End of the outback, and arrival in rainy Townsville
Our last post ended 90 miles North of Alice Springs. From there we had 1,250 miles to drive to reach the East coast. We drove for three days straight under very very hot weather (108 degrees during the day and 90 at night).
Our last sunsets in the outback, and our last evenings spent all alone in the middle of nowhere.
We spent our first night on the East coast in Townsville in the state of Queensland. Queensland is nicknamed the “sunshine state”, but when we arrive in Townsville it is pouring rain. We had planned on going to Magnetic Island the following day, just across from Townsville, and spend two days there. But the weather forecasted for the next two days isn’t great. So we decide not to go.
To be fair, we are in the rainy season, and a big cyclone hit the coast just a couple of days ago. Which explains these heavy rains. We already miss the outback weather ! Especially how dry it was. Indeed, the temperatures are a little lower here (85/90 max during the day), but the humidity is killing us. It is also weird to see civilization again, a first since Adelaide 10 days ago.
Off to Mission Beach at Josie’s
So we spend only one night in Townsville, in a free campsite just outside the city, and leave the next day to go to Mission Beach, 150 miles North. Along the way we can stop and see plenty of beautiful waterfalls, like the Wallaman Falls, the highest waterfall in Australia. Unfortunately the rain is coming down hard and the road to get there is closed because of flooding. The road to Townsville, even-though short in distance compared to what we were used to in the outback, seems never-ending. It is raining very heavily, the road is flooded at times, the visibility is terrible, and the Australians just drive like mad men. Definitely more tiring conditions than what we were used to these past couple of weeks.
We arrive in Mission Beach early afternoon, where we will spend two days with Josie, Sam and their little boy Owen. Josie is a friend of Ben, who is Maider’s best friend. He met her a few years back when he was living in Australia. Josie was more than happy to welcome us during a couple of days in her house in the middle of the tropical jungle of Mission Beach. A great opportunity for us to rest after the long hours driving in the outback. But more importantly spend some time with this incredible family, that wears their heart on their sleeve.
They welcomed us with open arms and we had a great time with them, talking for hours, playing music, go for a swim in the Tully gorges or attend Owen’s classroom Christmas party. These two days in Mission Beach were very resourceful and we are glad we got to meet them.
Our stay in Mission Beach was also the opportunity to double check our itinerary. Indeed, originally we wanted to drive up North to Cairns to do a boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef, but with this terrible weather we are wondering if it is worth it. We are afraid the visibility will be terrible if it rains, and these boat trips are pretty expensive…
Discovering the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns
We watch the weather forecast very closely and it looks like there is a 2 day window with nice weather before the cyclone comes back.
So we decide to go and drive the 85 miles up to Cairns from Mission Beach. And when we arrive in Cairns, the weather is absolutely beautiful over the ocean with a bright blue sky. But there are still big black clouds inland.
We book our boat trip for the next day, hoping we will get lucky with the weather. It is very very hot and humid when we get in Cairns, so we decide to go for a swim in the city’s man-made lagoon. Indeed, we cannot swim in the ocean here because of the jelly fish and we cannot swim in the rivers because of the crocodiles. So the only option is going to the lagoon, that is very nice. Facing the ocean, we stay a while to relax and lower our body temperatures a little.
In Cairns, the closest free campsite is 50 miles outside the city, and since we have to be at 7:30 am at the harbor the next day, we decide to check into a paying campsite 10 minutes from the city center. Cairn’s downtown is pretty different than other Australian cities we have visited so far. Here we see tour operators offering tours on the Great Barrier Reef at every street corner, surrounded by luxury shops like Louis Vuitton, amazing 5 star resorts and some hostels. And that’s about it. Without forgetting the huge cruise ships that stop here. We are here in the low season, and it is true that there are not too many people. We can’t imagine how crazy this city becomes when it is high season.
After a short night where we didn’t sleep too well because of the heat but also hoping the weather would be nice the next day, we wake up under an incredible blue sky !
When we arrive at the boat terminal, we see all the boats that are going out on a tour today. And we can tell you that there are A LOT.
In our boat, it looks like we will only be around 50. It can seem like a lot, but we saw boats that were carrying at least 2 or 3 times that number of passengers.
After a nice breakfast on-board, we leave to the first of the 3 sites we will go to today. So initially we were only supposed to snorkel on the three sites, since diving is an add-on. But once on-board we are told that there are still spots available to do an introductory dive. This means we can do one dive with an instructor and then snorkel on the two other sites. This is a bit more money but we don’t know if we will ever come back here so we decide to do it. The bank account is a little less happy about it than we are, but really the weather is absolutely beautiful, and diving in the Great Barrier Reef is a once in a life time opportunity.
The people on the boat get divided into two groups, the divers on one deck, and the snorkelers on the other so we can all get our instructions. The sail to the first site takes about an hour to an hour and thirty minutes, and these will be used to give us all the diving safety instructions. We first watch a 30 minutes video that talks about security but also the different hand signs we will need to use under water, as well as some exercises we will have to perform before diving.
When we get to the first site we are very excited but also a little anxious. This will be our very first dive ever, and it seems pretty challenging.
We put on our Lycra suits (because of the jelly fish), and are ready for this amazing adventure.
We are put together in groups of 4 with one diving instructor. Our’s is called Pedro and is super nice, and puts us at ease. We stay at the surface a little while to repeat some exercises we might have to do under water.
