Take remaining holiday before the end of our contract. Where should we go?
We thought about it for a long time. Europe? - It's actually too cold for us there too. Although +13°C is of course warm compared to -20°C ...
But then we decided to fly to the real summer. To Australia. By the way, the students there were on their summer holidays ;)
As the container with our summer clothes is already on its way to Germany, our luggage was relatively small and light this time. So there was still room for one or two new items later on.
After what felt like endless hours on the plane, we landed in Brisbane.
Picked up the rental car and off to Maree, Martin and Mia. We had already sailed with the three of them in Thailand last September and they invited us to their home for the first few days.
Arrive, relax and chat.
In Brisbane we went for a walk and travelled on the City Cat ferry. It goes up and down the Brisbane River and you can get a first impression of the city and see the skyline in 2 hours. At 38 km/h, the motorised catamarans are also really fast.
After getting some insider tips from Maree and Martin about the surrounding area and ‘must-sees’, we handed in our small rental car and switched to a larger vehicle.
12 days of vanlife.
A Fiat Ducato converted into a camper van. With fridge, cooker, toilet, shower and air conditioning. Although we didn't need the air conditioning.
From Brisbane we first travelled north towards Fraser Island, Rainbow Beach.
We made a stopover with an overnight stay at Bribie Island, Woorim Beach. And it was at this very spot that a woman was attacked by a shark about a week later. However, she was further out, about 100 metres. We only ever went into the water up to our waists. The fact that there are sharks in the water is somehow worrying. However, if you think about how many people are in the water every second and even go surfing, the chance of encountering a shark is probably very small. By the way, the surfers really do look like little seals from below.
When we arrived at Rainbow Beach, we stayed with Adrian and his family. They have a beach house here and were there for the whole summer holidays. We went swimming, again only up to our waists in the water, chatted and in the evening took a nice walk along the beach to the nearest pub for dinner. Then we went back in the dark.
You know those crabs that dig those little holes on the beaches? The ones that always disappear as soon as you approach?
If you switch on a torch on the beach at night, there are suddenly thousands of these crabs. As long as the light is off, none of them pinch your toes. But it's a strange feeling to walk in the dark and realise that the beach, which feels so good under your bare feet, is populated with crabs.
Later that night there was a big, fat downpour with thunder and lightning. It's way more comfortable to sleep in a van during a thunderstorm than in a roof tent ...
With some more tips from Adrian, we went to a creek the next day. The creek bed is sandy and you can walk in it. After about 20 minutes, your calves are so cold that you can no longer feel your feet. Very refreshing. And it's a bit of a challenge to lie down in it. But it's worth it. Afterwards, you are cooled down for at least 1-2 hours so that you no longer sweat, even at +30°C. We hadn't got used to these summer temperatures yet.
As Denny had also packed some reduced kite equipment, this of course had to be used. So we went kitesurfing from the creek to Inskip.
Inskip is the name of the peninsula and estuary that separates Fraser Island from the mainland. K'gari, or Fraser Island, is the largest sand island in the world at over 120 kilometres long. We weren't there, but watched as the 4×4 jeeps were ferried across. There are only sandy tracks on the island. Normal cars get stuck there. Including 4×4 jeeps driven by overconfident tourists. The Australians always roll their eyes.
Denny had also asked a jeep hire company, but they were fully booked for the next three months.
Every day we travelled a little further south. Via Kin Kin, a very colourful village, and Boreen Point, a freshwater lake with a sailing club, to Noosa Heads.
A coastal walk was planned here. Ideally very early in the morning so that it's not so hot and there aren't so many people out and about. Or so we thought. But it turned out differently: our coastal path in Noosa National Park turned out to be a joggers' motorway. And we were up really early. Later, on the way back, the runners had probably already had their fill, and the route through the forest was much quieter.
I actually thought we might see a wallaby or a koala, but at least I preferred to look very carefully at the path I was walking on so that I didn't step on anything poisonous that might bite me.
Back in the large car park, without having seen an animal, Denny opens the driver's side car door, a squealing sound from him, and slams the door straight shut again.
A large spider. About the size of a hand. So we armed ourselves with our broom and opened the door again to get rid of the stowaway. Door open and nothing. No spider. Not really a problem in itself, only Denny wasn't sure whether the giant spider had escaped into the car or away from it!
So after checking all the gaps and crevices near the door and on the driver's side, we decided that the spider had definitely escaped from the car. So I bravely got behind the steering wheel and drove to our next point on the map, Mooloolaba.
Yes, some places in Australia have funny names. Incidentally, Mooloolaba is not pronounced like the mooing of a cow, but ‘Mululeba’, with the stress on the second syllable and different speech speeds for the individual syllables.
