I made my way through the east coast the reverse way from what most people do. I started in Cairns and made my way down from there. If you have time I really recommend to rent a car with some friends or find someone with an extra spot in theirs if you want to travel around with no stress. Unfortunately I only had an unlimited time so I bought a ”hop on hop off” Greyhound bus pass from Cairns to Sydney. It’s a bit pricy but you can hop on and hop off wherever you want and how many times you want and it was easy to get around so I considered it worth it.
What I did after Cairns was to book a 15 hour bus ride to Airlie beach, where I stayed for about 2-3 days to do a trip to the Whitsunday islands and Whiteheaven beach. First of all, if you can avoid sitting on a bus for 15 hours, do that. In additional, I don’t want to turn up your expectations or anything, but if you don’t visit the Whitsunday’s and whiteheaven beach while being on the east coast you really miss seeing one of the coolest beaches in the world. It’s mesmerizing! Also if you rub a silver jewelry in the white sand at the beach it will look brand new. Cool, huh?! Just make sure that you book a trip which actually takes you to Whiteheaven beach because some of them don’t, and trust me, you don’t want to miss it! There are goannas on the beach and a big chance that turtles are going to swim right pass you while snorkeling in the water.
I did my trip with ocean rafting but it was only a day tour. If you want to do a day tour I recommend them, they really know what they are doing and they are also the only company that can choose any place they want to go snorkeling on around the island, with the aim to show you the best spot and give you fun experience. If you do have time to do a 2 or 3 day tour I would recommend you to do that instead. When you do the day trip you meet loads of nice people but I think its easier to bond with others during 2 or 3 days and make even better memories learning how to sail for example while being surrounded by the most beautiful scenery. The tour guides told me that it was the best day of the year to do the Withsundays on the day I did it because there where no waves and a clear blue sky. It was in the beginning of May and the high season for dangerous jellyfishes had also just ended so think about going there around that time if you can.
Airlie beach is a fantastic little place and they have a big public pool just like Cairns that you can take a swim in. One of the biggest Nomads hostels are there and is cool to stay in. They have loads of camping places and every ”dorm room” is an own little apartment. Worth for everyone to visit and hard to forget about.
LIFE IN AUSTRALIA 