The East Coast of Oz – Brisbane to Darwin

While at a cool, hidden in an alley, café in Brisbane, we got to talking with the young lady behind the counter.  She asked where we were from.  San Francisco, we replied.  She said that she loved San Francisco because we had old buildings and numerous historical sites.  We looked at each other and laughed.  Europe and Asia are where you go for ancient sites and historic buildings.

That said, what our new friend said was true on some level.  The States have more old stuff than Australia does.  But that’s not why we came to Australia.  We expected to see the natural beauty and the extraordinarily friendly people.

Given what we’d already experienced and how we’d allocated our time in Sydney, we knew that we were on the right track.  That said, the coastline from Brisbane in Queensland to Darwin in the Northern Territory was going to exemplify one type of this country’s natural beauty – the coastline, the Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef.  Even in the dead of winter, we expected to witness natural wonders and could hardly wait to get started.

The best way to explore the natural beauty of Australia is on foot.  We accomplished this quite well in walking 23 miles through Sydney in our first three days, and we continued this trend in our East Coast Adventure where we trekked another 45 miles during our tour of the Australian East Coast.

It took us 14 days to progress through our itinerary and here’s a quick glimpse…

We flew from Sydney to Brisbane where we spent two nights.   After a two-hour bus ride to Noosa, we spent three nights followed by an overnight train to Airlie Beach.  This was quite luxurious – we had lie flat seats, like first class seats on a plane, complete with plush bedding and personal care kits – and included meal/beverage service. From Airlie Beach, the gateway to The Whitsunday Islands, we embarked on a two-day/two-night catamaran adventure through these amazing islands and part of The Great Barrier Reef.  After leaving Airlie Beach, we made our way to Darwin.  Traveling in Australia is expensive, and it is not always easy finding direct routes.  To travel to Darwin from Airlie Beach, we had a choice of taking three flights with two connections for the tidy sum of US $1400 combined.  Or we could take a three-hour train to Townsville, spend the day wandering around this small coastal town adjacent to Magnetic Island and then hopping on a direct flight to Darwin.  We chose the latter option saving US $600 and the opportunity to visit another town along Australia’s magnificent coastline.  After three nights in Darwin, we boarded a flight for Alice Springs and the Outback!  But that’s a subject for a later day.

During these two weeks, we were not disappointed.  Rather than a chronological and clinical review of the 14 days, we’ve decided to break down our adventures into three major adventure buckets:  coastal/river treks, sunsets (and one lunar eclipse) and beach/snorkel adventures.

Coastal and River Walks…

Like a lot of coastal Australia, Brisbane is built along both a river and the Sea.  We started on the North Bank of the Brisbane River and walked through their central business district to the Botanical Gardens and along their riverfront.  We then crossed over the river to the South Bank and visited a Queensland Natural History museum – the extinct mega-fauna was illuminating!  As we continued our adventure we came across The South Bank Beach Lagoon.  In a theme that would recur around Australia, we found a sandy beach and a lagoon like pool built alongside the Brisbane River.  Alongside.  We had never seen anything quite like it, but the people of Oz need their beach and waterfronts.  Despite being a workday just past lunch time and a cool day, many people were sunbathing at this man-made beach.  Again, it’s the dead of winter!

In the photo below note that the lifeguard stand is on the lagoon while the boat is in the Brisbane River.

In Noosa, we walked along the coastline from Noosa Head Main Beach to Sunshine Beach and back within the beautiful Noosa National Park. This coastal trail included passing by Tea Tree Bay, where we hoped to spot a few koalas; after a full day of loafing and chowing down on eucalyptus they must have been napping so we moved on. Further down the trail, we came to Boiling Pot (aka Witch’s Cauldron), Granite Bay with Dolphin Point Lookout and Hell’s Gates, where we stopped for a rest and watched whales swim and breach in the distance.  Next was Alexandria Bay and on to Sunshine Beach.

Look carefully for the Boiling Pot/Witch’s Cauldron…

A view of Dolphin Point across Granite Bay…

Alexandria Bay…

Sunshine Beach…

After climbing back up the 184 steps from Sunshine Beach on our return to Noosa Head Main Beach…

On our very windy last day in Noosa, before catching the overnight train to Airlie, we walked more coastline towards Noosa Parade and The Noosa Spit Recreation Reserve (to the West while our earlier hike at Noosa was to the East), where we watched many kite surfers.  We were warned to stay away from the water due to crocodiles but all we saw were driftwood logs that looked like crocs on first glance.

