For our first big trip here in Oz we decided to explore
Queensland, the state just to the north of
New South Wales (which is where we live).
Queensland is known for its tropical weather, beautiful coastline, lush rain forests, deadly animals, and Steve Irwin.
Also, it’s the home of the
Great Barrier Reef.
We had been planning this trip since before we arrived in Australia, and as an indication of just how excited we were, when we got off the place we ran straight to the rental car office, picked up our keys, jumped in the car and then realized we had forgotten to pick up our bags from baggage claim!
Gold Coast
We started our trip on the southern end of Queensland, in a town called Surfers Paradise. This was a perfect little beach town. Outdoor cafes, restaurants, bars, and shops all within walking distance to the beach. Also, the streets were lined with bronze sculptures of surfboards, as if the name of the town itself didn’t pay enough homage to the sport. Greg decided to see what the hype was all about and signed up for a surf lesson. And believe it or not, after a couple hours of not so glorious attempts, he was able to stand up and ride few waves. And what may be even harder to believe is that he didn’t look too awkward riding the waves – maybe a natural?
After a night in Surfers Paradise, we loaded up the car for the next leg of our trip, the drive up through the Gold Coast onto the Sunshine Coast (one thing the Aussies are not- is creative with the names of their towns).
Australia Zoo
On the way to the Sunshine Coast we passed the Australia Zoo, which was the zoo founded and owned by Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter himself. Having spent many nights watching Animal Planet programs, Greg and Carey were very excited to visit the home of the world’s most famous animal conservationist. The zoo definitely lived up to our expectations. It really wasn’t a Zoo in the normal definition of the word. It was more of an animal park. The koalas, kangaroos, lizards, camels, wallabies, and wombats were all free to roam around the park – as were the people. Wisely, however, the crocodiles were kept within enclosed walls. After spending some time playing with the koalas, Carey had her mind set on bringing one home with her. She thought it would make a perfect playmate for little Maddie.
Unfortunately, we don’t think we would be able to sustain enough eucalyptus trees to keep the koala fed. However, after learning that the next part of our drive up the Queensland Coast would be through the natural habitats of the kangaroos and koalas, we were now even more excited for the upcoming bit of our road trip.
Queensland Countryside
The drive from the Australia Zoo (just north of Brisbane) to Fraser Island (our next destination) was without a doubt one of the most scenic and unique drives either of us has ever experienced. We first drove through the Glasshouse Mountains, which were giant stone mountains jutting out of the lush green hillsides. From there we passed through the small Queensland country towns of Malaney and Montville – both very cute and quaint towns which we would have liked to spend more time in. We did manage to hop out of the car on the way from Montville to Noosa to grab a picture with the giant pineapple (which apparently is a famous Australian tourist attraction) in Nambour – where Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister is from. The drive through the mountains back down to the coast offered some of the most spectacular views we saw on the trip. After eating lunch in the unbelievably perfect beach town of Noosa, we headed north back through the bush up towards Rainbow Beach (which was our launching point for Fraser Island). And when we say back through the bush, we literally mean back through the bush – no houses, no stores, no street lights, no sidewalks, no gas stations, no other cars, and no lines on the road – which were DIRT. At one point our directions stopped making sense and our map didn’t show any more streets heading in the direction we needed to be going. We thought we would go with our gut and just head north but before we knew it we were back in the same spot we had been about two hours ago. Strangely, we didn’t freak out or panic and we both actually secretly glad we had just gotten lost for two hours because the drive we just took was through some of the most amazing rolling green hills we have ever seen.
We soon realized that the reason our directions stopped working wasn’t because they stopped making sense, but rather because we assumed the roads we were supposed to take were actual roads, rather then dirt driveway looking paths. When we were finally able to wave down a group of Queenslanders enjoying a case of beer (yes, everyone in the car – driver included) on a Sunday afternoon drive they informed us that our directions were right, and in fact the only way to Rainbow Beach was via the dirt path. Hmmm, this seemed odd but apparently as we later learned from the hotel manager at Rainbow Beach, “in Queensland, some of the roads are sealed, some of them are not.” Fair enough.
And although the roads weren’t paved, or maybe because the roads weren’t paved, this part of the drive made for some of the fantastic wildlife viewing. It was during this two hour stretch on the dirt path that we spotted our first koala, kangaroo, and dingo in the wild. The dingo was actually one of the more surprising spottings. Apparently it’s pretty rare to see one in the wild these days, and one just happened to cross the road right in front of us – even stopping to give us a quick stare. And by the time both of us had had enough of the constant bumping up and down of the dirt roads (3.5 hours), we arrived at our destination – Rainbow Beach.
Fraser Island
Although our destination technically was Rainbow Beach, the reason we spent two nights here was to take a day trip over to Fraser Island. Rainbow Beach itself is not exactly a bustling tourist spot. While although it does have a few nice sites (namely the massive sand blow that has formed in the southern edge of the town, creating a desert like span of land in the middle of the forest), the whole town consists of about a 100 yard stretch of restaurants and shops, none of which were open when we arrived Sunday night. However, its beach is one of the departure points for Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world stretching 123 km long and covering an area of 166,038 hectares. There are no roads on the island, only sandy beaches and paths through its interior forest. It’s only accessible via boat, has no roads other than sand paths, and only heavy four wheel drive vehicles are allowed to drive on the sandy beaches, for obvious reasons. At low tide, the vehicles actually have to cross through the incoming sea waters to get through to certain sections of the island.
