Australia

Warning: If in the next paragraphs we may sound like some ungrateful and blaze snobs, we probably are. Also, best diving here!

It’s hard to be squeezed between New Zealand and Tahiti. I mean, how can you compete with glaciers on volcanoes on one side and postcard beaches on the other. Still Australia gave us some nice moments which I will summarise below.

We landed in Cairns where we spent a couple of days just walking around the beach and the city

We did 6 dives (see our dive post here) and then we moved on to Townsville and Magnetic Island. A nice aquarium (with Mantis Shrimps), and a pretty green island.

From there we did two more dives at Yongala (amazing, we were surrounded by thousands of fish) and then on to Airlie Beach. The highlight of our stay there was a cruise to Whitsundays and Whithaven beach, a gorgeous white sand beach on one of the islands. Mihut, you would have loved it there 😉

From there on to Hervey Bay with a short stop in Town of 1770, another small sea…err.. village with a funky name. It is apparently known for those trees with their roots out.

Hervey Bay was a nice surprise. First, sea birds galore and enjoying the company of more or less succesful fisherman:

Then, a day on Fraser Island, the largest sand Island in the world. Really impressive with its 75 mile beach (which doubles as a highway with police patrols), ship wreck, rain forest and crystal clear lake:

From there we drove to Brisbane with a stop at the interesting Australia Zoo where we finally ticked of our Australian list koalas and kangaroos. Cristina especially enjoyed the snake exhibit;)