This is our final blog post from this adventure. Hence we will try to summarise some of the things we did and learned along the way, though most of the things are still unprocessed and will need time to digest :D We were discussing this subject over a glass of wine at our last dinner on the Gold Coast. From the things we learned Oliver mentioned he had advanced especially in talking to strangers, which he wouldn't really do before Australia. Rosanna feels like has become better at dealing with change in general and also feels that she improved her English. We both also learned how to surf! And we feel like we've become more environmentally aware and at least still at the moment don't eat meat.
We definitely faced many ups and down on this trip therefore probably grew as human beings as well as a couple. At least we can be sure that we've made new friends for life as well as made amazing memories and gained unforgettable experiences. We are very grateful for the hospitality we experienced and genuinely enjoyed learning more about Australian culture. We are also grateful that so many of our friends and family came to visit us on our big adventure. It made us feel very special. We are sad that the adventure is over but know for sure that we will be back. Hopefully sooner rather than later :)
Luckily we still like each other after travelling for a year together
We got in to Bundaberg in time to check out our AirBnB before Eve arrived, she’s Rosanna’s university friend from her biology days and had decided to visit us on her autumn holiday. Unfortunately the day she arrived a storm hit Bundaberg and the surrounding areas. It rained more in three days than it had ever rained in the whole month. This meant our snorkelling trip to Lady Musgrave island got cancelled and we were stuck in Bundaberg for three nights. Bundy isn’t big for bad weather activities so we ended up doing a tour of the Bundaberg ginger beer brewery and the Bundaberg Rum distillery. The Brewery was a bit of a disappointment but the distillery was great with two free samples at the end, excellent! We tasted some of their most expensive rum called Solera which we have to say was pretty good.
Bundaberg Rum Distillery
It's never too early for a little rum
Doug & Vince
The selection at the Bundaberg brewery
Barolin Rocks
After the three nights we headed for Noosa to get ready for our Fraser Island tour. After the record rainfall some of the roads were flooded and some of our friends got stranded for a week because of it. On our way there we stopped at a very cute town called Maryborough, which was the birth place of P.L. Travers, the creator of Mary Poppins. This was very much obvious from all the Mary Poppins characters around the town.
Maryborough electricity boxes
Mary Poppins statue
Mary Poppins pedestrian lights
Fraser Island
We had booked our Fraser Island tour through a company called Nomads, who have a lot of hostel all around Australia but also arrange tours to popular backpacker destinations. After spending one night in their hostel, which was one of the crappiest hostels so far, we got on a bus to get to Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the biggest sand island in the world and one of the most popular destinations on east coast. There are no paved roads on the island and all the driving is done on the beaches or on sandy off-road tracks. The tour we were on was called a tag along tour, this meant that there were four four wheel drives one driven by the tour guide and the others driven by us, the participants. We both signed up as drivers and thoroughly enjoyed driving in the sand, quite the experience. Eve hadn’t brought her driving licence with her so unfortunately she had to opt out.
Our wheels
Driving on the beach
We stayed at Eurong Resort while on the island, which despite its name wasn't a resort at all. It may have been one 20 years ago... We slept in dorms of 6 and got lucky with our roommates, who were a group of three French travellers.
Our "resort's" dining area
The island itself was absolutely amazing with beautiful fresh water lakes in the middle, huge sand dunes, beautiful never ending beaches and a spectacular show of stars at night. Our guide Bazza or Barry was excellent, such a nice fellow who really seemed to enjoy his job, and why wouldn’t he? Of all the amazing spots on the island our favourites were Eli Creek and lake Wabby with its cleaner fish.
Lake McKenzie
Dingo
Eli Creek
SS Maheno
Champagne Pools
The group
I wish I was little bit taller
The walk to Lake Wabby
Lake Wabby
Sand dunes surrounding Lake Wabby
Many say that Fraser island is a must while on east coast, but we wouldn’t put it in the top ten of our experiences. Maybe if the trip had been arranged better (mainly better food, vehicles and accommodation) we would have enjoyed it more.
Noosa
After our three day two night tour of Fraser Island we had decided to stay in a bit more of comfort and booked an absolutely amazing AirBnB in Noosaville for the following two nights. The hosts were really nice, the house was brand new and the rooms were really comfy. Surfing was one of the things that Eve especially wanted to do while in Australia so we signed up for two lessons for the two mornings we had in Noosa. Noosa is known for its surfing and it didn't disappoint! We all really enjoyed the surfing and even though it was Eve’s first time she was bossing it! We also had time to go for a walk and a swim in the Noosa Heads National Park which had some beautiful beaches and great views.
