More East Coast

Between the popular tourist areas of Airlie Beach and Fraser Island we decided to get off the main tourist trail a little and visit Mon Repos. This is the largest breeding ground of loggerhead turtles in Eastern Australia and we arrived towards the end of hatching season.

We didn't know what to expect at first, we arrived in the dark at 7pm and we just had to wait until the conservation staff found a nest that was hatching, which couldn't be guaranteed to happen at all. Thankfully after only 10 minutes of waiting a small group of us were taken down the beach in the dark to an unremarkable spot to the untrained eye. As we got closer, the guide told us to gather round and told us we weren't allowed to use cameras or lights of any kind as this would disorientate the baby turtles. We then got to witness around one hundred turtles scramble up through the sand and make their way to the sea. It was so cute and amazing to see these tiny little things As this is an important site for loggerhead turtles and the chance of survival to adulthood was small (only one in 1000), the conservation rangers gave them a helping hand when necessary to boost their chances.

At one point the ranger took a couple of baby loggerhead turtles around the group to take pictures of and touch. Though we are not sure that we felt comfortable with this, it only happens to a couple of turtles that the groups watch, we feel that this is outweighed by the money and awareness brought in by making it a tourist experience.

Plus they look pretty happy!

This little detour was completely worth it, we got to see something that was really special and came away with a new respect for the conservation rangers who were very knowledgeable and the turtles who are struggling to survive to the actions of us humans. Don't litter guys, its not cool!

From here we went to Rainbow Beach, the jumping off point for our 3 day, 2 night  Fraser Island tour, the largest sand island in the world!

We toured the island in a convoy of 3 4x4 vehicles...

... and camped in a little secluded spot on the beach for the 2 nights.

The first day and a half was rainy and not very nice, but it brightened up during the second half of our trip. During the trip we visited a number of places Lake Mackenzie, Champagne Pools, huge sand dunes, the Mahino wreck, and a lot of beach.

Enjoying Lake Mackenzie

Mohino wreck

We were in the lead vehicle which meant that we couldn't drive as there had to be one guide driving at all times. However at the speeds he drove I would argue to whether it made us any safer. Thankfully though I got to swap with someone else in another car to have a drive for an afternoon. It was cool driving on the sand and through the forests.

The trip was fun and we had a good few days. After 3 days without a shower though we were relieved to get back to our hostel and get clean! We stayed in Rainbow beach for one more night when we returned before we headed down the coast to Noosa.

We only spent 2 nights in Noosa but it was a bit more chilled out and we really enjoyed it. We stayed in a YHA hostel that was an old heritage listed building, which was a great place to relax. Nearby was a National Park that borderd the coast and there was a possibility that we would see some koalas. We had a nice long walk through the park but saw no koalas.

We found a nice spot for lunch

The walk was enjoyable as it was very varied, we walked out along the coast and got to see some great beaches and then walked back through the forest or 'bush' trying our best to spot the koalas.

Brisbane was out next port of call, and after the smallish towns so far on the east coast it was a nice change to be in a big city. It is quite a cool city and we filled our time with a visit to the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) which was actually pretty cool and had a mix of some international modern art aswell as some exhibitions of Aboriginal art.

Some aboriginal poles

The city of Brisbane is a little inland but this doesn't stop it having its own beach. Along the river on South Bank there is a lagoon with an artificial beach. The city also has quite an arty vibe and has some cool architecture.

Our final night in Brisbane also marked our half way point in the trip, and having not really eaten out much in Australlia due to how expensive it is we decided to treat ourselves to a humungous juicy burger.

Our final stop before Sydney was Byron Bay and it was probably our favourite so far. Finally having constant sunshine maybe had something to do with it, but it was also a really friendly and welcoming town, everyone on the beach seemed to know each other, we just got a really good feel for it. It seemed they all surfed too, from the young kids to the old grandparents and everyone in betweeen. We therefore thought it would be a great place to have our first lesson. We booked it, turned up, got suited up in our wetsuits, had a bit of practise on the sand and then it was time to go. Well not exactly. We were about to go in the water when our instructor decided that it was too shallow for us and they weren't good conditions for beginners. We got all our money back and everything but it was so annoying not to get to do it. It was even worse that we could see about 100 people surfing and when our instructor dropped us back off in town he told us he was going surfing...great, thanks for telling us!

It was dissapointing but that didn't last too long as we walked up to the lighthouse on the peninsular, the most easterly point on mainland Australia. It was another great walk that gave great views of the coast north and south.

The beach in the background seemed to go on forever!

The lighthouse

The next day we just relaxed on the beach before we got an overnight bus to Sydney. The beach was amazing but the waves were so powerful. I just went walking out up to my chest and when I turned around I realised I had been pushed along the beach about 100 metres from where I entered. It is easy to see how people get into trouble in the water. Leanne didn't feel like going in the water so she just slept on the beach, no surprise there then.

Oh no, not another wave!

 We stayed at the beach most of the day until the sunset which was beautiful.

Before we got on our overnight bus we decided to get a Dominos pizza, which was cheap compared to England. It was around 10/15 pound for two large pizzas, garlic bread and big bottle of Sprite. It was also a lot better than the English Dominoes too in our opinion.

Next time on Rob's Wong Way Around the World... Sydney's best sights, the Great Ocean Road and Melbourne, don't miss it!