Hello again! Sorry it's been so quiet over here on the blog. Since I last posted I've had my exams (really happy with the results), the last week of term three and then it was time for the holidays yay! But this post is all about one of the best weeks I've had! Basically I did a trip to Cairns (and other parts of the east coast) with EQI on the second week of my holidays. EQI arranges trips and different kind of safaris for international students from all over Qld, the safari I did was called the East Coast Safari. I was super excited about the trip and wasn't disappointed at all!
Saturday 29/09/2018
On Saturday I woke up at 4.50am to see the sunrise at Broadbeach. It was Alisa's (my host sister) last day in Australia so we wanted to do something a bit special. We met two other friends on the beach and just spent time chatting and watching the sunrise. It was so so beautiful and definitely worth getting up (too) early.
We got back home and I finished packing my bags before getting on the train at about 10.45. Alisa came with me to the train station so we could say our goodbyes (more like 'see you agains'). On the train I met some friends from school, who were also going on the safari. The train journey to Brisbane Domestic airport was took about an hour and 45 minutes so we got to the airport in good time. The plane to Cairns departed at 2.10pm and we landed around half past four. Our bus driver took us to our accommodation at YAL Cairns, where we got the keys to our rooms, dropped off our bags and headed to dinner in the Cairns night markets. We got some pizzas and then had a look at all of the touristy stuff and souvenirs in the markets. After about two hours, we drove back and went to sleep. I was feeling pretty tired since I had woken up before sunrise, so I was more than happy to go to bed.
Sunday 30/09/2018
Sunday was the first full day of the safari. It was an action packed day full of fun stuff. After breakfast we got on the bus and drove up to see the Cathedral Curtain Fig tree (basically a huge tree) and Lake Eacham where we had a swim in the turquoise water. From there we went to see the waterfalls that are a part of Queenslands tallest mountain Mt Bartle Frere. First we visited the Millaa Millaa falls and it was absolutely amazing (even though the water was cold) and that's pretty much all I've got to say because I can't really explain it so just look at the pictures haha.
We left Millaa Millaa and drove to Josephine falls which again, were so beautiful. At Josephine falls there is a nature's own water slide, a smooth rock with flowing water from the waterfalls straight into a small pond. It's not too big or steep but the water flow is super fast and it's really fun. I had no expectations for any of the sights that I got to see that day, and was absolutely blown away by how beautiful everything was.
And because a picture is worth more than a hundred words, here are a few :)
Monday 01/10/2018
The next day we got to glide above the rainforest canopy to Kuranda village on the Skyrail. There are a few lookout points along the way up the mountain where you get to take pictures of the beautiful landscape. We saw the most beautiful landscape of the mountains, the waterfalls and the rainforest.
In Kuranda we had some time to eat lunch and explore the village for a couple of hours. From Kuranda we drove down to the Aboriginal culture centre Tjapukai, where we learned about the history of the indigenous people and saw traditional dances and rituals and got to throw spears and boomerangs. We also got to paint our own boomerangs which was quite fun.
We headed back to our accommodation, had dinner, played a few games together and went to sleep.
Tuesday 02/10/2018
Tuesday was a very very exciting day becauseee... it was time to go to The Great Barrier Reef!! We woke up early at about 6am, had breakfast, got on the bus and drove to Marlin Wharf, where we got on a boat and headed out to the Outer Barrier Reef. After about two and a half hours on the boat we arrived to probably one of the most magical places in the world. The water is insanely blue and all of the corals are so so bright and colourful.
On the boat we all got individual safety numbers, and a lot of people had chosen to do an introductory scuba dive, so after a safety info we got divided into small diving groups. First I did snorkelling and later when my group number got called out, I went back to the boat and put the diving gear on, jumped in the water, showed the instructor all the necessary skills and ticked off one of the things on my bucket list! Diving was truly incredible and I'm lucky enough to say that I did my first ever dive on the Great Barrier Reef which is just crazy (!!). It was such an amazing experience I had to do it twice haha.
It was a pretty long day and everyone was quite tired when we got back. We had a small volleyball match after dinner, just hung out outside for a while, and went to bed.
Wednesday 03/10/2018
On Wednesday we said goodbye to Cairns and spent the day on the bus, fun right? We did do a couple of stops, one at a lake where you could have a swim and another to have lunch (and obviously the additional toilet stops). After at least eight hours on the road, we finally arrived in Airlie Beach and went straight for dinner at the sailing club. Dinner was nice, and afterwards we drove to the camping grounds where we were staying at. We settled in our little cabins after a long day and went to bed.
Thursday 04/10/2018
Thursday was also a very exciting and fun day. We woke up, ate breakfast at the campsite and got picked up to go to the harbour. We were taken out on powered boats to the Whitsunday passage. First we stopped for a snorkel on a beautiful reef that was a part of the Barrier Reef. It was at least as good as snorkelling on the outer reef. The coral was beautiful and we saw a wobbegong shark and a sea turtle which was super cool.
After snorkelling we were taken to Whitehaven beach. Whitehaven beach is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen, period. The sand is insanely white, the water is so so so clear and turquoise and it's just ridiculously beautiful. We spent about an hour and a half on the beach having lunch and just chilling. From the beach we (sadly) left to a lookout point on Hill Inlet. The view from the lookout point was so so amazing and the guide told us some really interesting stuff, like that the water in the water swirls changes colour as it flows to the ocean. After all the snorkelling, the most incredible beach and way too many pictures, we got back on the boat and had to head back to the campgrounds.
These photos don't do the place justice but I tried my best to capture as much of its beauty as I could.
Our evening activities included eating Domino's pizza from the luggage containers under our bus and exploring the streets of Airlie Beach. We walked around and had some delicious ice cream before returning to our cabins.
Friday 05/10/2018
On Friday we said goodbye to Airlie Beach and sat the next five or six hours on the bus on the way to Raglan. We arrived to our accommodation in the early afternoon. Our accommodation for the last night of the trip was The Old Station. It's a historic homestead and a working farm, the property is huge and the cattle was everywhere. We drove to the other side of the farm to have some afternoon tea. We had some tea and cakes and fed the pet kangaroo and wallaby. Yes, pet kangaroos and wallabies apparently are a thing (the more you know). They were pretty cute hopping around the terrace looking for bread and someone to pet them.
After afternoon tea and kangaroos, we went back to the Old Station where we had a lovely roast dinner, learned how to use a whip and had a blast singing all of the throwback karaoke songs. In the evening it was chucking it down with rain and we had lightning and thunder too.
Saturday 06/10/2018
Saturday was the day we had to head home after all of the amazing stuff we'd experienced during the past week. But before the long bus journey all the way home, I had to see the sunrise, again...
We drove all the way from Raglan to the Gold Coast passing through the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, which took about nine hours. We said goodbye to the new friends, the leaders and the most amazing trip. I'm really grateful for having had the chance to see and experience all this cool stuff, and definitely want to go back and spend more time in some of those incredible places.
Sorry this post was really late (nothing new I suppose) but I've been kind of busy catching up on quite a lot of school stuff after the holidays.
Hope you've also had/are having a nice holiday!
xx
Yup, it was really amazing and fun! And yes you can see more photos by clicking the arrow :)
I found the Fig tree photo - just scroll from the > on the right :)
Do you have a photo of the Fig tree?ve a
What an amazing trip!