Australia – Summer 2018
My trip to Australia in the August of 2018 was my first solo journey. I “planned” the trip for a year, and by that I mean I booked the flights and nothing else. The only things I knew I wanted to do while I was over there was return to Byron bay, and see the barrier reef.
Sydney Opera House 
Sydney Harbour Bridge
I started off my journey in Sydney, and the trip couldn’t really have got off to a worse start. The hostel I had booked turned out to be abandoned. My “planning” had come back to bite me on the first day! We recovered from there, and if anything it helped me settle, things could only improve from here!
One place I did not photograph enough of was the Botanical gardens. The whole place is stunningly beautiful with some brilliant views and tranquil spaces. In a holiday where I thought I would be seeing new things every day I found myself in those gardens again and again.
The view from the centre of the gardens overlooking the harbour 
A 100 year old leaning dragon tree found in the botanical gardens
The next stop on my journey is possibly my favourite place I’ve ever been to. Byron Bay is a quiet little town on the most easterly point of mainland Australia, right on the coast. The whole area is so peaceful and relaxed and I completely fell in love with it.
I spent 5 days in total in Byron and compared to the rest of the stay I was rather lazy! Half of the days and most of the evenings were spent with people I’d met at the hostel I was staying at. The remaining days were mostly spent exploring the local area, with 2 particular highlights.
The first of which was a day spent kayaking in the sea off of Belongil beach, which Byron bay is right on the edge of. Byron bay itself is a stopping point for Humpback whales on the way to and from their breeding grounds. They look grand enough when you see pictures or footage of them but when you are 10 metres from one with its tail towering out of the waves its an incredible sight. Alongside paddling above dolphins and turtles just an arms reach away, it was a day I will never forget.
The second highlight is rather the opposite of the first. I spent the whole day completely alone, walking for hours up Tyagarah beach which stretches between Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads, and alongside the Tyagarah nature reserve. I left about 9am and didn’t return until at least 4pm, walking about half the 14 kilometre stretch across the day.
There was something eerily beautiful about being completely cut off from anything human, not even another set of footprints in the sand for company. The views were incredible and allowed me to get some shots you wouldn’t normally be able to on a popular beach.
The last day was a tad bittersweet. I had planned to go see the sunrise from the lighthouse on the cape, but I overdid it the night before and didn’t get up until way after the sun was at its peak. OOPS! Fortunately it wasn’t enough to put a downer on one of the most enjoyable weeks of my life.
The next stage of my journey too me to Brisbane. Unfortunately these couple days were a real struggle and probably the lowest I’ve been on my travels. I went from the rural beautiful coast to a more urban busy environment. In Byron I had formed a cluster of friends made up of other travellers and when I left that behind it was a hard moment. It’s the only time since I started solo travelling that I’ve phoned home for a pep talk but it perked me up and got me through it.
Travellers remorse is something even experienced travellers go through and it isn’t nice, especially when you are almost always in unusual territory. it usually only takes a small spark to get yourself out of it, so it is important not to let it get you down too much. For me it took a change of location and a new set of people.
That change of location was Hervey Bay, a city based on the coast near the centre of Australia’s eastern coast. It is quite rural and picturesque but I was there for one main reason. Fraser Island.
Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island, stretching 120km not far from the mainland coast. In aboriginal, the island is called K’gari, which translates to English as paradise. That name is completely accurate, with beautiful settings all over the island.
An island tour is a full day trip with an early start getting a ferry onto the island so you’ve got to be prepared! Once you are on the island, off road coaches transport you from sight to sight, which is an attraction in itself. This is necessary as there are no tarmac roads across the island, so all vehicles need to be able to cope with the shifting sands the island is created from, with a lot of the roads being on the long beaches stretching around the island.
One of the many attractions on the island is the shipwreck of the SS Maheno, an ocean liner that once operated crossing between New Zealand and Australia. After the ship had ended its surface, and was on the way to a shipbreakers yard in Japan, the towline towing the ship snapped during a cyclone. After a failed effort to reattach the tow, the Maheno drifted off into the storm and disappeared until it was spotted by an aircraft flying over the island.