Some friends we made during our hike…the diameter of the footfall of these spiders are easily 4 inches (10.2 centimeters).  We hoped this would be our only opportunity to see these scary creatures – and that we would not be sleeping with them in our upcoming Outback trip.

In Airlie, we also explored a lot of coastline including the Bicentennial Walk, which is a gentle stroll rather than a hike.  During our walk we came across numerous signs with warnings to avoid the water due to stingers or dangerous jellyfish.  Notably, each sign had a bottle holder on the side.  Each bottle was full of vinegar to help dissipate the effects of a stinger attack.  Hopefully that meant no one needed any recently. We decided not to take the chance and go for a swim.  The Beach looked just fine from our vantage point walking.

After our stroll, we lounged with the locals and tourists at The Airlie Beach Lagoon, directly behind our hotel.  Again, just like Brisbane, the locals at Airlie built a fake beach and a pool right next to the Coral Sea!

The view from the Airlie Beach Lagoon of the Coral Sea…

Note The Whitsunday Island group in the background…

Sunsets and the Lunar Eclipse…

Sunset from Noosa Head Main Beach

Sunset at Abel Point Marina in Airlie Beach…first on our walk to the Marina and then from the Marina…

Sunset on the catamaran at Whitsunday Islands…

Sunset at the Darwin Ski Club…the sunsets in Darwin are extra red this time of year because the locals burn local grasses to reduce the impact of bush fires later in the year.  The air quality spices up the sunsets nicely.

We got up at 5am in Darwin to watch a once in a century total lunar eclipse.  Here’s a photo but as you’d expect with a total lunar eclipse, it’s not a great photo.  But there’s Mars chilling out too.

Beach and Snorkel Adventures…

Without a doubt the highlight of our Beach and Snorkel time in Australia thus far was our time on the catamaran and The Whitsunday Islands.  We joined a sailing catamaran (Wings) with 16 other passengers and two crew for two days and two nights. We, with comical results, had the opportunity to assist in sailing (photos and videosw withheld).  We snorkeled four different spots including Hook Passage, Mackerel Bay, Manta Ray Bay and Chance Bay.

It’s just flat out one of the prettiest places that we’ve ever been…we hiked to a vista point and looked out the clear blue water and the shifting sands…

Don’t mind us, just strolling through the shallow water nursery looking for baby nurse sharks…

As we moved into the open water, we waded through the warm, shallow and clear waters of Whitehaven Beach looking for sting rays.  Oh, hello…

Too close?  Message received.

We swam with many colorful fish and coral, turtles, maori wrasse (crazy big fish) and aggressive black tipped cousins of the bluefin tuna. They were massive and very quick!  Even though it was not jelly fish season, we wore full stinger suits.  Neither of us got stung; however, there were still some stingers floating in the water and some harmless jellyfish that one could hold in their hand (imagine trying to grab slimy jello floating in the water).

We anchored for the nights off Whitehaven Beach and Tongue Bay and got an amazing view of the stars and fed sea life while observing them in LED lights at night.

We saw SO MANY whales throughout the sailing – one of which was only a few meters from our catamaran and on another occasion we watched a mom coaxing a new baby whale to start swimming and to stop playing around.  Truly epic.

In Darwin, we were kids at heart.  We visited the wave pool.

Oh and hey look, another artificial lagoon near a large body of water….

Some Fun Stories from our Adventure 

Hours before the World Cup Final, we went scouting for locations to watch the match in Brisbane.  We went to the Treasury Casino expecting a vibrant sportsbook and betting venue.  Surprisingly, the mood was very dismal.  We are used to the high energy atmosphere of Vegas.  Here – the scene was depressing.  Despite the occasional whoops of joy from tourists playing baccarat or blackjack, the overall mood was decidedly not fun.  On the positive side, S won about $200 AUD in just 30 minutes of black jack.

