We planned 12 days in Cairns and were pretty sure that we will have at least 3 days with good weather for a liveaboard in the Great Barrier Reef. The cyclone season ends in April so theoretically we did everything right but in practice it was a little bit different. So we hoped and waited and hoped again for the weather to get better…. but it didn’t. We thought about going on a scuba dive liveaboard anyway because when you’re under water you get wet anyway so it’s not that important if it’s raining though the underwater visibility gets worse. But because we learnt on the Galapagos Islands that a choppy sea can take away pretty much of the fun of a liveaboard we decided to go only on a one day trip to the Great Barrier Reef and did only one dive there. It was good but we cannot say that we experienced the best what the GBR has to offer so it’s definitely an open point on my bucket list.

So, what else can you do in a small city like Cairns if you’re stuck there for 12 days? Well, considering that the main business of 99% of the shops in town is selling day trips and liveaboards to the GBR there’s not really much of a choice. And by the 3^rd day we knew all the major streets in downtown Cairns by name so we had to get out of the city.

And there are a couple of wildlife parks around Cairns with Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures being one of the best. Here you can see the really big crocs the biggest one being Paul, a 4.6m fellow weighting more than 700 kilos. You wouldn’t think that crocs can grow up so huge. At this wildlife park they farm crocodiles so you can also get crocodile meat for lunch which I did. It’s delicious and tastes very similar to chicken breast.

We also walked on a trail through the rainforests which was quite good and because the rainforest is meant to be wet, the bad weather didn’t make a difference here. Another nice trail is one called the Waterfall Circuit which we also did and took a look at some nice waterfalls with one of them being the place where the Australian airline Qantas shoots its commercials.

So I guess this is it from the northern part of Queensland and for Australia. But we’re sure that we’ll come back to this beautiful country.

See you sooner than soon, Aussieland.

Next / Last stop

Hong Kong

Moorea and Bora Bora are both part of the French overseas territory called French Polynesia. If you think like me that French Polynesia has just a couple of islands, you’re as wrong as I was. It consists of 118 islands which cover an area as big as the European Union. This is one of the last overseas colonies but probably not for a long time as they will have a referendum next year where the Polynesians can decide if they become independent or not. This is a big topic for them and when talking to them you can get a sense of their uncertainty if the independence will be the better choice. It’s funny how they ask you questions like “Is it better to be independent?”  or “Is Germany independent?”.  But considering that France takes care of main areas like education or public services it`s questionable if they are ready for the change.

On both the islands you have a couple of options to spend your time, the favorite option being to just sit and stare at the amazing greenish water. But then there are also Tahitian cultural shows or you can just grab a kayak and explore the islets called Motu or you can go and discover the underwater world. If you see all this paradise it’s hard to believe that France used parts of French Polynesia for their nuclear tests, the latest ones being less than 20 years ago. Maybe that’s why you see fish having all the possible colors :=)

A funny story is that before we arrived to French Polynesia I learnt another two things.

First, that you can never be too early at the departure gate as it might happen that you are randomly selected for a chemical test and the results may reveal that you have traces of explosives. But fortunately the dog that was brought to smell on my belongings was more interested in another lady’s purse than in my brand new daypack so it was a false alarm and we arrived just in time at the gate.

The second learnt lesson is that you should be careful when flying over the “end of the world” as the edge of the time zones is around French Polynesia. That means that we flew on Friday evening from Auckland and arrived on Thursday in Tahiti. What a cool thing to just win a day after a five hours flight. The drawback of the story is that when flying back to Auckland even though it’s again just an over day five hours flight you arrive one calendar day later and because we bought separate flight tickets we had to change the flight to Australia and the hotel bookings in Australia and Auckland.

Next stop

The Great Barrier Reef

Fiji is a paradise. It consists of an archipelago that includes more than 300 islands out of which around 100 are inhabited. If you think you have never seen a picture from Fiji you are probably wrong because the gorgeous scenery was the stage where lots of movies were shot including The Blue Lagoon with Brooke Shields, Return to the Blue Lagoon with Milla Jovovich, Castaway with Tom Hanks, and Jodie Foster’s “heaven” sequence in the sci-fi movie Contact was also filmed here.