In Mooloolaba we also met our passenger again. She then hid in the engine compartment and was never seen again. Incidentally, it was a Huntsman spider. Not dangerous for humans.
The coastal road to the Sunshine Coast was very beautiful. The blue sea on the left and green mountains on the right. Really great to look at. We then drove away from the sea into the hinterland. Small towns or rather villages like Mapleton, Montville or Maleny are lovely to look at. Colourful houses, arts and crafts or exhibitions. And every now and then a waterfall. Some can only be admired from a distance. A few others you can even touch or swim in the waterfall rock pool. And yes, the water is cold!
So we wind our way further south. Our next destination is the Glasshouse Mountains. They were given this name by Captain James Cook because the mountains reminded him of the glass smelting furnaces in his native England. There are 13 mountains in total, rising out of the relatively flat land all around. We tried to climb one of the mountains. However, as we didn't have proper climbing shoes or ropes, we decided not to. It was quite steep after all ->
After the last hike didn't fall into the water, but failed due to a lack of equipment, we had thought of something new for the next day. A 12-kilometre circular route under waterfalls and classified as moderate. So it should be manageable.
Off we went, again early in the morning. We had learnt by now that if you're the first on the route, you might be lucky enough to see one or two animals. A light drizzle couldn't stop us, as it was warm. In the car park, we smile at a small group of older people equipped with rain jackets, full rucksacks, Nordic walking poles, sturdy hiking boots, long trousers and gaiters (?!).
So off we go. Up hill, down hill, over sticks and stones. The path is narrow, the weather doesn't get any better, the path is sometimes slippery, our trainers are soon completely soaked, but we don't mind. We have fun splashing through the puddles and are delighted when we walk under the waterfall.
A short time later, I want to wipe wet leaves off my legs. However, a small, narrow leaf cannot be wiped away. On the contrary, it even moves!
After I had made my presence and indignation known to the rainforest very loudly, Denny was able to calm me down enough for me to keep still and for him to pull the leech off. After that, we checked our shoes and legs every 100 metres or so and walked like storks in lettuce. The joy of waterfalls, clouds in the valleys, the dripping in the forest and the two of us alone on the hiking trail was then gone.
Wet, cold and traumatised, we made our way back. Of course, the older hiking group met us on the way back. Yes, yes, first giggle about it and then quickly sneak past with your head down. The youth of today ...
I now know why they were wearing long trousers and gaiters.
We'd had enough of the jungle and the hinterland for the time being. We wanted to get back to the sea. Next destination: New South Wales. We travelled across the state border.
We travelled via Byron Bay, which was completely overcrowded at the weekend, to Ballina and Flat Rock. Here Denny had the chance to go kitesurfing again. This time he was even accompanied by a small group of dolphins. We stayed here for two days. The landscape looks like Scotland. Green meadows with cliffs and blue sea. And we also saw an eagle. And a little further on in Lennox Head there is a freshwater lake with black water. Actually, almost all freshwater lakes or rivers had reddish to brown coloured water. But it wasn't dirty or murky. It reminded me a little of bog lakes.
This was our southernmost stop and our time in the campervan was almost over. Two more days and then we had to hand our camper back in. So we got on the motorway and headed back to Brisbane with a stopover in Currumbin, another surfer's haven.
We swapped the big car for a small one. It's quite a change: at first you can almost look onto the roof of everyone, even the big jeeps, and suddenly you're sitting at wheel centre height.
In Brisbane we went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Since last year, you can no longer hug the koalas there, but you can still admire them. And there are also kangaroos, wallabies, emus, crocodiles, dingoes and platypus.
In other words, everything that is at home in Australia.
As our last trip before heading back to China, we decided to take the ferry to Stradbroke Island. Straddie, as the island is called by the locals, is also a sand island, just like Fraser Island. For a while, sand was also mined here commercially, until environmental awareness grew and large parts of the island were placed under protection. In November, you can watch whales migrating north from the island. We ‘only’ saw dolphins, turtles and kangaroos.
On the last evening, we were once again guests at Adrian's for a BBQ. We talked about our tour with the van and enjoyed the last few hours.
Many thanks to the Taking Liberties crew. For the wonderful evening in the Hope & Anchor, for the countless insider tips that we couldn't even cover, for the half day of sailing, for the hospitality and your warmth. <3
We are delighted that we will stay in touch for years to come.
We are still overwhelmed on the plane back to China and are already looking forward to coming back. Then with more time.
It is now only 6 weeks until we are back in Germany. The countdown is on.
See you very soon
Anja & Denny
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