Spring Break in Australia, A 10-day Road Trip! (Part 2)
Deep Diving and Koalas
Today was the day! I’d been eagerly anticipating this dive for a few days and now it was time to dive the SS Yongala Shipwreck!
We quickly packed up our things and made our way to the docks. Soon we were on our way to the vast stretches of the ocean towards this famous dive site.
The SS Yongala sank in 1911 and wasn’t discovered until 1958. Approximately 90km southeast of Townsville, the ship sits 30m below the ocean surface, and many kinds of wildlife have made it their home.
We had two dives, and approaching the ship was an incredible experience. At first I couldn’t believe what I saw, as it was incredible how much wildlife was in the area!
On the way down we saw a couple sharks in the distance, a sea snake, a turtle, and throughout the dive an immense plethora of fish with a huge range in diversity.
After spending 8 hours on the open ocean, the day wasn’t over yet! We made our way to Magnetic Island to meet our friends and did the “Forts” walk, where we saw some wild koalas!
After Magnetic Island we still needed to catch the ferry. Arrriving in Townsville, we ambitiously set our sights on driving at night towards Airlie Beach. It was getting late and we decided to make camp on the way, eventually finding the most beautiful spot at Bowen!!
This camp spot did not come easily, though. It had been a long day for all of us and we all had different ideas of where to camp. Most of us were keen on budgeting and intent on camping for free, so we searched for a spot where the ranger wouldn’t give us a fine.
After a lot of discussion on different ideas of where to camp, I proposed a spot on the map we hadn’t explored yet, and thankfully it turned out to be one of the best camping spots we’d found yet!
Sailing Pristine Waters and Frolicking on Magical Beaches
After enjoying the beautiful camping spot, we made our way to Airlie Beach, where we checked in for our sailing trip.
Our group of 5 soon became 7 when Max and Erika, our Italian friends, joined us for the Whitsunday Islands!
We had a few hours at Airlie Beach where we enjoyed a shower, explored the small tourist town, then we were ready to go sailing! We made it to our sailing boat, called the Condor, and set out to the Whitsunday Islands!
During this trip we met some amazing people, and along the way we enjoyed the beautiful scenery, the experience of sailing these pristine waters, snorkeling with fish, and basking in the incredible beauty and magic of Whitehaven Beach.
Dangerous Driving and a Platypus
We finished our Whitsundays Islands trip around noon Saturday, and began our long drive back to the Gold Coast.
Over the next 22 hours we set on an ambitious 1200km drive from Airlie Beach to Gold Coast. We frequently switched drivers as it was absolutely crucial that we were attentive while driving, especially at night.
Driving at night sometimes had its perils. In addition to the struggles of finding an appropriate camping spot, along the drive there were frequently kangaroos and wallabies in the middle of the road!!
A couple of times we had a near miss with the wild animals. While I thought seeing kangaroos while driving might be similar to how often we would see deer at night in Canada, it was very different!
It was a mission to drive at night as these animals were incredibly unpredictable and seemed to almost chase your headlights. There were also rabbits, and unfortunately some had already been struck and lay on the road.
But while driving held these perils at night, it was astonishing to see such a change of scenery from the northern Queensland to the southern Queensland coast!
We saw lush tropical rainforest, endless green valleys, the reddest of soils, sugar cane trains, and quirky trivia signs that adorned the highway to keep drivers attentive.
In addition to driving this distance we made a stop at Eungella National Park, where we admired gorgeous views of the nearby landscape, and even saw a small platypus!
We drove late into the night and spent the night sleeping in the car, which I thought might’ve been super uncomfortable, but given how tired we all were, it worked out very well and we fell asleep without a problem!
Noosa and Returning Home
On our final day we awoke early and made our way to Noosa, where we spent a few hours exploring its friendly and charming atmosphere, then hiking Noosa Heads, which was a gorgeous walk!
Leaving Noosa that evening we drove the remainder of our epic road trip and arrived back in Surfer’s Paradise, Gold Coast. We were back home!
It was a very surreal/quirky feeling to be back, and astonishing to realize our trip had come to an end, and we were back in our community of Surfer’s Paradise, which felt like home.
Summarizing a Busy 10 Days
I really enjoyed this trip and had many amazing experiences. Here are some highlights:
Scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef and Yongala, stimulating my passion for the underwater world.
Driving an incredibly dynamic coastline and trying to dodge wallabies and kangaroos on the road through the night.
Basking in the wonder of the many beaches and islands we explored, with Whitehaven being a playground of white sand, blue waters, and sun!
I love waterfalls. Jumping into ice-cold waterfalls on a hot day, and embracing the scenery and life surrounding these oases that embody so much beauty.
Sharing these experiences with some of the most amazing people I’ve met during my travels in Australia, who helped create these experiences for what they are.
This was my first extended trip with a large group; we were 7 people who worked together to create a flexible itinerary that suited everyone’s needs.
However, this sometimes proved challenging as we had differing ideas of budget and things we wanted to do. While this was challenging when coming to agreements on a planned route, we eventually came to an agreement on a route that worked to everyone’s satisfaction and enjoyment.
What I found unique about travelling in a group was the ability to build on pre-existing foundations of relatedness. Depending on the range of the connection you already share with this person, there may also be variations in values and enjoyment of different kinds of experiences, but it’s still a shared experience and understanding.
This allows further expansion on the levels of which people can relate. It’s different than travelling alone. In my experiences travelling alone I had a few days sharing the same journey as other backpackers. But in this group experience we all had a pre-existing relationship with our companions, and each day of our adventure we got to share a lot. There is also the sense of how you see each person grow, how our personalities meshed, and how teamwork and cohesion are created.
Whether you’re someone who is keeping up to date my with adventures, are curious about exchange, want to plan your own adventures in Australia, or have done a similar trip – I hope this post provides some insight and that you enjoyed the read! 🙂
Read Part 1 of Spring Break in Australia, A 10-day Road Trip