And then off we go. We start our descend holding on to a rope, and after a few 10-15 feet we let go of the rope and go wander around the reef for about 30 minutes. Since we are all first time divers, we all hold on to each-other, with the instructor in the middle. At first we were a little scared by the idea of having to breathe only through the mouth. But that is super easy and you get used to it pretty quick, what is definitely the hardest is the pressure on your ears as you descend. We didn’t realize the pressure would be so strong, and at moments we had to slow down our descent because it really hurt.
But aside from that it was a magical experience. We see plenty of different fish, it feels like we are inside a huge aquarium. Awesome !
The boat’s underwater photographer takes a few pictures of us.
When we get back up to the surface, we have a hard time realizing that we had spent already 30 minutes under water. It went by so quickly. Pedro tells us that we still have time to go snorkel if we like. So we drop our oxygen bottles (that weight a ton by the way) and replace them with a simple tuba and go to discover this site from the surface.
Even if it is very different from the diving experience, this is just as magical. We were afraid the visibility might not be great, but we were completely wrong and the water is super clear.
When we get back on the boat, Pedro tells us, that if we want, we can do a second dive on the third site because nobody is signed-up yet. We don’t hesitate one second and sign up right away. Especially since this time we will have more time underwater (we don’t have to do the exercises again) and also we will be autonomous, meaning we won’t have to lock arms all together. So we are even more excited !
After a huge lunch buffet, we arrive at the second site, where we will snorkel.
This site is also very beautiful, and on top of the many fish, we will even see a shark. The guides already told us that these were harmless, but it is still impressive to see a shark swimming in the same waters you are.
Matt manages to take nice pictures underwater.
Then comes the third and final site, where we will dive for the second time in our life. This time we will go as deep as 40 feet, which means our ears hurt even more than the first dive, but the experience is so magical that we forget the pain. This time we dive alone, we are still all close together but without holding each-other this time.
We continue to admire the corals and all the amazing fish. Pedro even shows us a ray hidden in the sand. Another 30 minutes that went by way too fast.
We spend the way back perfecting our sun tan on the front deck, before arriving in Cairns late after-noon.
We spent an absolutely incredible day. And feel so lucky with the weather we had, but also to be able to see everything we saw. Definitely a highlight of the trip.
We hit the road and drive 60 miles South of Cairns to sleep in a free campground. Now we start making our way down South all the way to Sydney, in a little over 2 weeks.
From Cairns to Airlie Beach, cyclone Owen is back
The next day, we had a beautiful sunshine despite the heavy rain forecasted. The road to the Wallaman Falls is still closed so we go to the Paluma Range, where we can go for a swim in the river.
It is still super hot outside, so it feels great to be able to refresh and go for a swim. Even if we would have preferred to swim in the ocean, but for that you need to rent a stinger suit (damn jelly fish).
We wanted to spend the night, as well as the next two days in Townsville, to wait for the cyclone to pass. But looking at the weather forecast, it changed again, and the cyclone isn’t supposed to hit before the day after next. So we decide to continue driving and stop 60 miles North of Airlie Beach.
Airlie Beach is our next destination, and the gateway to visit the famous Whitsundays. This is a cluster of 74 islands along the coast and right in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. It is known for being home to the most paradise-like islands in Australia. It is possible either to do a sailing trip and spend the day (or several days) on some of the islands, or book a scenic flight that flies over the area. We chose this last activity, since the flight also goes over the Great Barrier Reef. We book for the next day, hoping we will get as lucky as we were in Cairns with the weather.
This will unfortunately not be the case. Rain is pouring down as we drive to Airlie Beach, and at 9 am, one hour before our flight, the company let’s us know that they are cancelling the flight. We are relieved, because we rather get our money back than do the flight with terrible conditions. We decide to stay in Airlie Beach for the next 3 days, since the rain has officially arrived. And we want to stay some place safe. And who knows, maybe we will be able to do the flight if the weather improves.
Our first after-noon in Airlie Beach, the rain as calmed down and we are able to enjoy our camping’s pool. It is still hot and humid outside, and the pool feels so nice! Once the night hit, it started raining heavily and didn’t stop for the entire next day. Parts of the campground are flooded, and we even learn that some of the roads between Cairns and Townsville are closed. So we spend the day in the van reading and working on the blog. Between two heavy rainfalls we are able to open the trunk of the van to get some air. Because even with the rain, it is still super hot outside.
Flying over the Whitsundays islands and the Great Barrier Reef, a magical experience
For our third day in Airlie Beach, we thought it was supposed to rain all day, but the sun shows up behind the clouds. So we decide to give the flight another shot, and book again the scenic flight over the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef.
At 1 pm, here we are in this tiny 13 seat airplane, each with a window seat.
We are really excited, especially Maider, since flying over the Great Barrier Reef is one of her dreams. And even if we don’t have THE perfect weather, we are ready to live one of the most incredible experience of our trip around the world.
We first flew above a few of the Whitsundays islands.
The color of the sand and the water are just incredible, despite the overcast weather.
The pictures don’t translate entirely how beautiful the landscape is.
Then we flew over the the Great Barrier Reef.
And we remained speechless in front of this amazing spectacle of nature.
There are no words strong enough to describe what we have in front of us.
The color of the ocean and the corals is just unreal.
We flew by the famous Heart Reef, that was named after it’s shape.
Bellow is a selection of some of our best pictures. It was really really hard to choose !