Because April is the last month of the rainy season for Fiji we chose to do an island hopping tour through the Yasawa Group of Islands which are more protected from the rain and the decision was the right one as we had only 3 days of rain in 3 weeks. We chose to stay 4 nights on each of the islands Nanuya Balavu, Baya, Tavewa and Nacula with every single one of them being a little paradise.

In Fiji there is no danger to get bored because on every island you have lots of daily activities to choose from including hiking, snorkeling, diving, cooking classes, jewelry making out of coconuts, visits to local villages, handline fishing, beach volleyball, rugby, crab races and party nights. And if this is not enough you can just lay down in one of the hammocks on the beach and stare at the blue-greenish water. Can you wish more???

We also tried the local cuisine with Kokoda being one of our favourites. Kokoda is very similar to the ceviche from Peru. It is raw fish marinated in lime juice and served in coconut milk with onion and spices, very very tasty. We also tried the typical Fijian drink which is called Kava. It is a narcotic drink made out of the roots of the pepper plant and after you drink it you feel a slight numbness of your lips and tongue. I couldn’t say it’s a tasty drink as it really looks like muddy water :=) but you cannot escape from drinking it on every island on your welcome ceremony.

In Fiji we met lots of people from all over the world but because of the long flight from home most of the Europeans were on a longer trip around the world. So guess who we met? If you read the last blog post about Sydney I mentioned that I hope we will meet Marco and Denise from Switzerland on a small island in the Pacific. And we met on Nanuya Balavu Island. Now if this isn’t weird than call me crazy but by now we managed to meet them this year in 4 different countries Peru, Bolivia, Australia and Fiji without planning it.

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

The snorkeling in Fiji was one of the best we have ever done and the corals are considered to be part of the most colorful in the world. We also went diving a couple of times and even did two shark dives with one of them being our best dive till now. It was very well organized as we went down to 20m depth and held on to a rope while three guides fed the sharks 4 – 5 meters in front of us and other 3 guides watched for the safety on the back side. We saw different types of sharks, the white and black tip reef sharks, lemon sharks and the best, the bull sharks. It was definitely one of the most amazing experiences so far. Take a look at the video with the amazing underwater world in Fiji.

Next stop

French Polynesia – Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora

Milford Sound – We could not miss the Fiordland of New Zealand so we went for a half day trip through the Milford Sound. Here you can see the mountains rising all the way from the sea as well as sea-lions, penguins and lots of other animals. Another memorable experience was when the captain went with the nose of the ship under a waterfall and the crew filled up glasses with glacier water for all the passengers. Take a look at the video.

Mount Cook and Lake Pukaki – We weren’t sure if we will ever find a lake that matches the beauty of Canada’s Moraine Lake but Lake Pukaki is definitely playing in the same league. The drive to the base of Mount Cook goes along Lake Pukaki and we stopped tens of times to take pictures because the view was so amazing. Again, too bad that the pictures don’t completely show its real beauty.

Franz Josef and Fox Glacier – are New Zealand’s two main glaciers. We took a guided tour on the Fox Glacier because this was reachable more easily than the Franz Josef Glacier where you had to take a helicopter to drop you off on top of the glacier. The two glaciers are not as spectacular as the Perito Moreno in Argentina but the hike was still worth it.

Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula – We liked Dunedin a lot as it has really nice old architecture and looks like a city where nothing happens very fast. They also claim to have the steepest residential road in the world so we couldn’t miss driving this road up and down . The Otago Peninsula is right near Dunedin and it has lots to offer. Here you can also find a colony of yellow eyed penguins which are native to New Zealand. On the peninsula you can also see the only castle in New Zealand.

Christchurch – We also visited the city of Christchurch, the third largest city of New Zealand. It was hardly damaged by the earthquake in 2011. Even if the construction work continues, a big part of downtown Christchurch is a red zone with restricted access. That area looks literally like a ghost town and it looks like the shop owners are not willing to invest in this area for a long time.

