The islands of Queensland

The beautiful state of Queensland is unique amongst the other Australian states, in that it has the iconic GREAT BARRIER REEF just off its coast. The number of islands located in the Coral Sea is really high (around 155) and they are the ideal place for anyone looking for an idyllic, exotic, sunkissed holiday destination, far from the “stressful world”.

Here you can always count on a perfect climate, in that Queensland has a moderate, semi-tropical climate, so it’s pleasant for holidaying in all year round. And what you’ll find on its coasts are golden beaches and a blue sea that is dotted with tropical islands.

The islands of Queensland are Australia’s crown jewels, with a choice of accommodation and activities for all budget ranging from luxury lodges and elegant resorts to simple and welcoming hostels. Queensland boasts a whole selection of great cultural and artistic sights, as well as world-class bars and restaurants. Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef and Whitsunday Islands are ideally suited for honeymooners, families, divers, beachcombers.

In the next posts we’ll share with you our experiences in 6 of these amazing islands, but of course we’ll also give you some tips for others stunning spots!

North Stradbroke Island is perfect for a weekend off from your Brisbane city life:

Moreton Island is a wild place to stay in touch with the nature:

Fraser Island, besides being the largest sand island in the world, is superb for a two-day tour and to meet new mates:

Great Keppel Island is just so untouched that will be your love at first sight:

Lady Musgrave Island is the second island in the Great Barrier Reef chain of islands and a real tropical paradise:

Dunk Island is sorrounded by reefs and wandering around the island’s tracks is wonderful:

Have a look at the map below to see where all these beautiful islands are and stay tuned to read more about them in the next posts.

Hervey Bay

Despite the city itself cannot be considered as beautiful as other Australian cities, Hervey Bay has something  that other cities only dream to have and for this reason it has been nominated as capital of an amazing activity…. we are talking about Whale Watching!  Located in Queensland, just 3½ hours’ drive from Brisbane, the town of Hervey Bay is absolutely the best known place to spot humpback whales. Migrating along the coast between April and October, these beautiful animals can be found in the narrow sea between Hervey Bay and Fraser Island. There are several whale watching companies in town and all of them offer the same type of service:  Half day (4h) or All day (6h).

Two humpback whales playing in front of us

N.B: Platypus Bay is the place where usually whales are spotted and to reach it the agencies spend almost 2 hours sailing, so it means you spend 2/3 hours with whales  (if you are lucky!). See these beautiful animals is not guaranteed, especially if you go in late October, but take the risk and try this incredible experience!

Quick cat II ticket

Some of the whale watching companies are:

-          SPIRIT OF HERVEY BAY

-          THAT’S AWESOME

-          MV TASMAN VENTURE

-          BLUE DOLPHIN MARINE TOURS

-          QUICK CAT II

We personally chose  the last one and we were happy with their service. The crew also gave us a DVD with the video of our journey, awesome! We recommend them also because the price was a bit cheaper than the others.

Being an important stop for who is going to Fraser Island, now you know that in Hervey Bay there is another reason why you should visit this town. If you are looking to stay more nights in Harvey Bay we advice the YHA hostel, which we found the best YHA hostel we have ever beeen:

https://www.yha.com.au/hostels/qld/fraser-capricorn-coasts/hervey-bay

The hostel offers a relaxing environment with first-class accommodation for backpackers and travellers of all kinds and it is surrounded by tropical gardens and it also provides  large pool, bistro, internet lounge, tennis and basketball courts and tour booking service.

Thank you Hervey Bay for this amazing experience

The Australia Zoo

Steve Irwin ( 1962 - 2006 )

This is a special place nature lovers should visit if they are in Sunshine Coast area because this is not a simple zoo, but home of the great Stephen "Steve" Irwin. Also called by the name of Crocodile Hunter, someone of you could remember his face thanks to the famous program where he was “involved” in activities with snakes and crocodiles. The program abroad was called as Crocodile Hunter and it was on air in Italy with the name of Missione Natura on La7 channel. Tragically died when he was playing  for a documentary, because of a poisonous sting of a manta ray, he’s considered as “national hero” in Australia. The wildlife park, owned now by his wife, won several Tourism Awards and it’s an oasis full of fauna. You’ll find all the typical Australian animals – as kangaroos, koalas, crocodiles, parrots, snakes and spiders  – and some others coming from different states – white tigers, giraffes, hippo are some examples. 

Coast To Coast

Let’s talk about two beautiful stretches of Queensland Coast: Gold and Sunshine Coast. What you can do here is not the typical American road trip from east to west, but more simply a visitation of two places so close but so different to each other.

