Hi everyone, we’re back with another travel update! As I wrote in my last update we are currently in Bundaberg as Samantha started working here since May. So current life is less exciting than the first 4 months of our journey, but we’ve still done enough to write an update about it!
At a certain point we knew that we had to drive from Cairns to Bundaberg and so we started planning what we still wanted to do in Cairns, and what we wanted to do along the way. We chose to do a snorkel/dive tour on the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns and a tour to the Whitsunday Islands on the way to Bundaberg!
For the snorkel / dive tour we had to get up early again and we walked with our morning heads towards the pier of Cairns. A catamaran was waiting for us there, and together with about 20 other people we boarded! It took about an hour and a half to sail to the coral reef where we went for a swim. We had the opportunity to go into the water 2x that day and the plan was that Samantha would dive 2x and I would snorkel 1x and dive 1x. On the way there, because I do not have my diving certificate, I was given an explanation about diving so that I was well prepared. I did dive in Thailand last year (but didn’t go for my certificate), so it was mandatory that I received certain information. That nicely filled the time of the trip and once we arrived at destination we could put on our stinger suit (against stinging jellyfish) and get ready for snorkeling and diving! The snorkeling was very nice because the coral was so visible and in all kinds of colors and shapes. And to top it off, I also saw a turtle and two sharks! The sharks were about 2 meters long and luckily not that dangerous 😊
So the 2nd round I was going to dive, but Samantha thought that her first dive was actually a bit disappointing. So we decided to go snorkeling with the 2 of us and that was a good decision! As a marine biologist, Samantha knows a lot about everything in the ocean and because you can also talk to each other while snorkeling, I got a private tour 😊. A very nice day, which we ended with an ice cream on our return!
Then it was almost time to leave Cairns, but not before we said goodbye to the couple that we traveled with for a long time. They were looking after a house at that time and we ordered a nice pizza and chilled there. It’s always weird to say goodbye to people you’ve been through all sorts of things with while travelling, but who knows, maybe we’ll see each other again soon!
The journey to Bundaberg was about 1,400 km and we decided to break the journey in 2 by stopping about halfway at Arlie Beach, where we had booked a tour to the Whitsunday Islands. That meant living on a sailboat for 3 days and 2 nights, together with about 30 other people! We are already used to living in a means of transport, but life on the water is one step further 😉. It was a sailboat and that meant that we could sit upstairs / outside while sailing, only you just sit on the floor without chairs. And downstairs / inside were the beds, kitchen and toilets.
When it started to rain the first day everyone decided to go down, but we all found out that it wasn’t very smart. I myself also started to get super nauseous, and I can normally handle a boat just fine. I wanted to go upstairs to throw up but as soon as I went outside, the nausea was gone right away. This meant that we stayed on top while sailing the whole trip. Unfortunately for us we were not very lucky with the weather during the 3 days. The first 2 days it rained on and on and actually it was only nice weather on the last day, but you can’t always throw a 6 of course 😉
Fortunately, the tour itself was very nice, we snorkeled several times and went to the famous Whitehaven beach. We saw stingrays there and the sand contains so much silica it clears your skin of dead skin cells and cleans all your silver adornments. Of course, I also gave myself a mask and looked like a young God again 😉.
So currently we are in Bundaberg (Burnett Heads) and life is a bit more ‘normal’. Fortunately, Samantha’s work is very good, she works as an aquaculture technician at a company with the largest coral farm in Australia and can say she likes it. Her colleagues are also super nice, we can sleep on the site with our camper and use all facilities (kitchen, showers, toilets, wifi, etc.) and therefore have a very luxurious private campsite. I even have a desk where I can work with my laptop and also eat lunch, so I actually feel like a colleague too! Next week we are even going to Fraser Island as a team outing, and I can come along too! 😊
I must say that I think that is typical for Australians, they are super open and lay back and I think we as Dutch people can learn something from that now and then.
So, we are lucky and will have a good time here. We also have some house sittings planned (where we will look after pets when people are on holiday) and will alternate camper life with life in a house, a great combination! Thanks again for reading and enjoy the nice weather there! 😉
