Fraser Island and the Whitsunday Islands

After our stop in Caloundra we went on to Hervey Bay. It's a small town at the coast of Fraser Island.
On thursday we made a tour on Fraser Island. A bus picked us up at our hotel and brought us to the ferry station. After 30 minutes on the ferry we arrived on the island.
Another bus picked us up and we started our tour on the island. Fraser Island is very big and so we were in the bus nearly the whole day, but we saw very much from the island. The weather was very rainy but so it wasn't too hot.
Our first stop was at the central station. We had a short walk through the rainforest before we went again on the bus. The next stop was at the resort for a short break. Then we went on to the beach.
At the beach we stopped at different places as an old ship wreck. We also saw some wild Dingos along the beach. After lunch in the resort we made our tour through the rainforest to lake McKenzie. The water was really warm and blue, but we didn't go for a swim because of the rain...
After a long day on Fraser Island we went back to the ferry which brought us back to Hervey Bay.
The day was really nice and we saw some beautiful places, but the bus drive was sometimes so bumpy that I thought I'm in a washing machine ahah.
After Hervey Bay we drove to Airlie Beach at the Whitsunday Islands.
Our hotel was right next to a pool in front of the ocean. You can't swim in the ocean in summer because of the jellyfish, but the pool was also very nice. Airlie Beach is kind of a tourist city with many backpackers.
On monday we had an amazing flight over the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands. I don't know what to write about that because the pictures say more than I can say. On the other days we just relaxed and enjoyed the australian sun. 

Hamilton Island

PEACE

The ship wreck

A dingo

Our bus

Long Island

Whitehaven Beach

The heart reef

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

On monday we went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane. It’s a zoo which is specialised on koalas, but they also have other Australian animals like kangaroos and wombats. I had the chance to cuddle a koala and it was so fluffy!!

We also cuddled kangaroos and saw cockatoos, turtles and the Tasmanian Devil. There were little water dragons everywhere on the pathways of the zoo and they weren’t even scared of clingy German tourists ahah. After a few hours of cuddling animals and really nice photos we left the zoo.

A koala

A kangaroo

A kangaroo with a baby in the bag

A wombat

Me holding a koala

Only 15692km..

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Surfers Paradise

One small stop of our tour was at the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast is really nice, but it’s a tourism city. There are so many skyscrapers which are hotels and the streets in the city were really full.

I wouldn’t say that the Gold Coast is not that nice, but the Sunshine Coast is way better! 

One part of the Gold Coast is called “Surfers Paradise”, because the waves there are just amazing and you can get the best surf there!

It was nearly 35 degrees on this day and so I was really happy that we had a swimming pool in our hotel! I still can’t believe that it’s already december and christmas will be there soon, because 35 degrees and christmas just don’t fit together ahah.

After a nice day at the Gold Coast we drove up to my second home, Caloundra.

On our first day we had a bbq with my hostmum and a school friend of mine at Moffat Beach which was really nice. The next day we went to Brisbane: first to the outlet at the airport and then to the city centre. This day was more a shopping than a sightseeing day. I got some nice souvenirs and australian sweets.

In the evening we went back to Caloundra to have dinner at my favourite beach which is Dicky Beach.

The next morning we left Caloundra to drive up to Hervey Bay. I can’t believe that this was the last time I drove through my lovely second home… <3 

Last time at Caloundra State High School

Surfers Paradise

Surfers Paradise

Aussie BBQ

Aussie BBQ

Surfers Paradise

My australian home

Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay

Our next stop was in Coffs Harbour. We had only one night so we didn’t do that much, but we had a nice walk along the beach and dinner also at the beach.

The next day we went on to Byron Bay. We visited the light house of Byron Bay which is the most eastern point of Australia. In winter you can see whales from up there but in summer they are gone, because the water gets too hot for them. We also walked through the city centre of Byron Bay and saw some nice surf shops ahah.

On one day we drove through the Lamington National Park. We walked through the rain forest for nearly one and a half hours but then I had enough from hiking ahah.

PS: The picture of Christiane and me is just for you, Magda.

Lighthouse of Byron Bay

My mum and me

A pelican

Rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforest

Normal australian street signs

Sydney Sydney Sydney

Our holidays began in Sydney, the maybe most famous city of Australia. Sydney is sooo beautiful and the two days we had were just amazing! We maybe didn't see everything but we saw the things everybody knows like the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. And we found out that the roof of the Opera House is covered with tiles!
One night we had dinner at "The Rocks" which is the oldest part of the city.
We also visited Darling Harbour which has a nice park and good restaurants.
On tuesday morning we went to the fish market and had a dozen of oysters for breakfast haha. It didn't taste too bad but I think I won't eat it again. :D
After only 2 days in Sydney we went on to the Blue Mountains. They are called Blue Mountains, because they look blue because of the fume of the gum trees.
We were really lucky, that there are no bush fires at the moment, but you could see so many burned trees.
There are different walking tracks through the Blue Mountains which bring you to different places like waterfalls or lookouts.
Three really famous mountains in the Blue Mountains are called the "Three Sisters", because they look like three similar mountains. There are different indigenous legends which describe the story of the "Three Sisters". One of them describes the story of a indigenous father with his three daughters. One day the father turns his daughters into stones and himself into a bird to protect them of a devil. But then he loses his magic bone and can't make the spell back. That's why there are the three mountain sisters.
Our next stop after the Blue Mountains was the Hunter Valley.
It looks a bit like Germany there, because it's a wine region with many wine yards.
I'll tell you more about our trip along the east coast of Australia in the following posts. :-)

Sydney from the plane

The Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney

Me in the window of the Opera House

Opera House

German Beergarden

Oysters

Blue Mountains

A cockatoo

The Three Sisters

Hunter Valley

Skippy