Blog 5: Queensland & Victoria Vacation!

Blog 5: Vacation!!

We had a whirlwind vacation for the first two weeks of September, followed by a few days in Sydney, which was then followed by four days in Torquay, Victoria. This blog post will focus on those two and a half weeks of vacation. We had an amazing trip and saw a lot of Australia too!

We left Sydney on September 1st, and flew into Brisbane. Drew had an exam there on September 2nd, which was much more convenient than the other option of the Newcastle exam scheduled for the middle of our trip. So, while Drew wrote his exam, I did some touring around Brisbane on a bike. Thankfully, this odd start to our trip was worthwhile, as Drew passed his exam! We were able to squeeze in a few of our favourites in Brisbane: Maker Bar, an excellent cocktail bar,  and Greek food in the West End. The following day we went to visit some family friends, who are also Canadian Expats: Clotilde, Rej, Gabriel & Remi. We had a lovely time visiting with them, and they were wonderful hosts. Afterwards we took the light rail to the Gold Coast. 

Although we both agreed that it was not our favourite part of the trip, we had a nice time in the Gold Coast. We had a nice hotel room in Surfer’s Paradise, ate at some nice restaurants, enjoyed the beach, and shopped at Pacific Fair. Australians like to say that the Gold Coast is like Vegas, but it is not. It lacks the mega-entertainment of Vegas, such as Cirque du Soliel, and doesn’t have the swath of casinos, which doesn’t bother us. What felt similar was the slightly seedy vibe. Now, Drew and I don’t fully agree on which is seedier, but I think it’s fair to say that that is not the comparison that Gold Coast Tourism is hoping for! We did really enjoy our time in the Gold Coast, but the rest of our trip was outstanding, so that is the main reason why it paled in comparison. 

Following our two days in Gold Coast, we quickly went back to Brisbane to take the train up to Cairns. It was an overnight train, and overall we had a nice experience. It was definitely better than the train between Brisbane and Sydney, as the food was much nicer. 

When we arrived in Cairns we had a short walk to our hostel. Given that we were planning on touring all day every day when we were in Cairns, we felt that it wasn’t worth it to stay in a hotel. We had a really nice time at the hostel in Cairns, as it was a very laid back and quiet place. The first full day in Cairns we took the Kuranda tourist train up to Kuranda. Drew upgraded our tickets to Gold Class, which ended up being worth it, as we had an assigned club chair, and a very nice morning tea that included unlimited wine, sparkling wine, beer, and non-alcholic beverages. We loved the scenery, and enjoyed our time in Kuranda. We went to the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, and saw some beautiful butterflies, including the blue Ulysses Butterflies. I had been in 1993, and it was as much fun as I remembered. We took the Skyrail cable car to return (part way) to Cairns. You could hop on/hop off, so we went on a few short hikes on our way back. 

The next day we were picked up early for the live-aboard. We spent three days living on the ship and diving the Great Barrier Reef. The water was quite rough, so I was on a regimen of anti-nausea medication. The rough seas were worth it, as we saw some amazing fish and coral. We saw a variety of anemone fish, including clown anemone fish (i.e. Nemo). We also saw some turtles, and watched them swim and eat the reef for quite a while. Drew had an amazing flouro night dive. It was definitely a highlight of our trip, and amongst some of the best diving we have done. 

Sunset over the reef.

Dive Boat!

Following our live-aboard trip we went back to Cairns, and the following day did a day trip to Cape Tribulation, Mossman George, the Daintree rainforest, and Port Douglas. We had an excellent tour guide who used extra time to show us wild wallabies. Cape Tribulation was very beautiful, but we were shocked to see a man swimming with his young child given that there was a recent crocodile sighting. The lunch in the Daintree was also very informative, as the host gave us samples of all sorts of tropical fruit. The tour was a whirlwind, but I’m so glad we did it, as the scenery was amazing.

Do you see the baby croc?

At Cape Tribulation: most Northern tip of Australia.

Following the tour we picked up our rental car and headed out to the Atherton Tablelands. We stayed at a very nice Airbnb, and managed to fit in a lot sights. We saw a massive curtain fig tree, which is a type of tree that grows on top of another tree until it eventually chokes out the original tree. We went to a coffee plantation, and a family run dairy operation that produces their own cheeses and chocolate. After a day of touring we drove to Townsville to get on the Magnetic Island Ferry. We stayed at a very nice resort on Magnetic Island, and really enjoyed our time on the island. We went on a hike where we saw old WWII forts and koalas sleeping in trees. We definitely would like to go back, as the island was a highlight of our trip. 

The curtain fig tree.

We have no idea what this was, and both exclaimed "WTF" in unison. 

Cheese making!

Waterfall in Atherton Tablelands.

View of Magnetic Island midway through our hike.

WWII Military Buildings.

Sleepy Koala:)

Once we left Magnetic Island, we did our longest drive of the trip, and drove to Rockhampton. It took us about 8-9 hours, and it was a very long day. We also couldn’t stop a lot, as we had to make our check-in of 9pm. Many Aussie hotels in more rural or regional centres have limited front desk hours, so we’ve learned that we need to plan for that with road trips. It is a bit frustrating, especially when you’re used to North American hotels that have 24-hour reception desks. 

The next day we headed down to Noosa, which is about 2 hours north of Brisbane. We stayed at a hostel again, and while our room was great, the vibe was a bit too party like for our taste. The first day we had a fun day at the beach, and then went out for a very nice dinner. The second day we went for an amazing hike in the national park, where we saw half-a-dozen humpback whales breaching about a kilometre from shore. Then we packed up the car and drove back to Brisbane for our flights home to Sydney. 

Four days after returning to Sydney we headed out again, this time to Torquay, Victoria. We flew into Avalon, which is similar to flying into Hamilton in terms of airport size and proximity to the major city, which in this case was Melbourne. We picked up our rental car, and drove part of the Great Ocean Road. We did a short hike along the coast, and stopped in at an amazing chocolate factory. 

Lighthouse on the Great Ocean Road.

Kangaroos in front of the chocolate factory.

Then we headed to Torquay, where we stayed at the RACV Resort, which is an autoclub resort. Our room was very beautiful, and the whole property was amazing. I especially enjoyed the gym, yoga studio, and pool. Drew was attending a conference, so I had plenty of time to relax, and explore the town. I found a brand new quilt shop that was really nice, as well as a nice coffee shop. I also rented a bike from a surf shop, which ended up being a mistake, as the bikes were in poor condition. I also went on one of the conference activities to a winery tasting, while Drew took a learn-to-surf lesson. Torquay is one of the biggest surf spots in Australia, so it was a fitting activity to try there. When the conference was done we went outlet shopping at Ripcurl (the company is headquartered in Torquay), and both bought new wetsuits. I bought one for swimming in Sydney, as the water is quite cool. Drew bought one for water sports. Then we went to the Surfing Museum that was nice, but definitely a bit amateurish. Then it was back to the airport for our flight home.