Just one day in Sydney? Are you mad?

Wrong, not only once, but twice (or actually three times). I am not mad, nor am I in Sydney for just one day, but 6 days in total. And worst of all, Sydney is not the capital of Australia, but Canberra is. Don't worry, no one has ever heard about Canberra and almost no one goes there either. Apart from its political significance, Canberra is said to be quite a dull city, but nevertheless I decided to take a quick look around.

So I took the bus from Sydney to Canberra, a 3,5 hour drive through very pretty countryside. Upon arrival, I immediately hired a bike as Canberra is said to be one of the most bike-friendly cities in Australia. After 6 months of not cycling, the last time was on Rottnest Island in Perth, I felt I had to practice a bit before my return to the Netherlands. Luckily the bike was really good and the first part of my bike ride also had bikelanes, so I did not have to worry too much. Overall, actually, it was quite easy to bike, though a lot of the biking had to be done on the pedestrian paths as there were very few bike lanes present.

The first stop was the Australian War Memorial. It wasn't supposed to be the first stop, but as the bus was delayed and Mount Ainslie looked way too steep for 35 degrees weather, I decided that the lookout from the top must be saved for if I ever come back. And so it was the War Memorial where I first got off my bike. The memorial was opened in 1941 and is a memorial for all Australian armed forces and related organizations. It is a very impressive building and has an extensive museum on all the wars Australia participated in, making it a really informative and worthy stop when in Canberra.


As the War Memorial sits on the slope of a mountain, you already get a good view on the city and from there it becomes clear that Canberra is a very different city than any other in Australia. It was not until 1901 that the different Australian states were federated. This federation, however, meant that a capital city was needed and huge rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney called for a compromise: Canberra. Shortly thereafter, a design competition was launched to get Canberra ready to become the nation's capital city. Up until then, Canberra was a rural town and it really needed a new layout to house the government. Canberra is thus completely designed, and has many geometric features like circles and triangles. From the War Memorial you can look across the artificial lake to both the Old Parliament House and the new Parliament building.


The new Parliament building was also my next stop, and I took a free tour to learn more about the building and Australian government. Hearing all the information, it became clear that everything in this city is well thought-through. The new Parliament building sits in a mountain, not on top, so that it does not look like the government is above the people. You can even go to the roof of the building so that you can physically stand above Australia's government. From the colours to the art, everything is chosen for a reason, and it was very interesting to hear about the reasoning behind it. The flag on top of the building, for example, already weighs 15 kilos!


It was then time for a well-deserved break. The weather was very sticky, it was really hot and cloudy at the same time, with a really high humidity, and so my body was screaming for something cold. My stop at Patissez was therefore perfect, as this small café is the place where Freakshakes (or Freaking awesome milkshakes) originate from. I enjoyed their Cheshire Cat, a delicious strawberry cheescake shake!


It was then time to move on to visit the Australian Art Gallery, which features a significant collection of Indigenous and Australian art. I really enjoyed this, as a lot of musea here host a lot of international art, but this gallery really focused on art from their own country and culture. The building itself was not very interesting from the outside, but the inside was very pretty and there was enough information to keep entertained for a while.



After looking at the Australian art, I cycled some more around the city, passing Old Parliament House, which is now way too small for the government, an Indigenous demonstration for land rights, and many other governmental buildings. I returned my bike, bought some dinner and franatically searched for a post card from Canberra before taking the bus back to Sydney. It was a very interesting day in Canberra, a very different city from the ones I have already visited here and thus definitely worth a visit if you want a complete view of Australia. And with this trip I can now say I have officially been to every single state and territory in Australia!

When you go to Australia, you imagine beaches, vintage stores, cute cafés and of course blond surfdudes on every street corner. Up and until now, Australia has shown me plenty of each, except for the single biggest reason women travel to Australia; these surfdudes. Luckily though, I had a stop in the hippiest town of Australia: Byron Bay.

Getting there, though, was already quite a challenge. Upon leaving Noosa, our bus broke down and we had to wait over an hour before our very friendly bus driver had cooled down the engine and figured out what was wrong and how to fix it. Fortunately we made it to Brisbane on time so that we could catch the second bus going to Byron. I chilled at the hostel before going to bed early, as I would have to get up very very early.

The next morning it was time to explore one of the reasons people visit Byron Bay: Cape Byron. This headland sits next to Byron itself and is known as the most easterly point of Australia. There is a stunning lighthouse at the very end and there are many walking tracks to the various beaches in the area. Sunrise is a spectacular sight and so I set off to the lighthouse at 5:00am that morning together with a friend I met on the bus the previous day. And it was really worth waking up for! Even though the clouds delayed the sunrise for a couple of minutes, it was still spectacular to see it rise from the ocean.


