Cairns to Byron bay

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Cairns to Byron bay – 28^th October – 14^thNovember



We arrived in Cairns on the evening so we booked into a hotel for the night. The next day we picked up our campervan which was a lot nicer then our Wicked van - 5 seats with mom in the back this time rather then me squashed up front in the middle haha, air conditioning, fridge, cupboards, sink....

Cairns was not very big and due to possible jelly fish in the water they have a small man made salt water lagoon right on the shore that you can enjoy. We booked ourselves on a Great Barrier Reef tour for the next day and spent the afternoon on the beach in Cairns.



We were picked up the next day by the tour company and joined a boat of around 30 people. We were taken out to the Great Barrief reef and landed at a floating pontoon. Terry and I went snorkelling and saw some amazing fish whilst mom had a little dip in the water and managed to snorkel a little bit by holding onto the pontoon. They also had a glass bottom boat we could ride on to see the coral below too which was great for mom and a viewing area under the pontoon.



Next day we drove North towards Port Douglas and did a self drive tour around the Daintree Rainforest. They have board walks going through the forest that were only about 1-2km in length. May of been better to of been with a tour guide as they would of pointed out things of interest but we enjoyed ourselves and saw some huge spiders and even a huge ostrich looking bird!



One thing we are starting to notice about Australians camping is they all go to bed early. Mom and I were sat in the van sharing a bottle of wine and it was only 9.30pm when the next door neighbour asked if we could quieten down as he was trying to sleep, we were not even being rowdy. We told Terry what the neighbour had said when he came back from the bathroom and he said it appears the whole campsite is asleep! Kind of killed the night a bit so off we went to sleep at only 10.30pm. However I can see why they do, there is so much to see and do in the day in Oz that by the end of the trip we were heading to bed by 10pm (still late in Australian time) and getting up at 6am most days, it was nice for a change.



We were able to have the odd free night camping by sleeping at rest areas which are just off the main highways but most did not have showers so we always checked into a campsite the next night but did help save some money.



One great place we stayed at for free was at a small town called Homehill. It was next to the railway station but the trains were not that frequent and the town also supplied free showers and toilets. A lovely couple from Tasmania parked up next to us and invited us over to watch their TV. So we all sat outside his van with his TV on, drinking beer and watched his favourite show of the moment - Beauty and the Geek haha. He said it was the best episode as they were having the make over!




Next major trip we had was a day trip over to the Whitsundays on the fury boat tour. Our first stop on the tour was to do a little bit of snorkelling again. Terry and I went in but mom decided against it this time and instead went out with one of the tour guides on a smaller boat riding around looking after snorkellers. I only went in for 20 mins as could feel myself getting stung by jelly fish, not painful just stung a bit then got annoying. Somebody saw a turtle which was what I was hoping to see, but we saw some huge tropical fish which was very cool. Next stop was the stunning Whitehaven beach where we chilled out for a couple hours, had some lunch and even saw a huge lizard that was hanging around the picnic benches. Terry and I walked up to the view point and on the way we saw two brown snakes that are highly poisonous, glad mom didn’t see them!



The drive from Whitesundays down to Hervey Bay was very long and not a lot to see on the way. Terry brought a fishing rod and we found a couple of spots on the way at Mission beach and Townsville.



Our next big tour was Fraser Island. We stopped off at Hervey Bay which was a really beautiful beach, unfortunately the tour for the next day was full so we decided to travel south to Rainbow beach the next day to get on another tour heading to Fraser Island. We loved Hervey bay, really nice town and stunning beach. Terry had another go at fishing but didn’t catch anything...





We spent the next day at Rainbow beach. Only a tiny town, not much going on but the beach was gorgeous. Mom decided not to go on the Fraser island trip as she was worried it was a bumpy ride and she was having enough sitting at the back of the van so decided to have a day to herself.



I am glad she did as was a very bumpy ride. Terry and I were unsure whether to go on the Fraser island tour as they are expensive but we were glad we did. We were picked up in a large 4x4 bus and caught the ferry over to the island, only took 10 minutes. We then zoomed down the beach at 80kmph flying everywhere, we were glad we had seat belts. It reminded me of the Indiana Jones ride at Disney and was now starting to think it was not a good idea to be sat at the back. We saw the ship wreck on the beach from the 1930’s, had a swim in Mackenzie lake, and even saw a Dingo which just looked like a small greyhound. The best part was the riding around as there are no paved roads, just sand so you are flying out of your seat and skidding everywhere...




Our last few days we were going to spend on the Gold coast soaking up the sun. We proceeded down Sunshine coast and spent a couple of hours in Noosa, which was a very upmarket little town set on a beautiful beach. We zoomed through Brisbane and just checked out a few landmarks from the car and headed onto Surfers Paradise. As we drove through, it reminded me a little bit of Blackpool, girls walking around with high heels and nothing much on, loads of cheesy looking bars and high rises scattered around. We decided to pass on through and spent the night near Kirra beach. The waves the next day were huge so Terry hired a surf board and braved the chill, as yes it rained all day, typical as supposedly it was the first rain they had seen in 3 months!

Mom and I went for lunch with a lady mom had met on the plane on her Toronto to Vancouver flight last year. They had kept in touch via Facebook. Was really nice to have a lunch out rather than cooking in the campervan, poor Terry missed out but he was happy in the sea.





The next couple of days Terry hired out a surfboard as the waves were just too good to resist. He managed to catch a few but even my mate who we met up with one of the evenings from Brum said the waves were pretty wild so think Terry did well! Was good to see my mate Bryn again, he moved out here 9 years ago – how time flies.





We also visited one of mom’s friends from Solihull who now lives out on the Gold coast, she had a gorgeous home built into the hills over looking the Gold coast in distance. Was so good to spend a night out of the van and in a comfy bed that we all slept great. We had a good drink and natter and the next day we left and headed to the hippy town of Byron Bay for our last night. We took the coastal path up around Byron Bay to the lighthouse, was great coastal views. Byron bay is only small but had a great vibe, full of hippies too!





There was a total eclipse in Cairns but in Byron Bay we would see a 80% eclipse. Terry got up early and went to the most Easterly point in Australia which was a short walk from our campsite, I was too lazy so just tried to watch it from the beach however I could not see anything but Terry came back with photo proof that there was an eclipse. That evening we caught a flight to Sydney where we would spend the next 3 days.

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