Brisbane - Cairns

Queensland

From the Gold Coast's kilometres of golden sand to the Great Barrier Reef to the Great Dividing Range, every region in Queensland is unique. Head north, past golden beaches, endless cane fields and the busy cities of Brisbane and Cairns until you find the silences of Cape Tribulation and the National Parks of the Tropical North. Drive a few kilometres west of most coastal towns and you'll find Outback - for as far as the eye can see.

Being the most popular amongst backpackers, Queensland is one of the easiest states to get off the beaten track, experience small country towns, Aboriginal heritage and get a feel for life in the "real" Australia.

Happy that finally my Down Under Trip would start, I waited at the gate for my flight to Brisbane at night of the 7th of September 2001. Asking an elderly man for a light in the small smoking room filled with people and full of smoky air, I got into a conversation and the hour passed quickly. The old man, with his Australian hat, just came back from England, visiting his daughter over there.

That was the first time I came across the austrlian-english accent and I thought first of all that he is not even talking in english to me. It made me worry a bit, because I thought, well, no problem in Australia they speak english and I speak a bit of english.... But the first lesson taught me that english is not equal english. (By the way, it took me a couple of weeks to get used to the Australian slang.)

But while listening very carefully I could understand some bits and pieces, from what the friendly old australian guy was telling me about his country he was so proud of. Having spent most of his life in Brisbane and talking highly positive of the town, I got some useful tips of what to do and where to go.

Brisbane is quite lovely, especially beeing located at the river makes it special. Unfortunately I've choosen a hostel quite a bit outside town, but they run buses to and from town regularly. My first day in Australia I used to have a walk around the town. Suddenly I guy was shouting after me when I passed and as I didn't expect him to talk to me, I walked on. He kept running after me and started to talk in swiss german. What is going on??? I found out, that I have met him some weeks before I left in the Mövenpick bar in Glattbrugg. Small world isn't it??

My first night in Australia I wanted to spend in a pub with some local beer. Unfortunately I must look very young and the bartender asked for identification. None with me, (who would think of that?) I ended up sipping a coke.... Tough life isn't it??

I was eager to get out of town and to see Australia. So I decided to do an organized one-day tour to the Glasshouse Mountains, a couple of km north of Brisbane. On that tour, we went to some lookouts to see the mountains and had a long walk through a rainforest, where I got some useful hints (e.g. how to spot spidernests along the path, and not to use them as a seat for a rest!!). Very excited about it, I've also seen the first kangaroos. Cute animals.

After arranging my bus ticket and my next destination, my travel finally started. First stop was Noosa Heads. Talking to an english girl at the hostel, she told me about the magnificent experience she made with skydive the day before. Thinking about it for a while, I decide to try it out myself the next morning. Booked it and then realised what I did. Skydive from 12000 feet, am I mad??? Anyway, the bus picked me up the next morning pretty early. Still half asleep I got driven to a small airfield where they announced the groups and our skydive masters. My master was about a head smaller than me, is that going to work?? Boarding the plane fully equipped, my stomach started to feel strange. Thankfully I had no time for breakfast. The plane took off and my stomach was getting worse and worse. I wanted to turn back..... Too late, no way back. Looking out the window, while everything down there was getting smaller and smaller. We reached the right altitude and it was time for me to jump. Standing at the door (the master still in the plane, me outside, my feet in the air), waiting for the right time to jump. And then we fell, 7000 feet in 12 seconds freefall, it seemed an eternity. Huge amounts of air pressing against me, I felt like floating in the sky. Suddenly a huge pull (my master opened the parachute) and then we were flying like a bird. It wasn't really a relief when the parachute opened, then my master did fast turns and acrobatic things, and my stomach was all upside down again. Happily landed I stayed lying in the sand for a while, giving my stomach time to recover.

What an amazing experience with the brilliant view over the whole East Coast beach on this sunny morning. But one thing is clear, it will be a one time life experience. Never again, I was just too scared.

