out of the water. Finally, they are brutal hunters and if they are able to catch you there is only a little chance that you survive. They drag you down to deep water and just wait until you have drowned. Of course, there were also a lot of other animals at Hartley’s. Alisha was especially drawn towards the Koalas. We were able to hold a Koala and a young Crocodile to have a pictures with them. A very special moment. After walking around at Hartley’s animal park including a river boat tour to see the big crocodiles in action, it was time to leave for the next adventure.

We drove along the Captain Cook Highway with a beautiful view on the coast. We couldn’t resist to stop on the side of the road and having breakfast right at the beach, with a safe distance of course. Another advantage of our motorhome as we were able to cook with gas and have a toilet with us.

After the scenic route we made a stop in Mossman Gorge. It is famous for their rain forest, suspension bridges, the and indigenous living in that area. We took some time to walk through the wilderness. 30min before we were at the beach and now we are in the middle of a rain forest.

Port Douglas

It was time to leave as we had to drive to Port Douglas and to find a campsite. We targeted the Tropic Breeze Caravan Park and we were luck that they had a spot left for us. A cute Canadian/Dutch couple welcomed us to their campsite. We explored Port Douglas which had a bit of posh touch. One of my targets for Australia was diving at the Great Barrier reef. I checked out the dive shops in Port Douglas but all of them were not really operating the next days because the sea was to rough at the moment due to strong winds. On the other hand, ABC Scuba diving was asking for over AUD 450 per person, quite insane. So, we focused on exploring Port Douglas by foot.

Kuranda / Maareba / Atherton - so called Tablelands

The next day we left direction Cairns. We wanted to do the coastal drive again with our next target Kuranda Koala Gardens. Another opportunity to see Koalas and Australians wildlife. In Mareeba we visited Coffee Works the Disneyland of coffee as they describe themselves. De Brueys Boutique wine tasting was next on our list. On that Tablelands ground all kind of food is growing. Thankfully, to the soil and the constant climate. The wineries were mostly focusing on mango, litchi & passion fruit wines. It was a special taste but frankly not my taste. After a 140km trip with several stops, we arrived at our stay for the night the BIG4 Atherton Woodlands tourist park.

Undara experience - Australia's accessible outback

Our trip to Atherton was just a necessary stop to be able to reach our final target Undara. We have chosen a coastal trip from Cairns to Brisbane but with Undara we had the chance to experience the outback. We had to drive 200km into the mainland direction Georgetown. After a longer ride through outback areas, passing a "road train" (truck of a length up to 35m) and some controlled bush fires, we finally arrived in Undara. Undara is not just a campsite, it is famous for their ancient lava tubes, the local wildlife and their variety of flora and fauna. We booked a lava tubes tour for the next day. Before the day ended, we joined the camp fire where one of the guides was playing guitar and singing some famous songs asking us to join in. It felt like a school camping trip.

The next day, our guide was showing us around Undara and we followed the ancient lava tubes trough mainland and tunnels. The night itself was spectacular too, because there was no light pollution and we could see the constellations in the sky.

Mission beach

After an awesome Australian experience at Undara it was time to go back to the coast. Our final target for the rest of the day was arriving on time at Mission Beach. We had to cover 270km. Therefore, we minimized our stops. We had a quick look at the Milaa Milaa Waterfalls but beside of that we drove directly to Mission beach where we stayed at the BIG4 Beachcomber Coconut Holiday Park. We booked for two nights to explore the area.

The next day we rented some fancy fat bikes and drove along the Mission Beach. Of course, we had to circumvent every creek as it is to dangerous to drive through them because of the crocodile. Anyway, it was a lot of fun driving along the beach even if it was quite windy. The rest of the day we enjoyed the awesome location of the campsite direct at the beach. There was a designated spot where you are able to go for a swim with a net around and a lifeguard. It was quite chilly during these days anyway as we are in between summer & winter time on the east coast of Australia. Therefore, we didn’t go into the water and let’s say didn’t have to test if the swimming area is free of crocodiles ????

On the road to Airlie beach

The next day it was time to drive further south. We drove on the A1 passing the Hinchinbrook island on our left. We stopped at the Hinchinbrook & Panjoo lookout and enjoyed the awesome view for a few minutes. The diversity of the nature in Australia is just breathtaking and on every stop, there was something new to see and explore. We drove into Townsville, the next big city after Cairns. We drove along the coastal road in Townsville and stopped for a quick rest. It was the perfect weather for an ice cream and marvel the view to the Magnetic island. Beside of that, Townsville has more like a city character and was not really on our focus. It was time to go back on the road.