One of the main attractions on Fraser Island is the fresh water lakes that have formed in the massive sand dunes on the center of the island. The water is so clean and clear that the contrast of blues against the sandy beaches and surroundings forests is spectacular. The water is also extremely warm and due to the low ph levels does not sustain any wildlife, which makes it perfect for swimming. The fine sand mixed with the clean water also is perfect for cleaning not only skin but jewelry as well. In fact, everyone sat on beach and exfoliated themselves and then jumped into the lake-the sand granulation perfect for exfoliating the skin and the ph in the water perfect for adding health benefits to the newly smoothed and refined skin. We visited Lake McKenzie, which was located in the southern end of the island in the middle of the rain forest. The rain forest itself is something of a unique place. There are not many (only three in fact) such rain forests growing in sand rather than soil. The combination of the immaculately clean fresh water lakes and the sand grown rain forests has lead to Fraser Islands’ World Heritage listing status. And although the island is one large beach, there is not much swimming in the surrounding ocean, which is infested with Tiger Sharks!
From Rainbow Beach and Fraser Island, we then drove through some more Queensland country towns on the way to our next destination, the Great Barrier Reef.
Great Barrier Reef
We took off for the Great Barrier Reef from a small port town called Gladstone, about six hours north of Rainbow Beach. The drive there was not quite as interesting as the drive up the Sunshine Coast. In fact, there were numerous signs posted along the only road from Rainbow Beach to Gladstone reminding drivers to stay awake and encouraging them to rest if tired. It was actually quite amusing. One of the signs actually read, “Heavy Fatigue Zone.” The endless fields of eucalyptus trees tend to get a little redundant and hypnotizing (for Carey who got sucked into staring into all the trees looking for koala bears) after a few hours.
However, we arrived safe and sound in Gladstone on Tuesday evening ready to get some rest for our Wednesday morning departure to the Great Barrier Reef. And one night in Gladstone was plenty. The town slogan is “Some people actually love our city.” Key words being “some” and “actually.”
We opted for the boat ride from Gladstone as our mode of transportation to the Great Barrier Reef. Anyone who has experienced the joy of riding in a boat with Greg for a long enough time understands this was a risky endeavor. Surprisingly, and probably due to the herbal pills the staff handed out prior to departure, Greg survived the two and half hour ride through the Coral Sea without sharing his breakfast with the fishes. In fact, Carey fared worse than Greg however she too was able to keep her breakfast to herself.
Upon arrival at Heron Island any thoughts of sea sickness were immediately forgotten. Heron Island is a true coral cay located right on the Great Barrier Reef. Its one of the few islands off the coast of Australia that actually is a part of the Reef. It’s a tiny island without any roads or any buildings above the tree line. A walk around the entire perimeter of the island takes about 30 minutes. But the true beauty of the island isn’t the island itself, but rather the surrounding coral filled ocean. The waters are so clear that standing from the beach or on the dock you can see straight through to the bottom. This means that you can also see all the sharks, rays, fish, turtles, and eels swimming right off the coast. Quite an intimidating site for two American’s used to swimming in the lifeless waters of the Northeastern shores of the US. However, after we were assured by every staff member working on the island that the reef sharks, although some reached six or seven feet in length, are not interested in eating humans we decided to brave the waters (and yes, we actually may have asked every staff member on the island). The snorkeling was amazing. Exotic fish, colorful coral, starfish, giant clams, eels, sting rays, manta rays, reef sharks, and sea turtles were all literally right off the coast. In fact one of our favorite activities was standing in knee deep water watching sharks swim right past our feet. We even spotted what we thought was a new species of shark, but apparently it was what is called a ray shark and the marine center were already well aware of its existence – we checked. In fact, it wasn’t a shark at all but a species of ray whose defense is scaring off other predators by appearing like a shark. It sure worked, because it scared the hell out of us.
The one downside of the island was that while it is a haven for nesting turtles (the upside), it is also a haven for countless species of birds. This made for some strange noises throughout the night and the constant threat of being the target of bird bombings. And there were also geckos and spiders in our room, which after our moth experience in the Blue Mountains confirmed our suspicion that the Aussies don’t mind having wildlife in their living quarters. Luckily the Geico commercials have made us more comfortable with geckos and we were able to manage.
After four amazing days on the island it was time to depart. After the stomach churning torture on the boat ride over we opted for the helicopter departure back to Gladstone. And it was well worth the extra cost. We were lucky enough to be the only ones on our helicopter which meant we both had unbelievable views and a private “heli” ride. As we ascended into the sky it became clear how Heron Island fit into the bigger picture of the Great Barrier Reef. It looked like a maze of blue and green waters dotted with brown and yellow coral clusters. We could even make out a few wading turtles as we flew over the reef. It was the perfect ending to a perfect trip.
We tried to put up as many pictures on the blog as possible, but if you have time it’s definitely worth checking out the photo link for a complete photo album of the Queensland trip. The picture below was the sun setting to close the trip of a lifetime. 