After efforts to refloat and, failing that, to sell the ship, the wreck went unclaimed, sat on the coast to erode and disappear. After a brief spell as a munitions target and a research tool, the ship is now a tourist attraction, though they encourage you not to enter the ship as it slowly deteriorates. The wreck also has also become a religious site for native aboriginals, with women even travelling to the site to give birth!
After a brief stop walking in land and a stop off at the resort on the island, where you can stay if you are lucky (or rich) enough, we were offered the choice to go on a flyover of the island. The planes take off from the same beach straight that cars travel on, adding an extra layer of excitement. The views from above are stunning, with sites of the entire island. 100% worth the extra coin.
The final attraction is Lake McKenzie. Stretching a kilometre in each direction, the sands the lake sits on are pure, white silica, making the waters appear crystal clear blue. This is some of the finest sand on the planet, very similar to those you’ll find on Whitsundays, while also creating the perfect natural filter.
The water in the lake is entirely rain water, as the natural organic matter collects and acts as a basin, collecting any rain that falls. People travel from around the world to experience the soothing nature of bathing in the lake, even though the nature of the water does not help to keep it warm. That’s a lesson I learned the hard way!
The day after I had completed my trip to Fraser Island, I left Hervey Bay and made my way to Bundaberg, a city sitting right at the base of the great barrier reef, the last of the things I had set out to see at the beginning of the trip. One of the natural wonders of the world was a must see, and Bundaberg is the closest place you can see it.
Bundaberg is known for its ginger beer and its rum mainly, a very industrial city, though there are nice little walks about. My stay here was definitely my most casual, eating out every day and just monging out after 2 weeks of constant action.
To visit the barrier reef you must travel to Lady Musgrave Island. The island, named of the wife of a former government official in Brisbane, is known as Wallaginji in Aboriginal, which translates to beautiful reef. To get to Lady Musgrave, I joined a day on the Lady Musgrave Experience, which includes an expedition onto the island itself, a glass bottom boat journey, food, and snorkelling and diving in the reef itself.
The island itself is a coral cay, where the base of the island itself is made from debris swept from the coral reef that has broken and splintered off. you can only reach the island from one side, as it is surrounded on most sides by walls of corals, creating a still lagoon within, which makes it perfect for fishing. The island is covered mainly in Pisonia trees, with their large leaves also covering the island’s surface. As the leaves degrade, they leave the nutrients needed for the next trees to flourish. Camping is permitted on the island with a long waiting list, except between February and March, which is closed off for turtle hatching.
After the walk and a glass bottom boat journey back to the main vessel, the ship was anchored in the lagoon for snorkelling and diving. The seas below are filled with an abundance of different colours and shapes with corals creating a beautiful collage. The coral itself is also brimming with life, different fish across every new layer. There are also a large number of turtles year round and being able to swim within arms length of them is truly magical. Don’t get too close though, turtles have one of the hardest grips on the planet if you get caught in their jaw, and could easily bite straight through a finger.
My time in Bundaberg had come to an end, and it was time to return to Sydney for a few days before getting the long plane flight back to the delights of home. My second coming in Sydney was spent revisiting some of the places I had already before, mainly the botanical gardens which will never get boring for me. I also did a skydive this time, which is simultaneously the most scared and most excited I’ve ever been.
On the final evening I reunited with some of the group I had met earlier in the holiday in Byron Bay, where we did what every group of young people ever does on a Friday night. Went to a gay club! As a straight guy spending his first night in a gay club, this was an experience in itself, with the highlight being a drag show that was well worth the 10 dollar admission. A perfect way to end the trip!
My trip to Australia is one I will never forget, and has definitely given me that travelling bug that many people catch no matter their age. Some people would probably be done with Australia after 2 journeys, but I feel like I’ve hardly seen any of it in 2 collective months, with only about a third of the east coast covered. If I were to return one day I had visit parts I haven’t yet seen, like the west side or the north east that I didn’t yet reach.
If you’ve made it this far thank you for persevering through my first lengthy travel blog. With it happening 2 years ago it was fun to look back on, whilst also making me long for the next one. my next holiday post will be my star wars celebration trip to Chicago in 2019. Very different feel but still memorable!
Thanks for reading!
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