We’ve got told to visit the Alva beach. It is a nesting site for turtles. We had to take a little detour in Ayr to drive towards Alva. On the way to Alva we came along some baby turtles which tried to cross the road. We made a quick stop to give them a little help to the other side of the street trying not to touch them. It was a fast street so we weren’t sure if they would have survived. Anyway, as we arrived at the Alva beach, we didn’t see turtles. It was not really nesting time so it was expected. It was low tide and so the locals were driving around with the RV’s on the beach or even cars. In between we enjoyed the view as it was soon time for the sunset. This reminded us that we still had a few kilometers to cover with our final target Airlie beach. Back in the motorhome and off we go. In the evening we arrived safely at Airlie beach a bit later as expected. The original target was to arrive during daylight. We had not really achieved that target and I had to drive in the dark and I really mean dark. There are no street lights on these streets. The streets are bumpy and you never know if there is any wildlife that could cross the street at any moment. On top of that, driving with a motorhome/truck was already a challenge on its own. We stayed a few hundred meters outside of Airlie beach center at the Island Gateway Holiday park. It was a nice park with all amenities you need.

Airlie beach - Let's explore

It was time to explore Airlie beach. The center is well designed in a surfer look with little bars restaurants and some pool and beach areas towards the coastal area. We took a taxi to the city. We were looking for some activities in town. It was the last chance to dive at the Great Barrier reef as we weren’t lucky in Port Douglas with the weather. Here we had for the first time warmer weather, over 25 degrees, sunny and only moderate wind. We were more than ready to finally get to see the Great Barrier reef. The staff at the holiday park recommended to us the catamaran Illusions Whitsundays tours which technically doesn’t go out to the Great Barrier reef but offers dives around the Hook island & Hayman island. The other option would have been the Whitsunday cruises. We decided based on the price and booked with Illusions for the next day. After that enjoyable sunny day and a few drinks at the Magnums bar to celebrate our dive booking, we were heading back to the campsite. Somehow, we came up with the idea of doing a Skydive at Airlie beach as they are offering beach landing. Ok, I should be honest here, it was a bit driven by me. It is now more than 10 years ago since I did my Swiss military parascouts school (SPHAIR). All of the sudden, I felt that it is time to go again after such a long time and let Alisha experience by herself that skydiving is one of the best things you can do. I still stick to that even after 10 years ???? It will not be the same to jump out of the plane with a guide as I was used to jump out by myself but better than not to go as I don’t have my license anymore. The jump was scheduled for the day after our dive. Safety wise we needed to have 18-24h between our 18m dive and our 4300m flight.

Diving with Illusions

The next day, we got picked up early morning by Naomi, our dive instructor as we were told. At the pier the Illusions 2 was waiting for us. The captain, a 60-year-old sailor/globetrotter and Vietnam veteran called Joseph was the highlight of the trip. He was more than funny with his jokes and created a good atmosphere beside of Naomi who was corky and too serious. We enjoyed the dives as we could see fearless turtles. They didn’t even move away when we came really close to them and took pictures. An absolute highlight so far. Beside of that, the visibility wasn’t that great and the corals were dead or you needed a torch to see some colors. Maybe we had too high expectations for these dives in Australia but It did not even come close to the beauty of the dives we did in Rota, Marianas.

After a boat ride of 2h, two 45min dives and a 2h boat ride back, we were back at Airlie beach. As usual after diving, we were quite tired and went back to the campsite to relax for the rest of the afternoon. In addition, the next day the skydive was scheduled and pick-up time was even earlier at 6am. So, it was important to catch some sleep.

