Sydney to Brisbane, the San Diego of Australia if I had to give a local comparison. My friends
and I had a sailboat to catch up north. It waited for us in Airlie Beach. It
would take us a day to arrive so we headed
north on the National Highway 1.
 |
| Emundi |
Naturally, our first-stop is the Farmer's Market in Eumundi
to load up on fresh snacks. The small town with horses tied
up in front of designer boutiques. The
atmosphere is quaint, as many people look to settle away from the hustle of
Brisbane.
 |
Overview of our stops
D= Airlie Beach |
 |
| Thai food is amazing |
Following suggestions from our buds back in Wollongong, we
head twenty minutes to the coast to Noosa Heads. Stormy skies over the surfer paradise does not keep
Aussies inside. They fill the beach and sidewalk cafes. The glass framed
storefronts boost a Miami feel.
 |
| Noosa Heads Beach |
At a later visit I get the chance to visit the Noosa
National Park, which has a Laguna lookout displaying back bays and inlets from
the Pacific Ocean. This provides plenty of waterfront property for homes adding
to the Florida landscape comparison.
A
little further south, I stumble upon Sunshine Beach. Now this is California
style, surfers, boogey boarders, and paddle boarders all take to the waves.
Approaching sunset, we landed at the iconic Rainbow Beach. It is the coastal jump off point for Frasier Island, which is the largest sand island in the
world. The southbound clouds delivered
a filter for an amazing sunset as it kicked in the rough waves ashore.
We
decided to retreat back into town where we stumbled upon a skate park. Equipped
with a board and courage from the goon bag we exercised our tired muscles from
traveling. The wipeouts jump our adrenaline.
Pulling off the side of the road in the darkness to rest our
heads. We wake up in Hervey Bay. A shallow bay leaves much of the shoreline
exposed.
 |
| Hervey Bay |
Back on the road we stumble upon a rodeo in the backwoods of Miriam
Vale.
 |
| Australia is a little country too! |
On the outskirts of
Rockhampton, we decided to check out the Capricorn Caves. The above-ground
caves in a limestone ridge were discovered in 1882 by a Norwegian
explorer. We ducked and wiggled through
dark corridors until we reached the center where a cathedral cave awaits.
 |
| Entrance to the Capricorn Caves |
 |
| Cathedral cave |
In
the middle of imagining what a wedding would be like the guide turns off all
the lights. Instantly, my friend tightens here grip on my arm. "Let's get
out of here," she says.
Five hours we pull into the Airlie Beach. Night time we
decided to camp at the campgrounds. $12 USD for the night we had showers and
cooking facilities available for use.
In the morning I met a young woman who
told me about her travels that her and her husband had embarked on. From
Australia, they gave themselves two years to fully explore their country
together. Nice idea but I thought you do the road trip to find out if you could
see yourself marrying that person. Great honeymoon idea though.
 |
| Airlie Beach, Queensland |
We pulled into Tongarra Sailing headquarters. For nearly 400
USD we had a 2 day and 2 night trip all inclusive ready for us to explore the
Whitsunday Islands. Before departure, I found a quiet place near the beach to
journal, here are some thoughts I had that day:
"Sunny
and beachy is the only way to start a journal off proper. Two sheets into the goon,
I feel like a real pirate
Feet in the sand, merchants in the grass, Led
Zepp on my chest
The
treasure in the sea one of the best you could see...The Great Barrier Reef.
A bungalow
on the peninsula, catamarans in the bay, tropical species singing away
White
clouds drift away bringing drops of rain to water the shade.
Green,
brown, red, torquoise, blue, this is what I've been waiting for, gets better a
quarter after two.
White,
blue, white, blue- sky is stuck on Airlie above the rock."
It's the best type of
trip, who knows what will happen once you get aboard. It is all a part of the
fun when you join a crew full of strangers. Well, not entirely...I had Ari and
Alyssa with me.
