Queensland - East Coast Australia

And off I go again, heading to the East Coast 🛫. Full of excitement for what's to come and curious about what awaits me in the next two weeks, packed with various tours to cover all the highlights. At this point, one thing is guaranteed: the last month on the road will be challenging, as there are still thousands of kilometers to conquer before my departure in Adelaide.

Welcomed by the rain, I take a short walk along the Esplanade with a beautifully designed swimming area. However, due to all the creatures in the water, swimming in the ocean is not recommended. The next day, I go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, and it is as beautiful as I have always imagined. Countless colors, shapes, and fish. After two snorkeling stops and a day on the water, I fall exhausted into bed, with the alarm set for 5.00 am for the bus to Townsville.

Once arrived, I go straight to the ferry to Magnetic Island. I meet a few other German girls and we rent a car for the day to drive around the island. Superb viewpoints, koalas in the wild, wallabies and parrots, you don't need much more 😍 Plus, it's Australia Day, so it's party time in the evening 🍹

And off we go again, back to the ferry and on the bus to Airlie Beach. Here, I go on a 3-day/2-night sailing trip to the Whitsundays. That means the next few days are filled with snorkeling stops, swimming with turtles around the boat, and a visit to Whitehaven Beach, with the finest sand in the world - it could be worse 😎

Back in Airlie Beach, I have one more day which I spend after a relaxed breakfast at the lagoon, mentally preparing for the overnight bus 🙈 For that, I wake up and find myself 14 hours further south in Rainbow Beach, ready for the next adventure 🤗

I'm heading to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. And I'm whizzing through the sand in a Range Rover to visit the various attractions on the island. From a river where we float down to a lake behind the dunes, from a stranded ship to the Champagne Pools. Unfortunately, the weather is miserable, it's raining day and night, we have strong winds, and we see a small patch of blue sky without rain for the first time on the ferry back after two days... all of this combined with the fact that it didn't stop us from swimming and we slept in tents leads to me catching a nasty cold 🤧😷🤒

Nevertheless, the journey continues and I drive to Brisbane. There, I stay with a couple I met a few months ago in Central America for two days and enjoy the time in a super comfortable bed and with homemade food. We take a city tour, ride the giant wheel, and mix Hugos in the evening. Cam then drives me to the Gold Coast, and we stop at the most famous pie shop on the East Coast 😋

Surfers Paradise is super lively, with lots of bars, pubs, and restaurants mixed with loads of tourists. I meet up with someone I traveled with in South America, we enjoy the atmosphere, and decide last minute to rent a car for the next day and drive to Byron Bay. Very good decision 😍. White sandy beaches, stunning views, and we make a stop at the border to New South Wales, which means we're standing with each foot in a different time zone. And once again, it's time to say goodbye and off I go again, next stop Sydney 😃

Today, I meet up again with someone from my group in South America. I use Friday afternoon to swim in the saltwater pool right at Bondi Beach. On Saturday morning, we set off early and drive to the Blue Mountains to see the Three Sisters and end up hiking more than planned, but the weather was finally nice again 😎. And so we enjoy the evening in the Botanic Gardens with a view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. On Sunday, we go to the Figure 8 Pools. Natural pools shaped like an 8 with perfectly clear edges, it's impressive what nature can do 😳.