Almost pro
Walking in Noosa National Park
Eve looking for koalas
Hell's Gates
Tea Tree Bay
Good old barbie
Lady Musgrave island
After our second surf lesson in Noosa we headed back to Bundaberg to go on the previously cancelled Lady Musgrave island snorkelling tour. Snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef being on Eve’s bucket list, it was a must do! We really enjoyed our day and ended up seeing more turtles than we’d seen so far in any of the other diving or snorkelling trips. A tour on the island was included in the trip, so we walked through its unique forest and encountered numerous black terns nesting on the island. The island was stunning and the reef around it really beautiful. The island is totally surrounded by reef creating a lagoon, which is one of a kind on the GBR. To add to the bad luck that the trip was initially cancelled, one of the engines broke down just before arriving to the island. So our trip home took much longer than expected which meant we would be driving to our next location in the darkness. Luckily we didn’t encounter any kangaroos on the way and arrived safely to our AirBnB around midnight.
Birds
View from the island
Island folk
The reef and Lady Musgrave
Lady Musgrave from our boat
Sunset on the way back
Glass House Mountains and Byron Bay
After the snorkelling trip we headed down the coast towards Byron Bay and spent a night at Glass House Mountains on the way. As said, we got there after dark and were quite surprised by the views from our AirBnB in the morning. One of the mountains being right there, almost in their backyard. We ended up climbing one and the views from the top were worth the sweat. After descending we continued on our way to Byron Bay.
Mount Tibrogargan
Views from Ngungun
Get those guns out
Cave woman
The town had a very nice vibe to it with surfing being the main attraction. Loads of people had said it's really nice and we weren't disappointed. We also had the best vegan mud cake ever! We didn't stay in Byron Bay but in a little place down south called Lennox Head. That night we had dinner at the local pub and we all ate kangaroo. It was the first time Oliver had had meat in 9 months!! And it was delicious.
We wanted to see one sunrise while on the East Coast and were finally able to do so the next morning. Rosanna was very proud of herself of being able to wake up at 5:15. Later that morning we went surfing again. Eve took another lesson and we just rented a board and tried our luck. The conditions were quite hard but Rosanna and Eve enjoyed it, Oliver not so much.. After lunch and some beer tasting at the Byron Bay Brewery we headed to Brisbane for the last two nights of Eve’s visit.
A worried man
Sunrise
Lennox Head
Going surfing
Beer lovely beer
Brisbane
On the way to Brisbane we hit a really bad thunderstorm with hail and pouring rain that nearly stopped the traffic on the motorway. Fortunately all the storms had passed by the time we got to Brisbane. After dinner we headed out for a couple of drinks only to find that Thursday wasn’t the night to go out in Brissy. Also our Uber driver on our way back pointed out that the area we’d picked (Southbank) wasn’t the place to go for a party. Next day we all thanked the fact that we’d picked the wrong spot to go to as we all felt quite tired. We had breakfast in a very windy cafe in Kangaroo Point (great views over the river to the city though) before catching the ferry up and down the river. We had a stroll down the main shopping street before going to watch a little bit of a cricket game that was on at the Gabba. Next morning it was time to say a sad goodbye to Eve and send her back home. To drown Rosanna’s homesickness we went to an outlet centre to do a bit of therapeutic shopping before heading to our last destination in Australia, the Gold Coast.
Loving Brissy!
Brisbane Lagoon at night
Happy cricket fan
Even cricket is fun with a beer in your hand
Gold Coast
Our last days in Australia were spent on the Gold Coast, where we would fly off from. We decided to stay in Coolangatta, since we had to return our car there and we found a good hostel right next to the airport. On our way to Coolangatta we stopped at Burleigh Head and went for a stroll in the Burleigh Head National Park which had great views over the Surfers Paradise skyline. We were pretty beat that evening and just stayed at our hostel packing our backpacks ready for the upcoming flight.
The view from Tumgun lookout
Surfers Paradise skyline
The next day we rented bikes from our hostel and bicycled to the beach for the last time in our Australia adventure. We couldn't help but feel sad to be laying on the beautiful beach for the last time even though we knew that we would have many more adventures ahead of us in New Zealand. That evening we walked to a viewing point on the Coolangatta beach to see the sunset and dined in a really nice Mediterranean restaurant. Due to the special occasion Rosanna had organic lamb, since lamb was probably the first thing we cooked for ourselves when arriving to Australia.
Last day on the beach in Australia
Skater cat
Coolangatta viewing point
We left Australia the same way we came here: with sparkling wine
The last dinner!
Be sure to check out our last blog post, the summary :)
