Australia - Agnes Water & Town of 1770 (30.-31.01.)

Stop 2: Australia - the land of the kangaroos and "turkeys" ;) 

Agnes Water & Town of 1770

Here we are - on our last big road trip up to Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays. To break it down a bit, we decided to stop in Agnes Water and spend some time there. Coincidentally, it also was just the right time to be there to meet an old friend from back home - Alex. After having driven hours and hundreds of kilometers through nothing than nature, we arrived in Agnes Water and the Town of 1770 - where Captain Cook landed in (guess when!?) 1770. Both are small towns at the ocean and there is not much more than that. We spend the first day with Alex at the beach enjoying the sunny weather. As we liked the calm and idyllic place we parked our van at (Cool Bananas), we decided to stay one day longer for a sporty day. We started our second day at Agnes Water with a 4h surfing lesson that took us to a private beach where we were the only ones surfing (although it was such a small town that there would not have been a lot people anywhere ;) ). After swallowing lots of water, catching some waves (and not catching a lot more ;) ), one of us turned out to be the more talented surfer and you can certainly guess who it was ;). Coming back to the hostel, we took a quick shower before being picked up for our 3h sundown kayak tour. We had a great instructor who took us out on the ocean to watch some dolphins and turtles - sadly we didn't see any. However, wine and snacks on a deserted beach and watching a wonderful sunset from our kayaks on our way back definitely made up for it. To sum up, the day was cool bananas ;)  Coming back to the hostel we went to bed early to be prepared for our last long 10h road trip up to Airlie Beach...

Day 1 - Meeting Alex

Surfing lesson 

Sundown kayak tour

Australia - Fraser Island (28.-29.1)

Stop 2: Australia - the land of the kangaroos and "turkeys" ;) 

Fraser Island

From Noosa we headed out on a 2-day tour to famous Fraser Island. Fraser Island is part of the Unesco World Heritage and is the largest sand island in the world.

We booked a "tag-along" tour which means that we were a group of three 4WD jeeps that went together and we got to drive the jeeps along the beach and through the jungle :) 

On day one we first visited the shipwreck of the "S.S. Maheno" which had stranded on Fraser Island after World War 1 and now rustily sits on the beach. After that we went to Eli Creek, a small freshwater creek that runs down from the jungle into the sea. We laid down in Eli Creek and let the gentle current flow us back down to the beach - at only 10 degrees water temperature this was quite refreshing ;) The last stop of day one was at Lake Wobby, one of Fraser Islands many inland freshwater lakes. After a 45 minute walk to Lake Wobby through deep-jungle bush we were rewarded with Lake Wobby's cristall-clear blue water. Lake Wobby is full of these small nibbler fishes that eat of your dead skin - so we also enjoyed a natural fish spa for free. 

In the evening we celebrated out of Beki's birthday and into Joey's birthday with a lot of colourful "Jungle Juice" (a goone-based cocktail which we from now on know to avoid;) ). 

Day two began with a fun-drive through the jungle to Lake Mackenzie (the largest freshwater lake on Fraser Island). Unfortunately, one of the jeeps broke down after half of the way which made the rest of the day a little messy due to the rescue mission. Lake Mackenzie, however, was amazing with pure white sand and almost invisibly clear water. We enjoyed the swim and even washed our hair with the "magic white sand" :)

Unfortunately, it rained almost 48 hours straight white we were on Fraser Island but we made the best out of it and had an amazing trip :)

Welcome to Fraser Island 

Fraser Island family :)

Behind the wheel

Car 3 rocks :) 

...on the rocks... 

...and in the sand!

The S.S. Maheno

Making our way up to Eli Creek

Natural freshwater - so drink up...

...before Kevin got us all wet :)

And off we go, downstream in 10 degrees warm Eli Creek ;)

Crossing Eli Creek on the beach

Lake Wobby

Natural fish spa :) 

On our way to Lake Mackenzie

Unfortunately, it's raining...

...but that doesn't matter under water :)

And there is the sun :) 

Sand shampoo

Artistic highlight in Lake Mackenzie :)

Happy Birthday Beki & Joey!!! 

Australia - Byron Bay to Noosa (25.1-28.1.)

Stop 2: Australia - the land of the kangaroos and "turkeys" ;) 

Byron Bay to Noosa

And off we go again - After exploring the "laid back way of life" in Byron Bay we drove up to Brisbane which is the capital of Queensland. First, we went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary which is home to more than 100 Koalas, Kangaroos, Wombats, Birds, Crocodiles, Snakes, Lizards, Cassowaries, Dingos and many more Australian wildlife animals. In the afternoon we strolled around the Soutbank Parklands in Brisbane which was very nice. Southbank is a large park along the Brisbane River where they have a lot of chill-out areas, free music shows, a market and a large pool with a city beach. 

On the next day we celebrated Australia Day together with the MacArthurs on Bribie Island which is about an hour north of Brisbane. We met this lovely family on our day-trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels back in Vietnam. We had an amazing day on Bribie Island with Australian relays, a stay on the beach where Madie and Bonnie had a surf patrol, a cool-down in the pool, a visit to the park and an absolutely delicious BBQ. This day will definitely make it into the Top 3 of our trip - a truely Australian Aussie Day :)

After that we drove up to Noosa where we did a long walk through the vast bush and along the coast in the Noosa National Park. We had some amazing coastal views where we saw some turtles, absolutely deserted beaches and deep-jungle bush passages including snakes, a koala and a 1.5 meter goanna. Noosa marks the getaway for our 2-day-trip to Fraser Island. 

All the best from "Down Under" - we'll send up some sun to you guys back home ;)

At the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Southbank Parklands in Brisbane

A true Australian Australia Day...

...Australian relays...

...Surf patrol...

...at the beach...

...with the lovely MacArthur family!!!

Noosa National Park