Hello Peepz,

Great to see you reading my blog again, thank you for that! How is everyone doing?

I started writing like I did before, describing my three weeks what I did on what day. But I guess that will be a bit boring to be honest, because it is a lot of the same. And I want to try to make a shorter version for you guys. (Read: I really try…)

So the East Coast of Australia, I started in Surfers Paradise because I had just three weeks left. From there I was travelling with Greyhound, this is a hop on- hop off bus. So my Itinerary looked like this: Surfers Paradise -> Byron Bay -> Noosa -> Rainbow Beach / Fraser Island -> Rainbow Beach -> 1770 / Agnes Water -> Airlie Beach / Whitsundays -> Magnetic Island -> Cairns / Great Barrier Reef -> Daintree Forest.

I will tell you my highlights of the city’s I have been in starting with Byron Bay, because Surfers Paradise was just a beach day for me.

Byron Bay: I stayed there for three nights and experienced the hippie vibe over there, the best thing I my opinion was the lighthouse walk. Nice do do something challenging again and get something in return. I spotted some whales in the sea and the view was amazing! Byron is also famous of the nightlife, so I experienced this myself with a few or maybe few few drinks. Main beach of Byron is pretty nice as well.

Noosa: I love Noosa and I know that because I already have been there before. This time it was just for meeting up with my friends. I finally saw my Finis friend Anu, who I hadn’t seen in 6 months and my Estonian friend Liisa, I worked with in Montville. From here we stared our East Coast trip together.

Rainbow Beach/Fraser Island: Rainbow Beach is a lovely place, however we had to be there for our Fraser Island experience. Fraser is famous as the island you can drive your 4WD on. Almost the whole island is covered in sand, off road roads and hills. In a big 4WD room for 8 people we stared our tour, actually I did because I began with driving. We went to Lake MacKenzie which is a lake of fresh water. The driving was fabulous, not easy though, so even more interesting in my opinion! The beautiful view point and Champagne pools were stunning. And the cherry on the cake (no idea if you can use this in English, but Dutch people will understand me) a couple of wild Dingo’s, camping, sand boarding and meeting awesome people made this trip absolutely fantastic!

1770/Agnes Water: the most Northern spot on the East Coast for surfing. Yes that was exactly what I did over there. I took a lesson together with Anu, Liisa and two Austrians (Verena and Laura we met at Fraser Island) and had an epic afternoon. We even got some great pictures from our surf skills. Surfing is so much fun even if you are not good at it (just still like me). And a campfire in the evening was nice and cozy. Great hostel (Cool Bananas), lovely people, awesome surf school!

Airlie Beach: somewhere I really looked forward to. I love the ocean, I love snorkeling and I love being on a boat. Our 3 day sailing tour to the Whitsundays started from here. Sailing on a big Catamaran with a flat ocean and a lot of sunshine. We had the possibility for snorkeling up till 4 times at The Great Barrier Reef. What an amazing marine life and reef I have seen, so many turtles and rare and big fish. But of course the view of the famous Whiteheaven Beach was magical. Jeeeeee….. How beautiful can a place be. No words for it! You have to experience it. And the sailing tour: stunning sunsets & sunrises, great company and amaaaaazing food. You can imagine how this trip was like! Everyone should have an opportunity to do something like this at some day.

Magnetic Island: yeah… the name of the island has it’s reason I guess. Still travelling with Verena, Laura, Liisa and Anu we arrived on this Island. Spotting wild koala’s and rock wallabies was one of the main goals. But we got some perfect views, a lot of fun and driving in our renting car was great either. I did the Wild Life Sanctuary over here too. Again cuddling with a koala, holding a snake & turtle, padding a crocodile & wombat and learned a lot about those animals.

Cairns/Great Barrier Reef: I had to say goodbye to my friend Any. She had time and wanted to stay longer at Magnetic Island (I definitely see why). It was sad, but I will assure you: we will see each other again somewhere in the world!! From Cairns I had the Great Barrier Reef trip together with Liisa. I booked an intro dive but wasn’t sure what to expect. I started that day with a snorkeling session, which was absolutely fantastic. The reef was so colorful and so many fish. I love it. Then the explanation for diving. I was a little nervous. Necessary? No absolutely not! Now I understand why so many people are diving. It is magic, a different world, so free and beautiful to see the marine life from that close. Again turtles and even a white reef shark, I have seen amazing things. I enjoyed it so much that I went into the water a second time. Again an fantastic day, again realizing it has to do something with/on/in the ocean. Love it, love it, love it!!

Last but not least, Daintree forest: A daytrip just to experience it. I had the most enthusiastic tour guide ever and he really made my day. He had such a good vibe, information and humor. I was thinking that I hadn’t seen any wild crocodiles in Australia (it was okay, you can’t have everything). But seriously on this trip, I saw at least SEVEN! Out of the water, not moving, some were bigger than others but what an animal. I also spotted a wild cassowary, a big blue bird which is really rare. Next to that it is really special to see how the sea and rainforest can be that close to each other. Great day, great views. I ate dinner (Domino pizza) and a drunk a beer together with Liisa while we were watching the sunset at the beach. What else do you need on your last day in lovely Australia?

I have noticed, even I tried to keep it small it didn’t work. I think Australia is just too good to be true. Every time it is blowing me away of how beautiful or special it can be, how relaxed I am if I am here. And ready for leaving this amazing country? I definitely was NOT! But of course I was curious about South East Asia and I booked my flight, so I took my plane and said goodbye. I don’t even know how to end this blog, how to say goodbye to all the beauty. I think the best way is: I’ll be back Australia!!

Every single person I met: thank you for making my last 10 months the best of my life so far. Australia, New Zealand thank you for having me! What a bless, what a love and what an experience. WOW!

Lovely people back home, as I said, thank you again for reading! At the moment my last week started. So I will enjoy my spare time I have left. All the best for you all! And you can find more pictures in the East Coast album.

Kisses and hugs from Ozzie fan!