Next stop

Auckland

Another memorable experience was the hike which we made after leaving the region of Rotorua. The hiking trail is called “The Tongariro Alpine Crossing” and is rated to be in the Top 10 day hikes in the world. After looking at the pictures, I’ll let you judge if the rating is exaggerated or not. The trail runs near an active volcano and lakes with incredible emerald water. In fact they are even called the “Emerald Lakes”. Because the last time the volcano erupted was in November 2012 parts of the trail are still closed and you cannot get closer than 3 km to the volcano because of the danger of volcanic flying rocks.

As a final stop on the North Island we arrived in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital which was described by Lonely Planet as being “The Coolest Little Capital in the World.” Because it is situated near the Cook Strait which divides the North Island from the South Island it gets a lot of rain, on average it rains 159 days per year. But we got the lucky shot and the weather was just perfect for one day of sightseeing and relaxing on the docks.

Fortunately from this moment on everything went more than perfect. We went to pick up our rental car and received a free upgrade to a huge brand new Toyota Highlander. By brand new I mean the odometer was showing only 7 (seven) kilometer.

First we decided to visit a region in the northern part of the North Island called Bay Of Islands. Here we decided to take a full day boat tour through the islands and the blue-greenish waters of the bay. The luck struck once again and we won a HOT-SEAT on the boat so one of us travelled for free. For me New Zealand did not have the image of perfect beaches and blue-greenish waters. But take a look at the pictures and see how wrong I was thinking that.

In the northern part we also visited Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the Maori and the British. This Treaty is considered the founding document of New Zealand as a nation. At the Treaty Grounds we also watched a performance of Maori and even witnessed a Haka, the traditional Maori war dance which may be familiar to you as it is always performed by the National Rugby Team of New Zealand before their games.

After leaving the northern part of the island we headed for the Coromandel Peninsula which is famous for the Hot Water Beach. This beach is called like that because during the timeframe of 2 hours before and 2 hours after low tide you can go to the beach and dig your own pool which than is filled by hot water from the geothermal springs. The water is so hot that you have to be careful to build it in a place where it can mix with the sea water, otherwise the danger of burns is really high. Being able to sit in a self-made small pool with thermal water right on the beach… how cool(warm) is that???

Next stop

Continue our journey on the North Island

We already knew last time when we left Sydney that we will return here during our trip in Australia because we were not able to see everything that we wanted back then because of time constrains and the weather conditions.

On the first days, we met again our lovely host Kym who took us to a friend of hers who owns the best Indian restaurant in Sydney and the food was amazing. After almost one week we’re still thinking about that food. And if I’m already writing about the cuisine experiences I have to say that I went back to the fish market to get one of those huge fish platters. Diana’s favorite was a spicy Malaysian noodle soup called Laksa which has as main ingredients coconut milk, chili and seafood.

We also went to take a tour of the Opera House. I found out that the project of building the Opera House was estimated in taking 3 years and costing 7 million dollars and it actually took 16 years and more than 100 million dollars to finish it. Because of this the architect was fired at some point and the sad story is that he never returned to Sydney to see his masterpiece finished.

In Sydney we also met with Denise and Marco from Switzerland. They’re also on a trip around the world and we first met them on the Salkantay trail to Machu Picchu because we were in the same group. Back then we already planned to meet each other when we’re back home but we didn’t think the world is so small and we’ll meet again in Sydney. Something tells me we’ll meet each other again before going home….and this time it will be on a smaller island in the Pacific :=)

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

Before arriving in Sydney we went to a very small town called South West Rocks which is 300 km north of Sydney. Nothing spectacular so far and the town is really nothing to write home about. The amazing thing about this place is that from here you can go by boat to one of the best and some would say THE best dive spot in Australia. I have to thank Uta from Melbourne for this recommendation as I would have never ever discovered it on my own.

This place is a total knock out in diving terms. Here you can find a colony of grey nurse sharks all year round. I’ve dived with sharks before but not with grey nurse sharks and not with 15 or 20 of them coming as close as half a meter of me. And like this would not have been enough, the second dive on that day was through a cave which was awesome. Take a look especially at the end of the first video where you can see a close-up with one of the cute guys.