GOLD COAST

Known as one of the most spectacular and touristic place of the north-east state, the Gold Coast is a necessary step when you organize a trip on the road and it is also a recommended spot if you are a type of person who likes to enjoy the beach during the day and to party at night. You are able to find there whatever you need: cheap accommodations, luxury hotels, surf beaches, crazy pubs, amazing skyline and much more. Gold Coast is the second most popolous city in the state, after Brisbane, and counts almost 600.000 people in an area of 414.300 km2 - it's actually bigger than the whole Italy (301.340 km2)!

Surfers Paradise skyline and main beach

The Gold Coast city consists of many districts and SURFERS PARADISE is the best known thanks to its skyline reminding the arabic city of Dubai, clubs, restaurants and surf breaks, probably the most famous one in all Australia. Here is where the legend of  Australian surfing is born and regularly every year are held international surfing competitions with the most important global surfers.
But it doesn't mean you can't try surfing here for your first time, in fact in Surfers Paradise there are several surfing schools ready to teach the beginners how to stand on the board and ride the wave. Easy to reach from Brisbane, Surfers is the ideal destination for those who are looking for a funny weekend to spend under the sun, considering that the city has an average temperature of 20-28° in summer and 12-21° in winter, is an ideal location for all those who likes take tan and swimming all year round.

Hippie Travels Happy Travels

Surfers Paradise waterfront sign

SUNSHINE COAST

The Sunshine Coast is a darling spot and a fantastic destination for families, couples and for those who are looking for a relaxing holiday. Located just one hour from Brisbane, this place is easily accessible by car and train and it's what you are looking for if you like surfing, bushwalking and... a bit of everything. Even if Sunshine Coast is a touristic place as Gold Coast, the environment and the lifestyle are completely different: you won't find skyscrapers nor traffic in SC, but nature and wildlife in a rarely beautiful background.

Noosa Heads main beach

This amazing coastal stretch has been subjected to a slowly development until tourism became an important source of income for the residents. NOOSA HEADS is the best known city in all Sunshine Coast and it's a first tourism destination thanks to the fabolous Noosa National Park and new shopping stores, fancy restaurants, cheap markets.

Noosa and its National Park

This National Park is the most popular one in the country, with more than one million visits each year; it hosts a big community of koalas and possums and provides long white sandy beaches. From the several lookout located on the track you can see humpback whales jumping out of the water and many coulurful birds fly about.

Wild koala spotted on a tree in Noosa National Park

But Sunshine Coast is not only Noosa, in fact there are also many other beautiful spots: for example Mooloolaba and Caloundra are some of the must-see places in Queensland. MOOLOOLABA with its esplanade, the Underwater world marine park, multi-ethnic restaurants and cheap hostel will satisfy all your desire. In our case, we took the surf board from our hostel (http://www.mooloolababackpackers.com/) and enjoyed the beautiful beach all day long!

Mooloolaba by day and night

It's Byron Bay baby!

Writing on the sand ©thepursuitoftraveling

So as we said last time, Brissie can offer you everything but a proper beach because its airport, port and river flow make swimming impossibile. If you feel bored by the city life and you are looking for a break from all that, a magic place is just around the corner, or better around the coast, to give you beautiful sandy beaches, blue crystal sea, awesome parties, outdoor activities and lots of wildlife of course! We're talking about Byron Bay! Located in NSW, not far from the border of Queensland, this place is absolutely the place to be and recognised by everybody as backpacker world paradise. Easily accessible from Brisbane:
- by car > 180 kms south of Brisbane, it takes 2/3 hours drive;
- by bus > several bus companies connect Brissie to Byron Bay, among which there is Greyhound Australia, check their website to discover the timetable www.greyhound.com.au
- by train > from Roma street there are many trains that reach Byron (have a look on http://www.railmaps.com.au/ to find routes and timetables).

Byron Bay Signal ©thepursuitoftraveling

Let's introduce Byron Bay for the perfect weekend to oganize with your mates! Of course you should stay there as long as you can, but to fall in love with BB it's enough a couple of days! With its stunning views from breathtaking cliffs and wonderful beaches where you can surf and it's also good for the beginners, love at the first sight is almost guaranteed. We have experienced this amazing spot during the Easter weekend, after having ranted a car from Wicked (http://www.wickedcampers.com.au/) and booked a mix shared room in one of the backpacker hostel of the town .... here we are in Byron Bay!

When everything started ©thepursuitoftraveling

Guy looking for cuddles in Byron ©thepursuitoftraveling

The first thing you notice when you are in Byron, day and night, is the different atmosphere from everything you have ever seen traveling until that moment. People surfing, playing guitars on the beach, selling handmade crafts and walking barefoot along the streets, hippies, travelers.... that's Byron Bay, the semplicity mixed with the spirituality and freedom to be yourself. It's look like to be in the children book of Peter Pan, in the never-never land where people try to find a sort of salavation from a society illness causing selfishness and cynicism.