Skydive Airlie beach

We woke up the next day by a call of the Skydive Airlie Beach company that the start is delayed by 2h because of weather conditions. We were not unhappy about that as this gave us an additional 2h hour nap time. Finally, the time has come and we got picked up and transferred first to their office. After a 30min introduction movie and of course signing some paper work for not being responsible at any time, we got transferred to the airport where the guides where already waiting for us. They welcomed us with an ease followed by a quick personal briefing. The plane started already the engines and before we could even realize what we are up to we were walking direction plane. The start was quick and I think they made a good job with their calmness as not everybody was that fearless and you could feel the tension of some customers. The first couple of customers jumped out at 6600 ft. / 2000m and after the door was closed again it was time to go up to 14000 ft. / 4300m. We’ve got prepared as the were linking our harness to theirs and again by telling us holding the legs and head up during the procedure. A signal by the pilot, door opens, the first one sitting on the edge and gone. It went that fast and in such a professional manner that just a few seconds later I was sitting on the edge and before I realised it, we jumped out. It was an awesome experience to do it again with a great view and especially with a more sophisticated landing at the beach. It brought back some old memories. I am also more than proud of my wife Alisha of course, not everybody jumps out of a plane above 14’000 ft. / 4300m. It was a blast!!

Next stop Clairview

Straight after our adrenaline rush we started our trip further south direction Clairview. We did a stop at the Sarina beach which was our only stop. It was a 4h trip to Clairview and this time we wanted to avoid an evening/night drive. Before sunset we arrived at the BarraCrab Caravan park. Clairview is literally nothing else than a small fishing village with a few houses and a caravan park. There were also not that many guests and the most of them were using the caravan park for the same reason than we did, just staying for a night before heading to the next place. The area between Airlie beach and the Capricorn Coast has not really a lot to offer. Nevertheless, we needed a break of our trip as we were already driving 4h. We were both tired as we had to get up early the last two days and with some intense activities, diving and skydiving.

Capricorn Coast - Yeppoon & Keppel island

After a good night of sleep, we started our trip further south around 10am and arrived after a 2,5h drive in a beautiful city called Yeppoon. We checked in at the Beachside Caravan park. It was one of our favorite caravan park. We got a spot straight at the beach. Just next to our parking were the stairs down to the beach. We had an awesome view and took the time to relax and enjoyed the sunset. The next day, we decided to visit the Keppel island. Early morning, we drove with our motorhome to the port of the so-called Freedom Fast Cat Cruises. After 1h we arrived on the Keppel island. We knew that it wasn’t peak season but we expected that there is a bit more going on. We had to share the island with a few more tourists and some staff living/staying on the island. We found one restaurant/bar that had open, everything else was closed or even under renovation. After having a look at the map, we decided to go for a walk/hike. First target was Long beach on the south-east side of the island. After a 1,5h hike we arrived on a long sand beach. We felt a bit lost because we were ALONE. Nobody was around on that side. On the south side of the beach, we found a little path to the Monkey beach just on the south side of the island. We have seen another couple from far away but this was the only human being we have seen on our 3h hike through the wood and along the beaches. After a late lunch and another walk on the south side of the island where we got dropped off, it was time to go on board again and go back to Yeppoon. It was a nice trip and we enjoyed the alone time on the island but were also happy to go back to civilization.

Back in Yeppoon, we decided to stay another night in Yeppoon but instead of going back to the same caravan park we Capricorn Palms Caravan park.

Capricorn Coast - Further south

Another long driving day was awaiting us. The target was to drive all the way down to Hervey Bay famous for the Fraser island. Including a few stops for refreshments, we drove all the way down within 6h. We checked in at the Discovery park - Fraser Street. We informed ourselves about the Fraser island trips and were a bit shocked. Fraser island is one of the main tourist attractions and we always got told it is a must to go there. Anyway, after we have seen the prices which were more than AUD 250 / person after being on the Keppel island for just AUD 50 / person, we decided not to go and keep that money to explore another secret island who knows ???? Nevertheless, we stayed for 2 nights in Hervey Bay as we already allocated the days with the original thought to go on Fraser island. We used the time as usual to explore the local sights, restaurants, bars or just having a chat with other campers mainly from south Australia fleeing from the cold.

Sunshine Coast

After two nights our batteries were refilled and we were ready for some new activities and drove towards the Sunshine Coast just an hour away from Hervey Bay. We decided to book a horse ride tour in Noosa and found Noosa Horse Riding which had time to take us for a ride at the same day. We drove directly to the stable at Lake Weyba. Laura, our guide for the day, welcomed us and gave us a little introduction before we were riding direction Lake Weyba through thick forest and shallow waters. It was a peaceful 2h ride in the afternoon. We enjoyed the company of the horses and just trying again something new. We were even able to see a Kangaroo family on the way with their joeys.

