Update Sister-Roadtrip

Hello dear ones,

Another update from us.

We are doing well, enjoying the time and the traveling.

We are currently in Wellington, New Zealand, and have already explored the South Island. Tomorrow (19.02.), we will start our journey to the North Island and we are excited to discover the beautiful places it has to offer.

Here are the reports from until the 25th December.

I haven't made any further progress.

The next blog entry will be on the 29th 😉. Until then, I will keep you updated.

Picture of last week:

Monday, 05.12.:

Today, we met Nici and her friend again, and we went hiking together in Springbrook National Park. We visited the Purling Brook Falls Lookout and Narringa Pool.

After a one-hour hike, we cooled off in the Narringa Pool. After drying ourselves in the sun, we planned to go back in. But then we saw a big eel in the pool again, so we decided to stay outside 😄

When we returned to the cars, we had to say goodbye to Nici.

Shortly and without much fuss - we will meet again in Germany. 😊

Our journey continued towards Byron Bay with a stop at Buleigh Heads - one of the most beautiful beaches on the Gold Coast - if the weather had been nice, it would have been the case, but unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate 😞.

Then a quick stop at Snapper Rocks in Coolangatta. Normally, it's very beautiful there because the waves are very consistent, but today they were chaotic due to the bad weather...

So we continued our journey quickly. Upon arrival in Byron Bay, we checked in at the hostel and went out to look for food.

Tuesday, 06.12.:

Today, the weather didn't meet our expectations, so we canceled the kayaking tour we wanted to do.
In the morning, we went to Cape Byron Lighthouse and then drove back to Surfers Paradise.

The sun came out again, so we decided to spend a few hours at the beach.

Wednesday, 07.12.:

According to the weather forecast, today was supposed to be better, and we had planned to visit the Q1 (tallest hotel on the Gold Coast). From there, we would have had a perfect view of the Gold Coast skyline, but in the morning, we couldn't even see the ocean from the beach due to the fog. So we had to cancel this plan as well...

We continued north to Tin Can Bay with a stopover on the Sunshine Coast in Noosa, where Caro and Sandra did half of the Coastal Walk, while I was already feeling sick with a sore throat and slept the whole day in the car.

On to Tin Can Bay...

Thursday, 08.12.:

Early in the morning, we wanted to see the dolphins at the shore as they come to fetch their breakfast every day.

We spent the rest of the day in the car as there was nothing spectacular left on the route (9 hours).

While driving, we looked for accommodation, and we thought we had found a bargain... Well, when we arrived late at night and followed all the given instructions, we found ourselves in an empty campsite at Cape Hillsborough Nature Tourist Park (essentially in the jungle), and then we understood why this was a "bargain". Well, what now? We went back up to the closed reception (as we arrived around 11 PM) and called the emergency number. The lady said we could have a room for more than $130. The Swabians thought, "hm... no, definitely not" and made space in the car for 3 people to sleep 😄

I quote everyone: "Close the windows, we are in Australia, and now we're in the forest, so we'll have snakes and spiders in here tomorrow"

After an hour in the stuffy car, I could hardly breathe...

Me: "Can we please open the windows a crack, otherwise we'll pass out soon?"

Sandra turned on the ignition, and we opened the windows slightly.
We all tried to go back to sleep.
After 15 minutes, I still couldn't breathe, but I didn't want to wake up the others again, so I cautiously opened my door... What happened?!
At 12:15 AM, the alarm on the campsite went off at maximum volume. *oops* It lasted for about 5 minutes because Sandra couldn't find the key quickly due to shock 😄

Then I put my window halfway down, and it was okay... although I had to occasionally wake up to check if something was crawling in... But the animals were very peaceful and thankfully left us alone... ohhh... what a night... NEVER AGAIN!!!!!

Friday, 09.12.:

After the "wonderful" and "restful" night, we had to get up at 5 AM. We showered, packed our things for the Whitehaven Beach, and then went to the doctor. Since the trip to Magnetic Island was already booked for today, we took the ferry to the island and went to the doctor afterwards. I told the doctor about my symptoms and the suspicion of tonsillitis, and with a quick look into my throat, she agreed and prescribed antibiotics... We got everything from the pharmacy, and the journey could continue. On the island, we rented a car and drove around. It was very bumpy 😄

We visited various lookouts and saw a wild koala!

Afterward, we spent half an hour at the beach, and then it was time to return the car.

Once back on the mainland, we headed to our accommodation in Ingham.

Sunday, 11.12.:

Today, there was nothing extraordinary planned, just a visit to a national park, so we decided to sleep in a bit. After breakfast, we drove to Girrgun National Park, where we had planned to hike and go swimming in the waterfall. But that literally fell into the water!! So we just saw the 286m high waterfall from the top and then continued driving towards Cairns, with a stopover at Mission Beach.