Talking again about our weekend experience. Once arrived at our hostel, it was already Friday late afternoon so we didn't have time to take tun and enjoy the beach so we opted for a walk around the town plus Italian pizza... what an awesome way to start the evening! Since we were in a good vibe mood we decided to have a crazy night at the Cheeky Monkeys, Byron Bay's number one party bar. We chose that location because our hostel (http://byronbaybackpackers.com.au/), but actually most of them, gave us a colourful wristband, also distributed from nice girls around the town, to have free drinks there.

Let's the crazy night begins!! ©thepursuitoftraveling

Hangover next morning?!? What's the perfect location to recover from it??? One of the several Byron Bay beaches! Not only the Main Beach, which is long and crowded, Byron has some little ones, as Clarkes and Watengo's Beaches. 

Watengo's Beach ©thepursuitoftraveling

Bushwalk start from the Main Beach ©thepursuitoftraveling

They are reachable by car through the Lighthouse Road or otherwise you can get there thanks to an incredible coastal walk where you can take amazing pictures and watch surfers enjoying the waves. According to our opinion, making it through the bushwalk is really interesting because sometimes you can find wildlife. In our case, we didn't find any koalas or kangaroos but usually you can spot them - a lot of people told us about this wonderful opportunity. Cape Byron walking track is a 3,7 km loop and the grade of difficulty is medium, so this bushwalk is adviced also for families witk kids (keeping an eye on them, stay away from clif edges). Remember also to bring binoculars with you, in fact during the period from May to late October you can spot, from one of the several lookout, Humpback Whales migrating. If you are  interested in whale watching, during the season you can book one of the daily tour manage by Byron Bay Whale Watching, here is a link of their website http://www.byronbaywhalewatching.com.au/

Different views from Cape Byron Walking Track ©thepursuitoftraveling

Regarding outdoor activities, Byron Bay, even if it's a small so has nothing to envy to other bigger places: you can choose between land, sea, air, body and art activities. 

LAND ACTIVITIES	SEA ACTIVITIES	AIR ACTIVITIES	BODY ACTIVITIES	ART ACTIVITIES
Natural Walks	Scuba Diving	Sky Diving	Yoga	Painting
Horse Riding	Surf Lessons	Gliding	Retreats	Drawing
Mountain Bike Tours	Snorkelling	Ballooning	Day Spas
Golf	Kayaking		Massage
Entertainment for Kids	Whale Watching
	Fishing

Among these wide choice, we opted for doing snorkelling at Julian Rocks Marine Reserve. This wonderful place is home of an abundant marine life: turtles, manta rays, giant guitar fishes, cuttlefishes, colourful sponges and sometimes also grey sharks. Julian rocks consists of ancient sedimentary rock, remains of a vulcanic eruption more than 20 million years ago. We absolutely recommend this experience and to bring a good underwater camera with you :)

Enjoying the beach ©thepursuitoftraveling

Last but not least, the Lighthouse. The icon of Byron is the most eastern point of Australia and where everybody goes to enjoy bautiful sunrises and sunsets. The breathtaking view from the Cape Byron Lighthouse is amazing and the trail to reach the top of the hill, where the lighthouse is situated, worths absolutely the effort. With the last pictures below our story of Byron Bay ends.

Sunset at most eastern point of Australia! ©thepursuitoftraveling

BUDGET ACCOMMODATIONS	PUBS
BACKPACKERS HOLIDAY VILLAGE	CHEEKY MONKEYS: great party bar and restaurant where you can find 5 AUD meals from 7 PM. Entertainment is every night!
BAYSTAY GUESTHOUSE
BACKPACKERS INN ON THE BEACH	BYRON BAY BREWERY & BUDDHA BAR: open 7 days a week with live music, open mic nights, DJ's and big screens with major sporting events.
ACQUARIUS BACKPACKER MOTEL
BYRON HAVEN	WOODY’S SURF SHACK: the place to be for surfers, backpackers and locals. It's a bar where everybody will love the rocking vintage surf vibe.
ARCADIA HOUSE
ATLATNTIC GUESTHOUSES	LA LA LAND: a small nightclub with a dance floor and balcony outside where you can have your smoke.
BYRON BAY YHA	COCOMANGAS: is a popular nightclub in the middle of town -  Jonson Street
NOMADS BYRON BAY	THE RAILS: is a former railway station where train travelers could just order a beer directly from their window.
BYRON SPRINGS GUESTHOUSE	THE BEACH HOTEL: is a great place to drink a beer with friends, relax in the sun and listen to live music.
RESTAURANTS
MISS MARGARITA (Mexican)
EARTH’N’SEA AMAZING PIZZA (Italian)
THE GREEN BISTRO (Australian)
THE CYPRUS TREE (Greek)
O SUSHI (Japanese)
IL BUCO (Italian)

Thank you guys!!!

Byron Bay Map