After that early rise I took a nap for a couple more hours before exploring Byron Bay itself. There are so many shops and cafés to explore there! Byron Bay is a very hipster town with a lot of second-hand stores, organic foods and tarot-readings. It is quite small, with only about 5000 permanent residents, but extremely popular among tourists. It really has a nice atmosphere. I then finished off the day with a good dinner and some drinks with my sunrise friend!

The next day, though, we both decided to go back to Cape Byron, this time in full daylight, in order to explore all the surrounding beaches. Our first stop was the Pass, a famous surf spot with a lookout point that allows you to watch the surfers catch their waves from above. We then moved on to Wategos beach via a very hilly climb. At the top we stopped to take a breath, but our breath was immediately taken away when we saw the dolphins swimming right below us! A spectacular sight! Wategos beach also did not disappoint and we chilled there for a bit watching the surfdudes trying to catch the big waves. From there it was only a short walk to Little Wategos beach where we had the beach to ourselves and enjoyed the pretty sights. This all took most of our day and when we went back to our hostels we were both happy to sit down and relax for a bit.


Especially because the next day was going to be full of activity again. I was supposed to go kayaking on the ocean with a guarantee to see dolphins, but due to very strong winds this was cancelled. Instead, I went kayaking on one of the rivers near Byron, and I have to say I did not have extremely high expectations starting off, but that it was a really beautiful trip. The tides were not too strong, making the manoeuvrings through the mangroves the only challenge. We saw stingrays and a lot of fish, as well as a huge python chilling in one of the trees. Unexpectedly amazing! (photos will follow)

The most amazing thing I did in Byron, though, was on my last day there. Quite spontaneously I decided to book a hang gliding tour above Cape Byron. After a short introduction, me and my instructor Brian took 4 steps off the ramp located on top of the Cape and jumped off. I expected to fall down several meters first, but the wind immediately lifted us up and gave us a spectacular view of the cape. It was very serene to glide around the air this way, without any engine or sounds apart from the winds and the ocean below. Spectacular! Quite funnily, I met up with a friend from Melbourne who was in Byron for the day, and she had done the exact same glide! We enjoyed ice cream and good music at the beach before saying goodbye again, as it was time for me to take a 12,5 hour night bus to my almost-last destination in Australia: Sydney.

Leaving Fraser Island and Hervey Bay behind me, it was time to move on to the next stop. With only 2 more weeks to go, I need to hurry a bit to be in Sydney on time to also explore Australia’s most famous city. And thus the travelling continues to Noosa with a 5 hour bus drive.

Noosa is located some 130 kilometres above Brisbane and has more than 50,000 inhabitants. A big city so to say, but the interesting thing about Noosa is that it is very spread out and consists of three different parts: Noosa Heads, Noosaville and Sunshine Beach. I was staying in the Sunshine Beach part, in a very cute and relaxed hostel close to the beach. Upon arrival in the late afternoon I therefore also decided to chill on the beach for a bit after the long drive, and the sunset colours made that very worth it.

The next day I headed out immediately after breakfast for my main reason for staying in Noosa: Noosa National Park. Noosa National Park makes Noosa a necessary stop along the East Coast of Australia. It is very special that a national park is in walking distance of one of the places I am staying and thus I really wanted to explore the park while I was there. And it definitely was worth it! I started off with a 30 minute walk through the forest and dunes that brought me to the beach where I walked another 2 hours on the coastal walk.

Passing stunning beaches, like Alexandria Bay, and lookout points like Hell’s Gate, Boiling Pot and Dolphins Point, the coastal walk was really pretty and despite the heat I really enjoyed the views. Unfortunately I did not spot any dolphins, but there was a very cute koala that made up for the slight disappointment! I also passed the very famous Fairy Pools, natural pools created by the ocean which look really nice. It was really busy though when I was there and thus I decided the plunge into the actual ocean for a nice cool-off.


After the long walk in the national park it was time for some good food, and I decided on a watermelon bowl with fruit and cereal at Blended; it is not only very healthy and pretty, but also extremely delicious! With a book on the beach I ended my first full day in Noosa with a big smile on my face!


The next day, Saturday, was market day in Eumundi, a small town some 20 kilometres inland from Noosa. These markets are very famous the Noosa region not only because of its size with over 200 stalls, but also because of what is being sold. The Eumundi market is an artisan market with handcrafted gifts, furniture, jewellery, art, fashion and much more.  There is also fabulous food being sold there and I enjoyed a nice carrot cake with passionfruit drink while strolling around the stalls. A very nice start to the day! The rest of the day I spend reading a very good new book in a hammock in the hostel, and even though that might sound like I did not really enjoy Noosa, I really needed that time for myself and enjoyed every single minute of it! Noosa was once again a great stop, and it was really nice to be able to explore a national park that is literally at your doorstep!