At Mission Beach, we got our lunch/dinner from a snack bar (Tuskers Tuckerbox and Catering). It was delicious!!!! After refueling, we headed to our first planned destination: Cairns!

Monday, 12.12.:

Today, we visited the Great Barrier Reef.

On the way there, the boat was rocking a lot, and half of the people (including me) were given vomit bags and had to sit on the deck. We stopped at three different locations with the boat to increase the chances of seeing turtles and sharks. Sandra and I were not lucky with the animals, just like in South Africa, but I saw many different beautiful and colorful fish... Despite that, it was still super beautiful, and snorkeling was a lot of fun 😄

The pictures are on the other camera, and we don't know yet how to transfer them to the PC *sigh*

Once back on board, I immediately lay down in a sleeping position to prevent getting sick again.

Tuesday, 13.12.:

So now we have covered Queensland, and we can continue heading south! 😊

After packing all our stuff, we toasted with Savanna early in the morning at 10:30 AM to Sandra's birthday and ate birthday muffins.. Actually, we wanted to toast the evening before, but we were so exhausted from snorkeling that we completely forgot... Then we went to the airport. At 4:30 AM, we continued to Adelaide.

Wednesday, 14.12.:

Today, we picked up our super sexy camper:

Then we went to the Botanic Garden in Adelaide, then to the Art Gallery of South Australia, and then to the Central Market, where we had Chinese food... never again Australian Chinese food!!! 😄 Then we went to Coles (the supermarket) and filled our camper with food. Afterward, we visited 2 beaches (Maslin Beach and Aldinga Beach). Both were beautiful, and probably even more beautiful in nice weather.

After watching the sunset, we drove to our first free campsite and settled in. After a two-hour conversation with another backpacker, we went to sleep. Christmas decorations were a must, so we bought some Christmas baubles to get a bit into the Christmas spirit. 😄

Thursday, 15.12.:

We woke up at 8:00 AM, had breakfast, and made the camper driveable again (everything neatly arranged) and then set off towards Cape Jervis. From there, we took the ferry, along with our camper, to Kangaroo Island.

We spent 1.5 days on Kangaroo Island and saw so many kangaroos *yeeehaaaw* 😄

In the evening, we had the typical backpacker meal: pasta with pesto 😄

Friday, 16.12.:

The next morning, we had breakfast:

Seal Bay:

Remarkable Rocks

After we were done enjoying Kangaroo Island, we had to worry about running out of fuel before reaching the next gas station *oops*

Then we thought we were smart and switched to neutral while driving, until we learned that you consume more fuel in neutral than in gear... haha

So, the first gas station: closed (we already arrived after 10 PM)

The next gas station must be open; otherwise, we won't be able to continue driving... We arrived... CLOSED... well, what now?! We had no choice but to spend the night at the gas station with our camper, and then continue driving in the morning.

Saturday, 17.12.:

We filled up the tank as soon as the gas station opened, and then we continued to the Grampians National Park, where we visited the McKenzie Waterfall... :)

Then we continued along the Great Ocean Road towards Melbourne, with a sunset at the Twelve Apostles, accompanied by very cold icy wind!

Sunday, 18.12.:

We continued along the Great Ocean Road with many stops and lookouts in between - and a wild koala - until we arrived in Melbourne.

In Melbourne, we met up with the people I met at the university (Nasi, Mattias, Muqeet, Lana, Verena & Julia). It was nice to see everyone again. We will travel the route from Melbourne to Sydney 😊

Monday, 19.12.:

We did some tourist activities in Melbourne.

We passed by the Hosier Lane graffiti wall:

Afterwards, the girls went on an excursion to Brighton Beach:

We had a hearty dinner: cheese spaetzle 😄

Tuesday, 20.12.:

In the afternoon, we explored Melbourne and went into every store we came across 😄

In the evening, Sandra and I went to an observation deck called "Eureka Skydeck" to see Melbourne from above.

Wednesday, 21.12.:

Today, we continued the journey towards Sydney.

For relaxation, we stopped at the Hot Springs...

There were "pools" with warm/hot water coming from the ground (ranging from 23 degrees to 45 degrees hot)

Thursday, 22.12.:

Today, we visited Wilsons Promontory National Park and did the 'Mount Oberon Summit' walk. It was a 7km hike with a great view and a wild wombat:

Friday, 23.12.:

With Christmas approaching, we didn't want any major stress, so we decided to spend the day at the beach 😉😄

Saturday, 24.12.:

Sorry that I can't update you regularly on our adventures. We have very rarely wifi, so writing the blog and uploading pictures is very difficult. However, you can always write to us on WhatsApp, and we will still share some things with you there 😉

Many greetings to Germany from the two traveling Gack girls. 😘