Next stop

New Zealand

The Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast are both the perfect regions for spending a holiday. While the Sunshine Coast is mainly visited by families because of the nice and quiet beaches, the Gold Coast is world wide known for good surfing beaches and even has a town which is called like that, Surfers’ Paradise.

First we went to the Sunshine Coast which is situated north of Brisbane. Here we made a short stopover at the Glasshouse Mountains. Well… Australia is not the best place for mountains and it’s funny when you see that a hill with a height of 200-300 meters is called Mt. But still, it was worth stopping at the Glasshouse Mountains and hiking the trail up to the peak as we had a nice view over the whole region. Then we went to Noosa which has a very nice beach and even better the Noosa National Park has some really good trails to walk through with amazing beaches. Through the town of Noosa flows a river so you can choose if you want to kayak in the sea or in the river.

If I will remember Tasmania forever for its huge and sweet cherries, the Sunshine Coast definitely has the best mangos, pineapples and watermelons we have ever eaten. They’re so sweet that people with diabetes shouldn’t be allowed to eat them :=) and even better, there are farmers selling them for almost nothing near the road every couple of kilometers so you cannot pass without stopping.

After the Sunshine Coast we headed south for the Gold Coast which like I said, is totally different from the Sunshine Coast. Here we first went to the place called Surfer’s Paradise. Though it was very touristic with lots of huge hotels and many restaurants we liked it’s atmosphere and stayed there for 2 days before continuing our trip on the coast. The next stop was Byron Bay, which was once the typical small hippie town but soon the hippies became capitalists so it slowly caught the trend of it’s bigger sister, Surfer’s Paradise. But still, the locals kept everything small and nice so that it does not become the next big touristic attraction on the coast.

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

I could not have left Australia without taking some surf lessons and “trying to catch the waves, dude”. And I’m so glad I did it in Byron Bay because the waves were so much better than in Surfer’s Paradise. I managed in staying on the board on the first day and liked it so much that now I’m thinking to convince Diana to come back here in April and spend some more time in search for good waves. Take a look at the pictures with me trying to stand on the board, without laughing too loud :=)

Next stop

Sydney

When we received a free upgrade to a 4WD car in Brisbane I was happy thinking that we can drive the same car on Fraser Island because only 4WD cars are allowed to go on the island. I could not have been more wrong than that because our toy-car could not have had any chance on the rough terrain on the island. But, fortunately we were advised about the conditions and rented a Land Rover Defender, the ones that are used by the British army and which are more similar to a tractor than to a car. Driving through the rough terrain of the rainforest was hard but lots of fun. I would compare the drive to a rodeo ride. We also got stuck a couple of times so we had to remove the sand around the wheels with a shovel before we could continue our ride, but this was all part of the fun.

But this was not all of it, the main “highway” on the island was the beach where you could drive as fast as 80kmh because the sand was very wet. Driving here is similar to driving on icy snow and with the waves crushing near you it was an unforgettable experience. On the beach we also spotted a couple of dingoes as Fraser Island has one of the biggest populations of dingoes world wide.

The island has so much more to offer. It has some of the most beautiful lakes we have ever seen, Lake McKenzie and Lake Birrabeen. In fact we loved Lake McKenzie so much that on the last day we woke up at 6AM just to go back there and swim in the lake once more. The feeling of having this nature’s beauty all for ourselves was indescribable. It’s not needed to say that the pictures of the both lakes don’t show their real beauty.

Next stop

The Gold Coast

This week was full of memorable experiences. We started it by driving to the incredible Bay of Fires with its stunning beaches. It is called “The Bay of Fires” because the rocks on the beach have a redish color and when the first people from overseas came they had the impression that the rocks were on fire. Another superb place we visited was the Freycinet National Park with the top attraction being the beach called Wineglass Bay because of its shape. The pictures of the beach from the hill nearby are for sure on the nicest pictures that I’ve taken so far.

Australia is not famous for its mountains but if going to Tasmania it is a must to do at least one hike in the Cradle Mountains. We did the classic hike around the Dove Lake and the view from the peak of the mountains over the Tasmanian outback was definitely worth it.