I travelled on up north to Harvey Bay, where I stayed in the best hostel (YHA) I've seen during the six months travel. I booked myself onto a half-day whalewatch trip and it was pretty fascinating to see this huge animals playing around in the sea! Great experience. The next day I was leaving for a three-day tour to Fraser Island, the biggest sand island on the world. Fraser Island is just beautyful and we did alot of interesting stuff, swimming in clear, refreshing lakes, walking on sanddunes, in the rainforest, watching the wildlife from cliffs.... We spotted lots of animals in these three days: dingoes, whales, snakes, turtles, and big variety of birds...

The next stop was Airlie Beach, where I booked a three-day sailing trip in the Whitsundays. I arrived very early in the morning in Airlie Beach, and as my bed wasn't ready to get my sleep back I decided to have a look around "town". It took me about 5 minutes from one end of town to the other. So I did that several times until my bed was ready. Airlie Beach is lovely, but also very touristic, as most places on the East Coast between Brisbane and Cairns. To get a bed earlier than normal the friendly girl at the hostel offered me a bed in a mixed dorm. Three men and me. There was an old American guy in there, who was travelling around with an old shopping trolley (the ones old people go shopping with), filled up with old stuff. Funny. Also an Italian guy shared the room, which I went to play pool with. The only trouble is, that most italians speak very bad english but thanks god I could remember some of my italian, so we could talk to each other and understand most of it even!!

With a pretty big hangover I boarded Great Eagle, a nice little sailing boat, with 11 other people I would spend the next three days with. The skipper, John and the chef, Peter, welcommed us and showed us our bunks. I shared my cabin with a german girl and we had a very good time. The whole team was very good fun and the whole trip just brilliant. Thanks to the hangover (I believe) I got seasick the first day, but after that it went okay although the sea got rougher each day.

We visited brilliant deserted beaches, also the famous and fabolous whiteheaven beach, did some walks in the rainforest, went snorkelling (wounderful!!!) and relaxed in the evenings on the boat, looking up the stars and dreaming, talking and drinking.... On the last day, the motor wouldn't start and we needed it to get out of the bay before beeing able to put up the sails. John tried to repair it, which didn't help, one boat, Basilea, which was close by, couldn't help either, so we had to get a new battery from the mainland. After half a day we finally could start the return journey. It was one of the best trips I did in Autralia, I enjoyed it so much and I'm sure it wasn't my last time on a sailing boat!!!

Getting up to Cairns was next on the program. I used Cairns mainly as a base to do trips around it. So I booked myself first on a trip to the Atherton Tablelands for two days. It is also a magnificent area, inland, consisting of a chain of hills, the tableland. We visited waterfalls, went on a mountainbike tour and canoeing, once during day and an optional one at night. I used the opportunity to go also at night, where we used flashlights to spot wildlife. Scary, but brilliant, floating on the river, listening to the wildlife and enjoying the peaceful countryside.

After the tablelands I went up to Cape Tribulation for three days. What is special about that place? Maybe the crocodiles, which we spotted on a boattrip on the river. But also the uniqueness of having rainforest just next to beautiful beaches. I met a guy from Berne, Balz, and we decided instead of taking the guided wildlife spotting walk at night through the rainforest, to save that money and do the tour on our own. A german girl joined us and we headed off with our spotlights through the rainforest. It was scary and we didn't spot any animals except some frogs making a huge noise. But we had fun!!

The next day while having a stroll along the beach I met Alex, a Russian guy, studying in Sydney. We met up at night to have some games of pool with his two friends and decided then to hike up a mountain the next day. What a tough experience, the three guys were all pretty fit and I had my cough since weeks and was so struggling up the mountain. We run out of time, as we had to take the bus back to Cairns again. We didn't make it to the top, but it was a nice day anyway with some excersice again for a change....

Back in Cairns I registered for a dive course, but because of my cough which was worse in the meanwhile, I had to cancel again. To get out to the famous great barrier reaf anyway, I joined a one-day snorkelling trip. It was fantastic to see all this different colours of fishes and corals and floating in the warm water was just wounderful. I hardly wanted to leave the water again. The trip was fantastic and the crew on board was very professional and good fun.