 

After the relaxed stop in Agnes Water, it was time to move further south in order to be in Sydney on time for my flight. Some 4 hours later, the bus dropped me off in Hervey Bay. Though substantial in size, there was not much to do in town while I was there. It is a very popular place for spotting whales, but the season had already ended in November. So I took the opportunity to spend some more time at the beach, which was very pleasurable due to the many shady spots. I also explored the botanical gardens a little and went to see the sunset from the Urangan Pier, which was incredibly long. Misreading the bus signs meant that I walked a total of 20 kilometers that day in 30 degree weather and on my flip flops, but a delicious ice cream made up for the soar feet. Hervey Bay also brought some unforeseen costs with it, as my phone no longer wanted to charge and in order to stay in contact with my beloved other half of the world, I had to get it fixed. So no worries, I’m only one call away again!


Why go to Hervey Bay if there is nothing to do? Well, the main reason for me to go to Hervey Bay was for what lays some 40 minutes off the coast: Fraser Island, or K’Gari (meaning paradise, pronounced as Gurri) in the local Aboriginal language. 120 kilometers long and 24 kilometers wide, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, and has been growing for some 750,000 years. What makes this sand island so special though, is its ecological ability to grow an abundance of plants and trees, with several unique species.

I was to explore this island with a two-day tour in several 4WDs that would take our group around the island. With an early pickup in the morning and a stop for some groceries we arrived at the ferry to cross the Great Sandy Strait. Immediately upon arrival at Fraser, it was very clear that this island was sandy; the roads were just tracks in the sand making the drives across the island very bumpy at times. With a time schedule because of the tides, we first made a quick stop at ‘Central Station’. Though no train rides on the island, the island used to be used for tree logging and Central Station functioned as the loggers’ base camp. After a stroll along one of the clearest creeks I’ve ever seen, Wanggoolba Creek, we headed to our accommodation for the night to drop off our stuff and some lunch. Can you spot the water in the photos?


The first real bumps and difficult patches were experienced, with two of our cars being stuck for a short while in a very soft part of the sand. It was also our first experience on Fraser Island’s main highway: 75-Mile Beach. This beach stretches across the length of the island and is used not only as the main road, but also as a landing strip for airplanes. A really cool experience to drive so close to the waves!

After lunch it was time for some fun in Lake Birrabeen. When we first arrived, everyone was a bit disappointed; the lake was very brown and did not look appealing at all. But soon as our guide explained it was because of the surrounding tea trees that the water looked brown, and that it was not only completely safe but also very healing to swim, everyone stripped off their clothes to take a dive in the refreshing water. The day ended with some very good pasta,  a spectacular sunset and somewhat later a stunning Milky Way on the highway. We also spotted our first dingo on Fraser, which has a population of about 200. An amazing first day in paradise!


After a sweaty couple of hours of sleep, my alarm went off at 4:30am. With some 15 others we strolled down to the highway again just in time to see the sun rise from the ocean. Though tired and annoyed by the many horse flies, it was a breathtaking sight. (Please don't judge the photo, yes I am in pyjamas, and yes I was tired)



With breakfast ready when we got back, everyone was ready quite early and so we set off to the Pinnacles for a short photo stop at this coloured sand hill. We couldn’t leave without a group photo with our 4WDs either and so it took another 20 minutes before every camera on the tour had a picture on it. On the way we spotted our second dingo, and got pretty close this time with the car. Next off was the Wreck of the Saheno, a shipwreck that stranded on Fraser Island in 1935 after having served as a cruise ship and WWI hospital ship. It was also used as a shooting practice site in WWII which caused great instability due to which you’re not allowed to climb the rusty wreck.


By the time we had left the wreck it had already warmed up considerably again and it was time for another dip, this time in Eli Creek. It is the largest permanent creek on the island and also the coldest as it is fed by an underwater spring. This was a really fun creek to swim through, as even though it was only about 20 cm deep, the stream was quite fast and with the rubber bands it was amazing to float down!

After our last lunch on Fraser it was time to see the most known lake on the island: Lake McKenzie. The road there was the bumpiest road I have ever been on, we tried holding onto everything we could, but after 40 minutes we were all soar and tired from the ride. It was also a difficult road with heaps of soft sand, and several buses in front of us got stuck. Luckily it didn't delay us too much so we still had enough time to admire the beautiful Lake McKenzie. The water is so pure that it is unsuitable for most species, but the combination with the white silica sand (like on Whitehaven Beach) results in a stunning contrast. The water had a pleasurable temperature and we spent about an hour there before returning back to the ferry. Thank you Fraser Island for another unforgettable and unique experience on the East Coast! Just two more weeks to go in paradise before it is time to head back to the Netherlands!