Spring Break in Australia, A 10-day Road Trip! (Part 1)
“Aaaaand….. done! I finished my final assignment before Spring Break and we were on the train towards Brisbane to catch our flight to Cairns. 🙂 We arrived at our hostel late that evening and quickly settled in for the night to prepare for a big day at the Great Barrier Reef!”
I travelled with other exchange students: one German, one Austrian, two Danish, and two Italians. This was the beginning of our 10-day adventure, travelling from Cairns all the way down to the Gold Coast.
Our intention was to see and experience as much as we could during our mid-semester holiday and oh my… did we ever experience a lot!! These 10 days were filled with diving, sailing, waterfalls, rain forest, sun, beaches, koalas and so much more 😀
In this post I’ll share the immense amount of activities we experienced, as well as some lessons learned while travelling for 10 days with the group.
Perhaps this post will hold value if you’re hoping to plan your own Queensland Spring Break Australia trip, maybe it will be reminiscent of a trip you’ve already done, and of course this will be a way for me to share some of the beauty of Australia with friends and family back home. I hope you enjoy! 🙂
Great Barrier Reef
We woke up early the next morning, had a small breakfast and went to the docks to find our boat. We lined up, got on our boat and registered — and soon we were on our way to the Great Barrier Reef!
I was thrilled in anticipation of scuba diving again as I’d recently earned my Advanced Diving Certification and had been diving a lot lately. We got suited up and ready to go, I had my GoPro underwater video camera ready to capture some awesome footage, and four of us submerged ready to see all the wonders the reef had to offer.
Almost immediately I was overcome with the beauty of the reef, swimming among fish and coral reefs. Being absorbed in the experience, I suddenly realized my GoPro was missing!!
I communicated to my buddy what had happened and we tried to search for the GoPro, but to no avail. It was gone!! However, after a brief search I accepted that we might not find it, and returned my attention to the wonders around me and immersed myself in this amazing experience.
We saw hundreds of fish swimming among the diverse and beautiful habitat of the coral reef. Some were smaller than a fingernail, which made them appear as glimmers of light in the water with their illustrious colours, and others were as large as my arm span. We even saw Nemo and his family!
We saw black-tip reef sharks, stingrays, and—best of all—swam with two turtles. The first turtle was relaxing in a little cove hidden near the sea floor, and the other was a massive turtle that glided with us majestically through the water.
As well all the incredible diversity underwater, the boat experience was also amazing as I shared this experience with my friends, met new people, had the support of lovely staff, and enjoyed a delicious buffet.
During this experience I realized how much I’d learned while diving, helping my friend, and the dive experience itself. I want to experience this more often, and it made me interested in being a dive instructor.
Visiting the Great Barrier Reef offered a completely new and unique experience that I won’t soon forget, and my GoPro may forever remain at its bottom.
Daintree Rainforest
The next day we went to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation. The weather wasn’t very nice, but it was still an awesome experience and I loved being immersed in the rain forest again.
Later that evening we stopped at Port Douglas for food and drinks then made our way to Cairns, where we celebrated Amalie’s birthday at a local bar!
Markets, Waterfalls, and Searching for Sleep
Sunday morning we went to the dive shop to fill out our scuba diving logs, then to the Cairns Botanical Gardens and the market there.
The Gardens were beautiful with such a diverse array of flora and plants, and butterflies flying around the conservatory. The smell was amazing! It would be so wonderful if more environments like this were still available naturally to inspire thought, relaxation, innovation and connection to nature.
The market was just as amazing. There were dozens and dozens of stalls. Each vendor sold items unique to their trades, skills and interests. I wondered what inspired each vendor to sell their particular goods.
There was honey (which I learned shared traits similar to the art/science of wine-making), gems, dishes, candles and amazing food all throughout. There was also live music!
This is the kind of environment one can wander to inspire new ideas, have exposure to different crafts and goods that could inspire business ideas, and diverse people where conversations can spark different possibilities. It was a relaxed and friendly vibe.
After spending awhile at the market, my friends called saying they were ready to go. At first I was a bit distraught because I wasn’t ready to leave so soon, but their call and eagerness to leave soon gave me enough time to pick-up my replacement GoPro camera, so I appreciated that. (When getting a new GoPro I also got the hero 4, with a 10% “local” discount.) 😉
Later that day we went to the beautiful Josephine Falls, where we jumped into amazing water, enjoyed a natural water slide, and then drove to Mission Beach for dinner. The others all met us there, and later on we enjoyed a nice moonlight walk on the beach.
Finding a place to sleep that evening was quite the debacle. We went to a campsite but it was full, then debated if we should camp on the beach where a ranger couldn’t find us.
In our search for a campsite, we decided to approach a house with a light on. We knocked on the door and were greeted by a very kind old man. His name was Robin, he’d had a stroke 4 months ago, and he had a walker. We talked to him for a short period of time, and he was very pleased to offer us the opportunity to camp on a small patch of grass in his yard, as well as use the bathroom and shower. However, it turned out to not actually be his yard, but the tenant who lived upstairs.
As we were setting up the tent, another old man came to our tent with a flashlight and started yelling — questioning why we were there and telling us to leave immediately. We had a debate with him, told him to talk to Robin but that did not work as they argued.
The man said he would call the police in 30 minutes if were not gone. So to avoid the trouble and hassle of this, we decided to leave and find another spot. We ended up choosing a spot on the beach, and after much struggle set up the tent for the night and slept.
Island Vacation
That night wasn’t the best for sleeping, but that was okay. The next morning we went to the hostel nearby where the door was wide open… we used the shower facilities, electricity outlets, as well as made a coffee ;).
We spent most of the day on the little paradise of Dunk Island. This island offered a wonderful hike with a great lookout point, lush rain forest and beautiful beaches. Later that evening we had a BBQ on Mission Beach then journeyed to Wallaman Falls, where we camped for the night.
Largest Waterfall in Australia and a Luxury Hostel
We awoke the next morning, reorganized all of our items and cleaned the car, then hiked the amazing Wallaman Falls (the largest waterfall in Australia)!
The hike itself was beautiful, and one of the highlights of the trip for me. I’d really missed hiking and all the elements involved. Beautiful nature, fresh air, good company, and aspects of adventure as we trekked over slippery rocks to make our way to the ice-cold waters of the waterfall!
Later that day we journeyed to Townsville, where we made our way to the amazing Rambutan hostel, which was more like a 4-star hotel and cost only $24/night. We soaked up the luxury of the Rambutan, enjoying the ambiance, which promoted heart-felt conversations, and hit the hay early that night, preparing for another early morning!