We had contacted an outdoor pop-up beer bar about watching the Final match.  They assured us that we didn’t need a reservation and that they’d be showing the match.  When we walked by at 9pm (for the 1am Final match), they were open but had a sparse crowd.  Upon our return a few hours later, the bar was closed!  We ended up watching the Final match in our hotel room at 1am.  Boo!

Noosa was recommended to us.  We may not have chosen this location as a stopover otherwise. We really enjoyed this town.  We pictured Noosa as a surfer friendly beach town.  And it is, if one stays far away from the beach and the surf.  The main drag in Noosa is lined with overpriced clothing stores and more overpriced restaurants – picture Carmel-by-the Sea, California and not Ocean City, Maryland. That said the city was well maintained and safe.  Perfect for late night strolls after dark and early morning jaunts.

Noosa Heads YHA (Halse Lodge) – Our home in Noosa was nothing short of amazing.  Yes, it was a hostel.  E has stayed at over 100 hostels in her traveling experiences and this one was by far the best.  It is a historic heritage lodge complex, converted into a YHA Hostel.  They offered a full bar and restaurant, nice common room with a pool table, lounge spaces and beautiful grounds with outdoor seating including heat lamps and tiki torches.  One night, they had a Flamenco Guitarist and a pub trivia game.  The property itself was perfectly located near the entrance to Noosa National Park, directly across from Noosa Main Beach and provided easy access to Hastings Street (the main drag in Noosa).  And in a WTF moment, people not staying at the hostel came to have dinner and marvel at the heritage lodge.

Bush Turkeys – We wish we had photos, but these cute fellas are everywhere in Noosa.  We had at least ten of them walking around our hostel grounds, and many walked along sidewalks and cafes throughout the town. They were totally harmless and probably hungry.  They didn’t mind getting close to tourists and locals.

Crocosaurus Cave – In Darwin, we went to visit the Crocosaurus Cave wildlife exhibit.  Similar to the two wildlife exhibits in Sydney, Crocosaurus highlights animals that one would expect to see in the Northern Territory and in South Australia.  We saw some of the big crocodiles being fed and we got to pet some baby and adolescent crocodiles.  But the highlight without question were the baby crocodiles swimming in their own exhibit.  They were active and oh so cute – far from the monsters that they would soon be.  We also got to spend some time with the deadliest snakes in Oz and the precocious goannas (goannas are monitor lizards, so they’re related to the Komodo Dragon).

Responsible Service of Alcohol Marshals – When one walks into a bar anywhere in the world, it’s not unusual to find bartenders, servers and bouncers.  But in Australia there’s one other key employee, the Responsible Service of Alcohol Marshal.  The RSA Marshal is a staff member trained to assist customers requesting help or to prevent customers from getting too inebriated.  Keep in mind, these are not government officials but bar employees that are specially trained and attired to signal their role.

Uber in Darwin – When we landed at Darwin airport, we expected to fire up the Uber app or hail a taxi and be on our way shortly to our hotel.  Well, to our chagrin, Uber wasn’t coming to Darwin until the week we left so we diligently waited for a taxi.  And waited and waited.  We waited 20 minutes and only saw two taxis.  Finally, the local in front of us had had enough and he called the taxi company.  When the first taxi finally arrived, the local offered to share the taxi with us.  He saved us some money but more importantly told us hilarious stories of his travels in the United States.  We don’t know who that chap was but he made an unpleasant ordeal very entertaining.

A friendly local in Townsville – We took the public bus from the coast in Townsville to the nearby airport.  We thought we’d save some money and get a little exercise in.  The bus stop nearest the airport still left a bit of a walk to the terminal building, so we strapped on our packs and began walking.  About halfway to the terminal building, a woman in a station wagon pulled over in front of us and asked us if we wanted a ride to the airport.  After politely refusing, she said that she was going to pick up a friend and that it’d be easy to drop us off.  Again, we politely refused and the woman departed.  We knew that the people of Oz were genuinely friendly, but its still surprising to witness it firsthand.  It’s a very good thing.

Onto the Outback!

What a marvelous way to spend two weeks in Australia.  Lots of beautiful scenery and even more beautiful memories.  Loads of natural beauty, delightful sea creatures and the right amount of warm sun.  One could easily spend more time on this part of the journey and there was plenty for which time just didn’t allow.  But we have no regrets especially since we would soon be embarking on our overland journey through the Outback!  Hooray!