But Tasmania is not only about beaches. The wildlife that you can see here is amazing. We saw hundreds of kangaroos and wallabies, we saw wombats, opossums. We also went to a Wildlife Park (which is not a zoo) where we could pet wombats and see the famous Tasmanian devil. The animals are all very friendly and especially the kangaroos and wallabies are used to people. One even approached us on the beach of the Wineglass Bay and followed us when we wanted to leave.

Then there are the fruits from Tasmania, especially the cherries which are so sweet and huge that you cannot stop eating. I think I have never eaten so many cherries in my life, probably 1 kilo of cherries per day.

We also went to a honey farm or better said to a shop where you can find everything made out of honey. They had free tastings of the honey and with over fifty (50) types of honey you can imagine how much time we spent there. I could not have ever imagined that mixes of honey with so many fruits or veggies can be so tasty. I bought a mix of honey with chili which is very good to eat with cheese or can be used as a salad dressing. We also went to a butchery specialized on European sausages where we tasted a couple of them. The owner was a German and he told us about each of the types of sausages and also how he won an international contest for sausages with a special sausage made out of wallaby meat.

Next stop

Queensland

But before we drove over the Great Ocean Road we saw some of the nicest beaches in Mallacoota and Narrooma. Then we headed to the Wilsons Promontory National Park where we camped near the Squeaky Beach. It is called like that because you hear a squeaky sound when walking on the white sand.

Coming back to the Great Ocean Road I need to say that it’s one of the best routes to drive. The scenery is amazing with blue-greenish water all the way along the coast. And the rock formations called The Twelve  Apostles is incredible. Water and wind carved their way into the rocks leaving peacks in the middle of the water, a view which seems unreal.

After the drive over The Great Ocean Road we returned to Melbourne where we met Uta and Richard with whom we did the hiking in the Colca Canyon in Peru and met a couple of times in South America. They showed us the city by night and Richard drove over the streets that are used for the F1 Race in Melbourne which is the first race of the year.

Next stop

Tasmania

In Sydney we met our friend Raluca who is joining us for 4 weeks across Australia. After her arrival we went to Port Stephens a beautiful region near the ocean and to the Hunter Valley which is one of the main winery regions in Australia. Here we also stopped for wine tasting and now I can happily add the Shiraz to my list of favorite wines. Then we went to the Blue Mountains National Park where we saw the rock formation called “The three sisters” and took a ride on the steepest railway in the world.

For New Year’s Eve we planned to go to the best spot to watch the fireworks, a place called Ms. Macquarie’s Chair. Kym, our lovely host in Sydney, joined us and we are proud that she came with us and it was the first time she went to see the fireworks live. Because when we planned the trip there was no doubt where we would spent the NYE, it seemed strange to hear that very many citizens of Sydney don’t go to see the fireworks, but I would soon find the answer to this. Though we went very early and by early I mean 10:30 AM to the desired place, there was already a queue of more than 10000 people to the entrance of the mentioned park. The problem was that this place only fits for 17.000 people so we hoped we were not too late for that, and again, all this at 10:30 AM…. Just crazy. But with estimated 1,5 million people who spent NYE on the street in Sydney it’s no wonder. But it was worth it, we got a nice place to see probably the most spectacular fireworks that you can see. More than 300,000 fireworks from 7 ships, 7 buildings and lots of places with the Harbor Bridge being the center of the show. Just impressive.

The next day, Kym showed us the Featherdale Wildlife Park were we could pet Koalas and Wallabies. If you’re like me and wonder what a Wallaby is, it’s the animal that looks like a small kangaroo but is not a kangaroo. We also saw other different animals typical for Australia and the Laughing Kokabara which I started to hate. It’s called laughing because it makes a noise which sound like a laugh but the problem is that it’s incredible loud and the bird normally starts singing at 5 AM.

After leaving Sydney we chose the coastline to drive to Melbourne and this was the best choice ever. We found a couple of great beaches with the top one being the Hyams Beach which is said to have the whitest sand in the world. Another one was Pebbly Beach where you can see lots of kangaroos in the evening and where I probably saw the highest number of stars on the sky.

Next stop

The state of Victoria and The Great Ocean Road