For this leg of our trip we landed in Cairns and then drove down to Brisbane! It’s been so different from the first part of our trip with the warm, tropical weather, but has been amazing in it’s own ways!

The Great Barrier Reef

We booked a tour out of Cairns to go snorkeling and see the Great Barrier Reef! Our tour was with Dive Den and they were great; the whole crew was super friendly and fun. There were two dive sites and lunch included. Unfortunately I got sea sick while snorkeling the first site. I felt fine while I was on the boat, but after an hour in the water I was not doing well lol. I got back on the boat, had lunch, some anti-nausea meds and a little nap. I missed the second spot, but I am still happy I got to see the reef. Mom said the first site was the best… I’m not sure if she was just saying that to make me feel better or not, but it worked. While snorkeling, we saw a couple sea turtles, sharks, a HUGE clam, beautiful star fish and many other kinds of fish. It was amazing and I am so glad I got to see it. I barely got any pictures of this tour because the best things to see were under water! I started feeling better on our way back to shore, so we went to a pub near the water for happy hour and they had live music! It was so fun. Live music and good beer are definitely two of my favorite things in life.

Airlie Beach – The Whitsundays

After getting ill snorkeling on a slow sailing boat, we decided to try something faster paced. We booked an Ocean Rafting boat tour to the Whitsundays and Whitehaven beach. It wasn’t your typical tour boat – they were pretty fast. The boats got a little unnecessarily close at times, which made me feel a little unsafe. I’m talking within 5 feet of each other going full speed. It went against everything I had learned in the course i took to get my boating license back home. Robbie would not have been impressed. Other than that bit of unease, the ride was enjoyable. We rode to the beach at Hill Inlet and did a bush walk up to the lookout over Whitehaven beach. It was stunning and one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. After the lookout, we walked down to the beach. We ate lunch on the beach and then went swimming. The sand is the SOFTEST sand I have ever walked in. There is an inactive volcano in the bay that they think created all the white sand. It is illegal to take any sand from the beach – even Oprah Winfrey got a fine. The only exception was NASA to create the lens in one of their telescopes. After the beach, we headed out snorkeling for the rest of the afternoon and then headed back to shore. I took my anti-nausea meds before hand and felt great!! The same can’t be said for some others on our tour. I knew how they felt, but was happy not to be feeling the same this time around. During the day we saw dolphins, turtles and a little manta ray! It was so cool. We went for dinner at an Italian restaurant called La Marina. Mom had pizza and I had pasta; it was delicious!

Drive from Airlie Beach to Rainbow Beach

The drive from Airlie Beach to Rainbow Beach takes about 11 hours. We didn’t want to spend two days traveling, so just got it over with in one go leaving at 7am. We stopped in Rockhampton at the Stonegrill Restaurant for lunch. The owner was an old man who took such pride in the food he cooked. He told us all about the different cuts and how the food was prepared. The food came out on a stone that was heated to 400 C! Your steak cooked right on the stone in front of you. It was cool and pretty tasty. It was about 37C outside though, so the heat from the stone was a lot lol. The restaurant was in an old building that lacked AC, so we were both sweating by the time we left.

After lunch we started off on the last 4.5 hours of the drive. About 1.5 hours later the torrential down pours started. It was a crazy, scary drive. The highway we were supposed to take was closed due to flooding so we had to take an alternate route. The rain did not let up and it was a pretty quiet drive the whole way because we were both so nervous. We made it to Rainbow Beach around 8pm. Thank goodness!

Fraser Island (K’Gari)

From Rainbow Beach we booked a tour to Fraser Island (K’Gari), the largest sand island in the world! You need a 4X4 vehicle to get around because the entire island is sand. We rode on a big 4×4 bus, and the ride got so rough at times! It was neat! In the morning, there was a little plane on the beach that was offering flights over the island. Mom and I took the opportunity, and it was such an experience! I could not wipe the smile off my face the whole time. Mom was a little scared, but was happy she did it in the end! After the flight, we checked out the Maheno Shipwreck, Pinnacle Coloured Sands and Eli Creek. We had a buffet lunch at the K’Gori resort and then headed back out to see Lake McKenzie, Central Station and Pile Valley. The island was logged from the early 70’s until 1992 when it became protected, so there was some history to see. We also saw three wild dingos while we were driving! The island is home to the largest dingo population in Australia, with about 250 wild dogs. They look cute and friendly, but there are warnings all over the island to watch your lunch and small children. The island was incredible to visit, and I definitely recommend it if anyone is ever in Australia. I would like to go book a couple day tour in the future to see more. One day just didn’t seem like enough!

The Australia Zoo

The Australia zoo is owned by the Irwin family and is involved in animal rescue and conservation around the world. Some of the crocs that Steve Irwin rescued are in the zoo. We got to see some of the crocs get fed, and Rob Irwin was the one feeding them. It was an awesome day and we learned a lot!