After the big celebration we spent the day in the Blue Mountains. The weather was perfect for takig good photos. As we walked on the trail we met a couple who gave their wrist bands that gave entry to the cable car and low lying rainforest walks. Thanks to them we got to see two lyrebirds on our rainforest walk.
The list of wildlife did not grow too much when we headed northwards to Byron Bay and Brisbane. Brisbane was surprisingly a very chilled out place with enough things to do such as admiring the city sky-line from our roof terrace and swimming pool. However, nearby Surfer’s Paradise in the Gold Coast is the most ugly place of Australia. I should say that Queenslanders are very friendly people who approach you very easily. Something different from what my experience was in New South Wales.
After Brisbane we started our second road trip which would end in Cairns. The trip involved some long distances to cover in a day and with sometimes heavy rainfall we had to allow more time. Our first stop were the wonderful caves in Mt Etna Caves NP. Our guide showed the endangered fern species, bats, while he was telling his story about the ecology and rock formations. As this is now a family business catering only sustainable tours it is very well worth to spend the dollars here. They even do their own fern species and regeneration work to save this species from extinction. It was that mind blowing that the places we visited in Noosa Heads and Sunshine Coast were forgotten.
After 3 days and 3 terrible nights we arrived at the Whitsunday Islands. Finally normal nights and not mosquito plagued camp sites which makes sitting outdoor an absolute disaster. The islands are surrounded by turqoise water with white sand beaches and rainforested hills looming on the background. Here we had some nice relaxing, hiking and swimming.