After our enjoyable ride we checked in at the BIG4 Ingenia Holidays park in Noosa just a few minutes away.

Gold Coast & Byron Bay - Let's go before the rainy days starts

The weather in Noosa was great. Around 20 degrees and sunny. We could have stayed in Noosa or in general at the Sunshine for a couple of more days but unfortunately our motorhome trip is ending soon and we just have 4 days left. With our final target Brisbane and Byron Bay and Surfers Paradise still on our list we needed to decide how we approach our last days. Considering the weather forecasts, the weather further south is going to be worse day by day. Therefore, we decided that our next target must be Byron Bay before we would get only rainy days. With that we got a chance to drive through Brisbane and Surfers Paradise which would allow us to get a glance of the two cities and get an idea of if we would like to stay longer in one of those cities. The next day, we started driving along the Sunshine Coast along the coastal roads. It was a beautiful ride before we had to go back on the main highway. This highway got more and more lanes as closer as we get to Brisbane. Finally, as we approach Brisbane, it got a bit stressful. All the streets were getting narrower and more and more traffic combined with traffic lights made driving with a motorhome even more complicated. After a 1-2h drive through the middle of Brisbane, we had a quick calmer section before we arrived in Surfers Paradise. To be honest, I expected a way different town. It was a huge city with skyscrapers, shopping centers busy streets and road works so that actually Surfers Paradise as a name is more than just misleading. We stopped two times at the beach to look at the surfers but did not really sew anything special or different to other surf spots we have seen and therefore decided to head further to Byron Bay and not considering staying in Surfers Paradise. Furthermore, the city is more designed for hotel guests than campervan/motorhome guests and so we were moving forward. As we arrive in Byron Bay after another 6h drive, a slight rain started. We found a campsite called First Sun Holiday park. With a fee of AUD 68 for a powered site, we arrived at a tourist hotspot as this was the most expensive side we had since we started our Australia trip. It got colder as more south we drove and for the first time we had to take out our sweaters and jackets even during the day. Byron Bay has a really special character. It is a surfer/hippy village with little bars, restaurants and shops. Not that everybody was walking around barefoot in that cold weather, also having tattoos and at least a dog was looking like standard. It was an interesting little town and we enjoyed the vibe for the rest of the afternoon and night.

Kingscliff & Tweed Heads - Our last nights with Sir Maui

We decided the next day that we move back up north as Byron Bay was too cold for us. On the way down, we drove through a village called Kingscliff at the north tip of New South Wales and decided to back there. We checked in at the Tweed Coast Holiday park - Kingscliff beach. It was a new caravan park again in front of the beach. There were a lot of surfers in the water as we arrived. So, we had let’s say a free show as they all were advanced.

With another awesome day with Sir Maui in front of the beach it was time to make another step closer to Brisbane. We decided to stay in Tweed Heads for our last night and checked in at the BIG4 Tweed Billabong Holiday park. It was another great caravan park as Australia is absolutely leading in that manner. This caravan park had even its own lake. We were able to rent two fishing rods and we tried our luck at the lake just behind our site. Overall, we were sad to leave and that our adventure with Sir Maui is ending. Therefore, we just spent time in our motorhome, cooking and watching TV. Unfortunately, the next day we finally had to bring back Sir Maui to the rental company. With another drive through the city of Brisbane, we arrived at the Maui motorhome rental. We were sad to leave as we really enjoyed our trips with Sir Maui and Mr. Tomtom. We just were hoping that the next owner of Sir Maui will take care of him as we did during our 3 weeks trip.

Favorites & Statistics

On our trip we covered more than 3000 kilometers and were more than 50 hours on the road. We had a great time with Sir Maui. Favorite Caravan parks:

• Beachside Caravan park - Yeppoon
• Undara Experience
• Tweed Coast Holiday park – Kingscliff beach
• BIG4 Ingenia Holidays Cairns Coconut Resort

Favorite places:

• Sunshine Coast
• Keppel Islands
• Undara
• Airlie beach

  With that it was time to go to the airport with our next target, New Caledonia. A bit sad to leave Sir Maui behind us but with a new exiting target ahead, we entered the plane of Aircalin towards Noumea to a new adventure.   Cheers, Ueli   Australia Gallery