East Coast Australia

Just under 4 hours flight, but a whole 12 degrees difference. With a radiant smile and summer clothing, Leon, our school friend from Mudershausen, picked us up at Brisbane Airport. With him and his newly acquired car, we were now going up the East Coast for the next 19 days.

However, we spent the first 3 nights in Brisbane. On the first day, we met many of Leon's friends here in Australia. We had a great afternoon together and in the evening we had dinner at Leon's hostel before having a long sleep for the first time in a long time.

In the next few days, we explored the city. The highlight was probably Leon and two of his friends performing in a local bar and then visiting the botanical gardens at night.

After 3 days, we continued. Our next destination: Byron Bay. On the way there, we made a stop at the famous Gold Coast and spent our afternoon at "Surfer's Paradise" in bright sunshine. We arrived in Byron Bay in the evening. There, we spent the next day at the beach, where we ventured on surfboards for the first time. We had a lot of fun, even though we were only partly successful. On the following day, we went to another deserted beach through the bush. Later, we went up to a lighthouse at Cape Byron, where we had a breathtaking view of the sea and the sunset.

However, driving a lot of the car is also part of a road trip, so we spent most of the next day in the car, but finally reached our next destination: Noosa. On that evening, we took advantage of the current offer at Subway: two subs for the price of one - a real bargain. And so we ate all 60cm thick sandwiches including the cookies included in the menu. Totally overfed, we fell into our beds after a welcome cocktail in the hostel bar, and got as much sleep as possible in a 16-bed room. The next morning, we took advantage of the hostel's free surfboard rental and carried them through the town at 8:30 am to be at the beach at the perfect time. And again, we started learning to surf. For most of the afternoon, we hiked through Noosa National Park. We walked along the coast for almost 3 hours and enjoyed the view of impressive bays and the "Fairy Pools". "Fairy Pools" are small natural pools in a cliff adjacent to the sea. Unfortunately, we didn't see any koalas and dolphins, but we saw two sea turtles. In the evening, we immersed ourselves in the city's nightlife.

The next day, we continued to 1770, where we spent the night in an apartment all to ourselves (what a dream!) and got a good night's sleep before driving for a whole 12 hours (!) to Airlie Beach the next day.

We stayed in this picturesque harbor town for the next 2 days before finally going on a sailing tour of the Whitsundays.

An absolute MUST! For us personally, it was a total highlight, as we all went sailing together in 10th grade. With many other nice people and the "Habibi Sailing Crew", we sailed around the Whitsundays, went snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef several times a day, and visited Whitehaven Beach. A beach like from a catalog: shining blue and super clear water that borders an outrageously white and super soft beach. Simply fantastic. In addition, we got to see the diverse wildlife on the tour: sharks, rays, turtles, jellyfish, and colorful fish. Not to mention, we had 4 meals a day without having to prepare anything, which is heaven on earth for us at the moment, and then we were rewarded with one of the most beautiful starry skies we have ever seen at night.

Simply beautiful. However, after 2 nights, the tour ended and we made our way back to Airlie Beach in somewhat rough conditions (the waves on the open sea were very wild, so our last sailing trip towards land was very adventurous and fun) and then continued by car to Townsville on the same day.

However, we only stayed one night here, as our ferry to Magnetic Island left the next morning from there.

There wasn't much else to do on that day, except that in the evening we went to see the famous Rock Wallabies. These are basically the "miniature version" of kangaroos, which are known to be tame and even eat food out of your hand - the cute creatures did not disappoint us, as that's exactly what happened. To top it off, we got to see a beautiful sunset.

We spent the evening in the hostel bar, which is a popular party spot on the island.

The next day, we hiked along the Forts Walking Track. This showed us a former military base from World War II and much more. We got to see a lot of the nature of the national park. In addition, we had a beautiful 360-degree view of the different bays. Here again, we were very lucky and saw 2 koalas. One of them even had a baby.

After a short detour to the Sunday market at Horseshoe Bay, we let the day end comfortably before heading back to the mainland the next morning and then heading towards Cairns.

Later that day, we met one of Leon's friends and explored some of the city's bars. Since Leon lived here for a long time, he knows the area very well.

For Kathrin and Leon, the next day offers a huge highlight:

a 15,000ft skydive at Mission Beach.

After an introduction and a few hours of waiting, the two finally set off: they jumped from about 4.5 km out of an airplane, spent about 60 seconds in freefall, and then glided with a parachute to the beautiful Mission Beach. For both of them, it was undoubtedly the biggest adrenaline rush they have ever had. Both would do it again in an instant.

On the way back to Cairns, we made a detour to the Babinda Boulders, a picturesque river section.

We spent the last day together in Cairns and explored the city a bit more, including the lagoon, where we enjoyed a few hours of sunshine.

In the evening, it was time to pack our suitcases, as we had to leave very early the next morning towards Townsville. From there, our plane took off towards Sydney. After 19 days of summer, beach, and sea with 5 people, we are now back on the road as 4...